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

[tjbaggott]

Awesome photos, and your Grandaughter is SO CUTE! We've been on two cruises. The First was a Wish Trip granted my daughter through Children's Wish. We did a land and Sea Vacation and the Disney Transportation got us to the terminal early afternoon, so right after check in, we got on the ship. I couldn't even remember those Mouse ears you walk through, much less ANYTHING else. So on our 2nd trip, last fall, I insisted we get to the terminal EARLY, at opening, so we could really take in all there was in that terminal! And still I'm seeing things now that I MISSED then!

In your photo, the people to the left of the first one, sitting in chairs in the roped off area. Are those Concergie Guests I wonder?

Oh, I can't wait till our Cruise this fall, and then after that, Dreaming more of the Dream! I hear all port/parking construction will be done, complete by early October this year. I sure hope so! Our Cruise is Oct. 30th, the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Cruise"!

 

[davidls]

Awesome photos, and your Grandaughter is SO CUTE! We've been on two cruises. The First was a Wish Trip granted my daughter through Children's Wish. We did a land and Sea Vacation and the Disney Transportation got us to the terminal early afternoon, so right after check in, we got on the ship. I couldn't even remember those Mouse ears you walk through, much less ANYTHING else. So on our 2nd trip, last fall, I insisted we get to the terminal EARLY, at opening, so we could really take in all there was in that terminal! And still I'm seeing things now that I MISSED then!

In your photo, the people to the left of the first one, sitting in chairs in the roped off area. Are those Concergie Guests I wonder?

Oh, I can't wait till our Cruise this fall, and then after that, Dreaming more of the Dream! I hear all port/parking construction will be done, complete by early October this year. I sure hope so! Our Cruise is Oct. 30th, the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Cruise"!

Yep you are right..........those sitting in the roped off area are the concierge
guests. Did you notice the floor inside the terminal? It has the different islands marked, and some sea shells and fish in the floor. Kind of neet!!! (I know, I know what you are going to say..............who in the world still says neet!!!! I'm just showing my age I guess!!!)
In 2008 we went on the Halloween Cruise on the Wonder. Emily got to go Trick-n-Treating on the Wonder. She thought that was AWESOME!!!! She dressed up as Cruella DeVill. You guys are going to have a great time.

 

[ragdoll]

Good morning, all! I know that I will regret mentioning this, but...after 15 DCL cruises I never knew that there were doors and a balcony in the terminal where you could go out and take pictures. Guess I was just anxious to get on board!

Tj, I hope that your daughter who was granted a wish is doing well!

Donna

 

[tjbaggott]

Good morning, all! I know that I will regret mentioning this, but...after 15 DCL cruises I never knew that there were doors and a balcony in the terminal where you could go out and take pictures. Guess I was just anxious to get on board!

Tj, I hope that your daughter who was granted a wish is doing well!

Donna

Oh she is doing VERY well Donna, Thanks! She was 13 when diagnosed with Leukemia. Went through 2 1/2 years of cancer treatment, One Bad year OFF treatment due to side effects of her port (caused massive blood clots in her neck and left arm), but alas with heaparin for a year and the amazing healing quality of the human body, she is turning 19 this summer and is the picture of Health! She still has problems with her back and wrists (steroids will do that to your bones), but otherwise she's great!

David, I did notice all the stuff on the floor in the terminal, I took photos of lots of it and my older kids thought I was NUTS! I was our DIS group leader for the Fish Exchange on board so was walking around the terminal with a Paint stick painted Green and had a Craft Foam Lime Green Mickey Head glued to the top. Again, ALL my kids AND my DH (except my youngest kid) thought I was NUTS! LOL, DS6 thought it a Magic Mickey Wand, so he took to carrying it around till the rest of our group found us!


Man I LOVE that Terminal. I plan on getting there for when it opens for our next couple cruises. Always miss something! I especially look forward to being in there between our Back to Back Cruises when the only Guests there will be US/YOU (anyone doing the B2B)! Pictures in an almost empty Terminal, Pirceless!

 

[davidls]

Oh she is doing VERY well Donna, Thanks! She was 13 when diagnosed with Leukemia. Went through 2 1/2 years of cancer treatment, One Bad year OFF treatment due to side effects of her port (caused massive blood clots in her neck and left arm), but alas with heaparin for a year and the amazing healing quality of the human body, she is turning 19 this summer and is the picture of Health! She still has problems with her back and wrists (steroids will do that to your bones), but otherwise she's great!

David, I did notice all the stuff on the floor in the terminal, I took photos of lots of it and my older kids thought I was NUTS! I was our DIS group leader for the Fish Exchange on board so was walking around the terminal with a Paint stick painted Green and had a Craft Foam Lime Green Mickey Head glued to the top. Again, ALL my kids AND my DH (except my youngest kid) thought I was NUTS! LOL, DS6 thought it a Magic Mickey Wand, so he took to carrying it around till the rest of our group found us!


Man I LOVE that Terminal. I plan on getting there for when it opens for our next couple cruises. Always miss something! I especially look forward to being in there between our Back to Back Cruises when the only Guests there will be US/YOU (anyone doing the B2B)! Pictures in an almost empty Terminal, Pirceless!

TJ, so nice to hear your daughter is doing fantastic. That is wonderful news. I hadn't thought about getting some nice pictures of the terminal between our 2 cruises. That will be GREAT!!!!

And Donna, you didn't know those doors were there to go out on a balcony!!! My first visit Emily and I went on a exploring expedition, exploring every inch of the terminal. Of course like TJ said we always got to the terminal as it opened up. We have everytime!!! So we had plenty of time to check it out. I had read so many things about it, I just had to see for myself when we got there. And, of course had to have our pictures taken with Captain Mickey when he came out. This Cruise Donna, get there earlier and check out the balcony and get some nice photos of the Dream!!

 

[tjbaggott]

What time do you all think you plan on getting to the terminal at for this trip?
When it opens, to try and snag one of those Fabulous number 2 or 3 boarding Cards, to explore and take in the Magic and Wonder of the Terminal, To take advantage of the photo Ops With Captain Mickey and whatever other Characters may show up? Or will you arrive later, with the only goal in mind, to be able to walk right onto the ship after check in?

I prefer the former, DH prefers the later, but in this case, the Wife Rules! LOL

 

[davidls]

What time do you all think you plan on getting to the terminal at for this trip?
When it opens, to try and snag one of those Fabulous number 2 or 3 boarding Cards, to explore and take in the Magic and Wonder of the Terminal, To take advantage of the photo Ops With Captain Mickey and whatever other Characters may show up? Or will you arrive later, with the only goal in mind, to be able to walk right onto the ship after check in?

I prefer the former, DH prefers the later, but in this case, the Wife Rules! LOL

WIFE RULES in our house too TJ.

Hope you all have some great plans for the week-end. I have this hunny due list that seems to get longer as the week goes on. I try hiding it............that don't work...........she just starts another one..................I try throwing it away..............she just fishes it out of the trash can............I try feeding it to the cat................she just coughs it up and DW finds it...dries it out and adds to it. Nothing works guys!!!!! So I finally just give up and start working on that ol' list!!!

TJ, we always get to the terminal early...........like before it opens up, say around 9:30 or 9:45 am. It opens at 10:00 am. We have to wait some.........and we are never the only ones there, but we figure we are on vacation, and it's fun looking at that ship we are going to board in a couple of hours. What we like to do is, the day before we sail, we drive from our home over to WDW and stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort for the night......this helps get us in the mood for a Caribbean Cruise. Then get up the next morning, the day we sail, have breakfast, and drive over to the port from Disney World. A little over half of our driving time is from our house to Disney World.........the other half is from Disney World to Port Canaveral. If you look at the state of Florida we live on the west coast and almost a straight line across the state from us is Port Canaveral.

Well, got to go, Talk to all later.

 

[tjbaggott]

CBR! LOVE that Resort! Stayed there for our last two Disney Trips pre Cruise. If you get to port at 9:30, are you able to get into the parking lot?
I understand you can't get into the terminal that early, but can you at least unload and park? Are there lineups at the outside doors to the terminal?

Last fall was our 1st time getting there early and that was just after 10am. We had never driven ourselves before, so weren't quite sure where to go, where to unload ect.... When we pulled up on that stretch of road in front of the terminal, there were construction fences up ALL around the terminal so you couldn't really see beyond there. There were people on the sidewalk along that roadway, and we thought they were all people waiting to get into the terminal. So DH drove the van to the fartherst end of that section, helped us unload and then went to park while I waited with the kids and the luggage. A glance around at the other people there, left me confused. I noticed an opening in the gate, a CM just inside that opening, Lots of Luggage piled up just beyond that opening, but no people in that area other than the CM. The people on the walkway, where we were, did not look Happy/excited like I would expect for people to be about to embark on a fabulous cruise. By the time DH arrived back with us, we finally figured out that those people were passengers that had gotten OFF the Ship, not about to get ON! I saw a porter so went to ask him what we do, where we go, and he was shocked our luggage was ALL the way down the other end of the walkway. He got a cart, gathered it all up, and showed us where to go to check in. WOW, seemed so confusing at first, and probably only because of all that construction. We know better for next time now! And I'm sure all those fences will NOT be there for our Fall trip this year.

Aside from that, I went to the Doctors yesterday because of some joint pain I've been having for the past 3 days. Turns out I likely have inherited from my Grandmother, Early Onset Rhumatoid Arthritus (I know I did NOT spell that right). Oh my Gosh, I'm just too young for THAT! It's in my ankels, knees, wrists, hands and shoulders. Waiting for blood work to confirm my predisposition to it, but for now, THANK Goodness Aleve is now, just recently available in Canada!

 

[davidls]

CBR! LOVE that Resort! Stayed there for our last two Disney Trips pre Cruise. If you get to port at 9:30, are you able to get into the parking lot?
I understand you can't get into the terminal that early, but can you at least unload and park? Are there lineups at the outside doors to the terminal?

Last fall was our 1st time getting there early and that was just after 10am. We had never driven ourselves before, so weren't quite sure where to go, where to unload ect.... When we pulled up on that stretch of road in front of the terminal, there were construction fences up ALL around the terminal so you couldn't really see beyond there. There were people on the sidewalk along that roadway, and we thought they were all people waiting to get into the terminal. So DH drove the van to the fartherst end of that section, helped us unload and then went to park while I waited with the kids and the luggage. A glance around at the other people there, left me confused. I noticed an opening in the gate, a CM just inside that opening, Lots of Luggage piled up just beyond that opening, but no people in that area other than the CM. The people on the walkway, where we were, did not look Happy/excited like I would expect for people to be about to embark on a fabulous cruise. By the time DH arrived back with us, we finally figured out that those people were passengers that had gotten OFF the Ship, not about to get ON! I saw a porter so went to ask him what we do, where we go, and he was shocked our luggage was ALL the way down the other end of the walkway. He got a cart, gathered it all up, and showed us where to go to check in. WOW, seemed so confusing at first, and probably only because of all that construction. We know better for next time now! And I'm sure all those fences will NOT be there for our Fall trip this year.

Aside from that, I went to the Doctors yesterday because of some joint pain I've been having for the past 3 days. Turns out I likely have inherited from my Grandmother, Early Onset Rhumatoid Arthritus (I know I did NOT spell that right). Oh my Gosh, I'm just too young for THAT! It's in my ankels, knees, wrists, hands and shoulders. Waiting for blood work to confirm my predisposition to it, but for now, THANK Goodness Aleve is now, just recently available in Canada!

LUNCH BREAK!!! Don't you just love lunch breaks!!!!

No you can't even get in the parking lot until 10:00 am. You will have to sit in the turn lane in your car until they open up at 10. Our last visit we sat for maybe 10 minutes before we were allowed to go in and drop off our luggage. The guard at the gate directs you where to go to drop off your luggage and then you can park your car.
We haven't been over to Disney's Terminal while the construction has been going on. I can only imagine all of the confusion there must be trying to drop off your luggage and find your way inside.
I had to laugh at what you said TJ about the people getting off the ship didn't look happy. I'm sure you will agree that your time on board the Disney ships goes way too fast. When we took our 3 day cruise it seems like we no sooner got there and boarded, it was time to get off. We said we would never do a 3 day cruise again because it is just too short. But this back2back is going to be fantastic!!!
Sorry to hear TJ you have some arthritus TJ. I don't have what you have but I'm just a little bit older then you and I do have some arthritus too. Ain't any fun. We take Advil for ours, the gel caps, it does help us ol' folks.
LUNCH BREAK OVER!!!
Huh??!?? What.............where did the time go. Well, talk to ya'll again later.

 

[godisneyfrommd]

Hi my name is mike 29 and DW is Katie 26. My DM is AAFDMOM. just thought i'd check in. DIL's are huge into disney and created a DCL monster in 2007 when the offered us a 3 day cruise with their left over DVC points that they couldn't figure out how to use. IT's to the point now that I am the one filling them in on the latest from DCL...i'm a Lieutenant with the Fire department and DW is a pediatric rehab nurse from maryland...

 

[aafdmom]

Hi All...
First glad to see you stop in Mike!! Have been enjoying reading your conversations back and forth David and TJ. The newbie is taking all you seasoned cruisers in

Donna..thankyou for the welcome!

I am not sure what time we will be getting to the port..Mike is thinking of flying to Fla. the day before and renting a car so would think we would get there early but not sure. Mike and Katie are going on a 3 day cruise with Mike's father this Sept and going to leave the day before so see how it works...

I have off today we went for breakfast with Mike and Katie then ran a ton of errands. So now I am just relaxing and checking things out here on the board

TJ..hope your meds give you some relief from the arthritis. It's a lovely 80 degree day here in Maryland.

Well take care and will check in later...

Sue

 

[aafdmom]

just testing to see if my ticker shows up!

 

[tjbaggott]

WELCOME godisneyfrommd! Our group is growing!

Pretty much pain free as of this afternoon, but I don't know if it's actually the meds helping or if its the natural course for arthritus. OH well, as long as it's gone now.
My Grandmother, used to joke about her friend "Arthur". She would say she never knew when Arthur was going to show up. He would just make an appearance whenever and forever how long he wanted to stay, and there was never any rhyme or reason to the pattern. As a child, I thought she was actually talking about a person. NOW I KNOW what she was refering to! Grandma's Gone now, and although it's nice to have inherited something from her, WHY THIS? LOL

Kept myself busy this afternoon by coloring my sons Pirates of the Caribbean Pillow case. We took it on our last cruise and had it signed through GS by all the Characters. It's AWESOME! Now we are coloring in the picture on it, but can't find my iron to heat set it. Funny how those things can just disappear. It was on my sewing table last I saw and used it, and now none of the other 5 People in my household can tell me where it walked off to ALL BY ITSELF! I'll post a photo later when it's done, it really does look amazing, and only because of the all the Character Sig's on it!

 

[davidls]

Hi my name is mike 29 and DW is Katie 26. My DM is AAFDMOM. just thought i'd check in. DIL's are huge into disney and created a DCL monster in 2007 when the offered us a 3 day cruise with their left over DVC points that they couldn't figure out how to use. IT's to the point now that I am the one filling them in on the latest from DCL...i'm a Lieutenant with the Fire department and DW is a pediatric rehab nurse from maryland...

Hi All...
First glad to see you stop in Mike!! Have been enjoying reading your conversations back and forth David and TJ. The newbie is taking all you seasoned cruisers in

Donna..thankyou for the welcome!

I am not sure what time we will be getting to the port..Mike is thinking of flying to Fla. the day before and renting a car so would think we would get there early but not sure. Mike and Katie are going on a 3 day cruise with Mike's father this Sept and going to leave the day before so see how it works...

I have off today we went for breakfast with Mike and Katie then ran a ton of errands. So now I am just relaxing and checking things out here on the board

TJ..hope your meds give you some relief from the arthritis. It's a lovely 80 degree day here in Maryland.

Well take care and will check in later...

Sue

First off to Mike & Katie to our group. Feel free to chim in any time and let us know how you are doing.

Sue, nice looking count down ticker. I like the ship!!! And please enjoy reading our discussions here, but please join in. We like hearing from everyone. The 3 day cruise you mention that Mike, Katie and Mike's father are going on, is it going to be a Disney Cruise? Just wondering. If it is I know they will have a great time.

TJ glad to hear Arthur took a break from pestering you this afternoon. Your problem with your iron sounds like some of the same problems I have with my tools. It always seems that very tool I need is not in my tool box or on my work bench in the garage. They all of a sudden grow legs and run away!!! And, 9 times out of 10, guess where I find that tool...............yep.........right where I laid it down the last time I used it..................or so says DW(Me thinks she is pulling a fast one here.............but I can never catch her at it!!!!! She's good..............very, very good!!!!)

Hey Sue, it's suppose to be 90 degrees here tomorrow!!! And guess what..............I get to mow my lawn tomorrow!!! Good times, good times. It can't get any better then this!!!!
Well, I hope ya'll have have a great evening. I'll be having sweet dreams of mowing my lawn tomorrow in the sweltering HEAT!!!!

 

[davidls]

TJ, yes please post a photo of those pillow cases. I would enjoy seeing them. On our first cruise we bought a frame that had a mat in it and had all of the charactors sign the mat. Then when we got home we framed one of the pictures taken of Emily with Pirate Mickey and it hangs on her bedroom wall.
Well, got to go for real now this time. Talk to you all later.

 

[tjbaggott]

Other pictures to share first. Nice Spring day here, it was supposed to reach 78 degrees, but is sitting at 66 and it's already mid afternoon. But the rain has held off, and occasionally, the sun tries to peak through the overcast sky. The Tulips in my front garden are just SO brightly colored and SCREAM "SPRING"! So thought I'd try and get some practice in with my new camera (actually got it a year ago, but it's a complicated contraption). I took a course, part one, last January on the Cannon Rebel SLR, and part two is coming up on the 13th. So with what I learned in part one, I went to work on trying to get a good shot of what was growing in my garden. My youngest Little man, got in on the fun too. Here's how they turned out, (Love those forgetmenots too!)

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My DS6 Loved his photo, even though it looks like some green leaves are trying to climb into his nose!

Supposed to get Thunder and Lightening Showers this evening, and tomorrow's not looking so nice, but my grass is getting greener!

 

[davidls]

I tried to post yesterday................one thing after another happened..........long story short I wasn't able to post. Worked up to my full potential in trying to fix the problem...........which ain't much..........still don't know if the ol' computer at home is working or not. Will find out this evening.

I just wanted to let ya'll know I survived mowing my lawn Saturday.
Man-o-man was it ever hot!!! It got up in the low 90's Saturday. I had to trim hedges, mow the lawn, clean the pool, and talk to the nosy neighbor next door. He wanted to know if we are still going on our cruise this fall. (You don't think he is planning on doing something do you??!!!????) He's got those shifty looking eyes. They are close set, beady looking, I don't trust him!!! It's a good thing we have our 3 killer cats at home. Our DD is coming over to take care of them while we are gone. But if nosy neighbor breaks in they will pounce on him like you wouldn't believe. And, they will rub the hair right off his legs, rubbing on him so much.

TJ those are some nice photo's you took of your flowers. I like the one with your son in the background. Looks like those classes you took in photography are paying off. Great job!!! What kind of camera do you have? I just bought a new digital movie camera from Kodak. It is suppose to take the new HD movies and I am suppose to be able to shoot underwater for up to 10ft deep. I'll let you know how it works when it comes in the mail.

Well, have to get stated working. Hope everyone has a great day today.

 

[tjbaggott]

I have a Cannon Rebel XSI SLR. It's bigger than what I'm used to, but the ability to take great photos in not so great lighting and indoors is better quality than I've ever had before. Also, I can take pictures in RAW format and play around with them for color and other manipulations to make an even better photo (still learning that part though).

So whats everyones elses pre cruise plans (other than you David, I know you live pretty close and are driving, spending a night at CBR I think it was?).

Is everone else flying so far? Arriving the day before? What airline do you think you'll be using?
I spent the day yesterday looking up Allegiant Air. I can fly from Platsburgh NY (which is 3 1/2 hours from home, the same distance from home to Syracuse where we thought we would fly out of). Allegiant offers fares as low as 9.99!!!!! ONE WAY to Sandford Airport wich is a 1/2 hour North of Orlando Intl.! Currently, they don't have Fall 2011 prices out, but for the same dates this fall, the price so far for getting to Orlando is $69.99 per person and coming home is $39.99 per person!!!! On top of that though is a $25.00 fee for one piece of luggage per person. And for this Sept. they only have dates for Fridays and Mondays, which would mean an extra 2 nights of Hotel stays for us. But still, so far it's looking like the best deal I've EVER seen! Anyone else ever heard of them?

I'll be watching their prices each day to see how they flucuate. OH, and they have free parking of your vehicle while you are gone!

 

[ragdoll]

Good morning all!

Nice pictures, tj. As for pre cruise plans DH and I are flying in. We always use Continental. We will be staying at POFQ for at least two nights pre cruise. How long we stay depends on any specials running at the time. We don't plan on getting park passes. May just go to Animal Kingdom as I can't imagine not going there. I love that park! Of course, if DD and her crew decide to go to MK we may have to do that too. Who knows? We may just end up with park passes. We really like POFQ. We love taking the boat into DTD and just walking around there. Our plans can still change but as of now this is our plan. Still planning on staying on board for the 9/15 cruise as well.

It has been quite a stressful year for us so I am hoping this all pans out as planned. DH was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma last July. He just had his first CAT scan since chemo ended in November. The scan showed much improvement so he doesn't need another scan for 6 months. There is no cure for this type of cancer. He is now doing what is called "watch and wait". The doctors keep a close eye on it to see when more treatment is necessary. It is a slow growing cancer and very unpredictable. It can stay dormant for a long time and even shrink on its own or it can show up anywhere in the body at anytime. Anyway, we are very happy to have finally gotten some good news and can now look forward to our son's Vegas wedding in just three weeks.

Tj, throughout our ordeal Harry and I have mentioned many times that we don't know how we would cope if one of our kids or grandkids had a serious disease. I am so glad that your daughter is doing well. I know what a difficult time you all have had. It had to be horrible to watch your child suffer. Chemo is a, well, it is a very unfriendly DIS word, with many long lasting side effects.

Sorry for the novel I am writing today. I am just typing away waiting for the lawn to dry so I can cut it yet again. I can tell that Harry is feeling at least a bit better because he is worried about his lawn. I don't like to bag the grass if I don't have to. But when I mulch it and leave clumps of grass behind it drives him crazy. Didn't hear a word about the lawn last summer when he was so ill but all I heard all weekend was comments about the clumps of grass. Now I have to decide if to mulch or bag.

Would be nice to be able to jump into a swimming pool after cutting the lawn. Glad you survived your chores in sunny Florida, David!

Welcome to godisneyfrommd!

Donna

 

[davidls]

TJ, that sounds like a very nice camera you got there. I'll bet you could shoot a nat on a dog's tail at 50 yards with that huh??? My daddy use to say dumb things like that. I guess that's where I got my sense of humor!!!

You bet TJ, we will be driving over to Disney World on Friday before we sail on Saturday and staying overnight at the Caribbean Beach Resort. At least that is where we have stayed our last two cruises. We may change up this time not sure just yet. Wow, those are some great air fare prices you found there TJ. Hopefully they will still be that low next year.

Donna, I am sorry to hear about your DH. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your DH. It sounds like he is doing better, and that IS good news. We are hoping you get nothing but good news from now on.

Donna, I know what your DH means about having those clumps of grass on the lawn. I don't like it either..........must be a guy thing!!! I go back over them with my push mower that has a grass clippings bag on it, picking up those clumps of grass.

In place of a pool, I know what you can do Donna after mowing your lawn. Put your garden hose out in your yard with your sprinkler head on it. Go inside, put on your swimming suit...........go back outside and turn on the water and run thru the water from your sprinkler. You will be doing three things at once. First - you will be watering your lawn and Second - you will be cooling yourself off, and Third - you will be getting some additional exercise. You can thank me later for that little bit of information!!!