¤*~*¤May/June 2013 ¤*~*¤Trip Planning Thread

[ColoradoLime]

Ok. Booked flights. We'll be in Cali for 10 nights. Our DL dates are 5/30 - 6/4 at Sheraton Park.

I'm still waiting on my airfare funds to come through - should be in the next two weeks. But right now the airfare is about $300 less than what I originally was quoted so I'm really hoping those fares stick around for a bit!

 

[MICKEYFIL]

Well just so you know, the link I posted on the first page is from WDWinfo (the owner of these boards) and is "unofficial". When I went to do more research I found the pdf document above and as far as I could tell when looking at the source it appears to have come directly from Disney.

However, I can tell you no matter what information you look at, it is all subject to change and nothing is set in stone until that specific day. Rides could open early or refurbs could go longer than planned. Rides that are scheduled to be down will still go down during the day unexpectedly. They are machines. It happens.

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[TheChapman6]

I am also going May 6-9. I am going with my 2 boys who are 9 and 10 and my Mom and Dad plan to join us. We just figured out our dates and are trying to find airfare and hotel details. We would like to stay at The Disneyland Hotel? I'm hoping for a discounted rate of some sort? We also live in Colorado. We are in Severance. It's a tiny town by Windsor, sort of in the middle of Loveland and Fort Collins. I plan to fly out of DIA to Las Vegas (southwest airlines) and stay with my parents then drive over Mon.

I'm thinking DL Tuesday- Hopefully a magic morning
Wed- CA day My dad wants to see RRR so bad
Th- anything we haven't done yet and repeat things we loved

Can't wait to have a tiger tail, Monte cristo, dole whip, mint julup etc..

I haven't been since I was 10 myself.

 

[ColoradoLime]

We also live in Colorado. We are in Severance.

I have never, ever heard of this town. lol

Check out southwest for airfare, so far they are the cheapest I've found.

 

[TheChapman6]

I have never, ever heard of this town. lol

Check out southwest for airfare, so far they are the cheapest I've found.

I always fly southwest because they never nickel and dime you. Plus I can bring 2 suitcases per person for FREE!! We are only about an hour from DIA. Most people haven't heard of Severance. It's famous for a bar called Bruce's where they serve Rocky Mountain Oysters. There is really nothing here we have to drive into another town/city to get groceries and such.

 

[lovebug33]

I always fly southwest because they never nickel and dime you. Plus I can bring 2 suitcases per person for FREE!! We are only about an hour from DIA. Most people haven't heard of Severance. It's famous for a bar called Bruce's where they serve Rocky Mountain Oysters. There is really nothing here we have to drive into another town/city to get groceries and such.

Rocky Mountain Oysters! Have a great memory of my now SIL who was only my bro's gf at the time and RMO. Priceless!

 

[Kansas Mom]

I am bringing my DD for her college graduation trip on June 1-8. DS13 is coming along too. We are booked at HOJO. Thanks for the thread with the good info.

 

[ColoradoLime]

I am bringing my DD for her college graduation trip on June 1-8. DS13 is coming along too. We are booked at HOJO. Thanks for the thread with the good info.

Welcome!! Where in Kansas are you? We spent one miserable year in Wichita once.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

How much planning do you guys do? Are you going to plan out all of you meals ahead of time? Will have a plan of attack as far as the parks are concerned?

 

[lovebug33]

How much planning do you guys do? Are you going to plan out all of you meals ahead of time? Will have a plan of attack as far as the parks are concerned?

We sort of have a plan of attack. First day is getting there, so we are going to DTD, maybe Build a Bear, and eating there. We still have to find a restaurant. The next day is DCA and we are going to go to Carsland. Then, bugs land, toy story and Ariel. Then, just look around and see if there is anything else little Boo can go on. We will eat lunch at the place with the soup. And, have popcorn. We are going over to DL probably and then back to DCA and eat at Flo's. The second day, we are going to MK and doing Fantasyland first, then toontown, then wandering around and seeing what we can do with little Boo. We are eating at the Ranch place for our anniversary. Then, the next day we are leaving and we are going to eat at the restaurant that has Surfs up with Mickey.

 

[ColoradoLime]

How much planning do you guys do? Are you going to plan out all of you meals ahead of time? Will have a plan of attack as far as the parks are concerned?

Not nearly as much as we did for WDW!!

I've got a plan of what day we'll spend in each park. I have 2 or 3 sit down dinners we'll do and have those planned, but otherwise I just made a note of which counter service places we want to try and we'll make a decision on those just before each meal depending on where we are at that time.

No plans for rides at all, other than to do Carsland first thing in the morning on our DCA day. And I'm hoping there will be at least one night during our trip when the park is open late so I can go back out by myself and hit all the thrill rides that my wimpy family wont' do with me.

I'm a control freak and a major planner, but I'm kind of enjoying not having to plan out every minute like we did at WDW.

 

[Kansas Mom]

Welcome!! Where in Kansas are you? We spent one miserable year in Wichita once.

We are in western ks. It is not miserable out here

 

[VandVsmama]

We are in western ks. It is not miserable out here

My grandparents retired to Lindsborg, KS.

 

[VandVsmama]

How much planning do you guys do? Are you going to plan out all of you meals ahead of time? Will have a plan of attack as far as the parks are concerned?

I am gradually starting to develop a plan. My DH is kind of a "eh, let's go with the flow" sort of guy. But I know that our kids will be pretty cranky pretty quickly if we end up in 45-minute lines to go on a ride. So yeah, definitely putting together a plan.

We're going to eat breakfast items in our hotel room that we're going to bring with us. It'll save time and money in the a.m. when I want us to get there right when it opens. And besides, reguarly my children wake up at 5:45am in the morning anyway (Lord only knows why). So we might as well hit the parks when they are fresh & well rested.

We are going to do counter-service places to eat in the parks, supplemented by snacks that I'm bringing w/us. No character meals because it's not in our budget. Where we happen to eat will largely depend on where we happen to be when we get hungry.

In terms of a plan of attack for rides & attractions, though, we are definitely doing EMH/MM on our 1st morning there. So this will mean hitting the following in Fantasyland:

• Peter Pan's Flight
• Matterhorn
• Dumbo
• Alice in Wonderland
• Mad Tea Party
• Mr Toad's Wild Ride
• King Arthur's Carrousel
• It's a Small World

I think we may skip Pinocchio & Snow White.

I'm going to spring for the $24.95 cost for RideMax and want to also hit up:

• Space Mountain - probably just me. Nobody else wants to go on a roller coaster
• Indiana Jones - will probably have to do child swap for YDD. However, it is possible that she'll grow another inch between now and the end of May.
• Tiki Room
• Tarzan's Tree House
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Haunted Mansion
• Mickey & Minnie's Houses
• Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointments likely on Day 2, followed by 1 of the princess meet & greets. 1 of them definitely has to be Merida, the other Rapunzel. Tinkerbell would be gravy.

At DCA we want to go on:

• Heimlich's Chew Chew Train
• Soarin' Over CA
• Flik's Flyers
• Tuck & Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies
• Ladybug Boogie
• if it gets hot - Princess Dot Puddle Park
• It's Tough To Be A Bug
• Monsters, Inc
• Little Mermaid
• King Triton's Carousel
• Carsland - neither of my girls are really into the Cars movies, so I suspect that we may pass on the mad dash to Radiator Springs Racers.

 

[VandVsmama]

Ok, so I lied. I'm not gradually developing a plan. I am in full on Disney Planner mode because this is the only thing that's preventing me from not telling my kids when we are going.

 

[PoohsFan1]

How much planning do you guys do? Are you going to plan out all of you meals ahead of time? Will have a plan of attack as far as the parks are concerned?

No plan, at least not until the park hours are listed. We do know which restaurants we want to eat at and how many park days we are going to be going to, other than that, we are up in the air. This is so much different then me planning out our WDW trips....I mean, I always have everything planned out 6 months ahead of time only because that is when I can start making dining reservations. I feel a bit more laid back planning this trip out.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

I only ask because I didn't have any plan last time it was our 4th visit and it did not go well. It was chaos. With there being so many of us I felt like I was being pulled in a million directions! I am a planner and my husband is more of a go with the flow type too. So I gave any and I regretted it. I decided this time that I'll plan it out. I like to know that I'm not the only one! LOL! Sorry it took me so long to get back to the post! Our Mac had to go in for repairs and I'm not a fan of my husbands work lap top! I'll get back on and put some of my plans up for you guys to give your thoughts! I love that you guys are all so active!

 

[BlueFairy]

I am also a WDW vet/ DL newbie. I feel like with it being summer and with DCA reopened we need a plan. We also have small kids and our diets are definitely not used to theme park food. I think we'll be making a touring plan soon. Right now we are juggling logistics of air/ car rental/ shuttles/ grocery runs and possibly splitting our stay in the SD area into 2 hotels. We also watched the DL planning DVD on you tube this morning to get a feel for the kids' preferences.

 

[ColoradoLime]

I'm telling the kids tonight, I just can't wait any longer.

Their shirts have arrived. I thought I was ordering DL shirts for both of them, but DD's shirt says WDW. I'm going to give it to her anyway and if she wants to exchange then I will.

I've created a short scavenger hunt game with Disney themed clues that they will follow around and bring them to the special box with their shirts and a note that tells them we are going.

Here's hoping it all goes well!!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I'm telling the kids tonight, I just can't wait any longer.

Their shirts have arrived. I thought I was ordering DL shirts for both of them, but DD's shirt says WDW. I'm going to give it to her anyway and if she wants to exchange then I will.

I've created a short scavenger hunt game with Disney themed clues that they will follow around and bring them to the special box with their shirts and a note that tells them we are going.

Here's hoping it all goes well!!

How fun for your . Make sure you let us know how it went.