halloween cruise/ Magic: October 28th-nov..4th 2006

[awoltoday]

Teri got 3700!!!

 

[buckifan]

BlueJacets huh??? Didn't they play the Minnesota Wild last week? Okay, I am done talking smack, please take it easy on me on the 28th?? I know your football team rocks. By the way, who do you play tomorrow????

We are playing Indiana here at the shoe......The whole town is in an uproar because the game is only being broadcast on ESPNU. Most cable companies here don't carry that channel. So, we'll be listening to this one on the radio. It's been 10 years since we've had to listen to a Buckeye game on the radio!!

 

[missyoh8]

OSU plays Indiana this weekend........most can't watch the game here because it is on the new ESPN U? I think the spread is 30 points.....

I saw about the Toblerone martini too! yummmy

Have a safe trip Kritter........

 

[buckifan]

Our youngest son LOVES hockey! He knows our teams (OSU and BlueJackets) don't always win.........he loves them both anyway.

We can take your hockey loss though........you can have this one!



Missy

I wish I had known this sooner.....we could have met at the Chiller to let the kids skate while we talked!! Kylie LOVES ice skating......she's not a hockey fan, but still loves to be on the ice.

 

[Tluvs2talk]

Teri got 3700!!!

Woo hoo!!!!

 

[my3m]

YOU guys are making me soo excited. DH and I are having margiritas while we are finishing packing...YIPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [/QUOTE

Same here, having Mai Tai while stressing in packing.

I just know I will forget something no matter how organized I am. Oh well....

Kristin - your twins are sooo cute. I was just telling my 13 year old about you and Heather. She loves toddlers so I bet she would love to meet your twins. See ya. Cant sleep

 

[kritter]

Thanks for all of the safe trip wishes!!!!!

But you guys still have one more day to put up with me!!!LOL!!!!!!!


Anyone planning on doing a live report while we cruise?????

 

[kritter]

YOU guys are making me soo excited. DH and I are having margiritas while we are finishing packing...YIPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [/QUOTE

Same here, having Mai Tai while stressing in packing.

I just know I will forget something no matter how organized I am. Oh well....

Kristin - your twins are sooo cute. I was just telling my 13 year old about you and Heather. She loves toddlers so I bet she would love to meet your twins. See ya. Cant sleep

Oh my twins will love your 13 year old. Hanna is soo into older girls... Whenever she see a older girl she says, "I am into big girls mom!" She loves older girls.

 

[GoofyDrivesACar]

Anyone planning on doing a live report while we cruise?????

I was thinking you might do the live thread, as your DH will have his Blackberry????

 

[kritter]

I was thinking you might do the live thread, as your DH will have his Blackberry????

He will have it but it really will not work on all of the islands probally only St. ST.Thomas... But maybe we can convince him to let us all post a bit...LOL ..He doesn't let us ever us it.. But believe me he finds time to check the Yankee scores when they are playing....

 

[gocar24]

I hope everyone gets packed and has a safe trip down to Florida. We are leaving in the morning!

Can't wait to meet everyone on Saturday! We are staying at the Hilton on Friday night so we will miss all the fun at the Radisson.

Have a Happy Weekend!!!!

 

[GoofyDrivesACar]

I hope everyone gets packed and has a safe trip down to Florida. We are leaving in the morning!

Can't wait to meet everyone on Saturday! We are staying at the Hilton on Friday night so we will miss all the fun at the Radisson.

Have a Happy Weekend!!!!

Safe Travels - see you in a week.

 

[wndrmite]

I then told her of WNDRMITE's travel plans, and she got even more panicky...I thought she was going to contact Wndrmite herself and chew her out So, Wndrmite, if you get a strange woman contacting you telepathically, that would be my sister...just ignore her!

That is too funny.... my sis-n-law that is travelling with us is also freaking out... she calls me once a day to make me tell her we WILL make the boat..... LOL!!!

Well.... Kristen have a safe trip Sunday, and to everyone else that has left or is about to... BE CAREFUL!!

We will be the ones running along the channel yelling... WAIIIIITTTTT FOR USSSSS!!!!!!

 

[wndrmite]

PS::::

Saturday, the 21st is me and the girls 4 year "gotcha day"


We say Gotcha Day... kinda like brithday but it our celebration of the day I got'em!!!


We are making a GOTCHA cake, and having some GOTCHA pancakes for breakfast...


Sorry, had to share it with you all.. very special day for us!!!!



NIGHT!!

 

[GoofyDrivesACar]

PS::::

Saturday, the 21st is me and the girls 4 year "gotcha day"


We say Gotcha Day... kinda like brithday but it our celebration of the day I got'em!!!


We are making a GOTCHA cake, and having some GOTCHA pancakes for breakfast...


Sorry, had to share it with you all.. very special day for us!!!!



NIGHT!!

Congrats on your Gotcha Day, that is wonderful

 

[awoltoday]

PS::::

Saturday, the 21st is me and the girls 4 year "gotcha day"


We say Gotcha Day... kinda like brithday but it our celebration of the day I got'em!!!


We are making a GOTCHA cake, and having some GOTCHA pancakes for breakfast...


Sorry, had to share it with you all.. very special day for us!!!!



NIGHT!!

Too cool! They need a smiley for that!

gocar24 - Enjoy your trip! see you on the ship!

 

[captaincrash]

Crash,

Loved the boo you are too much that you did that...Hope we get to see you before we all set sail...

Safe travels folks! I'll be in town - and if I do not see some (many) of you who are about to be embarked - have a wild and wonderful time!

If anyone has any potential vulnerability to sea sickness... go get the ginger pills (trader joes or a health food/vitamin store?), and or get an accupressure band, or get the electric relief bands. You can also bank on the dramamine - but remember it does NOT take effect for many hours and is not known for helping after the ONSET of sea sickness. However, the accupressure and electric relief bands ARE cited as capable of helping and relieving the effects AFTER onset.

On our short list of things to take are....

... a short 6-10' extension cord with a multi-priong at the end. That is to provide power for your electronic gear ove a larger area of the cabin.

... a spare piece of luggage for the things you'll buy on the voyage. IE, we bring a soft cargo bag which on the last voyage.

... we bring a roll of packing tape - indispensible for whatever. And easier then scrounging or bumming one off the gest services counter.

... we always carry a spare digital camera and memory card(s). on the last sailing we know of four DIS folks who either had an accident losing a digicam, 2 cards corrupted and possibly irretreivable, and one faulty partially usable digicam.

... bring a few large zip lock bags. Invaluable for whatever... like carrying meaningful walking snacks ashore on St Thomas or St Maarten rather then buy from street venders. Also, a fair snack in the shoulder bag on hand anytime beats scrounging for a snack when there's nothing decent near by. Of course, this does not prevent you from buying local snacks if that is of interest to you. We're mildly paranoid of stuff that is not instituitional food when we're outside of the US. AND - we are slightly guarded about food from many domestic purveyors of a so called "square meal"! OK... what do we pack off the ship? Room service sandwiches, pizza, cereal boxes from breakfast, lobster tails and steaks. OK, maybe not the steaks! LOL!

... make sure your vital docs (ID, passports, birth certificates) are with you on your shoulder etc.. while passing through the airports. We met one family who had a total nightmare with their docs. They arrived at the ship to find they had left 3 bags at the airport - one with a childs' homework and another with all their boarding docs and ID... and a computer bag. They ran all the way back to MCO to retrieve them and scramble back to board the ship. Only to again leave the computer bag in the rental car! They retrieved the computer bag on returning to the rental office post cruise. Amazing but true. Watch your bags - have a count of all your loose items to recount after the security check points and when moving from point to point.

.... always a good idea to have a photocopy of your vital docs and credit cards in a 2nd secure place for emergencies. We have never had a need to refer to them - but it is an alternative emergency reference - just in case.

... if you have not considered it before (I know we never did until some other DIS folks suggested and invited us to try it)... do try the Palos' brunch. It is well worth it even though there is LESS service effort involved from the staff. I don't want to say much to spoil the "discovery experience"... but I will say my spouse was quite happy with the brunch. Most folks think of dinner at Palos'.... nope .... think dinner and BRINCH. And try it early in the voyage if you can so you can consider a 2nd go at it if you like it enough.

... don't miss your character breakfast. It's time and date is printed on your dining tickets. But if you forget when it is and where your dining tickets are - just ask your dining staff. AND, if you don't like the time or date of your character breakfast - then request it be changed to something more suitable. And failing that - try walking in on anther character dining shift without the reservation and feign ignorance. They seat everyone where-ever and it works on a voyage where they are NOT jam packed with PAX and KIDS. A lot of the adult only cabins who have assignments to a character breakfast simply don't show up for it! Imagine that?!? So we noted we could have walked into just about ANY character breakfast and done it more then once. BUT - remember it is not really about the breakfast - it's about getting with the characters for those who enjoy that sort of photo op!

... Do take advantage of the COVE CAFE... it is for adults only and I only found it on the 3rd sailing. It is really a good place to relax. As are the secret deck 7 veranda aft. GO all the way aft on deck 7 and just fish through the doors furthest aft. I think there are times when they rope it off or lock it shut though. AND - there is another tiny secret veranda on ... I think it's 8 though I never went there myself. But 7 is a great place to sneak a quiet private moment for yourselves.

... Try to get in early to snag good seats for the shows. Especially the big shows as they fill fast if your slow to get to the theater - and you could find yourselves pushed off to the side. Which is NOT SO BAD IMHO if you have to show up close to curtain. Just walk down the side and sit close up front - which I still prefer over sitting far back. Off axis viewability of all the productions is excellent !

... at the pirate party .... if you like those gold chocolate coins... then they have them piled up all over the buffett tables - sometimes in a treasure chest piled high. SO brig along your zip lock bag if you're a nut for that sort of stuff. I'm such a nut.

... BRING a foaming glitter craft ink/GLUE in one or more colors. We got Mickey hats from a kids club activity then took them to the guest relations desk and asked that they be signed by Mickey and personalized with the foam glitter ink bottle pens. You'll get it back on the last evening of the cruise.

... check you navigator for the nite they do the pillow case thing in the kids club. You can then take THESE to guest services and have ALL the characters sign and personalize the pillowcase for you child - or get a spare and have it personalized for a special friend who is NOT on the cruise!? Again, these items will be returned onthe last evening of the cruise. I would recommend you pack and furnish a set of multi-colored sharpies to add color to your pillow cases... otherwise they will use a black sharpie and give you the one they used when it is all returned to ya!

... on the last afternoon/early early evening at castaway caye they stage a "graduation" for the kids. TRY TO ATTEND IT... as your kid(s) will get a Disney U T-shirt and Mickey square HAT with ears! A rare token treat. Plus - you can photograph your child on stage with Mickey and Minnie if you can get a good photo vantage point. If you're up front near an asile then you have a 50/50 chance of a close up shot of your child getting on and off stage.

Here's my daughter 2 years ago... she cried a bit cuz I rushed her off to attend it...​

... If you have a special occasion while embarked (like a BD) then you can request a special visit from a favorite character. I think it is done through gest services. I have not had it done for us - but I was tagged by a fellow DIS family who wanted me to snap photos of their special private character meet for their daughter as their digi-cam was having serious problems. I was mildly amazed to see Stitch comeout of the characters' door in SHUTTERS to meet them for a short semi-private visit right there! It was their daughters' birthday and Stitch was her favorite character! He came out - did hugs and posed for photos for about 5-10 minutes. Amazing.... as I requested a character visit for my ice cream eating contest to officiate and they told me "no". I guess it was a private event and not really an official Disney thing... plus I was told by someone else that in past years DCL would CHARGE for a private character appearance. Not sure if it was a paid for thing now with Stitch.

... OK... and this is MY FAVORITE SECRET TIP... when they do the GOLDEN MICKEYS show... just before they start send someone from your party to go OUTSIDE of the theater to that area just outside of the gift shops - where they have the mural of walt Disney... and they will be shooting video footage LIVE to present to the audience just prior to the show starting. The line for this forms on the right when you're facing forward. If the line looks longish - no worries as they will start taking folks to shoot video two and three at once.... so the line goes quick and it makes for a nice little surprise for your otherwise unsuspecting family and friends inside. AND it's better if you can have someone shoot a little video of you on the big screen inside while you're outside. AND ... remember to be ready to say something when you're asked if you wanna say anything special to the folks in the theater!

... You MIGHT want to send a small case of drinking water in bottles aboard if you prefer your walking water to be filtered and fresh in a sealed bottle... especially while ashore. I know it's just two islands plus castaway caye while will have convenient water/beverage stations. But = we always buy a small case or pack of bottled water and if you pay $0.50 per medium bottle ashore you'll save $2.50 or so versus a similar sized bottle being sold on the ship at $3! So a 6 pack of bottles will provide you with 3 bottles per visit at St Thomas and St Maarten and save you about $15. We bring on a case of 24 bottles and always have a couple in the stroller = and we use them while on the ship on days at sea. It's more convenient then running up to deck 9 aft or hunting otherwise. If we used 20 bottles then we saved $50 versus buying the same number from DCL! Some people send up the case if boxed. We put it into the spare cargo bag alone with some other soft but low value stuff. When the water is gone you have space in the cargo bag for things you bought while being a tourist!

OK... that's enuf for now. If I tried I might think of more - but is probably enough. If only ONE idea helps a several to have a more comfortable trip - then it was worth my effort here.

At any rate... have a great trip everyone!!!

Cheers!

Tom

 

[buckifan]

PS::::

Saturday, the 21st is me and the girls 4 year "gotcha day"


We say Gotcha Day... kinda like brithday but it our celebration of the day I got'em!!!


We are making a GOTCHA cake, and having some GOTCHA pancakes for breakfast...


Sorry, had to share it with you all.. very special day for us!!!!



NIGHT!!

LOVE it!!! How sweet!!

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!!!

 

[missyoh8]

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!


wndrmite, you are so fortunate to have put yourself in this position! I am so happy for all of you. I truly can not think of a day that would be more important and meaningful than Gotcha Day.

 

[misseulalie]

I'm planning on bringing my laptop. I was going to do a "quasi" live trip report. I was going to write up everything I did that day on word, THEN connect to the internet for a couple of minutes to post it. This way I don't spend major $$ on wireless access.


Jennifer