October 14, 2007 - 10/14/2007 Wonder

[iankh]

Are you really doing this or just kidding? Let me know when it happens if you are really doing this.

I'm serious, I and my co-host are hoping to launch sometime in March. It is supposed to be a more upmarket, sort of Conde Nast world traveler take on Disney. Our plan is to "broadcast" every other week. It will be a magazine format, with resort reports, restaurant reviews, travel tips, etc. We also have contributors lined up. One woman I was introduced to wrote a cookbook for parents with kids with allergies. It turns out she's loves WDW and has agree to do a regular "Mouse Mom" segment, focused on traveling with kids. Someone else who lives down in Orlando will be doing a "hidden treasures" segment.

We're going to do a show on DCL, because I interviewed people I met here on DIS before my last cruise and on the ship during the cruise.

This is a new world for me. The Sophisticated Mouse is going to be an adventure.

So, one question I know that my DH has but he will never admit to is how did you find the dress code in the dining rooms? On our Princess Cruise no jeans were allowed which basically killed my husband since even dressed up he wears a nice pair of jeans and cowboy boots. Right before we went to eat he would grudgingly change into a pair of slacks and then immediately change back when we were finished. It appeared from the websites that jeans are acceptable but what did you see?

I'm with your husband ... I don't want to dress up either, and I didn't. Tell him not to worry, wearing jeans is just fine.

Most guys I think were wearing jeans to the restaurants. The only place where they really do want you to dress a little nicer is Palos, but even there, just a nice pair of dockers type pants would be fine. I definitely would not wear a suit. I just wore a pair of docker type pants and a button shirt and there were plenty of other guys dressed the same way for Palo. I mean, who really want to pack a suit for a vacation anyway?

I think there is a dress-up night one night of the cruise, but frankly I can't be bothered with that. I figure that when I'm paying as much as I am, I can dress how I want. Now if DCL wants to start paying me, I might entertain getting dressed up!

Now some people did get dressed up, but I suppose they enjoy it, but to me that's not my idea of a good time.

We are still trying to figure out the port transfers as well. We did not pay for the transfers since we most likely will go to Kennedy Space Center when we come back into port and will probably rent a car. However, the question always is when to rent the car? Do you pick it up at the airport or get to Disney and then pick up the car later, etc., etc. I have seen that some people turn their car in down at the port and then get a new one afterwards but I am thinking that the cost you save might not be worth the hassle.

Did you book the land/sea? I thought that came with transfers?

Renting a car comes down to personal preference and how you feel about driving. I hate driving, but somehow seem to rent a car more often than not.

When it comes to renting a car, there are a couple of ways you can go. You can rent a car at MCO and then drop it off at the port. Budget is located right near the port and have a shuttle to take you to the ship.

If you are planning on doing Magical Express to get to your resort (which I really like, especially if you use a participating airline), you can get to your resort with little hassle and your bags will appear in your room later in the day.

I personally don't think a rental car is necessary, but some people prefer having a car rather than relying on the buses. BUT ... since your stay in WDW is short, a car might be an advantage, as you can go an come as you please and not be dependent on the buses. Also, if you make dining reservations at another resort, it will be easier to get to if you have a car. A car might allow you to maximize your time there.

Having said all that, I believe that Budget has a rental location located at the Doubletree hotel which is on hotel blvd, in WDW near DTD. I think they also have a pickup service, so if you phone 24 hours ahead, they'll come and pick you up at your resort and bring you to the location.

So, in theory, you could use ME to get to the resort, and then pick up the car later.

Avis is located at the Hilton, also in the same row of hotels as the Doubletree, but I don't think they'll pick you up at your resort.

Disney will always be happy to take your money for the transfers, you can add them on later, but I would do it no later than 90 days before the cruise, just so you get the vouchers in time.

I think the resort to port/port to airport is a bit pricey, about $70 a person, so a rental car would be cheaper.

Because there are 5 of us, I have decided to knuckle under and get a car (I hate driving). I did all the math and even if I got a limo company, it would be $220 plus a tip for use to do the airport to port/port to resort, which is cheaper than the $350 it would be for DCL but still pricey. I got a Budget one-way rental from MCO to the port and then another one for after the cruise. Even keeping the car for 7 of the 8 nights we're in WDW it come out in total only about $260 for the two rentals. How could I argue with paying the $40 more than the limo and having a car. I'm still saving nearly $100 over the DCL transfers.

Now I'm just trying to figure out where we're going to stay the night before the cruise.

Don't worry about asking questions. Lots of people have helped me out, and still do

 

[lbcrosby]

Ok, I remembered a Disney Cruise question I have. When do they tell you the order in which you are dining in the different dining rooms? I thought it would be nice to go to Palo on the one night that repeats but I don't know if there is any method to their madness or what. Also, do you think that Palo books up instantly on the day of the cruise or do most people not know about it?

Thanks.

 

[iankh]

Ok, I remembered a Disney Cruise question I have. When do they tell you the order in which you are dining in the different dining rooms? I thought it would be nice to go to Palo on the one night that repeats but I don't know if there is any method to their madness or what. Also, do you think that Palo books up instantly on the day of the cruise or do most people not know about it?

Thanks.

Unfortunately, you don't find out about your dining rotation until you check in for the cruise and get your KTTW card.

I had booked Palo online in advance but wanted to change it based on our rotation, so we could do Palo on the night we repeated a restaurant. I also wanted to book the brunch which was unavailable for online booking.

It was possible to change around such things on board in Wavebands. I think they opened at 1:30 PM and there was a queue when I got there at about 1:15 PM. While I did have to wait in line, I had no trouble changing my Palo reservation or booking the brunch, which is held on Wednesday, the at sea day. I do recommend that you do this as soon as possible, right around the time they open. I'm not sure how soon they book up.

BTW, are you doing the early or late seating at dinner?

 

[lbcrosby]

Ok, I guess we will just take a guess then on booking Palo. I thought it would be nice to have one dinner with my DH. The restaurants seem so fun that we most likely will have our DS there instead of letting him stay in the kid's program the entire time. Although he might complain as he loved the kid's program so much on the last one. Which night is the Pirate theme night? Is that consistent? I want to make sure I take an educated guess.

What is the brunch? I mean I know what a brunch is but what is it when it is referred to on the Wonder.

We are doing late seating. Since we will be coming from Denver we figured late seating would be close to the normal time we eat here and with what I have read on the boards you can spend more time at the ports without having to rush to get back on the Wonder to eat.

Oh, I remembered another question. Are the shows they have in the big theater the same every night or different and do they assign you as to what night you see the show?

 

[iankh]

The Pirate theme night is on the third night, and I think they always do it on that night.

The shows change every night of the cruise, so if you have a late seating, you would go to the early show and then dinner after the show. The first night is an entertainer of some sort (we were more interested in exploring the ship), the 2nd night is Hercules the Museical, the 3rd is the Golden Mickeys, and the 4th is Disney Dreams.

Palo's has a brunch on the at sea day, and you have to book it. They do a $5.00 up-charge for the brunch, similar to the $10.00 up-charge for dinner at Palo. It is very nice and is also adults only. They have a 10:00 AM seating an an 11:00 AM seating.

It is buffet style, except for the entree which you order from the server.

We did Palo on the third night, because it turned out that that was when our repeat night was, so I really don't know what the pirate dinner is like. We weren't that interested and prefered to experience all 3 restaurants.

We're doing the early seating which has me sort of bummed out because to me, 5:45 to 6:00 is just too early for dinner and I prefered the later seating. But with a 7 year old that just might be too late. I need to see what DDIL thinks. They're coming from the UK, and the cruise is at the beginning of the trip so they'll be 6 hours ahead.

 

[lbcrosby]

So, is there enough room in the show for everyone that is in each seating to see the show or do they anticipate that everyone doesn't attend? I might send out an e-mail on the main board to confirm that the pirate night is on the third night. That way we can pick another night to do Palo. Since we have a boy I am sure I would never hear the end of it if we did not attend that night.

So what type of food do they serve at the brunch at Palos? It is worth paying the difference?

From what I hear most of the parents prefer the early seating because of bedtime, etc. So if you find out that you want to switch it might be easier going from early to late versus the other way around. However, I know from the experience we had with our son when we went to Alaska (he was six at the time) that bedtime is relative. We would show up to pick him up from the kid's program at 10:00 and he would be upset we were there so early. My theory is it is a vacation and bedtimes are going to slide. I am sure some other parents will feel differently but our DS usually does fine. One nice thing with having a late seating is you can also have a late seating for breakfast. Who wants to get up early on a vacation unless it is to go off to port. We often ate at the buffet for breakfast on our last cruise.

So, anyone else out there that is going along with us??

 

[iankh]

I just checked the navigators and, I was right, the Pirates Party is the third day of the cruise. You can find copies of the navigators on the FAQ thread at the top of the main cruise forum.

The food was quite good at the Palos brunch. The real star is the buffet and the desserts. It's quite an assortment with breakfast type food and lunch type foods. The charge is only and additional $5 a person, so it might be worth trying. Just be aware that it adults only and kids are not admitted.

You make a good point about switching when you have late vs early. We had late and there were empty tables during our seating. I'm not sure how packed the early seating was. I think a good night for Palo might be either the second or fourth nights.

You mentioned seatings and breakfast, your dinner seating doesn't impact breakfast, only dinner.

We never did the sit down breakfast. We really liked Beach Blanket Buffet, there was something layed back about it and we really liked sitting out on deck and looking at the water. We also typically did Beach Blanket again for lunch, for the same reason. We didn't go to Parrot Cay because we preferred to be outdoors.

Though to be honest the lines between breakfast, lunch, snacks just blurred because it seemed like we ate pretty frequently.

We're planning on doing the early seating for dinner in October, which sort of bums me out. I would much prefer a late seating. My biggest fear is getting the 5:45 PM time slot. That just seems too early to me. I have not yet discussed it with DDIL because I'm having enough trouble getting her to focus on this trip. I think she just feels overwhelmed by it, so the planning has fallen on me.

I have no idea when our grandson wants to eat. Coming from the UK they will be 6 or 7 hours ahead, so probably for him, dinner time is more at 1:00 PM east coast time until they all adjust to the time change.

She didn't think that they were going to register him for the Oceaneers Club. They recently went to Cuba for vacation, and said they had something for kids but he didn't do it. I told her that I thought the DCL Oceaneer Club might be a very different thing altogether and that she should register him because then he could always decide whether he would go or not.

I'm just having a hard time getting the point across that this trip is going to be a very different experience and that going to WDW is not the same as going to an ordinary amusement park.

Not sure why we are the only 2 on this thread. For my December cruise, the thread did not seem to get busy until about 4 months before the sailing, then it became very active.

 

[Kborn]

I hope you said yes, because we are sailing no matter what...Just kidding!

We will be joining the party, if anyone is keeping a "roster" we are:

Keith (DH 45)
Tina (DW 42)
Joshua (DS 6)

My wife and I are going to be renewing our vows on Castaway Cay, we are celebrating 10 years...I still can not believe she has put up with me THAT LONG! (My smilies are not working or there would have been a rolling smilie there)

This will be our 7th cruise with Disney, our last was the 11 day in 2006, so going on a 4 day may just make me mad! We had a 7 day planned for Sept., but with Josh starting school, they did not think it would be wise to pull him out. But my wife wants to renew our vows and he is out of school for 2 days that week. So let the party begin!

 

[lbcrosby]

Yes, you can. The more the merrier. Wow, you are the pros on Disney cruises and Iankh is a pro at Disney World. So, I am covered all around. This will be our (DW 40, DH 39 and DS 7 (he will be 8 when we go) and a Dear Friend (how do you write that) of my husband may go as well, 39) first Disney Cruise. However, we did a 7 day Alaskan Princess cruise for our 10 year a few years ago with our son and we took our honeymoon on a Carnival cruise. Cruising is our favorite method of travel so I am sure there will be more to come. Since you live in Alabama do you drive or fly to Florida? For us flying from Denver the cost to take cruises on either side of the continent adds up when you put airfare on top of it.

I think right now there are four families that are on board. The fun with Disney is you know that almost everyone will have kids or at least don't mind kids. You have to expect you will come across them on a Disney cruise. There were a lot fewer kids on Princess but our DS loved the kid's program because there was more one on one and he was always able to get a computer whenever he wanted one. How did you find the program on Disney for the kids?

 

[iankh]

I hope you said yes, because we are sailing no matter what...Just kidding!

We will be joining the party, if anyone is keeping a "roster" we are:

Keith (DH 45)
Tina (DW 42)
Joshua (DS 6)

My wife and I are going to be renewing our vows on Castaway Cay, we are celebrating 10 years...I still can not believe she has put up with me THAT LONG! (My smilies are not working or there would have been a rolling smilie there)

This will be our 7th cruise with Disney, our last was the 11 day in 2006, so going on a 4 day may just make me mad! We had a 7 day planned for Sept., but with Josh starting school, they did not think it would be wise to pull him out. But my wife wants to renew our vows and he is out of school for 2 days that week. So let the party begin!

Welcome Keith! We are traveling with DDIL, DDSIL and our grandson who is now 6 but will be 7 years old by the time of the cruise. They will be flying in from the UK.

For the October trip we'll be doing the 4-night cruise, followed by 8-nights in WDW staying at VWL. This will be the first visit to WDW for DDIL, DDSIL and grandson.

We took our first DCL cruise this past December, so this one will be our second. I think we were bitten by the bug.

Yesterday I booked the 15-night westbound Panama Canal repositioning cruise. I can't believe I've got a vacation booked as far out as 2008!

 

[Kborn]

Yes, you can. The more the merrier. Wow, you are the pros on Disney cruises and Iankh is a pro at Disney World. So, I am covered all around. This will be our (DW 40, DH 39 and DS 7 (he will be 8 when we go) and a Dear Friend (how do you write that) of my husband may go as well, 39) first Disney Cruise. However, we did a 7 day Alaskan Princess cruise for our 10 year a few years ago with our son and we took our honeymoon on a Carnival cruise. Cruising is our favorite method of travel so I am sure there will be more to come. Since you live in Alabama do you drive or fly to Florida? For us flying from Denver the cost to take cruises on either side of the continent adds up when you put airfare on top of it.

I think right now there are four families that are on board. The fun with Disney is you know that almost everyone will have kids or at least don't mind kids. You have to expect you will come across them on a Disney cruise. There were a lot fewer kids on Princess but our DS loved the kid's program because there was more one on one and he was always able to get a computer whenever he wanted one. How did you find the program on Disney for the kids?

Thanks for the welcome...cruising is the ONLY method of travel! We do spend a 1 week at WDW, but the cruise is so much better. Going to WDW with a 6 yr. old is alot of work (Walking), I'm not complaining, but the cruise is so much more relaxing. My wife and I all ways get a couple's massage on Castaway Cay the last day, that is the iciing on the cake!

We drive down from ALA, it takes me about 7 1/2 hrs. I like to leave around midnight, that way everyone sleeps, and theres no traffic. There should not be that many Kids on this cruise, most are in school. Most of the kids on the cruise will be "HOME SCHOOLED" kids. We have cruised in Sept. or Oct. on all our cruises, I say 85 % of the kids are home schooled or under the age to start school. We were going to home school Josh, but we were able to enroll him into one of the best private schools in B'ham. He had been on a wait list since he was 3 weeks old! This time of year, there will be more Adults traveling without kids, than families. Even if there is alot of kids on board, you will not even notice them, unless you are looking for them. They take great care of the kids, they even have their "secret passages" to get them from the clubs to the restuarants.

You'll notice I tend to ramble...

 

[Kborn]

Welcome Keith! We are traveling with DDIL, DDSIL and our grandson who is now 6 but will be 7 years old by the time of the cruise. They will be flying in from the UK.

For the October trip we'll be doing the 4-night cruise, followed by 8-nights in WDW staying at VWL. This will be the first visit to WDW for DDIL, DDSIL and grandson.

We took our first DCL cruise this past December, so this one will be our second. I think we were bitten by the bug.

Yesterday I booked the 15-night westbound Panama Canal repositioning cruise. I can't believe I've got a vacation booked as far out as 2008!

Thanks for the welcome....It's easy to get "THE BUG" when you cruise with Disney! We have sailed with Carnaval once, it was OK, but once you do Disney, there is no other ship on the sea. Disney has the best shows, the best service, the best staterooms, the best food, it's just the best in our book!

How early are the kids coming in from the UK? Are they going to have time to get over the jet lag? and get over the time differences?

We are booked on the 15day west bound cruise as well, we received permission from Joshua's principle to take him out of school 2 weeks early. We think it will be very educational for him. Josh does not like video games, he would rather build with lego's or blocks. We saw a special on the panama canal on the Discovery channel on Wed., he thought it was cool the way they used trains to pull the ships through the locks. He is very excited about seeing it in person.

OK, there I go rambling again...sorry

 

[iankh]

Thanks for the welcome....It's easy to get "THE BUG" when you cruise with Disney! We have sailed with Carnaval once, it was OK, but once you do Disney, there is no other ship on the sea. Disney has the best shows, the best service, the best staterooms, the best food, it's just the best in our book!

How early are the kids coming in from the UK? Are they going to have time to get over the jet lag? and get over the time differences?

We are booked on the 15day west bound cruise as well, we received permission from Joshua's principle to take him out of school 2 weeks early. We think it will be very educational for him. Josh does not like video games, he would rather build with lego's or blocks. We saw a special on the panama canal on the Discovery channel on Wed., he thought it was cool the way they used trains to pull the ships through the locks. He is very excited about seeing it in person.

OK, there I go rambling again...sorry

We haven't worked out the specifics of the flights yet, but they will probably fly to Chicago first and then we'll all fly down to MCO the day before together, that will probably work out cheaper for them than a direct flight from the UK to MCO. I'm thinking they would come to Chicago a day or two early, so they might have a little time to adjust. Ben won't even know they're going on a Disney cruise or to WDW until they get on the airplane. DDIL says she wouldn't hear the end of it if she told him now.

 

[Kborn]

We haven't worked out the specifics of the flights yet, but they will probably fly to Chicago first and then we'll all fly down to MCO the day before together, that will probably work out cheaper for them than a direct flight from the UK to MCO. I'm thinking they would come to Chicago a day or two early, so they might have a little time to adjust. Ben won't even know they're going on a Disney cruise or to WDW until they get on the airplane. DDIL says she wouldn't hear the end of it if she told him now.

That will be good, with only 4 days on the ship, you would not want them sleeping through it. Our motto, 'YOU CAN SLEEP WHEN YOU GET HOME'.

BTW, we may be from B'ham, but my wife was raised in Chicago, she moved to Atlanta when she was 19 and moved to B'ham 9 yrs later. She will most likely talk your ear off...she wants to go back and visit, but with our schedules, I don't think it will be this year.

 

[iankh]

That will be good, with only 4 days on the ship, you would not want them sleeping through it. Our motto, 'YOU CAN SLEEP WHEN YOU GET HOME'.

BTW, we may be from B'ham, but my wife was raised in Chicago, she moved to Atlanta when she was 19 and moved to B'ham 9 yrs later. She will most likely talk your ear off...she wants to go back and visit, but with our schedules, I don't think it will be this year.

I think I finally convinced the UK side of the Atlantic that this vacation is not going to be like going to a Six Flags (or Alton Towers which is the UK equivilent).

I think your Josh is just about the same age as our Ben. I think they'll be in the same age group in the Oceaneer Club.

 

[iankh]

So, I wonder where all the other DISers on this sailing are hiding?

 

[Kborn]

So, I wonder where all the other DISers on this sailing are hiding?

Don't type to loud....it would be nice to have the ship to ourselves!

 

[Kborn]

I think I finally convinced the UK side of the Atlantic that this vacation is not going to be like going to a Six Flags (or Alton Towers which is the UK equivilent).

I think your Josh is just about the same age as our Ben. I think they'll be in the same age group in the Oceaneer Club.

Josh will turn 7 on Oct. 31, that's right, he's a halloween baby. He thinks everyone dresses up for his birthday. (My smilies are not working, again!)(If they were there would be one on the ground laughing). All the kids have a great time in the club.

 

[lbcrosby]

Don't type to loud....it would be nice to have the ship to ourselves!

I agree. However, our DS would be disappointed if he did not have lots of friends to play with on the ship. My bet is most of the people don't realize how important it is to plan ahead of time. I know I have April in mind for when I have to have everything nailed down as to what we want to do at Disney World in case we want to make any type of reservations. I know my DH and some friends we mentioned that vacation to thought I was crazy for booking so far in advance. Now, a year later after booking the cost has gone up almost $1,000 for the same thing. Basically, we are going to get the concierge level at Disney World for the same price that people joining for the regular level are getting it now.

There may be more people just monitoring as there were close to 200 views of the post. And, I don't think the four families on the board now have looked at it that many times . . . but, perhaps we have.

 

[iankh]

Josh will turn 7 on Oct. 31, that's right, he's a halloween baby. He thinks everyone dresses up for his birthday. (My smilies are not working, again!)(If they were there would be one on the ground laughing). All the kids have a great time in the club.

Ben will be 7 years old by the time the cruise rolls around, so they will be in the same age grouping.

I agree. However, our DS would be disappointed if he did not have lots of friends to play with on the ship. My bet is most of the people don't realize how important it is to plan ahead of time. I know I have April in mind for when I have to have everything nailed down as to what we want to do at Disney World in case we want to make any type of reservations. I know my DH and some friends we mentioned that vacation to thought I was crazy for booking so far in advance. Now, a year later after booking the cost has gone up almost $1,000 for the same thing. Basically, we are going to get the concierge level at Disney World for the same price that people joining for the regular level are getting it now.

There may be more people just monitoring as there were close to 200 views of the post. And, I don't think the four families on the board now have looked at it that many times . . . but, perhaps we have.

I'm not sure of what your friends would make of me. Not only do I have the October cruise booked, but I'm booked for the Panama Canal westbound as well! Talk about prices going up, prices rose by the hour for that cruise! DCL must have some sort of algorithm where they automatically start jacking up the price as the fill level of the ship goes up.

400 views of our little old thread? Must be more than us peeking in.

Speaking of which, having a small thread is not necessarily a bad thing. For our cruise this past December there were only about a dozen or so people max on the thread and it was great.

I just unsubscribed from the thread for our 2008 Panama Canal westbound. Just too many people, and just too noisy. Lot's of "talking" and little listening. It was like being in a crowded room of people all talking at the same time. I found that if you posted something, within an hour it was buried many pages down.

No, I think I prefer a smaller thread myself.