From WDW to DL With Love - January 06, 2011 part 2

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Happy end of weekend (or I guess Monday for some of you)!

DH and I went to the Company D store (cast member shopping spot) in Anaheim last weekend with some friends and stocked up on the cutest shirts - and I got an adorable Tinkerbell coverup for myself. Anyone else going to try to wear something Disneyish everyday if possible?

I think a friend of ours is going to create our FEs. I made them last time but I am SO NOT a crafter. They were sort of a Frankenstein's Monster thing from the dollar store.

And we put an offer in today on a house.

P.S. I'm a LOST fan and would be happy to commiserate with anyone else at anytime.

Congrats on the house offer and that your fundraiser last night went well!

I haven't bought anything yet. I haven't been to Co. D in a long time...I bought most of my FE gifts there last time so I will start shopping soon!

 

[clungstrum]

Happy end of weekend (or I guess Monday for some of you)!

DH and I went to the Company D store (cast member shopping spot) in Anaheim last weekend with some friends and stocked up on the cutest shirts - and I got an adorable Tinkerbell coverup for myself. Anyone else going to try to wear something Disneyish everyday if possible?

My wife found a couple Mickey Mouse Club House shirts for the kids at the Company D store here in Florida so be looking out for those. We tend to wear quite a bit of Disney clothing, but I doubt it will be everyday. I do have to pull out my Gators shirts a couple times.

 

[granmaz]

any reason not to set up with a laptop and some good scifi in Diversions? There's access to booze there too. Plus nachos in the evenings.

You could look into having a private event at one of the venues and have a big screen. Not sure what it would cost, or even if it would cost anything.

We're doing one sci-fi night in our room (cat 2), we can do more. We have just about everything sci-fi on DVD or mpg.
I would love to open our room to people to see. Probably on canal day would be the best as everyone is wandering the ship anyway.

How nice of you to open up your suite. Thank you. We will al least drop by to say hi.

Yes, Tom and I do indeed work at the National Archives building in College Park, MD---like a lot of people around here we commute from one suburb to another. Sigh. We used to work out in Suitland----just picture the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark---Federal records centers are not pretty!

We are looking into the possibility of driving a rental one-way to FL----my friend and her mom are also coming on this cruise---but they don't want to join our fun group----and we think it might be better/cheaper to drive with 4 people than to fly---plus we know that we'll have our luggage and we won't be stuck on the ground if the weather is too bad for flying. I know we'll be flying one-way back from LA----can't wait to see those SWA fares! I can't remember if Alan posted anything about when the late January fares will come out. This inability to plan my pre and post hotel stays and airfare is just about killing me! We hope to do the Harry Potter thing at Universal before the cruise and stay a few nights at Disneyland after the cruise. My husband turned to me today and asked if we really had to do Disneyland and I said YES! We've never been and I don't know when we'll get the chance to see it anytime soon. Tom really isn't into Disney but he LOVED the 5-night Disney cruise we went on in 2008---he is also a great husband and likes to see me happy and travelling really really makes me happy

Tom sounds like my John, though he is beginning to enjoy Disney himself now. Previously he just went along with me at first, gritting his teeth at time I think. One day we went to a DVC presentation and I just about fell over when he said he wanted to buy! Cruising he always said he didn't want to do at all, but I gently persuaded him to do the WBPC in 2008 for my 60th birthday, and he LOVED it!!!!! This cruise will be our 7th. Again, DL wasn't his final destination of choice, but we managed 3 nights there, and he really really liked the place and we had a great few days.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Hope everybody is well, thankfully we were driving to and from our holidays and not flying!

 

[granmaz]

Great to have you back Lynne, and glad you aren't in Tenerife or somewhere worse!

 

[pahrumpgirl]

It is being reported on the "Live from the Magic" thread that the CD is being offered for $400. Since our cruise is only one day longer, let's hope it's the same for us. I was afraid it would be a whole lot more since that is the same price the 7 day cruise CDs go for.

The last time we sailed they weren't offering CDs so could someone explain how they work. Love the thought but not sure I like the price. But since I buy most of our pictures anyway I guess it isn't too much more. Oh, and about what would the cost be on a 4 night cruise? Am doing one the first of October with the grandkids. First time for them so will be wanting all the pictures I can get.

 

[emum]

Thanks for sharing all your stories about leave / vacation entitlements. so many variations, it seems !

I'm agog that some of you are all soooo organised ! I'll be lucky to start thinking about what to put in FEs come September / October. Actually, i'll need to do a fair bit of reading on the boards, first. I think that's half the fun of a trip like this - all the "reasearch" that needs doing !

Another Dr Who fan from waaaaay back (although not so much these days). I grew up with the series, and Dh and I visited the Dr Who exhibition in Llangollen in Wales back in 1996 - it was uber cool to see so many props up close and personal !

I've survived my first graveyard shift this week - it's 10.30pm here now, so time to hop in the shower for the start of shift 2.

It's also our 18th wedding anniversary on Wednesday - so a hectic week with school back and whatnot.

Hope you all have a great day.

Cheers,
Sally

 

[disfaninca]

Happy Monday everyone!!!!
I hope everyone has a great week!!!!

 

[aan1701]

Just as a freindly reminder, we will be releasing our fares for fly out to MCO in late June. The date has bounced a little, once it stops bounceing I will post again. Ii will keep you updated. Also please do not hesitate to ask me any questions regarding SWA policies, if I know the answer I will give it to you. Have a good one all.

 

[clungstrum]

The last time we sailed they weren't offering CDs so could someone explain how they work. Love the thought but not sure I like the price. But since I buy most of our pictures anyway I guess it isn't too much more. Oh, and about what would the cost be on a 4 night cruise? Am doing one the first of October with the grandkids. First time for them so will be wanting all the pictures I can get.

This is a great deal if you normally take a lot of pictures and spend too much time trying to decide which ones to purchase. They will take all of the pictures for anyone in your stateroom and put them on a CD. They track this primarily by your room key, but also use facial recognition software for pics taken in the terminal and on Castaway Cay. On our 4-night cruise the cost was $299. If you purchase this, you also get 50% off any other photo purchases. Another bonus is they have kiosks on the ship where you can swipe your room key and see all of the pics for your stateroom. The only disadvantage is that the pics on the CD do not include any of the borders.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

This is a great deal if you normally take a lot of pictures and spend too much time trying to decide which ones to purchase. They will take all of the pictures for anyone in your stateroom and put them on a CD. They track this primarily by your room key, but also use facial recognition software for pics taken in the terminal and on Castaway Cay. On our 4-night cruise the cost was $299. If you purchase this, you also get 50% off any other photo purchases. Another bonus is they have kiosks on the ship where you can swipe your room key and see all of the pics for your stateroom. The only disadvantage is that the pics on the CD do not include any of the borders.

Wow I had no idea the CD pictures didn't include the borders. I would never purchase the CD for a few hundred dollards without the awesome borders that DCL puts on--without the borders, I have exactly the same pictures on my own camera--they might not be quite as good of a quality as the professional shots, but they are definitely good and to me, the only reason to get the professional pics is to have the wonderful designs on them.

 

[KayR]

Wow I had no idea the CD pictures didn't include the borders. I would never purchase the CD for a few hundred dollards without the awesome borders that DCL puts on--without the borders, I have exactly the same pictures on my own camera--they might not be quite as good of a quality as the professional shots, but they are definitely good and to me, the only reason to get the professional pics is to have the wonderful designs on them.

We differ then. On our last cruise we had to work hard to get the borders removed on the prints , however it would be nice to be able to play around with the photos and put borders on some of them, just like on the photopass CD. You can add as many different borders to the same basic shot and save it to the CD for later printing etc.

The Shutters photographers get some shots that I wouldn't have done - especially of the kids in the clubs. One of DS nicest photos was done by the shutters crew (as well as our best family photo ever!).

-Kay

 

[JenKatt]

We differ then. On our last cruise we had to work hard to get the borders removed on the prints , however it would be nice to be able to play around with the photos and put borders on some of them, just like on the photopass CD. You can add as many different borders to the same basic shot and save it to the CD for later printing etc.

The Shutters photographers get some shots that I wouldn't have done - especially of the kids in the clubs. One of DS nicest photos was done by the shutters crew (as well as our best family photo ever!).

-Kay

I agree, I don't like the borders. They detract from the photos. I'd rather have the CD sans borders.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

We differ then. On our last cruise we had to work hard to get the borders removed on the prints , however it would be nice to be able to play around with the photos and put borders on some of them, just like on the photopass CD. You can add as many different borders to the same basic shot and save it to the CD for later printing etc.

The Shutters photographers get some shots that I wouldn't have done - especially of the kids in the clubs. One of DS nicest photos was done by the shutters crew (as well as our best family photo ever!).

-Kay

I agree, I don't like the borders. They detract from the photos. I'd rather have the CD sans borders.

Yes I guess everyone is different that's why it would be good if they gave the option to put the borders you want or don't want, then the CD would appeal to both types of people. Me, I'm a "photoholic" taking hundreds of pictures on every vacation, and I don't mean to sound pompous but I take really good pictures IMO, so I dont really need any professional ones without the borders. Seriously, when I go through my prints at home and compare the one I took with the Shutters one, sometimes I can hardly tell the difference if it weren't for the border or "Disney Magic" imprinted at the bottom.

The annoying thing about PhotoPass also is that they don't offer all of the unique borders for your own pictures that you upload--there are significantly more choices to add to the PhotoPass photos, whereas just very basic ones to put on "your" phots, which really annoyed me a few months ago when I waited too long for my PhotoPass photos and they expired, so I uploaded my own shots, only to find that none of the special holiday borders were available for my own photos like they were for the photopass ones.

 

[JenKatt]

Yes I guess everyone is different that's why it would be good if they gave the option to put the borders you want or don't want, then the CD would appeal to both types of people. Me, I'm a "photoholic" taking hundreds of pictures on every vacation, and I don't mean to sound pompous but I take really good pictures IMO, so I dont really need any professional ones without the borders. Seriously, when I go through my prints at home and compare the one I took with the Shutters one, sometimes I can hardly tell the difference if it weren't for the border or "Disney Magic" imprinted at the bottom.

The annoying thing about PhotoPass also is that they don't offer all of the unique borders for your own pictures that you upload--there are significantly more choices to add to the PhotoPass photos, whereas just very basic ones to put on "your" phots, which really annoyed me a few months ago when I waited too long for my PhotoPass photos and they expired, so I uploaded my own shots, only to find that none of the special holiday borders were available for my own photos like they were for the photopass ones.

I'm in the same boat as I take a boatload of photos and same as you, are often the same quality. I purposely take the photos at high resolution so I can have a large format for editting and printing. However, the photos I buy on board are often the family ones, or ones that I am actually in. I have a friend who is a professional photographer who I give the photos too and she scans them, cleans them up and puts them on a CD for me. This way I can make copies or what not of them (let's not discuss whether this is right or not, I bought them). If I want some border I'd like to add it, not have it forced. I have never cared for any of the borders DCL uses, they've always seemed "cheap", but they have a wide spread appeal to many, so have at it.
So DCL very well may never see a dollar from me for another print since I can get the CD without the frames.
Since they are without frames, you can always add them digitally.

 

[danfromca]

Wow I had no idea the CD pictures didn't include the borders. I would never purchase the CD for a few hundred dollards without the awesome borders that DCL puts on--without the borders, I have exactly the same pictures on my own camera--they might not be quite as good of a quality as the professional shots, but they are definitely good and to me, the only reason to get the professional pics is to have the wonderful designs on them.

I'm in the same boat as I take a boatload of photos and same as you, are often the same quality. I purposely take the photos at high resolution so I can have a large format for editting and printing. However, the photos I buy on board are often the family ones, or ones that I am actually in. I have a friend who is a professional photographer who I give the photos too and she scans them, cleans them up and puts them on a CD for me. This way I can make copies or what not of them (let's not discuss whether this is right or not, I bought them). If I want some border I'd like to add it, not have it forced. I have never cared for any of the borders DCL uses, they've always seemed "cheap", but they have a wide spread appeal to many, so have at it.
So DCL very well may never see a dollar from me for another print since I can get the CD without the frames.
Since they are without frames, you can always add them digitally.

One other factor for this cruise - Shutters will be the only way to get pictures of you going through the panama canal from the shore (Shutters photographers get off the ship and shoot pictures of the passengers on deck).

 

[WDW Princess 71]

One other factor for this cruise - Shutters will be the only way to get pictures of you going through the panama canal from the shore (Shutters photographers get off the ship and shoot pictures of the passengers on deck).

Yes these will be the most important pics of the whole trip!! Does anyone from the previous PC cruise have any tips about how to make sure you get good pics taken of you from the shore photographers? Like any particular places to be and wave? I would be crushed if I don't get at least one good pic of me on the ship going through the canal!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Yes these will be the most important pics of the whole trip!! Does anyone from the previous PC cruise have any tips about how to make sure you get good pics taken of you from the shore photographers? Like any particular places to be and wave? I would be crushed if I don't get at least one good pic of me on the ship going through the canal!

The photographers snap as many pictures as they can. I know we had ours done from our balcony. When we were going through the locks, we made sure we were on our balcony and waved madly at the photographer. He pointed at us and we smiled and he snapped! Also...don't be afraid to call out to them (if they are close enough) or on deck..ask! They are happy to do so.

 

[danfromca]

Yes these will be the most important pics of the whole trip!! Does anyone from the previous PC cruise have any tips about how to make sure you get good pics taken of you from the shore photographers? Like any particular places to be and wave? I would be crushed if I don't get at least one good pic of me on the ship going through the canal!

If you have a balcony, you should be able to get a good shot.

If you don't, here's a secret: the top deck is likely to be CROWDED - especially deck 10 forward. But deck 4 tends to be much less crowded, and it's thus much easier to get a good spot at the railing for the Shutters people to catch you.

 

[aan1701]

If you have a balcony, you should be able to get a good shot.

If you don't, here's a secret: the top deck is likely to be CROWDED - especially deck 10 forward. But deck 4 tends to be much less crowded, and it's thus much easier to get a good spot at the railing for the Shutters people to catch you.

This is what DW did on the Westbound in 08 and they got 2 good shots of her on Deck 4. Of I can find them I will post them. She was right, Deck 4 was empty. It was great, we had our BBQ lunch on Deck 4, the special cart with the T-Shirts comerating the day came by. No line. It was great.