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

[DIS NURSE]

I am PM'ing those of you right now who have DD/DGD's who want to chat

DH just handed me her new (and only) email address. Hot off the keyboards!

 

[miatamel]

well, guys, I'm not going to be able to do the chat thing. I live in a very rural area where you can't get DSL or wireless and so I still have dial-up. And a slow one at that! (I'm lucky if I get 24400. Alot of times its 12400!) So, nothing will download or work right at that speed.
Can I please, please still be included somehow though? I would love to be able to meet up with folks on the cruise after talking with them here and I know my DD4 would love to know there were others out there like her.
This is my family:
Me - Advanced Maternal Age mom!! (40!) Stay at home mom in small town Mississippi
DH - Also known as "hottie husband." German. And did I mention a hottie??
DD4 - Social bugger.
DD2 - Antisocial and quite the stinker. But a doll!!
We would love to have table mates from DIS if possible. (late seating) and know when any get togethers might be happening. I have no clue yet as to flights, hotels or transfers--too early for me on that--but might be nearby on that, too.
This just sounds like so much fun and I hate to miss out on chatting and getting to know everybody better.
So just don't forget I'm out here in rural no man's land!

 

[house_of_princesses]

On yet another note... with all of the tons of kids going on the cruise, it doesn't seem like anyone will have any 13 year old boys (our oldest will weeks away from 13 at travel time). He's into TaeKwonDo (working on his 2nd degree black belt), PS-2, and music (mostly Christian rock stuff). Last cruise he didn't really connect with anyone outside of our family and the other family in our traveling group, and we're hoping this cruise will be better.

Well, time to go book the air travel before we are too late to use our frequent flyer miles. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Well if this isn't enough to make me run scared, I don't know what is!! My eldest dd, now 13, is into karate (teaches actually), PSP, music (both Christian and secular rock) and is getting into the boy scene. My second dd, 12 now, is into the music and ps2. Karate is not for her, she rides horses.

Oh boy, I'm going to be a lot these next 11 months!! (And for many months after, to be sure! )

 

[DIS NURSE]

Miatamel- No one will forget about you, don't worry.

Besides, I am always here and I am such a computer idiot that there is no doubt in my mind that this is the only way I will correspond.

Just think all the ugly things they can talk about us without us even knowing it? Just kidding. You are all great people, I can tell!

You are in Mississippi, right?
That reminds me of my dear friend who lives here and was Miss Mississippi in the early 80's.
She has the cutest accent and is such a generous, kind Southern Belle!

I was actually born in Atlanta so I should have been a Southern Belle. But I am clearly not.

 

[txaggie94gigem]

we stayed at the radisson last time because we drove to fl and it worked out great! i thought the rooms were very nice...the only drawback we had was that the pool was surrounded by lots of young collge students that were obviously underage and yet drinking and partying hard....i was just glad they would not be going on my cruise!!! i would highly recommend the radisson again....

we plan to rent a car to and from airport and i think we will priceline for that as well as a place to stay since we are not picky for just one night and there will only be 3 of us instead of the typical 6!

we will get there early again but i last cruised right after dry dock and boarding was a nightmare! due to customs problems, we could not board until about 2pm...since we had been at the port since 10am with 4 kids, we were a little stressed! the worst part was that they boarded so late that only a few of the very late arrivals got their pictures taken before boarding...we were upset at that a little since we had worn matching outfits for the occasion!

for future reference, cruising right after dry dock is a BAD idea! i'll have to give you details at a later date!

 

[jcemom]

miatamel, I'll be 36 by cruise time and my DD will have just turned 4. She loves to make new friends, so I'm sure we can arrange to meet up at some point! She's only got older brothers to play with and they don't play, they only tease her, lol. Sheesh...boys. My DH isn't going though. Sheesh...men.

 

[kaykels]

CJsMom, what is the new number system? I didn't hear about that yet. That sounds like a REAL bummer. Do you get a lower number if you arrive sooner?

 

[cjsmom97]

CJsMom, what is the new number system? I didn't hear about that yet. That sounds like a REAL bummer. Do you get a lower number if you arrive sooner?

According to DIS Nurse, it isn't random but when we went in December, I was first given a number 4 (I think I still have it) and there was less than 10-15 people in the terminal in front of me. We got there as the port opened. I was only about the 4th person in the check in line when the reps came out to start checking us in. So if they don't do it random, they must only give a few out of the lower numbers (1 excluded - they don't hand them out to anyone - they give them to you at check in) because it was a ghost town when we walked in. There were 2 ladies that were handing out numbers. One on each side of the escalator after you cleared security and they were both handing out the same numbers. We ended up upgrading at the port so we were given a number 1 at the desk so we were able to board right away, but it just seemed a little odd that our number was so high given the time we arrived. The numbers only go up to 6. Go figure!

 

[miatamel]

jcemom--that sounds GREAT! Flannery is a social little creature and since we are kind of isolated (small town, not many stay at home moms) she really just craves company of girls her age. I know she's mine, but she's a pleasure to be around so we really must hook them up. I can't believe I'm already stressing about a cruise 10 months away, but I was reading in the Passporter about Tea with Wendy today and how fast the tickets go and I'm already worrying about that! Flannery doesn't give a fig about Princesses, but she LIVES in her Peter Pan costume and I would hate for her to miss out on that. We will more than likely be a late arrival at port so maybe if somebody gets on early and gets to guest services quick, they could get our tickets, too? Anybody out there up for that??
DISNURSE, early 80s is my era--what us your Miss MS's name? We had a run there where we won Miss America several years in a row and I used to know most of them by name. (I cant' stand beauty pageants, but I seldom miss Miss America. Go figure.)

 

[jcemom]

We'll probably be doing the Tea With Wendy also. I'll let you know when my plans are finalized. Since we're flying in the night before we will most likely be heading to port early and I can get tickets for you.

 

[Vanvmom]

Well if this isn't enough to make me run scared, I don't know what is!! My eldest dd, now 13, is into karate (teaches actually), PSP, music (both Christian and secular rock) and is getting into the boy scene. My second dd, 12 now, is into the music and ps2. Karate is not for her, she rides horses.

Oh boy, I'm going to be a lot these next 11 months!! (And for many months after, to be sure! )

Too funny! DS is a sweet guy. I'm sure he'd DIE if he knew I called him that. Like your daughter, he also teaches (in TKD teaching for a certain number of hours is required to get his 2nd Dan/degree). He prefers forms (kata) and weapons to sparring though. His best friends from TKD are a couple of girls a few months older than he is. He thinks girls are great friends, but nothing to get serious about. He knows he isn't allowed to date for many more years.

 

[Vanvmom]

So... we booked air travel using DH mileage on United. We fly into MCO at 10:45am on Friday and will rent a van to go to KSC for the day. Can't believe how cheap car/van rentals are in FL compared to CA Anyway, we'll likely stay at the Radisson pre-cruise. No shuttle issues, as we will already have a van. Still have to see which is the car rental place with the closest drop off location to the port. No Gov't rates apply here - dh works for Apple Computer, and I work for the local school district... we do have AAA though.

Post cruise, we'll try to do some part of WDW, as our flight home is not until Monday evening-the 20th. Any suggestions for what parks can be done in half days versus requiring a full day to play? Also, I'll check into on site (or close to on-site) for post cruise. We are not DVC members, not big breakfast eaters, and have done DL MANY times. We are thinking MGM, Animal Kingdom (have heard mixed reviews on that one), but any other "must sees?"

 

[jcemom]

Sounds like you'll have Saturday afternoon/evening, all day Sunday, and Monday morning/afternoon at WDW. That's not bad, you can see plenty in that time I think. We like AK but it closes early, so it's not a good afternoon choice. You could do it on Sunday morning, then hop somewhere else in the evening. If you're not hopping you could see AK on Monday before heading to the airport. Saturday afternoon you could do MGM and see Fantasmic. Since MGM is mostly shows I find it easier to tour in the afternoon. You'd need to probably fastpass Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster though. Epcot World Showcase is great in the afternoon/evening, but you'd probably need a morning if you wanted to do Soarin', Test Track and Mission Space. Magic Kingdom rides mostly need done in the morning, but the evening would be good if you just wanted to see SpectroMagic and Wishes.

 

[faireygod mother]

I was thinking of starting a web site for us. We could all post our pixs so we can put a face with a name before the cruise. What does everyone think about that?

 

[Vanvmom]

I was thinking of starting a web site for us. We could all post our pixs so we can put a face with a name before the cruise. What does everyone think about that?

That's a great idea! We already have a family website, but it is not user friendly for others to post their stuff onto. There seem to be so many of us, it would be great to board the boat with faces to link with the names.

 

[Raeryan]

I was thinking of starting a web site for us. We could all post our pixs so we can put a face with a name before the cruise. What does everyone think about that?

I hate pictures of me, but think that this is a great idea. My dd's would love to see everyone prior to getting on the cruise.

 

[txaggie94gigem]

on our last cruise someone set up a page at yahoo groups where we posted pics and organized rooms people were in and kids, etc. it was alot of fun!

 

[jcemom]

I also think it's a terrific idea!

 

[Vanvmom]

The "new" boarding system sounds a lot like the one they used for our DCL Mexico cruise. How did they do it before?

 

[kaykels]

Before they did it like this:
First one in line gets on the ship first. I liked it that way!