1/19/18 -- Disney Dream Mouseketeers!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope where ever you are that you are dry and safe. As for this Texas family, we are both. I posted an update on Tink Moments and I want to thank everyone for there well wishes. But receding waters and out board motor powered boats are not what I had in mind for a happy Monday and a Forget Me not. I was thinking more about getting excited that we only have 20 Mondays until our vacation starts!!!
We are also are getting really close to the online check in and activity / excursion booking day. To get you prepped for your opening day, today's Forget Me Not is about planning your excursions.
A few weeks back, I gave you dates to remember (it looked something like this) -
Platinum/Concierge- 120 days out (Thursday - September 21)
Gold- 105 days out (Friday - October 6)
Silver- 90 days out (Saturday - October 21)
new cruisers-75 days out (Sunday -November 5)​
When your slot rolls around, not only do you get to do your online check-in, you also get to reserve you on board activities, and your EXCURSIONS. With that 1st time slot coming up next month (and each one after that opening up at 15 day intervals), it's time for you to start planning out what it is that you want to do.
Knowing it's time to start planning is only half of what you need to know to check this off your list. It would help if you knew where you needed to go. Well, in order to know where to go, you need to decide what kind of excursion you want to take.

~ Do you want to do something on your own? If yes, than you need to start researching Nassau, Castaway Cay and possibly even Orlando and the Space coast if your trip includes pre or post time in Florida. There is plenty of information available for Florida, so I am not going to bore you with information you have probably already found. To find information out about Castaway Cay, you will need to focus you search on information that Disney makes available, and reviews, reports, and discussions on boards like this where you can ask specific questions to get exactly the information that your family needs. Doing something on your own at Castaway basically means you aren't signing up for an excursion. And there is quite a bit for you to do there with out taking an excursion, everything from renting a family cabana and being pampered all day to watching a crab race. You will have 8 hours at Castaway (from 8:30 AM - 4:45 PM), and believe me, there is more than 8 hours worth of fun on that island.
Exploring Nassau is a completely different experience. If you are going out on your own, you'll want to start with some research to discover what part of the island appeals most to you. When you know what your interested in, you can look for private tour providers for a tour, a boating excursion, snorkeling, or something like that. or you can plot your own course with in walking distance, taxi distance, or water taxi distance. Please keep your safety in mind. You are in a foreign country where the fact that you are a tourist does come with the possibility of you (and your family members) being a target for wrong doing. I am not telling you this to scare you.
***Where ever you travel, you should always check for travel advisories both for travel, and medical advisories. Even if you are planning to do excursions through Disney, it is wise to do your checking.
***Also, if you go off the boat in Nassau and you are not taking a tour / excursion through Disney, you are responsible for returning to the boat on time. If you do not get back to the boat by 5:15 PM (best to be safe by 5:00 PM) the boat may leave you behind, and you will be responsible for finding your own transportation back. If you don't believe me, google 'dock runners'. Please, Please, set your clock / watch to boat time, and set an alarm at least a half an hour to an hour early so you do not miss the boat.
Or
~Do you want to do something through Disney?
I am sure that you have received your email like this from Disney:
upload_2017-8-28_18-50-2.png

Further down the page you will find a link that looks like this:

upload_2017-8-28_18-10-18.pngThe planning center is where you will go to schedule you activities. You may not have access to this area yet because you may not have made your final payment, and/ or you have not reached your opening date (listed above).
To get started on your Disney excursion research, you are going to need to go to Disney Cruise Line Port Adventures (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/overview/) and select either Bahama Port Adventures upload_2017-8-28_18-24-24.png Click on the description

Or
Castaway Cay Port Adventures
upload_2017-8-28_18-26-20.png Click on the description
Then, you will need to choose how you want to look at the excursions (either one port at a time or both at the same time) on the next page, you can select the ports from this drop down:
upload_2017-8-28_18-31-33.png

If you are going to book with Disney, I would recommend reserving your pick as soon as you can. Some of the more popular excursions fill up and will not be offered once on board.
I recommend the same for non-Disney excursion providers as well, because if they do not get enough people reserving an excursion, they may cancel it. And yes, if they cancel it, they will let you know. When you book, it would be a good idea to make sure you know their cancellation policies.
Happy planning! Only 20 Mondays to go! We are getting close, and I am getting so excited!!!

~Tink~
 

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Happy Monday to you all. We officially have only 19 Mondays until our cruise.

Today's Forget Me not is clothes pins. I know this sounds silly (when I received them in my first FE, I was puzzled as to why someone would gift clothes pins), but they have several good uses. The top of my list is to hold curtains closed. If you have and ocean view, or a verandah, you will discover on the first morning, that no matter how hard you work at over lapping the curtains, they will still sway apart in the ocean waves, and let piercing light in at 5 AM. Another helpful use is holding wet swim suits (or any other article of clothing that needs to be rinsed out) to the laundry line in the bath room. The inventor of the retractable bathroom clothes line had a good idea, but because you can not lock the length to the exact amount of line that you need to reach the other side, the cord continues to gain length with the weight of each item added to the line. As a result, the wet clothes tend to all slide to the middle and pile up on each other, preventing them from drying (as I am writing this, I am imagining the bird on the wire short at the beginning of some of Pixar's movies). When you attach a clothes pin to each item on the line, they stay put (side note, I happened to see - in one of the full time RV YouTube videos my hubby watches as we count down to full timing - someone being able to lock the line in place. If this is true, Awesome! But I have not had a chance to check it out yet. It won't lessen the need for the clothes pins, but is still interesting all the same). You can also use the clothes pins to organize loose items, hold something to an FE that otherwise would end up on the floor (he he, then they get a clothes pin as an FE also! ). Put magnets on the back, and put them on the cabin door to organize and have a dedicated place to you lanyards and key to the world cards. And you can even use them to hold blankets to bunk beds, or passies to a blanky. I am sure the list goes on, but you get the idea.

Have a great week. Oh, and keep your eyes out this week for some fun posts. I found a few thing when we were getting organized and prepped for our youngest's birthday trip and thought it would be fun to share.

~Tink~
 
One quick thing for all FEer's:

With the lack of response to the request to get cabin info from participants, I am worried there may be a bit of confusion. If you have requested to take part in the FE, please post on this thread to let me know that you are still interested.

There are 2 separate forums for this cruise, and it is possible to sign up on one and then fill out the cabin number and get set to go on the other. I know that there is a rule against talking about the FB group and their FE here on the DIS board (in the sense of trying to get people to go over to the FB group and join their group). I am in no way advertising or seeking members for that group. I am just bringing them up because it was brought to my attention that someone who signed up here thought they had already given the needed info when they did the survey monkey for the FE group on FB. If you have also done this, it is not a problem. I am just trying to find out where there may be overlaps.

Thanks!

~Tink~
 


For those who were interested in my planning party idea, I finally made a video about it and it is all loaded up. I actually think the bloopers and out takes at the end are the best part!

~Tink~
 
Let me start by apologizing for the length. :bitelip:
I found this when we got to the school closet during one of our latest down sizing efforts! It is so cute, I had to share.
You will need a little bit of back ground though.
*Our cat's name is Freaky.
and *In 1st or 2nd grade our oldest son chose to write 'Freaky Tales' (his take on life through the eyes of our cat) for his daily journal time. I have attached pics at the end.
So, here are 4 days in the life of Freaky.

-Day 1: After a year of waiting, I am finally on the Disney Boat. Once on I discovered that I can eat and sleep all I wanted. ~Freaky~ (insert paw print)

-Day 2: Today I have learned about the largest mouse in the world. 'MICKEY'. Throughout the day, I have searched for the mouse, but I had no luck.
GAME ON Mickey! ~Freaky~ (paw print)

-Day 3: Today the mouse kept hiding. Through out the day I kept seeing a ship that lurked in the waters. Is it a
Pirate Ship? ~Freaky~ (paw print)

-Day 4: Today was exciting. Pirates boarded the ship and captured the mouse. I soon found out that the pirates were
Rats (mmm). Therefore it was easy to scare them off. I saved (dinner - this had a line through it) the mouse and became a hero. ~Freaky~ (paw print)
View attachment 267800 View attachment 267801

It was soooooo cute, I had to share.

Tink
 
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I almost forgot to make my post today. It was not until I began my Disney Mom's application that a reminder light came on in my head flashing "Forget Me Not! Forget Me Not!". I promise that I am not trying to make a "Do Not Forget" point with an occasional tendency to forgetting Mondays Forget Me Nots, but having my husband tell me that I should put a reminder in my 'phones' calendar did remind me of a good Forget Me Not.

So, here we go...
Happy Monday everyone. I hope this finds everyone safe from the storms. I have been trying to check out Port Canaveral on the webcams, but nothing is up yet. The reports say that all vessels that were tied off are still there and they appear to be fine. I am sure everything will be back to normal in 18 Mondays (which is how many we have to go!!!!). Getting to this weeks Forget Me Not - your Smart Phone, and your tablet (and there chargers). I know, you are on vacation, and you intended to take a break from the real world, and I am on board with that. Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting you go on vacation to work. Quite the contrary. Disney has an app, called the Disney Cruise app (which I recommend you download by clicking here or on 'app' [while on your portable device] before you leave home to assure that you have it). The app is free and full of great tools (tools that unfortunately can only use on board). While on board, through this app, you will be able to access Disney cruises intranet (not to be mistaken with the internet), which will unlock tools that will make life at sea (and port) easier. You will have access to deck plans (so you don't get lost - been there done that), menus for that nights dinners (this is great for those of us who have members of their family who can never seem to make up their minds about what to eat), and you will be able to view the daily Navigator (you will also get this in print in your room every day, but who wants to keep track of a mini booklet when we already have so many other things to keep track of). The Navigator, for those of you who have never sailed with Disney before, is your guide to everything for that day. It tells you when and where you can find your next meal (be it early mid morning snack, or late second, late lunch), what each age group of the kiddos will be doing at any given time, what movies are playing and when, where to find the character that you just must have an autograph for, when yoga begins (yes yoga), where you need to be for the Dance Party, when the Galley tour starts, ......I could go on, but then this post would be four pages long like the Navigator. Plus one of the newer features that has recently been fixed / tweaked/ improved is messaging. You will be able to send messages to your traveling companions (as long as they have the app on their device as well) through out the trip. Disney does offer the 2 wave phones in your room for keeping in touch, but they are not very user friendly, and they have a hefty price tag on them if you loose or damage them. Instead of fighting with those, you can just bring your device (covered in a water proof pouch or cover) and never loose touch.
Charging can be a challenge with several devices being used, and limited electrical outlets in your room. If you have one of the device chargers that you can plug several device into at once, I would recommend bringing that along. You are not allowed to use extension cords, or surge protectors, and I would not recommend leaving a device plugged in while out of your room (just as a security measure). However, if you absolutely need a surge protector for extra plug space, you can borrow one at the Guest Service Desk.
I am planning to get everyone in our family the water proof cell phone/ tablet cases as a hundred mile gift (gifts given during our drive to our destination...topic for another post). That way, they will not only be able to stay connected and know what is going on when and where, but they will be able to capture their entire trip on the camera on their device. And then, they can pull up pics of their vacation and have a Disney moment at any time with out having to download or print their pictures.
***A side note**** If you do bring your device, make sure you put it on airplane mode as soon as you board. If you forget, you could come home to a HUGE cell phone bill. I have talked with someone who forgot to switch over to airplane mode until about day 3, and since his phone was in roaming for all that time, he racked up a $700 bill for those 2 days.

~Tink~
 


Hey everyone! Just checking in. Things have been really crazy over on my end. My birthday is this month on the 23rd and I requested a dog for my birthday. So on saturday we got me a Shorkie. She's really cute and I named her Josie Rey. My husband picked Josie. Well it's been a lot of work training her and getting a new routine going. So I haven't been keep up with the post.

But I'm back now!
 
Hey everyone! Just checking in. Things have been really crazy over on my end. My birthday is this month on the 23rd and I requested a dog for my birthday. So on saturday we got me a Shorkie. She's really cute and I named her Josie Rey. My husband picked Josie. Well it's been a lot of work training her and getting a new routine going. So I haven't been keep up with the post.

But I'm back now!
Welcome back, and better yet...
:cake::bday::cake:
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to Anne!
Happy Birthday to you!

My husband's was yesterday, and we got to move our new RV home into it's first spot yesterday. It was an awesome birthday for him. Now all we have to do is sell our house so that we are free to roam!

~Tink~
 
I am new to the forum and starting to get familiar to it. We are also taking the same trip. Husband, myself and our little 9yr old princess.
I am interested in The fish extender programs. Would be my first time so any advise on how this works would be appreciated! :)

Is anyone doing FE?
 
4 months until we set sail! Woo Hoo!
Happy Monday everyone! We are down to 17 Mondays!

Today's Forget Me Not may seem silly, but much like those labels you find telling you not to do something that in a million years you would never try (such as don't stick your hand in the garbage disposal when it is turned on), they are there because someone has actually tried it. This tip finds it way into the list, because yes, Ms. OCVPD (Obsesive Compulsive Vacation Planning Disorder), actually did this. I don't beat my self up to much about it, because I have since learned that this is actually a common occurrence.

Don't forget to pack undies (chonies, tighty whiteys, or what ever you may call them)!
If this can happen to me, it can happen to you. I have a couple lists that I check everything off on as I am getting organized to pack, and then I have a list of everything I am taking that I check off as I pack. And I still happened to make it on board without packing any undies. I still have a conspiracy theory to this day, that either the cat (who purposely gets severely injured when he sees bags packed for vacation) or our youngest son pulled some items out of my bag (the pillow I packed also went missing). But putting that aside, let me explain why this particular forget me not is worth mentioning. With all of the on board shops, and the plethora of shops on shore available to you, amazingly enough, this is not an item you can easily find (Disney does now carry them - a 3 pack for $25- after I suggested it on an end of cruise survey, and made a video about it - Cruise Packing: Bare Necessities). On the cruise I am referencing, we found souvenir boxers, but that was it. And even though I received several suggestions on how to cope, I still was self conscious about it.
The suggestions I received were: just turn the pair you were wearing inside out every other day or so; wear your swim suit bottoms as undies (it is suggested that you rinse off before getting in the pool when they expect you have just changed into a swim suit, what would be the suggestion if you basically are getting in in your underwear?); and use your panty hose / tights as undies (a little warm for the day time). We continued searching through out the cruise in each port, but where never lucky enough to find any. I ended up wearing the ones I had had on during embarkation day, and then washing them out and hanging them up in the evening when I was wearing the panty hose/ tights to dinner.

As usual, I hope my mistakes make for a good tip for your packing.

~Tink~
 
I can't wait to try this place! I love Ice Cream! I think I saw they have Froyo and Gelato? That would be great since my niece has the dairy allergy.
One of my favorite cruise group meet ups was an ice cream social where we planned to meet by the soft serve ice cream and we all brought our favorite sunday topping (or mix in must have) - enough to share of course - and we hung out while making and eating delicious ice cream concoctions. I have to tell you though, Venelope's looks like it will blow that cruising ice cream experience out of the water!
There are a few things that I can not pass up (even with my milk allergy) while onboard. I bring my medicine, and take the chance that this is not the time that the meds don't work. Mickey Bars are on that list (I have to have one at almost every dinner), and now, so is EVERYTHING at Venelope's!!!
Not to mention candy. On previous sailings, even though we had more than enough food, the one thing I craved (which was either hard to come by, or way to expensive to pay for a candy bar) was candy. I have also been known to answer when asked about my favorite FE gifts, is candy. It is up near the top of my list. And that is purely because I can't quit sugar cold turkey.
**Side Note - My list does have some things that are not food related. I won't be passing up any opportunity I get to ride the Aqua-duck, and time spent in the hot tube in the adult only area looking through the glass floor will definitely make my happy thoughts list when I am armed with pixie dust and preparing to fly.
So, Anne, I will see you there. My husband did want me to ask that you please make sure that he gets at least 1 of those awesome cars. Well, okay, he actually asked me to, but I thought I would share!

P.S. I have never had Gelato. What is it exactly!

~Tink~
 
We had our planning party for Sept. yesterday, and now the chair in my room is filled with all of our shirts for the cruise and are ready for the "Mustard" Drill Party in Oct. Now, I need to make our final payment so I am ready for our online check in a few weeks!!!!

~Tink~
 
ATTN: All FEers
Very Important

If you had asked about joining the DIS groups FE before we had everything set up for the group you may have found and signed up with another group (Such as the Nemo group). If so, it is not a problem, but PLEASE let me know so that I can update the list. With so many people signed up that have not gotten back to me with any of their information for the spreadsheet, it makes it hard for other members to get their gifts ready.

Also, all FIRST Time cruisers, please see my next post for a chance to start your cruise with a Castaway or Vacation Club Lanyard!!!

~Tink~
 
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First time cruisers:​
At check-in, previous cruisers will receive a lanyard with their key to the world card. Unfortunately, Disney does not have lanyards for first time cruisers (unless something magical has changed since January!!!). So, I want to offer the first 10 sailors who can tell me who the Godmother of the Dream is, or something special about her (because if everyone told me the Godmother's name, 2 through 10 could just copy!). So if you miss slot 1 (Godmothers name) give me a unique tidbit about her.
Now just so you know, I am sailing on back to backs, so I am also making this available to the next sailing as well.

Good Luck!​
 
First time cruisers:​
At check-in, previous cruisers will receive a lanyard with their key to the world card. Unfortunately, Disney does not have lanyards for first time cruisers (unless something magical has changed since January!!!). So, I want to offer the first 10 sailors who can tell me who the Godmother of the Dream is, or something special about her (because if everyone told me the Godmother's name, 2 through 10 could just copy!). So if you miss slot 1 (Godmothers name) give me a unique tidbit about her.
Now just so you know, I am sailing on back to backs, so I am also making this available to the next sailing as well.

Good Luck!​
Jennifer Hudson
 

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