2005: June 18 Magic/West Coast

[vacationbug]

Hi!
We're East Coast Disney fans cruising on the Magic West Coast June 18 and visiting DL for the first time. Really looking forward to it!
Have been on the Wonder 4-nite in 2002.
4 Adults, one DD 8, one DS13/14
Happy to meet fellow shipmates, and/or exchange information!
I'm anxiously awaiting information on the shore excursions!

Vacationbug

 

[tink1963]

Hi! We're west coast disney fans who are also cruising on the Magic June 18th. Hope you enjoy your first visit to DL. We're AP holders with visits to many to count. I'm counting the days until we sail. This will be our first ever cruise. DH only conceded because it's Disney.

 

[vacationbug]

Thanks for responding. I was feeling sad and worried that I must have said something wrong!

I am so excited about visiting DL! (And California of course!) I know you'll love the cruise! We went in 2002 (MIL, SIL, DH, me, DS, DD) and we had a WONDERful time despite the kinda poopy weather.

We all wanted to go back this year (2004) but just couldn't manage to get things together as a group, so it was just WDW for the 4 of us (minus Mom-in-law and Sis-in-law).

I am so excited about seeing POC and the castle and ohhhh everything! I know people do comparisions between the two parks, but I am looking forward to just visiting something "new" and fun. It will be strange not knowing the layout of the parks as well, but it is a grand adventure, so that is what makes it so enticing!

Do you recommend the Blue Bayoo restaurant? I read a lot of good things (and some bad) about that restaurant.

Thanks again for your response!

 

[pppiglet]

We will be going the week before you on our first cruise. We recommend the"Blue Bayou" restaurant. We love it! It's better if you can make reservations when you first get to the park though. Sometimes it's hard to just walk in!

 

[CruisingCA2005]

Yay! I finally see a thread for our cruise!!

It's going to be me, DH, DS (almost 8), DD (3 1/2) in 5024 & my Mom, Aunt, and two cousins (twin girls will be almost 13) in 5022.

This will be the 2nd DCL cruise for some of us but for others it will be their first time. DD was a "little souvenir" from our first cruise (born exactly 9 months after we cruised on the Wonder). She's 2 1/2 now & has been telling everyone "I'm going on adventure. I'm going on Disney Cruise."

We live 15-20 minutes away from San Pedro & have APs to Disneyland/DCA so let me know if there's anything you want to know about the area.

 

[vacationbug]

Pppiglet: is there a way to make "priority seating" arrangements before getting to DL? I am definately interested in dining at the BB, as POC is one of my favorites at WDW. I am looking forward to the "real" POC at DL, but I hope I won't be too disapointed afterwards when we visit WDW again!

In 2002 the Wonder 4-day encountered bad weather for our day at Castaway Cay, so the kind Captain took pity on us and we spent a second day at Castaway Cay instead of the "at Sea" day. It was a wonderful cruise!

 

[vacationbug]

Glad to hear you'll be aboard! Our oldest (DS) will be an "almost" 14 at the time of the cruise, so I am hoping that there will be a fair amount of 13-14's on board for the teen club, as I understand that the fun in that club is proportionally related to the teen demographics. Together we have three in that age range, so hopefully there will be a few more younger-aged teens.

I know our youngest will be happily occupied in the Lab. Last time she was in the club, and the counselors took the little Clubbers into the Lab for an evening of fun. She really prefered the Lab, so I know she will have a great time. She'll be 9.

It seems so far away until our cruise right now, but I know it will be here before I know it! We're on deck 7 - our first time on this deck.

I know you're having a sunshiny day in CA. For a rarity, it is actually in Pittsburgh!

Keep smiling - Bev

 

[pppiglet]

Vacationbug...I have been told that you can call ahead, but have never tried it. We just waited in line 1 time and it was 1-1/2hrs, but we thought it was worth it. A couple other times we just walked right in.

 

[tink1963]

So great to see more are going to be on our sailing. Though for awhile that we would be going it alone.

Vacationbug...yes, you can make PS reservations in advance. This is from the DL web site...

"Priority Seating is recommended and can be made in person for this location on a limited basis. Priority Seating can also be arranged in advance by calling Disney Dining at (714) 781-DINE, or (714) 781-3463."

You can make PS arrangements up to 60 days in advance.

I would phone in advance. We have done this before for Rainforest in downtown disney and the Thanksgiving Buffet.

Hope this helps.

 

[vacationbug]

I'll definately use that phone number! Thanks for the information - sorry that I missed it!

Do you have late or early dining seating for the cruise? Last time we did early, but this time late. I believe late will work well for our group.

 

[tink1963]

We have late seating. We thought it would be best since it's just myself and DH.
I have noticed reading different threads that the early seating is prefered if crusing with kids, especially little ones and we didn't want to take up a spot when it's not that important to us.

 

[pppiglet]

We are on late seating also. (Me, DH, DS 20.) We are on the waiting list for early, but think we will just stick with the late one.

 

[CruisingCA2005]

We also have late seating for our cruise because 4 people in our party are from Hawaii so late dining will seem like a 5:30 dinner to them. Even though my kids are younger, they'll be fine as long as we let DD take a late nap in the afternoon. I figure that there's a lot of places to get a bite to eat if the kids get hungry or they can eat dinner with the kids' clubs.

 

[vacationbug]

Do you know what the LA Port is like? Is it close enough to do some sightseeing in the local area? Anything you'd recommend?

I've gotten some travel books from the library, but it is even better to get a "real" perspective on California (well at least the part we are traveling to!) Also, is Dana Point a good place to get the "flavor" of California? Pgh is so darned "inland" that I really miss the ocean, and if we can squeeze in some additional adventures along the Cali coast, it would be wonderful.

Historic things are of interest (our children are older and have gotten used to visiting those types of landmarks) to the entire group.

Any suggestions/ideas are greatly appreciated!

 

[CruisingCA2005]

How "local" of an area are you talking about? LA County? Or closer? San Pedro is a port city so there's nothing much to see around there but you can drive from San Pedro around the peninsula to Palos Verdes/Rolling Hills. I believe there's a little maritime museum there near the old Marineworld location. If you keep going, there are beautiful scenic spots that you can sometimes see whales during their migration. You'll also be able to see the beautiful multi-million dollar homes in that area. Then you can go to Torrance beach or drive a little further to Redondo Beach pier. There's a huge mall in Torrance (Del Amo Fashion Square) that is the size of several city blocks. If you keep going north on Sepulveda, you can reach LAX.

If you want to go in another direction, you can go from San Pedro across the Vincent St. Thomas bridge to Long Beach. There's a great aquarium, the Queen Mary, and a section of fabulous restaurants and theaters.

Let me know if you need to know where restaurants/grocery stores/stores are....

How long were you planning to be in the area?

If you're thinking about driving down to Dana Point, it'll probably be 1 to 1 1/2 hours drive south. It's a nice area and is close to Laguna Beach.

 

[vacationbug]

Thanks for the information, CrusingCA2005! I'm still working out the plans for the California leg of the trip, so nothing is yet set in stone!

Doing some research on the Ports of call, and there are horseback riding tours in the information for Maz. I think that my DD (will be 9) would have a great time, but there is no mention of age limitations (i.e. too young). I am still watching for the excursions to come out!

 

[CruisingCA2005]

Anyone else going on June 18th?

 

[vacationbug]

Just hoping to catch anyone else who will be cruising with us!

 

[tink1963]

Just trying to see if anymore are going on our sailing.

Anyone going?

 

[CruisingCA2005]

Bumping back up to see if there are any other June 18th cruisers.

We just renewed our annual passes to Disneyland/DCA so we've gone there the past two Saturdays. A lot of Disneyland is "under refurbishment" right now so I can't wait to see how everything looks for the 50th anniversary.

I've already picked out what I want to do for the signs on our doors...I'm going to do a Small World theme. While riding Small World, two of the first things you see are boats with "The happiest cruise on earth" on them. It's adorable!!

I just heard from my mother that she'll be flying up to L.A. on June 8th and going home on July 5th. Our other guests will be arriving on June 16th and going home on July 5th. We're planning on taking the kids to Disneyland/DCA, Universal Studios, Long Beach aquarium (we're annual pass holders there too), and we might also go down to San Diego.

If anyone wants more info about the Long beach aquarium, let me know. I can pick up some info & send it to you.