October 25, 2008 Halloween on the High Seas (2)

[suziemva]

BTW, for those of you that were wondering..Shelby's MRI came back perfectly normal So now we will be doing the chest CAT scan possibly next week.

Tara, that's Awesome Great news!!!! Let's hope this all goes away on it's own!!!

 

[101DalmFan]

I also don't wnt to sound mean since everyone was so good to us , but I had done most of the my shopping and counted the number of people I had to buy for and added a few extras. Since it is very close I could not even order more stuff w/o wondering if it will arrive on time or spend a fortune on shipping. So a cutoff would be a good thing. I think

I am of two minds about this, as I completely understand the idea why a cutoff date would be necessary, yet I believe the whole mindset behind Fish Extenders is the generosity of one DIScruiser to another and it just makes me uneasy to tell someone that they can't partake in a Disney cruise tradition. I personally wouldn't mind others being added to Group 4 (my group) because I know it's the fun of finding something in your FE, not the dollar value behind it. Yet I know some have gone to a LOT of effort to have all their FE gifts be the same and do not need the added stress of trying to do even more now. I sewed a lot of fish extenders for our cruise last year and I was in this same pickle ..... not wanting to tell someone I couldn't make one for them yet knowing I was running out of time to get all my sewing done.

Here's my idea: I think it would be possible to try to accommodate everyone by adding new requests to group 4 .... BUT advising those latecomers that because they are late, some people in their group may not be able to visit their FE's on this cruise. That way nobody needs to feel guilty if they don't have enough to go around for the latecomers, yet the latecomers are still participating and will likely receive enough treats, even if smaller than those given out to others, to join in on the excitement. And I'm sure anyone who is late joining our cruise would understand and likely appreciate being added this way.

I guess I feel a little strong about this because my first Disney cruise was booked with VERY short notice beforehand, yet that group of cruisers was so welcoming and generous to myself and the girlfriend I was cruising with; we received lots of stuff in our fish extenders, although nothing was big or extravagent. Little inexpensive things -- even finding a pencil -- can really make your day

I know that those doing this organizing have a million things to do, I'm in that boat myself -- we leave on Tuesday! TUESDAY!! Where has the time gone? But I will be travelling with my laptop and so if there are additions to group 4, I'll be able to find out about them.

If a cutoff date around now is chosen, I'm cool with that too. I know it's a lot of work organizing events

==Lennie==

 

[101DalmFan]

I have late dining this year; being an earlier eater, i am not sure if this is gonna work out. What is the consensus?

Just remember the time difference .... when it's 8 pm here on the east coast, it'll only feel like 5 pm to you

==Lennie==

 

[101DalmFan]

Any suggestions on Palo? My sis got us booked on formal night and I kind of don't want to miss that. Is is changeable?

Just my two cents, but I think going to Palo on formal night is the perfect night to go. Last year, my anniversary (the night we had booked for Palo) coincided with formal night and I thought it worked out very well.

Having said that, if you can board fairly early on the 25th, you should find that changing your Palo reservation won't be hard.

==Lennie==

 

[101DalmFan]

Okay, I need some advice. Here's the scoop:

I am cruising this year with my MIL, my SIL and her DH ....... it's a familly cruise in celebration of our wedding anniversary. This is the first cruise EVER for my SIL and her DH, and just the second cruise ever for my MIL (and her first warm-weather cruise, as it was Alaska she cruised to last year). I have Palo booked for our anniversary dinner, just me and my DH.

BUT, I now realize that the 28th, our anniversary and when we have our Palo dinner booked, is also Pirate Night . The regular rotation is FUN on pirate night and that means we'll miss Pirate Night with our family. But it is our 30th anniversary. I just don't know whether I should change our Palo dinner to another night that's NOT our actual anniversary so that we can all have Pirate Night together, or if I should leave things the way they are. We have early dining and I also booked Palo early -- which is now a good thing because if we do go to Palo we won't be late for the pirate festivities up on decks 9/10.

Any thoughts? I'm open to all ideas

==Lennie==

 

[spacy9]

Alright, half of this post is cruise related and the other half isn't. Sorry about the non cruise portion but I'm so happy I just had to share.

Non cruise portion first. We waited to book our room for Disney World until the Passholder rates came out. We called up to book the first day and wanted to Poly but there were no rooms - we asked about any other resort on the monorail and they were all full already I was pretty shocked that there were no rooms, I even had them check non Passport rates. We were pretty bummed about not getting the Poly - we have stayed there the last five times we have gone and it really is like home to us. This time we are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary so I wanted it to be special. We were able to get the Coronado Springs Resort which is our favorite moderate resort so I was somewhat happy.

So I began checking almost every day for the Poly to open up. I saw it show up one about a month ago online, called up to upgrade and was told that it must be a computer glitch as they didn't see it in the system... shot down.

Well, last night about 7:45PM (9:45PM Florida time) I saw the Poly show up again. I called up right away and was on hold till about 5 till. The CM looks it up and again tells me that it must be a glitch, no Poly availability in there system. So knowing that we were leaving in 8 days and that this was probably the last chance to get the Poly I asked - what would happen if it lets me book it online since there system shows no availability on there end? The CM tells me as long as I get a confirmation number we'll have a room. I flew through the online booking process, forgot to add ME, forgot how to spell my own name, basically wanted to make sure I didn't lose it.

Got to the part where it asks for a credit card, typed in the info and crossed my fingers. And.....YES, confirmation number!!

The CM canceled our Coronado Springs reservation with no penalty since we just upgraded, added the ME for us, and fixed the spelling of my name

We are so happy now, we love the Poly. Just the atmosphere makes it so relaxing, and having the monorail makes it much less stressful for us anyway.

So there is my non cruise related story - we'll be at the Poly 1 week from today Woo Hoo!!

Now for the cruise related part. I never knew how difficult it was to find candy for the Trick or Treat bags that contain no peanuts. I tried what I thought were obvious choices and was shocked - Gummie Bears, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, all could contain peanuts. I finally found some candy that is peanut free, but I now have a new understanding of what it must be like to live with the allergy on a daily basis and I applaud the parents for their diligence.

Only 2 more weeks for the cruise

 

[disney4dana]

Sorry have to brag.

Kyle won his championship game today. The boys played their hearts out and won 22-0.

He is in the front row of the pic.

Here is a close up from another game this season.

Now back to our regularly scheduled cruise programing

Dana

 

[disneycruising]

Now for the cruise related part. I never knew how difficult it was to find candy for the Trick or Treat bags that contain no peanuts. I tried what I thought were obvious choices and was shocked - Gummie Bears, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, all could contain peanuts. I finally found some candy that is peanut free, but I now have a new understanding of what it must be like to live with the allergy on a daily basis and I applaud the parents for their diligence.

Only 2 more weeks for the cruise

Thank you for the kind words. I do understand how hard it is to find treats without nuts! I can not tell you how much it means to us that you are willing to do this for the boys.

They are very excited to be included in the TOT! I told them about all the nice DIS people that are going to donated "safe" candy for them. Normally, I would have just avoided the whole thing. But you guys have been so understanding. Thank you again... it truly means the word to me!

 

[dvc4life]

Dana - tell Kyle way to go and congratulations. That must be a great feeling. I can tell you are a very proud mom, and you should be! Congrats again.

 

[goofprincess]

lennie,

thanks for the thought. its a hard call whether to change it or not. i am traveling with family/friends so have to take that into consideration. I just don't want to miss out on anything. Last year, which was our first time cruizin, our palo dinner was pirate night so missed that! Not this year.

sandra

 

[goofprincess]

Last year when we went to castaway key, weather was bad and all activities were cancelled. any favorites i should be booking? my DH likes to just sit and read but i want to do some fun things. suggestions.

Just received my FEs in the mail today; so awesome. I am starting to feel a part of the group.

 

[shellcruiser]

Here's my idea: I think it would be possible to try to accommodate everyone by adding new requests to group 4 .... BUT advising those latecomers that because they are late, some people in their group may not be able to visit their FE's on this cruise. That way nobody needs to feel guilty if they don't have enough to go around for the latecomers, yet the latecomers are still participating and will likely receive enough treats, even if smaller than those given out to others, to join in on the excitement. And I'm sure anyone who is late joining our cruise would understand and likely appreciate being added this way.

If there is not cut off how would I find out about the additional families after I have left for my vacation? We do not travel with our laptop (that would be too close to work) I will have extra FE goodies, so I can put treats in FEs with very short notice, but once I leave home I will not check the disboards again. We will accomodate whatever the group decides. As I said earlier everyone has been so welcoming to me I truly do not want anyone to feel leftout. What to do??

Michelle[/SIZE]

 

[101DalmFan]

If there is not cut off how would I find out about the additional families after I have left for my vacation? We do not travel with our laptop (that would be too close to work) I will have extra FE goodies, so I can put treats in FEs with very short notice, but once I leave home I will not check the disboards again. We will accomodate whatever the group decides. As I said earlier everyone has been so welcoming to me I truly do not want anyone to feel leftout. What to do??

Michelle[/SIZE]

Michelle, please don't stress out about this. As I mentioned in my idea, latecomers would just have to accept the fact that not everyone in their group may be able to reciprocate -- which includes those who aren't able to put together any more FE gifts AND those who are unable to check for updates. (At some point, NONE of us will be able to check for updates as we'll already be travelling. )

And while I certainly don't want anyone to feel left out, as you mention, as the cruise gets closer it is only reasonable that it's time to move on to the pressing cruise matters. Like packing!!!

So I guess I'm in the position of not wanting anyone to get left out but also definitely not wanting undue stress to be put upon anyone here!!

==Lennie==

 

[lcborn2run]

That is awesome that they won the Championship!

Michael and CJ are only half through their seasons!! Michael just found out today that he made the 13 year old All Star team so he is very excited about that (ok, so am I )!!

Someone posted the navigators from last month's double dip and there looks to be plenty of sports activities for them--including football on Castaway Cay.

Someone on the boards pm'd me and told me that her daughter was 13 1/2 when sailing recently and they let her into the Stack with no problems. As I don't believe there is a sign-up for the Stack, I plan on bringing him over the first day and talking to the CM to see if he could try it out. (The pm'er told me she did this and the CM didn't seem to mind). I'm not going to register him for Ocean Quest until we see what the Stack is all about. Maybe they can go over together that first day.

OK, it's way too late to be posting. Good night.....

 

[TotallyAngelic]

I survived!but lots of money for charity....... andy

Well done Andy! You are a star! Is that what you are wearing for formal night!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

HI

Following on from discussions on here, I just want to let everyone know that I will not be adding any more groups to the Group 4 Fish Extender list after
16th October - this is because I will no longer be home and will not have access to my computer (hopefully going into hospital for cystoscopy on 16th - ouch - the day before we travel!). I suggest a cut off date for 16th October, as having a cut off date seems to be the majority opinion voiced on here.

However, if any latecomers do wish to participate after this date, then as Lennie has suggested then they will have to understand that there may be people who have already left or have already purchased their FE gifts etc and so their FE may not receive as many gifts as others will.

So far as I know I have one more family to add to group 4, and am just waiting for their details!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

BTW, for those of you that were wondering..Shelby's MRI came back perfectly normal So now we will be doing the chest CAT scan possibly next week.

Wonderful news Tara - I hope the chest scan brings good results too. Sending you all a big as I know how horrible it is going through tests and waiting for results.

 

[suziemva]

Someone posted the navigators from last month's double dip and there looks to be plenty of sports activities for them--including football on Castaway Cay.

Lisa, do you have a link to these? I would love to see them!!

 

[RayRing]

Before too much time goes by, and I am consumed by stuffing way too much into suitcases, I wanted to take a moment to thank all the individuals who are doing so much to make the upcoming October 25th., cruise so enjoyable for so many people.

I have cruised twice before, and participated with a group of DIS'ers on one of those cruises. I found that meeting and joining the DIS'ers, while on that cruise, added even more to the Disney Cruise experience.

I look forward to meeting you all on the October 25th., cruise.

However, I especially wanted to thank everyone who have done so much already (and will continue to spend time and effort), to bring enjoyment to others.

Thanks, and see you soon!


John

 

[RayRing]

Hello all.

We will be staying at the Hyatt - Orlando International Airport the night before the cruise (October 24th.).

Our Jet Blue flight is scheduled to arrive at 4:45 pm. This may give us time to check in, get settled, and maybe allow our kids to burn off some energy in the Hyatt pool, before a light dinner.

If anyone is staying at the Hyatt that night, and will be just hanging out, let me know if you would want to get together at the pool, or for a Pre or Post dinner cocktail.

The following morning, while waiting for Disney transportation is another opportunity to meet.


John