February 25th Magic Cruise Board

[Beth D]

Just making sure my ticker is working!

Sure is! You've got almost the same one as me!

AHHH! Only 7 months until tropical paradise.

 

[K.Ohana]

Hello cruise family!

Just thought I'd check in and send a quick hello. Glad to see we have some more cruisers joining the group!

Our family is flying into Florida 2 days before the cruise so we can go to Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure. Beside our obsession with all things Disney, Harry Potter takes a very close second. So we CANNOT WAIT to be standing in Hogwarts! Glad to hear that the experience was enjoyable for others. My DH is excited to get his wand and drink his butterbeer! haha It's a good thing our son is still too young to be embarrassed by our childlike excitement over these things.

Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday! 7 more months to go! YAY!

Much love!
Foiana

 

[cyndi-rella]

Hi, K Ohana! I, too, am a big Harry Potter fan! I am trying to talk my party into going to Universal, as well. I can't wait for butterbeer and my daughter would like to go to Olivanders!!!

Did anyone watch the steaming cast of the London premiere today? It was awesome!!

I have our tickets already for my nephew, myself, and my daughter!

Anyone else going?

 

[K.Ohana]

Hi, K Ohana! I, too, am a big Harry Potter fan! I am trying to talk my party into going to Universal, as well. I can't wait for butterbeer and my daughter would like to go to Olivanders!!!

Did anyone watch the steaming cast of the London premiere today? It was awesome!!

I have our tickets already for my nephew, myself, and my daughter!

Anyone else going?

My son will be 22 months by the time we are out there so it's my 31 yr old "child" that is excited to get his wand!

 

[Beth D]

Our family is flying into Florida 2 days before the cruise so we can go to Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure. Beside our obsession with all things Disney, Harry Potter takes a very close second. So we CANNOT WAIT to be standing in Hogwarts! Glad to hear that the experience was enjoyable for others. My DH is excited to get his wand and drink his butterbeer! haha

I loved it, but you will be WAITING everywhere you go there! We were there shortly after gate (not park) opening, and still had to wait about 1 hour to get into the ride. There are lines to get in the line for the ride.

That being said, it was STUPENDOUS! I am an amusement park fan in general (I have a rather close relationship with the local one here ) and it is extremely well done. You will have to wait to go on the ride, wait to get into Ollivanders, and wait to buy a butterbeer.

One tip - if you don't want to wait to see the "choosing of the wand experience" at Ollivanders, you can buy the wands at a cart in Hogsmeade or at the large gift shop up front. They are $35 plus tax, pretty pricey,but very nice and come with the box. DS got Harry's and still runs around the house doing "accio reparo". Yes, he combined the two spells!

 

[kbmo4444]

Just checking in to say hello. Hope everyone is having a great summer. Another tip for the FJ ride at Islands of Adventure is if don't mind not sitting with your family go to the single rider line. My kiddos never waited more than 15 minutes. We are going to Florida 2 days prior to cruise and going to IOA/US

 

[goiu]

Hi everyone! We actually haven't booked this cruise yet. Although, we will book it in September when we are on the Magic. We are doing the Eastern cruise then. So, we'll have some experience when we go back in February. My family consists of me, dh, dd (5) and ds (who will be 3). This will be our 6th Disney cruise. We've done the 7 night western, 4 night, 5 night, the 14 night transatlantic and then we'll have done the eastern. We are interested in doing the FE too.

See you all soon!
Lisa

 

[Scillycruisers]

Just thought I would check-in and say Hi again as it is now less than 7 months until we leave home for our Disney holiday. We fly out from London on 21st Feb (must book the flights soon - I don't think they are going to get much cheaper now) but have to leave home a few days before that as we have to fly off our tiny island to the mainland before we can drive to London. As the little plane or helicopter that flies from our island cannot fly in fog and there is no ferry in the winter, we always have to leave a couple of extra days in case the weather is foggy. It does mean that we will hopefully get some time to do some pre-holiday shopping!!

Hope everyone is doing OK.

 

[Beth D]

Wow, that's an adventure just to get to London! We have islands in Lake Erie just out of town, and they have to fly in the winter to the mainland when the ice prevents the ferries from running.

Either that or they wait until it freezes enough and drive old beater cars over the frozen lake to get to the mainland.

DH and I went and saw the last Harry Potter movie last night. It was brilliant! Bring your tissues because you discover once and for all who is bad and who is good, and it's just a profound ending to a wonderful book series.


Let the countdown begin! When are we starting planning the FE exchanges? I've already scooped up a few things on clearance in my normal shopping.

I found Ed Hardy pirate temporary tattoos for pirate night for like a buck or two, and started my cruise box.

I have a Legos Pirate of the Carribbean tee for DS, and some clothespins too. I've also got my eye on some clearance shoe racks, and scored a sample of a pop up hamper at work.

Can you tell I love shopping?

PS - US folks, mark your calendars. Southwest releases travel through mid March next Tuesday, July 26th!

 

[kbmo4444]

Thanks for the reminder Beth about SWA opening flights next week. I have marked my calendar. Hopefully flights won't be crazy priced like last Feb

 

[shillee]

Wow, that's an adventure just to get to London! We have islands in Lake Erie just out of town, and they have to fly in the winter to the mainland when the ice prevents the ferries from running.

Either that or they wait until it freezes enough and drive old beater cars over the frozen lake to get to the mainland.

Beth - where do you live? Are you by chance talking about Put-In-Bay? I used to vacation there with my parents on our boat in the summer! SO MUCH FUN!!!!

 

[Beth D]

I live in Sandusky, and they do that from both Put In Bay and Kelley's Island if the ice is thick enough.

They use the islanders leftover Christmas trees to mark a path.

The vehicles all are missing doors, windows, tailgates, etc...
They are just a body and an engine, so if the ice cracks, the folks can jump out and they're not out much if the vehicle sinks.

 

[K.Ohana]

:

DH and I went and saw the last Harry Potter movie last night. It was brilliant! Bring your tissues because you discover once and for all who is bad and who is good, and it's just a profound ending to a wonderful book series.


Let the countdown begin! When are we starting planning the FE exchanges? I've already scooped up a few things on clearance in my normal shopping.

We saw Harry Potter on Monday and it was FABULOUS! My DH and I agreed. . . not quite as fabulous as the book but they still did the story justice. I cried the whole time. I couldn't figure out if I was crying because it was all ending or because the content of the movie was so emotional. I have read the books and already knew what to expect but it still got me.

I too have been spotting all kinds of nifty FE stuff! I have been really good at not picking anything up just yet. Man, does that take some major self control! We have 7 months but I am so antsy! I have already started the pile-o-cruise and my DH has already started the eye rolling. But I NEED it. . . right? I told him that as long as I don't have to explain myself now he won't have to explain himself later when that final bill comes in with the bar tab on it!

 

[shillee]

Hi all! My husband just finalized our cruise plans today and our whole family will be joining you in the Caribbean with Mickey! There will be a total of 9 adults, 2 little ones (3 and 1.5) and a baby (5 months) in our group. My family (me, DH and DS) just got off the Magic a little over a week ago.

K. Ohana - is your DS either the 3 or 1.5 age? I will have a just turned 4 and just turned 2 year old on the cruise and would love input on what all I can do with them. I figure excursions are totally out so we will be mostly on the boat and am worried about keeping them happy and occupied!

 

[shillee]

I live in Sandusky, and they do that from both Put In Bay and Kelley's Island if the ice is thick enough.

Beth - that is awesome! We used to take 2 week vacations with stops in PIB, Vermillion and the highlight of Cedar Point for my sister, Dad and I to ride the rides. I have the best childhood memories! My first roller coaster was Boblo Island (which no longer exists) that also used to be a stop!

 

[Beth D]

I too have been spotting all kinds of nifty FE stuff! I have been really good at not picking anything up just yet. Man, does that take some major self control! We have 7 months but I am so antsy! I have already started the pile-o-cruise and my DH has already started the eye rolling. But I NEED it. . . right? I told him that as long as I don't have to explain myself now he won't have to explain himself later when that final bill comes in with the bar tab on it!

I like that theory! For my DH it's don't tell me how much he spent on a new softball bat or set of clubs, and I won't tell him how much I spend! As long as there's money in the checkbook to pay the bills each month, he doesn't care.

 

[K.Ohana]

K. Ohana - is your DS either the 3 or 1.5 age? I will have a just turned 4 and just turned 2 year old on the cruise and would love input on what all I can do with them. I figure excursions are totally out so we will be mostly on the boat and am worried about keeping them happy and occupied!

Hi shillee! My DS will be 1.5 months shy of his 2nd birthday at the time of sailing. My niece turns 4 a month before we cruise. Our previous cruise my DS was only 11 months. We did excursions and went out and about in the shopping districts. And we never put him in the nursery either! Don't feel that you need to limit yourself because you have little ones. We still will not be utilizing the childcare areas this time around. We want to wait until DS is a little older to leave him in the kid areas. Plus, my father-in-law is very opinionated that "we are going on a family vacation and we are going to stay together as a family." Which is fine with me!

I think the best plan with little ones. . . is to not have a plan! We booked one excursions that had a set time frame, one excursion that allowed us to be flexible with what we wanted to do on our own and the other days we left completely open. I have to say that we booked our excursions outside of Disney just to have the flexibility with a baby. Ultimately we let our little guy's mood/schedule set the tone. We were pleasantly surprised when it all just flowed. This time around we will be booking our excursions with Disney. There is just too many of us this time around and we don't want to stress over transportation and whatnot. And Disney REALLY has it all together. They take care of EVERYTHING. We are going to do the butterfly farm and Marigot on St. Maarten. Hoping to go earlier in the morning and then spend the afternoon on the beach near the ship. The kids can play in the water, the girls can shop and we can hop back on the ship if needed. We haven't made up our minds yet about St. Thomas but we are leaning towards Coral World by Land and Sea. And Castaway Cay. . . well. . . the beach is all we need!

On the ship it's all about the splash pad. Surprisingly there were only 2 or 3 kids playing on our previous cruise and we were on a sold out ship. Our DS LOVED it! I was also told by our tablemates that their DD (2.5) had a blast playing in the Oceaneer's Club. That area is for older children but they will let you take your little one in there as long as you stick around to play and keep an eye on them. Everything is so bright and colorful and everyone is so nice. . . it really makes it so easy. This being said from someone who was horrified that her husband bought a cruise. I was SO mad at my husband because I didn't know how we would survive with a baby on a cruise ship. I was so wrong. There is so much to do and see. That week will come and go before you even have time to think.

 

[Beth D]

Woohoo! We just booked our plane tickets. Somehow it's starting to become more real! We are traveling to Columbus, OH on Thursday night, and leaving EARLY (6 am) on Friday to head to Orlando. We are excited to get in early in the day and hope to spend most of Friday enjoying Cocoa Beach!

I know the water will not be warm enough for much swimming, but hopefully it will still be nice enough for a day of lounging in the sun!

Is anyone else doing a beach day? I know several of you are doing park days!

 

[leahmichl]

Hi all! I'm Leah and we just booked this cruise! We've been trying to schedule a Disney cruise for months, but life keeps getting in the way My husband will be returning from Afghanistan in mid-January, so this is our 'we so deserve this' family vacation!

This will be our fourth cruise as a family - we cruised when my daughter was 9 months, 11 months, and almost 4 (my son was 2.5 that time, his first) - but our first on Disney. We love cruising and are super excited about all the perks of it being with Mickey. We live in FL and visit Disney a few times a year, so I'm looking forward to experiencing the same "magic" on the ship!

We're looking forward to cruising with you all, and would like to participate in the FE too!

 

[glamma05]

Hi everyone. We will be setting sail with you in Feb. Me, my husband, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. This is our 4th cruise, but first with Disney. 210 days to go!