Lisa's Answers to the Questions of the Day:
December 9 * What time are you scheduled to arrive? We fly in on Saturday afternoon and are staying the night at the Crown Plaza in San Pedro. We'll get to the port early, I'm sure.
December 10 * What inspired you to book this vacation? I LOVE to cruise so every time our friend (the husband) would say, "Lets go on a cruise" I'd say... "Book it!" Our friends were over for dinner, the husbands got on-line and next thing we knew they booked the cruise. That night we (the wives) did a bunch of research and learned about Fish Extenders, tried to figure out how to get involved in a group, posted on page 1 of this board and now I'm back, late, and may not get to play
December 11 * Whats up with your DISboard name? lilow: First two letters of my first name, last three letters of my last name. It is used as part of my email address, as well. When we moved to Spokane we came up with it. Not particularly creative, but easy to remember as you can pronounce it like Lilo and Stitch!
December 12 * Ages and sex of those in your group? DH, (50), me (48 TODAY), DD (11) and DS (11) -- Yes, they are twins and DD is one minute older. DH is an outdoorsy type, loves to fix and build things, travel, scuba dive, hike, fish, camp and BBQ. Im a corporate gal gone stay-at-home mom and professional volunteer. I love to create (write, scrapbook (traditional and digital), craft, make cards), travel, scuba dive, and of course spend quality time with my family and friends near and far. Oh, love piano bars and anything Jimmy Buffett. DD is easy-going, fun-loving and quite artistic. She has a new-found love of math, is an avid reader and quite the swimmer. DS is our funny man and loves to make people laugh. He's fast as the wind when he runs and enjoys playing football, reading and playing with his bearded dragons Mojo and Keeda. Both kids love to travel!
December 13 * What kind of vacation planner are you? I love to be involved in planning our vacations, however, lately I have not been much of a planning participant. My husband books trips and I just can't keep up. I do love to research places we are going but he really enjoys finding the hotels, car rentals, etc. I'm more the activity coordinator. Huh, thats why I wanted to be a cruise director!
December 14 * How formal are you going for formal night? I plan on going formal, my husband is thinking tux. I love getting dressed up on cruises. Probably wearing long black dress. Well see how the sit-ups go as to which dress!
December 15 * Where are you from and tell us a bit about your hometown. We currently live in Spokane, Washington. We've been here 8+ years. There are a lot of great things about Spokane but I am totally a beach girl. DH and I were born and raised in California (me in the San Fernando Valley near L.A. and DH in Palo Alto near San Francisco). We both lived in Orange County, California (probably my favorite) and our children were born in Reno, Nevada where we lived prior to Spokane. It's cold here, I miss the sunshine.
December 16 * Disney newbie or an expert? I grew up going to
Disneyland and was at WDW and Epcot prior to being married. As a family, we enjoyed a fabulous vacation at WDW, loved staying at Animal Kingdom and went on a
Disney Cruise when our kids were four. While we have some Disney experience, we are no way experts. DH wants you to know he has been going to Disneyland since the 1960's!
December 17 * What are you looking forward to the most about the cruise? Relaxing, sunshine, not cooking or doing dishes, enjoying our friends, meeting new friends, seeing the fabulous shows and just enjoying the magic only Disney can provide!
December 18 * What do you do? Or not. Or used to do. In a former life, I was a communications professional working in p.r. and corporate contributions in the automotive industry. Currently, I am our family's CEO and a volunteer that needs to learn the word "no". I recently went back to being a Creative Memories consultant and am very ready to get back into the work world.
December 19 * What is a unique Disney Cruising tip you have? Gosh, I really don't have a "unique" tip to share. When we cruised with little kids they did have their own autograph books and the characters signed on every other page so that I was able to use the autographs alongside each photograph in a special Disney album. See, not so unique.
December 20 * Favorite Disney film? Toy Story I is near and dear to my heart as the son of one of my best friends introduced DD and DS to the show when we were visiting. Our kids were too young to watch/understand, but it still remains a memory that makes me smile. Finding Nemo is another favorite as that was one of the first movies my kids saw at the theater. Steve likes the National Treasuer series. Kids LOVE the Pirates of the Caribbean movies!
December 21 * What are your plans for the holidays? We celebrate Chanukah and spent most of the holiday in O'ahu. We arrived back in Spokane on Christmas Eve and spent a few quiet nights at home. We have a nice tradition of having friends over to celebrate Chanukah with us. We haven't been able to get together ye. But, I made enough latkes (potato pancakes) for a small army so we hope to have our friends over before Valentines Day to celebrate! My in-laws joined us for the last week of the year.
December 22 * What is your favorite food item? Honestly, I can't say I have a favorite Disney food item. However, after reading all the answers, I know what I'm trying when we go to Disneyland after the cruise!
December 23 * How many times have you cruised with Disney? Cruised total? In 2004, we sailed 7-days on the Disney Magic in the Caribbean. LOVED IT! My DH and I sailed off the coast of Australia (on our honeymoon) and the Mexican Riviera on
RCCL. Prior to being married, I cruised a lot: six Mexican Riviera cruises (RCCL, NCL, Carnival, Azure Seas), RCCL to Cozumel, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Coco Cay and NCL to St. Kitts, Grenada, Tobago, St. Lucia, St. Barts, St. John, St. Thomas one of my fave cruises ever! This will be my 13th cruise, husbands 3rd and kiddos 2nd. DH wants me to mention the O'ahu Disney Aulani Resort where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner. Not a cruise but Disney nonetheless. We would love to go back and stay there!
December 24 * What are you eating tonight? Our flight from O'ahu got in at 11 p.m. We ate sandwiches on the plane (made before we left Oahu) and taquitos when we got home close to midnight. Since it was the fifth night of Chanukah and we were on Hawaii time, we opened some presents and went to bed at 2:30a.m.!
December 25 * Whats the funniest holiday story you have? I'm not coming up with anything off-the-top funny. We used to laugh a lot at our dog, Rocky, who LOVED opening up his own presents and took it quite seriously. Not "funniest" story around, but still made us giggle, a lot. DH adds: "I think it's funny that my mother walked into the kitchen and pronounced that the whole kitchen stinks" because of my homemade chicken soup. I, on the other hand, did not laugh.
December 26 * What is/was your favorite gift? The Mother's Day poems my children composed last May. My favorite holiday gift(s) were a handmade craft holder my DD made me and the super slick ultrabook computer my DH gave me for my new office/craft room.
December 27 * Do you have any surprises for a fellow traveler? Maybe, but if I tell then it wouldn't be a surprise!
December 29 * Have you ever had an Its a Small World experience? Yes, many times whether it be in places we've lived, places we've visited or on Facebook!
December 30 * Who wants a Facebook group? Im kind of addicted to FB (and Pinterest). I want to join!!!!
December 31 * Do you have a New Year's resolution? Me: Follow my passions, remember my blessings and don't sweat the small stuff. DH: Call it as I see it and not hold back on expressing myself. DD: Try to beat my times in swimming, teach my rabbits something new and everyday try to learn something new at school. DS: Have success in football, do well in school and be a good parent to my two pet lizards.
January 2 * Whats the weather like in your neck of the woods? It was pouring sideways last night and sunny but chilly today. We have our snow markers out to mark off our driveway for the snowplows but there is no snow here. Grass is still green Kind of crazy.
January 3 * Do you have main seating or late seating for dinner? Main
January 4 * Are you bringing drinks on board? If so, what? Yes, I'm sure we will. I'm a Captain Morgan-gal but I'm thinking my husband is thinking along the lines of a full wet bar.
January 5 * What excursions has everyone booked? Has anyone booked non-Disney excursions? We have not booked anything as of yet. We've been to these ports and thought we would take advantage of all the ship has to offer while others are at port. We may change our mind and venture off the ship. Who knows! DH says, "Unlikely".
Have we earned our ears?
