Trip synoposis- Wonder 02/06 plus land before- any questions

[jeannief]

Thanks! Seems that a person really needs to make a decision as to which activities/shows a child can take part in. I forgot--is early dinner seating 6pm? If so, I guess a child can go to "slide time" (what is that exactly?) then a quick dinner with the family. The could then go back to the kids club after their dinner (while the adults finish dinner) until 8:15 and then to a show with their parents. Does that sound doable?

I don't know how it would all fit together with a late dinner seating.

What happens in the kids club during the day? Didn't know if it's planned activities, free play, or a combination of both.

Thanks, T&B

Hi T&B- you are so right. It really pays to read the activities and check with your child what they want to do. There is a lot of time for individual play, so the comments I've read on other thread about children being forced to do something for an hour confused me. Maybe it's different on the 7 day cruises. Slide time is using the Mickey slide at the Mickey pool that goes from deck 10 to deck 9 into the pool. My DS5 LOVED that thing. You just need to factor in travel time from the pool to the lab (so you can pick them up) and from the restaurant to the lab to drop them off.
Early dinner is at 6:00. We were usually there between 6 and 10 after at the latest. Our kids would order with us but get their entree (they never did want appetizers) with our our soup/salad course. They were normally finished when we were done our entrees so we all had dessert together. I couldn't see us interrupting our dinner to drop them to the club, but that's just us. We were normally finished around 7:30, maybe a bit earlier. That gave us time to walk around, see a character, take the kids to the bathroom, etc. before the shows.
I forgot my stuff at home today, will post a typical kid day tomorrow. I seem to thing the Nassua morning was 1 hour of getting to know each other (with mainly individual play), 1 hour of sports on deck 10, lunch then 1 hour in the lab making chocolate chip cookies.

 

[Jillpie]

Your report is invaluable to me. In April, we are doing 4 days at Disney, 4 day cruise, then 4 days back at Disney. So all the hints and what you wouldn't do again was terrific!

You mentioned packing early. Can you be more specific about how you managed the whole packing thing from resort to cruise...was it completely stressful as the Mom? and I know you know what I mean . We have three boys (16, 12 and 11), so bringing a suitcase for each. I'm going to try to instill some independence and have them do the packing and unpacking...but then I was thinking maybe they should live out of their suitcase, not sure yet.

The photomattes...what size did you buy before the cruise? I LOVE this idea from the Dis. Did you get pillowcases for each child?

I'm so glad you posted this on the cruise forum and not the trip report one. I hardly ever go there (love them, but takes hours to read them!), but when one sneaks into the regular forums, I just love it. Especially this one. Thanks again!

 

[inkkognito]

I moved this over to the trip reports board so people who are looking for reports can find it more easily.
Barb

 

[jeannief]

Your report is invaluable to me.
You mentioned packing early. Can you be more specific about how you managed the whole packing thing from resort to cruise...was it completely stressful as the Mom? and I know you know what I mean
The photomattes...what size did you buy before the cruise? I LOVE this idea from the Dis. Did you get pillowcases for each child?

I'm so glad you posted this on the cruise forum and not the trip report one. I hardly ever go there (love them, but takes hours to read them!), but when one sneaks into the regular forums, I just love it. Especially this one. Thanks again!

Hi Jillpie
I never realized there was a trip reports board, woops! Well, now it is there.
I packed 4 suitcases. 2 were park, 2 were cruise. However DH "helped" at the end and we had some "scattering" of items. So when we go to the room I unpacked the park stuff, went through the cruise luggage and then put those aside. So I had 2 empty suitcases. Then night before cruise I packed all the dirty park clothes PLUS the stuff we didn't wear and left that in the car. I overpacked on the clothes for the kids big time. Especially since it was cold and they didn't need the shorts and tees I brought.
On the boat I unpacked everything and just threw the dirty clothes each day in an open suitcase, I left them in between a bureau standing upright and unzipped. Then on CC day I packed (neatly) all the dirty clothes plus any we wouldn't use in the next two days and closed it up. Any new dirty clothes plus all our toiletries, etc. went into the last suitcase.
It was a bit stressful, but made more manageable by breaking it up. And while we had a lot of luggage, it was better for me that way then trying to cram it into 3 suitcases.
I got the photomattes at Walmart, they fit a 5*7 frame and matte a 4*6, which is what we develop normally. I bought a set of pillowcases and gave one to each son after they were done.
HTH! I envy you the extra 4 days at the park, sounds like a perfect vacation!

 

[Jillpie]

o.k., thanks so much!

 

[jeannief]

5-7 kids club for CC day:
9-10:45- fun,sun and sand castles- scuttles cove
10:45-11:30- noodle nonsense (building things with noodles?) "let's see what kind of wacky fun we can have with these toys"
11:45-12:15-lunch
12:30-1:15- The dig at Monstro Point (digging for bones) -make no bones about it, this is an adventure every beachcomer is sure to dig!
1:30-2:30 Water Olympics (get set to get wet)
2:45-4:00- Sand castle building and cool down time (build your very own sand castle or bury yourself in the sand.
4:30-5:45- All about Animals in the club (crafts, coloring, masks, lots of fun things to choose from and they're all about animals)

T&B- hope this helps out. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Thanks, that sounds like a lot of fun! Do they have a lot going on in the kids club during a non CC day? Are they planned events, freeplay, or a combination?

T&B

 

[jeannief]

Hi T&B, on the 4 day there are really only 3 days in the clubs, Nassau day, CC day and day at sea. The first day (Sunday) they start at 6:30, and it was 6:00-8:30- arts and crafts, new friends and fun awaits you, 8:0-9:30- Aloha Luau and 9:30 to 12:00 movies.
Nassua day after lunch was 12:15-1"15= cookie baking
1:15-2:00- computers/games/ps2
2:15-2:45- music, fun and games- slide, games and lots more fun to choose from
2:45-3:45- Crabby crafts- create your own tropical fish or fish picture frame and lots moe
3:45-4:00- Pirate prep
4-5 So you want to be a pirate? captain hook stops by
5:00-5:30 slide time and then just like the night I posted above.

On reading the D Sea U stuff there is LOTS of individual play times. Sure they have to be in one area, but they can slide, or make knex (and man, do they ever have a lot of that stuff) or dress up, etc. It's all about reading the events for the times and making sure your kids know what they are going for, I think that is why our guys loved the clubs... they were only there when they wanted to be. They would have loved to be in the clubs on CC day, but we really wanted to spend time with them! excuse all the typos.....
HTH!

 

[Jaquie]

Thanks for the GREAT report! Leaving on our first Disney cruise in 2 months!!! Just tell me how tired were the kids? I have DD11,DD9andDS5. They can't wait to stay out until 1:00am. Did you and DH have alot of down time while at the pool and kids in the clubs?

 

[kkana]

This is a wonderful thread - DH and I are taking our granddaughter who will turn 8 one week before on the July 3 - July 10 - land first then sea... got lots of great ideas from you. I'm really enjoying these boards.

Cheryl

 

[jeannief]

Hi Jacquie- You will love the cruise. My boys tell eveyone about it. They were really tired by 10 at night. The one day they napped they were okay until 11 but on most days they did not nap and we were up early (except the day at sea when we all overslept) so come 10 they started to get cranky. If our older guy had liked the club at night then we would have probably left them there to fall asleep once or twice, but he found the movie watching boring. I think your 11 and 9 year old will be fine, my older guy had just turned 5 and still naps when given the opportunity so at that age I think it just depends on the child. We had as much alone time as we wanted, the kids would have spent all day in the clubs if we had let them. It was nice to sit back at the pool with a drink and a book and soak in the sun. My only complaint at the adult pool (other than all the people who left their towels on chairs and never came back) was that most everyone was smoking, but it is one of the few places on the cruise that allows smoking.
KKana- have a magical time on your cruise. I said at least once everyday on ours that we should have brought my parents along. I'm glad to be of help, I learned so much here myself.

 

[clm3]

How did you do the BD cake for your 4yr? My DS turns 13 on DAY 1 of our cruise and I would like to have one for him at dinner. Do you have to do it in advance our can you tell the waiter at the beginning of dinner ?

Thanks,
Cheryl

 

[Jaquie]

Thanks for the reply. We are so looking forward to our trip. The 8 inches of snow we are expecting only makes me wish I was there now!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jeannief]

How did you do the BD cake for your 4yr? My DS turns 13 on DAY 1 of our cruise and I would like to have one for him at dinner. Do you have to do it in advance our can you tell the waiter at the beginning of dinner ?

Thanks,
Cheryl

Hi Cheryl, I called DCL to ask them something about our reservation and they took our names and birthdates for their records, that's when the CM suggested that they celebrate his birthday, which was actually 2 days after the cruise ended. You can tell your waiter too but that might not give them enough time, especially if it is the first night where they are getting to know everyone. hth