October 17, 2009 Western

[Pennyb123]

Yeah, this seemed really early to get the first mailing... I start my countdown for the next cruise when I step off the boat. Now that the paperwork is beginning to trickle in, I can officially get excited (like I wasn't before?!?!). But I still want to enjoy my summer. Once we hit 100 days... it's down to business.

On another note, one of my BFF's is coming with on this cruise. the boyfriend can't go, so I'm taking a friend who is in serious need of getting away and being pampered. I induldged with the bon voyage package from Disney, and I am excited that out room will be decorated for her to see. We would be up to meeting for drinks whenever everyone decides. If it is SF or CNC is great, since it is so close.

I finished reading the new Passporter's guide for DCL and found it to be much better this year as opposed to last. Last year's was great, but it just flowed better and had more current info this go around. A must have for those new to cruising with DCL.

If anyone stays at the Residence, i would love to know so maybe we could meet before we head to the boat! Happy Sailing!

 

[lucky1]

April - I like the DIScovering Neverland too. Waiting to see how everyone else weighs in and then see if Pete would be willing to create the graphic that we can download. There is some good fonts that are Disney inspired Waltograph is what I beleive it is called. All the things you can learn on the DIS boards.

Monica, Kimberlee, Kim - We got our package in the mail today as well. No real excitement, because we got the same thing at the end of April for our other cruise that we had to cancel. Generally I get excited to get Summer over with, because it is just so DARN hot here. Summer is hitting us kind of funny this year. Generally end of May and June are well over 100 degrees and dry, then about July 3 is when the Moonson start (afternoon Thunderstorms). a couple a weeks ago we broke 100 and then hit 105 and just a few days later it rained all day and never got above 70 degrees. That is unheard of. for the past week we have been having clouds and some bits of rain. The days are pretty awesome now.

Pennyb123 - Cool that your BFF gets to travel with you. Thanks for the information on the passporter, I haven't read any of them, but wanted to get it for the cruise. I kept checking the bookstore, but they just had the 2008 verison, so I guess I will give it a couple of weeks and see if they get it.


Laura

 

[calmpets]

Pennyb123 - Cool that your BFF gets to travel with you. Thanks for the information on the passporter, I haven't read any of them, but wanted to get it for the cruise. I kept checking the bookstore, but they just had the 2008 verison, so I guess I will give it a couple of weeks and see if they get it.

If you order it directly from the Passporter website, they will give you access to a pdf version that you can read immediately while you wait for the actual book. And if you check through their forums you can find discount codes to use when ordering.

 

[Pennyb123]

April, You can always order off of the Passporter's website. I bought my new one off of the site. They were offering free media mail shipping about a week ago. Not sure if they still are now. It is a huge source of info. Chapters are super short. Mostly each is just a page or two and it makes for easy reading. I get a new one every year and donate my old one to someone who is interested in taking the cruise.

 

[MommyTo5]

Who is coming the furthest?

Who lives near the port?

We're flying in from Kansas City on Friday, October 9th and staying 8 pre-cruise nights at BLT. Besides doing the parks, we're planning on attending MNSSHP and parasailing on Bay Lake! This is our first combined WDW/DCL trip and we are soooo excited!!!

Just looked at the calendar... I can't believe we leave in just 132 days!

 

[MommyTo5]

Thanks for the information on the passporter, I haven't read any of them, but wanted to get it for the cruise. I kept checking the bookstore, but they just had the 2008 verison, so I guess I will give it a couple of weeks and see if they get it.

I checked out the 2009 paperback version from my library on 5/20. I actually put it on hold months ago, so I'd be the first to receive it when it arrived.

The paperback version is fine as a refresher, but I really think the spiral version is ideal for the first time cruiser... the planning pockets are awesome!!! I carried mine around and "planned" for months leading up to our first Western in 2005. The binder version that I had for our 2nd cruise is very nice, but pretty bulky. I thought about getting the 2009 refill this year, but decided to just borrow from the library as I really didn't think I'd have the desire to take the Passporter along on the cruise this time.

I'll most likely order the 2010 refill since it will have (new to us!) info on the Transatlantic ports, and I'll have more planning to do with that cruise!

 

[lucky1]

We're flying in from Kansas City on Friday, October 9th and staying 8 pre-cruise nights at BLT. Besides doing the parks, we're planning on attending MNSSHP and parasailing on Bay Lake! This is our first combined WDW/DCL trip and we are soooo excited!!!

Just looked at the calendar... I can't believe we leave in just 132 days!

Angie- I am jealous, wish we could combine WDW and DCL. Right now not sure we want to pull DD out of school for that long and plus that would mean I might have to buy some vacation from work this summer to make that happen. We did the Land and sea back in 1999, but that was so short. Sounds like you have some great plans.

I saw your signature is mommyto6. Is there one more?


Laura

 

[wendym]

Hallo all! Welcome to all the new cruisers. Sorry not been on much - where does the time go to?! School isnt finished until the end of June and we had our school sports today, at least the weather was good. Cannot wait until October!
Wendy

 

[MommyTo5]

Angie- I am jealous, wish we could combine WDW and DCL. Right now not sure we want to pull DD out of school for that long and plus that would mean I might have to buy some vacation from work this summer to make that happen. We did the Land and sea back in 1999, but that was so short. Sounds like you have some great plans.

I saw your signature is mommyto6. Is there one more?


Laura

#6 is a MAGICal souvenir from our first Disney cruise, Laura! The long gap between our 1st and 2nd cruises was due to the fact that we wanted to wait for her to turn 3, so she'd be able to have fun in the kids' club. We'll actually be traveling with only 5 of the kids this October since my oldest just graduated from high school and will be heading off to college this Fall.

 

[kimberleeJohnston]

We're flying in from Kansas City on Friday, October 9th and staying 8 pre-cruise nights at BLT. Besides doing the parks, we're planning on attending MNSSHP and parasailing on Bay Lake! This is our first combined WDW/DCL trip and we are soooo excited!!!

Just looked at the calendar... I can't believe we leave in just 132 days!

YAY! Our family is doing MNSSHP on the 15th, this will be our first time there so we are super pumped. WE fly in on the 14th and are staying at the BCV.
I think we will do MK the day of MNSSHP and probably DHS on the 16th.
So exciting!
Do any of your children want to participate in our "kids email list"??
Im going to compile a master list of all the kids email addresses so they can get to know one another. My ds's are 5 and 7 and I will be helping them along!

 

[TheDawnPatrol]

April - I like the DIScovering Neverland too. Waiting to see how everyone else weighs in and then see if Pete would be willing to create the graphic that we can download. There is some good fonts that are Disney inspired Waltograph is what I beleive it is called. All the things you can learn on the DIS boards.

Monica, Kimberlee, Kim - We got our package in the mail today as well. No real excitement, because we got the same thing at the end of April for our other cruise that we had to cancel. Generally I get excited to get Summer over with, because it is just so DARN hot here. Summer is hitting us kind of funny this year. Generally end of May and June are well over 100 degrees and dry, then about July 3 is when the Moonson start (afternoon Thunderstorms). a couple a weeks ago we broke 100 and then hit 105 and just a few days later it rained all day and never got above 70 degrees. That is unheard of. for the past week we have been having clouds and some bits of rain. The days are pretty awesome now.

Pennyb123 - Cool that your BFF gets to travel with you. Thanks for the information on the passporter, I haven't read any of them, but wanted to get it for the cruise. I kept checking the bookstore, but they just had the 2008 verison, so I guess I will give it a couple of weeks and see if they get it.


Laura

Hey Everyone,

Seems like the early consensus is on some form of Neverland Graphic with a name along the lines of:

1. DIScovering the Magic with Mickey

or

2. DIScovering Neverland

Graphic:

Let me know what you think and I will update the graphic with the name and date.

We decided as well to hit the MNSSHP and visit MK for a few days before the cruise. My daughter has just gotten into Mickey's Playhouse on Disney Channel, so think she will love the characters.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Regards,
Pete

 

[TheDawnPatrol]

Here is a quick look at the two different names:

I will make the fonts look nicer.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[lucky1]

Pete - Graphics look great. On the date part, can you add "on the Magic".

Or what does everyone think of DIScovering Neverland on the Magic?


Thanks for doing the hard work!!!

Laura

 

[lucky1]

Insurance is issuing payment on our cancelled May 16 cruise, so we can apply it to this cruise. I am definately excited.


Laura

 

[calmpets]

Pete - Graphics look great. On the date part, can you add "on the Magic".

Or what does everyone think of DIScovering Neverland on the Magic?


Thanks for doing the hard work!!!

Laura

I actually like just "DIScovering Neverland". It will refer to Magic after the date, so it seems redundant to me to include it in the group me. Just my opinion, though.

 

[calmpets]

YAY! Our family is doing MNSSHP on the 15th, this will be our first time there so we are super pumped. WE fly in on the 14th and are staying at the BCV.
I think we will do MK the day of MNSSHP and probably DHS on the 16th.
So exciting!
Do any of your children want to participate in our "kids email list"??
Im going to compile a master list of all the kids email addresses so they can get to know one another. My ds's are 5 and 7 and I will be helping them along!

Kimberlee - I just wanted to say how nice I think it is that you're organizing an email list for the kids on this sailing. I hadn't found the message boards yet when I brought my stepkids, but I think it would have made a huge difference if they had made friends online with other kids beforehand. They had fun on the cruise, but they are both a bit hesitant of anyone they don't know, so they really avoided the kids clubs. Kudos to you for doing this!

 

[yazee1]

Early this week, I lost my camera. It was getting old and starting to act funny, but the flashcard was fine and not at all cheap. Fortunately, I had uploaded most of the pictures. There were only a few recent ones. Could have been worse.

Then, Dh had a car accident. He was rear-ended but not at a high speed. He wasn't hurt but the car was totaled by the insurance company. This car was 13 years old, had over 300,000 miles on it, no air conditioning and was peeing oil. Could have been worse.

Today, Dd and I were making the best of being left at home this weekend since the boys and dh had a Scout camping trip. We got as far as planting potatoes (I know it's late) and weeding some flower beds when dh called to ask me to take our oldest son to the immediate care for a possible broken or sprained wrist. The campsite was only a few miles away. Amazingly we were in and out of the immediate care facility in less than an hour, and the injury was only a bad sprain. Once again, it could have worse.

I wonder what Sunday has in store for us.


As for cruise related chatter, I went ahead and started a yahoo group for us. I don't know if it will take off, but at least it will be there. I have it set up as private so we won't get spammers and nasty things posted. Here's the address
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/discovering_magic_with_mickey

Once we have a name and a picture I'll change the home page.

 

[kerickson]

Do any of your children want to participate in our "kids email list"??
Im going to compile a master list of all the kids email addresses so they can get to know one another. My ds's are 5 and 7 and I will be helping them along!

We are interested but I have to set up an email account for my kids first. I'll PM to you when I have it. My DD is 5 and DS is 3.

 

[doberlady]

I love the graphic and my vote is for DIScovering Neverland.

 

[doberlady]

Just wanted to post again as it's my 500th post