July 23, 2005 West Coast Cruise

[disneyfamilyforever]

Here is the info I know on pirate night....got from these boards...
It is on Tuesday night in PV. If you go to dinner your waiters are dressed up like pirates and they give everyone a bandana to wear. Apparently great picture taking with characters (Mickey/Minnie are pirates) and something about a backdrop set up and pictures with Captain Hook. Then at 9:45 there is a show that starts on deck 9 with the characters---captain hook swings down from the stacks---everyone says it is a blast. Then there are fireworks done by Disney. They also have a buffet that night on deck 9 that people say is good but sometimes you are too full from dinner. But those that stay in PV until late and skip their regular dinner rotation say it is great! So if you are trying to decide whether or not to stay and eat dinner in PV before getting on the boat---skip it and eat at the Disney buffet. This night use to be a tropical night but Disney has changed it. But alot of people still wear tropical. As far as costumes, there was a discussion (discussion title pirate attire-see pictures here) about a shirt for the guys that is on sale at Kohl's for 16.99. I bought that for the DH in black. I found a costume at Party City--discounted $19.99-- for one DD. For me and the other two DD's we just bought some fabric and are going to sew a cheap skirt and tie on a sash. Should be interesting since I really don't know how to sew! We will see what we end up with!
Now others have said they wear red and white striped shirts, pants rolled up for the guys, capri's for the girls and get pirate hats and eye patches at a party store or oriental trading.
That's all I know about it!

 

[DL_DCA_fans]

The Door Magnets are a way of dressing up your exterior cabin room door. As you go down the corridor, all you see is the same door. There are a number of reasons people use them including announcing birthdays and/or anniversaries, helps the little ones recognize their cabin if the door is decorated, etc. Home Depot has paint chips in the shape of Mickey's head that other cruisers use to help decorate their door. The Alien Green paint chip is used by fellow cruisers to symbolize that they are member of the DISboards.

 

[disneyfamilyforever]

There is a whole long thread on this that has great ideas. Take a look and you can see tons of examples that are awesome.
The web site disneyexperience.com has fonts and complete Disney backdrops that you can copy, add your own words and print. You can print on magnet paper you find at an office store-Avery-5 sheets for $10-or use magnet strips from a craft store-cheaper. You can do a search on the internet for Disney clipart too. I even took a picture of my kids stuffed Disney Mickey and Minnie and used that. I have also copied the front of a Disney coloring book. You can do anything.
I loved the idea of using the Home Depot paint samples that are colored Mickey heads-nice size, cutting them out and putting a magnet on them. You can hook on string and make them look like balloons. I am so impressed with the person that came up with that!!!!!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Hi all, thanks so much for the California Adventure info. My boys are 10 and 12 so I think we will try it! The tips everyone gave are great. We are leaving Saturday and spending a week in So Cal before the cruise. I've started packing and have given up on one suitcase for each of us and now have 5 for the 4 of us. It's those formal clothes that kill me, extra pair of shoes, etc.! Does anyone feel the same? I did get a great tip on these boards about leaving one suitcase just for the cruise clothes that we won't need before.

One more question, since a lot of Californians seem to be on this thread. We wanted to do a water park in the area (including San Diego) does anyone have a suggestion? I read about one near Knott's Berry Farm.

Thanks!!

As far as water parks..there is Soak City across from Knott's and owned by Knott's. It is a small water park compared to some of the water parks around but I like it better then the others. There is a wave pool which is fun. About 12 water slides. A bigger water park in the area is Raging Waters in San Dimas but I did not care for it. You can locate information on the web for either park. There is also Wild Rivers in Irvine (about 20 minutes from Disneyland) but I have not been there so I can not advise you about it. San Diego is about 1 1/2 hours from Disneyland. Depending on traffic, it can be 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours to get there. It's very nice if you have never been to the area. The big travel spot is Sea World and the Wild Animal Park which are both nice. The Wild Animal Park is unique in that you take a tram to see the animals and they are in habitats that resemble their own in the wild. There is also Legoland on the way down to San Diego in Carlsbad (about 1/2 hour before San Diego).

Hope this helps. Lots to see in the area.

Desiree

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

When I made my door magnets...somehow (don't ask me how) I was not aware of the Disboard color so I don't have the alien green but I have mickey shaped magnets that I cut out from a stencil and then took paper that I printed our names and favorite Disney Character on an applied to the magnet (adhesive). They came out nice.

As for Pirate Night..we have Tropical outfits that match (Disney Direct) and bought eye patches and a gold hoop earing from DL last weekend. As much as I would love to dress up in costume, I couldn't find full costumes and I don't sew.

Can't wait for the cruise!

Desiree

 

[vrntnns]

Well I'm back, I got the PassPorter book... all I have to say is, "WOW" I'm really informed now! This book has everything. I don't need any of your advise now... just kiddin'. This book is a "Disney Cruise Book for Dummies". Just what I & my wife needed. Also, thank you all for the info on pirate night and door magnets. Is everyone doing door stuff? The first night (23rd) my wife & I will be celebrating our 22nd Wedding Annivesary at dinner. (AMAZING she has stayed with me this long?) We tried to get Palo, but not available. I think they're putting us in Lumiere's (not sure). I think this book just stressed-out my wife more, she is realizing there is alot to do from now until sail day Oh, by the way since I'm an ex-cast member of Disneyland, If anyone has any questions about secrets of Disneyland, please don't hesitate to ask. I love talking about Disneyland and the unknown aspects of the park. chow

 

[hereigns]

A Little Pixie Dust: Thanks very much for the info. I used to live in Whittier but that was 15 years ago and I get the feeling a lot has changed! I'm going to keep my eye out for these door magnets, I don't remember them on our cruise last year.

 

[disneyfamilyforever]

vrntnns---
Don't forget to go straight to the palo reservations on the boat after boarding---I think I read that it was at the Rockin D Bar and not at Palo---they apparently do keep spots open for people to still book dinner. That way maybe you can get in on your anniversary night.

 

[vrntnns]

Hey, We got our docs Thank you disfam for the advice that sounds great. We are soooooo excited about this, any suggestions on where we could find a cheap shoe holder for the back of the door? I think my wife was talking about Biglots!?!

 

[Mdtigger99]

Hi all, thanks to atakaratemom for reminding me of this thread when I posted looking for info in a new thread. I posted way back on the first page then life happened and I forgot all about it.

We’ll be coming in early Friday and spending the day probably by the ocean and I’m sure the woman in the group (I’m outnumbered 3-1) will be interested in shopping. We’ll be staying at an airport hotel so we’ll take the Disney transportation to the ship the next day.

We are Castaway members but thanks to DCL not letting us in on the secret, we were not aware we were able to pre-book so by time we found out we were locked out of Palos till we board. At least we were able to get all but one of our excursion choices. I would think we will still be able to get a Palo dinner reservation. It would be a very welcome break to the regular dinner rotation especially on a seven day cruise. We requested the late seating, it gives us more time to come in from our days activities before we have to get presentable. When we had the early seating, we felt rushed so 8:30 works better for us.

Anyone have an idea as to what movies they might be showing?

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

I am not sure. I read that we could possibly call next week and they may be able to tell us. My DD8 is hoping for Sky High since it starts in movie theaters while we are on the boat.

I will be giving DCL a call next week to see if they can tell me.

As for the shoe holder..I could not find any at the 99 cent store we have here..I bought one at Target for $5.98. It has 24 spots so I took it. I figured it was better then running around any longer.


Desiree

 

[vrntnns]

Cool, we have not even started to shop yet. Thats not a bad price for a shoe holder. I some lady e-mail me privately and told me she buys two one is REAL cheap and they leave it on the ship the other is a better one. One thread I read I thought one of the movies was the new Herbie, not sure.

 

[DL_DCA_fans]

We also picked up a over-the-door-shoe-organizer at Target last night for $5.99.

The movie "Sky High" should Prem-ear on Thursday night at midnight. I want to see "Dark Water" with Jennifer Connelly.

Tip of the Day:
Bring highlighters for your Daily Navigators. If you like to have an unmarked copy, get extra Navigators at Guest Services.

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Hi all - can't seem to figure out how to log on as myself (LauraVEll) so I am AKA as eeyorelvr10 (my DD's name). Anyway, DH and I did the Panama Canal crossing and we experienced the Pirate night dinner. Yes they give bandanas and paper menus which are yours to keep. However, if your trying to decide on staying in PV or onboard, your not missing anything. Our head server - John (the one that comes around to check if everything is okay but doesn't serve) actually warned us that we might want to save room for the midnight buffet. I hate to say anything bad about the food after all it's all ready paid for right? But it truly was awful. John said that Disney is aware of it and has been trying new ways to improve it but their mark is still off. As for the dressing up. It really adds to the atmosphere. They have this neat little parade..... well, I'll let you experience it. It was nice. Glad I stayed. However, this time around it we might just decide to stay in port until later. The buffet was actually really good and the dessert was to die for. I even got to nibble on a turkey leg!! Yahooo!!!! ( My DD says that she thought it was only dessert - hope that's not true if so they may have changed it and if so - disregard above info)

On deck 9 you'll have to see the show - you actually see all the characters and Minnie's pirate costume was really cute. Mickey, the hero is awesome and Capt Hook was his usual aweful self. Anyway, after we ate dinner DH and I accidentally came across a good spot for those that get out of dinner late. Since Deck 9 gets swamped you can actually catch the characters coming out of The Stack (teenagers hangout) on Deck 10. Also, if you stay on the right (is that port or starboard? Can't ever seem to get that right!) side or facing the front of the ship, you can get a spot facing the Deck 9 stage. There's also another surprise which I won't give away cuz I rather not have anyone out there upset with me.

Anyway, know this has been late, but between trying to accomodate 3 kids -- 2 of which are teenagers and trying to board 2 dogs - and the rest of life's little hectic surprises - I don't get on here as much as I want. But if anyone sees this - In FL-Port Canaveral, DH and I were able to get Palo reserves as late as 5:30 on embarkation day about 1/2 hr after we sailed. In talking with our Palo waiter (Florencia) she said that the later the reserves the better chance of getting in. She said that its not unusal to call up the day of and get a late dinner. Our first dinner was at 8:30 and we got another on spur of the moment at 9:00. Well, if I can help anyone else, let my DD know. She's on here ALOT!

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Hello everyone, My wife and I will be cruisn' with ya'll. I haven't read all of the posts but it seems we're going to have a fun group. I worked for Disneyland back in 85. We have 4 children oldest son is in the Marines 29 Palms, CA for school. Our other son is working at a Christian youth camp this summer. Our daughters 12 & 10 will be staying with friends. Sooo, we will be alone (hooray!!) My wife & I will be celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary on Jul 23rd, how cool is that?

How cool - happy anniversary - DH and I will be celebrating our 15th plus 2 b-days (myself included and 1 anniversary - actually its the 22nd but we pushed it off 1 day - anyway - if I don't see ya - Happy Anniversary - you'll have fun alone - we did when we saild w/o the kids. LE

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Help - my DD 12 has been bugging me to find someone out there for her. Anyone have a 12 yo going? If so please contact me or post reply. We've tried this the last couple of cruises and it just hasn't seemed to work for her. DD is a sweet somewhat naive and shy but extremely lovable. If anyone can help me - would really appreciate it!!!!

 

[DL_DCA_fans]

9 days to go :

 

[Mdtigger99]

Help - my DD 12 has been bugging me to find someone out there for her. Anyone have a 12 yo going? If so please contact me or post reply. We've tried this the last couple of cruises and it just hasn't seemed to work for her. DD is a sweet somewhat naive and shy but extremely lovable. If anyone can help me - would really appreciate it!!!!

Sorry, mine is a HS Junior. We had this problem the last cruise. It seems that when they are younger, they have no trouble making friends fast, it was never an issue. Once mine got to be a teen, it was harder to open up especially when many of the others come with lots of family and friends. This time we decided to have her take a friend to hang with.

 

[vrntnns]

Thank you, eeyorelvr10 We don't do big vacations & big gifts with our family. (just because of expenses) But my dad bought this cruise for us, for our anniversary. We can't wait for this.

 

[atakaratemom]

Yeah! Got my over the door shoe holder at Target today! Thanks for posting the information. I have been looking everywhere. That is one more thing I can cross off of my list. My husband is convinced that the minute I cross one thing off I think of something else to add on. He pretty much figures that the stuff I am buying for the trip will end up costing about as much as the trip itself!

Mary