Dream - 6/20/12 - 4 nt - Great Start to the Summer of 2012!!! FE #217 DIS Meet #216

[JanDave]

Five months from today -- we should all be in the Port Canaveral area waiting to board the beautiful Dream!!! Warm weather, sunny skies, and 4 days of Paradise. Today's weather forecast in mid-Michigan: 3 degrees; 2-4 inches of snow, windy.........

See you soon!

Jan

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Yep - 5 months!!

Heather

 

[JanDave]

FE questions:

Please let me know what you think of assigned delivery days - that would avoid the possibility of receiving FE gifts all in one day. On the last day, our CC day, delivery would have to occur before 3 pm or so as we all have to pack and DCL is forcing us off the ship the next day, unless you're doing a B2B. I have only participated in one FE exchange, on a 7-day Magic, and it was nice getting goodies each day of the cruise. But, unfortunately, this cruise is short - way too short.

We currently have 7 participating staterooms. Cut off date to sign up for FE gifts is May 1, about 7 weeks pre-cruise.

If anyone else wants to join the FE group, please let me know.

A decision was made a while ago to keep the FE group small due to cost, added suitcase weight, delivery time, etc. If we get 10 or more participating staterooms, the group will be divided into two.

Your thoughts????

Jan

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

FE questions:

Please let me know what you think of assigned delivery days - that would avoid the possibility of receiving FE gifts all in one day. On the last day, our CC day, delivery would have to occur before 3 pm or so as we all have to pack and DCL is forcing us off the ship the next day, unless you're doing a B2B. I have only participated in one FE exchange, on a 7-day Magic, and it was nice getting goodies each day of the cruise. But, unfortunately, this cruise is short - way too short.

We currently have 7 participating staterooms. Cut off date to sign up for FE gifts is May 1, about 7 weeks pre-cruise.

If anyone else wants to join the FE group, please let me know.

A decision was made a while ago to keep the FE group small due to cost, added suitcase weight, delivery time, etc. If we get 10 or more participating staterooms, the group will be divided into two.

Your thoughts????

Jan

Hi Jan!!

Can you elaborate a little more on the assigned delivery days piece of it? For example, if I wanted to leave "Pirate type" gifts on our Pirate day/night - would I be able to do this? Honestly, I hadn't really thought about the other days except for Pirate Night. I'd likely end up just delivering the rest of the gifts on the first day or the second so I wouldn't have to "worry" about them and so others could use the gifts ASAP.

So, a penny for your thoughts!

Thanks,
Heather

 

[JanDave]

Some FE groups assign participants to deliver their gifts on a particular day to stagger the receipt of FE gifts. Since our cruise is a short 4 day cruise, whatever this FE group wants to do is fine with me. We can pick our own day to deliver our gifts or we can make it more structured, keeping in mind we have two port days - Nassau and CC.

As far as providing multiple sets of gifts, that's your own preference. Dave and I will be giving out one set of gifts for each participant.

You'll probably find me delivering gifts in the early morning or late at night!

Hope what I just posted doesn't cause more confusion!

Jan

 

[NickyDa]

LOL!! I was just looking online for some FE gift ideas for the kids and I to work on over our spring break; glad I checked theDis.

This will be our first time participating in FE exchange, but our second Dream cruise. IMO the first day is "busy" because you're trying to see everything and make any last minute plans once you board. I like the idea of exchanging gifts on our Nassau day and CC day which means giving out gifts on day 2 and day 4 (of course I'm open to just one day if that works better for everyone to keep costs and suitcase space low).

Also to clarify, there are 3 kids in our group, they are just split between 2 rooms. Our son prefers to stay in his grandparents' room, so those three kids can just be counted as one room if we don't get a large FE following. Does that make sense?

Just my thoughts

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Some FE groups assign participants to deliver their gifts on a particular day to stagger the receipt of FE gifts. Since our cruise is a short 4 day cruise, whatever this FE group wants to do is fine with me. We can pick our own day to deliver our gifts or we can make it more structured, keeping in mind we have two port days - Nassau and CC.

As far as providing multiple sets of gifts, that's your own preference. Dave and I will be giving out one set of gifts for each participant.

You'll probably find me delivering gifts in the early morning or late at night!

Hope what I just posted doesn't cause more confusion!

Jan

Thanks! Honestly, I'm fine with whatever the group decides on! I'll just add it to my planner so I know what's going on when so I don't forget I'm excited either way....

Heather

 

[SueTGGR]

OK, so we have been booked on this cruise for about a year now & I am just now getting on here. Silly me. So let me introduce me and my family.

There is me (Sue-the master planner/researcher), DH (Jeff-the "as long as you are happy and involves Disney" man) and our DS (Alec-the creative brain and weed sprout - he is 11 and is as tall as me @ 5'7").

I'll try and be brief. We had a plan, 7 day on the Fantasy on the 9th, then WDW, then this cruise. Well silly DCL decided to announce that they are going to Europe, Greece AND Turkey so we switched our 7 day (that we had booked on board last January on our 7 day MR on the Wonder!) and now I am SO excited. But alas a change in plans and I realized I had not connected with fellow DIS-ers. So here I am!

We are happy DVC members (SSR, VGC, AKV and now Aulani) and much to others opinions we use our points for cruises now and then. That is how we are able to do this one! We also are headed to Aulani in August to celebrate my 50th birthday! Mixed feelings on that one but HEY! I get to go to Hawaii!

I think we will pass on the FE exchange as I kind of got burned out when we were on the MR. It started out ok and then grew to grand proportions and I got too stressed out right beforehand. It didn't help that our dog ate some of the chocolate (I know we called the vet!) as I was assembling the bags of goodies.

So there you are! Hopefully this thread will pick up and we can all get to know each other better beforehand and maybe get to put faces to the DIS names. And maybe others will see the thread and check in with us.

Off to chase my son into bed!
Later,
Sue

 

[SueTGGR]

OH and if anyone has info on going to see the Islands of Adventure/Harry Potter, it looks like we will not only fly early to spend a few days at WDW (using DVC to stay @ AKV) but even earlier so DS can FINALLY see WWHP. He is beside himself. I think DH is too but he won't let on, yet.
Later, again,
Sue

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

OK, so we have been booked on this cruise for about a year now & I am just now getting on here. Silly me. So let me introduce me and my family.

There is me (Sue-the master planner/researcher), DH (Jeff-the "as long as you are happy and involves Disney" man) and our DS (Alec-the creative brain and weed sprout - he is 11 and is as tall as me @ 5'7").

I'll try and be brief. We had a plan, 7 day on the Fantasy on the 9th, then WDW, then this cruise. Well silly DCL decided to announce that they are going to Europe, Greece AND Turkey so we switched our 7 day (that we had booked on board last January on our 7 day MR on the Wonder!) and now I am SO excited. But alas a change in plans and I realized I had not connected with fellow DIS-ers. So here I am!

We are happy DVC members (SSR, VGC, AKV and now Aulani) and much to others opinions we use our points for cruises now and then. That is how we are able to do this one! We also are headed to Aulani in August to celebrate my 50th birthday! Mixed feelings on that one but HEY! I get to go to Hawaii!

I think we will pass on the FE exchange as I kind of got burned out when we were on the MR. It started out ok and then grew to grand proportions and I got too stressed out right beforehand. It didn't help that our dog ate some of the chocolate (I know we called the vet!) as I was assembling the bags of goodies.

So there you are! Hopefully this thread will pick up and we can all get to know each other better beforehand and maybe get to put faces to the DIS names. And maybe others will see the thread and check in with us.

Off to chase my son into bed!
Later,
Sue

Welcome! Sounds like your plans or shaping up nicely! What a way to spend your 50th bday!!

We have been counting down for our cruise since we booked it last April. My DS (8) is so excited it's not even funny. He is always watching videos on YouTube and I think it's awesome. We have also decided to come in 2 days before the cruise so we could make sure we were there (priority #1) and so we could spend a day at the Kennedy Space Center - perfect opportunity! We then added a day on the back side to POFQ since our flight times and prices on that Sunday after we debark weren't in our favor. We'll spend it at the resort and Downtown Disney and perhaps 'Ohana for dinner. I keep wanting to add even more days and do the parks - after all we are ALREADY there, right? - but we'll have to see how the taxes end up.

Talk to you later,
Heather

 

[JanDave]

Welcome Sue and Family!!!!

Glad you found us. We, too, are DVC members and for this cruise we are on points. I have read and heard all the pros/cons using points to cruise, but by using points, we've been able to cruise with family and friends. Something we could not do if we had to use cash for each cruise. We bought both contracts on the Magic as DVC has great incentives while on board. Last month, I used points for Vero Beach and Animal Kingdom-Kidani while vacationing with my DD and 2 of my 6 grandchildren.

And, cruising for your 50th birthday is something I did 11 years ago! We are celebrating Dave's retirement this cruise.

Regarding the FE exchange, we plan to keep the groups small. If there are more than 10 participating cabins, we will divide the group. We, too, were on a cruise where we had 20+ cabins - way too much work and money and stress!

Jan

 

[SueTGGR]

Yes, we love DVC and not sure we would travel as much if we didn't. We are making those payments and we need to make sure we use every single last point! We are much better at borrowing than we are at banking. Our last purchase was for Aulani and we did that on our MR cruise a little over a year ago and got in before the whole annual dues fiasco. If anyone is even thinking about buying or not, go to the talks they have on board the cruises. Lots of free-bees and refreshments.

 

[JanDave]

Wow - we're under the 4 month mark!!!

For all FE participants - does anyone in your stateroom have any food allergies or restrictions?

We're expecting up to 10 inches of snow in mid-Michigan by tomorrow morning. If and when I get to work, maybe I'l sneak a peak at the Cape Canaveral webcam and day dream......

Jan

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Hi Jan! Are you under snow right now?? Our weather in NC has been nuts! We had our first snow on Monday and were in the 20's and yesterday and today we hit 70! Our unstable weather puts us under Tornado Watches/Warnings unfortunately

No, we don't have any known food allergies in our group. Thanks for asking and this is good to know.

I'm really trying to pin down my FE gifts and ideas so I'm ready to get cracking on them!! I have several already but I keep mixing them up some.

I can't' believe we are in the 3 months range!! WOOHOO!!!

Talk to you later,
Heather

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Hi again Jan

I meant to ask this yesterday but got side tracked

If I ask really nicely, can we have an updated FE list? I thought I remembered you asking or putting the cabin numbers on the list but I didn't see it. I apologize if I've overlooked it. I'm trying to gauge the ages of the kids and or how many we really have.

I thought I gave this before, but DH's name is Tony and DS is Jacob and we are in cabin 6188 (far aft).

Thanks in advance,
Heather

 

[JanDave]

Heather, Yep - I've updated the FE list. We have 6 participating staterooms.

If anyone else would like to join in the FE exchange, let me know. We set a cut off date of May 1 to give participants enough time to prepare/buy/make their gifts.

Here's the link to the FE list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtGXEvV6fwSZdENVQzhBN0g1ZmQ1RmFWMXliOVNTcFE#gid=0

We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday. The trees look beautiful with the snow on branches.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Jan

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Heather, Yep - I've updated the FE list. We have 5 participating staterooms. If anyone else would like to join in the FE exchane, let me know. We set a cut off date of May 1 to give participants enough time to prepare/buy/make their gifts.


We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday. The trees look beautiful with the snow on branches.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Jan

Thanks cupcake

I've added it to my desk top so I can't lose it - lol

You don't have to do now, just on the next update - you can add DS's name Jacob.

I bet it's beautiful with the snow and hopefully you're in for the weekend and staying warm. SOON, my dear, we will be burning up on the DREAM!

Have a great weekend too,
Heather

 

[JanDave]

Thanks cupcake

I've added it to my desk top so I can't lose it - lol

You don't have to do now, just on the next update - you can add DS's name Jacob.

I bet it's beautiful with the snow and hopefully you're in for the weekend and staying warm. SOON, my dear, we will be burning up on the DREAM!

Have a great weekend too,
Heather

Heather - 6 staterooms not 5. I added Jacob's name to the list.

I have important things to do today - hair cut and color! Yes, can't wait to be burning up on the Dream and at Castaway!

Jan

 

[SueTGGR]

Heather, Yep - I've updated the FE list. We have 6 participating staterooms.

If anyone else would like to join in the FE exchange, let me know. We set a cut off date of May 1 to give participants enough time to prepare/buy/make their gifts.

Here's the link to the FE list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtGXEvV6fwSZdENVQzhBN0g1ZmQ1RmFWMXliOVNTcFE#gid=0

We got about 5 inches of snow yesterday. The trees look beautiful with the snow on branches.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Jan

I am still on the fence about joining. If I get inspired I may just jump in as there are so few and it should not be overwhelming for a non-crafty person like myself.
I have to say I am glad I do not live in the snow. We just got back from 4 days in Maui and did not want to come back to Nor Cal. But the idea of being in the Bahamas in less than 4 months makes the cold (relative compared to the high 70's/low 80's we left in Hawaii) bearable. And we had a blast swimming, snorkeling and checking out the whales. That should keep me going And DS can't wait to go snorkeling again! I told him we can find the hidden Mickey statue in CC. He was still a little unsure the last time we were there and now he really gets the idea of snorkeling.
Stay warm!
Sue

 

[Mamaw8]

I heard about FE from a friend, we are cruising with kids & Grandkids. 5 rooms total. I'm making the FE for each cabin. How do I join for this trip? Who & How do I send our names to? Do You need ages of kids? Names? Room Numbers?