Life is too short for self-hatred and celery sticks: final update 12/29, p.98

[kaoden39]

Hi there!


I hope you had a great birthday!


Michael is in my neck of the woods. The weather is very welcoming too!

 

[rentayenta]

Hi there!


I hope you had a great birthday!


Michael is in my neck of the woods. The weather is very welcoming too!

He is. He said its beautiful. I can't remember the name of the hotel but I'll find out tomorrow, maybe you've heard of it?​

 

[kaoden39]

He is. He said its beautiful. I can't remember the name of the hotel but I'll find out tomorrow, maybe you've heard of it?​

Mmm probably not. We have been in that area many times but never stayed there. We are so close that the thought had never crossed my mind until recently when I thought it might be nice for an overnight trip for Scotty and I.


He had a CT scan on Friday and he is seeing the neurologist on Wednesday. I am hoping they figure out what it is that has made him so sick.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Hope you had a great birthday and I will be looking forward to hear about your recent trip.

 

[rentayenta]

Mmm probably not. We have been in that area many times but never stayed there. We are so close that the thought had never crossed my mind until recently when I thought it might be nice for an overnight trip for Scotty and I.


He had a CT scan on Friday and he is seeing the neurologist on Wednesday. I am hoping they figure out what it is that has made him so sick.

I'm sorry Scotty has been sick and hope they get you both some answers. Good luck on Wed and you'll be in my thoughts. Please keep us posted.

He sent me pics but I forgot the name. I'm so scattered when he's away. You'd think I'd be used to the solo parenting by now but I'm not. Having another driver though has helped a ton.​

Hope you had a great birthday and I will be looking forward to hear about your recent trip.

Thank you, it was fabulous. I had a major scare today, my iPhone suddenly turned off and I couldn't get it back on. I was so afraid I was going to lose my photos but thankfully I didn't. I need to get them on the mac stat.

Hoping to update tonight. ​

 

[kaoden39]

I'm sorry Scotty has been sick and hope they get you both some answers. Good luck on Wed and you'll be in my thoughts. Please keep us posted.

He sent me pics but I forgot the name. I'm so scattered when he's away. You'd think I'd be used to the solo parenting by now but I'm not. Having another driver though has helped a ton.






Thank you, it was fabulous. I had a major scare today, my iPhone suddenly turned off and I couldn't get it back on. I was so afraid I was going to lose my photos but thankfully I didn't. I need to get them on the mac stat.

Hoping to update tonight. ​

Thank you I will keep you up to date.


I would have freaked out about the phone.

 

[rentayenta]

Thank you I will keep you up to date.


I would have freaked out about the phone.

Please. Sending lots of good vibes your way.


I did freak! I have a lot of Club 33 pics and beach pics on my phone.


I'm at an impasse with regard to Spring Break and Disney. Can I live with DCA only for a day without a park Hopper? It'll save me $190. It'll cost $435 for the 5 of us with a one day/one park ticket or $625 for a one day hopper. I'm having an incredibly rough time swallowing over $600 just to walk in. $435 seems a little insane as well but I can wrap my head around it.​

 

[kaoden39]

Please. Sending lots of good vibes your way.


I did freak! I have a lot of Club 33 pics and beach pics on my phone.


I'm at an impasse with regard to Spring Break and Disney. Can I live with DCA only for a day without a park Hopper? It'll save me $190. It'll cost $435 for the 5 of us with a one day/one park ticket or $625 for a one day hopper. I'm having an incredibly rough time swallowing over $600 just to walk in. $435 seems a little insane as well but I can wrap my head around it.​

Ouch it really hurts to have our large families when it comes to tickets doesn't it?

 

[rentayenta]

Ouch it really hurts to have our large families when it comes to tickets doesn't it?

Indeed! I miss the days of child prices too. Still hoping for park hoppers but need to talk to Michael. I think just DCA sounds great on paper until it's about 2:00 and me and Joshua are dying to go on Indy! Then I see me springing for hoppers.



Working on the birthday update. It will be posted tonight. The pics make me smile.​

 

[DrMomof3]

This is our last year of Nathaniel being a Disney child. It is hard to wrap your head around those ticket prices. Right now we have APs and there is no more child AP but I don't know if we'll keep getting APs. We may be buying a DVC resale contract and then the AP will be cheaper!
I started a new PTR for my August trip.

Amanda

 

[kaoden39]

I always know that if I don't buy hoppers that I will have something I just HAVE to do.

 

[rentayenta]

Once again, I'm sorry for the delay. I arrived home Sunday night only to be slammed with a week of solo parenting. I had less than a week's notice so I was not prepared. I have to prepare to solo parent my own children.

I’ve decided not to post my entire birthday trip. I don’t want to bore everyone with every little detail. We enjoyed a night at the DLH, a day at Disney with a mini meet, a day at the beach with lots of eating and drinking, and a final part day on the water. I’ll focus on the Disney part.

My friend and I arrived at the Disneyland Hotel after a delayed flight into Long Beach from SLC. We picked up our luggage and then our rental car from Hertz. We got upgraded from a standard to a nice little Infinity. It had a starter button and it took us the entire 3 days to realize we didn’t need a key to start it. As you can tell by the water, it had just stopped raining and it had turned into a gorgeous day.

Now I hadn’t stayed at the DLH since 2005 and read about the refurb and how pretty it was.

Because we decided to stop by the beach before heading to Anaheim, I called the hotel to let them know we’d be late. I spoke with a nice CM named Jackie who was very friendly. She asked if we were celebrating anything and of course I told her it was our birthdays. I also requested the Adventure Tower and if possible a view of DTD. I let her know we booked a standard room on points and would appreciate anything she could do.

Proudly displaying my age:

And a trip to So Cal isn’t complete without my very favorite snack:

At about 5 pm we pulled into the DLH. I was so excited as it had been so long. Even with our 3 stays at the GCV, I hadn’t managed to make it over to see the updated DLH. I love the GCV but the DLH was the first resort hotel we stayed at and I have such fond memories.

I was not disappointed. After chatting with the valet, we used valet, we headed inside. As we walked in there was a beautiful bride and groom having their photo taken. I didn’t want to be a spazz and snap a picture but secretly I wanted to.

Bell services took this of us:

We were the second party in line and just chatted away while waiting our turn.

Check in was easy and guess what tower we had? The Adventure Tower with a view of DTD! Let the birthday pixie dust flow....

Birthday buttons:

Adventure Tower, here we come:

The view was fabulous!

Lots of room and bathroom photos:

Continued in the next post....​

 

[rentayenta]

The light up headboard was tear worthy.

But wait, it gets better...

I was in heaven and my friend was in awe. She had been to Disneyland, even with us before, but never felt the magic until right then.

A few more pics:

We planned on meeting some girlfriends for dinner so we headed to Walt’s Wharf in Seal Beach. Neither of us wanted to leave the hotel and Disneyland area but dinner plans had been made months ago so off we went. It was a lovely night with good friends.

Our birthday dessert:

We got back to the hotel, changed into our pjs, and had a slumber party. We are so goofy and took these pictures. We couldn’t get over the light up headboard and music. When you turn on the headboard, the lamp hums the music to A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes. OMG!

We took these:

We continued to chat and turned on the tv, posted pics our goofy selves on FB, and then fell asleep.

We still hadn’t decided on a plan for the following day aside from meeting Alison and Fran for lunch at Club 33.

My friend had been to Carsland but didn’t ride anything so technically, in my mind, she hadn’t been. I knew we wanted to start there.

We woke up about 7 am and were starving. We tried calling room service, after all it was our birthday trip, but after 15 minutes on hold, we gave up. We didn’t want to eat too much knowing we wanted to stuff ourselves silly at Club 33 but we knew we couldn’t go without anything.

The forecast was calling for 90% rain but luckily there wasn't a dark cloud in the sky. Yet. We knew we needed to take advantage of our luck.

I made some mediocre Disneyland decaf and we headed out. Can they not do something about the quality of the in-room coffee?

We checked out and gave our bags to bell services. I also learned something that morning. Our valet fee of $22 was good until midnight on 3/8. We checked in on 3/7 and I thought for sure we’d have to pay two days of valet but we didn’t. $11 a day plus tip was totally worth the convenience of being so close.

We walked through the grounds and into DTD. I love DTD during the chill of the morning. Its so fresh and clean. We were really hungry by this time; it was just after 8:00.

Did you all know that Compass Books is now an Earl of Sandwich? I didn’t know that and boy was a I happy. I love Earl’s original. Roast beef, cheese, and creamy horseradish? Pencil us in! We decided to split an original.

With full bellies and happy hearts we headed to DCA’s guest relations area to pick up our passes. THANK YOU!

And with that, I’ll have to continue later. I didn’t sleep well last night and want to give Club 33 and our mini DISmeet justice so I’m stopping for tonight.

I do have one photo to post though. If you read both mine and Alison’s trip report, you may recognize what’s in the baggie.

To be continued......



​

 

[kaoden39]

I love the Adventure Tower. That is my favorite tower by the way.

I am so excited you started this. Now go relax!

 

[franandaj]

I can't believe that you made THAT the cliff hanger!


But it was definitely for someone!

 

[PrincessInOz]

WOW! What a great start to the birthday trip.

I can't believe you went to Walt's Wharf! I ate there in 2010 and had a great time there.

Looking forward to more pixie dust.

 

[rentayenta]

I love the Adventure Tower. That is my favorite tower by the way.

I am so excited you started this. Now go relax!

It's the best tower for sure! We were so giddy excited. The view was outstanding.​

I can't believe that you made THAT the cliff hanger!


But it was definitely for someone!

Every time I see it it makes me laugh out loud. So funny! A girl after my own heart. And a girl who knows how to transport leftovers.​

I always know that if I don't buy hoppers that I will have something I just HAVE to do.

Totally! Not hopping especially if we've got only one day seems truly impossible.​

This is our last year of Nathaniel being a Disney child. It is hard to wrap your head around those ticket prices. Right now we have APs and there is no more child AP but I don't know if we'll keep getting APs. We may be buying a DVC resale contract and then the AP will be cheaper!
I started a new PTR for my August trip.

Amanda

You did? Awesome! I'll go look for it. Resale? What resort? Details girl....​

WOW! What a great start to the birthday trip.

I can't believe you went to Walt's Wharf! I ate there in 2010 and had a great time there.

Looking forward to more pixie dust.

Thank you! We eat at Walt's during every trip to So Cal. Their oak grilled artichoke is insane. It's to die for. I should have got a photo. I had that and a huge bowl of clam chowder with enough warm sourdough bread and butter to feed a small family.​

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

OK so what form do I have to fill out in order to change my birthday from September to March, so I can celebrate with y'all?

Lovely update, it was much anticipated and so far it has lived up to the hype

I'm loving the DLH pics and have my fingers crossed for some of Cars Land

I hope to be in Disneyland for my 40th (it's not this year but next) and I thought I'd love to stay at the GC but now seeing your pics of DLH, I might be thinking about that, it looks so cool and my boys might like it better

Looking forward to more....

 

[kaoden39]

OK so what form do I have to fill out in order to change my birthday from September to March, so I can celebrate with y'all?

Lovely update, it was much anticipated and so far it has lived up to the hype

I'm loving the DLH pics and have my fingers crossed for some of Cars Land

I hope to be in Disneyland for my 40th (it's not this year but next) and I thought I'd love to stay at the GC but now seeing your pics of DLH, I might be thinking about that, it looks so cool and my boys might like it better

Looking forward to more....

Another thing in favor for me about the DLH is that the rooms are larger. That is a definite plus for me.

 

[MomToPrincePhillip]

Another thing in favor for me about the DLH is that the rooms are larger. That is a definite plus for me.

Good hint, thanks! I'll keep that in mind.