From the Med to the Panama Canal

[rufustee]

Happy Belated Halloween! DD was Hanna Montana on Halloween but was Princess Aurora at Calif Adventure. We can't believe that we had such Great Trick o Treating Weather, no rain or snow for the first time in 5 years.

Today is my mother's 80th birthday and my cousin is flying from Salem, OR to surprise her. We are going to have some nice weather this weekend for her visit.

DeAnn flyboy had an overnight in Rockford, IL! It was a short overnight, 9 hours on the ground just enough to eat and sleep before getting up again...

Kelly I feel the same way we turned around and we didn't see you. We let the girls dance for a while there and then went around the park. DD loved dancing in the parade at the end. She is off of school for 4 works starting on Nov.9 so we are trying to plan something for while she is out. Flyboy wants to see WDW decorated for Christmas but I don't think it will be up before Thanksgiving. I told him that I will not fly around Thanksgiving unless its an emergency and decorations are not an emergency.

OK Off to the airport to pickup the birthday surprise!

 

[gydell]

Elderfan - Congrads on the baby! He is so cute. I can't wait to see the new cruiser next may!

 

[milestogo]

Elderfam, saw your pics on the other site Congratulations on your new baby, I'm so glad this has worked so smoothly! - Best book ever Dr. Harvey Karp, The Happiest Baby on the Block. Best tool in your house is a white noise sound machine for about 10 different reasons. I loaned one to each of my neighbors when their babies were born and they all went out and bought one. You'll be shocked at what it will do for you and the baby.

 

[DizzneyDAnn]

Karen, I had my level2 ultrasounds in ROckford, so close. Oh, and we went once to see the holiday decorations, when we lived in Atlanta...I LOVED it!!!!

 

[milestogo]

We'll head off to Goofy's kitchen this year for Thanksgiving - last year we went to the Grand Ballroom. I never realized there were thousands of families who go to DL for Thanksgiving until I had a kitchen under construction. It's a riot with everyone using fake Disney names - we'll be the Robinson's this year. There are only 4 of us and one is a vegetarian, so DL is perfect for T-day. Then we have family movie night and set up the house for Christmas. Only a couple of weeks till our trip to WDW, Candlelight processional at DL with Jane Seymour, and High School Musical the concert, Rose parade! - I'm tired and excited just writing it all out! Good thing I'm done and wrapped with all the Xmas presents - now I'm ebaying like crazy and trying to finish two classes.

Called DCL yesterday, they are still waiting for the 2009 itinerary, they said it is done and it will be any day now.

 

[rufustee]

We wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Kelly DL sounds great for Turkey dinner we may have to do that next year. Its cold and rainy here in Salem, OR.

DH an I will be doing a lot of traveling to California first two weeks of December. My girlfriend, Ann, some of you have meet has just adopted a baby boy. Her and her husband were able to go this past Monday and pick him up. So what an awesome Thanksgiving present for them! I am going to throw them a Welcome Party for the baby the second sunday of december. Anyways we are just soo happy for them and can't wait to meet him next week.

 

[gydell]

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! We will be staying home for the day, but Fri the Christmas decorations outside go up. Sat. we have a ball game and then just a leisure paced month until Christmas. And then WDW for the 1st week of Jan.


DisneyDAnn - we saw the lights at Lanier Sun night. Hope everything is going good with DH job.

 

[gydell]

Cabins have been opening up on our PC cruise. Is everyone here still going or has somebody dropped out?

 

[figment52]

I'm still on board.

Sandy (with cousin Sharon)

 

[milestogo]

Hi guys, well we moved from a cat. 4 to a cat. 6 to make this cruise more financially acceptable! I'm pretty excited and feeling more confident about the money than I have in months! We're off to WDW soon.

 

[gydell]

We're off to WDW soon.

When are you going?

 

[milestogo]

Gydell, I PM'd you. Kelly

 

[rufustee]

Hello Everyone!
Well we got the call from our travel agent that a handicap accessible room has opened up for my parents plus an additional room for my girlfriend Ann, (sorry the period doesn't work) We are three confirmed rooms of course all in different cats, We are still are the waiting list for one of the handicap rooms to open on the back of deck 6 with the big deck space for lots of gatherings,
I think we are done traveling for the rest of the year, We have been on the road since Nov 9th I have three boxes of mail to go through today from the post office, Anyone want some mail?
We ended our day of travels at Disneyland on Monday night, what a nice way to end a month of traveling! the weather was outstanding and the park looked beautiful, dd got an outstanding citizen button pin, not sure if that means anything but she was really excited,
We hope all is well with everyone!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Hi cruisemates! Just wanted to make sure you all know the excursions are posted now on the DCL site

I just got off the Wonder last Sunday and was very sad that it had only been a three day cruise...but it was a lot easier knowing in 20something weeks I'd be on the Magic!

 

[gydell]

Finalized our flights and transportation to the port today! The cruise will be here before we know it. Just in case I don't get back on this site in the next few days - I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas and a New Year!

 

[rufustee]

Hello Everyone! Merry Christmas!

We are looking for as much information as we can about the nursery aboard the Magic! My girlfriend Ann who is coming along on the PC, her and husband just adopted a son. He will be 11months and 1 week when we board the ship in May. So how does it work? Does it run the same as it did for my 4yr old almost 5yr old? Check in port side get pager and we are good to go.??? Is there a charge for under 2yrs old? How does sit work for shore excursions? Is the nursery open during that time? My girlfriend also has a 7 yr old and mine is 5yrs old so I know they go into the same age group at the club. As you can image we have lots of questions and need to prepare ourselves. (yes we are planners too not as bad as Cayla but close behind.) So any and all information would be greatly appreciated. you can always pm too.

I have mentioned that Flyboy is home on Christmas Eve and Day for the first time in 12years. Needless to say I am over jumping for joy because DD is getting it this year.!!!!

Does anyone know if you have RCI can you use your points for airfare? My girlfriend, Ann, the one mentioned above has RCI and didn't know if she can use any of it on DCL. I said I wasn't sure but I would check.

Thank you all very much in advance for your help with all of our questions!!!

 

[CACruisin']

We used the Nursery on our first cruise when DD was just 2 so I can answer some of the questions.

So how does it work? Does it run the same as it did for my 4yr old almost 5yr old?

No, Flounders has much more limited hours - something like 9a-1p and 5p-11p if I remember correctly. They do not feed the children, and no outside food can be brought in other than bottles, etc. This has to do with allergy concerns, I think. Also, it is not a "drop in" service. You need to make reservations at the 90 day mark along with your other ressies. Initially, you are limited to 10 hours, but once on board, you can request or be waitlisted for additional babysitting time.

On our 2005 Mexican Riviera cruise (fully booked) we had no problems adding all additional time we requested. However, we were in a suite and concierge took care of it all for us. We ran into other people on board that had not been able to book additional time. So book your most important times first: Palo, Spa, etc. and then when you get additional time it is a nice bonus.

Check in port side get pager and we are good to go.???

Yes, you can get your pager at the port. Only one pager per family is needed for all the kiddos.

Is there a charge for under 2yrs old?

Yes, and there is a minimum 2 hour charge.

How does sit work for shore excursions? Is the nursery open during that time?

Shore excursions are tricky since the nursery is only open in the mornings. We chose to book excursions on our own and take DD2 with us - but that had as much to do with me freaking out about leaving her onboard when we weren't there too. Luckily, on the PC cruise, most of your time is "at sea". Excursions can be "beach days" or half days. Enjoy! You will have a great time and Congrats again to Ann and her family!

 

[milestogo]

Hi Guys,
Well, we're back from our WDW trip (43 this morning, but going up to 72) and frantically hitting all the food stores to stock up for our Xmas and day after Xmas party. The trip was really nice -thanks to all for the info on planning at OKW. It was our first visit to OKW and we really liked it, but took time out to go see the Beach Club ooooo that was nice! We did all the things that everyone has recommended over the past year and really appreciated all the advice. Loved the Osbourne lights with all our Dis-friends. Loved the Epcot Xmas around the world and esp. the candlelight processional. Kringla pretzel and discovered the spoon bread. We did the CA grill with the fireworks and that was spectacular!! We didn't get to the Yak and Yeti because it was barely 50 degrees and windy, we were so cold that it was just plain uncomfortable, so we saw every show at AK loved them and left. Thank goodness for the advice to bring warm clothes. We did blizzard beach 4 days earlier and it was really fun (had never been there.) One of the highlites was the Tea at the Grand Floridian with another Disboarder- that was very special.

Unfortunately, the Mickey Christmas party was a real disappointment. We got there at 6:30 and went to the Twas the night before Xmas and it was sold out and the 8:00 show was almost sold out by 6:34. The Belle show was so full that nobody could get near it. People were lining the streets at 6:30 for the Castle show and parade 2 hours later. The lines for the cookies and hot chocolate were so long and hard to get to that we waiting until 9:00 to get it and still had to wait. Apparently, they didn't empty the park before letting people in, so CM had to stand guard at every entrance looking at the wrist bands so that all the people who stayed in the park couldn't get into the shows. But there were obviously thousands of people who stayed in the park. It was a DVC discount night, so there were a lot of DVC people who were furious. We paid $147. for these tickets to see a parade and fireworks that we get for free every day at DL with our annual passes. I must say the parade was terrific and a little bit different than the one at DL. I doubt we would every cough up the money for that again, but so many people said it was their favorite event of the season that we suspect that it hasn't always been this way. My dad stood with a man who had been going for years and said he'd never seen it this disorganized - he was shocked. Did anyone else have this happen? Or is there a secret trick we should know to make it work better???

Today is our big trip to Hollywood to the Kodak Theater (where they do the Oscars) for the High School Musical Show and then to Pink's Hot Dogs.

We're all ready for the big days, we go to DL for dinner on Xmas eve and then Jonathan goes (as a very festive elf) to hand out presents with Santa at the children's home. Xmas at home, Day after Xmas party, Newport Bay cruise the next day, NYE day we go see the floats for the Rose Parade. I'm trying to finish two classes before NYE, so I'll squeeze that in at 3am!

Karen, sorry we missed you (by a day!) Very good news about the rooms and we don't remember very much about how the nursery worked. Congrats to Ann!


Now for the funniest story of the trip, while on the shuttle cruise from OKW to DTD we met Mary (Iliuvdisney) and her husband -- WHO WE NEVER MET ON THE TA CRUISE! Talk about a small world. :woohoo:


Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[rufustee]

Hello everyone!

Thank you Anna for the great information! I have passed it along to Ann!

We have been busy with holidays. We had my in laws here since the 23rd of Dec. DD really was into Santa this year so that was great to see all her expressions. Alex was home for Christmas for the first time in 10 years plus...

We did have some bad news my dad had another heart attack on Christmas morning. Now I am looking for help at night with him because I just can't up this pace. Alex and I are taking shifts. If anyone knows of anyone looking please pm me. I would appreciate it.
We will be staying home tonight and not going out.

Our winter projects are on hold until we can get things settled down.

We wish everyone a Safe and Happy New Year!

 

[krdisneybound]

Hope everyone has a great day and the start of a wonderful year​

Our cruise is getting closer

129 day and counting​