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

[zakerdog]

Well I have started looking at post cruise accommodation. Are not the DL hotels taking bookings yet? If not why ever not?? I'm really thinking we won't afford that though.

Could there be something going on from Monday 24th like a convention? Candy Cane Inn has rooms for the weekend but not the Monday. Hojo's prices rise considerably on that Monday and I would have thought the weekend rates would be higher really. We did want to stay a few days into that week but I am surprised here.

Not sure if you are using the online system for CCI, but when I booked it also showed rooms for the weekend but none for the Monday, I phoned and got a room for the Monday no problem.

 

[granmaz]

Not sure if you are using the online system for CCI, but when I booked it also showed rooms for the weekend but none for the Monday, I phoned and got a room for the Monday no problem.

How strange. I might send an email then - phoning is a pain from here.

 

[granmaz]

Just had a play online at the CCI, and it looks like their rates aren't actually out for the time after 24th January. I just can't understand that mentality of hotels to be honest, they should be trying to get bookings. At least they aren't booked up, so not as much of a hurry!!!

 

[DCLtravler]

Well I have started looking at post cruise accommodation. Are not the DL hotels taking bookings yet? If not why ever not?? I'm really thinking we won't afford that though.

Could there be something going on from Monday 24th like a convention? Candy Cane Inn has rooms for the weekend but not the Monday. Hojo's prices rise considerably on that Monday and I would have thought the weekend rates would be higher really. We did want to stay a few days into that week but I am surprised here.

I know this is going to sound crazy, but if you really want to save money on a hotel, don't book anything until the day we dock in LA and then go on line in the morning and book on hotwire. We always get 4+ star hotels for around $40-60 a night even when we do that at Christmas. Believe me, I am not normally a gambler about anything, but I have learned my lesson on this one. The later you book the better.

 

[ACDSNY]

We scored 2 Boardwalk studios this morning for our 2 nights before the cruise. Now our before and after the cruise rooms are all booked. Next up flights on June 15th.

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

We scored 2 Boardwalk studios this morning for our 2 nights before the cruise. Now our before and after the cruise rooms are all booked. Next up flights on June 15th.

 

[Poohbug]

Well-my actual planning can begin.

My son's school principle called and said he would be able to make up his missed school work and tests.

I really want to go on this cruise so I think I am going to keep my room as is and just accept that discounts may come out after the penalty. If there are discounts later maybe I will book another room and DH and DS#3 can come too.

I am planning on flying to MCO on 1/5 and just stay at the MCO Hyatt. After the cruise, I am going to spend 2-3 days at DL. It seems like the Super Shuttle does a good job for transfers and I will look at CCI or Hojo for a room. Would love to stay at GC but I think it will be too much $$$. If anyone has any recommendations for transfers-let me know. I know nothing about L.A.

I was thinking about having beverages sent to the MCO hotel but since we are only staying one night, I am afraid they would not get there in time. I am a lightweight drinker anyway, so I think the drink(s) of the day will be fine. If anyone is doing the martini tastings-I would be up for that.

Everyone have a great weekend. We are going to the Madison farmers market and checking out Cows on the Concourse tomorrow. June is Dairy month here in WI. Can't wait to get my squeaky cheese curds and cow cookies.

 

[DVCinderella]

Sorry to keep asking about flights... but I really don't have a clue about domestic flights within the States.

We're trying to get from Washington DC to Orlando on Jan 2. Currently the cheapest available flight (at a reasonable time!) is with Jetblue at $105 one way with taxes. This went up by about $12 compared to 2 days ago!

So my questions are:
1) How much do prices fluctuate? or do they just keep going up?
2) Is this a reasonable price?

$105 w/taxes is not bad (and I would jump on it if you're nervous), but you should be able to do better. At $105, that would mean about $210 r/t, and I've done better than that from further north in the NY/NJ area.

I track airfare to MCO pretty regularly, and I have gotten my best fares 1-3 months beforehand (keep in mind that is travelling during relatively non-peak times...May, Sept, early Dec. 1/2/11 could still be considered "post-holiday travel", so maybe $105 is a good deal.

For anyone who is interested, I just started tracking airfare from the NYC Metropolitan area...since we live in northern NJ, we like to fly out of Newark, White Plains, or Newburgh...I usually don't follow JFK or Laguardia because why go thru the hassle if I can avoid the bridges & traffic.

Jet Blue is only selling through 1/4/11. We plan to fly down 1/5/11.

As of today (6/4/10), the only direct flights on 1/5/11 were:
EWR-MCO
Continental - $119 w/taxes
United - $119 w/taxes

HPN-MCO
AirTran - $119 w/taxes

I'll keep tracking and will keep you updated.

 

[ACDSNY]

Well-my actual planning can begin.

My son's school principle called and said he would be able to make up his missed school work and tests.

Great, welcome aboard!!!

 

[Tami0220]

Welcome! I love cheese curds. I buy them whenever I go to CA and am planning an RV trip to WI to visit the dairies. Yummy! They call them "squeakers" at the Hilmar dairy in Turlock. Cant get enough of them. Have even had them shipped to AZ.

We are staying at the Hyatt MCO on the 5th only. Our flight was changed for the better. We now get in at 5pm. The closest ABC Liquors closes at 10. You can order online to have ready at the store. I am assuming you can call your order directly to the store too. So, if there is anything you want, just pre-order and pre pay and we can pick it up for you.

 

[granmaz]

I know this is going to sound crazy, but if you really want to save money on a hotel, don't book anything until the day we dock in LA and then go on line in the morning and book on hotwire. We always get 4+ star hotels for around $40-60 a night even when we do that at Christmas. Believe me, I am not normally a gambler about anything, but I have learned my lesson on this one. The later you book the better.

Oh, I just couldn't do that. I would worry all cruise long. I want it booked and be able to look forward to where we will be moving on to.

Brilliant if you can do that though.

 

[Tami0220]

Oh, gosh. I couldnt do that either. Everything has to be booked and paid for or I will go crazy stressing over everything. If I miss out on a last minute deal that's OK cause I havent had to worry about anything.

 

[shushh]

$105 w/taxes is not bad (and I would jump on it if you're nervous), but you should be able to do better. At $105, that would mean about $210 r/t, and I've done better than that from further north in the NY/NJ area.

I track airfare to MCO pretty regularly, and I have gotten my best fares 1-3 months beforehand (keep in mind that is travelling during relatively non-peak times...May, Sept, early Dec. 1/2/11 could still be considered "post-holiday travel", so maybe $105 is a good deal.

For anyone who is interested, I just started tracking airfare from the NYC Metropolitan area...since we live in northern NJ, we like to fly out of Newark, White Plains, or Newburgh...I usually don't follow JFK or Laguardia because why go thru the hassle if I can avoid the bridges & traffic.

Jet Blue is only selling through 1/4/11. We plan to fly down 1/5/11.

As of today (6/4/10), the only direct flights on 1/5/11 were:
EWR-MCO
Continental - $119 w/taxes
United - $119 w/taxes

HPN-MCO
AirTran - $119 w/taxes

I'll keep tracking and will keep you updated.

Thank you for the info!

And Alan, thanks for the heads up as well. Might wait until jun 15 and then make a decision.

 

[aan1701]

Thank you for the info!

And Alan, thanks for the heads up as well. Might wait until jun 15 and then make a decision.

You are welcome. I checked after I posted, as of now we run only 2 non stop flights between IAD and MCO. We run several more between BWI and MCO

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Hello fellow PC cruisers!

My family and I will be joining you on Jan 6th…me, DH, DS-5, DD-5 and DG (Dear Grandpa). We will be in adjacent Cat 6A staterooms and our dining seating is Main. We also plan to spend 2-3 nights at DL afterwards.

I’ve hesitated in joining because I can’t follow the thread everyday. So if I ask something that’s already been discussed, please bear with me. I do have a lot of questions swirling through my head.

Here are a few things I’ve been thinking of (in no particular order):

1) Shipping in Advance - I just learned about shipping a box in advance…and since we have 2 staterooms, we can ship 2 boxes…but I’m wondering what to send. I’ve read the FAQ, and I know you can’t ship foods and liquids. I was thinking of maybe beach toys, pirate costumes/accessories, detergent, drier sheets. I’d love to hear what others have shipped in the past, or are planning to ship for this cruise.

2) Discounts/Incentives - I’ve read that this cruise isn’t selling well, and that discounts/incentives may be offered when the balances are due in September (as people drop out). How does this work/affect those of us with existing reservations? Would we have to cancel and rebook to get such offers? And I guess that might result in us losing a desired stateroom or cat? If we booked thru a travel agent, can they get us any possible discounts without sacrificing our existing ressie? Or are upgrades the only possibility for existing ressies?

3) Young Children & Oceaneers Club - I saw the education thread for those bringing school-age children (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2304047). My twins will be in Kindergarten, and 1 month away from their 6th birthday. Anyone else with children this age? DH and I have cruised on the Wonder twice before we had kids, so I don’t have any experience with the OC. But my kids did well socially in Preschool, and I know they will love interacting with other children onboard. My concern is how will OC keep them occupied for 15 days? Not that I plan to leave them in their the whole time but if anyone has done the longer cruises before, does OC really have enough activities to keep the kids from getting bored?

4) Young Children & Ports-of-Call – I have never been to any of the ports-of-call (except CC, which we know is kid-friendly!), but I was wondering how parents with young children are planning to handle the ports-of-call? What will be our most kid-friendly activities/tours?

5) Cell Phones – Sprint is our carrier, and I see they have a cruise package, where you can use your cell on board for $2.49/min (cheaper than the $6.95/min to use DCL phones). We have a Sprint business rep for my job, and I have a question into him re texting. But in the meantime, I was wondering if anyone has used their cell phone on board or in any ports, and if you didn’t already have an international or cruise package as part of your service, was it easy to add & remove just for the cruise? Did the service work? Were the fees what you were promised, or did you spend much more than you expected?

That’s about it for now…looking forward to getting to know the group, and being as active on this thread as I can. Thanks in advance for your answers, advice, and patience (in case I can’t keep up!).

Welcome

Radisson for me and one of my room mates. The other is staying at the Hyatt and coming out on the cruise line bus.

We're booked at the Residence Inn the night before - meeting would depend on the time and what we are up to - typically we stop at Wal Mart / Liquor Store and sometimes drug store, re-pack things a little for boarding and grab some food.

good plan

Welcome DVCinderella and family

tinkryansmom - I'm looking forward to SWA schedule opening up June 15th too. Looks like we'll be leaving on Jan 4th now.

Wish me luck on booking our rooms through DVC in the morning...our first choice will be Boardwalk view studios and second will be Animal Kingdom savanna view studios.

good luck

Shushh, I would sure jump on $102, if it was me!

Good Morning, Everyone

Still hunting a room mate for my cousin . . .

Still working on my renovation project - first potential buyer comes today

Happy day, all!

good luck

Well I have started looking at post cruise accommodation. Are not the DL hotels taking bookings yet? If not why ever not?? I'm really thinking we won't afford that though.

Could there be something going on from Monday 24th like a convention? Candy Cane Inn has rooms for the weekend but not the Monday. Hojo's prices rise considerably on that Monday and I would have thought the weekend rates would be higher really. We did want to stay a few days into that week but I am surprised here.

How are you feeling this week?

How strange. I might send an email then - phoning is a pain from here.

too true.

I know this is going to sound crazy, but if you really want to save money on a hotel, don't book anything until the day we dock in LA and then go on line in the morning and book on hotwire. We always get 4+ star hotels for around $40-60 a night even when we do that at Christmas. Believe me, I am not normally a gambler about anything, but I have learned my lesson on this one. The later you book the better.

not a chance in heck.

 

[ACDSNY]

Let the weekend begin! Enjoy!

One more week until we run away for the weekend to Little River (Fort Bragg, CA), my other happy place.

 

[granmaz]

How are you feeling this week?

Feeling good now thanks. Had a couple of days when i just felt out of sorts and completely drained, but that went. I think I had been overdoing things for a couple of days. So I was put back on resting(sort of) for a while!!!! I'm not a very good patient really. I expect to just jump straight back in there and just can't do nothing. 2 weeks now, so that's it now, just no heavy lifting or gardening etc!! I can cope with that forever!!!!!!!

 

[DCLtravler]

Oh, I just couldn't do that. I would worry all cruise long. I want it booked and be able to look forward to where we will be moving on to.

Brilliant if you can do that though.

Yeah, I don't blame you If I were in your shoes, I would be wary too. But, I thought it worth mentioning. Normally I am quite OCD about these things, however, I do trust Hotwire...I once booked a hotel in Victoria, Canada while on the Ferry over It was actually one of the most beautiful resorts I have ever stayed at!!


I RECEIVED MY FE TODAY!!!!!!!!! I liked it so much I decided to share

Have a great weekend everyone...I'm going "home" for a couple of weeks to visit my family---Northern California here I come!!!
~Melissa

 

[disfaninca]

That's great news Poohbug about your son's principal letting him make up work!

I love your FE Melissa!! Did you order it from ebay?

Well, tomorrow my baby is going to her prom. I can't believe she is graduating from high school in a couple of weeks. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm happy for her and very proud, but I am sad at the same time. It's so hard when they grow up and leave the nest!

 

[LindaBabe]

GOOD Morning everyone!

That's a beautiful Fish Extender! Some one is very clever.

Granmaz, TAKE CARE of yourself, will you please???

Happy day, all!