May 7, 2009 3 Night Old Folks Cruise

[5littleindians]

Hopefully we can get the FE stuff confirmed soon! I want to make sure I am bringing enough for everyone!

 

[ppit841]

Sorry for the delay!

Scott

 

[akjtmax]

Hopefully we can get the FE stuff confirmed soon! I want to make sure I am bringing enough for everyone!

Yes, my too. I want to get everything packed by this weekend.

 

[LuvtheEars]

LuvTheEars . . . my DW sent you a PM with as much info as we can provide at this time. We are not sure about our dining rotation as it seems that this information has either not come in yet or we are not seeing it with our package that came in the mail. In the event you can squeeze us in, my DW was up into the wee hours of the morning getting ideas for making our FE.

We will be staying at the Radisson at the port and can meet whenever. We are very hopeful that you can include us on the roster.

THANKS

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you! The DIS is not sending me email notifications and I had a very busy week! I've been up all night at Relay, so if I miss something I'll fix it later.

I have confirmed for FE's 7 families:

ppit841
Muskrat
E&EMom
akjtmax
5littleindians
Momof4girls
LuvtheEars

Totals= Adults 14
Girls - 15 (ranging in ages 2.5 - 14 (Birthday Girl))
Boys - 5 (ranging in ages 8 months - 9)

If I missed anyone please let me know. I will get PM's out to everyone with names, ages and state room #'s by Sunday night!

Did you make the minnie shirt - how adorable!!!

Thank you! I did make that and the skirt to go with it. I have a few new outfits Megan will be sporting on this trip. I also made the Tie - Dye Spiral Mickey shirts for everyone to wear the day we get on the ship! I'll see if I can get a picture, but I'm keeping them hidden from the kids.

We are definitely up for a "pre-meet". Our DDs are 9 & 6. I wish we were able to keep this a surprise for our DDs but planning with the kids is just too exciting for momma. I like the surprise approach but for the last 3 months we routinely sit down for dinner and say "Lets talk about the Disney Cruise" !

What time is the pre-meet and where ?

BTW. . . what documents should we have from Disney by now? We know our room number and have luggage tags but thats it. I am curious to know if others have more info that we do not have. We don't know what our dining rotation is yet and from the previous links it sounds like we should ave that info by now.

Thanks . . . still 18 DAYS to go . . .

We are also on the 10:00 shuttle. Sounds like we have the same agenda, at least for that morning. Breakfast @ 8:30 sounds good for us. Our DDs would be eating at 6:00 and standing in line for the shuttle by 6:15 am if thay had it their way. Sad thing is though, DW would be in line in front of them!

8:30am breakfast sounds great to me! Is there a restaurant at the Hotel? I was thinking there was.

If it wasn't for breakfast I would be in line right behind your wife and kids! I can't wait! And not being able to tell the kids is getting harder every day! I almost blew it the other day when we were at Costco walking to the car someone had a DCL License plate frame and I started to say, "I'm going to get one of those on our trip!", but I stopped just before the words came out of my mouth. The great thing is that we get to talk about DCL all the time because the kids bring up our last cruise almost every day! That is why I know this will be the best surprise ever!

So I ordered the baskets this am. Shirley was super nice and very helpful. We ended up with the sand toy baskets. The kids are going to be so excited to see that Mickey and the Gang left them something.
Between this crazy school fundraiser/auction and Relay on Friday, I will be soooo ready to leave. We are planning on getting to ROP around lunch and spending the day at the pool also.
tammymacb- Do you want to meet as well for breakfast that morning of the cruise? When are you on the shuttle?
We only have 2 weekends left!!!!!!!

We ordered baskets from Shirley for our last cruise! I'm thinking about finding some of the sand toys to bring with us - the kids loved them and it was nice to have at Castaway Cay!

Well, I need a nap - right after I do 4 loads of laundry (trying to get ahead) wash the van and try to hide packing stuff for the cruise in 10 days! I'll nap on the ship - by the pool with a cold tropical drink in my hand!

Have a great day everyone!

Tiffany

 

[akjtmax]

Sounds great Luntheears. Thank you for putting all FE's info together. Good luck hiding your packed clothes.

 

[Muskrat]

Looking forward to meeting many at breakfast. We leave for for Orlando on Saturday . . . so we are now t-minus 6 days before launch!

 

[LuvtheEars]

Looking forward to meeting many at breakfast. We leave for for Orlando on Saturday . . . so we are now t-minus 6 days before launch!

We still have 8 days! I have to take Grady on a field trip today - One less day to pack while they are in school.

akjtmax and Muskrat - shall we meet in the lobby at 8:30am? We'll be there with matching tie dye Mickey shirts and jean shorts. I like to match for our embark pictures. I think I fit in very well with this group!

I spent last night making a math word puzzle for them to do when we get in the car. It has 3 clues to where we are going. Grady has to solve 26 multiplication problems to get his answers and Megan has 26 addition problems. The first clue is, "I Wonder where we're going?", the second clue is, "It's a butt!" (what they called a boat in Finding Nemo - we have a family saying - "get your boat over here, etc" ), and the third clue says, "Happy Birthday! You're going on a Disney Cruise!"

We decided to let them find out this way at the beginning of the trip so we don't have to answer, "Where are we going?" 100 times! There might not be as much screaming at breakfast now!

I PMed the FE exchange info out this morning. If you didn't recieve your PM let me know and I'll get a new one out to you today.

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone on the "butt" NEXT WEEK!!!!!!

Have a great day!

Tiffany

 

[Muskrat]

I just spoke with the hotel and it appears the hotel has a restaurant that serves breakfast but it is sit down dining and you order from a menu. I was hoping the typical Continental style breakfast, just fyi . . . We are good with 8:30 am so if this is the consensus, we'll see you all there.

 

[5littleindians]

Ok, I know that this will make me look VERY ocd, but has anyone else been reading about the swine flu outbreak? I would hate, hate, hate to get sick on the cruise and this flu outbreak has me now thinking about that. I got a horrible cold once on a trip at WDW and it sucked so much! We are spending 7 days at the parks post cruise and getting sick would just be plain awful. I also wonder if any europeans will be cancelling their trips since the EU has placed a travel advisory on all travel tot he United States from Europe.

 

[akjtmax]

Luvtheears- That is such a great idea. You are very creative.

830 in the lobby is great with us.

Luvtheears and Muskrat, we all have second dining. Newbie question, do we sit with several different people at tables?

We only have 8 days!!! Yeah!!! I have almost all of the packing done.

 

[LuvtheEars]

Ok, I know that this will make me look VERY ocd, but has anyone else been reading about the swine flu outbreak?

We are being extra careful right now washing our hands and such, but we do this anyway before a cruise because the last thing we want is to spend months planning for something just to be denied boarding!

Luvtheears- That is such a great idea. You are very creative.

830 in the lobby is great with us.

Luvtheears and Muskrat, we all have second dining. Newbie question, do we sit with several different people at tables?

We only have 8 days!!! Yeah!!! I have almost all of the packing done.

On our Double Dip we were seated with another family of 4. It was very nice, but they also had tables with single families. We like meeting new people.

Tiffany

 

[Muskrat]

8:30 am in the lobby. We will be there. Are there intentions for a sit down breakfast or will some be planning to do breakfast on their own? We will probably go for the sit down breakfast, planning to do something light since we will be hours away from the "hawg trough" that awaits for us on board.

But after breakfast, the whirlwind will begin. Who gets in line first? Where's Mickey? Anybody want to trade pins? Whens lunch? Can we swim first?. . . And if they are lucky, I just might let the rest of my family ask a question!

 

[E&EMom]

Ok, I know that this will make me look VERY ocd, but has anyone else been reading about the swine flu outbreak? I would hate, hate, hate to get sick on the cruise and this flu outbreak has me now thinking about that. I got a horrible cold once on a trip at WDW and it sucked so much! We are spending 7 days at the parks post cruise and getting sick would just be plain awful. I also wonder if any europeans will be cancelling their trips since the EU has placed a travel advisory on all travel tot he United States from Europe.

Not OCD at all - I have been thinking the same thing. I'm going to take extra bottles of hand sanitizer. I'm really kinda worried since my kids are so young and are constantly putting their hands in their mouths, wiping their eyes, etc.

 

[Momof4girls]

As am I. I got several things yesterday at Target - hand sanitizer with a minimum of 60% alcohol, disinfecting wipes for the plane armrests, trays, etc. My kids are into EVERYTHING and I swear my 5 year old will lick a SHOPPING CART! Blech!!!! She freaks me out.

I also got some homeopathics for influenza that are supposed to help with this particular strain. I don't want to find out we're sick on the ship and not have access to a regular pharmacy. And, of course, regular travel things we do like echinacea, vitamin c, a B complex, etc.

The kids have all been drilled about not biting nails, putting their hands on their eyes/nose/mouth, etc. We'll use hand sanitizer every hour in the park (where I'm more concerned about exposure, honestly) and then wash regularly, too. I read it's best to not use alcohol based hand sanitizers more than three times in a row without washing with hot/soapy water. So, we'll do that and hope for the best!

 

[Momof4girls]

I also forgot to mention - for those doing the FE swap...

I've already packed and am ready to go since we leave Friday. That said, in with my swap gifts, I've enclosed zip ties for everyone. (They're supposed to be good to prevent theft of your FE).

So, if you don't have them and were planning to get some, cross that off your list! I just wanted to forewarn you of that little tidbit.

 

[5littleindians]

I had not heard about the zip ties so thanks so much for that!

 

[Muskrat]

I also forgot to mention - for those doing the FE swap...

I've already packed and am ready to go since we leave Friday. That said, in with my swap gifts, I've enclosed zip ties for everyone. (They're supposed to be good to prevent theft of your FE).

So, if you don't have them and were planning to get some, cross that off your list! I just wanted to forewarn you of that little tidbit.

Thanks, I'll forward the zip tie info on to DW.

 

[E&EMom]

I also forgot to mention - for those doing the FE swap...

I've already packed and am ready to go since we leave Friday. That said, in with my swap gifts, I've enclosed zip ties for everyone. (They're supposed to be good to prevent theft of your FE).

So, if you don't have them and were planning to get some, cross that off your list! I just wanted to forewarn you of that little tidbit.

Thank you Thank you Thank you! I can cross that off my list of last minute things to get. The list keeps getting longer though. I plan on packing Sunday night since I work all weekend and we are leaving at like 2:30am (To get through Atlanta before traffic gets bad) Tuesday morning to drive down to Orlando.

 

[5littleindians]

I am really starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now! We fly out next wednesday night! One week...

 

[LuvtheEars]

I'm almost done packing and wanted to send out a list of things that may come in handy or that I have found handy on our cruise.

1. Zip Tie for FE (Thank you Momof4girls!)
2. Address lables with name, address, phone # and stateroom # - this is extra handy on the last day of the cruise when you put your luggage tags on your luggage before you put them outside your room you have to label each one. With address labels all you have to do is slap them on and write ____ of _____ on the label. (ex. 1 or 5).
3. Power cord - I have one that has space for 4 plugs. We use this for recharging stuff.

I think that is the best stuff, but there are a lot of great areas on the DIS you can find more tips and hints.

Here is a picture of the Tie Dye Mickey shirts I made for our first day on the ship!

Happy packing everyone!

Tiffany