"Double Dip Delight" Alternate Western 09/27/08

[NHdisneylover]

NO don't do your laundry Book this trip so you WILL belong on this thread

Hmmm, the recipe does make 6 souffles so that must be the correct daily recomendation

 

[zweihund]

We headed back to the bus area at the appointed time. It started to rain on us as we walked back. We were so darn hot that it felt GOOD to us We used the restrooms again and lined up to get on the bus home. As we boarded we were handed another COLD water and our box lunches (it was getting pretty late, I think a bit after one and we had been doing a lot of walking so we were hungry).

Erik can attest to the fact that I am a very picky eater and my son Rio is the pickiest kid on the planet (he doesn't even like kid food like french fries, mac n cheese, burgers, or hot dogs!). We had spent the week pre crusie at WDW on the dining plan. I had used some of our extra counter service credits to get snack boxes from our hotel food court. The boxes were hard plastic lunchbox type things which came with peanut butter carckers, raisens, applesauce and a juice box. That counted as an entree (was too costly to use a snack credit for) and I could also choose a drink and dessert. I had gotten mickey rice crispie treats for the dessert and had been able to fit them in the boxes. I got these specifically to bring along on the excursion for lunch. Sure enough lunch was tuna fish (dark tuna--and not cold enough for me too feel good about it) with some funky sides. The kids and I were very happy to have our own food (and I think I could have sold those boxes for $20 a piece to any number of parents on board we got a lot of "I wish I had thought of that" commnets).
Many of the sides were pre packaged Pan Bimbo items which our guide asked us not to open if we did not want them and to leave on the seats at the end of the trip so he could take them to local children in need. We left some of our own snacks we had brought as well. If I had known to bring school supplies or treats of some kind I feel confident he would have gotten them to the right people.
We got back in time to wander around the port area for a coupole of hours if we had wanted to. We just made a quick loop to see it and then were drawn toward our luxiourious liner with air conditioning and ICE CREAM.
And so ends the saga of our trek through the jungle to see Kohunlich.

Hadley, that excursion sounded great! I would probably have to do the whole box-lunch thing too.....a handful of mickey waffles from the buffet should suffice

Great photos!

When we visited Costa Maya in November 2006, we arranged a day at Maya Palms resort. It was a short taxi ride away but felt like we were 100 miles from the crowds at the Cruise Ship docks. Very friendly people, beautiful orchid-filled gardens, nice clean pool, and tasty food. The water was quite choppy that particular day but we still enjoyed the snorkeling. The owners are from the U.S. so language was not an issue.

http://www.mayapalms.com/cruisers.htm

Thanks for the link! That looks really interesting......a definite possibility.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Thanks Erica. I hope you (or someone) gets something useful out of all that (even if it is just that that is not the excursion for them).

Epperbiker--thanks for the link. That looks like an interesting possibility.

 

[Buckeye Gal]

When we visited Costa Maya in November 2006, we arranged a day at Maya Palms resort. It was a short taxi ride away but felt like we were 100 miles from the crowds at the Cruise Ship docks. Very friendly people, beautiful orchid-filled gardens, nice clean pool, and tasty food. The water was quite choppy that particular day but we still enjoyed the snorkeling. The owners are from the U.S. so language was not an issue.

http://www.mayapalms.com/cruisers.htm

Jeff, thank you soooo much!! I took time to look at this tonight, and I'm thinking this is a great possiblity since I'm not sure how much walking my mom will be able to do with the ruins (which I would love to see). So this gives me an idea for an alternative, if needed. Did you see a good coral reef and tropical fish during the snorkeling adventure? Do you happen to have any pics of the resort?

 

[scoutsmom99]

Thanks Erica. I hope you (or someone) gets something useful out of all that (even if it is just that that is not the excursion for them). .

Hadley thanks for taking the time to post about the ruins. We (well I should be saying I because mom won't find out about the cruise for awhile as it is a surprise) are looking at doing a ruins tour in Costa Maya and this really helped. How long would you say the overall excursion was from start to finish? I'm making a note about bringing boxed lunches as well (great idea!).

 

[NHdisneylover]

Hadley thanks for taking the time to post about the ruins. We (well I should be saying I because mom won't find out about the cruise for awhile as it is a surprise) are looking at doing a ruins tour in Costa Maya and this really helped. How long would you say the overall excursion was from start to finish? I'm making a note about bringing boxed lunches as well (great idea!).

I'm glad you found the info. helpful. I think it was about 6 hours. Or maybe even a bit longer than that from the time we left teh ship until the time we got back off the bus at the port. But I wasn't really watching the time that closely so I could be mistaken. It was most of the day--not a half day excursion.

 

[Epperbiker]

Jeff, thank you soooo much!! I took time to look at this tonight, and I'm thinking this is a great possiblity since I'm not sure how much walking my mom will be able to do with the ruins (which I would love to see). So this gives me an idea for an alternative, if needed. Did you see a good coral reef and tropical fish during the snorkeling adventure? Do you happen to have any pics of the resort?

Hey Kimberly! There's a coral reef right off the beach. They took us to three different spots in the dive boat, and the whole time we were able to see our 2 year old and his grandma on the beach. Unfortunately, the water was kind of rough so it wasn't as clear as it could have been, but we saw several different kinds of fish, including a huge parrotfish and a few unusual rays. It was the first time I'd tried to use a dry bag for my camera and it wasn't working very well, so my underwater photos aren't too great. I'll try to post a link to some photos tonight.

 

[MarieH.]

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[NHdisneylover]

Good question. The whole fish extender things had me pretty confused until last month as well.

We got lots of candy as well as custom printed bookmarks, a "you might have forgotten" kit (with banaid, safety pin, clothes, pin, etc.), custom made pens with the cruise dates on them, little notebooks, pencils, sample sized lotions (from a couple who works for a spa--really good stuff), pencils, hand beaded bracelets, glow bracelets, mousepads, etc. Lots and lots of goodies.

It was really fun to find goodies when we got back the the stateroom almost every time. Not everyone sent gifts (we chipped in on bracelts from a group but did not do a separate gift becuase we did not have room and didn't really know what it was all about) and no one expected everyone (or anyone) to do so. Some people left more than one gift (even pirate booty--like necklaces and stuff on pirate night).

I think a lot of people too ka list of all the staterooms and delivered to each one. Some just walked hte halls and only left gifts for those DISsers with an extender.

 

[MarieH.]

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[NHdisneylover]

Thanks for the quick reply Hadley,now I have some ideas! Let's say, I bought several different things, do I give it to everyone all at the same time or put it in at different days? I'm probably making this difficult than it seems ha? And how do I know from who these gifts came from? I swear, these will be the last questions! At least for today

Ask away, questions are good! I think most of us delivere deverything to everyone at once just to get it done. But, some people gave gifts on more than one day (to everyone each time these were genreous souls). I don't think it really matters.

Most people attached a small sticker or something to their gifts telling us who they were from.

 

[DizzneyDAnn]

I had no idea about the fish extender gifts, either, and had no idea some would go all out. I was delighted with every little gift and happily overwhelmed with a couple of the bigger gifts. My contribution was so pitiful and embarrassing that I am already preparing for my next cruise. I have some fun things planned. bwahaha!

I AM one that only puts things in the extenders, though. Like I said before, and some giggled about, I AM on vacation, after all. Figuring out where everyone is (especially after up-grades) is way too overwhelming for my sun-seeking, deck chair coveting self.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I had no idea about the fish extender gifts, either, and had no idea some would go all out. I was delighted with every little gift and happily overwhelmed with a couple of the bigger gifts. My contribution was so pitiful and embarrassing that I am already preparing for my next cruise. I have some fun things planned. bwahaha!

I AM one that only puts things in the extenders, though. Like I said before, and some giggled about, I AM on vacation, after all. Figuring out where everyone is (especially after up-grades) is way too overwhelming for my sun-seeking, deck chair coveting self.

Deanna, when I saw the email alert that you were posting over here again I got all excited. I thought maybe, just maybe you would be posting to say you'd booked our little trip. Come now HURRY up and do it! You know you want to

 

[Buckeye Gal]

To add to Hadley's suggestions of giveaways, the Oriental Trading catalogue has some fun things that kids in particular might enjoy. They have lots of pirate themed items as well as tropical. The Dollar Store is another great place to find some goodies. Don't think that you have to go all out....it's the spirit of giving and the excitement of receiving a surprise! I've been thinking about this, too, and I have a few ideas floating in my head of what I would like to give. Thankfully I have time to decide and should it require some crafting, execute!

So give as much or as little as you want anytime during the cruise. Pretty much anyone who's going to have a Fish Extender will be a DISer! This is where it all started afterall!! Of course, some of us have chosen to give our stateroom numbers up, so that can help, too. Furthermore, if we decided on a DISer door magnet that everyone could use, that will be a "Here I am" flag as well.

Remember that I'll keep track of all of you who would like to participate, so if you haven't already done so, between now and 15 months and 3 weeks shoot me an email to the addy in my signature block, and I'll make sure it's uploaded to the website! That also will give a baseline on how many people want to participate. Again, I do think there are enough of us that if there are 100 cabins wanting to participate, you wouldn't have to feel obligated to buy 100 widgets. My thoughts are just give what your little heart desires on whatever day of the cruise you want!

I'm working on making my Fish Extender now. I am very excited about it, but I have found so many fabrics I love and have purchased since my first find that I'm not sure that I'll stick with what I originally planned! I think it will be a fun fun fun activity during the cruise, especially since we're all getting to know one another so well! Like I'm thinking Hoagie Pie needs a Second Prize ribbon because SOMEONE’s got to win a game challenge to them (love ya), Zweihund needs a baby-sized brown bottle of “daddy juice”, Mom+3Girls (our honeymooners) need a “Come back later…we’re kinda busy right now” magnet, Doug46 needs some OSU Buckeye cheer for his Ann Arbor roots, DizzneyDAnn needs a Hug-O-Meter (if she would just sign up for the cruise already!), and Nenner1 needs a PhotoPass card to save her thousands of dollars at Shutters!

 

[DizzneyDAnn]

You are a sweetie-pie! I do want to! I'm just lingering over here because there are so many people I like here. You will all have lotes of fun, and it seems the non-transatlantic cruisers are as good as gold, too. Sigh. I am envious. It's a year away, and I am definetely keeping my options open. I've already started mentioning it to Scott. A few more well-timed suggestions...

 

[NHdisneylover]

KImberly, you have some awesome ideas there

Everytime I see your disboard name I get hungry. I am not interested in sports, so to me Buck Eyes are just the delectable peanut butter and chocolate treats named for your favoured team! I haven't had any in a couple of years (trying to eat healthy), but I just might have to make some soon as you taunt me every time you post

 

[Buckeye Gal]

Yummy, Hadley!!! They are great, aren't they!!! A pain to make, but well worth it!

 

[DizzneyDAnn]

LOL I didn't know Buckeyes were a team, and I'd forgotten about the candy. My mind was going Annie Oakley on me, like bull's eye. I imagine you with a cowboy western accent, like the cowgirl from Toy Story. I'm "THE WORST" with my imagination of what screen names represent.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Kimberly--it's a good thing for you that homemade goodies aren't supposed to be brought on board or else I'd clambor for you to bring us all some buckeyes for our fish extenders after taunting us for all these months.

Deanna--don't feel badly. I loved the candy for years before we moved to Michigan (close enough to Ohio State to hear about it) and someone pointed out to me they were named for a sports team So I have to have faith in Scott to do the right thing and book you on this cruise? Go Scott!

 

[Buckeye Gal]

LOL....that's hilarious, DizzneyDAnn! Not only are they a team, it is what every soul born in Oh-io is! A Buckeye!!! It's actually a nut from the buckeye tree...a poisonous nut...so eat the PB chocolate guys!