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

[sherilaine]

Wow I see 5 others that will be at the HOJO when we are there from May 1st till the 12th.

We tossed around staying elsewhere, but I just love their kids suites!

 

[ColoradoGirl85]

- is the HoJo a good place for us to stay? With us being there 4.5-ish days, having some kid-themed pool time is a factor. Also, not renting a car, we're going to be walking to and from the park. Is there any reason to be concerned with safety?
We LOVE the HOJO. We did the walk with our 2.5 year old (in a stroller) and had no issues. Took us about 7 minutes. Cross Harbor at the corner where the HOJO is to save some time fighting crowds. I also walked it by myself at night after hubby and my son headed back to the hotel a few minutes early and I felt completely safe

- Have yet to buy the park tickets, but will likely go for the 4 day park hopper with the magic morning. This is a smart plan, right?
I think so! We had 5 day park hoppers last time, and by the last day we had done everything and the 5th day we just took it pretty easy. We also will be doing 4 day PH's with Magic Morning this trip

- all areas of in-park planning. best options and strategies for making this experience worthwhile and as pleasant as can be for all of us.
There is so much great advice on the DIS but the best advice I have....familiarize yourself with the park layout before you go, set a general plan, but don't overplan. I had very specific plans laid out on our first trip, and threw them right out the window within the first 20 minutes. Don't stress yourself out by feeling like you have to stick to a certain plan, you have 4 days, that's plenty of time

- Food. I am somewhat of a foodie, and would like to experience the best parts of the food in the park and that is walking-accessible from the hotel. Also don't have a break-the-bank budget, so I am looking at the best options in the realm of cheaper eats.
We order food to the room from Vons and have breakfast and lunch in our hotel, then we stick to cheap easy eats for dinner most nights (Mimis, Millies, Denny's etc....not great food but cheap. Also, I recomend pulling up the HOJO on Google Maps and look at the surrounding restaurants. It gives you a good idea of distance, then pick the ones you think you would like to eat at and sign up for their e-mail lists about a week before your trip. We got so many great discounts doing that, we didn't have 1 meal out that didn't include a coupon on our trip haha. Also check out http://anaheimoc.org/ for coupons

We're pretty pumped. Also not planning to tell the kids until we are practically boarding the plane to go. They will be thrilled!
Have fun! your kiddos will have a blast, and so will you!

 

[cptmemo]

Just found this thread.

We will be staying at Dolphin's Cove from June 14th-June 19th. I think we are planning 3 day park hoppers.

There are 11 of us going, possibly 14. We haven't been to DLR since October 2009, and April 2007.

This is a combination graduation/birthday/father's day/just for fun trip, as I will be graduating from Loma Linda University on Sunday, plus it's father's day, and my daughter turns 10 on the 17th.

Haven't figured ANYTHING out yet, in fact the airline tickets were just booked on Friday, and the hotel on Thursday. 1/2 the group is driving down (we're from Oregon).

I might have lots of questions, so I'm sure I'll be back

 

[ColoradoGirl85]

So fellow May travelers....please tell me that I'm not the only one who is crazy excited that May park hours are slowly being added to the Disneyland calendar!

 

[lana772]

So fellow May travelers....please tell me that I'm not the only one who is crazy excited that May park hours are slowly being added to the Disneyland calendar!

Your not.
What worries me is that usually means that they are expecting more guest. We are waiting until May as to skip all the Spring break crowds.

Lana

 

[stubby]

Not sure if I have posted here or not. We will be there May 24-May 30. Just made our first reservation for Blue Bayou yesterday.

 

[yupikgal]

I don't know why I thought I already added my information to this thread, but I discovered that I didn't!

Cast of characters: Myself (51) Son & high school graduate to be (17) daughter & celebrating her June birthday (will be 21!)
Also, my brother, his wife, daughter, granddaughter and a cousin are coming!!Very excited about showing newbies my favorite place on earth!!

June 6-15th. Flying into Anaheim on the 6th in the morning, will be at Ho Jo's for 3 nights. We won't be going to Disney on the first day, it's a long flight for us, leaving on a "red-eye" so the first day, we are going to enjoy the property, pool, and later stroll over and show my brother & his family Downtown Disney! I can't wait!! Driving to Vegas for 2 nights on 9th, back to Anaheim on the 11th, and staying 4 nights somewhere, not sure where we will stay when we return, I'm still going back & forth, trying to decide whether we want to stay across the street, at an onsite property, or in Garden Grove where you get a larger space & newer properties! *UPDATE* I booked us for the FFI for 4 nights! I've been so torn between staying on site, but the costs are so astronomical! At least I know that we are booked (and paid for) now! Yippee!!

We are all looking forward to this break, especially after looking out our window today and seeing the white fluffy stuff coming down!! Looking forward to palm trees & sunny skies! We have a character breakfast planned, probably Minnie & Friends, since neither of my kids have been to it...We also want to have a nice celebration dinner at either Blue Bayou or Carthay Circle, & then maybe a nice one in Vegas, even if it's just at Mon Ami Gabi @ Paris!



Can't stand the wait, it's only a couple of months away now, starting to realize this is getting real!!

 

[lovebug33]

Yippee! Dh just found ou the braves are playing te baseball in la the day before we were to go down. So we are going to the baseball and I'm getting an extra day in the parks.

 

[llouque]

So fellow May travelers....please tell me that I'm not the only one who is crazy excited that May park hours are slowly being added to the Disneyland calendar!

Not at all!! I checked while on a road trip with DH and said "YES! Hours are posted for the start of our trip!!" Then I started rattling off details and his eyes glazed over.

 

[yoyo93]

We'll be at the DLH May 18-24th!! Super excited! Also, how early is too early to make dinner reservations? I'm so restless that I'm starting to plan out every second, haha.

 

[VandVsmama]

We'll be at the DLH May 18-24th!! Super excited! Also, how early is too early to make dinner reservations? I'm so restless that I'm starting to plan out every second, haha.

You can call now to make dining reservations because they do it up to 60 days in advance. I just made Tortilla Joe's reservations on Friday for 5/27.

 

[PigletGurl]

change of plans! we are staying at the fairfield inn may 22 - june 3 !

 

[Speechphi]

We just booked our trip last night: June 16-20 at Fairfield Inn...so excited! A bit nervous now that I've realized our first day there is Father's Day, but that's the day we're driving down from Sac, so hopefully it won't matter too much.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I just wanted to say that I can't believe how fast time is flying by. We are just over 2 months from our trip . I can finally start making dining reservations this coming Friday (I am so used to planning out our WDW trips where we would already have all of our dining reservations made by now). To those of you that will be heading there in May, have a safe and Magical trip, and to also think of us who still have to wait for our trips to come along . I am so excited for our trip to come, I just hope I didn't jinx it and now the days will be going by very slowly .

 

[nocomment711]

May 31-June 3 for me. (=. America's best inn.

 

[ColoradoGirl85]

Booked our character meal! How bad is the walk from the HOJO to Paradise Pier? We have done the walk from the HOJO to Downtown Disney, and it doesn't look like Paradise Pier is too far from Downtown Disney so I'm assuming it won't be too bad. Although the walk back to the park with a stomach full of breakfast might not be fun

 

[undertheseas]

May 30-June 7 at the Ramada Maingate.

 

[dancemom1]

Just bought annual passes for myself, my mom, and my daughter (a surprise trip/bday gift for dd for her 13th)..celebrating all of our birthdays while we are there, as they all fall in May. We are going to Disneyland and California Adventures from May 19-24th and staying at the Candy Cane Inn. So excited!!!!

 

[stubby]

Just bought annual passes for myself, my mom, and my daughter (a surprise trip/bday gift for dd for her 13th)..celebrating all of our birthdays while we are there, as they all fall in May. We are going to Disneyland and California Adventures from May 19-24th and staying at the Candy Cane Inn. So excited!!!!

We just bought APs in March for the first time. I loved having them. We are also going in May but we arrive on the day you leave. Are you from the desert? We are and it will be nice to leave the heat behind for Anaheim!

 

[dancemom1]

Yup, we are just outside of Phoenix... so it will be nice for a little break from the heat for us also!! We used to live in Ca. and had annual passes for many years...this will be our first time with them again since we moved in 2007...looking forward to a fun vacation!!