March 21, 2009 Western Magic

[MelissaE1]

We're staying at the Country Inn and Suites. We almost stayed at the Radisson, but the Country Inn and Suites seemed a little smaller and quieter, and also newer. I think it's next door to Hertz, which could make dropping off our rental car even more convenient than I had expected. But I would think a lot of people will be staying at the Radisson.

And remember, Ron Jon's is open 24 hours a day!

I looked at CI&S and it looked very nice, but the rate I got at the Radisson ($99) was so cheap I couldn't pass it up. The suite was only $30 more, but as my son said, we are only going to sleep there overnight on our way to a Disney Cruise!

I guess DH is out of luck if Ron Jon's is open 24 hours. That means I can get there regardless. I'm sure I won't spend much...

 

[MelissaE1]

HI,
We are at the Radisson the night before, too. We'll be driving up after school, so I'm not sure if we'll have time for Ron Jon. My daughter would love it, though. I seem to recall visiting one in Key West, too. It's getting closer and closer!
Debbie

It's a pretty long drive for us, so my kids are getting a bonus. We are taking them out of school on Friday. Luckily things get quieter after FCAT's are over. My DS14 knows about the cruise and that he can't miss any school if he wants to miss Friday. We are surprising my DD10... as far as I know she has no idea we are going.

 

[DisneyMom92]

DAYS TO GO​

Disneymom92, good to see you back.
Hope you weren't hit by all the ice last month. Weather has not been too kind to your area lately.

That's quite an understatement. We were hit hard by the ice storm, 6 days without power, the whole bit. We tried to tough it out four days and then moved to a hotel for 2. Looking way forward to the cruise and warmer weather.

 

[MelissaE1]

We were hit hard by the ice storm, 6 days without power, the whole bit. We tried to tough it out four days and then moved to a hotel for 2. :scared1

That is making me shiver just thinking about it! That must have been awful. How did you "tough it out"? Fires? Blankets? Huddling together in a big group? I probably would have caved and checked into a hotel right away. Next time we lose power around here during a hurricane instead of grumbling because it's so hot I am going to remember to be grateful that I am not freezing in an ice storm.

 

[cindy18]

I second that. The mid-atlantic and northeast is having a really rough patch, what with the major snowstorm Sunday and Monday and then really really cold weather. It's making the cruise look better and better! Two weeks and two days until we fly down!

 

[BobandLee]

Good Evening All.
Turned into a great day. 68° when I got off work.
It was a good time to try shorts on for the cruise.
Very nice to just walk Belle without hurrying thru the walk.

Ahhh. In just 2 weeks we will be heading south to start our trip.
After a longer than usual flight, detouring thru NC, we will arrive in Orlando.
Then our first excursion begins....staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Our on cruise excursions consist of the Pirate Encounter at Grand Cayman and The Dolphins at Cozumel.
At CC we plan on just taking it easy.

Welcome Cindy 18.

That's quite an understatement. We were hit hard by the ice storm, 6 days without power, the whole bit. We tried to tough it out four days and then moved to a hotel for 2. Looking way forward to the cruise and warmer weather.

18 years ago, we went thru the same thing. We had no phone, cable or electric for one day. The next day the phone and cable came back online. After the 3rd day, we checked into a hotel for a couple of days. We had natural gas, but no blower on the furnace and it was not easy keeping warm with the woodstove. But we could warm up at work as both of our job places were o.k.

Yes, we are ready and looking forward to the cruise.

 

[huntbrown]

After 3 changes, we are now staying at the Radisson. I hate last minute changes

 

[Momfromva]

Hi, Everyone!
I am transitioning from very excited to slightly panicked! I think I will be calmer once I am packed.
We are also staying at the Radisson the night before the cruise.
No plans for Key West, Island tour in Grand Cayman, Nachi Cocum in Cozumel and the Jet Ski tour in CC. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

 

[MelissaE1]

Hi, Everyone!
I am transitioning from very excited to slightly panicked! I think I will be calmer once I am packed.
We are also staying at the Radisson the night before the cruise.
No plans for Key West, Island tour in Grand Cayman, Nachi Cocum in Cozumel and the Jet Ski tour in CC. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Hi Michelle (do I have that right? )

I have passed slightly panicked and moved on to full blown freaking out, so you are in good company, lol. I didn't realize when I moved the date how many things I needed to buy/do in a short time. Oh well, I figure if anything doesn't get done we'll deal with it when we get on the boat. Everything comes out in the wash.

I noticed from an earlier post that you had some grandparents in your party that were waitlisted for main seating. Did you get that worked out? We are main, but I think we are going to switch to late. Not sure if Disney would let us suggest a specific party to take our place, but you never know.

 

[gomagic]

I too am hitting the panic stage. I've had things pulled out for a week now to go through and decide what to take but it's just not working. I'm going to have to try real hard this weekend or else next weekend will be complete freak out mode.

 

[Momfromva]

Hi, Melissa!
I don't think having lot's of time to plan (and wait) is necessarily a good thing. I have shopped too much. Infact, I am pretty sure that I have bought doubles of some things!
I've had a couple of people ask me if I am excited about the cruise. I'm sure I am somewhere inside. I am feeling more focused right now than anything. There are so many things to do - get the dog his booster shots as we are boarding him, have the mail held, request homework from my sons teacher - you know. I am sure once I see the ship I'll breakdown and cry with happiness!
As for our dinner seating, my DH's grandparents were moved to main seating with us. Thanks for the offer to tell us when you were switching. Sitting together with the family is the main thing they wanted. I am so happy it worked out!

Good luck with your wardrobe, GoMagic. I noticed that the stores finally have their summer things out in case you need to shop.

Hope everyone is enjoying the same warm weather that we are today. We went from single digit highs last week to 72 today!

15 days to go!!!

-Michelle

 

[disneymartins]

Hi Everyone!

I just found this thread today...and I have been on Disboards for years!! We are excited for our 1st Disney Cruise!! DH and I have only been on one 3 day cruise (horrible...not Disney!) This is all new to us. It is very exciting to see all the kids that will be on the cruise that are the same age as my DD 11 and DD 9 1/2. We have been to WDW more times then we can count...and are DVC members at SS. It is very strange to be doing something "Disney" that we are clueless on. We are used to being the experts! Thank you so much for starting this thread and helping out all of the newbies like us.

We can not wait to meet all of you!

Denise

 

[DisneyMom92]

That is making me shiver just thinking about it! That must have been awful. How did you "tough it out"? Fires? Blankets? Huddling together in a big group? I probably would have caved and checked into a hotel right away. Next time we lose power around here during a hurricane instead of grumbling because it's so hot I am going to remember to be grateful that I am not freezing in an ice storm.

Mostly, we toughed it out by only being home to sleep after the first day or so. We were one of the first to brave the roads. The biggest problem wasn't the cold, even though the house got down to 56 degrees while we were here one night, but the fact that we are on well water and the pump is electric so we have no water during a power outage. I use bottled water to drink and cook so we had that and could flush with it, but it was a pain, to say the least. The hotel was a welcome sight.

Regarding packing...this is our 4th DCL cruise, 3rd Western. I have yet to under pack. Believe it when they say get together everything you want to bring, then take out at least 1/2. It's amazine how little you really need. Other than make up and deoderant, you need no toiletries, they supply shampoo, conditioner, soap, loation, etc. The hairdryer is somewhat weak, so if you must dry your hair, you probably need to bring one. If you have a lot of electronics, bring a power strip, you will be happy you did.

Don't panic...somehow it will all get done. It always does.

Can't wait to see everone on board. Don't forget to wear your lime green.

 

[Neriberi]

We'll be there too (5 of us), on our 2nd Disney Cruise. I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away! I feel soooooooooo behind on planning. Happy to find this group though.

 

[cindy18]

Hi Everyone!

I just found this thread today...and I have been on Disboards for years!! We are excited for our 1st Disney Cruise!! DH and I have only been on one 3 day cruise (horrible...not Disney!) This is all new to us. It is very exciting to see all the kids that will be on the cruise that are the same age as my DD 11 and DD 9 1/2. We have been to WDW more times then we can count...and are DVC members at SS. It is very strange to be doing something "Disney" that we are clueless on. We are used to being the experts! Thank you so much for starting this thread and helping out all of the newbies like us.

We can not wait to meet all of you!

Denise

I promise you that, unlike your 3-night non-Disney cruise, this will be amazing. There are some very good trip reports on the trip report thread on recently completed 7-night Westerns (the last Western before ours leave today), and if you read them, you will start to count down the minutes! Also, my DD 11 will be very excited to know she will not be hunting around for friends. I think she and her older sister are thinking to spend every evening after the show (we have main dining) at the party in Ocean's Quest! On our first cruise, we didn't have a lot of expectations (and we had not found these boards), and we were blown away. You will be too!

 

[BobandLee]

Good Morning All.
Very nice weather here in the heartland.
2 whole weeks to go. How will we last that long.

Welcome Neriberis and Disneymartins

..... It is very strange to be doing something "Disney" that we are clueless on. We are used to being the experts! Thank you so much for starting this thread and helping out all of the newbies like us.

We can not wait to meet all of you!

Denise

Just remember, there are no absolutes.
No one is an absolute "expert" and no one is a absolute "newbie".
We did a lot of research before our first cruise and every cruise we have went on since, we have learned so much more.

Packing? Yep, I have always over packed. Seems like Lee does it just about right. I never think I have enough "stuff", but this time it is just one suitcase, so I gotta make it work. Suit and all.

The main thing is just plan on having fun.

 

[cindy18]

Ah, packing. Plan is to spend next Sunday deciding on the outfits, since I don't think we'll be needing summer clothes in NY before we leave (although today's forecast high of 64 is VERY exciting). DD 11 has asked to go through all her dresses with me to pick the proper ones for formal and semi-formal night, but DD 13 hasn't seemed that interested. And our pirate costumes arrived this week, so that was a lot of fun! 2 weeks does feel like a long time though.

 

[disneymartins]

Cindy18- I will let my daughter (11 years old last week) know that there are a lot of 10 and 11 year old girls on board. She is really outgoing...my almost 10 year old girl is more shy. We have the late dining...it was all they had available when we booked in August, so we figured we would try it. We have heard both good and bad...we will see how it goes. As for pirate night...are you wearing a costume or just the kids? We were in WDW for Halloween this year (my birthday is the 30th of October) so we all have pirate costumes from MNSSHP that are still in our Owners Locker.

BobandLee- Thanks for making me feel better at being new to this. You are right about there being no experts...I have suggested things to friends at Disney that they HATED! I have friends that hated Poly Concierge level (how do you hate the Poly...I am crying) and friends that hated Hoop-de-Doo (it was too loud)...you can see my point!

 

[pixie3]

We're on this cruise, too!! Pap pap, mom, dad, and two boys who are 5 and 3. My son has two weeks spring break so we are going to Disney World for a week, then pap pap is flying down and we are all going on the cruise!!!

 

[magicron]

Sounds like a good number of girls about the same age: we have DD9 (turns 10 in June), and DD13. Going to the clubs after the show sounds like a good idea. This is our first family cruise, so we'll figure this out as we go to get a balance of family time and club time.

The girls are trying on some of their summer clothes this weekend, to start setting aside for packing. Hopefully, not too many last minute shopping trips needed.