I'm soooo confused. Help!!!

[goofymd]

Hi, I'm planing my first DCL cruise and have so many questions (i couldn't find answers for in other threads). any help would be greatly appreciated

 

 

Background- My wife and I love to cruise, (usually on Crystal and RSSC), but I am taking my 2 kids (3 & 6) and two Grandmothers with me. I thought now would be a great time for Disney, for my kids & me!!! I really wanted a longer cruise but I have to go in the summer and the last longer cruise before departing for Europe is may 5, 2007. so now I'm thinking about a land/sea option for June, 2007.

 

1) Are they worth it or am I better going on my own?

 

2) I read here, and agree, that I'd rather do the land portion first, but on-line it seem they only offer the sea part first with a 4 day sea portion. how do you flip the order?

 

3) Hotels?? so many options but what is best. my inclination is the Grand Floridian, but I really do know-and unfortunately I can't get above cat 4 because they are sold out, so it looks like I'm going to be in another hotel.

but which one??? I like the idea of jumping on the monorail, so I can bring the young one back for a nap and zip back into the park, but then I thought, and these are probably the oldies of the hotels. (maybe I'm better in a newer one.) I really can't differentiate the hotels on line, Help!!

 

4) rooms- I really wanted a 2 broom suite +another room for the Grandmas- (my boys go to sleep early and my wife and I want to stay up - I'm afraid the curtain in the family room won't be enough. (and no matter his bedtime my oldest is up at 5:30- so I want an extra room for him to play in not to wake up dear ole dad)- so I think I'll be getting 3 rooms -(hopefully 2 adjoining)- I was going to just do the deluxe with veranda. does anyone see an advantage to getting 2 family deluxe rooms? (I don't think the extra space will mean much.

 

sorry for the long rant, but I want this to work.

 

thank you in advance for ANY tidbits of information to help guide me.

[mom x4,grandma x4]

Hi,

boy you have a lot of decisions to make.

 

Well if you want a hotel on the monorail the Polynesian is also on the line and so is the Contempory resort. Both are really nice and offer many types of rooms. At the Contempory if you get inthe main building that is where the monorail is, the outer rooms are just a 2 minute walk to get in the main building, so it is all close. Chef Mickeys is ther for character breakfasts ont he weekends and dinners everynight. Usually need a reservation but is good food and lots of attention for the kids when the characters come around.

 

If you dont mind riding the disney buses for transportaion to the parks the Animal Kingdom lodge is really nice, especially if you can a verandah over looking the savanah. They have lots of african grazing animals roaming freely where you can see them from your verandah. The kids would love it I'm sure.

Caribbean beach resort is also really nice, my son is a manager there so I know for sure about it.

 

I have stayed at The Wilderness lodge before and it is beautiful and you can take a boat or bus to magic Kingdom. it is built to resemble the lodge at yellowstone, AWESOME!!!!

The resort hotels are nice too and have adjoining rooms too. The POP century is a new one and it is really colorful and fun to stay at.

Even Disneys older hotels are very nice, they totally re-did a couple of them over the last 2 years.

 

 

I definately agree to do the land portion first because it is the most tiring and stressful part of the trip, then you can relax through your cruise and not feel like you need a vacation to recover from this vacation before going back to work.

I have not done the land sea package, but many I know who did all booked them separately. They said it was cheaper and they did the days the way they wanted. They just booked the cruise bus to take them to and from the cruise. I believe it is $60 per person.

 

Hope this has helped you some,

mom x4,grandma x4

[cusyl]

Background- My wife and I love to cruise, (usually on Crystal and RSSC), but I am taking my 2 kids (3 & 6) and two Grandmothers with me. so now I'm thinking about a land/sea option for June, 2007.

 

1) Are they worth it or am I better going on my own?

 

You can easily do the land portion on your own at

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index?bhcp=1

 

3) Hotels?? , so it looks like I'm going to be in another hotel.

but which one???

 

The Monorail goes to three hotels: The Grand Floridian, The Contemporary and The Polynesian.

All are nice, the Grand Floridian being the newest and most expensive. The other hotels in the park all have a bus that connects to the park.

You can easily book your own hotel without doing it through your cruise booking.

4) rooms-

The cabins on the Disney ships are pricey compared to the other lines, but the kids will LOVE the Disney adventure on the ship.

The cabins on Disney are configured with two bathrooms which is a big help with a family.

I would say whatever you can afford as far as the rooms, the kids program is great on the Disney ship, our Grandson insisted on spending 8 hours there, we kept going back for him and he didnt want to leave. If they wake up at 5:30 I assume your wife gets up with them then, they couldn't be in a room by themselves. Perhaps she could take them elsewhere on the ship while you sleep.

[Momof 2 boys]

I agree with what all has said. We have stayed at all of the above hotels except the Wilderness and the monorails are great and definatly handy when you want to get to your hotel with less hastle. Our favorite and our boys favorite is the Beach club resort. They have a great pool....the best Disney has to offer. There pool is so good that it is the only resort that when at the pool you need a wrist band to get into. There pool is like a mini water park. Also you can walk to Epcot(15 minute) or take the boat taxi right from there to MGM. If your looking to pay less than I would say the Carribian Beach club. For Christmas we are doing 5 days at the "Beach club resort " than 10 day Christmas Cruise. Our first cruise on DCwas a sea/land package and we stayed at Carribian Bch and was not disappointed at all. It just went real fast. So if you can, I would suggest adding days outside of your sea/land package and stay at Disney World longer. But what ever you decide you wont be disappointed after all its "Disney" and Disney Rocks.

[goofymd]

You people are so helpfull- thanks.

 

so I think I book the parts seperatly- I'll probably stay an extra day and do 4 days land/4 days sea.

 

I think I'm between the Beach club (for the kids- ) or the Grand Florindian (for the wife). I just not sure the latter is worth the extra money.

[JCSM-Mom]

Hi, I'm planing my first DCL cruise and have so many questions (i couldn't find answers for in other threads). any help would be greatly appreciated

 

 

Background- My wife and I love to cruise, (usually on Crystal and RSSC), but I am taking my 2 kids (3 & 6) and two Grandmothers with me. I thought now would be a great time for Disney, for my kids & me!!! I really wanted a longer cruise but I have to go in the summer and the last longer cruise before departing for Europe is may 5, 2007. so now I'm thinking about a land/sea option for June, 2007.

 

1) Are they worth it or am I better going on my own?

 

2) I read here, and agree, that I'd rather do the land portion first, but on-line it seem they only offer the sea part first with a 4 day sea portion. how do you flip the order?

 

3) Hotels?? so many options but what is best. my inclination is the Grand Floridian, but I really do know-and unfortunately I can't get above cat 4 because they are sold out, so it looks like I'm going to be in another hotel.

but which one??? I like the idea of jumping on the monorail, so I can bring the young one back for a nap and zip back into the park, but then I thought, and these are probably the oldies of the hotels. (maybe I'm better in a newer one.) I really can't differentiate the hotels on line, Help!!

 

4) rooms- I really wanted a 2 broom suite +another room for the Grandmas- (my boys go to sleep early and my wife and I want to stay up - I'm afraid the curtain in the family room won't be enough. (and no matter his bedtime my oldest is up at 5:30- so I want an extra room for him to play in not to wake up dear ole dad)- so I think I'll be getting 3 rooms -(hopefully 2 adjoining)- I was going to just do the deluxe with veranda. does anyone see an advantage to getting 2 family deluxe rooms? (I don't think the extra space will mean much.

 

sorry for the long rant, but I want this to work.

 

thank you in advance for ANY tidbits of information to help guide me.

 

Hi -

 

I am about to go on my 3rd Land/Sea trip in December. I love it. The first two times I stayed at Dixie Landings (Port Orleans, I think now). This time we are staying at the Caribbean Beach. We were looking into Animal Kingdom, it looks great and we will probably do that next time, but both sets of grandparents were going with us and they couldn't afford that and we all wanted to be in the same hotel and general ship location.

 

We are barely in the room or cabin anyway. The land/sea with land then sea is on line, but it's 4 days land/ 3 days Sea. We are adding a day on both ends. It takes all day to get to Orlando from Oregon, so I don't want to waste away a day doing that, so I add a day on the front (Saturday). We will then have 4 full days at WDW (Sun-Wed), then we will Cruise on Thurs-Sun, after than we have them take us back to the resort and spend Sun at the resort (your key to the world still works) and we fly out early am on Monday. We do this because the flights back to Oregon leaving in the afternoon really stink and it was actually less expensive (by $1000 (less food) for my family of 5) to stay an extra day. Kinda a no brainer. I don't know about the double room either...never looked into it. We'll have 4 of us in one room, one kid will stay with one of the grandparents.

 

What I haven't priced out is doing all the pieces on my own....I love the convenience of once they pick me up at the airport...they take care of me until they drop me back off and the transportation, room, park passes etc are taken care of.

 

I was going to look into the dining plan to see if that was worth the money, but I haven't yet.

 

Anyway...this is a bit disjointed but if I can offer any additional info let me know today. We are heading out on Vacation tomorrow! :D

[JCSM-Mom]

Hi,

Caribbean beach resort is also really nice, my son is a manager there so I know for sure about it.

mom x4,grandma x4

 

Hey, I'll have to tell him hello for you! :)

[cusyl]

The budget hotels which are still on the Disney property and connected by the bus service to the parks are very reasonable. We have stayed at all of them over the years. They are called the "Allstar" Resorts. If you want to save some money you can consider those.

The mid price ones which we have also stayed at many times are the Yacht and Beach Club, Port Orleans, Wilderness Lodge. There are also cabins that you can rent at the campgrounds. These are all connected by the buses or by water launches.

The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM and Animal Kingdom are all magical and since we live only 2 hours away we have been many times over the years.

However, I think Walt Disney would be appalled by how they have kept raising the rates to get into the parks. I don't see how a family can really afford to go anymore. Hopefully in the vacation packages they give you a break on the prices.

[OceanLiner]

Hi, I'm planing my first DCL cruise and have so many questions (i couldn't find answers for in other threads). any help would be greatly appreciated

 

 

Background- My wife and I love to cruise, (usually on Crystal and RSSC), but I am taking my 2 kids (3 & 6) and two Grandmothers with me. I thought now would be a great time for Disney, for my kids & me!!! I really wanted a longer cruise but I have to go in the summer and the last longer cruise before departing for Europe is may 5, 2007. so now I'm thinking about a land/sea option for June, 2007.

 

1) Are they worth it or am I better going on my own?

 

2) I read here, and agree, that I'd rather do the land portion first, but on-line it seem they only offer the sea part first with a 4 day sea portion. how do you flip the order?

 

3) Hotels?? so many options but what is best. my inclination is the Grand Floridian, but I really do know-and unfortunately I can't get above cat 4 because they are sold out, so it looks like I'm going to be in another hotel.

but which one??? I like the idea of jumping on the monorail, so I can bring the young one back for a nap and zip back into the park, but then I thought, and these are probably the oldies of the hotels. (maybe I'm better in a newer one.) I really can't differentiate the hotels on line, Help!!

 

4) rooms- I really wanted a 2 broom suite +another room for the Grandmas- (my boys go to sleep early and my wife and I want to stay up - I'm afraid the curtain in the family room won't be enough. (and no matter his bedtime my oldest is up at 5:30- so I want an extra room for him to play in not to wake up dear ole dad)- so I think I'll be getting 3 rooms -(hopefully 2 adjoining)- I was going to just do the deluxe with veranda. does anyone see an advantage to getting 2 family deluxe rooms? (I don't think the extra space will mean much.

 

sorry for the long rant, but I want this to work.

 

thank you in advance for ANY tidbits of information to help guide me.

 

Great questions!

 

First, let me say that my sons were the sames ages as yours when we did our first Disney cruise, and we wanted to do the same thing as you. So here is our advice based on your questions....

 

1) Do the land/sea option with Disney. It's seamless and top class. Plus you have the added benefit of having Park Hopper passes for DW that will allow you to go anywhere at anytime.

 

2) Get off the net for booking this cruise. Get to a trusted TA or go directly to DCL. The suites are not available on line and the amount of options available to you are vast. You should easily be able to flip the land/sea to whatever you wish. Also, you are very correct in taking the cruise after going to the park.

 

3) I would highly recommend the guidebook "The Unoffical Guide to Walt Disney World". We read it cover to cover and followed the directions to the letter. It worked so well that we never ever stood in line for more than 10 minutes! The key for you is really the monorail system because it allows such fast access to the Magic Kingdom, and your kids will really want to only go to the Magic Kingdom. When my kids were that age the other three parks were dull. But Dumbo, Pirates, et all were over the top. By being on the monorail you go the park in the early morning, head back to hotel pool, and back again at night as often as you wish. We have stayed at the Grand Floridian and at the Contemporary. This family really liked the Contemporary for its retro hippness, the great game room and cafeteria, and the really nice pool. You want to make sure to stay in the main tower because the other rooms are way out of the way. Also, make sure to rent water mice or a whaler and cruise around the lagoon. The very best day that we ever had at Disney started with early entry on a raining morning. The park was nearly empty and we had the place to ourselves and rode everything as much as we wanted. By 11:00am the park was getting busy and we took the monorail home. Quick lunch followed by renting a whaler for three hours, then to the pool. By 7pm we had dinner and hit the park rested and happy, and watched the fireworks and rode Buzz Lightyear into the night. Both kids still talk about that day!

 

4) Rooms. This is where the TA or DCL can really help. Try a C5 or C4, with an inside room right across the hallway. Very cost effective and everyone has privacy.

 

Good luck, and have fun.

[gordon24]

It's definitely cheaper to do the land/sea package and have DCL add days at the beginning for you. We are doing 5 nights WDW/4 nights Sea. We booked through DCL - highly recommend. Were very helpful, answered tons of questions for me and I like that everything is seamless. I happened to do the math today to see if it would have been cheaper for me to book separately and the answer is NO. For 3 adults it would have cost us $862 more for the 9 nights. So with the size of group you have it would be even higher. I also looked at if we booked separetely and added in the dining option - the difference was $289 per day more for food for 3 people. The 3 of us won't eat that much in food each day. Go for the land/sea package and just have them add days as you get a cheaper 'per day' rate for the extra days by booking it all together. Have fun planning and once you've booked you'll then find yourself coming back to this site constantly for tips!:)

[granitebaymom]

I was concerned too what to do, and I'm taking my 3 1/2 year old and a just turned one year old. I'm going on the four dayer, but did want to do land also. My problem is I am a teacher, so I couldn't do the way Disney wants you to do it, which is land first then cruise. Anyway, I bought on Amazon.com "The Unofficial Guide" as well as the Disney World with Kids, I think it's either by Fodors or Birnbaums. I bought the Disney Cruise book by Birnbaums, but I found this website gave more and better info than the book! You can read what they readers have to say about the book before you buy. I highly recommend it. I'm going over this Christmas Break, so I can't speak yet how all goes. I've been to Disneyland over 40 times, but never Disney World, so I'm excited to see what it's like to compare.

Also, here are some good websites I have found to help with what to expect on the Disney Cruise and Disney World.

Mousesavers.com, Castawayclub.com, mouseplanet.com, allears.net, themouseforless.com. Tons of info, ratings on hotels, tips on rooms, pics of menus on board as well as the Navigator.

[goofymd]

thanks everybody,

 

Just put my deposit on this:

 

4 days @ Beach club resort June 13-17 - 3 standard rooms

4 day cruise- 6/17- 3 cat 5 rooms with verandah- 7080, 7082 (connecting) and 7078. They look good- middle of the ship.

 

I'm soooo excited.

[Pusniski]

I love the Epcot area but GF and AKL are my favorite resorts. :D I adore Storm Along Bay. The slide is fun and it's not just for kids. ;) Beach Club has Beaches N Cream - the home of the kitchen sink. Bring your sweet tooth! The famous Art (greeter) is at Beach Club, too. Such a nice fellow with a smile that goes for miles. I enjoyed my stay there back in 2005. The room decor is bright and airy. The quick walk to Epcot, but we always took the boat to MGM (because we like the boat :) ). You have the boardwalk right there at your finger tips, too. If you can swing it - go have dinner at Flying Fish Cafe. It is superb. Get their signature dish the red snapper with leek fondue. OMG, it's making my mouth water just thinking about it.

 

Keep watching Mousesavers for possible discounts closer to time. You never know when a public code will come out. Did you book a package for your land portion or room only? You can get parkhopper tickets cheaper through a ticket broker rather than directly with Disney (especially since ticket prices went up - buy now if you can). There are one or two brokers suggested on Mousesavers. I think a package would be better suited for you price wise - especially with their modest dining plan. I wouldn't count on a package discount for June but I'd still stay connect just in case. This past June no discounts were offered. That was first and only time I didn't get an Annual Pass rate for my room. :eek:

 

I know you booked a Cat 5, but you could save a little dough by dropping down to a Cat 6 if they have some midship locations for the Cat 6s. There is no difference what so ever between the two categories room wise - just location.

 

Did you book with a TA? There are TAs that offer shipboard credits which you typically won't get booking direct with DCL. There are some that also give disney dollars for booking a package with them. If you booked direct it's not too late to transfer the reservation back to a TA.

 

You can also swing over to www.disboards.com for their larger than life cruise forum and all things about Disney. There's probably more on that discussion board than what's in the Unofficial Guide. LOL! They have forums on park touring/themeparks, budgeting, resort information, up to date info on discounts (quicker than Mousesavers), transportation - airline tickets, rental cars, etc. For books, I like the Passporter myself and found it more useful than the unofficial guide but that's just me. I hear Tour Guide Mike was beneficial too for park touring plans, too.

[goofymd]

I love the Epcot area but GF and AKL are my favorite resorts. :D I adore Storm Along Bay. The slide is fun and it's not just for kids. ;) Beach Club has Beaches N Cream - the home of the kitchen sink. Bring your sweet tooth! The famous Art (greeter) is at Beach Club, too. Such a nice fellow with a smile that goes for miles. I enjoyed my stay there back in 2005. The room decor is bright and airy. The quick walk to Epcot, but we always took the boat to MGM (because we like the boat :) ). You have the boardwalk right there at your finger tips, too. If you can swing it - go have dinner at Flying Fish Cafe. It is superb. Get their signature dish the red snapper with leek fondue. OMG, it's making my mouth water just thinking about it.

 

Keep watching Mousesavers for possible discounts closer to time. You never know when a public code will come out. Did you book a package for your land portion or room only? You can get parkhopper tickets cheaper through a ticket broker rather than directly with Disney (especially since ticket prices went up - buy now if you can). There are one or two brokers suggested on Mousesavers. I think a package would be better suited for you price wise - especially with their modest dining plan. I wouldn't count on a package discount for June but I'd still stay connect just in case. This past June no discounts were offered. That was first and only time I didn't get an Annual Pass rate for my room. :eek:

 

I know you booked a Cat 5, but you could save a little dough by dropping down to a Cat 6 if they have some midship locations for the Cat 6s. There is no difference what so ever between the two categories room wise - just location.

 

Did you book with a TA? There are TAs that offer shipboard credits which you typically won't get booking direct with DCL. There are some that also give disney dollars for booking a package with them. If you booked direct it's not too late to transfer the reservation back to a TA.

 

You can also swing over to www.disboards.com for their larger than life cruise forum and all things about Disney. There's probably more on that discussion board than what's in the Unofficial Guide. LOL! They have forums on park touring/themeparks, budgeting, resort information, up to date info on discounts (quicker than Mousesavers), transportation - airline tickets, rental cars, etc. For books, I like the Passporter myself and found it more useful than the unofficial guide but that's just me. I hear Tour Guide Mike was beneficial too for park touring plans, too.

 

 

Pusniski,

great reply. thanks.

 

I did book through a TA so I do have the park hopper and some on board credits. I picked BCR due to the bright nature of the resort (something completely different from the Arizona desert area.) and the pool sounded ideal for my kids.

as for the Flying Fish Cafe- I am definitely a foodie/wino- so my next venture is to explore all the eating possibilities. We love fish, also. are the Epcot restaurants good? is it feasible to just walk there for dinner or is it too far? are there any good wine lists?

 

my next task is also to figure out excursions. I doubt if we will do many, because we tend to like to be on our own and just explore or go to the beach. the exception is the dolphins. my wife has not let me forget not even trying to swim with them in Hawaii (there was a lottery which rumor had it was almost impossible to get picked so we didn't go, only later to find out it didn't even fill up- dooh!)

 

as for the disboards, I have been lurking and reading over there, also. any other good sites I should go to?

[Pusniski]

Pusniski,

great reply. thanks.

 

I did book through a TA so I do have the park hopper and some on board credits. I picked BCR due to the bright nature of the resort (something completely different from the Arizona desert area.) and the pool sounded ideal for my kids.

as for the Flying Fish Cafe- I am definitely a foodie/wino- so my next venture is to explore all the eating possibilities. We love fish, also. are the Epcot restaurants good? is it feasible to just walk there for dinner or is it too far? are there any good wine lists?

 

my next task is also to figure out excursions. I doubt if we will do many, because we tend to like to be on our own and just explore or go to the beach. the exception is the dolphins. my wife has not let me forget not even trying to swim with them in Hawaii (there was a lottery which rumor had it was almost impossible to get picked so we didn't go, only later to find out it didn't even fill up- dooh!)

 

as for the disboards, I have been lurking and reading over there, also. any other good sites I should go to?

 

You are literally just a 10 minute walk to an entrance to Epcot from BC. From International Gateway entrance, you go in you head up right up to bridge over to the World Showcase where most of your restaurants are. It can take some time to walk to a restaurant depending on which one you book so give yourself at least 30 minutes to make the journey if you decide to dine in the world. It's not a hard walk and if you schedule your time accordingly you can dine in Epcot besides right at your resort.

 

You are about a 10 minute walk to Flying Fish on the boardwalk (Boardwalk Inn is right across the water).

 

There are menus at www.allearsnet.com for all the dining venues if you want to see what's cooking.

 

There is wine everywhere you go except for Magic Kingdom (sorry - it's dry county there). Wine list you say. JMO, but I found Jiko's @ AKL has some great South African wines. Cocktails - not a problem.

 

Beach Club - Cape May which is a buffet. Yacht Club which is next door to the BC has the Yachtsman Steakhouse. Boardwalk Inn is home of the Flying Fish & Spoodles. Big River Brewery is over at the Boardwalk Inn, too. I haven't heard stellar used to describe it - no reservations at Big River either. The Swan & Dolphin are right there in the same vicinity with Blue Zoo and Shula's. We ate at Shula's last February. It reminded more of a Morton's of Chicago. I like it, but steak is not my DH's cup of tea.

 

Coral Reef in Epcot was good but not outstanding. We had fabulous service and we liked the atmosphere but I felt we've had better meals elsewhere. Now, taste is subjective. Their menu is seafood driven. Things change over time so I wouldn't rule this out just because of my experience from 2 years ago. See if you can sit near the tanks, but they are hard to get especially with a larger party. You can still see the fish from all the way in the back booths. I speak from experience.

 

Narcoossee's at Grand Floridian - I had a terrific seafood meal here back in July 2006. I had surf and turf and my bud had lobster - both were great! One wasn't hungry enough to eat a full meal but she did munch on the calamari I ordered (tender, lightly breaded with hot/sweet peppers mixed - de-lish!). It was so much better than when I dined there in June 2004 and once again we had a fabulous server that didn't mind that my friends and I drank and drank and drank. We did eat and eat and eat too. LOL! If you use Disney transportation to get there then schedule at least an hour to get there. They like you to be 15 minutes before your reservation. To get there from Beach Club, take the bus to MK then switch to the boat to GF or monorail to GF. On the monorail you will stop at Contemporary, then Ticket Transportation Center, Polynesian and finally the GF. Sometimes the boat is quicker than the monorail to GF. Want to save time then just budget for cabs. A cab (they have vans to fit over 4 people) will still take about 20 minutes. Cab fare will probably be in the neighborhood of $20 plus tip. Get directions loudly from the valet before getting into the cab. They will drive you the long way around knowing we're just a bunch of tourists. :rolleyes:

 

There are tons of restaurants in the World Showcase. I've not eaten at all of them but I've been to Le Cellier's (Canada), Coral Reef, L'Originale Alfredo di Roma (Italy), Restaurant Marrakesh (Morraco), San Angel Inn (Mexico) and a few counter service places. Some of the resort restaurants I've been to: Narcoossee's, Concourse Steakhouse, Jiko's, Boma's, Artist Point, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Shula's, Flying Fish, Grand Floridian Cafe, ESPN club, Kona's, O'hanas.

 

If you have time - the Hoop Dee Doo at the campground is AWESOME! Bring your appetite and sense of humor. You won't be disappointed at all. My very shy, don't call on me DH even agrees this was a true gem. We wish we had more time to do it again for upcoming trip. Fried chicken and BBQ ribs (ribs are very yummy) and let's not even go there about the strawberry shortcake. Oh, shoot - I'm drooling again.

 

House of Blues in DTD & Rainforest Cafe @ AK park. We liked both of these places. I've eaten at Wolf Gang puck but not in Disney and I like it. Fulton's - probably a bit overpriced for what you get and I haven't heard "outstanding" and Fulton's in the same sentence. Fulton's is a seafood joint.

 

See I can go on and on. :D We've not had a bad meal, but some were more scrumpcious than others. ;)

 

Oops! I have one more discussion board. It's not as travelled but expanding. There is more cruise info on Disboards.

 

http://new.disneyecho.emuck.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?

 

I can't comment on Bahamian excursions as I haven't been. Castaway Cay - check out the cabana massages - book it as soon as you can. I enjoyed parasailing at Castaway Cay, too. Do plan on spending some time just the adults at Serenity Bay for at least a little while. The kids club stays open on the beach until 3 p.m. Don't book the last cabana massage unless G-ma is going to get the kiddos out. Last massage is 2-3 p.m. and you won't get back in time. Unless you are going to use the bike rental, floats and snorkel gear which will take most of your day then just skip the all inclusive package. We did that and ended up only doing the bike rental later in the day. I paid $32 a person to ride a bike for an hour. We were too busy trying to squeeze in parasailing, massages and beach time. Way too much for one 8 hour day. Oh, and do try the Konk cooler - it's tasty! DH enjoyed the Tropical Depression but it's a doozy.

[goofymd]

WOW!!!

you are a wealth of information.

 

I have my work cut out for me as I research these restaurants. probably will do an Italian and seafood (fish).

 

 

as for the cabana massages-(did my DW put you up to that?)- she would love it.

 

I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

 

you have really added to my excitement. (I think the planning is more than half the fun).

[Pusniski]

My DH is just as big massage buff as I am (thankfully). You won't regret doing the couples cabana massage with her on CC. I promise I've not corresponded with her in any way, shape or form. LOL! If time doesn't allow for the cabana massage on the island then book a couple's massage on the ship for an at sea day or late one afternoon while in port. Just remember to book it with enough for you to get ready for dinner and the show afterwards. ;) If it's your first time going with DCL you'll be able to book at Palo, Spa and excursions at the 75 day mark. Plan to be up in the middle of the night to try to grab what you can. People are online at 3 a.m. EST to book at the 90 and 75 day mark respectively! Many cruisers can be repeat cruisers and are able to book at 90 days so you never know what's left. They release 50% of their bookings online to give the less computer savy a chance to get something. If you don't get that one reservation you will be able to book it onboard. I'd try to arrive at port early in that case and try to be some of the first on the ship in order to get the coveted Palo, spa ressies or any outstanding hot selling excursions. I didn't get what I want for my Palo ressies for this upcoming cruise but I'm sure all will be taken care of once on the ship. :)

 

I did a wine tasting seminar on the Magic that enjoyed. They have beer, tequila and martini tastings too. I'm not sure if all are offered on the Wonder but it's something you might want to dig around to see if they do offer it. I really enjoyed the wine tasting. My husband doesn't drink wine so I went alone. I'm not new to wine but I definitely learned a few things. The cellar masters had a great sense of humor and was overall very entertaining and informative. ~thumbs up~

 

They have good wine on the ship and quite a list too. :cool: I know you are a fellow drinker so I thought I'd drop that tidbit. And I mean fellow drinker in the nicest way. No need to pack your own unless it's something they don't carry. If you have a particular wine in mind I'd call direct to see if they carry it. If not, you can ship it ahead of time to the warehouse and it'll appear in your room. $15 corkage fee plus gratuity in the dining room. Bubble wrap, bubble wrap, newspaper, more bubble wrap packed tight in a box with more bubble wrap all around it and it should arrive without a scratch. :D

 

Palo has the best food on the ship hands down. Book brunch! I liked it better than dinner - no wait, it was terrible - everyone stay away, stay away! Yuck, yuck!

[goofymd]

. If not, you can ship it ahead of time to the warehouse and it'll appear in your room. $15 corkage fee plus gratuity in the dining room. Bubble wrap, bubble wrap, newspaper, more bubble wrap packed tight in a box with more bubble wrap all around it and it should arrive without a scratch. :D

 

This may be the best info yet!!! I do like my wine- unfortunately, I'm quite particular. If I can ship it it would save me a big hassle of dealing with the airlines weight restrictions. I have plenty of styrofoam shippers that I get my wine shipped from the wineries in, so I'll be able to keep my babies safe. I'd just be worried they wouldn't get to me on the ship. I don't suppose you would know who i can contact for this service?

[Pusniski]

You can call DCL direct in order to make sure this is the most up to date mailing address:

 

IDS

Disney Cruise Line

9001 Marlin Street

Cape Canaveral, FL 32920

phone - 321-799-9100

 

pkg must arrive by 5:00 PM on Fri. for Sat and Sun sailings

Pkg must arrive by 11:00 AM on Thursday for Thursday sailings

 

Remember to label your box or boxes with your name, cabin number, whether you are sailing on the Magic or Wonder, the sailing date and number the boxes like "Box 1 of 1."

 

The box will probably be in your room before your luggage. ;) If you like it slightly chilled it may be a problem in the mini-fridges in the room. The stateroom host or hostess can bring you ice to cool it down and keep chilled for serving.

 

I don't know if you are considering shipping other things with the wine or not but want to give you food for thought. If you are renting a vehicle for your return trip I believe there is a shipping store close to port you can make a quick pit stop at before going to the airport. Just keep your box (you can tuck it under your bed if it's not too tall) and your packing material to re-use. Pack some scissors and tape to get it all ready to roll and put a luggage tag on it and they will take it with the rest of the luggage so you aren't toting a box off the ship.

 

I bet I'm giving you information overload now. LOL! I remember my first trip to Disney and it went pretty smoothly with very few hiccups. But I was very lucky to have found a great Disney TA and the Disboards. I still didn't really learn how things flowed until we got there because everyone does things differently and the crowd levels utlimately affect your vacation plans. This place is huge and there is so much to see. You will not see it all. You say that to yourself right now - go in with a realistic expectation. I've been about six times and still haven't seen everything. With 4 days if you did a themepark a day you could see each park, but then you are coming in on day 1 and leaving on day 4. You'll have to pick your priorities. With the little guys I think MK is going to be at the top of the list. Epcot will be more to the adults liking (not that the kids don't have fun with Soaring, Test Track & Mission Space, etc). You'll want to see the parades or at least the firework shows - Wishes, Fantasmic and Illuminations. Maybe consider a firework cruise for Wishes and Fantasmic. The pontoons are reasonably priced.

 

When this sinks in - let me know. I can load more into your brain. :D

[Pusniski]

Weirdness is happening....

[goofymd]

There is no such thing as information overload in my world. Of course I'm one of the slightly neurotic, obsessive compulsive, geeky types.

 

O boy do I have realistic expectations-with my boys you have to.

 

Two years ago we went to Knotts berry farms figuring my older boy would like camp snoopy (and that he would not wait in lines at Disneyland, yet). I put the over/under line for rides at 8- he did 6 rides and was done- including a 15 min wait till we were the next group before he decided he was through and wanted to do something else. was a lot of money for a little over an hour in the park, but he had a great time and still talks about it.

so although it kills my more frugal intelectual side, I always remind myself- these trips are for one reason- to make the kids happy. so we will see what we see, and miss a whole lot!!

 

I'm thinking of spending the mornings in the parks and the afternoons at the pools. two days in MK, one in Epcot- (actually I think my older being a mini-adult already at 6) will enjoy this, and one at AK. but I have just started my research on this part of the trip.

[jumbo29]

Lots of great info here! Wow! Just wanted to add my 2-cents! My DH and I really enjoyed the beer tastings. Again, very entertaining and good beer. Bonus, got some great beer recipes! Also loved the cabana massage but was disappointed with the sea weed wrap. We had done it before on a previous cruise and they have since changed suppliers. The massge that went with it was nice but the wrap itself was a little disappointing. I enjoy spending time in the rainforest at the spa. This is where they have the steam rooms and dry saunas and it's a pretty peaceful place to hang out. On a day that you have a treatment the price is $8, otherwise it's $15. Just a note, the basketball court is just above the rainforest room so if there is a big game going on, it can get annoying.

 

As far as WDW goes.....I have worked there for 10 years and finally went to eat at the California Grill the other night and it was fabulous!! I highly recommend it! I have eaten numerous times at Victoria and Alberts which is fabulous but I would have to say that CG is even better! This restaurant is on top of the Contemporary hotel and has a fabulous view of MK and, if you time it right, you can watch the fireworks! Oh, and a very nice wine list with knowledgable staff!

 

Just got back from the alternate western (7-day) which we enjoyed immensely. We are more beer drinkers then wine so we brought beer with us and bought our wine on board. I was not impressed with the wine list. Another good deal was to buy the large beer glass which was $12 but the 22 oz refills were only $4! A real bargian if you are a beer drinker!

 

Oh, one more suggestion.......look into the Saratoga Springs resort at Disney if you need room. They have a wonderful 2 bedroom apartment to rent. They are close to downtown Disney where there is a great nightlife and wonderful shopping and dining.

 

Hope this other opinion helps you or someone else!

:rolleyes:

[Pusniski]

We had V&A's booked this July but some of the gals wouldn't be able to make it so we cancelled and did a private shin-dig at the GF marina later on instead. I've heard nothing but great things about V&A and California Grill. They are on my "to do" list. :D

 

I thought the beer mug was more expensive than that. Thanks for the inside tip on that. I do want to do another tasting and was looking at martini or tequila tasting but I've just began dabbling into beer here lately so maybe I'll check that out instead. So many tastings, so little time. :rolleyes:

 

Yes, he could reserve Saratoga Springs - 2 bdrm or even the 3 bdrm villas I think the 2 bdrm ranges $500-$800 depending on the season and the 3 bdrm ranges $1,100-$1500. He's on a package plan so he won't be able to rent points from a DVC owner either. BC also has SAB and has two major themeparks right next to it and more frequent bus service to AK & MK than SSR - that should be taken into consideration of the deluxe resort vs. DVC. He plans on using Disney transportation to get around. There was good service from SSR this past summer but terrible in February in speaking with a few people I know that have stayed there. Now I did hang out at SSR with a buddy of mine and I must say I like the theming. I had been to the spa there already a few times but hadn't see the rooms. It would be awful hard to give up BC's location and Stormalong Bay though.

 

GoofyMD - If you want, call your TA and see if they can price the BC villas for you with your package to see the price of it vs. the 3 std rooms in the resort. BTW, the villas are butting up against the resort so you're not losing any of your "location." They have 2 bdrms villas there as well. You'll still have access to the pool and transportation but will be in condo style accommodations. I've seen pictures of the BC villas and they are equally airy and light. ;) I believe if you book through Disney like a regular room you'll get regular housekeeping - but please ask your TA to confirm that. I haven't stayed or booked a villa so I'm not 100% positive how it all works.

[ajcolorado]

Anyway, I bought on Amazon.com "The Unofficial Guide" as well as the Disney World with Kids, I think it's either by Fodors or Birnbaums. I bought the Disney Cruise book by Birnbaums, but I found this website gave more and better info than the book! You can read what they readers have to say about the book before you buy. I highly recommend it. I'm going over this Christmas Break, so I can't speak yet how all goes.

 

Since you are looking at June, please use the Unofficial Guide rather than Birnbaum's book. We always go to Disney World in June and have a great time but June is peak season and you really need good touring plans to keep you out of the lines. Birnbaum has great general information but lacks the specifics you really need. There are two online services that are good too: www.tourguidemike.com is an online subscription service with excellent information to help you put together your own touring plan. The volume of information is overwelming at first but the forums are really nice and helpful. www.buildabettermousetrip.com is who we used on our last trip - they did custom touring plans for us and made our dining reservations. The service was reasonably priced and they were great about helping us avoid shorter park hours due to a couple of special events occuring at the time. They suggested a free activity that our kids really loved - a Campfire Sing-Along w/ Chip & Dale. It was a lot of fun. Here's a link with the info: www.buildabettermousetrip.com/activity-campfire.html They also have a great page on their for finding Disney Princesses at the parks.

 

We loved the pool at Beach Club with the little ones. You don't have the monorail to Magic Kingdom but there are boats to Disney-MGM Studios and you can use the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. By the way, our little ones loved Epcot. They liked the less intense rides, Turtle Talk with Crush, and the live entertainment. One daughter just loved the scenes at Spaceship Earth (the silver golf ball - history of communication). It struck me as kind of odd but she was just captivated by them.

[Host Mick]

Since you are looking at June, please use the Unofficial Guide rather than Birnbaum's book. We always go to Disney World in June and have a great time but June is peak season and you really need good touring plans to keep you out of the lines. Birnbaum has great general information but lacks the specifics you really need. There are two online services that are good too: www.tourguidemike.com is an online subscription service with excellent information to help you put together your own touring plan. The volume of information is overwelming at first but the forums are really nice and helpful. www.buildabettermousetrip.com is who we used on our last trip - they did custom touring plans for us and made our dining reservations. The service was reasonably priced and they were great about helping us avoid shorter park hours due to a couple of special events occuring at the time. They suggested a free activity that our kids really loved - a Campfire Sing-Along w/ Chip & Dale. It was a lot of fun. Here's a link with the info: www.buildabettermousetrip.com/activity-campfire.html They also have a great page on their for finding Disney Princesses at the parks.

 

We loved the pool at Beach Club with the little ones. You don't have the monorail to Magic Kingdom but there are boats to Disney-MGM Studios and you can use the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. By the way, our little ones loved Epcot. They liked the less intense rides, Turtle Talk with Crush, and the live entertainment. One daughter just loved the scenes at Spaceship Earth (the silver golf ball - history of communication). It struck me as kind of odd but she was just captivated by them.

 

I don't bother with Birnbaum's any more, it's the "official" guide and endorsed by Disney so it reads more like a press release. I recomend the unofficial guide. It's much more critical than Birnbaums meaning that it points out problems and tries to get you around them. It's full of some pretty funny stuff also. read the section about Pal Mickey. I couldn't believe that they put that in there.

By all means, follow the touring plans, especially during the summer! It might seem a little regimented and un-vacation like at first, but by the time that lunch time comes around and you notice that you've ridden about eight major attractions, you'll see the wisdom in it.

I loved Turtle Talk. When I first saw it at Disneyland a couple of years ag, it was one of those "Yea, whatever, I'll check it out" things. I loved it and went back twice before the end of that trip.