September 30, 2012 Dream vacation

[mamiof2]

Wow! lots of activity while i was gone! the kids & I went back to buffalo (where we are originally from) for a week to visit w family & to see our homeopath. You can tell the cruise is getting closer with all the exciting chatter of packing and FE preparations. i am very anxious to get packing! now that we are back, i can unpack and repack the suitcases! I usually start packing at least a month in advance, stuff we wont need in the meantime anyhow. but we tend to take long vacations & obviously need lots of stuff! especially cuz i refuse to do laundry on vacation! So this year's vacation of 3 1/2 weeks will require lots of clothes!! at least 25 outfits per person wow!! we will be driving for 2 days, visiting family near Tampa, a day at the beach, Nickelodeon Suites & Legoland, cruise, 11 nights at Disney, then driving back home for 2 days I am so excited!!!

 

[mamiof2]

If anyone is into Vinylmation trading, there are several on sale at the Disney Store online for Buy 1, Get 1 Free! You can get 2 for $9.95! I just ordered 16. This was the highlight of our vacation last year for the kids. They mainly trade at the parks, but I'm fairly certain that you can trade them on the cruise ships too. Just a little FYI incase anyone is interested.

 

[mindelmouse]

I usually start stacking stuff on the spare room bed, but as my dad will be arriving, I'm not sure where I'm going to put it all! Eek!

I'm doing what Kim said leaving my stuff in the suitcase from my cruise next week Hey I haven't packed for Saturday yet, I imagine I'll be packing the day before as usual. I get all the laundry and errands out of the way first. Maybe that's why I usually have so much more than I need????

 

[mindelmouse]

Wow! lots of activity while i was gone! the kids & I went back to buffalo (where we are originally from) for a week to visit w family & to see our homeopath. You can tell the cruise is getting closer with all the exciting chatter of packing and FE preparations. i am very anxious to get packing! now that we are back, i can unpack and repack the suitcases! I usually start packing at least a month in advance, stuff we wont need in the meantime anyhow. but we tend to take long vacations & obviously need lots of stuff! especially cuz i refuse to do laundry on vacation! So this year's vacation of 3 1/2 weeks will require lots of clothes!! at least 25 outfits per person wow!! we will be driving for 2 days, visiting family near Tampa, a day at the beach, Nickelodeon Suites & Legoland, cruise, 11 nights at Disney, then driving back home for 2 days I am so excited!!!

DH was born and raised in Buffalo.

 

[WinstonC]

The roll call list is updated! I stole the computer from my husband, so I updated it a day earlier.

There are a few people that I have not heard from in a while (or that I am missing info for):
Winston C
tperkins71
Staceycs
wiggles02
twilliams771
Eeyore1979

Thanks for doing this. We are Winston, Matthew, and Loretta in room 12002.

 

[Lethleans]

Wow! lots of activity while i was gone! the kids & I went back to buffalo (where we are originally from) for a week to visit w family & to see our homeopath. You can tell the cruise is getting closer with all the exciting chatter of packing and FE preparations. i am very anxious to get packing! now that we are back, i can unpack and repack the suitcases! I usually start packing at least a month in advance, stuff we wont need in the meantime anyhow. but we tend to take long vacations & obviously need lots of stuff! especially cuz i refuse to do laundry on vacation! So this year's vacation of 3 1/2 weeks will require lots of clothes!! at least 25 outfits per person wow!! we will be driving for 2 days, visiting family near Tampa, a day at the beach, Nickelodeon Suites & Legoland, cruise, 11 nights at Disney, then driving back home for 2 days I am so excited!!!

Hi there

We are super excited, we are on a Carnival Dream Cruise the week before (slightly concerned about the fact we are sailing Carnival, but at least we have the best cruise second). We have a night in Pt. Canaveral the night before the Disney cruise.

Quick question - (and I know we are slow down here in Australia) - but what is FE?

Also - do the kids go crazy for dress up for Pirates night - and do the adults also?

 

[mamiof2]

DH was born and raised in Buffalo.

small world! buffalo specifically? or a suburb? we were from the southtowns. i was raised in Elma / East Aurora.

 

[mamiof2]

Hi there


Quick question - (and I know we are slow down here in Australia) - but what is FE?

Also - do the kids go crazy for dress up for Pirates night - and do the adults also?

First, FE stands for Fish Extender. it is a gift exchange between the families that choose to participate. so far we have 10 staterooms participating with 9 men, 11 women, 5 boys, & 6 girls. We did not set guidelines as far as price or number of gifts. Some people will gift daily, some per person, some per stateroom. Some people choose to do crafty, homemade gifts. some will do store-bought gifts, or a combination of both. The participating staterooms hang an "FE" from the fish hook beside their door. (No wider than 8 inches) This will have pouches for each person in your stateroom. This is where others will place your goodies. Most people make their FE pouches. Some are very fancy, some are very simplistic with bags or duck tape. They can be purchased on ebay, but you may not have time to get one all the way in Australia at this point. There are tons of info here on the DIS boards about FE. check them out! you can see the FE hangers people are using and also read some gifties people have received and given. I enjoy reading these threads and seeing the pics of all the great gifties people have gotten. Many people give gifts that are specific or unique to where they are from. that could be fun for u since u are in another country! if u have any more questions, ask away! Oh, if you decide to participate, say so before Sept. 1 as that is our cut-off date. anyone who decides after that date may still get in on it, but is not guaranteed gifts from everyone after that date, only those who are able to accommodate you.

second, pirate night: well, i wish i had asked this question before my first disney cruise!!! we bought really nice pirate costumes for all 4 of us. we looked great! There were hardly any other families that dressed up! we were super disappointed! There weren't even many kids dressed up. Maybe just a few T-shirts and bandanas here and there. So last year I didnt even bring anything to dress up and the kids didnt even care. I know on our first cruise they gave us pirate bandanas, i really cant remember about last year on the Dream though. maybe.

 

[mindelmouse]

small world! buffalo specifically? or a suburb? we were from the southtowns. i was raised in Elma / East Aurora.

He's from Williamsville.

 

[WeLuvDCL]

second, pirate night: well, i wish i had asked this question before my first disney cruise!!! we bought really nice pirate costumes for all 4 of us. we looked great! There were hardly any other families that dressed up! we were super disappointed! There weren't even many kids dressed up. Maybe just a few T-shirts and bandanas here and there. So last year I didnt even bring anything to dress up and the kids didnt even care. I know on our first cruise they gave us pirate bandanas, i really cant remember about last year on the Dream though. maybe.

We are dressing up! We always do. Well, I know my DD and DH are dressing up, not sure my outfit will still fit around my belly .. but I'll do something to look piratey.

 

[Rather Be At WDW]

Also - do the kids go crazy for dress up for Pirates night - and do the adults also?

I wouldn't say that I saw too many "go crazy". In fact, I'd say the vast majority did nothing, other than perhaps donning the bandana provided by Disney. Don't let this influence your decision - do what makes you happy! I just wanted to provide my perception.

We just wore pirate-y t-shirts, bandanas and eye patches.

If you do more than that, you certainly won't be the only ones, but you probably won't be in the majority. Just depends on your comfort level (and space in your luggage!)

 

[Momto3cuties]

Since we are talking pirate night and dressing up I had a question - I know shorts are a no-no in the dining room, but do you think they'd be OK for pirate night? My boys have nice khaki shorts with pirate skulls embroidered on them that I would love for them to wear.

Also, I was wondering about the family snorkeling area on CC - my youngest is probably not going to be able to done a mask and snorkel (although, my husband thinks I am underestimating her!). In the past we have used a little floaty that has a window..she sort of lays on it and looks through the window to see fish. We used it in St. Thomas and St. Maarten at the beach. A friend told me that she believes there are no types of flotation devices like this allowed in the snorkel area at CC. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this? Hate to drag it along and have DD get upset if it is not allowed.

 

[hamm1207]

Since we are talking pirate night and dressing up I had a question - I know shorts are a no-no in the dining room, but do you think they'd be OK for pirate night? My boys have nice khaki shorts with pirate skulls embroidered on them that I would love for them to wear.

we will be dressing up. I have a pirate outfit, and my husband has a jack sparrow hat (he's going to wear a pirate tshirt) and tattoos.

I would say shorts are fine for pirate night! Especially if they are piratey!

 

[hamm1207]

Thanks for doing this. We are Winston, Matthew, and Loretta in room 12002.

Thank you! I will make the updates on Saturday.

 

[mamiof2]

Since we are talking pirate night and dressing up I had a question - I know shorts are a no-no in the dining room, but do you think they'd be OK for pirate night? My boys have nice khaki shorts with pirate skulls embroidered on them that I would love for them to wear.

Also, I was wondering about the family snorkeling area on CC - my youngest is probably not going to be able to done a mask and snorkel (although, my husband thinks I am underestimating her!). In the past we have used a little floaty that has a window..she sort of lays on it and looks through the window to see fish. We used it in St. Thomas and St. Maarten at the beach. A friend told me that she believes there are no types of flotation devices like this allowed in the snorkel area at CC. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this? Hate to drag it along and have DD get upset if it is not allowed.

I think shorts are a no-no for adults mainly. My son, now 9 1/2, on our previous cruises has always worn nice khaki shorts, or the nice plaid ones with a collared polo shirt and nice leather sandals. Something like that is very appropriate. Many many other kids dress this way too! I plan on dressing him this way this year too, every night. i dont even bring pants for my kids, maybe just a pair of lounge pants. I dont think you need to worry at all. Last year in one of the dining rooms, 2 children came in from the pool, in their swim trunks, t-shirts, and barefoot!!! i was appalled!! yes, in the fancy dining room! no one asked them to leave and change, but they got lots of looks! we also saw a couple dressed in very casual shorts and t-shirts, adults. again, no one asked them to go change, but they looked out-of-place. I'm sure the pirate shorts will be perfect!!

about castaway cay... last year we rented 2 snorkel sets. one adult for me and 1 child for my kids to take turns with. when i took my daughter out (she turned 6 that day) she wore her swimmies (arm floats) and also the inflatable life jacket (required). most of the time she kept the mask & snorkel on the top of her head, but put it on for brief moments to see the fish & fun Disney stuff in the water. Maybe your little one would be ok with it for quick peeks. or just bring your own child-size goggles for her to use. i do believe they probably will not let you bring in one of the floating devices you were mentioning, but i do not know that for certain. i know that the arm swimmies are allowed. I can tell you that my daughter got very tired very quick. she held onto my life jacket strap and i virtually pulled her the entire way. That actually worked pretty well! Thank goodness for those flippers for your feet though! make sure u wear them! a couple adults didnt think they needed them and came back absolutely exhausted!!

hopefully this helped

 

[hamm1207]

Mamiof2--with the snorkel rental do you just keep them all day, or can you return them and pick up another set later? I'm renting one set of snorkel equipment for the day and I'm curious about lugging it around if I decide to go on a walk or something. Also, did you feel comfortable leaving a bag on a beach chair while you snorkeled?

 

[mamiof2]

Mamiof2--with the snorkel rental do you just keep them all day, or can you return them and pick up another set later? I'm renting one set of snorkel equipment for the day and I'm curious about lugging it around if I decide to go on a walk or something. Also, did you feel comfortable leaving a bag on a beach chair while you snorkeled?

we just kept them all day. we left them on our beach chairs while we went to eat, under a towel. we felt comfortable leaving all our things on our chairs. everyone did that. i think i just took my water camera with me to lunch.

 

[Momto3cuties]

Thanks mami...I think we will leave the inflatable and have her try the snorkel and mask. The boys have snorkeling down, so I am sure with some practice she can do it - as the 3rd child she is always trying to do what her brothers do

Last question...has anyone had problems with their magnets sticking to the doors? I had read that people were having problems when they used the magnetic paper - mostly it was the older ships - apparently the magnetic paper doesn't hold well because of the layers of paint on the door. If so, I will laminate and throw some heavy magnets on the back.

 

[Rather Be At WDW]

Last question...has anyone had problems with their magnets sticking to the doors? I had read that people were having problems when they used the magnetic paper - mostly it was the older ships - apparently the magnetic paper doesn't hold well because of the layers of paint on the door. If so, I will laminate and throw some heavy magnets on the back.

We were on the Dream last year and we had no problems with our door magnets. We had the "print on a magnet sheet" kind as well as cardstock with a strip of magnet adhered to the back. Both stuck just fine for us.

 

[mamiof2]

We were on the Dream last year and we had no problems with our door magnets. We had the "print on a magnet sheet" kind as well as cardstock with a strip of magnet adhered to the back. Both stuck just fine for us.

Same with us, ours were all fine!