Red Hot (Hat) Ladies and a Smoking Goddess **Updated 2/3** COMPLETE About This Page:

[duck addict]

Pre-Trip Report
My planning began as I was on the flight back from Mousefest 06. Being retired I could not do anything until the money was available, but dreaming never stops : I knew that I wanted to add the cruise to my Mousefest 07 itinerary, the rest of the details would have to wait.
The first step was to follow-up on some discussions at MF06. I had already become enamored with the Passporter boards , but felt I owed it to my fellow passporters to make a bigger contribution to the community. So I sent an email to Belle* and Jennifer to inform them of my desire to apply to be a Passporter guide. I was accepted and was, initially assigned to DL-Getting there and Back. Being from CA this was a good fit. I also made an order for my Passporter Guide to the Disney Cruise Line. Planning began with reading through it (thrice ) and re-reading my Passporter Guide to Walt Disney World.
February comes around and it is tax time This was my first full year of retirement only income, so I had no idea of how my taxes would come out. After doing my taxes, I found I had enough money coming back for both the cruise and the land portion . Now I had to wait patiently for the money to come. (Being retired I don’t spend it (or put it on my charge account) until I have the money to pay the bill when it arrives . ) The good news by the first of March both checks arrived! Time to book !
Off to the Passporter boards, and trust our authors(Who only allow companies they have personally used to advertise on the websites). So I clicked on MousearsVacations.com (a part of The Cruising Company). I received a response within 12 hours from their agent assigned to me. I emailed back additional information. At the time DCL land/sea packages could not add either extra land days or the dining plan. (They can, now!) He e-mailed me back two packages. The first was a quote for the MF cruise, category 9, with Disney Cruise Transport to and from MCO and Port Canaveral. The second was a land quote for POFQ, Park hopper tickets, dining plan, DME and air from Sacramento to Orlando and return. I emailed back accepting both packages and had the agent telephone me for credit card information. He called, I booked PAID IN FULL, and got a confirming mail within a week of both. A month later I paid the credit card bill, and loved the additional ‘money’ in my Disney rewareds account. I created a new countdown and the rest of planning was on. Included in the mailing was a worksheet for ADR’s to be sent to the agent in time for them to wake up at 7AM EDST on the 180th day to make them for me.
Reading the boards and everyone’s posts made the time fly… but also caused one worry. I always start Animal Kingdom with breakfast with my beloved Donald Duck, and lo and behold, Donald’s Breakfastasaurous was closing and the replacement was not confirmed. A couple of months later, ‘confirmed’ rumors appeared that Tusker House would, after remodeling, host breakfast with my favorite. It is just that the opening date was unsure.
I mailed the agent my requests and got all but one for within 15 minutes of my time requests. The only no was Donald. I told them I would watch the boards for when the new Donald’s breakfast opened up for reservations, and make my own for it.
In August a surprise e-mail arrived from the TA’s. Would I consider changing to a different moderate for a reduced price, or even consider an upgrade to a deluxe for little or no additional $. My response was a resounding yes ! Two days later I received email confirmation that they had moved me from POR to POFQ, and Disney reduced the price of my 4 night package by $267, which was immediately applied to my credit card.
My next contact from my TA was preparation for dining on the cruise. Would I be interested in a table for 8. Me, a travel agent couple my TA knew-who are a really fun couple, and 5 ladies from the Red Hat Society. (For those unfamiliar with the RHS, it is ladies over 50 whose main goal as a group is to do things together and have fun (I.E. paint the town red) together. ) I responded yes (I am in their age group-though male). I never got a response from the TA, but since the e-mail did not bounce, presumed all was set.
In the mean time I got my reservation to eat with Donald and Daisy for Tusker House.
About six weeks before the trip, I go an email from a different TA from the same company saying that that agent took over my account as my TA left the firm due to illness. The great news was that we emailed back in forth constantly, verified my dining (it had NOT been set up but they did set me up with the group of ladies. I was emailed when the documents arrived at the TA and got them two days later. All that remained was to begin my trip.
Report continued in Red Hot(Hat) ladies in the cruise report forum.
http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post1907676

[MickeyMAC]

Don this is a great start to your trip. Can't wait to read on.............

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Don

[Disney_Scarlett]

Great start to your report, Don. Good luck with the switching resorts and getting money back! I love that you call the Red Hat ladies "Red Hot" - my mom is a Red Hat lady; I'll have to tell her that one!

[RobDVC]

Oh Boy! I can't wait to hear about the Red Hot/Hat Ladies!

[Lemap760]

Great start Don.

[WDWfan]

Glad you started you TR, Don!

[DyanKJ130]

Great start, Don!! Can't wait to hear more

[duck addict]

Mousefest Land (day one)
Again an apology for only 5 (or maybe less) pictures per day. I will have the proper lithium batteries next trip (I ordered them the day I got home and read my instruction book).
The last installment was posted in http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/sharing-your-adventure-disney-cruise-reports/149222-red-hot-hat-ladies-lucky-duck-updated-1-29-cruise-portion-complete-3.html#post1911908
In the first post there, you discovered that I had as close to perfect (after I got on the plane) trip from Sacramento to MCO and then Port Canaveral. Well my luck continued.
The last morning I had to be up early (no problem for this early riser), since our early dining meant 6:30 am breakfast at the restaurant we ate in the night before. So there I was, bright and smiling, greeting my red hat ladies for the last time as well as Doris and Denny Thompson from Mouse Ears Vacations, our other table mates. I had a normal breakfast (eggs etc) and we then had farewell hugs and also hugged our table servers goodbye.
Back to the room to grab my carryon, and head to the lobby to leave the ship, as they announced we had cleared customs etc. while I was on my way back to my room. Arriving at the lower level of the cruise terminal, I went to the blue (with my love of Donald wouldn’t you know our area was with blue Donald Duck luggage tags). It took me about 3 minutes to find my luggage, apply my DME tag for POR, and then off to immigration/customs. Since I was under duty limits, it took about 15 seconds (long enough to scan the passport. Exiting the terminal, a cast member spotted my DME tag and directed me to another person with a clipboard. She checked my name off and directed me to a shuttle van, not one of the big buses (which were also there). Within 2 minutes our little van was full with 8 passengers, stopping at 5 different resorts. The good news was that my resort was first. So off we went, looking a little tear eyed back at the Disney Wonder, but then joyfully thinking of Mousefest Land ahead. The driver made good time, and at 9AM he pulled up at Port Orleans Riverside.
I did not really expect a room to be ready at that hour (especially with some of the Pop Warner cheer leaders staying at the resort). But remember my luck was still working. I walked up to an empty counter, and, yes, my room was ready Armed with my key to the world, I worked my way the fairly long distance to my lodge, in Alligator Bayou 26. PHOTO 1 I unpacked, and headed to the bus stop. I was not at the bus stop more than 5 minutes when a MK bus arrived.
Hmm.. Left the ship at 8:00 am +/- and at 9:45 I entered the Magic Kingdom
I only had three things scheduled for the day, and the first was not until 2:00, so off enjoying the MK. My first stop was Donald’s Philharmagic (come on Donald is in it 14 minutes and Mickey only about 1)! Stopping at the Donald Duck store (that is what I call it) I made my appropriate new Donald Duck purchases and had them sent to my room. Then off to the rides. While I was there on all of the days, I don’t think I had longer than a 10 minute wait, except for Soaring on Saturday. On to the Jungle cruise where our lady boat driver had excellent timing with the same old jokes , then to Pirates (the boats were only ½ full) then Splash and Big Thunder Mountains. This was all accomplished by noon, so now it was time for yummies for the tummy Since I had a full breakfast on the ship, and dinner was between 4-5, I decided on a snack only. A dole whip float did the trick.
Off to fantasyland and a ride on Small World, a photo with my beloved Donald PHOTO2, and a visit to Mickey’s Toontown Fair to see if there were any characters worth waiting in line for. Nope. Over to Tomorrowland for a trip on Buzz Lightyear (my scores are always so low it is embarrassing) and then to the Monster’s Inc Laugh Factory. I looked at my watch and it was time to the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station (closed) for Dave Marx’s greeting. The problem was that the Mousefest 101 finished early, so Dave spoke early and it was ending as I arrived. That’s ok because I got to stop and meet many Passporters and exchange with a bunch that were not on the cruise portion.
Still had 2 hours until Dinner so I returned to Fantasyland and saw Donald’s Philharmagic again, and rode Snow White and Peter Pan, and then thru the gateway and on to Haunted Mansion. Up the road was the wonderful Country bears (no longer in California) and then thru another archway to the Tiki room.
Finally it was dinner time.. Which I had been looking forward to. I was not there more than 10 minutes when my tablemates showed up. Minnie Lor for making the ADR. My dining ration did not appear to change from the cruise, even though this time they were new red hot ladies. Our table included me, Minnie Lor (Lorie), Tigger-tails (Jan), Debe (Debbie) , Dr Dolphin (Terri), WDWFan (Leslie) and TempeNZ (Emerson and Keryn from NZ). Two guys, six beautiful ladies. What a great ration PHOTO3. We had a wonderful family style meal of salad, ham, turkey, roast beef, potatoes, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, green beans and apple cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream. We gave the characters a good workout as they had to pose with each person/group (at least 6 photos per character).
Because this was a MMVCP night, it was almost parade/fireworks time when we finished at 6, so off to a good viewing spot for both (the smallest crowd I can remember for a parade (only two deep) until the MMVCP one). The regular spectaculars done, down to the rose garden to get my MMVCP wristband. Armed with it, off to Tomorrowland for the great stage show, stopping for hot chocolate and cookie at the Noodle stations, then back to the good position for the special fireworks PHOTO 4. Off to get a good viewing position (stopping to look at MMVCP special merchandise on the way).
Counting on a quick getaway (I wasn’t going to stay for the post parade get together as I had an early ADR for the next morning), I stationed myself on the sidewalk across from the Main Street RR station. There were so few people, there were gaps on the first row. The Christmas parade is really cool. Love the marching soldiers and, of course, my beloved Donald and his squeeze Daisy had to be the subject of a photo PHOTO5.
Off to the bus stops, and to my surprise, POR and POFQ have separate return stops at MK now Within 10 minutes I was on my way to the WEST POR stop and my bed.

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a great first day at WDW Glad you kept up the tradition of dining with the ladies Great pictures too!!

[RobDVC]

Donald's Philharmagic.

The pictures you took came out great!

[bsblady01]

more please

[MickeyMAC]

So it's Donald's Philharmagic now..........hmmmmmmmmm..........really fits. You had a very busy day. Sounds like you had a lot of fun.

[disneydani]

Wow, sounds like you really took quite a bit in at the MK! You sure know how to pick dining partners...3:1 ratio!!!

danielle

[retiredkid]

boy, you had the pixie dust goin' for ya......great transfer to the hotel...great checkin....great day at MK !!
good on ya!!