"I can't believe we're staying here!" An Feb'16 DLR PTR (TR link Post #355)

[YodasMom]

WAITLIST CAME THROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




I CAN"T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!!!

Of course this may change plans slightly - but I don't think too much. We may end up canceling the first day in the studio...unless I can convert it to the "pay for points" reservation. I'll be calling when I get home from work. Still - this IS AWESOME!!!

As my trip report says - I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE STAYING HERE!!!

I told you, too....LOL!! It never seems to come as soon as you want it to, though! Have fun!

 

[skier_pete]

Woohooo! Happy you got it!

I told you it would!

I told you, too....LOL!! It never seems to come as soon as you want it to, though! Have fun!

You both did say that - but boy did it end up cutting close - I had 2 days left to cancel the waitlist, because I couldn't have taken it and kept my first day as I need the points for another trip...so I went from the seven month mark to 2 days before the end of the waitlist....oof. Thanks to whoever cancelled their trip last minute!

 

[skier_pete]

So - finally calming down from the excitement of yesterday. DW and I were dancing around the kitchen like

, while DD was all like....

The one problem with our waitlist coming through - I now had FOUR nights at the VGC (1 in studio, 3 in a 1-bedroom) and really it was more points than I could afford to use. We have WDW trip planned for the fall, and though I haven't yet fully booked it - that's for another PTR that I'll start someday - I need more points than I have.

So - at first I decided I would see if I could convert the studio to a "one-time use" point reservation - this would cost us around $244 since we have to pay $15 per point, but that is roughly what a night would cost me at the suite at the Carousel Inn, so I . The short answer to that was 'NO'. They had to cancel the existing reservation and rebook to do it, and as soon as they cancelled it, the waitlist system swooped it up and grabbed it.

Oh well - doesn't really matter. Our original plan was 3 nights at VGC in a 1-bedroom, and now we were back at our original plan.

So - first thing I had to cancel our room at the Carousel, and find a new hotel for Monday night our arrival night. I had seen e-mails for a Star Wars sale at our old standby - the Tropicana. The Tropicana is where we stayed for 3 nights in 2012, and 1 night in 2013. They were having a $99 a night sale, so I decided to get two rooms for Monday night - this way we only have ONE night where we are all crammed in the same bedroom. With tax and parking, it will run around $240, which is slightly less than each night at the Carousel would've cost us.

So - our plan in short is now:
Sunday: Drive to LA. Farmer's Market and Hollywood and Highland. Hotel in Burbank
Monday: Warner Brothers Tour. Drive to Anaheim. Check in Tropicana. Meet my mom's friend for dinner.
Tuesday: Check out Tropicana. DLR for day, Grand Cailfornian
Wednesday: More DLR, Night 2 at the Grand
Thursday: Still more DLR, Night 3 at the Grand
Friday Check Out (sniff) head for Legoland for the day. Check in Hilton Grand Vacation MarBrisa.
Saturday: SeaWorld, Night 2 at MarBrisa
Sunday: Drive back to Arizona

So while we still have 4 hotels, we drop one of the room changes (4 different rooms instead of 5) and we get 3 nights in the same room which is a big plus. We also get 5 consectutive nights in a 1-bedroom with a kitchen, which is nice. We will definitely be picking up some food to use here.

The best part is that this saves us some money. The way my vacation budgeting works - DVC costs me the same each year regardless of how many points I actually use, so we eliminate two nights at the Carousel for $500, and replace it with a night that doesn't anything. We add in the one night at the Tropicana for $240, but overall we still reduce costs by $260. Also, having the kitchen will likely reduce our food costs as well.

OK - thanks for sticking with me through now. I am not sure how many more posts will come up as we approach our trip. It's four weeks away but it seems really close for some reason.

 

[kcpinwdw]

Yeah on the waitlist! Very exciting, right down to the wire

We have WDW trip planned for the fall

So do we... week after labor day. Wanted to push it closer to Halloween but deal at the Poly that week couldnt be beat, now that I am hooked.

t's four weeks away but it seems really close for some reason.

4 weeks is SOON! Can't wait to read your trip report! I havent been to Disneyland since 2008.

 

[khertz]

Congrats on the waitlist coming through! How exciting!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

YAY for the waitlist coming through! And YAY for staying at the Grand!!

Here's to a quick countdown.

 

[skier_pete]

Yeah on the waitlist! Very exciting, right down to the wire

4 weeks is SOON! Can't wait to read your trip report! I havent been to Disneyland since 2008.

Congrats on the waitlist coming through! How exciting!!

YAY for the waitlist coming through! And YAY for staying at the Grand!!

Here's to a quick countdown.

Still giddy. We are leaving in just 24 days! As of today we've entered the billing cycle on our CC that includes much of the trip, so anything I pay for "ahead of time" now is the same as if I pay for it on the trip. Thinking of picking up our park passes shortly. The SoCal multi-pass (3-days DL, 1-day Legoland, 1-day Seaworld) is the only thing really we have left to purchase.

DW has been asking if there was something special she could pay for as part of the trip. (Most of our vacation money comes out of my expenses.) I suggested we book a "Dine with Shamu" at Sea World. It's $40 a person, but you get a lot more up close with the killer whales. The way things are going, pretty soon they won't let you anywhere near the animals. Hopefully this will be a fun add-on experience.

 

[skier_pete]

Well - actually we leave in just 3 days, but one week from today will be our first at DLR! Work is going poorly (too distracted), but I noticed today that Saturday the high temperature in Phoenix is listed at 84 degrees. We have a cold front coming through here, and the high temp is listed as 2 degrees. Therefore, it should be 82 degrees warmer on Saturday where we are than where we were. Pretty amazing.

Nothing really left to say - we are mostly packed and ready to go. Now we just need the flight to not be cancelled due to some lousy reason. I'll try and post occasional updates on the thread as I go.

 

[rteetz]

Woohoo have a blast!

 

[kcpinwdw]

HAve a great trip!

 

[franandaj]

Well I have some interesting news for you. On the 7 day forecast they are predicting the possibility of rain on the Tuesday. That was the morning news. The afternoon news said there may be a Tropical Storm that day with a high of 81. It will be just like WDW for you! But even better, Southern Californians melt in rain. They're like the Wicked Witch of the West, so you may very well have fairly empty park days if you have rain. Then it could be like every other prediction of rain we have had this year. So far only one really came true. Every other one went right past us without actually hitting the ground. Virga. It evaporates before touching the ground.

Keep your eye on the news!

 

[skier_pete]

Well I have some interesting news for you. On the 7 day forecast they are predicting the possibility of rain on the Tuesday. That was the morning news. The afternoon news said there may be a Tropical Storm that day with a high of 81. It will be just like WDW for you! But even better, Southern Californians melt in rain. They're like the Wicked Witch of the West, so you may very well have fairly empty park days if you have rain. Then it could be like every other prediction of rain we have had this year. So far only one really came true. Every other one went right past us without actually hitting the ground. Virga. It evaporates before touching the ground.

Keep your eye on the news!

You Californians must be made of sugar! That's what my mom would say: "What are you made of sugar, you're so sweet that you'll melt?"

Yeah - that one really wet week I remember that. We can hopefully handle a little bit of rain. One day wouldn't be so bad - just don't want all 3 days to be a wash. Even better would be if it hits the ground for about 15 minutes - scaring all the locals back into their homes.

Virga - Learn something new every day.

Edit: Just looked at the forecast on Weather dot com. Seems the rain has already evaporated. Looks like hot over the weekend, cooling midweek. It's all better than 2 degrees.

 

[Teetah]

It's all better than 2 degrees.

DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Have a great trip! Say hello to Mickey for me.

 

[skier_pete]

Hey everyone! We are back - and the first post of the new TR is UP. Click on the title below to be directed to the new Trip Report!

“This place better not burn down before I get my entrée!" – A DLR Feb 2016 TR