September 22, 2007 -- WESTERN

[brady961]

Hi Marsha,

I think that most everybody is out enjoying the warmer weather. Kathy, I and our granddaughter, along with her mother are going to Atlanta to the Georgia Aquarium this weekend. We have a great one in Chattanooga, but the one in Atlanta is supposed to be the largest in the US. Mike

oh way cool about going to the aquarium. the weather here this weekend was sunny but cool. cool enough for us floridians had to wear a windbreaker or sweatshirt jacket. you could tell the floridians from tourists/out of state as they were in shorts/tshirts.

but overall the weather was prefect for spending the weekend at WDW for St Patty's weekend.

we are suppose to be in the 80's next few days. spring is here for us for sure.

plus I realize we have 6 months and so much to do between now and Sept.

i know my schedule is booked rest of this month and next with work. Not sure what my schedule will be after April but most likely traveling at least every other week.

I am also glad I have something fun scheduled at least every other month until we cruise. This month weekend with friends at WDW for St Patty's weekend. May again with friends at WDW, POP Century. I am even taking a friday off so will have a three day weekend for that. July flying to Augusta GA to visit my mother, brother and his family. Will be celebrating my mother's 77 birthday. 5 days there.

Then Sept HOORAY!!! Cruise time.

in between planned trips or WDW with friends, visiting the parks when I can. work of course. so i expect the next 6 months to pass rather quickly.

Enjoy the aquarium. if can get pics and share please do. would love to see them.

be safe and have fun.

 

[scrapperjill]

Hey all...I know I've been hidding out for quite some time now I had a few pages to go through inorder to catch up with everything.

I hope your heat got fixed Karen.....That wouldn't be to fun being stuck in side with cold weather and no heat. From what I can tell...we've had some okay weather around here...but heck I've been running and in/out of town so I really don't know. I went out of town for four days+ on a scrapbook retreat...which was a blast then off to Seattle yesterday for a dr apt for my daughter...which I can say it was darn cold in Seattle and rained some. Today...it was sunny here...but I was stuck in side ALL day cleaning house and getting things in order for a meeting that I was hosting for our Great Strides event. Anywho...I'm sorta dazed and confused at the moment....on what happening anywhere . I'm thinking I've over booked myself some this month I'm looking forward to April...cuz my schedule drops quite a bit. I just can't wait for those days relaxing on the ship...sipping my foo-foo drink

Did anyone see the thread on the Margrita tastings on the main cruise board? It's sounding even more tempting....and YUMMY

 

[brady961]

6 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! only 6 more months to wait, prepare, plan, pack, make door signs, buttons, designs for t-shirts, and did I mention pack

 

[brady961]

Ok its 3:30am and I woke up a few minutes ago having a wonderful dream. I was dreaming we were on the cruise. At our first meet around the Mickey pool, and getting ready to have our pic taken. Also in the dream was how much fun was having, in the dream was in the Animators Palate, being on CC soaking in the sun and eating Cookie's BBQ.

Now that was a great dream. Too bad I woke up. I would have rathered continue this type of dreaming then waking <G>

 

[papa]

Great dream Marsha, six months to go!!!

Looking forward to going to hot Lanta just to get away from the house for the weekend. Mike

 

[eva]

Yippeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6 Months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jill, I sure understand! It is starting to get a bit crazy here too. As a matter of fact, I will probably be gone from the boards most of next week. I have meetings and training in Chicago from Monday to Thursday. And then I took Friday off for a much needed short weekend trip with DH to St. Louis. We are used to taking vacation in May and normally do not have so much time between vacations. It is driving us a bit nuts. So we decided to hit the road for a couple days. I'm sure glad that we have hit the 6 month mark. Most years my countdown would be around 45 days this late in March.

Karen, Did you ever get your heat fixed?

Marsha, I'm having those dreams even when I am wide awake!

Our plans are getting more and more firmed up. Since we are spending the week after the cruise at WDW, I have to plan dinners and such too. I already have my ADR plans ready to go. April 2 we can start making reservations. I can't wait! Once that is taken care of, I am going to start really working on all the advance reservations I need to make for the cruise. For those of you that are CC members the reservation date is 6/24/07. Luckily that is a Sunday. So I will be up at 2am (Central Time) to get my Palo and other reservations. Am I crazy? Will others be doing that too?

 

[CustardTart]

Hi everyone!

Heating's now fixed and I'm happy we can finally celebrate 6 months till our cruise!!!!

​

 

[Lucky Penny]

I have become a boards "junkie" - reading everything and getting lost for long periods of time! We have not finished deciding what we want to do, and I'm beginning to learn enough to generate more questions all the time

There is one thing I've been wanting to ask all you folks who are experienced cruisers - is there one thing or a few things that you WISH you had known before your first cruise? I know we're going to have a great time no matter what, but there is SO MUCH to see and do and I don't want to miss any of it!

Thanks for being here - it's wonderfully helpful!

Karen, I'm glad your heat is fixed - now maybe the weather will turn warm!

Eva and Sandi - sounds like you both have lots going on!

DH and I have DS Shaun, DDIL and our two granddaughters arriving from Orlando on Monday (Bob's birthday!) to stay with us for the week before DS Michael's wedding on the 31st, then getting ready for our trip to Orlando at the end of April for our second granddaughter's first birthday, Flower & Garden Festival, and scope out some of the things we want to do after the cruise (Eva, we'll be there too!)

Hope everyone has a great weekend and next week - I will probably not be here much with all the activity!

 

[brady961]

OH yeah those day dreams too. I can't stop making signs or designs for tshirts and/or buttons. I keep processing what Pal and Minnie will wear each day and for dinner. What I need to buy, get, and even already have some things packed in a suitcase. Started list that I keep adding to.

I will be trying to fall asleep and be thinking about the cruise. esp Pal and Minnie's stuff like what I need to keep out to use from now to cruise, what outfits I need to alter, find, etc.... I get to point i end up getting out of the bed,, pulling things out, and sorting again and again and again.

My clothes are all ready in garment bags in closet.

Just ordered Lime green tshirts online so once those arrive can iron on the Magicial Memory Tour 2007 design. Got couple other color t's to iron on birthday designs.

found small lime green t's for Pal and Minnie. have made the same DIS logo I have on one of my sorta lime green shirts. Just need to print on transfer paper and iron on. So the three of us will all be wearing lime green tshirts, my shirt with Magical Memory Tour of 2007 design, theirs with the mickey icon and DIS on it.

Seems it at bedtime that my brain gets an idea for a shirt, button, door sign, what i need, what I want to do, to take, etc... and if i dont get up and do something i will never get to sleep.

I am planning to take pictures of items/signs etc.. on the ship that start with letters A-Z. so of course already thinking A- Animators Palate, B- Beat Session, etc...... if not a sign then an item like pic of pool for P.

Plus i want to do A-Z pics of crew members too. I think this will be fun both the items and crew. So again trying to sleep but mind going thru ship of what pics I can get for what letter, how I need to make a list and keep wtih me at all times to assure I don't miss a letter, etc....

Ok I really need to break this cycle for next 6 months or I will be getting very little sleep LOL.

Plus since I have booked another cruise for Sept 2008, already thinking of that one too and it's 18 months away.

Somebody knock some since into me!!!!!!!!!! I have cruise "happy" and going "overboard" <G>

 

[papa]

Penny the #1 mistake most people that cruise or go to the parks is to rush around and try to do it all. The daily navigators are your friend. Sit down the night before and pick out a few things that you think that you might like to do. The main thing is to relax and remember that you are on vacation, not a to do marathon.

Remember if you don't get to do it all, that is a good reason to book another cruise while onboard, plus you get the room credit and lower prices. Mike

 

[eva]

Excellent advice Mike! I know that I have planning problems. But to be honest we only do half or what I plan. Why? Because we don't want to rush anywhere. That's why we have late seating. We like to take our time and just enjoy a cold drink by the pool or a stroll around deck 10.

Penny, I think about the only thing you really need to know ahead of time is to book Palo, excursions, and spa treatments ahead online if possible. And even that is not absolutely necessary. You can often book all these things once you get on the ship. It's just nice to have it done ahead of time. The other thing you should do it to check-in ahead online at least a week before you leave home. This will speed the check-in process up for you. Other than that just go with the flow and check your Navigator each night for the next day's activities.

 

[Lucky Penny]

Thanks Mike - that's really good advice, and I'll try! Bob and I do that when we go to WDW - we make up our list of "must do" activities and restaurants we want to try, or old favorites to return to - and make sure not to "overdo" our days so it really feels like a vacation! Sitting and watching the ocean goes by is one of my "must do" activites for the cruise! I really appreciate all your suggestions all through this thread, and the links too - it helps a lot!

 

[Lucky Penny]

Thanks, Eva! The Spa and Palo are also on our list - I like the idea of taking our time - non vacation days never seem to have a moment like that, so vacation days have to! Thanks!

 

[CustardTart]

Penny the #1 mistake most people that cruise or go to the parks is to rush around and try to do it all. The daily navigators are your friend. Sit down the night before and pick out a few things that you think that you might like to do. The main thing is to relax and remember that you are on vacation, not a to do marathon.

Remember if you don't get to do it all, that is a good reason to book another cruise while onboard, plus you get the room credit and lower prices. Mike

That's exactly our attitude to WDW, Mike. We plan a few things ahead of time (mainly ADRs we know we want to make, esp if we're there when free DDP is in operation) but take each day as it comes as we always know we will be returning. So I guess we shall take the same approach to the cruise - book Palo brunch, a couple of spa treatments, maybe an excursion and let the rest of the cruise take care of itself. As far as I'm concerned, it's less about planning and more about research - I like to know what options are available ahead of time just in case there's something we'd like to do. But most of all, this trip is about R&R...

 

[scrapperjill]

Something I did know ahead of time...but thought was great info....is you CAN order Mickey Bars from room service even though they're not listed on the room service menu Another word of advice...if you don't want to spend a TON of money on photos....stay out of shutters They take awesome pics....and there hard to pass up (at least for me ). Also...a HUGE mistake we made on our first cruise was poseing for EACH of the photo up/backgrounds that they had available set up in the evenings.... There is no sitting fee....and I thought heck if we didn't like the pic then we'd pass....but if we had 5 or more diffrent backgrounds to choose from then we'd for sure find ONE we'd like . MISTAKE....we ended up finding ALL of the portraits great. And not only did they take photos of our whole family...but they had us split so it was just DH and myself and then just our girls.. Anyways we ended up spending HUNDREDS of $$$ in shutters on tons of 8x10 photos. Which is another thing I quickly learned....all their portraits are printed in 8x10 ONLY....and are priced at $20 each Anyways....word of advice if you must do portraits....don't do them all. Just pick your favoriate background and go with that one.

You guys are not going to believe what I've done With all the "stuff" I've been busy doing lately I haven't had much time at all to think about the trip comming up...needless to say I hadn't counted out our calculated when I could call for my ADR yet. For some reason I was thinking I had PLENTY of time to do it....and just didn't bother looking into it. Anywho....after reading some on here about everyone getting excited and ready to make their calls in a couple weeks for ADR after the cruise I decided to look up when I could do our. This was Wed night around 9:30 that I finally looked it up. And I found out it was Thurs morning that I could call for the ADR...and I hadn't even started thinking of where to eat Needless to say I spent the next few hours researching and planning inroder to call at 4am Anyways....this is what I ended up with...

Tuesday Breakfast at Boma @ 10
Dinner at Kona @ 6 (I figured we could watch the fireworks from the MK from there at 8pm...along with the electric water parade

Wedendsay Early dinner at eiter 50's Prime time OR Dinner at Le Cellier. With the lack of planning at this point I'm not sure what park we'll be at this day I figure I can talk with our goupe and narrow it down SOON then cancle the one we don't want ASAP.

Thurday...spending the day at MK. We all wanted to do CRT...BUT since it's now 2 credits I think we'll pass this time. We did it last time and LOVED it...we also did CP last time for breakfast before the park opened...but this time it's EMH in the morning and I don't know we'd be able to get in before EMH for breakfast in the park or not....either way we (I) decided to just pass up on ADR or TS meals on this day...there's plenty of CS places here to pick from.... So I didn't make any plans for this day.

Friday... Breakfast at Chef Mickey's at 10
Lunch at Concourse Steakhouse at 1:40
Dinner at WCC at 9:40....I wanted 8pm...but they didn't have anything thing except 9:40 So we'll have to stick with that time. This was the ONE place we all knew we wanted to go....so it took the least planing. I only wish we would have been able to get a better time. We may also decide NOT to do B,L and D this day...but figured we can decide that later on.

We'll I'm off again...Busy busy day to get started with....

TTFN

 

[papa]

Penny if you don't get the reservations at Palo that you want, keep checking back with them as there are cancellations during the cruise. A good thing to do is also go down to the purser's desk (customers service desk) on deck three midships and check your account daily or every couple of days. Using your key to the world card it doesn't feel like you are spending money until you see your balances. Very easy to go over budget if you are not careful.

Also cokes ( soft drinks, sodas or pop for you Yankees) are free from the 24 hour drink station, and the dining rooms, but if you get one from the bar, they are high. Also anything bought from the bars comes with an automatic 18% tip attached. Mike

 

[Lucky Penny]

Something I did know ahead of time...but thought was great info....is you CAN order Mickey Bars from room service even though they're not listed on the room service menu

Mickey Bars!! HOORAY!! We make it a point to "spot" the carts all through the parks - they are our favorites! DH Bob will love hearing this too!

Anyways....word of advice if you must do portraits....don't do them all. Just pick your favoriate background and go with that one.

Another great nugget of wisdom - Thanks Sandi!!!

We are also going to spend a week at WDW after the cruise, and have not planned ANYTHING for it yet - except we will probably try to have dinner at Victoria & Albert's again (it's been a few years) -- one of the things we love about being "just the two of us" again

Penny if you don't get the reservations at Palo that you want, keep checking back with them as there are cancellations during the cruise. A good thing to do is also go down to the purser's desk (customers service desk) on deck three midships and check your account daily or every couple of days. Using your key to the world card it doesn't feel like you are spending money until you see your balances. Very easy to go over budget if you are not careful.

Also cokes ( soft drinks, sodas or pop for you Yankees) are free from the 24 hour drink station, and the dining rooms, but if you get one from the bar, they are high. Also anything bought from the bars comes with an automatic 18% tip attached. Mike

Thanks, Mike!! We have run up some pretty good balances on our room key at WDW - usually they tell us what our limit is when we check in, and on one long trip (12 days) DH was concerned about exceeding the limit 'til the CM checking us in said, "Oh don't worry! If you reach the limit, we just apply it to your card and you get to start over!" Good advice on checking where we are - you're right it doesn't "feel" like spending real money!

Good to know about cokes too - thanks!

 

[CustardTart]

...Mickey Bars!! HOORAY!! We make it a point to "spot" the carts all through the parks - they are our favorites! DH Bob will love hearing this too...

Do you know, I don't think I've ever had a Mickey bar!!! Well, that's firmly on my "to do" list!

...We are also going to spend a week at WDW after the cruise, and have not planned ANYTHING for it yet - except we will probably try to have dinner at Victoria & Albert's again (it's been a few years) -- one of the things we love about being "just the two of us" again

I know what you mean - it's fab when we're surrounded by our gorgeous family but it's just so lovely being a couple again.

I wish DH and I had a chance to fit in a V&A visit this trip - we had to cancel our ressie there last summer as I was unwell. I'll just have to make sure we get back to WDW soon...

 

[Bareacuda]

I hate to admitt this... I havent had a MIckey Bar either!
We do alot of time at DL and I eat alot of the popcorn
On Valentine's Day, was the first time we've eatten at Blue Bayou.Just point me the way to Bengal Tiger and I can stay all day! Yummmmm

PS... One more day closer to Vacation!!!

 

[papa]

Had my first Mickey Bar at one of the restaurants on the last cruise. When we are at the parks, myself and my partner in crime love the popcorn. Mike