July 1st, 2006 070106 07/01/06 20060701 07012006

[ldb1030]

Ahhhhhhh is it time to go yet???
My clothes are in a pile in the guest room! I tried to write down what I was wearing each night for dinner, DH also. That seemed to help me figure things out!

I'm working Mon-Tues. the week we leave! I got a co-worker to cover me on Wed. (we leave Thursday) because by the time I took alexa to get her retainer, got the cat to his "cat hotel" etc...I would be totally useless to anyone! Actually my co-workers can tell you I'm already useless at this point! I get under the 40 day mark before a vacation and I might as well stay home!

 

[DVC98]

I have significantly reduced the amount of clothes I bring on a cruise. The first cruise I had an outfit for every night, shorts, capris, tops, everything!!! I got on the ship and was in my bathing suit the majority of the time. I decided I could mix & match outfits for dinners and could cut down on other clothes. I do have to make a trip to Old Navy to try and find a few 4th of July t's....they're always good for those $5 ones! Other than that, I think we're in pretty good shape, although DH hates to shop and will end up needing to go out last minute to find a few things.

Has there been any word about where people are meeting?

Sheila

 

[mattmommy]

I hear you with the mix and match. Mom and Dad are asking me what we're bringing for the boys (dh and ds5). I went to Landsend.com and bought matching polos for the 4 casual nights. They can wear tan docker type pants those nights. I figure sometimes they wear them a whole day at a time. If they wear them for 2 hours a night they should be fine. I have a Tide to Go pen and some febreze. If they get stinky or stained I'll have them cleaned. Saved 6 pairs of pants from being packed right there. DS5 also has tan pants that look nice, but zip off at the knee to go to shorts. We're doing WDW the second week so I'm trying to bring double duty items. Old Navy has tons of gauzy type tops for the ladies. Very light, wrinkle proof and can be scrunched down to about an inch big and still open up nice.

Had beautiful and hot weather here in NJ. When it's cold and you're trying to pack for "hot" it's difficult. Now I'm thinking, "are my clothes light and airy enough?"

 

[todayray]

I am soooo ready to pack too! My Kohls experience wasn't as good! I had all these great outfits to try on and unfortunately gravity has started doing it's nasty tricks and i looked bad in all of them except one..a nice longer staright pair of shorts and a pretty, gauzy top...I get home, and my son said it looked bad and reminded him of a teacher he doesn't like, and I have to agree..it didn't appeal to me anymore at home either...Then (it gets worse)...we head to the pool on Memorial Day, and my husband says my swimsuit "could be better!" Ahhhh! I will try again on Saturday, I have two mystery shops to do and my son will be away on a band trip, so I'll have some time to shop some more. I'm set for pirate night--I agree with the "wear it again" comments. I have a pair of white capris from last year and got a nice little gauzy top at H&M, so didn't have to spend much.
Work is getting tough! I spend way too much time on the DIS boards! But I can't stop! I fear I will go through withdrawl when the trip is over, guess we'll have to sign up for another!! Michelle

 

[happyatdisney]

LOL, I know I will be in withdrawal after this cruise! I just hate it when we don't have some sort of Disney planned. Life after July 9 will be rough!!

Had to smile about the teen swimsuit thing. We will probably be doing that this weekend, and I am NOT looking forward to it.

One month people!! We are down to one month!!!

 

[sitchu2]

we went to the beach mr sanchos, right next to playa mia.

 

[mattmommy]

we head to the pool on Memorial Day, and my husband says my swimsuit "could be better!"

Your husband is a very brave man indeed. I know I don't look good in a bathing suit, but I don't want to be told. I've official hit old-lady land. Bathing suit has a skirt and a built in bra!!! All I need now is the bathing cap with those discs on it.

Somebody needs to assure me everything will be ok. We can't find our AP's. I thought we put them in our frequent flier folder. We just went in December. At least we're not the folks that look for their bc 2 days before. I have our passports in the safety deposit box ready to be picked up and now I'm having a stroke. I know we have them. It's just a matter of where. DH is a pack rat of epic proportions. If I let him have his way our home would be a fire hazard.

 

[ldb1030]

Work is getting tough! I spend way too much time on the DIS boards! But I can't stop! I fear I will go through withdrawl when the trip is over, guess we'll have to sign up for another!! Michelle

Michelle- You should TOTALLY prepare yourself for PCD (post-cruise-depression)!!! It's a VERY VERY bad sickness! Everyone who goes on a Disney Cruise will experience it and there is no way to keep from getting it, no matter how many times you wash your hands!!
It seems to get worse with each cruise! I have found the ONLY cure for this sickness is to book another cruise!!!

 

[ldb1030]

we went to the beach mr sanchos, right next to playa mia.

Great! That's what we are thinking about! How was it?? Everything back up and running?

 

[mattmommy]

I trust my dh to look through his things to find our ap's. I rechecked where he checked. Good thing. They were in his side of the headboard. WHEW.

 

[DVC98]

Oh I remember those plastic swim caps with the lovely strap that went under the chin and snapped

I'm in the same bathing suit situation - skirted bottom and "push-up" top!

Do those tide pens really work? I've never tried one but maybe it's a good item to pack.

 

[Husker4040]

LOL on the swimsuits! I SHOULD be wearing one with a skirt that goes to my knees, but since I don't plan on spending a LOT of time in it, I am going to wear one I already had, but it does have a built in bra.

I got an email from my TA a couple hours ago that she got our Palo confirmed! We go on Monday night at 6:00, all 14 of us. That was the last detail NOT in my control, and I'm glad she was in charge of that because I had forgotten that today was the day for that. Way too many things going on right now, and I just added 2 more things to my over burdened June! I'm sure there will be more before it's over. I really do need to start thinking about packing. Not doing it quite yet, but making sure we have enough suitcases! Holy Cow!

Sara got her braces off today, and she looks fantastic! One more kid to go. I'm just glad to see the results of all that money!

30 days!!!



Patti

 

[ldb1030]

Oh I remember those plastic swim caps with the lovely strap that went under the chin and snapped

I'm in the same bathing suit situation - skirted bottom and "push-up" top!

Do those tide pens really work? I've never tried one but maybe it's a good item to pack.

My sister swears by those Tide pens! I'm sure she'll have one on the ship if you need one! We took our parents out Sunday for their 50th wedding anniversary and she felt the need to use it several times!

I may have to get one myself!

Patti- tell Sara congrats! Alexa has 3 weeks to go!

 

[mattmommy]

My ds5 spilled chocolate milk on his WHITE polo shirt in the am at the Boardwalk. The Tide to Go pen really helped. It's easier to carry than the shout wipes which tend to shred on me. You do have to catch the stain as it happens and it works great for me. Carry one with me at all times.

I think they should bring back the old fashioned bathing suits. Neck to knees!!!

That's great that you got all 14 in Palo. Somebody on the board listed a private room at Palo and that you contact the person in charge directly. I did that one day after our 90 day mark for our party of 10. We go on Thursday at 6. I hope my family enjoys it after all the hype it's been given. Just give me a souffle and a diet Coke and I'm good to go.

If you see a large group of people where the women are wearing everything but a burka to the pool--that's us!!!

The palest one is Aunt Francie (doing great-thanks for the well wishes and hugs ) and she lives in Gainesville, FL!!!


30 days ACK. How many piece of luggage is everybody bringing?

 

[DVC98]

Ok I just wrote a reply and lost it!

Anyway, the chocolate souffle is the best, my DH would do Palo's just for that dessert

Not sure on the number of suitcases, may go with a couple of smaller ones rather than the large ones - easier to handle the small ones. If I let my youngest DD choose, she'd bring all of the suitcases........mostly for shoes - she has a bit of a shoe fetish

We're gonig to WDW from the 8th - 11th (after the cruise), didn't someone else say they'd be there also?

Well........my oldest DD got her license today (too many emotions - for me!!!) When I called the insurance company I didn't even ask the price to put her on the policy - I had called them a couple of months ago and I think I already mentioned this.......we're looking at over $2K to put her on the policy (the price of living in Massachusetts)....but she has to be on there, what can you do!

 

[ldb1030]

Ahhh yes! The dreaded auto insurance rates of adding a teenager!
Looked at my renewal online yesterday and about had a heart failure!
It doubled! I was so bothred by it last night, I called Progressive and asked how adding a 15 yr old could double my rate! Wellllll, they had her listed as having her "real" license, which she WON'T have until she turns 16 next April!
After realizing THAT small fact, the rate went back down to "normal"!
Not looking forward to next April that's for sure! In the meantime, I'm doing ALOT of shopping around for auto insurance!

The airline, and the DCL for that matter, will only allow for 2 suitcases each so I'm sure that's where we will end up! 1 will probably just be for shoes for Alexa and I!

 

[mattmommy]

We're going to wdw the second week through the 16th. We have a Hilton timeshare we'll be staying in. LOVE IT. Plus the 3 of us have AP (as read in previous posting). All we have to is worry about food. The family we're going with eats burgers every freaking meal except breakfast. We usually do 2 meals. One of which is a nice sit down meal--Prime Time Cafe, etc. The people who live in NJ have to drag everybody to a decent restaurant every once in a while. I'm not saying eat at Victoria and Albert's for crying out loud.

 

[DVC98]

Unfortunately we can't shop around for auto insurance - it's regulated in Mass so the only way to cut down is to cut your coverage - and I won't do that with a new teenage driver.

We also have AP's and stay at our DVC resort so, similar to you, we only have to do food and we typically go to the grocery store the first day. We also do a nice meal - we do one real nice one during the week, last time it was Yachtsman Steak House - that was great. DD and I did Brown Derby at MGM last weekend, just for their cobb salad....it's very good. I can't do burgers constantly but I will admit, I do like a Disney burger - don't know what it is, but they are good! Maybe it's like going to Fenway and having a hot dog - something about the atmosphere!!!

A little off topic - I skimmed the e-mails about someone going to see a show in NYC.....can you tell me where you stayed? We're looking at doing a weekend in October, the girls have never been to NYC.

Sheila

 

[happyatdisney]

Sheila, we were the ones who went to NYC last weekend. Melissa and I took the train from Baltimore and were at Penn Station in just over 2 hours. It was great. We stayed at the Loews Regency which was VERY nice, using DVC points. Gotta tell you: we were spoiled. We would have never stayed in that expensive of a place without DVC. The whole time I kept telling Melissa, "don't get used to this........." We saw Phantom of the Opera and really enjoyed it. Very nice mom and daughter weekend.

Re: car insurance for teens...........OMG, I am afraid to check to see what will happen to ours. Melissa gets her learner's in August. She can't wait, but me.......... She is eligible for her license (assuming she has fulfilled all the driving hours she needs) in February. Wonder if I can stretch that out to next summer............

And, add me to the skirted swimsuit ladies! At least the ones these days are somewhat attractive. Remember the ones that had the BIG ruffled skirts? And yes, I too remember the lovely swimcaps........AND I remember when they were a requirement to swim at any public pool! Ouch, those things hurt when you took them off: they pulled your hair!!!

Congrats to all the girls getting braces off in the next few weeks. The cruise will be the perfect time to show off those new smiles

 

[ldb1030]

Unfortunately we can't shop around for auto insurance - it's regulated in Mass so the only way to cut down is to cut your coverage - and I won't do that with a new teenage driver.

We also have AP's and stay at our DVC resort so, similar to you, we only have to do food and we typically go to the grocery store the first day. We also do a nice meal - we do one real nice one during the week, last time it was Yachtsman Steak House - that was great. DD and I did Brown Derby at MGM last weekend, just for their cobb salad....it's very good. I can't do burgers constantly but I will admit, I do like a Disney burger - don't know what it is, but they are good! Maybe it's like going to Fenway and having a hot dog - something about the atmosphere!!!

A little off topic - I skimmed the e-mails about someone going to see a show in NYC.....can you tell me where you stayed? We're looking at doing a weekend in October, the girls have never been to NYC.

Sheila

WOW! So how does that work? You pick and insurance company and that's who you have to stay with? Or do you mean it would not matter what company you went with, they all have the same rates? How do insurance companies compete in Mass? Guess they don't it sounds like!?
That stinks! And no I would not cut the coverage by any means! I just don't know how people afford it!

On to a MUCH better subject: NYC! Alexa and I went last summer with 2 other moms and daughters! We stayed at Hotel Newton which is on the upper west side! It was a GREAT location! We walked to central park and the subway was right outside the door so it was so easy to get to times square etc.....Now, it was NOT the Ritz or the W by any means but it was clean, fun location and the people there were very nice and helpful! Fun restaurants in the area also! Really felt like we were "living" in NYC! I can't wait to go back!
We found the Hotel Newton in a Frommers guide and I pretty much trust what he says!

Okay, I'm going to bed and dream about the cruise.........and all I still have left to do!!!!!!