November 5th 2011 Eastern on the Magic

[princessTi]

WELCOME !!
I am Kathy, may I ask what is your name??
We have 2 Kathy's and a Kathleen, so I am always curious to see if your another Kathy ( we are actually all Kathleen)

The laundry rooms have irons you can use for free. Dont know about the steamer?? I just go use the iron for my clothes whne needed.

They dont allow irons due to fear of fire if someone left it on and left the room. Plus you can pay ot have your clothes pressed too. I dont remember the price but it wasnt too bad. Usually have it all back in 24 hours or less.

We are doing a FE (gift exchange) If your not sure what that is please let me know and I will be happy to explain it to you. Then let me know if your interested. We have a liat of those particiapting.
I also have a list of everyone coming and the names and ages of all the kids so people can find who has kids the ages of their kids. I am happy to add your fmaily to the list and send you a copy.

You dont have enough posts to send a PM, but if you want to e-mail me at with your names I will happily add you and send you a copy. That will help you to get to know us too.

Kathy

Hello Kathy and thank you for the big welcome...it was felt!

My name is Jai and I will be traveling with my husband (we are both turning the big 3-0), family and friends; all first time Disney cruisers.

Thank you for your invite to participate in the FE. I have been trying to get the nerve to to try it as well as decorate my door but to be honest I feel like I am not prepared to do so this time around LOL....my husband just shakes his head at me because i tell him "if I cannot do it right than i will not do it at all...this time "

I am so excited to see everyone's FE and doors and will begin to actively post and count down the days until our awesome vacay....72 days until we sail...!

 

[LovesToRun]

Hello Kathy and thank you for the big welcome...it was felt!

My name is Jai and I will be traveling with my husband (we are both turning the big 3-0), family and friends; all first time Disney cruisers.

Thank you for your invite to participate in the FE. I have been trying to get the nerve to to try it as well as decorate my door but to be honest I feel like I am not prepared to do so this time around LOL....my husband just shakes his head at me because i tell him "if I cannot do it right than i will not do it at all...this time "

I am so excited to see everyone's FE and doors and will begin to actively post and count down the days until our awesome vacay....72 days until we sail...!

Welcome, Jai! You will love Disney Cruises!! I was hooked literally before our first evening on the ship was over, and I already knew I wanted to book a 2nd cruise, and this one in November will be our 4th cruise.

The big 3-0, huh? That is great! Will you and your DH's birthdays actually happen while you are on the cruise, or are your birthdates just before or just after the cruise? There are lots of celebrations while on this cruise... birthdays (a few kids are celebrating birthdays on the cruise, I am celebrating my 40th on Nov 10!! -- that is my actual b-day, a couple of wedding anniversaries, and a wedding !!), so this will be a cruise meet full of celebrations.

Wow, 72 days! I guess I haven't thought about how many days away the cruise is, but 72 makes it seem not very far. I can't wait.... I am SOOOO ready to get away and just relax and be on vacation!

Welcome again!
Kathy

 

[flygrl]

Jai

I am doing door signs, picked them out just need to print them off. I am going to try, I mean try to make my own FE we will see how that goes. I think this weekend if I get time to start to look for material and supplies. Guess I better get started in making it, it might take me the 71 days to complete. I like the tee shirt idea as well, but I think I might skip it out this time and maybe do it next time as I already have so much on the go. Can't do everything in one trip

 

[Daniellenbella]

Wow! So many posts since yesterday, I can't catch up right now! Have to take DD to camp in about 10 min! Will be back later & hoping to share some pics at the same time.

We did feel the earthquake here in NJ. I'm on the 2nd floor (only 2 stories) at work and it felt like the building was swaying back & forth. It was a really wild feeling. No rumbling, nothing vibrating or moving, just the swaying. My DH's office building did the vibrating, rumbling thing. My mom is in VA and she said the some pictures fell but that is it for her.

Kathy (Lovestorun) great tip about room service breakfast prior to early excursions!
Gma Kathy, thanks for the reassurance on getting off the boat in time for our excursion! That wasn't something I thought about in advance in my planning.

Love the kitty pics, I love cats, but DH hates them. DD loves them too, that's how she ended up with a guinea pig. They can be contained and he doesn't have to have anything to do with it.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Good morning all,

Glad all of you who were in the earthquake zone are all ok. I have been through several in my lifetime. Growing up on the West coast we get them now and then. The last one my freezer flew open and stuff spilled out. That one sounded like a freight train coming and woke us up before it hit.
I loved the one before that. We were siting in the living room and my rocking chair started to rock by itself. The little kids thought it was a ghost

I will be excited to see all the decorated doors as I deliver FE gifts. Usually if we want to walk off some of our meals we will start with deck 1 and walk around all the decks looking at every single door to see the door signs that people make. By the end of the cruise we have seen them all and had good exercise while doing something fun.

Boy you kiddos celebrating 30 and 40 birthdays are just babies I dont think I can even remember my 30th or 40th birthdays. They all run together after awhile. I do remember my 50th because we took a trip to St. Augustine Florida which was great.

Just found out yesterday grand baby #6 will be a girl

Jai, nice to know your name. It's very unusual and pretty. It fits with your Princess posting name. It sounds like a princesses name.
How many are coming with you?
We have been comparing pets the last few days. Do you have any pets?


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Jai,
even though your not doing the FE this time your still welcome to have a copy of the Cruise mates list if you want. It has all our names so you can get aquainted better and information for a meet the first afternoon.
If you decide you'd a copy just let me know. All I need is an e-mail address to send it to. You can send me your e-mail at sixtoedfrog@yahoo.com and I will send you out a list ASAP.

Kathy

 

[Daniellenbella]

A couple more pictures

Joker (wearing his life vest during our camping trip last weekend)

and a recent family photo

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Great pictures Danielle.
Jokers facial markings are great. The black and white do remind you of a jokers face on a deck of cards.

Your family photo came out great too.
I need to get my kids together for a family photo again one of these days. The last time was when they were just kids. But we are all scattered now and they have families of their own.
Times flies

Does Joker love the water?

My dogs hate to get wet, yet they will run through the cold ocean water all day long. In fact last night Greg said the word BATH and Minnie hunched down and her ears went back and she practically crawled up to Greg like she was begging NOT to have a bath and Pixie took off for the back room to hide.
They wont jump in lakes or rivers or creeks either. When I do the dishes Minnie runs the other way too. LOL!!

Kathy

 

[GreensboroKG]

Afternoon everyone. No aftershocks being felt down here in Greensboro, NC so we're having a good day. Hurricane Irene looks like it is going east and won't impact the central part of NC so that is a plus. DS has a bday party on Sunday and they are renting a water slide. Now looks like that won't get canceled.

Danielle - Joker is very very cute. Our dig Curly would love to play with him. We sent Curly to "dog school" today. He goes to doggie day care once a week to wear him out and help teach him better behavior. I saw him on their webcam before and he was chasing a boxer. On Sunday we took him to the "bark park" and he chased and played with a few of the dogs - always ones that are bigger than he is. He's a golden doodle but I think he's got more of a poodle personality.

I too am starting our artwork for our door signs. I bought some birthday cards at the Hallmark store with Disney characters. They have a lot of new cards with the characters - very cute. I will scan them in and create the signs in powerpoint to use for our stateroom door and then use the cards for bdays and upcoming occaisions. Just a thought on how to get some good high resolution images.

Have a great day everyone.

 

[flygrl]

Kathy (momx4) congradulations on finding out that your next grandchild is going to be a girl. Do they have any names picked out for her when she comes?

Great pictures Danielle.

Karen: Great idea for the hallmark cards and scanning them in.

I can't wait to start mine, I think I will start next week, better get my supplies...
Tanya

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Tanya,
They probably do have a name picked out already. But I havn't asked what it is yet.

I tried to use small pictures for door signs before but when i made them larger for the signs the photo I lost the integrity of the picture, so it didnt work.
Hope your works for you. I love some of the photos on the cards too!!

Too bad we live so far a part or Curly, Joker, Minnie and Pixie and the other pups could all have a play date. Sorry the cats would have to have a different play date. My dogs hate cats, accept for dinner

Kathy

 

[Mulanrocks]

Thanks everyone, we will just rent our gear then and not worry about it.
Glad to hear everyone made it through the earthquake okay, my dad was stationed in California for a bit so i've been through my share.
Danielle: your pup is soo cute. As is your family!
Jai: WELCOME! It is DH and I's first cruise too! And YAY to Birthday's on the cruise.
I am counting down to 45 days out to the cruise, cause thats when my sister finds out if space available spots for cast members pops up. If it does then my parents get to come! Cross your fingers.....
I have been so excited i took a trip down memory lane (looked through photos) and here are some:
Hanging with stitch (DH, Myself, and my sister):

DH FAVORITE is Donald Duck:

On a trip without DH i got some soldier love:

Be good or Buzz will put you in jail:

Or you get eaten:

alyssa

 

[Mulanrocks]

Also some favorite things at Disney:
My family loves muppets and i happen to love this little trash holder tucked in a corner:

Surprise Fast Passes: Although it was hardly needed on the day we got this i still love that disney does them.

Don't Know if he is still there but hidden Kermit on star tours:

And my absolute favorite, Bunson and Beeker, I squealed so loud when i came around the corner and saw them i made the cast member jump. No idea if they are still at the park or off visiting another one.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Great photos

Alyssa, Donald is one of my favorites too, your DH has good taste in characters
Some how i missed the shark, where was he at??

Plus I have done the Muppets probably 100 times and never saw the dust pan. I think I was always looking up at all the things up high. There is just so much to see. I will look for it this time. Which corner was it at?

I know every time I go on The Haunted Mansion ride i see something I missed before.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Just popping in to see if anyone was around this evening. Guess not

Will try again later tonight or tomorrow,

Kathy

 

[SLM]

I have been away for almost two weeks and it's been so much fun reading all the new posts and seeing everyone's pictures! I love seeing everyone's pets-this is first time in over twenty years we are without a dog-our 12 year old bassett hound died (peacefully, thank goodness) last fall and we're just not ready to get another one yet-he was such a great dog, I miss him terribly. I'm so glad everyone was able to book Palo and the excursions they wanted. We are going to Palo Tuesday night and have booked the Magen's Bay Beach Break. Spending the day at Maho sounds like a great day!Welcome to everyone that's introduced themselves-I am so looking forward to meeting everyone on board-wish we could spend Friday at WDW but we're flying in Friday night and staying at the Hyatt in the airport. I am planning to let Hyatt handle our bags and check-in at the airport. I have been reading some posts about this and it seems like a good thing to do. It's only the two of us, so the DCL transfers seemed the best way to go. Has anyone else done this before?

 

[LovesToRun]

Hi everyone,

Been a busy day for me, and have been gone most of the day (at least it's super nice outside), also my DH is going on a huge business trip next month (literally around the world... Seattle -> London, London -> Hyderabad, India, Hyderabad, India -> Beijing, then back to Seattle! Phew! He'll be gone for 14 days. Anyway, his company usually figures out all his flights when he travels, and from Seattle to London, and then to India, he flies British Airways, which is a great and safe airline. But, from India to China, and then back to Seattle, his company was going to have him fly some non-Western airlines that neither he nor I had ever heard of! And, I felt nervous with that... so I told my DH that I'd figure out the flights for him from India -> Bejing, then back to Seattle that are either Western airlines, or well known Asian airlines. So, I've been totally consumed online figuring all this out (there are just not a lot of airlines that fly from India to China that are well known). But, I got it all figured out, and I sent him the itinerary for him to have booked, and I told him now I will be able to sleep well while he's flying. But, that took a long time to figure out! But, the amazing thing is from India -> China, there are no direct flights at all, so he'll be making a stop in Malaysia (just a layover), and then on the way back from Beijing, he'll be doing a layover in Seoul, Korea. So, in 14 days, he will have been to: London, Hyderabad, India, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, Beijing, China, Seoul, Korea and then back to Seattle. Crazy! Luckily, he only has to do big trips like this just twice a year, so he's not gone a lot. I would not like that if he was.

Anyway, so now I'm just saying HI to everyone and I love all of the pictures!!!!

Alyssa, what is the Surprise Fast Pass? I have never seen that before (but we've only been to WDW twice). You guys all look so happy to be at WDW!!

Danielle, Joker is a beautiful dog!! He looks like he has a great personality, too... I can just see it in his face. Cute he has a life vest... so does it expand if he needs it, or does that small vest around his neck actually helps him float as it is? Where do you guys live again? The camping spot looks so pretty!! And, your family is a beautiful family.

SLM - Welcome back to this group. It'll be great to have you back here. We are staying at the MCO Hyatt the night before the cruise, too. Unless we go to WDW first, we always stay there because of how convenient it iis, plus, our oldest son LOVES planes, so we always get a room facing the runway and he can just sit out on the balcony and watch planes taking on and off... that is heaven for him. And, we are doing the Magen's Beach Break, too. We were supposed to do the Megans Beach Break the last time we were on our 7-day eastern, but that was the day I injured my ankle, so I never got off the ship. But, Disney was amazing.... the ankle injury was not at all Disney's fault, but the totally refunded my excursion 100%. They did not have to do that, but they felt bad for me, and I thought that was so nice. Just another example of how they go above and beyond. So, I'm looking forward to actually doing this beach break this time!!

Take care everyone,
Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Hi Sandy,

Good to see your back. We have stayed at the Hyatt the night before the crusie before and it was great!!
Nice comfortable beds, plenty of places to eat in the airport or the Hyatts own restaurant.

check in for the cruise is the same floor where you check into the hotel, just off to the side. There were several people in front of me when I went to check in but it only took 2 minutes to get up to be checked in. They had several people sitting at a long table running people through fast.

Then it was only 5 minutes before we were being taken down to go to the bus. We also let them take care of our luggage which was great.
It was nice and relaxing after an all day flight.

It was Christmas time and they had a huge Christmas tree in the lobby of the airport that we could see from our balcony. Nobody was in the roof top pool either, so thats a great place to sit out and relax too if its warm.

If we wernt going to WDW first thats where we would stay again. I highly recommend it!!

Kathy,

Thats a wild schedule for your DH. Glad you found him safer airlines. I dont trust those po dunk airlines either. They are always crashing.
I hate to fly anyway, so I know I wouldnt fly in one of those either.

Kathy

 

[NC2WDW]

I am doing full size door signs that are magnetic. 8 x 11. If thats the size you want i have tons of disney pictures I can send to you.

Just let me know. I have sent some to several people here, but i dont think I e-mailed any to you??
Kathy

Thanks for your offer to email pics. I don't know why, but I have gravitated to smaller ones. It is a little tedious cutting those out that are small though. It would probably be best to do larger ones and then put all this energy into deciding and doing FE's. Still haven't decided, but I do like your (gma Kathy) idea of traveling from deck to deck looking at doors and giving gifts. About how many FE gifts do you plan for? Please email those pics too!

I have to admit, being on the board is really building up more excitement for the trip

 

[Daniellenbella]

Hello Jai & Welcome back SLM!

Alyssa, I've never heard of the Surprise Fast Pass either, what is it?

I too LOVE the muppets!! And I have the same pic with Zurg! LOL!

Kathy (LTR) -- we live in Southern New Jersey, right outside Philadelphia. We went camping on the Shanendoah River in VA. The life vest goes all the way down Jokers back, here's a side pic: (I wish I new how to resize on Photobucket, sorry!)

He did end up liking swimming very much. GMa Kathy, you asked if he was timid in new situation, and yes, he is. When we first introduced him to water on my mom's lake, he wouldn't go in, we had to kind of nudge him in and he got right back out. But this time on the river, he gradually went out further and further until he was swimming around.

GreensboroKG, Joker loves the dog park too. He likes to run and get the other dogs to chase him. He'll get them to start and then he just opens up and leaves them in the dust.

I think I have an idea for FE's, but I haven't started on anything yet. I'm trying to get through this summer, we have been SO busy. We are headed to the NJ shore for the week next week (Irene is putting a damper on our plans though). So once we are back, I'll be able to start focusing on the cruise, can't wait! We are only doing one gift per person for the week? Not one a day? There is no way I could keep up with daily gifts.

Well, off to bed, I'm so tired! Staying up late Sun night threw me off for the whole week!