Magic Christmas Cruise 2010 (Dec 18th - 29th) - PART II

[IceSk8ersMom]

Lisa - Happy Anniversary to you and Mike!

I might join those walking on deck 4 in the mornings. It just depends on how the night before goes!

We will be doing stockings with small gifts and gift cards. Of course, I have older kids so it's eaiser to get away with that. It's all they want anyway!

Thanks! We had a wonderful evening. We walked to a local Mexican food restaurant and enjoyed pitchers of margaritas, as well as a plate of Build your Tacos for Two!

You are in for the walking crew.

We are also doing stockings with gift cards. I agree it is easier when they are older.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

My entire family will be missing Friday. I really hate missing the 17th. But, we cannot get to Florida unless we leave on the 17th in the morning. So, I guess my students will have a sub. I hardly ever miss school.

I rather leave with plenty of time just in case of travel delays. I do not want to miss the ship! SO we are missing that Friday too. I hope it is not too heavy of an instructional day because I do not want DD to miss those lessons. I will be missing our reward assembly for the students' growth on the CST's. I am a bit disappointed because we worked so hard last year, and I would like to be there to share their successes with them.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Mickeyteachers-I see you are also in CA? Where do you guy live? We live in Northern CA.

We live in California. We live in the SoCal area. We live about 15 minutes from Disneyland. Every evening at around 9:30 we hear the fireworks.
We are passholders; so if you are planning a trip to Disneyland before our cruise, let me know. Maybe, we could meet.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

to all the new folks!




The last update is on pg 66 of this thread. I only have a couple more additions since then (yours included) I will try to update early next week. With all of the flooding and tornados we had in Northern AZ this week I am trying to dry out a flooded garage and repair some damage. The deadline is Nov 1st and as a group we decided anything over 50 cabins we would discuss splitting.

On a note we are going to Disneyland for a day next week while DS is on fall break. It has been so long since I have been and it is DS's first time
When we get back from our little trip it will be all about putting on a fabulous Halloween party/Haunted house at my son's school! Can't believe the cruise is getting so close so very excited! November 1st I think it will be like the DCL channel around here ...all Christmas Cruise all the time

We will most likely be at Disneyland Thursday night to enjoy the spooktacular
Halloween decorations and fireworks. If you are there, let me know.

The weather in Arizona was crazy last week. Our weather was crazy too: Thunder and lightening storms, which are unusual for SoCal.

Thanks for coordinating our FE list. I can only imagine it probably has been a bit overwhelming at times. What is the count? I lost track a few pages ago.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

The good thing about the iPad is that you can download apps for Kindle & Nook to go with iBooks - you can have your cake and eat it too. I've got all of the apps on my iPad and "comparison shop" for books - pricing is different sometimes, so it pays to do a little footwork.

That is so cool. I have downloaded the audio of some books from iTunes so I can listen to the books too. I appreciate the 411. I am loving my iPad more and more.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Hi everyone!

I made it safely to TX - 24 hours of traveling is enough! I'm trying to stay awake for just a little bit longer so that I can actually sleep through the night and get on the correct schedule. Tomorrow, Mom and I will head to the craft store to get some things she needs to make her FE and a couple of things I need to continue making my FE gifts.

Other wonderful news - I found out today I was promoted!!!! I'm really excited. This will definitely help pay for our vacation and our new DVC membership. It will also help considerably because we haven't been able to rent our house in the U.S. this year yet, so the extra income will be very nice to help with that cash flow problem. Luckily our cruise is safe because I had already socked away the payments necessary.

Finally, I'd love to join the walking/work out gang. I always find that it is so much easier for me to work out if I have someone else to do it with. If it's just me, I'll come up with any excuse in the book not to go - but if there's someone else, that's a different story.

Happy to be on the same time zone as everyone else (more or less)!

Welcome home! Congratulations on the promotion. This economy is a cash flow problem for a lot of us. My DH and I are both at the mercy of California's state budget crisis. We are adjusting to a pay reduction. Good times!

I will be waiting for you around deck 4. It is going to be fantastic...walking on the Magic; breathing in the sea air, and chatting with new friends!

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Lisa - First and foremost Belated Happy Anniversary; Second - here's the DIS link for package shipping info: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-plan.htm#shippingaboxtoship ; Third - Our office is IN our dining room and the living room and the garage Today the lights when in and the vertical blinds went up. Tomorrow I start painting the baseboards and hopefully get them installed either Sunday or Monday.; Fourth - When are you planning to do Halloween Time at DLR? We are going to try to get tickets for the night of Oct. 15th, since there's a big MousePlanet meet that night. LMK if you'll be there on the 15th and maybe we can meet up and say HI.

We will be there most likely this Thursday. Friday is my DD's school's homecoming game. If you go another day, let me know. We are annual passholders so we are flexible. We meet friends all the time for just a few hours.

Thank you for the anniversary wishes. We had a great time!

Post pictures of your further home improvements. Cannot wait to see the final project!

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Yes, it really made it much more exciting. You could feel the difference and that does add to the fun. I hope that will be the case this time as well.

Maybe Kristy and your DD will meet in The Stack. That's usually where she heads after tucking us into bed!

I have a teenager too that cannot wait to get to the Stack. They started a teen thread for our cruise. Raven is enjoying getting to know new people before we sail. She wishes that she could check it more often because lately she has been overwhelmed with homework and her ever growing social life.

Also, a few of them are finding each other on FB.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

DD and I were just talking about doing something like this for the teens. I'll have her discuss it on the teen thread and when we get something set up I will post it here on our thread.

That is a good idea. I will tell Raven to look for that information on the teen thread.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Couldn't sleep last night so went back and read the whole Part II thread. Then a little after 6am I woke up DH to watch the DCL show on the Travel Channel (we are early risers and he had an early tee time today). It was hard not saying "we're going to be on that boat in Dec". I was glad that he made several positive comments based on our 04 & 05 cruises. He also mentioned that going shortly after the boat has been in dry dock would be a good time to go...I again bit my tongue that it's in dry dock right now. He would be suspicious of why I know that....

I'm just so darn excited.

I looked for it on the travel channel for a rebroadcast but no luck. I love watching it over and over again. I had it saved on our DVR forever, but we got a new box and lost everything.
Instead I am watching the Pirates of the Caribbean marathon on the USA Channel.
You are a rock star for keeping your secret. I cannot wait to hear about the moment you spill the beans. It is going to be priceless.

 

[IceSk8ersMom]

Corwin17 and Kitster -- SNORKLING FLESH WOUNDS?!?!?!


Originally Posted by momssurprise
Just wondering what is the best sea sick medicine to plan for a 9 yo? I will get the patch for me & DH ... but not sure what's best for DD9. Opinions?


I just ordered and received Kids Sea Bands and Kids Bonine for our soon to be 6YO for the trip. Will she need them? Will they work? Bonine has always worked very well for me.

------------
Just called Expedia to request a dining rotation and I requested the LAP. That way we'd have AP for the formals and PC for the Pirate Night (as well as our Palo night). TA said it was a done deal, but I am assuming that the request is a done deal. Happy to just have it out there.

Been MIA for a couple days. I crewed with a competition BBQ team at a contest. Camped in my Honda for the 4 hours of sleep I did get Friday night and am recovering. Had a blast. Team came in 10th which is not as well as they usually do. Learned tons and it will affect how I judge and table captain in the future.

The team is DoRagQ and they are a great bunch of guys from Nashville and Lewisburg, TN. I am the one in pink:

Caryn

Love the picture. You look fabulous in pink! Yummy, BBQ Team! Congrats! What did you BBQ?

 

[BBQMommy]

Thanks!

KCBS (Kansas City BBQ Society) contests have for categories: chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder, and beef brisket. Sometimes a contest will have extra categories like sauce, dessert, and in the case of Lewisburg, TN - goat. DoRagQ opted not to cook goat, and for that I am grateful as the cute little dears were all over the place. Lewisburg contest was at a goat festival last weekend.

Contests sponsored by a cooking brand will usually have a sauce or dessert category with the rule they have to utilize the brand. Judged at the Jim Beam Whiskey contest last week and the dessert cat had that requirement.

BBQ judging has been a great hobby these last two years. DH and I cook it a lot at home. DH will try a backyard contest next year to dip his toe in. Backyard is just chicken and ribs.

For anyone interested: http://kcbs.us/

 

[Dagny]

My kids will also miss the friday before break start. We are doing an over night flight on the 16th. Then we will take a much needed nap, before we attend MVMCP on the 17th.

Ditto!!!!!

 

[Dagny]

I would love to join any run/walking on Deck 4. I did this early in the mornings on my last cruises, but 5 years later I walk a lot more than I run these days...DH does the treadmill. Now that DD is 9 rather than 3 and 4 I'm curious to see how our schedule will work out. We have late dining this time. Yay.

...

I am also in as well. I lost 35 pounds earlier this year and have been successful in keeping it off thus far. Would love to have some accountability to keep me focused!

 

[BBQMommy]

35# is a fabulous accomplishment, Dagny I think we are going to have a small army tooling around the decks

Caryn

 

[Dagny]

to all the new folks!




The last update is on pg 66 of this thread. I only have a couple more additions since then (yours included) I will try to update early next week. With all of the flooding and tornados we had in Northern AZ this week I am trying to dry out a flooded garage and repair some damage. The deadline is Nov 1st and as a group we decided anything over 50 cabins we would discuss splitting.

Thanks Tink!!!! I will tell you that splitting the staterooms is a GOOD idea, especially if there are a ton of cabins participating. I think we had like 80 staterooms for the podcast cruise in May 2009 and it was definitely not managable. I think I had one suitcase with nothing but F/E gifts, LOL.

I am starting to collect my goodies and I am sure my DH will be thrilled that I have already taken over the dining room

I am really sorry to hear that you are dealing with a flooded garage. We recently had our A/C flood from the attic down into my son's room. It is awful - I feel your pain. I am happy to pitch in to help if needed

For the record, we are a family of 4. Me, DH, DD (age 19) and DS (11). We have not sailed since July 2009 so we are definitely ready for this cruise!!!!

 

[Dagny]

35# is a fabulous accomplishment, Dagny I think we are going to have a small army tooling around the decks

Caryn

Thanks so much Caryn!!!! I appreciate it so much!!! The truly amazing part is I can't even tell.... I look "the same" to myself even though I am down three sizes, LOL. Things I have figured out during this process..... I will never give up Queso, Pizza or my Michelob Ultra I would rather exercise more so I am excited that I don't have to walk alone.

I can't wait for you all to meet my DH - he lost 150 pounds about 3 years ago and now has less than 15% bodyfat - he looks amazing If anyone is looking for inspiration, he is your guy, trust me.

 

[VMinick]

So I was thinking - the Dis Meet n' Greet is on Day 2 (Time and place TBD - waiting on DCL to assign us a space) - but DDs would like to meet other kids their age as soon as we get on the ship. On our last cruise, I organized an informal kids' greet with Mickey Ice Cream bars by the Mickey pool after most folks boarded, but before the lifeboat drill. The kids all swam and got to kick of their vacation by meeting other kids in an easy and fun situation. It doesn't work for everyone because some folks board late or are still eating lunch, but the kids that did join in certainly had fun and met pals they hung out with for the rest of the cruise.

I'm happy to pull this together if anyone's interested in bringing your kids by the Mickey pool for some fun in the sun with Mickey bars at 3pm on boarding day.

What do you think?

I think my kids would love to meet everyone else that day! That sounds like a great plan...as long as the crazy Florida weather cooperates. If not, then they may just have to eat the bars inside.

 

[eve adkins]

Does anyone know what the numbers are at for the FE? I am done up to 50 so if we don't go higher then that I'm all set!!! Such a relief!!

 

[3princessMommy]

Helped Mom (3princessgrandma) make her FE today! Lots of fun (giggling as she yelled at the sewing machine mostly ). It's really cute! She'll have to take a picture when she's got the final touches on it to show everyone! So glad that I'm no longer the only one in the family with an FE obsession!!!