October 16, 2011 Mexican Riviera on the Wonder

[Jathanis]

Back to the matter of the FE gift exchange, after some PM discussion with Disney23, I've gone ahead and added her info to the spreadsheet last night, but her and I wanted to do so with one BIG disclaimer - If you've already ordered items, crafted your heart out, or for any other reason can't manage to go as all out for her family, please don't stress over it! This is supposed to be for fun, and she understands that. Please do whatever you'd like, but if for some reason you can't do something, that's perfectly alright! Please chime in, Ms. Disney23, if I didn't get that right!

One other thought is that many other cruise threads have a meet at some point on the cruise to put faces to some of the names we've been chatting with, but not all. I'm just throwing it out there to see if there's any interest - this *IS* the Disney Cruise Meets section of the forum, after all, so I don't want to be derelict in my duties by not at least pointing that out!

 

[Disney23]

I absolutely LOVE my Disney timeshare. I have been a timeshare owner for 11 years and I own three different brands, Wyndham, MGV and Disney and there are things that I like about each one but I like the Disney one the best. I have the flexibility to use it for a cruise if I want to and if not I can just go to the resort. With my Wyndham timeshare I can use my points to get Disney world tickets which is how I got into this mess in the first place...long story but my "free" vacation to Orlando turned into a very expensive vacation once I decided to buy the DVC! Not regretting it for one minute. My DH and I love to go on cruises but we have never been on Disney. It was great that with the points we bought we could go on a cruise every year and only pay the $95 and the annual maintenance fees which for us are about $1200/yr.

I want to sell all my other timeshares and buy all Disney!

 

[Disney23]

In regards to the FE I wanted to thank Jathanis for letting me into the spreadsheet. The main reason I wanted to be on the spreadsheet was so that I could see if I could get items for the other kids. I don't want anyone to feel pressured to include us, it's perfectly fine I'm just so excited to be going and meeting new friends!

 

[anthonysmama]

Back to the matter of the FE gift exchange, after some PM discussion with Disney23, I've gone ahead and added her info to the spreadsheet last night, but her and I wanted to do so with one BIG disclaimer - If you've already ordered items, crafted your heart out, or for any other reason can't manage to go as all out for her family, please don't stress over it! This is supposed to be for fun, and she understands that. Please do whatever you'd like, but if for some reason you can't do something, that's perfectly alright! Please chime in, Ms. Disney23, if I didn't get that right!

One other thought is that many other cruise threads have a meet at some point on the cruise to put faces to some of the names we've been chatting with, but not all. I'm just throwing it out there to see if there's any interest - this *IS* the Disney Cruise Meets section of the forum, after all, so I don't want to be derelict in my duties by not at least pointing that out!

I would be interested in a meet! I think it would be super fun to actually meet those of you I'm getting to know so well through chat here.

Brandy

 

[Disney23]

Yes I also agree that we should meet up. I have early dinner I think because we have some young ones (and old ones) in our group. I'm set for boarding at 11:30 I think. Wanted to get the most time possible on the boat. Maybe sometime the first night?

Does anyone else plan on going on the Mexican cooking adventure thing? I think we might do that. My kids love to cook.

 

[Disney23]

Should the FE gifts be wrapped? And are we supposed to put anything on it about who it is from? I know i would like to know who things are from just because from the sounds of it many people are putting in many hours of thought and/or work into the gifts. (in my case its probably thought )

And here is my disclaimer: many of you seem very crafty and creative...I am neither, so please don't be offended if my FE gifts are not as cool as some you have gotten. Unfortunately I have a very demanding job and way too many kids so I don't have as much free time as I'd like. Which is why I chose the laundry icon as part of my signature...phew I can't wait for the cruise!

So, anyway, I hope store bought trinkets are ok?

Oh and does anyone have a problem with temporary tattoos? I found some cute character tattoos but I know that some parents don't approve so I don't want to give anything that the parent wouldn't be ok with. Thanks, I'll try to stop being paranoid and over thinking it.

And Halloween is fine with my family. DH & I actually dressed as pirates for Halloween two years ago so maybe we'll bring the costumes for pirate night...

 

[anthonysmama]

Should the FE gifts be wrapped? And are we supposed to put anything on it about who it is from? I know i would like to know who things are from just because from the sounds of it many people are putting in many hours of thought and/or work into the gifts. (in my case its probably thought )

And here is my disclaimer: many of you seem very crafty and creative...I am neither, so please don't be offended if my FE gifts are not as cool as some you have gotten. Unfortunately I have a very demanding job and way too many kids so I don't have as much free time as I'd like. Which is why I chose the laundry icon as part of my signature...phew I can't wait for the cruise!

So, anyway, I hope store bought trinkets are ok?

Oh and does anyone have a problem with temporary tattoos? I found some cute character tattoos but I know that some parents don't approve so I don't want to give anything that the parent wouldn't be ok with. Thanks, I'll try to stop being paranoid and over thinking it.

And Halloween is fine with my family. DH & I actually dressed as pirates for Halloween two years ago so maybe we'll bring the costumes for pirate night...

First, I am a total newbie so I'm not speaking from experience, just from what I've learned through the preparation for this one!!

I don't know if there is an actual "it's supposed to be this way" about it. It's my understanding that its just for fun and you can do pretty much whatever you want...if you wanna make the gifts then great, if you don't have the time/creative ability, then store bought is the way to go. No one should take offense to this stuff. I know that's not usually how the world works so I totally understand where your coming from with the paranoid thoughts! I've been having them too, then I realized I was just WAY over thinking the situation...

Here's my take on it (hopefully, without spoiling any surprises)...

I am "packaging up" my items in a cute way for the kids, not necessarily wrapping them, but they will have to "open" them to see the goodies inside... Although you could wrap them if you wanted to and I think the kids would get a kick out of it...at least my oldest would! He LOVES presents!!
I am leaving tags on mine so that you will all know where/who they came from...not because I wanna brag about being creative/crafty, but because I'm kinda OCD and I would like to know who I got things from, so I'm just kinda putting myself in the receiving position for a sec, so I can think what I would like/be pleased with.
I did my best to keep things "even" between the kids (gave them the same amount of things so the parents wouldn't have the headache of hearing "why did she/he get that and I didn't?") cause I know how kids can be and thats just fine cause they are just that...kids! The babies/younger ones kinda got left out in my opinion on a couple of the things the older kids are getting from me, but thats just cause I wouldn't give these things to my baby cause she's too young, so I'm trying to keep the parents in mind as well...I wanna stay respectful and not have anyone wonder "why would she give THAT to a baby??" I tried to compensate the missing items with 'baby friendly" items that I would give my baby and I think I was pretty successful with that.
My gifts are a mix of things I am crafty enough to make and store bought items I thought were age appropriate. I am a stay-at-home-mom who used to be a full-time-job-having single mom, so I know both sides of the spectrum! My family and I will not be offended in any way by store bought items purchased by the busy full-time worker, nor will we be disappointed to receive hand-made items from the crafty folk who have alot more time on their hands! (Like Me!! )

I actually had the same paranoid thought about the temporary tattoos, so now I'm realizing maybe it wasn't so paranoid of a thought if others are having it too!! I would like to know if others mind them as well? My family does not have a problem with them...our son likes them cause they are "cool" and I, having real tattoos myself, would look kinda silly tellin' my kids you can't wear a fake one, right?!

I hope this helps ease your mind. Just don't over-think it too much like I did at first! All I ended up with was a bit of a headache and HUGE mess of mixed up "gift ideas" all over my kitchen table!!

Oh and as for dressng up for Pirate Night...I know I've said it before, but just to let anyone who hasn't read my earlier posts know, our entire family will be dressing up in full costume. I kinda went all out for that cause I hear from a friend who did this cruise earlier this year that Pirate Night was the most fun she'd had in a long time and that she wished she had brought costumes for her and her husband and their kids, but they had never cruised Disney before and knew nothing about it till close to the cruise and were afraid of being the only ones dressed up, so they skipped it and regret it. I don't wanna regret it, so we're just gonna do it.

I know this was like a 5 mile long speech and I'm sorry for that...I was on a roll once I started typing! LOL!

Thanks for reading my book...

WOOT!! Only 18 more days!! Sorry, a little excited!!!

~ Brandy ~

 

[Jathanis]

Generally speaking, from what I've seen on other FE threads, the decision to label or wrap your FE gifts is completely up to you! I agree about your thought of wanting to know who items are from, but I have no problem with animosity, either, if that's what the gifter is comfortable with. As for wrapping, I've seen many pictures of FE gifts coming in ziplock bags; in fact, they seem to be the #1 choice of delivery! Ziplock bags + printable labels = quick, easy, and secure packaging... Especially if your local store has stuff like these or these.

EDIT: ^ She said it better!

 

[DisneyKim68]

I'm so glad you were able to get into the FE Disney23! I'm getting so excited! I would love to meet up with you all at some point during the cruise.

 

[phred84044]

On our last one, we scheduled to meet for lunch one day in the dining room. Perhaps we could do this on Monday or Tuesday (both are sea days) which is early enough into the cruise so that we can plan other meets (if we wanted to) or at least be able to recognize each other for the rest of the cruise???

 

[Disney23]

That works for us.

On our last one, we scheduled to meet for lunch one day in the dining room. Perhaps we could do this on Monday or Tuesday (both are sea days) which is early enough into the cruise so that we can plan other meets (if we wanted to) or at least be able to recognize each other for the rest of the cruise???

 

[DisneyKim68]

I've got brunch at Palo on Tues. @ 11:30 but could do before or after ( or Monday)

 

[anthonysmama]

On our last one, we scheduled to meet for lunch one day in the dining room. Perhaps we could do this on Monday or Tuesday (both are sea days) which is early enough into the cruise so that we can plan other meets (if we wanted to) or at least be able to recognize each other for the rest of the cruise???

Sounds good to us...either day!

 

[Geekbunny]

We have brunch at Palo on Monday at 10:30, but are otherwise open!

 

[Disney23]

Are there CM on ship with pins for trading?

 

[Disney23]

One more thing before bed...does anyone know if they still do the pillowcase thing?

 

[anthonysmama]

One more thing before bed...does anyone know if they still do the pillowcase thing?

I hope so cause I had one embroidered for our family!!

~ Brandy ~

 

[bradc]

Other than special "Welcome Home" magnets on the door, a small gift on our bed one day, and a special invite to a meeting that showed us stuff about Aulani (that was probably not too different from the one for non-members), no, I noticed nothing too different.

Oh, there might have been a free pin exclusive for DVC members, too, but I'm not sure. And we got DVC member hats at the meeting...

There are spirited arguments, err, discussions regarding the use of points for booking cruises. One camp is of the opinion that it is a waste of money, and either A) you pay more for the points than just paying cash for the cruise or B) you can rent your points out for more money than you'd pay to book the cruise, and you can use the rest of the cash for spending money. This, of course, depends on the price of the cruise. I'd bet that those who book early at the best rates, or use the on-board 10% discount, etc, are correct, but the DVC points for a cruise never change where the prices do. Also remember that there are a limited number of cabins available for DVC bookings, so while off-season cruises like ours are easier to book, the summer & holiday ones can be hard to get unless you book REALLY early! The other camp is that DVC is a great way to budget for regular Disney vacations, and when compared to the total cost of using your points at the park + tickets + food, etc, it's a nice break between park trips. I'm partly of both camps - mostly the latter, but I did sell some extra points to a friend for enough to cover the fee to book the cruise through DVC & our hotel the night before departure...

We bought in at Florida's Saratoga Springs from Disneyland, intending to use our points to stay mostly at DL, as financially, it made sense for us. Then, when they opened the Grand Californian DVC, we bought there, too, for the earlier booking window. We are taking this cruise on DVC points, but will be cash booking our next while onboard to get the best prices for 2013 AND to save our DVC points for the grand opening of Carsland at DL next summer. In the future, we'll use our Florida points to stay at WDW, Hawaii, and ever Paris DL when we go to London in 2015, and use our CA points for yearly trips to DL. Then, once DD is out of the house for college but before grandkids (big gap, I hope), we'll probably do more cruises and RCI trades for travel...

Anyone who wants a (mostly) unbiased opinion of DVC, let me know - I'll give you all the good points, and a few bad ones that I've found along the way. I've literally sold members on it poolside at the Grand drinking Guinness, and have talked people out of it because it was the wrong thing for them...

Thanks for the great insight! I know that if I do buy in it'll be for the Grand California just because of location. Maybe someday I'll have enough cash on hand to purchase.

 

[Denine]

Hello all. I mostly lurk these days since the discussions mostly seems to be about the FE which we are not doing. I didn't feel like lugging stuff all the way to CA and back.

Anyway, the excitement continues to build! We leave 2 weeks from today. We are spending time at DL before and after the cruise. The only things left to do are to decide how we are getting to the airport here at home and getting tickets for DL. We are waiting to see if they come out with another special after the current one expires on Saturday.

This will be Disney cruise #12 for us and our 20th wedding anniversary! We are also DVC'rs since 1995 and we do not use points to book cruises. We have a couple of times when it was just the 2 of us a number of years ago, but these days it is cash. We have only been on the Wonder once before, the rest of our cruises have been on the Magic. So, if we call a restaurant by the wrong name, you will understand, LOL!

 

[2inpink]

One more thing before bed...does anyone know if they still do the pillowcase thing?

I called yesterday and they told me you can bring a pillowcase but you can't drop it off at guest services and have them all autograph it because it got to be to much. They said if you bring the pillow case you have to get the autographs on your own now.

They did say that if your child dresses up in a costume to go to dinner that the waiter will address them as that character that night!! My daughter will LOVE everyone calling her Cinderella. I also asked about baby food and they will puree any fruits or veggies for babies so you don't have to bring a bunch of food on just in case anyone has babies like we do!