Viva Italia

[Cinci]

I wouldn't hesitate one bit about going alone on this tour. Being with everyone is like being with a new family. I read a post from one gentleman that gave us a day by day itinerary and how much he enjoyed meeting new friends. This is the perfect trip for anyone going by themselves. Please don't hesitate for that reason.
Patty

 

[MickeyManiac001]

Hi again.......... I tried sending two messages to your PM but I'm getting an error message so don't know if you got them or not. I'll post here again and hope I'm not being a nuisance. Epcot is our favorite....... We would love to go there to the Italy pavillon and imagine we are on our trip already. Sounds like a fun day...... Looking forward to meeting .

Hey Cinci! Let's work something out to meet mid-February for a day at Epcot! Then we can all talk about our trip plans! How does that sound?

 

[Cinci]

That sounds fantastic. We are looking forward to it for sure..... Anxious to meet and talk about our plans-----sounds like fun.
Cinci ( Patty)

 

[MickeyManiac001]

That will be great! I will be intouch with you, Patty and we will arrange a meet and greet at Epcot!! I can't wait until our trip!~

 

[Cinci]

Anyone know how many more seats available on our tour? Just wondering how quickly it fills up. I know 40 is the limit. Friends are "talking" about going but they usually wait until the last minute. Just wonder when that is.

 

[Kris10luvsDisney]

Hey Marc! Nice to "meet" you! My DH & I are also flying out of JFK and staying an extra night in Venice at the end. Wonder if we are on the same flights ?!? My dream has always been to go to Venice, so we wanted to spend an extra night there, who knows if we will ever get to go back!

Cinci, I know when I booked earlier this month, she said there were already around 20 people booked on our tour, I wonder how full it is now? I'm sure we'll have a full group by the time of departure

Have any of you heard what is better as far as exchanging Euros? I wonder if we get a better exchange rate her or over in Italy?

Can't wait to meet all of you in person

 

[KyleRayner]

Hey Marc! Nice to "meet" you! My DH & I are also flying out of JFK and staying an extra night in Venice at the end. Wonder if we are on the same flights ?!? My dream has always been to go to Venice, so we wanted to spend an extra night there, who knows if we will ever get to go back!

Cinci, I know when I booked earlier this month, she said there were already around 20 people booked on our tour, I wonder how full it is now? I'm sure we'll have a full group by the time of departure

Have any of you heard what is better as far as exchanging Euros? I wonder if we get a better exchange rate her or over in Italy?

Can't wait to meet all of you in person

Hey Kris,

We're flying out of JFK on Saturday 9/20 at 7pm and arriving in Rome on Sunday 9/21 around 10am I think. We're flying home from Venice to JFK on Tuesday 9/30 at 11:25am and arriving in JFK at 3pm. What about you?

 

[Kris10luvsDisney]

Hi Marc, we are on the 4:05 out of JFK arriving at 6:15 am, but we're on the same flight coming home! How funny!

Are you staying at the Dei Dogi for the extra night? We thought about changing, but didn't want to deal w/ the luggage for only 1 night and this way we'll still get the transfer back to the airport too.

I'm so excited, I can't wait to be over there!!

 

[KyleRayner]

Hi Marc, we are on the 4:05 out of JFK arriving at 6:15 am, but we're on the same flight coming home! How funny!

Are you staying at the Dei Dogi for the extra night? We thought about changing, but didn't want to deal w/ the luggage for only 1 night and this way we'll still get the transfer back to the airport too.

I'm so excited, I can't wait to be over there!!

6:15am

LOL!

Yes we're staying the extra night at Dei Dogi. We were thinking about staying at Westin Europa & Regina, or the Hotel Carlton Grand Canal, or the Bauer Hotel but we just felt it was too expensive for just one extra night.

That's cool that we're on the same flight home. I'm so glad there's someone else leaving from NY on this thread. I was starting to get jealous of Cinci and MickeyManiac because they both live in FL and are planning to meet at WDW before the trip.

In regards to the Euros, it really is a crap shoot. You don't know what the exchange rate will be at the time the trip rolls around. So it's hard to say whether you're better off getting the Euros now or later, or here or in Italy. I think I'm just going get a few Euros before I leave for cabs, taxis, tips, things like that and then just use my credit card for eating and shopping when I'm there.

 

[Kris10luvsDisney]

I know what you mean about the 6:15 am arrival I am not a morning person, but I figured that way we may have a little more time to nap & shower at the hotel in Rome before meeting everyone that afternoon. I don't know if that will help/hurt in trying to get acclimated to the time change. We'll have to see how it all works out!

 

[KyleRayner]

I know what you mean about the 6:15 am arrival I am not a morning person, but I figured that way we may have a little more time to nap & shower at the hotel in Rome before meeting everyone that afternoon. I don't know if that will help/hurt in trying to get acclimated to the time change. We'll have to see how it all works out!

I know. That's the only thing I'm not looking forward to is the jetlag going there and coming back. I took 10/1 off from work, so I can have a day to recuperate before going back to work.

Any chance you're on MySpace?

 

[Kris10luvsDisney]

I don't do myspace, sorry!! You can always PM me if you want and I try to check in on the boards a couple of times per week.

 

[KyleRayner]

I don't do myspace, sorry!! You can always PM me if you want and I try to check in on the boards a couple of times per week.

Sounds good!

 

[wdwsos]

Anyone know how many more seats available on our tour? Just wondering how quickly it fills up. I know 40 is the limit. Friends are "talking" about going but they usually wait until the last minute. Just wonder when that is.

There are still rooms available for the 9/21 tour, and you can also still get the early booking discount! (This was as of 3pm on 1/18, and could change at any time.) I know the exact number of rooms left, but not how many are with the EBD.

Dotti

 

[KyleRayner]

There are still rooms available for the 9/21 tour, and you can also still get the early booking discount! (This was as of 3pm on 1/18, and could change at any time.) I know the exact number of rooms left, but not how many are with the EBD.

Dotti

Dotti's the Best!!!!!

She's my wonderful travel agent who booked my trip and I met her right here on the DIS Boards.

Thanks again Dotti!!!!!

 

[eva]

I know what you mean about the 6:15 am arrival I am not a morning person, but I figured that way we may have a little more time to nap & shower at the hotel in Rome before meeting everyone that afternoon. I don't know if that will help/hurt in trying to get acclimated to the time change. We'll have to see how it all works out!

You might not be able to get in the room right away. Be prepared to have to wait until mid to late afternoon. I'm sure I saw here somewhere that the hotel stored their luggage and then they went out for lunch and finally got their room around 4:00 pm. We are arriving for our September 14th tour at 8:15 am, so I am hoping we will get a room early too. But if not, we will just have to muddle through. It may be an early night that night.

 

[Cinci]

Hey Marc,,,,,,,,, I am jealous of you staying the extra day!!! . Come on down to WDW and join us for our Italy tour at Epcot in February. I want to take a look at the masks and see if I can get any hints on how to paint them before we get to the real thing. Wonder if they have paint by numbers. ha

 

[KyleRayner]

You might not be able to get in the room right away. Be prepared to have to wait until mid to late afternoon. I'm sure I saw here somewhere that the hotel stored their luggage and then they went out for lunch and finally got their room around 4:00 pm. We are arriving for our September 14th tour at 8:15 am, so I am hoping we will get a room early too. But if not, we will just have to muddle through. It may be an early night that night.

Thanks eva!!!

Kris I didn't even think about that. Our flight doesn't get in until about 10am, and they probably won't let us into our room either. I don't know what time check-in is. But keep in mind upon arrival we still have to get our luggage, go through customs, meet up with the ABD guide who will bring us to our transportation to the hotel. Plus they may make us wait for some more incoming flights before we leave the airport. So who knows, after all that, by the time we get to the hotel, our rooms might be ready. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[KyleRayner]

Hey Marc,,,,,,,,, I am jealous of you staying the extra day!!! . Come on down to WDW and join us for our Italy tour at Epcot in February. I want to take a look at the masks and see if I can get any hints on how to paint them before we get to the real thing. Wonder if they have paint by numbers. ha

Hey Patty, thank you so much for the invite. I would be there in a heartbeat, but believe it or not, we're still only in Jan of this year and all my vacation time has been scheduled for the year. I get 4 weeks. 1 week I'll be Nashville in March to visit family for Easter. 1 week I'll be in Ft Lauderdale in May for my sister's birthday, I have the Viva Italia trip in September, and then my WDW trip in December. Plus if I'm lucky, I'm going to try and squeeze in a short trip to WDW in October just for Party for the Senses at EPCOT and MNSSHP at Magic Kingdom.

But if anything changes, I will definitely let you know. No one has to twist my arm to go to WDW. The only thing stopping me is not having time off from work. Just to keep in the back in my mind, when in February will you be there?

 

[Kris10luvsDisney]

I don't know how to use the quote feature, but thanks for the heads-up Eva & Marc! I used to be a travel agent in my previous life, you'd think I would remember that little tidbit about a check-in time!

Anyhoo, I did figure with luggage, customs and just getting to the hotel would take a few hours, I was hoping we could get into our room even a few hours early & if a nap isn't possible, maybe time for a shower would help!

I'm sure I'll be so tired at that point that I could sleep on the airport floor and my carry-on in a pinch! lol