July 6 2008 Anyone else

[WestCoastMice]

thank you so much

That is great to start with.

I will be using some DVC points for my hotel stay before and after the cruise

If I had the choice, having used all three local airports, I would opt for Long Beach using Jet Blue if at all possible. Long Beach is a small airport and is close (in between) Disneyland and the port where the Magic will be berthed. Orange County airport/John Wayne would be my second recommendation, a bit bigger but not as much of a nightmare as LAX.

If you are planning on doing the hotel on VC points, don't even think about not using one of the in-park hotels (Disneyland Hotel - the classic; Paradise Pier Hotel - very nice; or the Grand California - built inside of California Adventures park - my favorite but definitely more pricy). You can search the web for links to the three park hotels, The Disneyland Hotel; Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel; and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. You could also search for other hotels in Anaheim, CA which is where Disneyland is located. Be very carful about choosing other hotels close by disneyland but non-Disney. There are very good local hotels closeby, but also some places you might not want to stay. Do your homework here. If you're only going to be one or two extra days locally, you would want to stay at one of the Park hotels to maximize your Park Time!

I'll bet that you can arrange transportation through Disney from any one of the Disney Hotels to the ship on the day we set sail.

 

[LisaDisney]

I can help with advice about locations, etc. I grew up in So Cal and I live in the OC now. Is the Tamara on here the photographer?

Since I live here, I can't help too much with hotels but I can tell you if things are worth seeing, how much driving you'll have to do, etc.

I'm so happy the cruise is out this way. I missed it a few years ago and have been regretting it ever since.

 

[ansky922]

If I had the choice, having used all three local airports, I would opt for Long Beach using Jet Blue if at all possible. Long Beach is a small airport and is close (in between) Disneyland and the port where the Magic will be berthed. Orange County airport/John Wayne would be my second recommendation, a bit bigger but not as much of a nightmare as LAX.

If you are planning on doing the hotel on VC points, don't even think about not using one of the in-park hotels (Disneyland Hotel - the classic; Paradise Pier Hotel - very nice; or the Grand California - built inside of California Adventures park - my favorite but definitely more pricy). You can search the web for links to the three park hotels, The Disneyland Hotel; Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel; and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. You could also search for other hotels in Anaheim, CA which is where Disneyland is located. Be very carful about choosing other hotels close by disneyland but non-Disney. There are very good local hotels closeby, but also some places you might not want to stay. Do your homework here. If you're only going to be one or two extra days locally, you would want to stay at one of the Park hotels to maximize your Park Time!

I'll bet that you can arrange transportation through Disney from any one of the Disney Hotels to the ship on the day we set sail.

thank you so much for the info
We will probably stay an extra 4days I think its to soon to say for sure.
I want to see a few things beause I don't know how often we could get here

 

[Kelley Family]

Not the photographer. Wish I was one! That would be cool.

Tamara

 

[Dsnylndlvrs]

Hi there everyone!

My kids are now officially on summer vacation - yippee!! Is everyone else into summer mode yet?

6PowayDisneyFans - did you make it to Disneyland and get on Nemo? I read somewhere that lines had been very long. I'd love to know how the ride is and how different it is from the old submarine ride.

Anyway - Happy Summer everyone!

 

[TrojanJulez]

I second that - happy summer! We are getting close to our 1-year mark! If it's anything like our Alaska cruise (leaving next Wednesday), the time will fly by after we pass 1 year!

 

[Kelley Family]

Is anyone else finding that they want to plan details of their cruise that is not happening until NEXT YEAR! I want to find the hotel for the night before, book a limo, figure out what night we want to go to Palo...It's crazy! It must be the time of year and knowing that this time next year we will be just a few weeks away from sailing date. Am I alone with my obsession? I need to find a project for the next six months!

 

[WestCoastMice]

Hi there everyone!

My kids are now officially on summer vacation - yippee!! Is everyone else into summer mode yet?

6PowayDisneyFans - did you make it to Disneyland and get on Nemo? I read somewhere that lines had been very long. I'd love to know how the ride is and how different it is from the old submarine ride.

Anyway - Happy Summer everyone!

My family went to DLand on Father's Day. It was a wonderful day to go and the crowd was very limited. Except for the Submarine Ride. 2 hours PLUS. But, we couldn't go home without seeing what it was all about. Sad to say we were very disappointed. Not much different from the old submarine ride but with a few interesting technological improvements. ALthough the subs were painted a different color, I wouldn't be too surprised if they were the old subs reincarnated. Also, not all the bugs have been worked out...halfway through the journey, the lights went out, the narration stopped, and we sat there in darkness for several minutes. Not good.

 

[Dsnylndlvrs]

Oh no WestCoastMice - that sounds awful! What a bummer and quite frustrating! Thanks for answering, just wish your experience had been a whole lot better!

 

[Dsnylndlvrs]

Is anyone else finding that they want to plan details of their cruise that is not happening until NEXT YEAR! I want to find the hotel for the night before, book a limo, figure out what night we want to go to Palo...It's crazy! It must be the time of year and knowing that this time next year we will be just a few weeks away from sailing date. Am I alone with my obsession? I need to find a project for the next six months!

I can't say that we're anxious to plan this one, YET. We're taking a another line cruise next month and am in the midst of trying to get things taken care of for that. Now, once we get back from that one, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I quickly slip into obsession for DCL Mexican Riviera planning right along with you!

 

[ansky922]

Is anyone else finding that they want to plan details of their cruise that is not happening until NEXT YEAR! I want to find the hotel for the night before, book a limo, figure out what night we want to go to Palo...It's crazy! It must be the time of year and knowing that this time next year we will be just a few weeks away from sailing date. Am I alone with my obsession? I need to find a project for the next six months!

I am still trying to get my son finished with school we go until June 27th and teachers are stil giving HW.
I am also wishing I could book airfare and hotel but it will be here before you know it.
W are taking another trip to SSR in Aug looking foward to that

 

[TrojanJulez]

Hello, everyone!

We just got back from our Alaska cruise (awesome!), and I have already set my countdown clock for our Disney cruise next year... I always like having something to look forward to!

 

[Dsnylndlvrs]

Hello, everyone!

We just got back from our Alaska cruise (awesome!), and I have already set my countdown clock for our Disney cruise next year... I always like having something to look forward to!

Welcome Home! Glad to hear it was awesome. What was your favorite port or excursion? We'd love to do Alaska sometime! Just think - only a little more than a year until your next cruise!

 

[TrojanJulez]

Welcome Home! Glad to hear it was awesome. What was your favorite port or excursion? We'd love to do Alaska sometime! Just think - only a little more than a year until your next cruise!

Thanks! Hmmm... favorite port is hard! We went to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria (plus scenic cruising to Sawyet Glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord), and it was all beautiful! My favorite excursions were the 2 we did in Juneau - helicopter/glacier walk and ziplining. I'd do both again in a heartbeat, and I'd visit all of the towns again, too. Let me know if you have any questions - I did a ton of research to prepare!

I already have my countdown clock set to our Disney cruise... we're almost at the 1-year point!

 

[6powaydisneyfans]

Hi there everyone!

My kids are now officially on summer vacation - yippee!! Is everyone else into summer mode yet?

6PowayDisneyFans - did you make it to Disneyland and get on Nemo? I read somewhere that lines had been very long. I'd love to know how the ride is and how different it is from the old submarine ride.

Anyway - Happy Summer everyone!

Sorry it has been awhile since I have checked back with all of you. Welcome to all the new comers... Disneyland was great on my son's 6th birthday last month. We went 2 days before the actual grand opening ceremony for Nemo ride. The ride was fun but not good if you are claustrophobic like me!! The line was about an hour so it wasn't too bad yet!

As far as whoever asked about stuff to do for 4 days. If you are interested in San Diego that is where we live and I can help you plan that. We have Sea World, San Diego Zoo,Wild Animal Park Legoland, wonderful museums at Balboa Park, lots of neat shopping areas and a very fun downtown area and of course going to a Padre game is a must!! at the new Petco park.

 

[6powaydisneyfans]

I'm not a total expert in the Southern California (SoCal) area but I'll do my best!

I had to look up where the port of los angeles is - it's in San Pedro, south of LA and west of Disneyland, but all in the big old LA area . I think you've got 3 choices for airports - LAX (Los Angeles International,) Orange County (also known as John Wayne and it's closest to DL) and Long Beach. LAX is a BIG airport and you'd have lots of choices in airlines and flights. Orange County is a nice smaller airport with a little less choice of airlines and I'm assuming flight choices. I've been to both those airports. I'm not familiar with Long Beach airport, but from it's website, it seems like it's probably smaller than Orange County - fewer still airlines and probably even smaller number of flights. When I look at a map, Long Beach is fairly close to San Pedro. Of the other two, distance wise LAX may be closer to San Pedro for the port but Orange County is probably easier to deal with.

For us, we're probably driving down and spending a few days at DL before the cruise. If we were flying though, we'd likely choose to fly into Orange County because it's the best bet for DL. I'm really not sure where the best place to stay is if you're not doing DL before. I'd think the DL resort hotels would be more expensive than necessary if you're not planning on doing DL until after, but you could probably find some nice decent hotels in that area (I'm thinking a little under an hour to get to the port?) There would probably be some hotels closer to the port, but I really don't know that area and how nice it would be to stay. Maybe someone else is more familiar?

I know that I've read somewhere that the last time DCL sailed out of SoCal, they ended up offering packages of hotel/Disneyland stay/port transfers for people to take advantage of, but I don't know at what point people could add that on and if they'll do it again. It would be worth checking into I think.

Gosh, I sure hope that helps some, even if it's not a definite fly here and stay there answer! Take care!

Did everyone know that Passporter is coming out in January with a new book for the 2008 Mexican Riviera. It will have all the places to stay near the terminal, all the ins and outs on excursions etc... They have some old copies left from the one in 2005 for just $5.00.

 

[TrojanJulez]

Did everyone know that Passporter is coming out in January with a new book for the 2008 Mexican Riviera. It will have all the places to stay near the terminal, all the ins and outs on excursions etc... They have some old copies left from the one in 2005 for just $5.00.

Oh cool, this is really good to know! Thank you!

 

[Melora]

Hello

Joining in!

We live here in LA and will on this cruise in a category 4. We will have our 7 & 13 year old boys, our 8 year old daughter and grandma who will be in her own room. (a window cabin, but cant remember the category).

I'm so excited!! If anyone needs info about the LA area I've lived here 42 years so I can answer a thing or two!

 

[Dsnylndlvrs]

Hello

Joining in!

We live here in LA and will on this cruise in a category 4. We will have our 7 & 13 year old boys, our 8 year old daughter and grandma who will be in her own room. (a window cabin, but cant remember the category).

I'm so excited!! If anyone needs info about the LA area I've lived here 42 years so I can answer a thing or two!

Welcome Melora!!! What a cute picture of you and your kids!

LESS THAN A YEAR TO GO!!!!!!!!!

 

[TrojanJulez]

Hello

Joining in!

We live here in LA and will on this cruise in a category 4. We will have our 7 & 13 year old boys, our 8 year old daughter and grandma who will be in her own room. (a window cabin, but cant remember the category).

I'm so excited!! If anyone needs info about the LA area I've lived here 42 years so I can answer a thing or two!

Welcome! It's nice that we have so many people already! My in-laws and BIL/fiancee are considering joining us, but of course it is a lot more expensive than the Princess cruise we just completed. DH and I brought over the Disney Cruise DVD yesterday, and I think that might have been their breaking point! Of course, money is always the underlying issue, right? But that's why we started so early! I'm glad that the countdown is down to less than a year, though!