November 5th 2011 Eastern on the Magic

[LovesToRun]

Hi everyone,

I still need to get caught up on all the posts from the weekend, but just wanted to post a picture of my boys this morning ready for their first day back at school.

Ryan (the red head) in the Scooby Doo t-shirt is in 4th grade this year, and Tyler (green shirt) is in 5th grade this year.

This is the first year that both my kids asked me to just "drop them off" and not walk them to the back of the school where they line up with their classes. So, I guess they are finally getting to that age where they dond't need "mom and dad" to help them. BUT, I still snuck in the back of the school and got pictures of them with their friends. I just had both of the boys walk over to their classes on their own, and a few minutes later, I snuck over, and quickly snapped a picture of Tyler with his friends in his class, and of Ryan with his friends in his class.

So, we are back to "normal life" with schedules, homework, sports, etc. again.

Here is a picture of the boys this morning just before we left for school.

I'll catch up later, but I'm off to get a bunch of things done with my time without kids!

Kathy

ps. Gotta love all the bandaids on Tyler's legs! This weekend when they were at my inlaws house, which is in the country, all weekend, they did a lot of hiking and got into blackberry bushes to pick blackberries... and Tyler got tons of scratches from the blackberry bushes! LOL! So, he went to school today with bandaids all over his legs.

 

[GreensboroKG]

That's great advice Kathy, thanks. Do they check baggage for any flight or only if you book through Disney?

 

[Daniellenbella]

Welp, I guess we can take our time getting off the boat on the 12th. The only worthwhile option of getting back to Pittsburgh has our flight out of MCO at 8:30pm that night.

Soooooo, any recommendations of things to do between leaving the boat and getting to the airport? I guess we'd have to figure out something with our bags as well...

Man that stinks! I better keep an eye on my flights also I guess.

But Kathy & Kathy have given some great ideas! I would have done what Kathy (LTR) did the first time & sat in the airport all day without even thinking there were other options.

Kathy (LTR) hope the boys have a great first day of school! Isabella starts Thurs, the wait is killing us both!

 

[LovesToRun]

That's great advice Kathy, thanks. Do they check baggage for any flight or only if you book through Disney?

I think they only check your baggage if you do the Disney Cruiseline transfers.... but I could be wrong. Kathy (gma) would probably know if I'm correct or not.

But, I do know they ask before the last night of the cruise if you are participating in the onboard airline checkin program (where DCL checks you into your flight, so the night before we get off the ship, they send your boarding passes to your stateroom, and they take your luggage the last night of the cruise, and you don't see your luggage again until you get home at baggage claim in your home airport). It's super nice and convenient!!

I have heard, though, that there are only 1 or 2 airlines they don't do onboard checkin for (I am not sure which airlines... maybe Southwest is one??), but I am not sure.... you might want to check to see if Disney does check in your airline. But, I do know Disney checks in almost every major airline.

Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

But Kathy & Kathy have given some great ideas! I would have done what Kathy (LTR) did the first time & sat in the airport all day without even thinking there were other options.

Kathy (LTR) hope the boys have a great first day of school! Isabella starts Thurs, the wait is killing us both!

I know! The reason I got the idea for our 2nd cruise to actually rent a car and go to DownTown Disney instead of sitting in the terminal all day is from these Dis Boards! I discovered the Dis Boards AFTER our first cruise, and I learned SO much that we missed out on during our first cruise.

Oh, I'm sure the boys will have a great first day back at school. They were ready to go back.... just give it a couple months and they will be asking, "when is Winter Break", or "when is spring break", or "when is school over for the summer?" The honeymoon stage will last for a few weeks, though...

Good luck to Isabella on Thursday!!!
Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

That's great advice Kathy, thanks. Do they check baggage for any flight or only if you book through Disney?

I just re-read your question, and I think I read it wrong the first time. If you are asking if they only do this if you book your flight through Disney, then the answer is defintely no. We've never booked our flight through Disney, and they've always checked our bags if we do the onboard flight checkin program. But, going back to my first response, I "think" and I could be wrong, but I "think" they only do the flight checkin/bag check into airline service if you have transfers through DCL. If you are providing your own transportation from port to MCO, I "don't" think you can do the onboard flight checkin/bag check thing.... but I would double check because I'm not 100% sure on that.

Kathy

 

[2ksilverbullet]

Hi Matt,

This is always the case for us because the direct flight from MCO to Seattle leaves around 7 PM. Last year I booked a rental car via Hotwire and got a car for $20.00 from MCO for the whole day. So, we had Disney check our bags through from the ship, and we took the CruiseLine bus to MCO, got to MCO around 9:30 - 10:00 AM, and went straight to the rental car area, picked up our car, and we drove to Down Town Disney and hung out there for the day. It was fun... and we ate dinner there. Then, we just drove back, turned our car back in, grabbed our carry-on bags, went through security, got to our gate and flew home! Made an inexpensive day at Disney.

With our November cruise, we'll be in the same situation. This time, we are thinking about getting a day room at MCO for $85.00 plus tax, and just having a place to relax, and hopefully we can get a room facing the runway so our kids can watch planes... then we can play in the pool, etc.

Anyway, those are two options that I know work well for late night flights. There are a lot of people wandering around MCO who have late night flights who just got off cruise ships that morning. Our first cruise, we didn't think about renting a car, or getting a day room, so we just hung out at MCO in the terminal ALL DAY LONG and on man, was it ever a LOOOONG day! It was after our first cruise that we got creative and decided to rent a car or get a day room. Made the time so much better than just sitting in the terminal all day.

-Kathy

Another great suggestion! I think we'll probably just catch our ride to the airport, check our bags, get a rental car (or in my case, VAN..) and head back out. My wife really loved the Sea World suggestion so we might go there for the day.

My only concern is how early can I check bags before a flight. Anyone know of any limitations there?

EDIT - answered my own question, it's 4 hours for AirTran. Looks like the bags are coming with us unless my travel agent can come up with something else.

EDIT #2 - I'm on a mission now. lol. I discovered some service that AirTran participates in called BAGS where they let you check in and check bags up to 24hrs beforehand, airtran. com /programs /bags .aspx (remove spaces to check it out) AirTran states that DCL participates in the program but Bags' website doesn't say anything about Disney so I'll have to confirm with them.

 

[GreensboroKG]

Thanks for the response Kathy, I think that makes sense. We are actually being picked up by relatives who live in Orlando, so I guess we are OK either way, but I think you are right and we probably cannot check our bags til we get to the airport. I think our flight is 4:00

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Kathy,
Great photos. They look so excited to go, bandaids and all
Hope they had a great first day.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Matt & Scott,
looks like your both getting everything all figured out.

Sounds like you both will have a fun last day before going home and back to work.



Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Just a few more photos to start off this week.

Inside stateroom

Shot down deck 10

Pirate Minnie as she came up the stairs after a meet n greet on Pirate night.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

My favorite towel animal is the Monkey.

A different part of deck 10

Captain Jack on Castaway Cay. Don't know the man in the photo.

One of many wild flowers on Castaway Cay

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Bike riding on CC. Observation tower behind the rider.

You can only see these whimsical storks from the observation tower.

Us after going up the tower to have a look around the island of Castaway Cay.

Us on deck 4

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Pulling into Castaway Cay

Castaway Cay from deck 10

us on CC with the Flying Dutchman behind us.

Thats all for now.

Ok, now its someone elses turn to add a few more photos to our thread


Kathy

 

[Mulanrocks]

Look like its been a very busy weekend! I did win the argument with my energy company, not one penny paid more than i owed, its amazing what they try and get away with. Mine weekend was fairly quite, pulled weeds, volunteered, did laundry. I was going to try and do magnets this weekend, but that didn't happen as DH had to stay down in galveston and he has our only working computer. That is why you start early, so when things go wrong its no big deal. I'll have to wait two weeks now to give it another try. Supplies for my FE gifts have started arriving. I have started my Disney cruise pile in DH office (he's not using it anyway) and am gathering odds and ends together.
All the info on the transport has been really interesting, still not sure how DH and i are getting to and from yet, since it all depends on if my sister/parents come.
Kathy (run): What a nice surprise! Your boys look so excited to go to school too!
Pics of some of the animals i worked with on sunday (not allowed to post any behind to scenes photo's so these were all taken in from the normal viewing area)
Sloth (I fed her breakfast )

Golden lion tamarin (they are very messy)

Red pandas (Houston has three, this is the breeding pair)

Really Blurry pic of Prevost's Squirrel Harold. He's my little buddy!

Alyssa

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Alyssa,
love the pictures of the critters. Looks like they have plenty of branches and areas to hide and play in. Zoo's are so much nicer for the animals now than when I was growing up.

Just curious, what does a Sloth eat??

I sent you a list a few minutes ago, so if you havnt received it, please let me know.

Kathy

 

[Mulanrocks]

I was a zookeeper at the Dallas Zoo before my husband got into med school, so here a couple of pics of my babies there. Almost all of these species can be seen at DAK. I love going to zoos and knowing i've been so close to these amazing animals. I love my current job but when DH finishes med school, it'll be back to the Zoo for me!
Newman the Ostritch. He has a ten minute brain.....

One of the Tommies

Lou the greater Kudu

One of the Gernuks

One of our Addaxs

Scimitar Horned Oryx

Gemsbok

And Last but certainly not least the Sand Gazelle Auricle

Alyssa

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I thinkl I have seen the Kudu ,Tommies, and Oryx, at Disneys Animal Kingdom safari ride..

Nice photos! I am an animal lover, so really enjoying the photos.

Kathy

 

[Mulanrocks]

Kathy,
Thanks i got it! The Sloth eats fruits and veggies, she likes her spinach a lot. But its the grapes and cantaloupe that really get her moving (for a sloth that is). You are right, i think zoo's have developed alot. I know from experience how very spoiled these animals are! Another reason to love disney, their animals are beyond well cared for, they are the envy of many zoo's with all of their resources and care givers! Disney is really amazing about their animal care, and a big portion of Disney property is set aside for natural wildlife habitat (if you ever notice native wildlife somewhere it shouldn't be, Disney relocates them to the wildlife habitat they maintain.) They also participate in tons of conservation projects. I know, I know, Disney has thoroughly indoctrinated me. LOL.
Kathy: I have seen all of these animals at DAK except the Addax. (the fun of working there you can ride the safari over and over, but some are also on the trail walk) I also worked with Addra gazelle (beautiful) but i don't have any pics i would be allowed to post. So you must look them up on your own.
Alyssa

 

[2ksilverbullet]

Yeah, nothing like some last minute fun to end the vacation! (better than sitting in the airport!)

Again, thanks for the great ideas!