Kazapalooza 2023

 We’ve been talking about it since the beginnings of KP…and this summer we are doing it…We are excited to announce that the 2023 KP will be a 3 night Kaza-cruise-a-palooza.

We will leave Orlando Friday afternoon, June 23 spend Saturday at CocoCay Bahamas, cruise all day Sunday and say goodbye Monday morning, the 26.
We will have a block of rooms and will all get to eat our dinners as a group. There will be built in activities for the teens which makes me very excited! Well there will be activities for all ages but our group has become heavy on teenagers Prices will be in the ballpark of $500 give or take per person for the inside cabin, and upward depending on the type cabin you choose. Not per family but per person.
Remember all food is included the entire cruise, even at CocoCay, except for alcohol and I understand there are packages for that.

Here is the information regarding the booking.

We are using our own Kaz mom, Erin Eckert, to help navigate our way through this. All bookings should go directly through her. Let me repeat, all bookings should go directly through her. If you book outside of her you will be responsible for all your own arrangements and we can’t guarantee you will be included in all activities etc. She will only have access to help those she books.

First, before calling Erin, you will need to decide what kind of cabin you’d like to book.

You can look through the options here…

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/.../what-are-the...

The price per person will depend on the room you choose. The inside cabins with the $500 average price point sell out quickly.

*This is important! I have blocked 50 rooms for us. Depending on availability, I hope we can add more if necessary. Unlike hotel rooms, they are not held for us. On the cruise, it’s first come first serve. You are not booked and your room saved until your deposit has been paid. So time will be of the essence.

I am reserving rooms as a block so that our dinner times will be at the same time which will be 5:30. We chose the earlier one so we could finish up in time for evening activities. If you miss dinner, no sweat, there is always food available somewhere on the ship. We will most likely have a dining room to ourselves which will be very nice!

Also when you call Erin, you will need to know your drink package..

You can look at the options here

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/beverage-packages

If anyone is active military she will want to know that too.

She will need to know if you want travel insurance or not…while not mandatory, it is recommended. You can purchase through Royal Caribbean, an outside company, or sometimes your credit cards will offer it. This is out of my wheelhouse so please ask Erin any questions you have.

Each room booked will also be given a $50 onboard credit that can be used on drinks, souvenirs, tipping, etc.

We are still discussing the possibility of planning a group optional excursion. We will update you on that possibility as soon as it is decided or confirmed.

Please remember Erin is one person helping with our entire booking so please be patient. Erin will make a post with the best way to contact her for questions and information and of course how to book, so please watch for that.

We are super excited about our Kaza-cruise-a-palooza and spending time with old and new friends!

A few housekeeping items. Please email me at e.herman@magicalvacationplanner.com to complete your booking. I cannot respond to all the FB messages. You can check room availability and pricing and even choose a specific room on the Royal Caribbean website. When you email, please let me know the FULL names and DOBs of everyone, what type of room you are booking, a good phone number in case Royal Caribbean needs to reach out to you, and whether you want trip protection. It will take me a few days to get to everyone, but we will get it done!! I am prioritizing those who need handicap-accessible rooms first. Please be aware for this particular cruise, trip protection is running about $59/per person. It is recommended but not required. Here is the info officially from Royal Caribbean: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/.../travel-insurance-program. Thank you, guys!!!

Kazapalooza Registration for 2020 is now OPEN

Good Morning KP Families.

The day has arrived....

Please Read to its entirety! I'll try to be concise :)

We are excited to announce that we will be returning to the Omni Resort at ChampionsGate in Orlando, June 26-28, 2020. Pricing starts at $185. And I promise, there will be no meals held outside!!

5 years ago registration for the rooms was a nightmare! And sadly, our test runs have shown we may have the same issues, although we have tried working out the kinks. So when you register, if it says there are no rooms available, don't panic...there are, just shoot me a message, it's simply a flaw in their system.

Now on to the directions:

Step 1. Register for KP at this link...Registration Link

After registration, Gretchen will send you an invoice and the link to reserve your rooms. *It is critical that you use this link as it is set up for Kazapalooza families.

Step 2. Pay Invoice

Step 3. Reserve room

***Gretchen is the one who handles registration. She has a lot going on right now and is very busy, so it may take 3 or 4 days to receive your invoice and link to the hotel. Please do not send follow up emails asking her if she received your registration. If you have not heard from her after 5 days, then feel free to contact her, but please not before that. If you aren't receiving your invoice, neither is anyone else :)

***Again, if you have issues reserving your room using the link, please contact me. If you are having issues everyone else likely is too, so again don't panic.

Thank you all for your patience now and in the upcoming months as we all have a lot going on in our lives....Happy Registration Day.

2019 Registration will close May 1st!

Registration for 2019 is now CLOSED.


Please do not call the hotel to make reservations. Once you register for the event we will send you a link with the group code which will enable you to reserve a room. We ask that you do not share this code with other families that have not registered. Each year we have problems regarding some people being registered but unable to get rooms due to others not registered having reserved rooms in our block. The hotel is not opening our room block until Feb 1st. You will not be able to reserve a room until after this date.  Our room block will expire May 1st so all rooms must be booked by this date. KP room rates are $189 a night plus tax for a King or two queen beds. Resort fees have been waived. As long as they have availability the rates are honored for 3 nights before KP and 3 nights after.

Attending Kazapalooza requires each family to register with our event. Registration fees are used to pay for event space at the hotel, goody bags, AV for our luncheon, dinner Friday night and lunch Saturday and other essential items to put this event together.

Event Schedule:

Friday afternoon- event check-in to pick up goody bags. You will be able to check in at the Friday night dinner if you are arriving later.

Friday night Dinner- usually occurs around 5 or 6pm. We will post more information as we have it.

Saturday Luncheon- usually around 11am-2pm. Raffle and slideshow. Each year our raffle raises money to a charity working with children in Kazakhstan. This year we are raising funds for Caring Heart, formerly J127 Ranch. You can find more information about them on their website here. We ask interested families to bring a donation for our raffle (this is NOT required). Raffle tickets are $5 each and can be purchased with cash, check or card on Saturday prior to the raffle ending. You must be present to win. If you purchase an optional KP shirt be sure to wear it to this event!

Saturday afternoon and evening- free time for our families to meet on their own. Use the dinner and lunchtime to meet new people and make plans. Most of our families spend the day around the pool during this time. It is a great way to meet other Kaz families.

Sunday- morning meet and greet to say goodbye.

2019 Announcement

We had a wonderful time in Frankenmuth, Michigan with over 500 Kaz kids and family members! This year our families donated over $28,000 to J127 Ranch/Caring Bridge through the Kid's Marketplace, Heads or Tails, Raffle, and Kid's Talent Show. Thank you all for your generous spirits.

Next year we will head to Albuquerque, New Mexico June 28-30th. The registration process will change a bit. You will no longer be able to reserve a room at the hotel until after you have registered with us and paid your invoice.

We look forward to seeing you all next year!

2018 Update

Hello KP Families,
If you are registered for KP, please take a moment to read the following. It is very important! You may even want to grab a coffee, soda or beverage of your choice first because this is long 😊

The interest in KP this year has reached beyond anything we could have imagined, much less predicted. In trying to accommodate all who want to attend it has meant that we have had to completely restructure the weekend.

With that said, sadly we are still having to keep a waiting list as we have reached almost 600 people and try as we might, there is simply no way for us to accommodate any more.
Almost 600 people you say??? If that number frightens you or causes you pause, believe me, it’s having that same effect on us.

Below is an outline of the new structure of the event. But please make sure you read all the way to the end!

*Both Friday night and Saturday will have two meal times. It’s the only way we can accommodate the amount people in the space available.

*Friday Dinner: 5pm and 7pm. Dinner sign up will be at a later date.

*Friday, Lawn Games 5-8 pm…Come play before or after dinner.

*Saturday’s Luncheon 11 and 1. Lunch times will be assigned by regions.

**The Raffle:

*There is simply not enough space for all of us to be in the raffle space at once. Therefore, if your lunch time is 1:00, you will be able to browse the raffle, purchase tickets (we will be encouraging presale of tickets!) and make your selection between 11-1.

If your meal time is at 11, your raffle time will be from 1-3.

*Important! The actual raffle will start at 4:00. This is the only way we are able to do the raffle with this many people. After the luncheon the room will be rearranged to theater style to accommodate our large group. We will work as diligently as possible to move as quickly as possible through the raffle. We’ve become much more efficient throughout the years.

**You MUST be present to win!!

*Sunday: Coffee and some kind of breakfast goodie. Time and details still to be determined.

*Sunday: Talent Show…details still to be determined.

As mentioned this is currently just an overview of the weekend where we stand right now with things. Everything is possible to change if/as needed.

Please keep reading!! The following information is important!

It has been brought to our attention that there are families who have not been able to register or are simply not going to, but plan to come anyway. We cannot tell you that you are not able to do this, but please let it be understood that you will not be able to participate in the KP events.

On the flip side, we have also heard from families that have registered that they may not participate in the planned events because they don’t like the structure and/or there are just too many people.

If you know ahead of time you aren’t planning to participate due to the structure or sheer number of people, we ask you to reconsider coming as there are people on our waiting list who would love to come and actively participate.

This year is unlike any previous years, so we understand any reservations any of you may have about attending. More than anything we want KP to be a positive experience for your family, so if you believe after reading this that you do not believe this year’s KP is a good fit for your family, we have decided to offer a one-time full refund from (March 14-March 21).

All you have to do is contact Gretchen privately and she will issue you a refund. Refunds after this time will not be accepted because once we have our budget in place we depend on it for the event.

**Also, if you have registered but have NOT paid, it is also critical that you contact Gretchen as well to cancel. If you don’t tell us, we won’t know to fill your space.

I know this is a lot of information, but we wanted each of you to know exactly what KP looks like as of now. We love our families and we do not want to lose any of you! With that said, we know that KP can prove to be overwhelming for children and adults alike, even in smaller years. So please take time to consider the size and structure of this year’s event and decide if you think it will be an overall positive experience for you and your child(ren).

If you have any questions please contact any of the planners.