May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 7

[Jhalkias]

Speaking of communication from Disney . . . I keep meaning to ask this and forgetting . . .

Did ANYONE get ANY of those letters about the $100 fee, and the later removal of that fee????

I know we got the emails, and the information, but they said each time we would get official notificaiton by mail. Did that just go to the travel agent??

 

[mishoe01]

Sorry that you guys are having in-law issues....all I can do is send out s and let you all know that I'm here if you need to vent.



Venetia - I'm right now using my land/sea camera by Sealife. I've decided to by a digital SLR camera cuz I'm really worried about messing this camera up. It has a housing to allow me to use it under water. Here are some under water shots....(all from CC)

 

[HollyTyler]

Speaking of communication from Disney . . . I keep meaning to ask this and forgetting . . .

Did ANYONE get ANY of those letters about the $100 fee, and the later removal of that fee????

I know we got the emails, and the information, but they said each time we would get official notificaiton by mail. Did that just go to the travel agent??

I never got anything by mail from DCL. And because I was thinking of that recently and worried about never receiving anything official, I asked my travel agency last week when I would be receiving an updated invoice reflecting the $100/person fee removal. A couple days later they finally sent my updated invoice. But nothing from DCL by mail.

 

[nskjerven]

Holly,

Sorry to hear that Tyler was disappointed about being left out. I know how that feels. Last year Molly's was absent from her cousin's wedding party while the other girls in the family her age were all in it. Funny thing is that we were very close with my nephew, but hmmmmm not his new bride... can you tell why???

I think the best thing to do in this situtation is be honest. You tell your child that people make plans that they think are best for their wedding day. And it is their special day to do as they please. When it's their (your child's) wedding day they will get to choose all the people that they want to be in the party and those that are to be invited guests.

Too bad you didn't know in advance to soothe the pain fpr Tyler (I didn't either by the way)

 

[HollyTyler]

WOW Monica! Those underwater photos are incredible!

 

[Jhalkias]

GREAT PARENTS!!! not to mention GREAT FRIENDS!
No AKLV? I thought you wanted to be on that blanket!!

Have you guys ever stayed at the Contemporary?

I thought about it V, but we decided against it . . . wanted to pay off some of what we already bought first. BC is paid off, and Vero will be soon.

We have stayed at the Contemporary a few times. I know it gets bad reviews now, but we had really good times there. One year we had a tower room with a MK view and it was awesome for watching the fireworks. We still enjoy Chef Mickey's, and you can't beat the monorail going right through your lobby. Alex and I had some great times at that pool too. Years ago, you could also go up to the observation deck to watch the fireworks (before everyone found out about it) without reservations at the California Grill. Not so now.

Boy . . . do I miss WDW . . . sure could use a Disney fix about now . . .

 

[fourmcds]

Speaking of communication from Disney . . . I keep meaning to ask this and forgetting . . .

Did ANYONE get ANY of those letters about the $100 fee, and the later removal of that fee????

I know we got the emails, and the information, but they said each time we would get official notificaiton by mail. Did that just go to the travel agent??

Nothing here....except an email from my TA with the new fee and then removal of the fee. I wonder if the only people that got the actual letter booked directly through DCL.

 

[nskjerven]

Speaking of communication from Disney . . . I keep meaning to ask this and forgetting . . .

Did ANYONE get ANY of those letters about the $100 fee, and the later removal of that fee????

I know we got the emails, and the information, but they said each time we would get official notificaiton by mail. Did that just go to the travel agent??

I got a letter from DLC, I booked online with DCL, I'm planning on moving over to Costco to get the gift card, but not until later.

Monica great shots!!! I'm too scared to go under water like that, but love seeing pictures!

 

[mishoe01]

OK....Can't stay awake any longer. And one of my friends thinks NOW would be a good time to come visit? Um......NO WAY!

Tomorrow after work will share our fun times. Tyler's high point: possibly getting a ride in my brother's Dodge ACR Viper. Although at his age, he doesn't understand the excitement of riding in a $90K car, but he was thrilled at the sound of the engine. My high point: feeding the Larakeets at the Newport Aquarium and feeling their little feet walk up and down my arm. I had one on my shoulder and 2 on my arms. One would turn and chirp at me after everything I said and another would bob its head up and down every time I spoke. VERY fun!

More details tomorrow! Goodnight!

Holly - welcome back! Glad you're home safe & sound.
Would love to see a pic of you w/ the Larakeets.....are they like Parakeets??

 

[fourmcds]

I thought about it V, but we decided against it . . . wanted to pay off some of what we already bought first. BC is paid off, and Vero will be soon.

We have stayed at the Contemporary a few times. I know it gets bad reviews now, but we had really good times there. One year we had a tower room with a MK view and it was awesome for watching the fireworks. We still enjoy Chef Mickey's, and you can't beat the monorail going right through your lobby. Alex and I had some great times at that pool too. Years ago, you could also go up to the observation deck to watch the fireworks (before everyone found out about it) without reservations at the California Grill. Not so now.

Boy . . . do I miss WDW . . . sure could use a Disney fix about now . . .

I went through my sadness today over no future WDW trip planned Scott thought I was crazy, but I decided we needed a quick DL trip to make up for it Due to the cruise, this will be the longest I have gone without a trip to the world since 2002!

We only have points at OKW...2 contracts. Good point about having 2 contracts with the same points John, we might need to re-evaluate that in the future since ours are very uneven! Now our future money is going to extending those contracts but we were trying to decide if we wanted to buy into AKV or GCV....

 

[HollyTyler]

Holly,

Sorry to hear that Tyler was disappointed about being left out. I know how that feels. Last year Molly's was absent from her cousin's wedding party while the other girls in the family her age were all in it. Funny thing is that we were very close with my nephew, but hmmmmm not his new bride... can you tell why???

I think the best thing to do in this situtation is be honest. You tell your child that people make plans that they think are best for their wedding day. And it is their special day to do as they please. When it's their (your child's) wedding day they will get to choose all the people that they want to be in the party and those that are to be invited guests.

Too bad you didn't know in advance to soothe the pain fpr Tyler (I didn't either by the way)

How sad that Molly was left out too. Strange how families work, isn't it? Well, I reminded Tyler that not so long ago he got to be the ring bearer in his dad's wedding and that this time he gets to just relax and watch. He seemed OK with that. My sister included him in all the pictures she took, so that made a big difference because he didn't know which pics were official wedding photos. She's going to e-mail me all her pics, so he'll get to see all of those.....of course I'll be posting some too! She got a great one of me with Tyler, sitting on a couch when we were trying to stay out of the way.

 

[Jhalkias]

BTW - for any of you that like Fantasy and SF novels, I just finished the first two novels in Terry Brooks' Genesis of Shanara series and could not put them down. Between those books and Sports, I was not here as much.

Will be at the Indians game on Thursday - it is on National Cable TV on TBS - 6:30 ET. Should I make a DIS banner for the game??? Alex and Amy cannot go, so I am taking an old friend, one of the guys from our wedding party that I have not spent time with for awhile. He is a teacher close by here, a big fan, and was thrilled when I called and asked if he wanted to go. The $30 tickets are already going for big bucks on Ebay - esp since we are playing the Yankees!

OK, need to get to bed and get some sleep!

 

[calmom]

We broke the news to Sophia's teacher at conferences last week. (of course, I had already spoken to our Superintendent about it - since I am on the board). She seemed almost as excited as we were. I think it is a great idea to get the class involved too. I think that would be really cool. She said Sophia is doing so well that there is no cause to worry, and it will further broaden her already hungry interest in Social Studies.

Hmmm...wondering if we could have the kids do something together? Nothing stressful, but each do one slide or something? I mean all the kids that have to do a project - Might be too complicated.

I got a letter from DLC, I booked online with DCL, I'm planning on moving over to Costco to get the gift card, but not until later.

Monica great shots!!! I'm too scared to go under water like that, but love seeing pictures!

What kind of gift card can you get? We booked thru DCL, have on board credit (thanks to Disneylover Lisa!) and planned on transfering to a travel agent that will give $300/credit (I think $300 - maybe $200). Anyway, curious what Costco does..

Love all the photos!

Angie -

Noel, love to hear about the Google event.

I can't say it enough how relieved I am about Star testing and my school being ok. I am going to wait to tell the teachers until after the first of the year. My main concern was the administration and not being on their bad side.

I'm heading back to San Diego tomorrow. Driving DH crazy with all this traveling, but he will join me tomorrow night and we will have a night away! Too bad it won't be at the Del. Conference is at the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego.

Lisa

 

[HollyTyler]

Holly - welcome back! Glad you're home safe & sound.
Would love to see a pic of you w/ the Larakeets.....are they like Parakeets??

I wish I had a pic....almost bought one that the aquarium photographer took as I was leaning down to give Tyler a closer look at the birds, but they were a bit too pricey, so I had to limit myself to just one. The one I picked is of Tyler and I standing behind giant shark jaws when we first entered the building.

To me, the lorikeets (I had a typo in my previous post) looked like miniature parrots. Here's a link to somebody else's YouTube clip to show what they look like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb_IK7VjFJY

 

[pjpoohbear]

Angie,

All I can offer is a great big hug. Hopefully both the family and your DSiL have reached peace if it becomes her time to move on.

V,
So I guess the In-laws made it safety from Ohio to Florida?

Nan,

Saw your chip and dale shot on the DCL photo thread, very cute!

Celebrating couples,
Congratulations on your many years of commitment.

John,
Contemporary is my big temptation as well. Trying out AKV in December, still have to try the outlying DVCs and BWV and BCV. My DVC payments are done in May, so a late 2008 or early 2009 announcement would be very bad for the pocket book.

Pj

Ps. Tuesday night bowling league is not as much fun as it has been in the past, can't figure out what I am doing wrong, my average has dropped 10 pins.

 

[nskjerven]

somewhere in my mind I have it that we'll get $600-$800 in costco card. I think it's based on what you are paying/cat you book some of my nye xmas friends used it last time and this time I haven't done the work to find out what to do yet. not sure if you can change once you pay in full so i'll deal with this before feb, but most likely after xmas this year

 

[nskjerven]

double post.....there is nothing good on tv tonight. watching carpooler, ehhhh not so great. missed the bacholer last night, was it good?

 

[calmom]

somewhere in my mind I have it that we'll get $600-$800 in costco card. I think it's based on what you are paying/cat you book some of my nye xmas friends used it last time and this time I haven't done the work to find out what to do yet. not sure if you can change once you pay in full so i'll deal with this before feb, but most likely after xmas this year

Wow! That sounds much better. I wonder if I could get two cards since I have two rooms??? I'll have to look into that. Thanks for the tip!

 

[birkner]

The news is not good this evening. The kids and my bro and his wife talked with the doc today and they are less than hopeful. They say she is not a candidate for dialysis again as she has systemic infections that are not responding to any antibiotic they have hit it with. Her PH is dropping, acidity rising, Blood sugars up, blood pressure down, breathing shallow and kidneys failing. The doc asked her if she wants them to resuscitate if/when her heart stops and she just replied "I don't want to die." Which is all she has said most of the day, except to say "I hurt." My heart is just breaking for my big brother. It will likely be a slow process, but inevitable.

Our deepest sympathy for the agony your family is going through with your sister in law. We had the same type of conversation with my sister when she had terminal cancer and it is so heartbreaking. Our prayers are with you and your family.

 

[MrsMork]

Angie, I am so sorry.

And this just came from my cousin about my uncle and his bride.

I went to the Post Office a bit ago and when I returned Dad was on the porch. Through many sobs and tears I learned that he has been told by the doctor that Irene is soon to pass. Probably in the next 3 to 4 days. She has a disease that kills the feet and hands.

Oh my. This uncle is my very favorite person other than Dennis and my children. I am closer to him than my parents. He was always my hero from the time I was a little girl. They were going to cruise with us year before last, but he had some heart troubles that kept them home.

Sorry for the downers tonight.