WDW, Disney Cruise, Disneyland Trip 2013

[ColinA]

Oooh!

I got a letter from Disney Cruise Line today thanking us for booking our first cruise and giving us details about booking port adventures etc. It is getting very exciting now

81 sleeps!

Anything Disney is exciting!

[KeithS]

Nuts - Disney today announced that Premier Passholders will only receive a 10% discount for merchandise at WDW from 1 Jan 2013, instead of 20%. The 20% discount still applies at Disneyland. Nice timing...

[ajp]

I thought the 20% was limited anyway. When we were there in 2009/10 the 20% stopped the day before we left on January 9 (obviously we made the most of it ). Shame though, but 10% is still better than a poke in the eye with a hot churro.

[sandie]

So Keith what Port Adventures have you picked?

[ColinA]

I thought the 20% was limited anyway. When we were there in 2009/10 the 20% stopped the day before we left on January 9 (obviously we made the most of it ). Shame though, but 10% is still better than a poke in the eye with a hot churro.

The 20% DVC PAP finished start of the new year, made the most of ours! Not sure about the normal PAP.

[KeithS]

So Keith what Port Adventures have you picked?

Our Port Adventure bookings open on Tuesday next week, so Della and I are going to spend some time on Saturday working out what we'll do. There is a tour of the old San Juan pirate fort/township that we want to do, and a snorkelling tour with sea turtles in St Thomas, but I'll let you know later in the week which ones we end up actually getting!

By the way, just 59 sleeps to go!

[sandie]

I regret not doing some snorkelling - I picked tours based on what my family wanted - next time I will pick what I want

[churros]

I snorkelled in Castaway Cay and had also booked a boat trip to snorkel on my own while the rest of the family did other things but they cancelled due to the weather

[KeithS]

Finally booking my Universal and Nasa tickets today. Also have to update my US ESTA. Less than two months until departure!

[churros]

What NASA tours have you booked?

[KeithS]

What NASA tours have you booked?

We've purchased NASA Annual Passes - so on our first day there, we'll do the included two hour bus tour and look through the entire visitor centre, and then we'll decide if we'll go back in a couple of week's time to do one of the special interest tours. They had a number of special tours available through 2012 for the 50th anniversary of NASA but they are meant to end on 7 Jan this year - so I'm waiting to see what special interest tours are still available from next week - I'd like to do the historic tour of the old launch facilities.

What did you do Beth?

By the way - the annual pass was a bargain - $55 which includes a 10% merchandise discount. A single day ticket was $50 - so it was a no-brainer!

[ajp]

You're right Keith, that is a no brainer. You'll make up the difference in the merch discount in the first 60 seconds in the shop!

[sandie]

The lunch with an astronaut is 150% worth it. As a rule the food at NASA is gross but this buffet is really good, plus they always have really good stories to tell and you get a teeny bit of 1 on 1 time

[churros]

Keith I did the "Up close tour" I had really wanted to do the historic tour but they said it wasn't available at the time I booked but it was actually running on the day and it is impossible to do both tours in the one day. My tour took us out to the causeway, the Vehicle Assembly building and let us out of the bus to take photos, the space shuttle viewing gantry, the landing runway, then they left us at the Saturn IV centre to catch the regular tour bus back when we were ready. So not a lot different from the standard bus tour.

I did the astronaut lunch with Gerry Carr from Skylab, we didn't think the food was great but enjoyed the talk and meeting him.

I spent 2 days at NASA - the first day with the family and the second day on my own.

I believe you can now tour the inside of the VAB - you must do that!

[KeithS]

I believe you can now tour the inside of the VAB - you must do that!

Nicole and Matthew booked that tour - I'll speak to them when they get back to see what that was like - I think it would be awesome too.

We got our Port Adventures booked last night - we got our first choice for each port.

In St Thomas, we are taking the island cruise over the St John, followed by shopping in the afternoon back in St Thomas.

In San Juan, we are doing the Old and New San Juan tour in the morning, followed by free time after lunch to explore the old fort and shops.

On Castaway Cay, we booked the Stingray Adventure for the afternoon and have also reserved bikes but plan on having a relaxing day on the island, swimming/snorkeling and eating.

54 sleeps!