Sept. 11, 2011 It's never too early to Dream

[UGAFan0829]

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Monday!!!

DW and I decided to change up things a little this time before the cruise. In the past we have always stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. It kinda sorta got us in the mood for the Caribbean Cruise we were about to take. But this time we decuided to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Haven't stayed there in a while, and we do like it there. So we are spending two nights before we set sail on the Dream at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I made our reservations this morning. Got a nice Florida residents rate too!!!

All our crew will be there as well. Well, actually in Kidani Village, but close enough!

 

[JustTJ]

Happy Tuesday Everyone! For those that had a long weekend, I hope you all had fun, or at least were able to relax and get some R&R if that was what you needed. It is currently 21 F outside, and although thats chilly, the sun IS shining brightly and I'm itching to get OUT!! For a little more than 2 1/2 months I feel like I"ve been house bound with all these little ones in my care. So right now, I'm waiting for two babies to finish their bottles and then we are ALL going out for a walk to enjoy at least the sunshine. We'll check out the snow status at the park and maybe let them play for a bit. With March approaching, we should be seeing nicer weather day by day, although, there is still a chance of one last Blast of winter from some storm or another. (But lets hope Not! )

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

We got what I hope is our last blast of winter last night. More snow! This after over 70 degrees on Friday. Gotta love Maryland weather.

After Friday, we were ready for Spring but I guess Winter wanted to remind us that it is still her time. We actually tried to go hiking Friday at a local park. It was quite the adventure. The paths were either uphill or downhill. Covered in either ice, mud, or wet leaves. But at least we were outside. Even braved a few steps out onto the frozen lake.

It is around this time I remind myself that I will appreciate these days more when is is HOT and HUMID this summer.

 

[tessasmom]

We also had a nice, sunny Saturday only to have a dark, cold, rainy Sunday. Woke up today to a little snow...Spring, where are you??

 

[ragdoll]

Hi all! Decided to go ahead and pay off our B2B. Feels like a load off my chest. I was getting too nervous about a gas surcharge with all of the trouble in the Middle East. Of course, I suppose they could still slap one on but last time if you were paid in full you were off the hook. So air is booked, three nights at POFQ are booked and cruise details are all taken care of. All I have to do now is wait and DREAM! The dreaming will be much easier than the waiting.

Congrats to David on his semi retirement.

And welcome to any newbies I may have missed.

Gosh, I am really getting excited now that everything is in place.

Donna

 

[mickeymedic]

Congrats on being paid in full! I look forward to being in that place once our tax return comes in. Is it September yet?

 

[tessasmom]

We too will be paid in full once the taxes come! Still have to book air and am a bit worried about the gas situation/prices in terms of airfare.
I AM excited that I got the pet sitter booked for our trip, which has been really stressing me out. My sister used to come stay at the house with our dogs & cat, but she's not able anymore. Our pets used to be our "babies" but after waiting for our daughter for 16 years and her finally arriving we are going to do as much traveling as possible with her to share our love of travel!
Oh, and got some great FE gifts today! Whoo hoo!

 

[ragdoll]

Tessasmom, the airfare that I booked a few weeks ago went up $30 today. It has gone up $40 from the time I booked it. I will be very surprised if it comes down. Too much crazy stuff going on in the world. I am just glad to not have to worry about airfare anymore. Even if it should come down a bit it will not be much. I am afraid that travel is soon going to be a thing of the past for many of us.

We will have to make this a vacation to remember! And lots of these...

 

[tessasmom]

I know Ragdoll...we are planning on flying Allegiant Air which is a budget airline out of smaller airports and into Sandford Orlando. They only have their fares through Aug 15th,so asap they are out we will book! I'm glad you got your fare before it went up!

YES!!! DEFINATELY have to make this a trip to remember!!! I think we are well on our way with our wonderful cruise mates!

 

[aafdmom]

Evening...

Hello from Buffalo NY.. We have been here since Sunday! Visiting with family and friends. My best friend is giving a baby shower, on Saturday, for Mike and Katie...they will be arriving in a few mins from home!

Our airline reservations are made also guess they went up $30.00 in 5 hours go figure ...But they are made now...

Have a good evening all...

Sue

 

[mickeymedic]

I'm still waiting for JetBlue to release flight info for our travel dates. But I know I'm going to pay a lot more this year for airfare than I have in the past.

 

[davidls]

All our crew will be there as well. Well, actually in Kidani Village, but close enough!

Congrats to David on his semi retirement.Donna

How is everyone doing this fine Thursday morning??? I can't hear you!!! Oh my, that was much better.

Well, UGAFan0829 Looks like we will be close. DW and I are looking forward to waking up and looking out our balcony and seeing some of those interesting animals. Like I had mentioned we haven't stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a while..........so it will be almost like brand new to us!!!

Thanks Donna for the congrats on my semi-retirement. It has worked out much better then I had hoped it would. Getting allot accomplished at home on my days off. (Sleeping in...........watching more movies...............reading more books on the ol' Kindle...............conversing with ya'll here on the DIS Board!!!! So much to do..............so little time to do it in!!!!)

 

[JustTJ]

LOL, I told myself I wouldn't do this when I purchased the Air Fare, but with all the talk about oil costs and our own gas costs this morning at an INSANE rate ($4.53/gallon), I went onto expedia to check the prices NOW for my flights, thinking I would feel better about what I paid since I expected the prices to have gone UP! NOT!! They have gone down. But only by $40.00. Still that would cover the extra piece of checked luggage I plan on taking. Oh well, I promise from here on in to stay OFF that expedia site (I don't suppose they are like department stores that will give you back the difference of the price goes down within two weeks of purchasing it?)

 

[Shannon1984]

Hi Everyone! I can't wait to be able to pay off our cruise, too. I hope gas prices stop going up, soon! I doubt that will happen though.

Great day here in good old Cleveland, Ohio. Huge Blizzard after it was 60 degrees a few days ago. I'm stuck in the street and the kids slept over Grammas Guess I have more time to read the Dis boards today Have a great day Everyone!

 

[tessasmom]

Hey! Does anyone have the tally of who's in on the FE so far?!
Happy Friday!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

You guys will LOVE Kidani. We just got back from a week there and miss it already.

We will be staying at Bay Lake Tower for the first time after our cruise. Has anyone stayed there? We're too excited!

 

[davidls]

Well, how is everyone this fine Monday afternoon. Making the final payment on our second leg of our B2B cruise this week. That means everything is in place and we are all set to go. You know I have read on here what other posters have said about paying off their cruise. It does give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside knowing it is all set and all you have to do is wait for your sail date to get here. I think the waiting part takes way to long!!!

 

[tessasmom]

I'm even more excited since I talked DH into changing staterooms & categories! There were 2 issues really bugging me about our previous stateroom. 1. It was on the starboard side of the ship meaning most likely at CC we couldn't see the fun part of the island from our verandah. I know, we should be ON the island! And we plan to be! It's just traveling with an 18 month old, DD pretty much dictates how long we stay at any one place ( not that I am complaining about that!)we waited 16 years for her, she's our world! I just mean if we do have to take her back to the ship, I want to be able to still feel the island! 2. I REALLY wanted the round tub with the rain shower head. Silly, yes! But if we are going, let's do it right! Right? Plus, after reading about the designated smoking area being starboard, I'm SO,SO allergic to smoke. I don't want to add to the chances that I may be able to smell it on our verandah. Sorry smokers!

It ended up being a really pretty day after waking up to everything covered in ice this morning. The sun came out and melted it all and it got warm enough in my kitchen to crack the door a little for some fresh air! It seems we may be on an upswing towards SPRING!!

 

[davidls]

I'm even more excited since I talked DH into changing staterooms & categories! There were 2 issues really bugging me about our previous stateroom. 1. It was on the starboard side of the ship meaning most likely at CC we couldn't see the fun part of the island from our verandah. I know, we should be ON the island! And we plan to be! It's just traveling with an 18 month old, DD pretty much dictates how long we stay at any one place ( not that I am complaining about that!)we waited 16 years for her, she's our world! I just mean if we do have to take her back to the ship, I want to be able to still feel the island! 2. I REALLY wanted the round tub with the rain shower head. Silly, yes! But if we are going, let's do it right! Right? Plus, after reading about the designated smoking area being starboard, I'm SO,SO allergic to smoke. I don't want to add to the chances that I may be able to smell it on our verandah. Sorry smokers!

It ended up being a really pretty day after waking up to everything covered in ice this morning. The sun came out and melted it all and it got warm enough in my kitchen to crack the door a little for some fresh air! It seems we may be on an upswing towards SPRING!!

You know tessasmom, like you said if you are going to go you might as well as do it the way you want to. After all it is your vacation and you might not get to go again for a while. On our first cruise DW and I couldn't make up our minds as to which stateroom to get - inside stateroom and save some money - or a stateroom with a veranda, (which I must say is the way we wanted to go.) Well, we got the veranda stateroom, and we were not sorry we did. So I say go for it!!!
As for the smoking, well I am an ex-smoker and I cannot stand it any more. I don't know how I did it - smoke I mean. I stopped over 20 years ago - best decision I ever made. I don't have anything against the smokers who choose to smoke. That is their decision to make.
It has been some great weather down here in Florida. We are getting some much needed rain this morning. I don't think it will last all that long though. It is still suppose to get up to around 78 today. Can't complain about that!!!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Good morning, cruisemates! I hope everyone had a great weekend! My DH and I just returned home last night from a long weekend at WDW! We were there for the Princess Half Weekend and had a blast!! It definitely didn't last long enough though! I'm so ready for this cruise!