*Sept 10th 2011 WB Transatlantic* - From Spain to Space Mountain - Part 6

[DISNEYFAN_SD]

Great recap Lynne

I can't wait until last minute to pack. I have to try on everything to decide what to take. So at this moment we are halfway packed.

 

[fly4free2]

Hmm, do I want to take this on?

Oh please do ......for an "Old Lady" like me, I just can't grasp doing something this Grand. I used to do things like this when I was working, but now that I am retired......../so is my brain.

 

[JessicasMom]

Eating has always been a very important part of vacations to me. Not the eating at posh restaurants and things like that, just the pleasure of eating anything as and when I want!! Of course on a cruise you can eat the whole day long too.
Our thoughts exactly!




Well I think your MIL wins top spot for doing odd things. Bedpans for Christmas!! Thanks, but this is an honor I could do without!

ok with all this talk of packing, i'm wondering if i'm the only one (or are there others like me) who won't start packing til the 8th, possibly the 9th?

Nope, not packing until the day before, but I do have a dedicated area in the bedroom for trip stuff and a thorough list, to make sure I don't forget anything. My DM, however, has been packed for a month!

 

[sue l]

ok with all this talk of packing, i'm wondering if i'm the only one (or are there others like me) who won't start packing til the 8th, possibly the 9th?

Hi Karen,

I am with you. We never pack until the night before. I am usually doing laundry until the day before anyway. I do have all my extras in one area at the moment. My closet floor looks like who dunit and ran.

 

[caroleRWO]

Trying to catch up with all the goings on - thanks Aunty Lynne!

Just to say we are happy for our names and cabin no being added to a master list.
Also, would be extremely grateful if someone could tell me where I can find a template for a door magnet - would just like something simple where we can put our surname or three characters where we could enter our names. I have tried searching but find the amount of information totally utterly overwhelming.

Thanks a lot,
Carole, Mike and Jenny

 

[sue l]

You might try pm'ing Jordak. He/She does license plates with any character and names on them. He/She did a few for me back in Feb. Or if you could find milliepie's photobucket she has tons of things in there. I don't know if she is taking any more requests to personalize though. If you print them on matte photo magnetic paper, I get mine from ebay, you can write on them with a sharpie. Not so on glossy. Good luck. If you just look around on the Creative Disigns page you can find so much. I agree, it is kind of overwhelming, but everyone there is always so willing to help out with disigns.

Trying to catch up with all the goings on - thanks Aunty Lynne!

Just to say we are happy for our names and cabin no being added to a master list.
Also, would be extremely grateful if someone could tell me where I can find a template for a door magnet - would just like something simple where we can put our surname or three characters where we could enter our names. I have tried searching but find the amount of information totally utterly overwhelming.

Thanks a lot,
Carole, Mike and Jenny

 

[sue l]

The "what if's" started in my head this AM - and all things that are stupid. Example: "what if another hurricane moves up the east coast and impacts NY on the 8th and we can't get in to NYC for our flight?"

They rarely move up the coast (like Irene is expected to) so I don't know what I'm even thinking. Just been planning this one for so long I am not in the mood to deal with something screwing it up after all of this waiting!

What airline are you guys taking? We changed our flight to leave JFK on the 8th also. We are on Aer Lingus with a stop in Dublin. We leave 5:45 PM

 

[Chris&Jeremy]

What airline are you guys taking? We changed our flight to leave JFK on the 8th also. We are on Aer Lingus with a stop in Dublin. We leave 5:45 PM

We are on American. There are other routings to get us there (via London or Madrid if need be) - but I just have a feeling that being on miles tickets means we are lowest on the totem pole to get rerouted if we had to be.

 

[Namsupak]

Thank you to everyone for your great MIL stories. They made me laugh and feel better. I have many many great MIL stories. Like when I was pregnant and she was mad that we weren't going to find out the gender so she didn't want to see any ultrasound pics and also got mad when DH wanted to valet the car one night because it was 35 degrees and the parking lot was literally 3 blocks from the door... she told me "You're pregnant, not handicapped!"

Anyway on to better things to talk about! I would totally be willing to put together a flight list to add with the hotel info... However it will not be color coded but just grouped together by arrival times. So if you would like your flight into added on the hotel post then please PM me your flight info. I will only be accepting PM's. Also if your hotel info is not on the hotel post please PM me the info.
Unfortunately the reason I have time to do this today is because all my patients cancelled So if I'm not making any money I might as well be helping my Dis buddies out

I loved the Chesterfield House. Steve and I lived in South Charleston and then on the West End (Edgewood Drive) many years ago! I used to work for the local Congressman (Bob Wise) and Steve worked at Union Carbide.

Ahhh.....the "good old days."

Keri

That's so funny! I feel like everybody knows my in-laws... hmm so maybe I shouldn't have complained about her on the internet. Bob Wise use to come in to the restaurant all the time. He was always so nice. What a small world. I'll pm you later to set up a Paris meet.

Nope, I leave about noon on the 8th and won't be packing until that morning.

You just made my heart stop beating. I cannot even imagine packing for a 3 week trip the morning of. In fact I'm freaking out that I don't have a list together yet.

 

[TxMermaid1]

Trying to catch up with all the goings on - thanks Aunty Lynne!

Just to say we are happy for our names and cabin no being added to a master list.
Also, would be extremely grateful if someone could tell me where I can find a template for a door magnet - would just like something simple where we can put our surname or three characters where we could enter our names. I have tried searching but find the amount of information totally utterly overwhelming.

Thanks a lot,
Carole, Mike and Jenny

here's a link for lots of fun photos and art. I just put what I wanted on Word and added the names etc....

http://www.4shared.com/dir/19077581/4fa6c900/sharing.html

 

[sue l]

We are on American. There are other routings to get us there (via London or Madrid if need be) - but I just have a feeling that being on miles tickets means we are lowest on the totem pole to get rerouted if we had to be.

Oh. Good luck. See you at the Hard Rock.

 

[sue l]

sent you a PM. We are on the NYE Dream cruise also.

Thank you to everyone for your great MIL stories. They made me laugh and feel better. I have many many great MIL stories. Like when I was pregnant and she was mad that we weren't going to find out the gender so she didn't want to see any ultrasound pics and also got mad when DH wanted to valet the car one night because it was 35 degrees and the parking lot was literally 3 blocks from the door... she told me "You're pregnant, not handicapped!"

Anyway on to better things to talk about! I would totally be willing to put together a flight list to add with the hotel info... However it will not be color coded but just grouped together by arrival times. So if you would like your flight into added on the hotel post then please PM me your flight info. I will only be accepting PM's. Also if your hotel info is not on the hotel post please PM me the info.
Unfortunately the reason I have time to do this today is because all my patients cancelled So if I'm not making any money I might as well be helping my Dis buddies out


That's so funny! I feel like everybody knows my in-laws... hmm so maybe I shouldn't have complained about her on the internet. Bob Wise use to come in to the restaurant all the time. He was always so nice. What a small world. I'll pm you later to set up a Paris meet.


You just made my heart stop beating. I cannot even imagine packing for a 3 week trip the morning of. In fact I'm freaking out that I don't have a list together yet.

 

[Rikersmom]

I tried to resist chiming in with another MIL story, but my will power is weak.

At my wedding reception, during the photographer shoot, the bride and groom posed with everyone. Attendants, whole family, bride's family, groom's family. When we were getting together with the groom's family, my brand-new MIL pushed me aside and said, "This is just for family." Let's just say, it was the start of a long, strained relationship. The only reason my marriage survived was that we moved 600 miles away soon after.

My advice: To all the DIL's and MIL's--just love those guys who brought you together--and limit the time you spend together.

 

[babydiver]

Andrew and I are flying EasyJet from Paris to Barcelona. Can anyone tell me how strictt they are about the hand baggage size limits? Do they make you put your hand baggage in a sizer?

Keri

copied this for you from Easyjet web site - Ryanair are even worse..

You can take one piece of hand baggage into the cabin with you; maximum dimensions are 56 x 45 x 25cm. Hand bags, briefcases, laptops and laptop bags are all counted as one piece so if you have a hand bag and a laptop bag for example, you might want to consider putting one inside the other. Remember to plan your hand and hold baggage in advance though; if you bring too many items of hand baggage to the check-in desk, staff there will insist that they be booked into the hold; you’ll be charged £25 per item, as we will have higher handling costs if we register your hold bag only at the airport. If you checked in online and bypassed check-in and you arrive at the boarding gate with too many items of hand baggage, there’s a charge of £40 per item if we need to book them into the hold at this stage. We charge this high fee to avoid delays at the boarding gate and ensure a smooth boarding process.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

I have officially booked every aspect of this trip and typed up a complete itinerary for my family. They wanted to know where I'd be everyday, so I put a 10 page packet together with pictures and details I'M SO EXCITED... ITS A REAL TRIP NOW!

Well done Josh! That is a good feeling

Any help would be appreciated. My friend asked if we should purchase the train tickets in advance or not. I just was afraid with flying standby of purchasing them and then not getting in on time for them. I would also love to see pictures.

I would say as soon as you know your plans, get those tickets! The cost will continue to go up & if you wait until the last minute or day of, you might not get a ticket at all. You'll want to take the Renfe high-speed train, so use this site to purchase the tickets:
http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

It looks like your rates are 117 Euros at the moment.

I would recommend getting the book Spain day by day - it is excellent & will give you pretty much all of the info you need including maps of the city.

The hotel where we stayed was comfortable and an excellent location on Puerta Del Sol - http://www.hoteleuropa.eu/?lang=en

Everything is within walking distance from this hotel and if you're not much for walking, there is a metro station right in the square. There's a fantastic bakery right on the square where you can get breakfast every morning. We've always felt very safe there and Madrid is a beautiful city with lots of squares - we prefer it to Barcelona, it seems less touristic and more of a cosmopolitan city like Paris.

It depends how long you'll be there, but the highlights for me are - Palacio Real, Retiro Park, Prado Museum, a drink in Plaza Santa Ana & then Tapas (I can recommend some restaurants), a pastry from the bakery on Puerta del Sol, and just walking around and discovering your own "hidden" spots in the city. The people of Madrid are night owls, so be prepared to eat dinner around 10 or 11 at night - but if you get a drink around 8 and take it easy, it shouldn't be a problem.

Here are some photos:

Palacio Real

Retiro Park

Retiro Park

Retiro Park

Plaza Santa Ana

Plaza Santa Ana

Hotel Europa

Puerta Del Sol

Street Scene

ok with all this talk of packing, i'm wondering if i'm the only one (or are there others like me) who won't start packing til the 8th, possibly the 9th?

We don't wait quite that long, but we pack on the week of the trip - like 3 days before so there's time to think of any last minute stuff.

Krisann, did you go to Rothenburg Ob der Tauber, this besides Vienna, is my most favorite place in the whole wide world. I just love it there, I have been there many times. Did you find any Ice?

Love Rothenburg!!! We went there on a Christmas Markets Cruise years ago. It is so pretty.

 

[babydiver]

per packing: here is my saga!




we are most likely sending home papers from germany of school work we have completed or throwing the pages away - I wish I had a scanner, but do not - hopefully no one will ask to see proof of the pages they did while we were here or we will have to do it over.

krisann

Krisann - WHY DON'T YOU TAKE PHOTO'S OF THE PAGES OF WORK WITH YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA BEFORE YOU DESTROY THEM....

YOU COULD TRANSFER THEM TO YOUR LAPTOP

HOPE THIS SUGGESTION IS NOT TOO LATE

 

[LindaBabe]

Krisann - WHY DON'T YOU TAKE PHOTO'S OF THE PAGES OF WORK WITH YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA BEFORE YOU DESTROY THEM....

YOU COULD TRANSFER THEM TO YOUR LAPTOP

HOPE THIS SUGGESTION IS NOT TOO LATE

BRILLIANT! I hope she reads this before she trashes them

 

[goofprincess]

I love doing FE and was upset when we decided not to do it this time. You will love it. It just adds to the whole experience. I will miss having our FE outside the door too as it was great for spotting the room. n.

I agree Marilyn. Feeling rather sad about no FE this trip. I told DH he could surprise me with goodies and vice versa

Don't know why but have the theme song of The Love Boat playing in my head these days.

 

[MandyGirl]

I just was afraid with flying standby of purchasing them and then not getting in on time for them.

Defensive? Me? Just because I have no sympathy for you GTY's who actually decided to book real flights and steal my seat because I decided to be cheap to afford this flight and now have no idea when, where or how I am getting to Barcelona but at least I have a room number? Defensive? Never!!! Just kidding. Before mine got assigned I was checking several times a day. So glad mine got assigned. Would be driving me bonkers if I didn't have it yet.

If it was just myself and DH, we could handle not knowing our flights (well...maybe), but with DD, DM and DNiece deciding to join us, I had to coordinate everyone's travel to get them all in one place, then all out of Newark on the same flight. Thankfully, we were still able to get reasonable airfare for DM and DN a month after our own reservations were made. I'll take not knowing my cabin # over not knowing transportation details anytime

I think the 'standby' here is referring to what my DH is doing... you don't even have a guaranteed seat on ANY plane. You hope you show up at the right gateway airport, and that in the 30 minutes prior to the door closing there is an empty seat. If no empty seats, or more standbys ahead of you with higher priority status, you are SOL. Have to try for a different flight or different airline or different airport then. It's kinda like hitch-hiking, but if nobody picks you up, you can't just keep walking there. (And yep, prior to kids, DH and I have spent quite the cozy night sleeping on the airport floor behind a gate counter in the terminal when our connecting flight pulled in as the last flight to our destination was pushing back.) I usually get pretty stressed flying standby as I have had some weird routings going from Point A to Point B as a nonrev.

If it's a 'standby' on just no knowing flight numbers but you KNOW you have a guaranteed seat on some flight to Barcelona on that date, completely different (and much better) scenario.

I have just relegated myself to flying with the girls by myself, and DH will get there eventually.... Thinking positive though.

 

[poohluv2u]

Hope everyone is ok! Sounds scary.

On a positive note I've eventually finished my FE for the Candy Swap, it's taken me ages to do. As promised I would post a photo of it.

Michelle I can't believe you worried about making a FE, you did a great job!

ok with all this talk of packing, i'm wondering if i'm the only one (or are there others like me) who won't start packing til the 8th, possibly the 9th?

We are always last minute packers, but this time I do have all the clothes I want to pack lying on the bed in the guest bedroom. For me it is all about "will I fit into it". I have lost one and 9/10ths of a clothes size, so I have clothes that literally hang on me, some that fit, and some that fit on the tight side. I wish I'd started this weight loss plan a month earlier than I did.

yes I know that feeling, just because my first sort was 21 dresses without anything esle!! but I want to take them and I know I can't. We are doing FE because this is our first Disney cruise, but I know what you mean about the weight..... my big problem is indecision

almost sounds like the name of a movie