November 11, 2006 - MAGIC - Special Western "Double Dip" Cruise 11/11/06

[SCDizneyDawn]

Hi, thanks for saying you will envite me!

I may be asleep too, slept poorly last night! If I am not there right at 10, know I will probably not make it (I am always early for everything!)

See you tonite!

 

[Raeryan]

Hello all, if possible I would like to be invited for the IM I am on west coast time so it should not be a problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Hello all, if possible I would like to be invited for the IM I am on west coast time so it should not be a problem.

Thanks in advance.

We are all on chat now. Do you have an IM name?

 

[Raeryan]

We are all on chat now. Do you have an IM name?

Thank you one and all for attempting to help me with the IM chat. My pop up blocker appears to be blocking all of my messages. I will figure this out by next week.

 

[faireygod mother]

great chat, Have a good night all.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Loved 'meeting' you in chat. I'll be studying my notes and will be ready for my test

 

[DIS NURSE]

Okay......from a semi-seasoned veteran of these boards I have yet to understand what the "chat hours" are all about! Many months ago I tried to get on and couldn't. I can't even remember now how I even tried!

Could someone please explain this one to the villiage idiot!

What exactly is the difference between these "chat" sessions and just posting to one another on these Boards?

Don't get it.
You would never guess that I cared for a most critically ill 2 lb. baby on a ventilator today, now would you?

 

[DIS NURSE]

P.S. Absolutely count us in on the Hyatt survey!

DIS NURSE
1 room
2 beds if possible (Queen or double)
NON SMOKING PLEASE!

Also, please count us in on the one way transport to the port if you don;t mind (4 of us).

Thanks.

 

[faireygod mother]

The chat is live and it is through AIM. If you look at Grayfal's post you will see that she has attached a link to download AIM.

It is just a way to be more personal and get to know everyone because that is not allowed really here.

The chats are every Tuesday at 10est. After you join/register AIM send a pm to Grayfal so she can add you to her buddy list. Then on Tuesday you will receive an invitation to join the chat, clickok and you are in. Stay as long as you like or just say hello. There is nothing formal about it. Bring paper and pencil so you can figure out who is who as the names are different on AIM then they are here.

Good luck and hope to talk to you then.

 

[ibouncetoo]

DISNURSE, the Disboards also have chat rooms available and have several pre-scheduled chat topics (Friday night 9P Eastern is Cruise Chat) in the main chat room. You can also build a 'private' chat room, but I've no idea how to do that. The main chat room doesn't offer any privacy, as any registered DISer can stop in and the 'conversation' remains on the screen for a little while....which in a way is kind of nice...when you join in you can see the conversation that's already in progress. You sure don't want to talk about another DISer in there! Well, we wouldn't do that anyway!

It's lots faster than just posting back and forth, much more like a telephone conversation, sometimes with several people talking at once There was a time, on one of the 'social' community board threads, where a several of our teen 'members' would post back an forth all night....posts just minutes apart. It was frustrating to check in and have to wade through pages of OMG! and LOL!'s We suggested if they were all on line at the same time, they just go to one of the chat rooms, which I think they eventually did...either that or they left the thread in a snit.

Next time you are on the DIS and you see that I'm on also (green dot at the bottom of our posts) send a PM to me and I'll show you how to meet in the DIS chat room.

OK, I'm off to work....don't want to ......but I must.

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

Opps, I fell asleep

I will hopefully make it next Tuesday!

As far as the Hyatt, I think we will be going over to the port, but thanks for all the work.

Last year before our cruise we flew in at 10 am, got a rental car, checked into our airport hotel (the Hampton Inn) and headed over to Epcot to eat stuff from the Food and Wine Fest. That was just too exausting for us, so we want to head to the beach and chill this year instead.

 

[DIS NURSE]

Thanks for all the info regarding "chat rooms"! I will investigate further when I get a chance.

If I ever get there, remind me of a funny, crazy story I have about DIS'ers talking about other DIS'ers on different cruise meets threads! It happened to me and my fellow DIS'ers this past Nov.

.....pretty funny stuff!'
Jaypd, who will also be joining our cruise, was there with me too.....he and I are the only ones I know of who rebooked for this cruise. He could also account for the laughs we (in the end ) all got out of it.

 

[faireygod mother]

Disnurse..Look forward to hearing all about it. I am always up for a good laugh.

 

[DIS NURSE]

ooooohhhh!


Yeahhhhhh..... You'll like the juice! It is juicy!
More to that than I can speak here today.

 

[DIS NURSE]

So onto bigger and funner things......

For all of you obsessive, compulsive, hoarding, and anal planners out there.....this question is for you!

We will be staying 3 nights post-cruise at WDW (on or off property I cannnot decide just yet).......

I have many options......but 3 stick in my mind and I was wondering if any of you have insight into these choices.....

#1. Stay at the Dolphin for
$165/night (Nurse's Rate) and chill out at EPCOT resorts and possibly do one water park (I think BB is due to be the one open this Fall). We will be renting a car.

#2. Go for broke and stay at the Wilderness Lodge.

#3. Stay at (gulp! ) the Buena Vista Suites for $88/noc and do Sea World and/or Discovery Cove!!!!!!....save money on accomodations and spend it elsewhere on major indulgences!


.....one thing was for sure after this last DCL cruise:
We got off that ship and were TAINTED FOR LIFE!
Nothing seemed quite right when we were staying at the Nickelodeon Hotel and buying groceries! Everyone everywhere seemed rude, ungracious, and "not Disney".

......even in Magic Kingdom, I have to say......nothing is quite like the Magic!

 

[DIS NURSE]

Anyone by chance know anything further about the IBEROSTAR resorts south of Cancun? We are headed there in March. Our resort is okay after Hurricane Wilma.....still repairing things though.

We are excited and I will give you all a full report afterwards.

 

[ibouncetoo]

OK DISNurse, here's my take on the three options (this from the perspective of someone without children, but who's a kid at heart):

1. Love the whole 'boardwalk' area and really love the beds at the Dolphin Just being able to walk around that whole area and using the Friendship boats when you're pooped is great. It's a beautiful walk from there to MGM. And, lordy, the food options!! (BTW, if you haven't tried Fresh in the Dolphin for breakfast or lunch, it's really good.) While Swan/Dolphin aren't themed, nor Disney, they are great resorts and I've never felt 'out' of Disney mode when staying there. (Just ignore the men in suits.)

2. Wilderness Lodge, did a split stay there (with POP) a year ago and really liked it (loved traveling by boat everywhere). But if it's significantly more expensive than your nurse's rate at the Dolphin, I'd pass and use the $$ for activities.

3. Off property, and Discovery Cove....can't give you much input here, except to say I've always wanted to do Discovery Cove. I'd assume you aren't doing a dolphin excursion from the cruise. Certainly, if you guys haven't ever done Sea World I would recommend this destination. And there is a certain symmetry to doing Sea World and a cruise Staying off property is no problem for me, but I'm not sure I'd do it after a cruise....too much culture shock!

 

[DIS NURSE]

I really appreciate all of your input! I love hearing from people who have actually done these things and lived the life!

We, like you, have encountered "culture shock"...when we stepped off the Magic this last Nov and stayed at the Nickelodeon Hotel just outside of WDW I was ( shocked ) at how incredibely cheap, rude, and unprofessional "workers" were!

That DCL cruise tainted us for life! ......so it seems.

We have time to decide and thus far we have a Buena Vista Suites at least reserved for no $$$ down.....just in case. I explained the whole idea to DH just tonight and he said, " can I pitch in a few extra $100's to stay at the Dolphin?" He thinks it would be worth it. I do too.....but I was looking forward to a fridge and a microwave and saving a few
dollars at buying groceries.

......The major upside of doing cheap lodging is I could actually justify the
majorly high prices of Discovery Cove!.....and it looks like they throw in passes for Sea World? ....I need to investigate further......

Discovery Cove sounds wonderful......and having done lots of Disney parks and water parks in the past, I feel this coming year we are ready for Sea World! ....and Discovery Cove!.....


Bottom line......scimp on lodging post cruise and go all out for the marine life?

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

DIS NURSE, there is a great report with pictures from a couple that sailed on our last Magic cruise and went to Discovery cove prior to the cruise. Her name is Timon on the Dis and her web site is "cassworld.ca"

I do not remember where they stayed for that portion of the trip (they had an AWSOME trip including WDW, Discovery Cove, Universal, then the Magic!). Her trip report, pictures and video are on the above web site. That might help you make a decision.

We have not sayed offsite close to Disney in YEARS but we have stayed at both the Swan and Dolphin and have enjoyed them a lot. They are worth the extra money if you are mostly planning on Disney. Are you DVC members? DVC members get 20% discounts in most of the restaurants at the S/D.

HTH

 

[kaykels]

I was scheduled to stay at the Dolphin in November. I was traveling with a friend of mine and she could not get excited about the Dolphin. It looked great to me, plus I love the Epcot area. Well, we changed our reservations to the Wilderness Lodge and I'm SO GLAD that we did. We went to the Dolphin for breakfast and walked all around the property and it certainly does NOT have that Disney feel at all. It's too big and too business-like. It's a year and a day to get walk to anywhere.
You can the Port Orleans for about the same money or look up the codes and try and snag one of the lodges for about 135.00, they pop up a lot.
When I stay off property, I look for timeshare rentals. You can usually get a 2 BR beautiful unit for about 100. p/night.

Oh, and I know what you mean about the shock after stepping off of the cruise. Even on Disney Property, they don't treat you the same way. We went to the AKL after one of our cruises and I was so disappointed that the staff didn't say hello or go out their own way for anything mroe than what had to be done.
That's why NOTHING BEATS A DISNEY CRUISE!