Oct 30 2010 7 Night Western (PART 2)

[tinkerbelltwins]

How do you organize all the FE goodies to make it easier to distribute them once we are onboard the ship? Is it easier to put them in little bags ahead of time in piles based on age group and gender? Or do you just keep the stuff all together and go deck to deck placing goodies in the FEs by having the list with you? Do people want to know who their FE stuff is from or is it supposed to be a secret?

I've acquired quite a pile of stuff and I hope to figure out a good way of sorting through it so that I don't lose pool-side time by being stuck in my stateroom staring at a jumble of stuff I plan on giving out. So please let me know how you do this as I am a bit bewildered.

I know that DCL allows people to send one box ahead of time. There is a limit on the size of the box to ship so I have a feeling that I will probably have to bring some of the FE stuff with us on the plane in a duffle with all the twins' costumes! That will also mean that we can haul stuff home in the same duffle.

Beth

 

[PrincessTrisha]

For me - I am planning on having each of my individual gifts marked with a little tag (where I have the person's first name) and then all of the individual gifts in a ziploc bag with a mailing label on the front with the cabin number and "DIS" name of the person in the cabin.

That way - if we have 31 cabins, I'll have 30 ziploc bags (cause I won't be bringing myself an FE gift) instead of the 100 or so individual gifts.

It's up to you if you want to say who it's from. For me, I've put in a little paper tag with our names and cabin number but you can make it a surprise.

 

[JKSWonder]

I haven't done the FE before, but this is what I am going to do:

I have one gift for each cabin that is for the adults. It's the same gift, so I am just keeping them all in one box. I'm going to do one per cabin, unless there are sisters or friends, or other adults that are not couples. I am going to make a list of which cabins get one and which cabins need more than one that I will have with me.

For the kids, I am going to split their gifts up into a ziploc bag, labeled on the outside with stateroom # (or just the Disname if we don't know the stateroom # yet). I have the same gift for kids 3 and older and a different gift for kids 3 and under. That way, I can just go to each cabin, empty the ziploc and put the gifts in the right place for each one.

I am going to ship as much of the stuff as I can to the ship ahead of time. Definitely the adult gifts, and as much of the kids gifts that I can fit into the size box that DCL allows us to send ahead of time.

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

I especially like the big ziploc bag for each stateroom idea -- that will make delivery super easy! My two will love going around with me exploring all the decks and checking out all the different FEs. Think I'll probably put a tag in mine too as we will be curious as to who gave us the stuff outside our door!

 

[nenner1]

Someone just posted this (they got it from the DCL Website)

On Halloween night kids can hit the Trick or Treat Trail, exploring multiple decks in search of sweet Halloween treats. Afterward, head for a haunted party at the pool complete with Disney Characters in costume. There's even spooky movies and a costume contest just for adults! Everyone's invited to bring their own costumes aboard.

So, it looks like the official TOT will be on Halloween - as you might have guessed!

hmm...I noticed that says "Halloween NIGHT"..could it be possible we might get lucky and be able to make both ToT's? That would be awesome!!! The deck party would be great to catch too...fingers crossed!!

How do you organize all the FE goodies to make it easier to distribute them once we are onboard the ship? Is it easier to put them in little bags ahead of time in piles based on age group and gender? Or do you just keep the stuff all together and go deck to deck placing goodies in the FEs by having the list with you? Do people want to know who their FE stuff is from or is it supposed to be a secret?

I've acquired quite a pile of stuff and I hope to figure out a good way of sorting through it so that I don't lose pool-side time by being stuck in my stateroom staring at a jumble of stuff I plan on giving out. So please let me know how you do this as I am a bit bewildered.

I know that DCL allows people to send one box ahead of time. There is a limit on the size of the box to ship so I have a feeling that I will probably have to bring some of the FE stuff with us on the plane in a duffle with all the twins' costumes! That will also mean that we can haul stuff home in the same duffle.

Beth

Beth, yes I would certainly have everything separated and bagged (if possible) according to recipient. Since we usually give a per-cabin gift that are all identical it hasn't been necessary in the past for me to organize my FE's beyond individual per-recipient tagging, but if I did, here's how I would do it:

First I would gather all the per-stateroom gifts. For instance if you had an adult gift for my stateroom, and a boy gift and two girl gifts, I would gather all of those together and maybe put them inside a baggie (ziploc or such) and mark it with the stateroom number and disname (disname would be important since sometimes changes do happen..LOL I'll tell you all about it- it happened to us last time!!! And no we weren't upgraded, just moved! So we've BTDT!) But anyway if you also have the names on it, that would make it much easier to dig the gift out of the box if you need to...way easier looking for a "nenner1" than a "6132", IMO.

Once all the gifts are bagged and marked per stateroom, I would then separate them by deck. If possible out those in separate baggies (like the Gallon size or maybe using a plastic grocery bag) When we made our FE "drops" in the past we would do it like this as example: starting on deck 8 aft, work entire port side of deck 8. At forward elevator lobby cross over and work deck 8 starboard side back to aft. Take aft stairs down to deck 7 and work deck 7 port, then cross at forward to deck 7 starboard and repeat.

So having your gifts segregated by deck makes it very simple..pull out a baggie, work out of it, then toss. Easy peasy. If you follow a similar route, and wanted to go so far as having the gifts broken down by starboard/port and even put them in numerical order, you could..and that would make doing the drops even quicker. We also love to do the drops as a family. Conspicuous, yeah! But FUN! The kids love it- it's a blast checking out all the great decorations on the doors and FE.

Also I do believe Janice is making a map of the deck plans with FE cabins clearly marked, so on each floor, one person could be the Navigator, holding the map and directing to the next location, while the others sould be in charge of carrying the gifts, and the kids get to put them in the FE!

As far as indicating who they are from or not, that is totally up to you. We do it, and we love knowing who are gifts are from too, but mysterious surprises that just show up will bring a smile as well! So however you want to do it!

Anyway, that's how we do it. I definitely recommend doing all you can to get everything organized and ready to deliver once onboard. It will make it so much easier for you IMO!

 

[tjbaggott]

I especially like the idea of a large ziplock bag containing all the little baggies for each member of the state room. I'm doing one gift bag for Adult couples to share, and for those not a couple One gift bag each including kids. I'll label the ziplocks with Dis name and stateroom number, and the individual baggies inside will have each persons name on it. I'll go floor to floor, starting at the highest and working my way down.
I wonder if the stores have the Halloween cookie/grab bags out yet? That's what I was planning for individual bags, though I'm a little worried that even they won't be big enough for the adult gift I'm making. If thats the case, the made gift will be wrapped instead of bagged!

 

[sarge219]

Hey Sarge 8032 here!!

Deck 8 is starting to catch up!!!!!!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Doing a happy dance. Just called my TA and paid off the cruise (yes I realize that the deadline is only days away - but still - I'm happy!).

 

[tjbaggott]

Doing a happy dance. Just called my TA and paid off the cruise (yes I realize that the deadline is only days away - but still - I'm happy!).

Paying off the cruise. Isn't that a GREAT Feeling! Congrats!!

 

[Fastpaks]

According to the Passporters Podcast, CM are reporting that the Mnnshp and Mvmcp are going to only going to let ppl in at 7 and not 4. There was no reason given. Just that one of the TA s on the show that is what hey are being told. If this is true im sooooooo glad I didn't buy.

 

[threeiscrazy]

According to the Passporters Podcast, CM are reporting that the Mnnshp and Mvmcp are going to only going to let ppl in at 7 and not 4. There was no reason given. Just that one of the TA s on the show that is what hey are being told. If this is true im sooooooo glad I didn't buy.

That stinks! That's one of the things I've always liked about the parties. It was a lazy relaxing morning and then we hit the park at 4, I'm now glad we decided to skip it this year.

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

Hey Guys! How is everyone doing? We officially have less than 80 days til we cruise (79 days)!!

So, I have been thinking I would like to trim down a little pre-cruise and have been putting it off, and off...

But a co-worker and I were talking and he just finished school and wants to start working out and I told him about a program I started and never finished called the Couch to 5K. He convinced me to start again with him so we can run in a Disney 5k sometime (I live in Kissimmee and work in Celebration). So I started it today, it is a 2 month program so if I can stick with it this time I will be able to run the 5K on Castaway Cay, which is what inspired me to start the program in the first place last year.

So, anybody else interested in starting a walk/run program that ends with you running? To give you an example, each week you work out 3 times. The first week you do three workouts that start with a 5 min warm up, then intervals of 60 seconds of jogging then two min of walking for 21 min and finished with 5 min of cool down.

Or does anyone else already run and plan to run the 5K on Castaway Cay? Just wondering, would not want to run with someone as I will likely still be slow!!

We now have about 11 weeks left til we cruise!!!

 

[tjbaggott]

Hey Guys! How is everyone doing? We officially have less than 80 days til we cruise (79 days)!!

So, I have been thinking I would like to trim down a little pre-cruise and have been putting it off, and off...

But a co-worker and I were talking and he just finished school and wants to start working out and I told him about a program I started and never finished called the Couch to 5K. He convinced me to start again with him so we can run in a Disney 5k sometime (I live in Kissimmee and work in Celebration). So I started it today, it is a 2 month program so if I can stick with it this time I will be able to run the 5K on Castaway Cay, which is what inspired me to start the program in the first place last year.

So, anybody else interested in starting a walk/run program that ends with you running? To give you an example, each week you work out 3 times. The first week you do three workouts that start with a 5 min warm up, then intervals of 60 seconds of jogging then two min of walking for 21 min and finished with 5 min of cool down.

Or does anyone else already run and plan to run the 5K on Castaway Cay? Just wondering, would not want to run with someone as I will likely still be slow!!

We now have about 11 weeks left til we cruise!!!

I'm interested! I've been wanting to get out and do more walking, start running. I currently can't even run to the end of my block! Last month we walked with the kids to the local splash pad park, a good 25 minute walk. But with kids in tow, a wagon and stroller, you walk slow. On the way home, I had to climb a huge hill. Pushing the stroller up that path, it was quite steep, easy to go down but a great deal of exercise to get up. When I reached the top of that hill, I was out of breath, my heart was pounding to the point I could Feel it and hear it, and I felt dizzy. I had to sit down for a bit. THAT told me I am SO out of shape.
Motivation, thats what I need to do something on a regular basis, and I think what you are planning IS motivation! Count me in! Now having NEVER done an exercise progam before, What do you do to warm up and cool down?

 

[Grandma4ever]

Hey Guys! How is everyone doing? We officially have less than 80 days til we cruise (79 days)!!

So, I have been thinking I would like to trim down a little pre-cruise and have been putting it off, and off...

But a co-worker and I were talking and he just finished school and wants to start working out and I told him about a program I started and never finished called the Couch to 5K. He convinced me to start again with him so we can run in a Disney 5k sometime (I live in Kissimmee and work in Celebration). So I started it today, it is a 2 month program so if I can stick with it this time I will be able to run the 5K on Castaway Cay, which is what inspired me to start the program in the first place last year.

So, anybody else interested in starting a walk/run program that ends with you running? To give you an example, each week you work out 3 times. The first week you do three workouts that start with a 5 min warm up, then intervals of 60 seconds of jogging then two min of walking for 21 min and finished with 5 min of cool down.

Or does anyone else already run and plan to run the 5K on Castaway Cay? Just wondering, would not want to run with someone as I will likely still be slow!!

We now have about 11 weeks left til we cruise!!!

That sounds like a plan. I will see if I can get janet to join too.

 

[tjbaggott]

Somebody send me some courage, some peace. I'm in the midst of planning our Sept long weekend trip to take our DS17 off to College. The Car rental is reserved, I'm just about to pin down our Hotel after the first 10 hour stretch.
My concern is night time driving through Northern Ontario. I've never been up in this area except for Algonquin Park as a child. Algonquin park is a Huge Wilderness Provincial park. From what I can tell by the map, this drive is mostly through Country, Wilderness, Boonies, whatever you want to call it, very few city centers.
We'll be driving along the Northern edge of Georgian Bay/Lake Huron and then from the Eastern Edge of Lake Superior all the way around to the North Western Edge. I'm not looking forward to this drive, not at all. DH says we can just put him on a bus, but I know DS is nervous too, so NO, we have to take him. I'm worried about deer and moose on the roads especially at night, yet we can't avoid some night late evening driving. I'll be glad once we make it back, I just hope we make it back in one piece. I'm probably worrying about this way too much. The one thing I look forward to is the Parents night on the Saturday night at 6pm. And if all goes well, we'll have just arrived the hour or two before that.
Once this is out of the way, I can concentrate on the drive later this fall, and THAT one I am Truley LOOKING Forward to!

 

[Grandma4ever]

Somebody send me some courage, some peace. I'm in the midst of planning our Sept long weekend trip to take our DS17 off to College. The Car rental is reserved, I'm just about to pin down our Hotel after the first 10 hour stretch.
My concern is night time driving through Northern Ontario. I've never been up in this area except for Algonquin Park as a child. Algonquin park is a Huge Wilderness Provincial park. From what I can tell by the map, this drive is mostly through Country, Wilderness, Boonies, whatever you want to call it, very few city centers.
We'll be driving along the Northern edge of Georgian Bay/Lake Huron and then from the Eastern Edge of Lake Superior all the way around to the North Western Edge. I'm not looking forward to this drive, not at all. DH says we can just put him on a bus, but I know DS is nervous too, so NO, we have to take him. I'm worried about deer and moose on the roads especially at night, yet we can't avoid some night late evening driving. I'll be glad once we make it back, I just hope we make it back in one piece. I'm probably worrying about this way too much. The one thing I look forward to is the Parents night on the Saturday night at 6pm. And if all goes well, we'll have just arrived the hour or two before that.
Once this is out of the way, I can concentrate on the drive later this fall, and THAT one I am Truley LOOKING Forward to!

Sending extra pixie dust that all will go well.

 

[JKSWonder]

Somebody send me some courage, some peace. I'm in the midst of planning our Sept long weekend trip to take our DS17 off to College. The Car rental is reserved, I'm just about to pin down our Hotel after the first 10 hour stretch.
My concern is night time driving through Northern Ontario. I've never been up in this area except for Algonquin Park as a child. Algonquin park is a Huge Wilderness Provincial park. From what I can tell by the map, this drive is mostly through Country, Wilderness, Boonies, whatever you want to call it, very few city centers.
We'll be driving along the Northern edge of Georgian Bay/Lake Huron and then from the Eastern Edge of Lake Superior all the way around to the North Western Edge. I'm not looking forward to this drive, not at all. DH says we can just put him on a bus, but I know DS is nervous too, so NO, we have to take him. I'm worried about deer and moose on the roads especially at night, yet we can't avoid some night late evening driving. I'll be glad once we make it back, I just hope we make it back in one piece. I'm probably worrying about this way too much. The one thing I look forward to is the Parents night on the Saturday night at 6pm. And if all goes well, we'll have just arrived the hour or two before that.
Once this is out of the way, I can concentrate on the drive later this fall, and THAT one I am Truley LOOKING Forward to!

I'm sure your worries about the drive are no doubt exacerbated by the drive's purpose....taking your DS to college! That has to be a very trying thing, just in and of itself.

Wishing you all the best for a safe and happy road trip this September. Before you know it, October will be here and you can drop all your worries in the blue ocean!

 

[Donna3271]

Hey Guys! How is everyone doing? We officially have less than 80 days til we cruise (79 days)!!


.....
Or does anyone else already run and plan to run the 5K on Castaway Cay? Just wondering, would not want to run with someone as I will likely still be slow!!

We now have about 11 weeks left til we cruise!!!

Hi Dawn,

I run! I usually do about 10 miles a day, and am doing the WDW Marathon in Jan. (staying for a week at my favorite - the Poly!!!) I may do the 5 k, and just do an additional 7 after it ends....

So excited!!! Palo and shore excursions all booked!!!!

 

[Donna3271]

YAY EIGHT!!!

Hey fellow Jerseygirl,

We are on 8 too!!!!

Donna

 

[tinkerbelltwins]

Hey Guys! How is everyone doing? We officially have less than 80 days til we cruise (79 days)!!

So, I have been thinking I would like to trim down a little pre-cruise and have been putting it off, and off...

But a co-worker and I were talking and he just finished school and wants to start working out and I told him about a program I started and never finished called the Couch to 5K. He convinced me to start again with him so we can run in a Disney 5k sometime (I live in Kissimmee and work in Celebration). So I started it today, it is a 2 month program so if I can stick with it this time I will be able to run the 5K on Castaway Cay, which is what inspired me to start the program in the first place last year.

So, anybody else interested in starting a walk/run program that ends with you running? To give you an example, each week you work out 3 times. The first week you do three workouts that start with a 5 min warm up, then intervals of 60 seconds of jogging then two min of walking for 21 min and finished with 5 min of cool down.

Or does anyone else already run and plan to run the 5K on Castaway Cay? Just wondering, would not want to run with someone as I will likely still be slow!!

We now have about 11 weeks left til we cruise!!!

What a great idea -- I'll give it a try -- though I'm more like a tortoise than a hare. I searched the main thread under "Castaway Cay 5K" (as this is the first I've heard about it) and someone posted some good information about what happens plus there are also some photos of people participating in it. If I knew how to link the thread to this response then I'd attach it here.

I used to run "way back when" but now all I do is chase my kids around the house. I fully expect that my Castaway Cay experience will be one of jogging some and walking some. I could care less who comes in first as having the opportunity to see the island from a different perspective appeals to me. Maybe we might entice Judy to make a Castaway Cay 5K design that we can all put on some t-shirts for the big race!

Beth