~~~ May 16, 2009 ~~~ Western Magic ~~~

[Bellamickey]

Hi Guys!!

I wanted to say I'm sorry I haven't been on in a couple days...... I had to call the ambulance on Shawn...turnes out he has a viral infection. Hopefully he will be better soon.

I've missed you guys!!

So, on trying to get back to our planning!!!!

Does anyone know the website to buy the KW trolley tour tickets?

Oh and will they add new times for Palo or is what they have now all they will have until our cruise?

Hope everyone is doing well. I've missed being on here and chatting with all of you! You guys brighten my day

Hi Val and Lynsey!!! I need to email you guys. I hope things with your DCL planning are going well.

 

[Hudson5&Lennon3]

Hi Belinda!!! OMG!!! I hope Shawn is better now!! Scary! I was just wondering this morning where you've been, but I know how it is when you get busy. I just assumed that was it...wish it was.

 

[Bellamickey]

Hi Belinda!!! OMG!!! I hope Shawn is better now!! Scary! I was just wondering this morning where you've been, but I know how it is when you get busy. I just assumed that was it...wish it was.

Thanx Val, I've missed ya. He's still the same....can't hold anything in "from the back end". They said by next week if he is still the same, to bring him back in.
His white blood count is really elevated but they said that's due to the infection.
I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life, when his oxygen level started dropping, I thought I was going to loose him .....with us and the no kid problem, hes my life, and all I've got

Thank you. He is strong and drinking lots of fluid. I will try and LOVE him back to health in no time!!!!!!

 

[Hudson5&Lennon3]

Ok -- have a longer reply working but had to share!!!

I tried the Kids Half Off (KHO) on the web for our sailing and it WORKED! I immediately called our TA and asked him to look into it. He called DCL, they said no, not for our sailing -- so my TA showed him screen shots of the online booking and they HONORED it!!!!!! I don't know how much I saved yet (TA is still working it out) but AT LEAST $500!!! They had to cancel so for a moment, lost all of my ressies BUT got the new reservation # from my TA quickly and got right back online and rebooked them all.

I wanted to share in case you are traveling with kids -- might want to check it out!!! Could be worth $$! Will let you all know when I have the final $$ saved......

WTG Mati!!!!!! Did you put in KHO as a discount code? I'm trying to check into it, too, but it just gives the same price as it has been for a year. Maybe I should call my TA and have her look into it.

ETA: I thought it was just through May 14th? I wonder if that's why it's not taking the promo code (I found that on the DCL website, too). Where did your TA find the screen shots?

 

[Hudson5&Lennon3]

Chasity, I'm sitting here watching Letterman, and U2 is going to be on every night this week!! Just thought I'd let you know since I see you're a big fan!

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Welcome to all our new cruisers!!

Hi Everyone,
I am getting super excited - trying to get everything together for fish extenders.... how many rooms do we have participating????

Is anyone adverse to alcohol??
I know I am not lol!!
Kristin

As of right now we have 24 rooms (inside those rooms there are: 25 Men, 28 Women, 7 Girls & 11 Boys).
Since I've never done this before how long do we keep the option open for anyone to join? I'm a novice so everybody chime in and let me know how this normally works. I assumed it might be a moving target until everyone got their cabin numbers. Plus we now have a bunch of new cruisers. Any new posters want to join the FE group?

Ok -- have a longer reply working but had to share!!!

I tried the Kids Half Off (KHO) on the web for our sailing and it WORKED! I immediately called our TA and asked him to look into it. He called DCL, they said no, not for our sailing -- so my TA showed him screen shots of the online booking and they HONORED it!!!!!! I don't know how much I saved yet (TA is still working it out) but AT LEAST $500!!! They had to cancel so for a moment, lost all of my ressies BUT got the new reservation # from my TA quickly and got right back online and rebooked them all.

I wanted to share in case you are traveling with kids -- might want to check it out!!! Could be worth $$! Will let you all know when I have the final $$ saved......

Congratulations!!!

I checked out our flight prices on Yapta and typed in the cost for both tickets and thought that I could get a voucher for over $500. Unfortunately, the price should have been per ticket so if I'd have tried to get a refund on the ticket price once I paid the $150 change fee we would have gotten a $15 voucher. DANG!

Hi Guys!!

I wanted to say I'm sorry I haven't been on in a couple days...... I had to call the ambulance on Shawn...turnes out he has a viral infection. Hopefully he will be better soon.

I've missed you guys!!

So, on trying to get back to our planning!!!!

Does anyone know the website to buy the KW trolley tour tickets?

Oh and will they add new times for Palo or is what they have now all they will have until our cruise?

Hope everyone is doing well. I've missed being on here and chatting with all of you! You guys brighten my day

Hi Val and Lynsey!!! I need to email you guys. I hope things with your DCL planning are going well.

Belinda, I'm so sorry to hear about Shawn. My brother had a viral infection in his spine and it was REALLY scary. I hope Shawn is feeling better soon. Make sure to take care of yourself as well. You don't want to get him healthy and then have you come down with something.

This is the website for the place that we are going to use for the trolley tour. http://www.trolleytours.com/key-west/
I assume that there is only one trolley company on Key West. I have the addresses for a couple of the two Key Lime Pie vendors that have been recommended previously, but I have no idea where the ship docks to try and decide which location is closest to the ship. Val, I know you had that fantastic drawing of how to get to the closest shop to the ship, was it a Kermit's or Blonde Giraffe?

FROZEN KEY LIME PIE TOUR
Kermit’s Original
Key West
Key Lime Shoppe

http://keylimeshop.com
Open Daily 9 A.M. to 9 P.M.
Located in Old Town
at the corner of
Greene & Elizabeth Street.
200-A Elizabeth St.
Key West, Fl. 33040
305-296-0806

Blonde Giraffe
http://www.blondgiraffe.com
107 Simonton Street
Key West, FL
(305) 296-9174
9 am - 8 pm

1209 Truman Ave
Key West, FL
(305) 295-6776
10 am - 8 pm

802 Duval Street
Key West, FL
(305) 293-7874
10 am - 11 pm

Not sure how much I can type in one reply so I'm going to close now and start a new message.
J

 

[Faith&Hope]

Ok -- have a longer reply working but had to share!!!

I tried the Kids Half Off (KHO) on the web for our sailing and it WORKED! I immediately called our TA and asked him to look into it. He called DCL, they said no, not for our sailing -- so my TA showed him screen shots of the online booking and they HONORED it!!!!!! I don't know how much I saved yet (TA is still working it out) but AT LEAST $500!!! They had to cancel so for a moment, lost all of my ressies BUT got the new reservation # from my TA quickly and got right back online and rebooked them all.

I wanted to share in case you are traveling with kids -- might want to check it out!!! Could be worth $$! Will let you all know when I have the final $$ saved......

What?!??! I just looked and it says until May 14th. I even typed in the code for a cruise in April and it didn't discount the fare. Hmmmm...?? Please share with us what your agent did so we can save ourselves some money!! Of course, this is released after we transferred our ressie to Dreams Unlimited so I don't have control of our ressie anymore I hate not being able to call Disney and ask questions. that's why we wait until the day before the due date and transfer it. And we only miss it by 2 days....that sucks! It says that more dates may be added later....I guess if we can't get it to work, maybe they will add 2 more days down the road. With 2 kids, that savings could buy us all new wardrobes!

Oh my goodness..I just subtracted what we are paying for 4 of us, took off the 2 kids and the difference was $1730! Half of that (or less than that with port charges, etc). That's a lot of money!

I just read it again and it says new bookings only. How did they cancel your current ressie without a penalty? We are within penalty time. This wouldhave been easy to do before the 75th day but trying to figure out how to make it work now.

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Missed one from my last post.

Hi Everyone,
I am getting super excited - trying to get everything together for fish extenders.... how many rooms do we have participating????

Is anyone adverse to alcohol??
I know I am not lol!!
Kristin

See previous post for count. I don't drink (ok, an occasional frozen fru-fru one, but it just puts me to sleep). Jim does though.

I have a couple of questions that I keep forgetting to ask:

For anyone that is renting a car to drive to the port, what rental agency are you using? I have a reservation with Budget because I know they have a drop off site near the port, but I'd like to price comparison shop.

What is the latest time we can leave the ship? I'd like to hang around as long as possible (plus we don't fly out till 5pm) but since Jim's bag went missing the last cruise we were on, we will either be lugging all of our stuff off the ship ourselves or he will want to get off ASAP to make sure his bags are in customs. I'm sure it's in the information, but I don't have my materials with me.

Can't wait for Three night of AI this week!!

Thanks!
Jane

 

[adedward]

It is 19 degrees F this morning; really cold for here this time of year. I can close my eyes and almost feel the peacefulness of stepping out onto a warm deck in the early morning sunshine to quietly stroll together to a scrumptious breakfast . . . (of course I have never been on the ship - this is all in my head).

 

[texfinn]

I was adding an excursion about an hour ago, clicked over to Palo, and one brunch time was open. I selected it and hit continue, and everything froze and I got an error report. OK, who got my brunch????

Umm...that was probably me. To get the Kids Half Off deal, they cancelled my reservation (releasing my Palo and excursion reservations). I then got a new reservation number and immediately went and rebooked them all. If it was brunch on KW day at 11, yup, that was me. I'm sorry. If it is any consolation -- I originally booked it at the 105 day mark....Sorry...

I will try to add a few pictures of family.
My son with Chuck Norris

Very cool

Wife, son, and daughter at guess where....thats right the Beach Club Villas in Disney.

You have a BEAUTIFUL family!!! Can't wait to meet everyone in person!

Guess where..... that's right Dollywood. We live about 1.5 hours from Dollywood and go used to go there often. If you need to know anything about the Smokies or Dollywood just let me know. Actually I have a website that looks kinda like the Dis about the Smoky Mountain area that I need to keep up better.

We have never been but sure we will get there at some point. It looks like a fun place!

Hi Guys!!
I wanted to say I'm sorry I haven't been on in a couple days...... I had to call the ambulance on Shawn...turnes out he has a viral infection. Hopefully he will be better soon.
I've missed you guys!!
So, on trying to get back to our planning!!!!
Does anyone know the website to buy the KW trolley tour tickets?
Oh and will they add new times for Palo or is what they have now all they will have until our cruise?
Hope everyone is doing well. I've missed being on here and chatting with all of you! You guys brighten my day
Hi Val and Lynsey!!! I need to email you guys. I hope things with your DCL planning are going well.

I am so sorry he is feeling so sick. I hope he gets better soon!

WTG Mati!!!!!! Did you put in KHO as a discount code? I'm trying to check into it, too, but it just gives the same price as it has been for a year. Maybe I should call my TA and have her look into it.

ETA: I thought it was just through May 14th? I wonder if that's why it's not taking the promo code (I found that on the DCL website, too). Where did your TA find the screen shots?

I did use KHO. I tried it and it worked. The discount doesn't show until you press continue. It does say only through May 14th BUT I tried it on our sailing and it worked so figured it was worth a shot.... I took the screen shots and mailed them to my TA.

What?!??! I just looked and it says until May 14th. I even typed in the code for a cruise in April and it didn't discount the fare. Hmmmm...?? Please share with us what your agent did so we can save ourselves some money!! Of course, this is released after we transferred our ressie to Dreams Unlimited so I don't have control of our ressie anymore I hate not being able to call Disney and ask questions. that's why we wait until the day before the due date and transfer it. And we only miss it by 2 days....that sucks! It says that more dates may be added later....I guess if we can't get it to work, maybe they will add 2 more days down the road. With 2 kids, that savings could buy us all new wardrobes!

Oh my goodness..I just subtracted what we are paying for 4 of us, took off the 2 kids and the difference was $1730! Half of that (or less than that with port charges, etc). That's a lot of money!

I just read it again and it says new bookings only. How did they cancel your current ressie without a penalty? We are within penalty time. This wouldhave been easy to do before the 75th day but trying to figure out how to make it work now.

Ok -- so originally thought it wouldn't work too because yesterday was day 75 so was surprised with TA said there is no penalty so ,I checked it out. It turns out the penalty kicks in on day 74 -- so day 75 or more before the cruise and you can cancel wtihout penalty. I believe it was day 75 yesterday which is probably why it worked? I still don't know how much I saved but now I feel bad that you guys can't take advantage of it too. I didn't hear from my TA until 5:30 last night and immediately posted here but my guess is most TAs won't be working or responding that late?

It is 19 degrees F this morning; really cold for here this time of year. I can close my eyes and almost feel the peacefulness of stepping out onto a warm deck in the early morning sunshine to quietly stroll together to a scrumptious breakfast . . . (of course I have never been on the ship - this is all in my head).

Brrrrrr......ok, really warm here. I am in Austin. It was 45 this morning but sun is shining and it is expected to get close to 80 this afternoon! The scary thing there is it makes you wonder what to expect over the summer ---- eep!

Ok, off to the office today. Still need to work on the following:

1. Trip Insurance -- is it too late?
2. Transportation
3. FE gifts
4. Door magnets -- going to container store today -- thanks Val!

I hope you guys have a great day!

 

[lucyddr]

Thanx Val, I've missed ya. He's still the same....can't hold anything in "from the back end". They said by next week if he is still the same, to bring him back in.
His white blood count is really elevated but they said that's due to the infection.
I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life, when his oxygen level started dropping, I thought I was going to loose him .....with us and the no kid problem, hes my life, and all I've got

Thank you. He is strong and drinking lots of fluid. I will try and LOVE him back to health in no time!!!!!!

We'll be thinking of you and hoping Shawn gets well VERY quickly! Adam pulled one of these a couple of years ago when the E. coli spinach contamination thing was going on. Because I am an MD, I pulled the "watch and wait" approach and nearly killed the boy. At that point, we had only been married 3 months! (I then had the privilege of getting it about 24 hours later while on call and trying to do a colonoscopy in the ICU... I deserved the torture I endured that night and the following Thanksgiving day when I held down about 1 cup of lunch for 30 minutes!)

These illnesses are very scarey!!! Make sure he drinks a ton (even if he's losing it quickly) and eats some yogurt to restore his "good" bacteria that the virus has washed out! Sounds like he has a wonderful wife!

 

[shasess]

Per Disney these are the movies currently showing on the Magic. He did say that some of these will likely change by May as they add movies monthly....

College Road Trip
Swing Vote
Enchanted
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Morning Light
HSM 3
Bolt
Hannah Montana 3D
Bedtime Stories
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Jonas Bros 3D
Race to Witch Mountain

I am looking forward to seeing Shopaholic and Race to Witch Mountain.

 

[lucyddr]

For those participating in the FE exchange, will you please let me know your favorite Disney characters?

I already have "inferred" information from Sonia, Tigger2002, Lyndsay, Bellamickey, and Shasses (I know you aren't in the FE, but I made a little tiny something for you anyway.)

I have some nice and "generic" ideas already made, but I'm happy to take requests as well.

 

[Hudson5&Lennon3]

So it's too late for the KHO offer today? Is there a penalty for today or what are the specifics? I've never cancelled or even looked into the penalty because I've never needed to cancel. I would probably lose my OBC from rebooking onboard, so I'm trying to figure out what it would save me if I switched to the KHO offer minus the penalty and lost OBC.

ETA: Doesn't look like it would've worked out for me anyway. With my 10% off already, there was only $429 difference between the that and the KHO offer plus I'd lose my $250 OBC ($200 for booking a dummy date onboard plus $50 for rescheduling to this cruise the first week these dates came out--but I'd still keep my $250 OBC from AAA), taking my savings to $179, but it looks like the penalty for cancelling now is the deposit amt ($1000), so it's a no brainer to stick with what I've got.

Wouldn't it be GREAT if they offered KHO while we are onboard so we could rebook with this offer AND get the OBC?!?! Would we still get 10% off, too?!?! AND the 50% deposit?!?! C'MON DISNEY...MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR US!! (BTW, who is planning on rebooking? I'd love to have our friends to go with us!)

 

[Hudson5&Lennon3]

Finally i made a reservation to Palo.
Me, my wife and a couple of friends for the last night on board: may 22 at 8:30.
Are we going to miss something important?

The 'Til We Meet Again celebration in the atrium is from 10:15 to 10:45, so you might be cutting it close for that. It's when all the characters make their final apperance.

I will try and LOVE him back to health in no time!!!!!!

Sometimes that's all we can do when we're "watching from the sidelines." I felt so helpless when Justin had his cancer & surgery.

I have the addresses for a couple of the two Key Lime Pie vendors that have been recommended previously, but I have no idea where the ship docks to try and decide which location is closest to the ship. Val, I know you had that fantastic drawing of how to get to the closest shop to the ship, was it a Kermit's or Blonde Giraffe?

I KNOW the closest FKLP is the one that I drew the map for before. It's right around the corner from the ship, but I don't know the name of it. It was just an ice cream shop and didn't "specalize" in FKLP. Someone had posted the Google Maps link before, and when I looked on there, it obviously shows the port, and I could tell exactly where we got ours at, but I don't know where any of the others are at.

For the one I've been to, go to http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...776,-81.807418&spn=0.003523,0.004807&t=h&z=18 and zoom in as far as you can (next to the last one on the zoom slide bar) on the far west side of the island, and you'll see 2 cruise ships docked. Center it up so the north ship (at the short pier) is on the far left of the screen, and you'll see the pier leading to "land." As you would head north from the pier, there's a boomerang-shaped building, and the ice cream shop is just slightly to the right of the bend in the boomerang. Boy do I wish I remembered the name of it!! I hope I'm making sense and not just babbling!!

For anyone that is renting a car to drive to the port, what rental agency are you using? I have a reservation with Budget because I know they have a drop off site near the port, but I'd like to price comparison shop.

We'll be using a car service to get to PC, but we'll rent a car after to go to KSC, but I'm not sure who we'll go with yet. That's on my to-do list. Maybe we can keep in touch with the info that we find out!

What is the latest time we can leave the ship?

It kind of depends on your meal time. If you have main dining, you'll be eating breakfast pretty early. Once you leave your room, I don't think they'll let you back in after you eat, so you'll need to take all your stuff with you then. We had late dining last time, and I was thinking we kind of hung out for just a little bit in the atrium area after eating, and we were still off by ~9:00.

Can't wait for Three night of AI this week!!

I KNOW!!!! I wanted it so bad last night! I was thinking it was Tuesday when we were getting home from a pizza party, and I told Justin how I had to start watching Idol right away...only to be reminded that it was Monday.

It is 19 degrees F this morning; really cold for here this time of year. I can close my eyes and almost feel the peacefulness of stepping out onto a warm deck in the early morning sunshine to quietly stroll together to a scrumptious breakfast . . . (of course I have never been on the ship - this is all in my head).

At least you have the dreams in your head!!!! Hey, 19 degress sounds like a heatwave to us!! Justin is still walking the dog every morning--in the bitter cold (~-15 degree wind chill lately!), and he's so sick of the cold!!

Per Disney these are the movies currently showing on the Magic. He did say that some of these will likely change by May as they add movies monthly....

College Road Trip
Swing Vote
Enchanted
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Morning Light
HSM 3
Bolt
Hannah Montana 3D
Bedtime Stories
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Jonas Bros 3D
Race to Witch Mountain

I am looking forward to seeing Shopaholic and Race to Witch Mountain.

Thanks! I can't remember how far in advance we can find out exactly which one we'll have...maybe 30 days or so? I'm hoping they still have Bedtime Stories! Does anyone know of any Disney movies that will be released right around the time we sail? That's usually what they'll have in the WDT on Pirate Night.

 

[Bellamickey]

For those participating in the FE exchange, will you please let me know your favorite Disney characters?

I already have "inferred" information from Sonia, Tigger2002, Lyndsay, Bellamickey, and Shasses (I know you aren't in the FE, but I made a little tiny something for you anyway.)

I have some nice and "generic" ideas already made, but I'm happy to take requests as well.

You DO have me participating in the FE right? I thought I was on the list?
Maybe I just misunderstood the above, If I did, I'm sorry......

Thank you so much for the kind words with Shawn, it truly means a lot All of you are truly sweet. I will keep everyone posted.

 

[lucyddr]

You DO have me participating in the FE right? I thought I was on the list?
Maybe I just misunderstood the above, If I did, I'm sorry......

Thank you so much for the kind words with Shawn, it truly means a lot All of you are truly sweet. I will keep everyone posted.

Yes, you are on the FE list! I was referring to Shasses, though I didn't make it very clear. (Sorry...) I've already made your little gift based on some of your comments and cruise plans. Don't get too excited, as it's tiny...but thoughtful!

 

[Dizneyholic]

Welcome!!!!

We are late dinner seating too!!

I have done metabolic testing before and thought it was awesome. I did a MAP test and RMR test and found the MAP test to be the most valuable. Ok, I want to spin too! I have done that before and love it. It is a GREAT workout. I wish I could jog but what I do is more sadly somewhere between a walk and a crawl. There are people who walk a lot faster than I job. I guess it is better than nothing right?

Ok, still on a high from saving $$ on the cruise. Don't know how much but every little bit helps!!!!! Did read TR today, didn't do so much work. It is a good thing I go into the office these days -- it helps me focus!

When will we know the final count on the FE list? I need to seriously start looking at that...

I'm glad to hear you liked the Metabolic testing! We really weren't sure about it since it does cost $30 bucks each but I feel better now that someone else found it useful! Thanks for sharing!
Don't worry, I barely call what I do jogging too!! More like dragging myself around at the slowest place possible. I'm really not very good at the whole running thing but I try my best.
Maybe some of us could meet up on board for spinning! However, I have no idea when it is offered so it would be kind of hard to plan it beforehand. Anyone have any info?

Chasity, I'm sitting here watching Letterman, and U2 is going to be on every night this week!! Just thought I'd let you know since I see you're a big fan!

Thanks for thinking of me!!
I do have it set to record!! I can't wait to watch it! I'm on a bunch of fan message boards and I have a Tivo search set up to record anything with U2 in it. I also started a U2 thread if they're any fans on here that want to join in!!!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2096953


Has anyone done the Margarita tasting on board and if so, how do you book them?

 

[Hudson5&Lennon3]

Thanks for thinking of me!!

You're welcome!

Has anyone done the Margarita tasting on board and if so, how do you book them?

Oh, yeah...

Last time, right after we rearranged Palo as soon as we boarded, my next stop was at GS and got tix for the tastings--margarita, beer, and martini (although we traded back in the martini tix and did bingo as a family instead). They have them only on sea days, so by looking at old Navigators, I knew what times they would have them on what days. We picked Thurs (our anniversary) and had a blast with other DIS'ers. We knew it was an hour long, so we thought we'd have that much time to drink our 3 shots of tequila & 2 sampler margaritas (which is still A LOT for me to drink in that amount of time), but that's not the case! The guy talks for 45 minutes about how tequlia is made, how different qualities are recognizable, etc., and then we drank ALL of it in 15 minutes!!! I'm a lightweight, and I was trashed in no time! Even Justin was "feeling the effects" very quickly (he's a "seasoned veteran" when it comes to alcohol ). We then had an hour to play some sort of trivia game in the bar (it's a bit fuzzy, though), and then we followed that with the beer tasting. I'm not a beer drinker, so I went along for Justin's sake and just sipped them. It's not like I needed any more alcohol anyway!!

Let me see if I can find pics. If I don't have them on Photobucket already, I'll need to change computers and load them there first. Stay tuned...

Okay. Here we go.
The abundance of alcohol:

The effects of the abundance of alcohol:

BTW, in case you're wondering, the tequilas are Jose Cuervo, Jose Cuervo 1800, and Patron Silver (the ONLY tequila for me), and the margaritas are regular & strawberry. I already know I'll be indulging in MANY strawberry margaritas on the cruise!! Theirs are SO GOOD!! They add Chambord to them (the recipes are given at the tasting), and I've always wanted to try it at home, but that Chambord is so expensive! I guess I buy Patron, so why not splurge on Chambord, too!!

 

[Dizneyholic]

Wow! Thanks for all the great info!!

We hardly drink at all so that's gonna be a lot for us!!! However, what better time than on a cruise!! I can't wait!

Again anyone that wants to join us or is already planning to go let me know and we can meet up. If the tasting are only on sea days, I think I'd like to do the first one if anyone is interested.