June 16, 2007 MedHead Cruisers

[Worktoplay]

I have to start planning our travel to florida for next mays cruise. Unfortunately, taylor and I will have MAYBE 2 days at WDW...there's only so much school she can miss...so I need to have opinions on what to do/where to stay. We are dvc members and I just held Old Key West as thats my home resort. I will try to switch to Animal Kingdom in October. I checked out the transfer situation and disney will pick us up for free from the airport and it's 60 for us to get to the ship. BUT...which property will be the best to stay at "convenience" wise. Or does it not really matter. If we only have one day, we'll just do magic kingdom/epcot, but if we have 2 then we'll try to hit all the parks. We can skimp on the kingdom as we have done disneyland/DLP. I dunno...whadda think.
Anyone else can chime in. I haven't been to WDW in 20 years. It's changed ALOT and taylor has never been there, so I just want to get the most accomplished in a very short period of time.

THanks
Steph

Steph,

Unless you want to spend a lot of time in Animal Kingdom I probably wouldn't stay there. It's a bit far away from everything. My family prefers the Boardwalk or Beach Club. They both have great pools and the boardwalk always has something going on, the kids love to walk around on it. Plus, you can walk to Epcot from both resorts and take a boat to MGM. From Epcot you can take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. It saves a lot of wasted time on buses.

In reality, anywhere you stay is wonderful. Old Key West has the largest rooms, but I would ask to be near the main pool or the Miller Road pool. Otherwise you have to ride the bus thru the resort for 4 or 5 stops.
If you are staying at the miller road stop and you realized you missed the bus, you can easily walk to the main pool area before the bus gets there. I think I would feel out of the loop at one of the other stops, you would need the bus to go get food! No thanks!

Enjoy your planning.

Marie

 

[taysmom]

Thanks for the info...I appreciate all I can get.
S

 

[pillow]

Hmmmm, June 20th - Alaska...not a bad date! What port do you leave from and is it a 7 night cruise?

Marie

Its 7 nights from Vancouver to Seward (near Anchorage). The price of the cruise is very reasonable, its the extras that we want to do that are driving our price up. After the cruise, we'd like to drive to Denali, take a helicopter to a glacier, etc.

PJ, I'm working really hard trying to figure out how to do this in 08, but my husband's company laying off AGAIN so it may have to wait. Who know, maybe it will be 09 or 10 for that matter.

Jodie

 

[pillow]

Lauren-
I have to start planning our travel to florida for next mays cruise. Unfortunately, taylor and I will have MAYBE 2 days at WDW...there's only so much school she can miss...so I need to have opinions on what to do/where to stay. We are dvc members and I just held Old Key West as thats my home resort. I will try to switch to Animal Kingdom in October. I checked out the transfer situation and disney will pick us up for free from the airport and it's 60 for us to get to the ship. BUT...which property will be the best to stay at "convenience" wise. Or does it not really matter. If we only have one day, we'll just do magic kingdom/epcot, but if we have 2 then we'll try to hit all the parks. We can skimp on the kingdom as we have done disneyland/DLP. I dunno...whadda think.
Anyone else can chime in. I haven't been to WDW in 20 years. It's changed ALOT and taylor has never been there, so I just want to get the most accomplished in a very short period of time.

THanks
Steph

Hey Steph, I LOVE the AK lodge - even though is not as close to things. Theres just something about waking up with animals outside your window! Also, I love the design of the lodge, and I think their restaurants are the best in all of WDW (only my opinion of course). I do agree with Marie though, in that its not very close, but maybe that doesn't matter if you leave in the morning and don't come back till late at night. I love the Beach Club too - the rooms are fabulously decorated and the pool is the best one I've ever been to. Its a 5 minute walk to Epcot and just a short ferry to MGM. If these are the two parks you'll be visiting, then I would say stay at the Beach Club, with AK as your second choice. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of OKW, even though the rooms are big. Its just not as nice as the others in my opinion. Also, I would skip the Magic Kingdom since its so similar to Disneyland. I think I would do a half day at MGM, and then the other half at the Animal Kingdom (AK in the morning probably). Then the second day, I'd go to Epcot. The Birnbaum book is EXTREMELY helpful (Unofficial Guide to WDW). They lay out "touring plans" (based on loads of research) on which rides to do first, second, etc. It can save hours of waiting in line. I think their 08 book comes out in August. I think they have a touring plan for splitting the day between AK and MGM???

Anyway, probably more info than you wanted. Have fun researching!

Jodie

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Lauren-
I have to start planning our travel to florida for next mays cruise. Unfortunately, taylor and I will have MAYBE 2 days at WDW...there's only so much school she can miss...so I need to have opinions on what to do/where to stay. We are dvc members and I just held Old Key West as thats my home resort. I will try to switch to Animal Kingdom in October. I checked out the transfer situation and disney will pick us up for free from the airport and it's 60 for us to get to the ship. BUT...which property will be the best to stay at "convenience" wise. Or does it not really matter. If we only have one day, we'll just do magic kingdom/epcot, but if we have 2 then we'll try to hit all the parks. We can skimp on the kingdom as we have done disneyland/DLP. I dunno...whadda think.
Anyone else can chime in. I haven't been to WDW in 20 years. It's changed ALOT and taylor has never been there, so I just want to get the most accomplished in a very short period of time.

THanks
Steph

I love Old Key West. I grew up at Old Key West. My baby sister learned to walk there. That said I would try for the Beach Club Villas. That probably made no sense. I'm just trying to say if you end up at OKW I still think you'll be happy. The buses are great. It is definitely a very large resort but they have an internal bus that will take you to the main area of the resort and then of course there's the park buses. I would just pick BCV because of the reasons everyone else mentioned...proximity to Epcot and MGM. Also, the pool there is unbelievable. Just call day by day as soon as DVC opens on the morning at the 7 month window and I would bet you'll be fine.

I wouldn't miss Animal Kingdom or MGM....or is MGM similar to California Adventure? If you want I can email you some of my park touring plans. I took my cousin who had never been to WDW last December and I wanted her to see as much as possible so I made some really detailed plans that we followed. They worked very well, I don't think she missed anything I wanted her to see. Or, better yet, I'll come down and show y'all around if you let me stay in your room on the cruise.

Yes, Disney will take you to your resort. I don't know if they do it seperately if you're through DCL but it's normally called Magical Express and it's a bus from the airport to your resort. You don't even have to pick up your bags at baggage claim, they show up in your room about 3 hours later.

Okay, I have to stop. I could go on and on.

Its 7 nights from Vancouver to Seward (near Anchorage). The price of the cruise is very reasonable, its the extras that we want to do that are driving our price up. After the cruise, we'd like to drive to Denali, take a helicopter to a glacier, etc.

PJ, I'm working really hard trying to figure out how to do this in 08, but my husband's company laying off AGAIN so it may have to wait. Who know, maybe it will be 09 or 10 for that matter.

Jodie

I was just teasing that you have to move it back. It would be so much fun to have a sort of reunion though.

 

[taysmom]

thanks for the info....if you'd like to email me your info, that'd be great. You should have my email it was the one I sent you the picture from .
Jodie...if you push it back...keep us informed. I'm thinking 2009...Unless of course I come into the lottery or something.

 

[JsMom2]

Hi Wendy,
We booked our room at DLP over the phone with them directly. We would have done it on the internet, however, we wanted the meal plan and there was no option to do that online. Are you planning to go there? Please talk(pm) to me before you do. We were not so pleased with our experience there. Of course, we could be very spoiled by Disney in the US.

Did All Seasons offer you extra shipboard credit or something? We booked a date to 'change later' when the new cruises are announced so I am thinking about turning this over to a TA.

Later,

Vicki

Thanks Vicki, I will definitely contact you before we book anything. I think we're going to wait until Jan to go, because kids under 12 get in free starting Jan 6th.

I booked a cat 7 directly with Disney using my onboard booking (I was pleasantly surprised to find that I'd managed to get a secret verandah stateroom at this late date!) They quoted me $2909 for both of us. I turned the booking over to All Seasons, and then added r/t transfers and insurance, ($256 worth of stuff) and my price only went up like $150! I guess I was able to combine their group discounts with my 10% onboard discount. Plus supposedly they'll send me a rebate after we sail.

But at this point, a rebate isn't really important to me, because I'm very impressed by their level of service. I've been working with Thomas, and he knows his stuff. I used to work at Walt Disney Travel Co. in CA, and I know that there are some agencies who specialize in Disney and who are on the phone to WDT everyday. I believe All Seasons is one of those agencies.

I also turned over my Russia cruise on the Crown Princess next June to Vacations to Go. They saved me $200, and I moved up 2 categories!

Lauren-
I have to start planning our travel to florida for next mays cruise. Unfortunately, taylor and I will have MAYBE 2 days at WDW...there's only so much school she can miss...so I need to have opinions on what to do/where to stay.
THanks
Steph

Steph,
We're flying in 2 days prior to our December cruise. I told Jasmine we won't be doing a lot of sightseeing. The 2 days will just give us time to overcome the jet lag, and make sure we don't miss the ship! We'll have one full day, so I think we're going to go to Downtown Disney and do the Disney Quest indoor theme park. DQ is one thing we haven't had time for the past couple trips. We aren't DVC members, so Thomas at All Seasons booked us at the Pop Century resort for $82/night. It looks like a fun place to stay! We'll be able to take the Magical Express to WDW for free. Then on Saturday we'll take a taxi to the resort where the DCL bus will be picking up. We've done this before when we were at Shades of Green and the Contemporary. It was like a $10 taxi ride - I think that even included the tip. But if you want to know exactly which hotel they will be picking up at check with DCL as they've made some changes.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

thanks for the info....if you'd like to email me your info, that'd be great. You should have my email it was the one I sent you the picture from .
Jodie...if you push it back...keep us informed. I'm thinking 2009...Unless of course I come into the lottery or something.

All my notes are in a binder at home so I can't email them just yet. My sister's going home Saturday for her best friend's wedding so I'll have her bring it back with her.

We aren't DVC members, so Thomas at All Seasons booked us at the Pop Century resort for $82/night. It looks like a fun place to stay! We'll be able to take the Magical Express to WDW for free. Then on Saturday we'll take a taxi to the resort where the DCL bus will be picking up. We've done this before when we were at Shades of Green and the Contemporary. It was like a $10 taxi ride - I think that even included the tip. But if you want to know exactly which hotel they will be picking up at check with DCL as they've made some changes.

I love Pop Century. I think you'll have a lot of fun there. We're doing a split stay between Pop and the Beach Club Villas for Christmas and my birthday (New Year's Eve). When in December will y'all be there?

 

[JsMom2]

I love Pop Century. I think you'll have a lot of fun there. We're doing a split stay between Pop and the Beach Club Villas for Christmas and my birthday (New Year's Eve). When in December will y'all be there?

We fly in the evening of Dec 6th, and then will be off to the ship on the 8th. I thought about doing the Christmas party at the MK, but I didn't want to have to stress about our flight getting delayed etc. And DD was excited when I showed her the pics of Pop Century, it really looks fun!!

 

[pillow]

Yes, Disney will take you to your resort. I don't know if they do it seperately if you're through DCL but it's normally called Magical Express and it's a bus from the airport to your resort. You don't even have to pick up your bags at baggage claim, they show up in your room about 3 hours later.

One note about Magical Express . . . we have used it twice and it took a lot longer than 3 hours to get our bags. The last time, it took over 6 hours!! We had nice dinner plans and no clothes. I would never use the baggage service again. The bus transportation is great though, but I would pick up my bags myself and load them onto the bus - either that or pack a "carry-on" with things you'll need just in case it takes FOREVER to get your stuff. Sorry to be so sour, but it has been a bad experience twice.

Jodie

 

[silver7]

Can I make a suggestion on Magical Express?

Sign up for it, but grab your bags when you get off the airplane (DON'T use the yellow bag tags). You can still use the bus, but your bags are put on there with you. When you get to your hotel you just get your bags off the bus. That way it is still the free service but you have your bags immediately!

I have to put in a vote for AKL AND for the Epcot area hotels. I love the ease of being able to pop over and see Epcot from the Yacht Club, or the boat to MGM. HOWEVER the AKL is less expensive than those hotels and has the really cool animals.

Teresa

 

[JsMom2]

One note about Magical Express . . . we have used it twice and it took a lot longer than 3 hours to get our bags. The last time, it took over 6 hours!! We had nice dinner plans and no clothes. I would never use the baggage service again. The bus transportation is great though, but I would pick up my bags myself and load them onto the bus - either that or pack a "carry-on" with things you'll need just in case it takes FOREVER to get your stuff. Sorry to be so sour, but it has been a bad experience twice.

Jodie

Thanks for the tip Jodie. We're coming in that evening, and I don't want to have to stay up late just to wait for luggage. We'll just take ours with us.

 

[pillow]

Can I make a suggestion on Magical Express?

Sign up for it, but grab your bags when you get off the airplane (DON'T use the yellow bag tags). You can still use the bus, but your bags are put on there with you. When you get to your hotel you just get your bags off the bus. That way it is still the free service but you have your bags immediately!

I have to put in a vote for AKL AND for the Epcot area hotels. I love the ease of being able to pop over and see Epcot from the Yacht Club, or the boat to MGM. HOWEVER the AKL is less expensive than those hotels and has the really cool animals.

Teresa

I agree 100%!!

Don't think I ever knew that your name was Teresa!!?? You'll always be "silver7" in my head.

 

[pillow]

I'm having a kind of rough time though actually. I haven't even been gone a week and I miss my friends and miss home, I just want to go back and I haven't even started yet.

Give yourself some time. I was homesick for 2 weeks after we moved into our new house a couple years ago. You'll probably be so busy working that you won't have time to be homesick. Hey, can you invite your friends down for a long weekend??

Jodie

 

[carolmb]

Okay since everybody is offering suggestions about WDW and where to stay, I need some advice. We are planning a trip to WDW July 2008 with a 4 day Wonder cruise after. The cruise has already been booked for the July 27th sailing. My DH was able to get a Cat. 3, I am very excited. I think we will spoiled forever. Anyway, we are DVC members and our home resort is Sarasota Springs Resort. We want to try and get one of the 3 bedroom villas. I have not been to WDW in a very long time and do not know the layout of the area with all of the hotels. Should we stay at SSR or try for another resort? My DH family will be with us at WDW. We will be celebrating my DMIL's 80th birthday. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. I am envious of those who have got all of their pictures together and have started scrapbooking. I still have pictures on my memory cards and my DH's computer.

 

[PURTYPAT1]

Patricia! I did not know you were ebaying that purse! I thought you liked it too much to do that!

My next trip on my list was New York City but I guess an Alaskan cruise is comprable to that. Kidding. Seriously I would love to go on an Alaskan cruise but I would definitely need some time to save for that one unless you're paying. In that case I'll be right on it! We could have a MedHead Alaskan Adventure reunion!

.

Lauren, this is not the purse I bought in Rome. After all I went thru to get it, there is "no" way I would sell it on ebay. What I have up on ebay, is a Gucci huge sz duffle bag, it looks like my purse.

Jack I lost you in the Barcelona airport, did you fly thru Heathrow to FL? It seems like almost, everyone who flew direct back to USA had a ruff time with there flights.


Tersea, how did you DMIL hold up?

We should start a thread of airline horror stories, we all seem to have them.

I am defiantly game for an Alaska cruise 2009

 

[auntsue1]

Wow Steph that sounds like a GREAT trip for you & your sister! I've always wanted to go to Alaska.

Lauren, you're right we should all plan a medhead reunion cruise to Alaska. However, I guess it would have to be on RCL (also a very good cruise line.)
Maybe, we could arrive on time this time. Oh well we can dream!

I agree there is something about the AKL it's very different, but it is out of the way. The restaurants there are fantastic!

Sue

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

We fly in the evening of Dec 6th, and then will be off to the ship on the 8th. I thought about doing the Christmas party at the MK, but I didn't want to have to stress about our flight getting delayed etc. And DD was excited when I showed her the pics of Pop Century, it really looks fun!!

I think kids enjoy it a lot. Which is probably why I liked it so much...

One note about Magical Express . . . we have used it twice and it took a lot longer than 3 hours to get our bags. The last time, it took over 6 hours!! We had nice dinner plans and no clothes. I would never use the baggage service again. The bus transportation is great though, but I would pick up my bags myself and load them onto the bus - either that or pack a "carry-on" with things you'll need just in case it takes FOREVER to get your stuff. Sorry to be so sour, but it has been a bad experience twice.

Jodie

Looks like I have good travel and baggage luck. It's worked flawlessly for us 7 times. But yes, getting your own bags would be a safe way to do it. Maybe it's just that I travel with so much crap so I love the idea of not having to drag it all around.

Give yourself some time. I was homesick for 2 weeks after we moved into our new house a couple years ago. You'll probably be so busy working that you won't have time to be homesick. Hey, can you invite your friends down for a long weekend??

Jodie

Most people have told me I have to give it a week. It's been about a week now. Some are saying I should give it a month. I'm going to give it at least until I start working but it's been kind of hard. I have one friend who's coming down but not until August and by then I'll be getting ready to leave. That was the only time she could come though. I've just always kind of been a homebody I think.

Okay since everybody is offering suggestions about WDW and where to stay, I need some advice. We are planning a trip to WDW July 2008 with a 4 day Wonder cruise after. The cruise has already been booked for the July 27th sailing. My DH was able to get a Cat. 3, I am very excited. I think we will spoiled forever. Anyway, we are DVC members and our home resort is Sarasota Springs Resort. We want to try and get one of the 3 bedroom villas. I have not been to WDW in a very long time and do not know the layout of the area with all of the hotels. Should we stay at SSR or try for another resort? My DH family will be with us at WDW. We will be celebrating my DMIL's 80th birthday. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. I am envious of those who have got all of their pictures together and have started scrapbooking. I still have pictures on my memory cards and my DH's computer.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of the grand villas. Have you ever looked at pictures on allearsnet.com? If you look under the accomodations section they have pictures of every resort and the rooms. Maybe that could help you decide. Since your home resort is Saratoga I would definitely book that at 11 months out and try to switch at the 7 month window because I hear the grand villas are hard to come by.

Lauren, this is not the purse I bought in Rome. After all I went thru to get it, there is "no" way I would sell it on ebay. What I have up on ebay, is a Gucci huge sz duffle bag, it looks like my purse.

Oh well that's much better! My goodness, you had me worried for a minute there, I mean, you worked SO hard to get that purse!! Our whole tour was waiting for YOU, remember?

Lauren, you're right we should all plan a medhead reunion cruise to Alaska. However, I guess it would have to be on RCL (also a very good cruise line.)
Maybe, we could arrive on time this time. Oh well we can dream!

Sue

Aw....we'll have to do it for sure now. It'll be the Sue gets there on time cruise. That's what our shirts will say this time. Speaking of shirts I'm bummed I never bought a MedHead shirt. What was I thinking?

 

[taysmom]

Lauren..no rush on the email. I'm can't book until october. I can't even do my flights until nov/dec..the cheaper airlines are only up to feb right now.
Everyone else, thanks for the info. It's all starting to come together. We may do an overnight flight, arriving in the AM..then magical express would work as we can't get into our room until 4pm. I asked the girl if there was bell service at the vacation clubs...she said yes, so that's nice to know.
Jodie..keep us up to date on your alaska info...just in case we have a medhead reunion.
Good sunday everyone..
Steph

 

[LisaTex]

Carol - 1st - very nice meeting you

We stayed in a GV at SSR for a family reunion at thanksgiving last year. (there were also 2 other 2BRs in our group). the GV is huge!!! and very nice. I had some concerns about the bus service before I went (reading some of the threads) but we never had any trouble. Being so close to DTD is nice - when we stay closer to the parks we never seem to make it there. The spa and the pool were also great. There is a huge advantage staying at some of the "closer" DVC spots, but SSR has other nice benefits too. Once again - the GV is very nice and very big!

Have a great time!