1 Summer, 2 Coasts, 3 Kids...Ready, Set, Go!

[OregonMomToWDW]

1 Summer, 2 Coasts, 3 Kids...Ready, Set, Go!​

I am planning another trip to Disney this summer. However, this summer doesn't involve just 1 trip, but 2...Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I really don't know what came over me, but it did and now I am beyond excited and stressed.

Now for the introductions.



I am mom, Shannon. I have gone on many Disneyland trips, but last August was my very first time to Walt Disney World. It was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip. Oops. Oh well.

Favorite Disney Movie: A tie between Pollyanna and the original Parent Trap, but Saving Mr. Banks is a right up there.
Favorite WDW Ride: Rock "N" Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios.
Favorite DLR Ride: California Screamin'
Favorite Character to Meet: Woody and Jessie
Least Favorite Ride: Mickey's Fun Wheel at California Adventure

Next up is my 19 yr old son (tomorrow is his 19th birthday). He loves everything about the theme parks. He never got tired and held us hostage in the parks when we were all so beyond tired. He loved meeting Tinker Bell and the princesses.

Favorite Disney Movie: Wreck It Ralph
Favorite WDW Ride: Expedition Everest
Favorite DLR Ride: Indiana Jones
Favorite Character to Meet: Tinker Bell
Least Favorite Ride: Primeval Whirl



Next is Marissa. She graduates from High School in less than 2 weeks. She plans on attending University of Oregon in the fall. She has a part-time job at a local radio station, but plans on majoring in Japanese. She loved talking to the cast members in Epcot that were from Japan. They were surprised she could speak their language. She would love to do the Disney College Program.

Favorite Disney Movie: Mulan and Atlantis
Favorite WDW Ride: Rock "N" Roller Coaster
Favorite DLR Ride: Indiana Jones
Favorite Character to Meet: Peter Pan
Least Favorite Ride: Pirates of the Caribbean (that is because some pirates creeped her out in the line commenting that she had better be careful because the pirates like the red heads).



Lastly, my youngest, Chelsea. She has not had as many trips and she doesn't remember Disneyland much at all. She is heavily involved with dance (8 hours a week). She is happy that she will probably be missing a few days of school (more on that later). She doesn't like any of the bigger rides. None of the mountains. She loves Star Tours and will ride forever if they would just let her.

Favorite Disney Movie: Frozen
Favorite WDW Ride: Primeval Whirl
Favorite DLR Ride: Mickey's Fun wheel
Favorite Character to Meet: Frozone
Least Favorite Ride: It's a Small World


I love this picture. She really loves hugs.

To be continued....

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

It all started when Marissa made it into her high school's jazz singing group this year...The Dublinaires. They would be performing in Anaheim in April of 2014. I knew this would involve a trip to Disneyland so I was quick to volunteer to chaperone. Let me just say, in the planning (I wasn't in charge) everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Our trip ended up costing double the estimated cost. Our flights were horrible...AND Indiana Jones was closed for refurbishment. I had already wanted to take the other kids to Disneyland this summer, but when I found out that Jacob and Marissa would be going with their dad once he returned home from Afghanistan, I knew I had to make a trip to take Chelsea. Wouldn't be right that she would be the only one in the family not going. So, I began planning for Disneyland.

I made reservations for the first week of September (school started late last year). Then I received an email from my old church stating that they were planning a trip to Disneyland and there would be group rates. So, I said I would go with them. Nothing but a hassle, but I am still going. They majority picked the last week of July, then July 30th - Aug 1st. Yikes! So hot and crowded AND the very MOST EXPENSIVE time to go. So, instead of flying, I am driving...17 1/2 hours each way. This is a surprise trip for Jacob and Chelsea. I had to tell Marissa because she needs the days off from work.

Then, Walt Disney World came out with Free Dining and Chelsea's school said that they weren't starting until Sept 10th. Cool. I called and got a reservation for Pop Century. We didn't upgrade the Free Dining. So, I only have made two dining reservations. No character dining this time. We have reservations for Plaza Restaurant at MK (just because it was cheapest for table service) and 50's Prime Time for Hollywood Studios. Everyone knows about this trip, but it is hard to plan the days, because I know we will be going to DLR just 4 weeks before and we shouldn't need as much time in Magic Kingdom, but they don't know that.

So, I have covered the who, I have covered when and where and why.

More details to come soon.

I will leave you with another picture from our August trip. I loved the interaction from Woody and Jessie. They loved Marissa's hair color and they loved that Jacob had a Toy Story lanyard wallet made by the awesome D~ here on Dis.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

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[OregonMomToWDW]

I thought I would do a little trip report about the chaperoning experience with the Dublinaires.

First, there was much disorganization in the planning, so our group ended up on two different flights. We flew from our small airport to Los Angeles on Allegiant Air. This was a different experience. You pay for your checked bags (which the choir director said we could not bring) and you paid for carry-ons. Although they nickel and dime you, no complimentary beverage or snack, it was a smooth flight and the flight attendants were wonderful. I would fly with them again. We arrived in the afternoon (2 hours after the first group). We then went to wait for our bus. It was about an hour late. We went to our hotel in Orange County. It was decent enough as well. We dropped off suitcases and headed to Disneyland. Only about 10 minutes on our tour bus. We got on the tram and were at bag check fairly quickly. We were scared that we would be assigned groups, but we were allowed to go off with people of our own choosing, so it ended up being me and Marissa by ourselves. Most everyone went to California Adventure, but Marissa and I headed to Disneyland and Space Mountain, we had fast passes to get. We grabbed those and then headed to California Adventure. This is where it gets a bit interesting. We don't like Soarin' at all. It is just boring to us. So, we headed straight for Screamin'. By this time, one of the guys was texting Marissa that he was bored with his group so she was telling him where to meet us. We waited and waited and waited. Finally, I told her that we should just get in Single Rider line and quit waiting. Now, the stand by line had a wait of 10 minutes. We walked right on the ride. So, much fun. Then we went off to try to find her friend, with a detour in Cars Land. We wanted to ride the Racers. The Single Rider line was 75 minutes. Surely, that was a mistake. Nope. We finally got on. Our cars were to race one another. We made it through the building and were getting ready to race...when it broke. They said to stay. Finally, after 30 minutes, we got evacuated. No ride for us. Oh well. We headed toward Tower of Terror, where her friend finely found us. I did not realize he had not been to Disneyland since he was little and didn't remember at all or I would have warned him. The first ride she took him on was Tower of Terror and he was not a happy camper.

Now trying to figure out what he wanted to ride was difficult. He kept saying, "I don't know." Well, I translate that into..."Just tell me what to do." So, Marissa and I decided to go on the Rapids ride. This one is soooo much better than Kali River Rapids. We were quite unimpressed with Kali. Well, Marissa came off pretty dry. Poor Zeke was soaked. Beyond soaked. It was getting closer to our Space Mountain time, so we went back to Disneyland. On the way, we asked Zeke if he was wanting to see World of Color. He said, "Yes" and we told him that we weren't planning on watching so he was out of luck. We asked him if he wanted to ride Jungle Cruise. He was scared to answer because he the one time he did, we jumped on his case and denied him. So, he went. He kept thinking there was some trick and we were deceiving him and he was so jumpy thinking he was going to get soaked. That was fun to watch. Next, we were going to ride Pirates, but it had like a very long wait. So, we kept going and went to the Mint Julep bar for some Mickey shaped beignets. Oh, so good. We hit Haunted Mansion next. I don't care if they tell you 3 people can fit. They can't. I got to know Zeke very well. It was very uncomfortable. Almost fast pass time, so we fought our way through the Fantasmic crowds and we decided to all wait in Stand by for Space Mountain. He was nervous. Guess what? I ride he finally loved. I let him have my fast pass and he and Marissa went again. It was getting late and he was on the early flight, so we went back to Downtown Disney and World of Color to do some shopping. He had to buy something for his girlfriend. I told him she would love a pressed penny, but he didn't believe me. I love that everything is so close together. We hoped on the tram to take us to the bus. We were one of the first one's back but it was almost midnight and had been a very long day.

The next day was entirely devoted to the singing competition.

Day 2 of Dubs trip continued in next post.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

On the bus ride back to hotel, we learned that most everyone else stayed at California Adventure the entire time and then tried to ride Space Mountain later and they couldn't because it had ran out of fast passes and the standby line was too long. We were the only ones from the group that got to ride. Ha ha.

So, the next day was Saturday morning. Our bus was late, so we arrived a little after opening. Zeke came with us again. We headed to Disneyland to ride Big Thunder Mountain. We got there and it was closed. They were doing testing. So, we went to Pirates and rode that. Not very interesting. We gave it all thumbs down. Then we went to Splash, by that time, another group (a mom with 2 guys) wanted to join ours. So, we told them to meet us at the Matterhorn. Yes I was texting while on Splash Mountain. On the way to Matterhorn we noticed that Big Thunder was operating, so we hoped in line. So much fun. Then to Matterhorn...no fast passes for this and 45 minute wait. The other group finally found us but didn't want to ride. Now I understood why Zeke was bored. We rode it and it isn't one of our favorites, but we wanted to give Zeke a chance to ride. Now, Marissa was really wanting him to ride Screamin' but he was resisting and she kept pestering until he said if she said another word he would refuse to ride it. So, she tried really hard not to speak. We went to go to Space Mountain, where I made everyone get fastpasses. The mom and her son were going to be leaving, so they didn't get one. Then we went to ride Buzz Lightyear and then Star Tours. We had time to go and meet Captain America. That was fun as well. They wanted us to do a survey and one of the questions was would we pay a one day ticket price to Disneyland just to see the Captain America exhibit. Uh...let me think...no! The other mom and her son left and it was time for...lunch first. Now, the food isn't wonderful at Disneyland. No reason to really write a review. We suffered through the pizza. Marissa had the Chef Boyardee (oh I mean the pasta). Now, finally we get to ride Space Mountain. Yay. They loved it. I love taking new people on rides. Now, time to head to California Adventure. They were nervous that I would make them ride Screamin' but I stayed true to my word. We headed to Toy Story Mania. Now, for all the WDW vets out there, no fastpass. The wait was 45 minutes, but we really didn't have much else to do. I got the high score. Yup, me. In the line, we were asking them what they wanted to ride next. Zeke said he would ride Screamin' and then Marissa kept asking, "are you sure?". I put a stop to that. Told her once someone agrees, they can't take it back. So, after TSM, we got in line for Screamin'. We didn't need to do single rider because the line was only 5 minutes. They were so scared, but they loved it. We rode 3 times back to back and then needed a break. We took a short break for a selfie tutorial for Sage (the other boy). We then rode a swing ride...made me queezy. Then on to the Rapid ride. We got less wet this time. By that time the other mom and son were back so we decided to take a nice break and watch Aladdin. As we waited, Marissa was going to get fast passes. She was surprised when Zeke and Marcus decided to ride it. It was weird watching the boys communicate, they didn't need words. They came back for our passes so they could get 2 each. Then we waited in the long line for Aladdin. All I can say is amazing. We all thought it worthy of spending money on a day pass just to see it. Genie steals the show. Then they rode Tower of Terror twice. It was getting close to the awards ceremony being held at DL so, we headed back to DL for dinner. During dinner the mom said that Star Tours was the only ride she had ridden in the two days. She was with the boys the first day and when they said, "I don't know." they wouldn't ride it. So, she hadn't gotten to ride. I asked what ride did she really want to ride and she wanted Big Thunder. So after a bowl of chili, we got in line and waited. The line was so long, but we waited only about 30 minutes at night. I like it much better at night. Then it was time for awards ceremony. They had us sitting on the ground. Not good. They got 2nd in their division. Then off to the tram and the bus to sleep because we had to be at airport super early. That was our trip and it was fun.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I wrestled with the decision of whether to write a PTR or not. I wrote 1 for my August 2013 trip, but then I never even started the Trip Report for it. I finally got around to getting my pictures off of the Photopass CD onto my computer just this morning. However, there is no one else to talk to about my plans. My kids are tired of hearing about it. My family does not understand another trip. So, here I am again to try. Hoping to finish an actual trip report.

Then, I couldn't decide if I should do 2 trip reports or 1. And if just 1, do I put it under Disneyland or WDW? Well, I decided to only do 1 and to put it under WDW. WDW trips take more planning than a Disneyland trip. For Disneyland, I don't make dinner reservations. You don't need to know your fast pass selections in advance and you don' really need to know which park. They are so close, if you just aren't feeling a park, you cross over to the next one. Easy peasy. So, while this may talk of some Disneyland planning, the majority will be WDW.

What I have planned for Disneyland:
I rented a car from Budget and we will drive. Still cheaper than flying even with the gas and the two extra nights at a hotel. I already have the midway hotel nights booked. On the way down, we will stay in Yuba City, CA (grew up there) on the way back we will try Williams, CA. We have 3 day park hoppers. We are staying at a hotel we have never stayed at. Cortona Inn & Suites. The website says it is 1.5 to 2 blocks away from DL. There is an ART (Annaheim Resort Transit) stop in front of the hotel and we will probably be taking that. The hotel has free breakfast. So, that is all of those plans so far.

What I have planned for Walt Disney World:
I have bought and received our tickets for MNSSHP. We will hit the water parks in the morning and go back and change and try to arrive at MK near 4. Didn't want to use a park day on that day. We are super excited for this. Seems strange to be doing a Halloween party before school starts, but we didn't know when we might have another opportunity.

As I said before, we are staying at Pop Century. When we were on our way on a shuttle from Universal Studios last year, we got to see quite a bit of the resorts. Of the values, I liked the Pop the best. So, we booked 7 nights in a Standard room. I requested lake view when I made my reservation. I would like to see Art of Animation. We stayed at Beach Club last year and I am a bit nervous of the cramped quarters. Sharing double beds. Oh well, we will be at WDW and spending little time in the room.

We have 6 day park hoppers with Water park. I don't know how we will fit in everything. Marissa wants to do a water park. Chelsea wants to try the miniature golf and Jacob insists on going back to DisneyQuest.

I haven't booked a flight yet. The prices are really high. I am thinking of doing an overnight flight that lands at MCO at 5:54 AM. Then we would go take Disney Express, check in, leave bags with hotel and go to Animal Kingdom. Otherwise, our flight would arrive in the evening and we waste a day. I figure the kids might sleep on plane. I will make sure to bring lots of Advocare Spark (powder to add to water...energy drink). I have a few months to figure that out.

Three of the nights, MK closes at 7. Once for the MNSSHP and twice for the Night of Joy concerts. We won't be going to the concerts. None of the kids were too impressed with the night time shows, so no need to worry about seeing those. We do want to see the Halloween parade. That is a must do for us.

Well, I took Jacob to a birthday lunch but I should really start on his cake...although he doesn't like cake. He will tolerate it because Chelsea likes cake.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Interesting plans so far. Your last DLR trip sounded ok, it reminds me of a few times when I've been out there and been hanging around with some locals and they'll turn to you and say "what do you want to do?" It's always good to have someone that will take charge in a case like that.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Interesting plans so far. Your last DLR trip sounded ok, it reminds me of a few times when I've been out there and been hanging around with some locals and they'll turn to you and say "what do you want to do?" It's always good to have someone that will take charge in a case like that.

Welcome. I am glad you stopped by. I have been told I can be bossy, but I am not really. I just usually know what I want, so if someone doesn't know or seem to care, then I do what I know I like. I give them a chance first. I figured they hadn't been there or not for a long time so really didn't have a good idea of what they would like. It turned out ok. I could tell our group had fun.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

So, the Disneyland trip, we haven't booked a hotel yet. The person organizing the trip has a hotel that agreed to give us group rates, but we have to have a special code to book with the discount. First, she needed the name of everyone that was going to book the hotel and what size hotel room. We were supposed to get the code 2 weeks ago. Then she said May 30th. On May 30th, she said Monday for sure. It is Monday and still no information on how to book a hotel. The hotel I want finally had a room available today. I want to book that one, but if I do, they may not get their group discount, but if other people pull out (there are 2 families up in the air), then we wouldn't get the discount anyway. Do I just go ahead and book the hotel I want or do I try to be patient a little longer and end up in a Motel 6 for $150 night?

56 Days until Disneyland
90 Days until WDW


And today is Jacob's 19th Birthday!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Not much to report on trip planning. I am still stalking airfares. I am thinking we just live in the wrong part of the country. Southwest has flights on sale, but from Portland, only to Las Vegas, San Fran and some other place I have no desire to go. Frontier and Jet Blue, well they want both arms and a leg.

The woman that is arranging our group discount for Disneyland keeps having family emergencies so still no hotel room booked for the end of July. Trying to take deep breaths. What can I do?

I was talking to Jacob yesterday. He has an essay due about a personal journey. Well, that got us started talking about our WDW trip back in August. I was asking what that taught him, besides that mama needs to have her breaks! He shouted, "The fun train has no breaks!" He busted himself up. We decided that is our new motto for the upcoming trip.

 

[Alysa]

"The fun train has no breaks!"

That is the perfect title for you trip! Love the review. Your kids are gorgeous!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

"The fun train has no breaks!"

That is the perfect title for you trip! Love the review. Your kids are gorgeous!

Hi Alysa. Thanks for stopping by. My kids have been talking about the fun train non-stop. Thanks for the compliment on my kids. I think a couple are worth keeping. Not saying which though.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Well, we can't make our fast pass reservations for a few more weeks, but we have discussed them. Since Chelsea doesn't want to do any big rides, it has made the conversation interesting. I think for our Magic Kingdom day, we are definitely wanting SDMT and the Anna/Elsa Meet and Greet. We want to get there at rope drop so we can do BTMRR and maybe Splash. Kind of early for Splash, but it should be warm already. Plus we have to see Woody and Jessie. I am hoping to then do SDMT and A&E meet together and before Lunch. Lunch will hopefully be Be Our Guest. My kids don't like the dinner menu and we have QS FD, so lunch works for us. After that, we will split up. Chelsea and I will have FP for hopefully the Indy Speedway (she loves it! ) and Jacob and Marissa will head to Space Mountain with their FP (hoping). Then we will meet back up and try for Buzz Lightyear, Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. Then I am pretty sure I will want a snack and a break. If they don't want a break, I will leave them there and go by myself. Of course, as we leave we will probably stop to see Tink. Jacob loves Tink. Hopefully, we will then arrange to have FP for Jungle Cruise when we return.

Many of the rides are going to be not a have do, because we will have just ridden many at Disneyland. Our first MK day is actually going to be the MNSSHP. I am excited for the characters. I thought the kids would be too. But they are more interested in just seeing the costumes, riding rides and trick or treating. We will see how it goes. I don't have a plan, except get there at 4 or 5. That day we still haven't decided on where to spend. Marissa wants Typhoon Lagoon. Jacob wants downtown Disney and DisneyQuest and Chelsea wants to play miniature golf. I am considering letting us go off on our own, but I am not comfortable with Marissa being at water park by herself. Chelsea and Jacob want Blizzard Beach if we do water park. The wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon scared Chelsea when we got knocked off our feet and then 2 seconds later had to help an older woman get up that couldn't and was screaming for help. Marissa, however, loved the wave pool and swimming with the sharks. To difficult pleasing everyone.


Fast Passes for Animal Kingdom - I doubt we will even use 3. The kids want Everest (not Chelsea). Chelsea wants Primeval Whirl. Noone wants to go on Kali. We will do the safari again. I want to see a show this time and take time to look around. Last time, we ran from ride to ride. Ate lunch and then it poured. We had ponchos, but it didn't help. The walkways filled with water quickly and the rain was hitting so hard, that it splashed up and we got soaked. Jacob doesn't do well with soaked feet. Never has. Asperger thing. So, that was a done day for us. They don't want to ride Dinosaur...Marissa was freaked out. Yeah, I still laugh at her about that. If we use the fast passes, it will be for the shows.

Fast Passes for Hollywood Studios - Well, we will fast pass Toy Story Mania. Then head to Rock "n" Roller Coaster at rope drop. We should have fast passes for Tower of Terror for the older 2. Chelsea wants one for Star Tours. I want to see Muppets this time. It was closed last year. We also didn't do the Great Movie Ride. We will not stay for Fantasmic. Today, I plan on a long break.

Epcot Fast Passes - we want to do Test Track. We all can't stand Soarin'. I guess too many times seeing it at CA. Spaceship Earth was closed last time, so I want to ride that. The kids might do Mission Space. We don't need to do Maelstrom again. Again, I don't think we will have trouble at Epcot as far as Fast Passes. I am hoping to have more time to explore the lands and meet characters.

Last time, I thought it was a once in a lifetime trip and I had to fit everything in. Now that I know that I was lying to myself, I plan to go at a slower pace...although my kids might not agree.

Anyway, those are my thoughts about it. I am a bit nervous about making the reservations. I guess we will see how that goes.

 

[DMGeurts]

Shannon!!! Why didn't you tell me that you started a ptr???

How annoying about the DLR trip... Sorry I didn't read the extra posts about that, but hopefully it works itself out.

Yay that you are going back to wdw... What are your actual dates? I don't think we'll overlap again, but I'd love to meet up if we do.

Super excited for you for both trips!

D~

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Shannon!!! Why didn't you tell me that you started a ptr???

How annoying about the DLR trip... Sorry I didn't read the extra posts about that, but hopefully it works itself out.

Yay that you are going back to wdw... What are your actual dates? I don't think we'll overlap again, but I'd love to meet up if we do.

Super excited for you for both trips!

D~

Yay! You are here. I just started it and didn't want to make a big fuss about the PTR. Still feeling ashamed I never did the TR.

We are showing up on the 31st. I had a feeling you would already be gone, but wasn't sure. It looks like Mo will show up before we leave though, but if she actually arrives at WDW before we leave, I am not sure. Would love to meet her too at some point. We are leaving the 7th.

I am still waiting to reserve the Disneyland room. Next time I will know I don't handle other people planning the trip very well. I did fine with travel agent, but when I have to wait on others to do something so I can do what I need to get done, then I have issues. I have been trying not to pester her, so I didn't message her at all this week, until today. We were supposed to be able to reserve Monday at the latest and it is now Friday.

Thanks for stopping by. Can't wait for the auction.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

We bought tickets for the MNSSHP for the very first night it is available. It seems kind of odd to be doing Halloween stuff on Labor Day, but when else will we have a chance to attend one. I was kind of glad they decided to do one so early. I am hoping it won't be so busy. I wish there was a way to determine how busy it will be. Still trying to figure out what to do about costumes. Chelsea is set on being a Pink Lady from Grease. She already has the costume since it is one of her dance costumes. Jacob doesn't want to dress up. That is fine. Marissa is undecided. She wants to go as a super hero. I would like to dress up, like make an effort, but I don't want to get complicated or expensive. I have a gazillion used disney gift cards from last years trip. Wondering what, if anything, I could come up with to use those.

Anyone have any idea how busy the first night of the MNSSHP will be (on Labor Day)?

 

[Denovagirl]

Good plans! How exciting, a DLR and WDW trip!! Squeeee!

Bummer on the lady who is so not on top of her job!! If it were me I would just book on my own an awesome place, lol... how big do you think a room discount would even be? I am impatient too, at least when it comes to planning my trips, and that is not too far away. How frustrating for you, poor thing!

All your WDW plans sound good, its obvious you are on top of that!!

And it really is hard at times to keep up a TR! When I first started reading TRs on the Dis and decided to do one I thought I would finish and be done with it in like a month, I was so excited! But it's actually a LOT of work, adding the photos and writing out your every move! It took me MONTHS, and I took some breaks!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Welcome Terri! I think I read more ptr's than trip reports last time. I think I will have to try one. Hopefully, it won't take me 10 months to put the pictures on computer.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

We booked our tickets. After days and hours of stalking airfares, I received an email from Expedia. I checked and noticed that one of the flights I had been looking at was lower. I had been checking one way, but I decided to put in round-trip. It was lower than it had been. So, I went over to my credit cards rewards site and looked it up. I only had about $100 credit, but saving $100 is saving. So, I put in the information and sure enough it came up with the same information (It was $1 more on the rewards site). So, I booked it! With the $100 savings, it was finally the price that I had budgeted. No more stalking. I will miss those daily visits to those websites. What will I do with my time now? I am sure I will find something.

On the Disneyland side of planning, still not able to book the resort. Still waiting.

I was reading trip reports and someone mentioned they made autograph books out of those Little Golden books. We used to have hundreds when the older two were little. I thought, "I could do that!" Went to Goodwill. They wanted $0.99 / book. To get all the characters I wanted, that would be $15 plus all the time and the additional paper and then paying to have it bound. Guess not. Maybe I will get lucky at some yard sales this summer,but I won't count on it.

I was trying to figure a way to keep track of our dining plan meals and snacks. I was thinking of taking a check book register (like who uses those anyway?) and have each person's name and allow them 2 pages for meals and 1 page for snacks. That way it would not only keep track but I would have a record of what people ate and where and if they liked it for future reference and it wouldn't be too big to carry around. Then I saw a thread of someone that does punch cards. I requested one. As soon as she is done, I will post it. That looks like an easier way to keep track, but I won't have the record of the meals. Maybe I will do both.

Time to take Chelsea to dance. I have to round her up from neighbors house.

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Non Disney related news: Marissa had her Dubs solo night. At the end of each school year, the Dublinaires get to pick songs they want to sing and do solos or duets. It was fun and definitely nice to see Marissa do her very first solo. She was a nervous wreck, but she did great. I have to say, I am so relieved that she is done with the Dublinaires. So much work and the other people weren't that nice to her. In fact, when they were picking rooms for the Disneyland trip, one girl told Marissa that she should just sleep in my room because noone else wanted to share a room with her. I am glad I don't have to see a few of them (or the majority of them) ever again.

While there, someone asked of summer plans and I almost blew it. Jacob and Chelsea were sitting with me and they don't know about the Disneyland part. So, I told her we were going to DisneyWorld. She knew we were doing Disneyland, so she was confused. I am just glad she didn't say, "you are going to both?" Too many secrets.

I called Disney and updated our WDW reservation with our flight information. I had lots of questions, because we land at 5:35 AM. I wanted to make sure they were operating and I wouldn't have to be looking for our own luggage. Oh, and we got a new connection on trip back. I have never been to Altanta and that is where the layover is. I know it doesn't count as actually have being there, but I am always excited to see a different airport.

Park Days:

I spent some time on this yesterday and moved some days around. I renewed my subscription to Touringplans. Not sure if I needed to, but wanted to double check. So, we were going to go to AK the day we land. However, that is supposed to be one of the busier parks: it was a 5 with touringplans. Most of the week we are there, MK is a 3, Epcot and HS are a 1 and AK is either a 2 or 4 (except the first day which is a 5). So, what is our first park going to be?

I really wish I could post a picture while at work, but photobucket is blocked. So the anticlimatic reveal is....

Hollywood Studios! I think this was the favorite park of my kids last year. I can't believe they moved Great Movie Ride to a tier 1. Our plan is to FP+ TSMM, ToT (Jacob and Marissa only), Star Tours (all of us), and I guess MuppetVision (Chelsea and me). Then at rope drop, we will head straight to....Rock N Roller coaster. Someone has to stay with Chelsea, she won't ride, so I will ride with Jacob, then ride with Marissa (so I get 2 rides). Then Jacob and Marissa can ride together. Then they will probably want to try for ToT on standby. I am not sure when we will be able to get our fastpasses, but I am thinking starting them at 10:30 or 11? We have no ADRs for this day. So probably do Pizza Planet (the kids loved it). First time they tried caesar salad and they liked it. I had the antipasto salad and it was pretty good. I really want to do Great Movie Ride, just because I never have, but there aren't really many must do rides. We are not interested in the shows, maybe the American Idol just to get out of the heat for awhile. Chelsea did Star Tours like a gazillion times...she loves that ride. We will most definitely need a break, due to being on a plane all night and not really sleeping. My kids will sleep fine, but me, nope can't sleep. Will be scared I will snore too loud and keep all the other passengers awake.

Disneyland trip news....Nothing to share. She said on Friday that she sent the fax to the hotel and that the woman would get back with her. Not to worry, because the hotel is saving the rooms. Have you heard of a hotel saving rooms indefinitely (it has been at least 2 months)? Anyway, yesterday she sent out an email that said she needed to use a fax machine to get the fax sent to hotel. So, sounds like she didn't send it when she said she did. I just want to know that I will have a bed to sleep in.

Oh, and I just remembered. Chelsea is now sitting in the front seat of the van. So, she and Marissa are constantly fighting over it. Well, Marissa, knowing about the long drive to Disneyland and wanting to take advantage, offered to pay Chelsea $10 if she got front of seat rights for the entire summer. Chelsea agreed, of course. I tried to tell Chelsea to think about it. So, Marissa has front seat on the way to and from Disneyland. Now, hopefully, Jacob and Chelsea won't fight.

I should get some work done and read the other PTRs I am following.

I may not be on tomorrow. Marissa graduates from Highschool tomorrow!