Disneyland and the D23 Expo for THE Trouble Makin' Trio! PTR!

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

Hello all! And welcome to my first ever PTR for DLR and the Disboards in general!

We're heading to Disneyland September 9th - 13th to go on our first ever Disneyland Resort vacation and to attend the D23 Expo!

Let me introduce the Cast of Characters:


My DMom named Victoria, age 50. These are slightly older photos but they're all I have. She's been to Walt Disney World but never to Disneyland. She's a moderate Disney fan, she likes the art behind it all. She's most excited about the environment and learning new things at the Expo.


My DAunt named Sheila, age 39. I like to embarrass her by showing that picture from her modeling days. Of course the other one is much more recent. She's been to WDW, but has never even been to CA. She's loads of fun, and is a big Disney fan, she loves the old cartoons and animated movies. She's most excited about the RIDES!


Here I am, age 17. My real name is Caroline, but my nickname since I was little has been Jinx. Call me whichever you'd like. I've been to WDW, but never DLR. Don't have any decent pictures from WDW, I was always videotaping. I am a MONDO DISNEY FAN. My whole room is littered with everything disney. I'm most excited about EVERYTHING. The characters, the expo, the environment, the rides...I couldn't decide.


We'll be staying at the ~Disneyland Hotel~ which I am SO excited about, and I'm glad I'll get to stay there in all its old glory before its big change. We just have a standard room right now, but if I pick up some extra hours at my job I might pull together enough to surprise them with an upgrade! I'll keep you guys posted.

I started this to get myself in the Disney spirit again and get excited for the trip! We've all been a little down since Michael Jackson's death and I think the Disney Spirit is the pickup we need!

In the next couple of months, join me on my adventures of setting up PS at some awesome restaurants, setting up my daily itinerary, and more! I'm so psyched to start this PTR and hopefully let the time pass quicker. More updates later!

[Sherry E]

I'm in for the long haul! (And I still think you all should do both Minnie & Friends AND Goofy's Kitchen for character meals!!) I know what you mean about the Michael Jackson thing. It kind of knocked the wind out of my sail too. The whole situation is tragic.

You will love the DLH and DLR in general. I have a short, half-day DLR trip coming up in two weeks which I have had a hard time getting in the mood for, for some reason (see Trip Report), but I am hoping to catch some magic from other Trip Reports to help get me in the right mind frame!!

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

Thanks for joining in, Sherry E! Hopefully more people will hop on the bandwagon as this PTR moves along...And if I can swing the money to do two breakfasts, I'll definitely try! Maybe I should invest in that instead of a room upgrade...decisions decisions...

Anyway, upon looking at some of the D23 Expo events, I made up this loose and tentative schedule for the 4 days...

We arrive on SEPTEMBER 9TH at around 10:30, so we'll just go to bed the first night...

SEPTEMBER 10TH: Go to the Disney Expo first thing in the morning to get that new expo smell.
11:00 ~ Bob Iger opening speech.

12:00 ~ The Disney Legends Ceremony!

After the Ceremony, we'll spend the rest of our afternoon and evening exploring, for the first time ever, the Disneyland Park!!!!

SEPTEMBER 11TH: That morning will MAYBE be our character breakfast? Then to the Expo for...

11:00 ~ Dick Cook's speech! And then spending the rest of the day at the parks, and we'll definitely hit up DCA first that day!!

SEPTEMBER 12TH: We're starting an early Magic Morning at Disneyland Park, and maybe take advantage of Toontown Morning Madness too! We may head over to DCA at some points but who knows. We'll just spend our morning at the parks!

Head to the Expo after lunch, do a 2pm speech with Jay Rasulo and Bruce Vaughn, CHAIRMAN AND VICE PRESIDENT OF DISNEY PARKS!

MAYBE a 5pm speech with Rich Ross and Gary Marsh. Depends on how speeched out we are.

After that, an evening of Downtown Disney and a nice dinner at Napa Rose!

SEPTEMBER 13TH: Maybe this will be the breakfast morning?
Either way, we will do the 11:00 John Lasseter Speech, head back to the parks for a couple hours, then go BACK to the Expo for last couple hours in case there are closing ceremonies or anything.
Head to the airport around 7 for our 9:50pm flight!



So what do you guys think? I know there's a LOT but we're a high energy family anyway, and we have double motives with this trip - the expo and our first trip to DLR, and we may not get another DLR vacation for a long time. Still, what can I improve on and what looks wrong?

Also, Should September 11th or 13th be our character breakfast, and still...WHICH CHARACTER BREAKFAST?!!? I STILL can't decide between Goofy's Kitchen or Minnie and Friends! If it's the 13th, I'm wondering if I should do Goofy's Kitchen since we'll be a little more pressed for time...OR, if I get an early breakfast at Minnie's that day, will I still be fine to make the 11am John Lasseter address? Help me!

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

1 month and 3 weeks until the trip! I'm waiting for the one month point....that will be when the official countdown begins!


DMom's birthday is coming up on July 30th. Since she is getting so excited about this trip, I decided to get her things relating to our Disney trip! How about matching t-shirts and personalized Mickey Mouse ears?!

I hopped on the Disney Website and personalized everything, and here's how it turned out....


Here's the front side of the t-shirts!


These are the ears....I couldn't help it, I had to get the colorful one for myself....hehe, it was just so eye popping! Mom wouldn't be caught dead wearing that one anyway. I'll be lucky to get her to wear the normal ones!


And finally, the backside of our shirts, plus the front side of my special Mickey Ears!



I'm hoping she likes it...finally narrowing down what we're going to do for dining, and I'm hopefully going to call tomorrow for PS. Can't wait!