10 Mths of WDW Planning leads us to~~DISNEYLAND!! Report Completed~Pic Heavy!!!

[PHXscuba]

So exciting that you will get to go to WDW with your DH!! DH and I went to WDW in 2008 -- totally unplanned because we got hurricaned out of the FL Keys and went to WDW on FOUR days notice! It turned out to be a great short trip and we got the "lay of the land" before we took the kids three years later.

PHXscuba

 

[DizNee Luver]

So exciting that you will get to go to WDW with your DH!! DH and I went to WDW in 2008 -- totally unplanned because we got hurricaned out of the FL Keys and went to WDW on FOUR days notice! It turned out to be a great short trip and we got the "lay of the land" before we took the kids three years later.

PHXscuba

Thank You.....we're excited about the possibility of going as a couple. I think "getting a lay of the land" will be important before trying to take the twins!!! That was part of decision in cancelling our WDW trip. We were concerned about how everything worked, how long will it take to get from point A to point B and where are little corners we can tuck away in if getting over stimulated. So it will be a good trip for gathering that kind of info but most importantly a time for my hubby & I to reconnect and take a much needed break for the day to day grind.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We headed back through Fantasyland and decided to end our day the same way we started it.....at It's A Small World. Holy cow.....the line was crazy!!!! We got in the wheelchair line and I do believe the standby line moved faster then this one. We probably had about a 45+ minute wait. At least at night, the place is lit up and you can watch the clock show every 15 minutes. They also did a visual show on the facade of the building after the clock.....so we had entertainment!! We also took a ton of pics.....again, I'm picking just a few out to share.

6:00pm~~Now this wasn't the first time the clock had gone off....we were just now at a spot we could see it to get pics while in line.

6:15pm

This is a couple from the projections on the facade.

 

[DizNee Luver]

A couple more pics of the outside.

6:30pm:

We finally got to move down to the loading platform and onto a boat. This time Mike video taped and I took pics.

Going in~~

More to come!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Continuing on.......

I'm pretty sure this is a new addition this year!!

One more post of Small World!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Finishing up Small World.

Back outside.

We headed to the Monorail and took a couple pics of the Matterhorn at night.

Space Mountain at night.

We got on the Monorail and headed back to DTD.

We hadn't noticed this window at the Lego store before....but the people are made of Lego people!!

Nice little bench/picture op in DTD.

We got back up to our room to see that MouseKeeping had done this with the girls blankies!!

We got the kids in PJ's and their meds and Mike & I headed to Target to get some tights for the girls to wear with their costumes. We made it back just in time to watch the WoC show from our room!!

This concluded Day 3 in the parks!!!

 

[Trentmom]

The dinner showed looked fun. That is cool Shy gets up and participates.l Looks like she was having fun

That smore dessert looked amazing


Great Small world Pics. So awesome

 

[DizNee Luver]

The dinner showed looked fun. That is cool Shy gets up and participates.l Looks like she was having fun

That smore dessert looked amazing


Great Small world Pics. So awesome

The show is cheesy but the kids liked it!! Shy likes being a "big girl" and doing things with Addy!!!

How can you go wrong with brownie, marshmallow, graham crackers & hot fudge........I'm drooling just thinking about it!!!

The night time Small World with all those lights is really something to see!!

 

[DnA2010]

Awesome news about a possible WDW trip! We have been once, but stayed offsite (which actually was great- huge condo for such a great price and super close to the parks) and did other stuff (Universal, Bush Gardens, Discovery Cove etc) I would love to go back and visit the parks in more detail- we only had a chance to do 1 day at each park and I really felt we simply scratched the surface. I bet the time you are going is good as far as possible free dining- I love reading the restaurant reviews section of Dis! Nom nom!



Oh wow the smores!! If we ever try the BBQ, we will have to try that one!


Love the Matterhorn mountain pics as well- I can't remember if I read if you rode with the new sleds- I am one who loved the old "cuddle" sleds (honor system seatbelts and all) so it will be interesting for us when we get back and try the new ones.

 

[kaoden39]

That's exciting about the WDW trip. I hope you are easily able to find a place to move to. That is too bad about the owners selling the place. Love the latest updates.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Awesome news about a possible WDW trip! We have been once, but stayed offsite (which actually was great- huge condo for such a great price and super close to the parks) and did other stuff (Universal, Bush Gardens, Discovery Cove etc) I would love to go back and visit the parks in more detail- we only had a chance to do 1 day at each park and I really felt we simply scratched the surface. I bet the time you are going is good as far as possible free dining- I love reading the restaurant reviews section of Dis! Nom nom!



Oh wow the smores!! If we ever try the BBQ, we will have to try that one!


Love the Matterhorn mountain pics as well- I can't remember if I read if you rode with the new sleds- I am one who loved the old "cuddle" sleds (honor system seatbelts and all) so it will be interesting for us when we get back and try the new ones.

I want to go during a slow time and lower resort prices. We want 2 days for each park and maybe 2 extra days to go back to a favorite park or one we still didn't see enough of......lol

I read the reviews and look at pics too. I had all our dining set up for our trip in December before having to cancel that trip. I was up at 3am to go online to make those ressies too!!!! Heavy sigh......... So I already have a list of places we want to go!!

The Smore dessert is a new one (hadn't seen it on the menu before) and it was delicious!

We never got on the Matterhorn because it's no longer young child/special needs friendly. You can't hold a child in your lap in the new sleds and I couldn't put one of the twins in the seat by themselves without the worry of them freaking out or undoing the seat belts. Michayla would wiggle and slip downwards where Shy would just undo them. Not happy that Disney went that route. I'm sure I'm not the only person with special needs kiddos that feel this is not user friendly !!! I've only heard bad reviews about the seats and being uncomfortable and how jerky it is now.

 

[DizNee Luver]

That's exciting about the WDW trip. I hope you are easily able to find a place to move to. That is too bad about the owners selling the place. Love the latest updates.

I'm hoping if we locate a place that would work for us, that the owner will let us out of our lease (we're thru a property mgmt but if the owner says I want to relist the house with them.....maybe they'd agree). I think summer is going to be better pickings then in October!

 

[kaoden39]

I'm hoping if we locate a place that would work for us, that the owner will let us out of our lease (we're thru a property mgmt but if the owner says I want to relist the house with them.....maybe they'd agree). I think summer is going to be better pickings then in October!

If the housing market is like it is here they may have trouble selling the place.

 

[Trentmom]

I forgot to mention that is awesome that you and your DH might got to WDW next Jan or Feb. This year, they had a 30% off discount during that time period. Hopefully they will have that or something even better next year

 

[DizNee Luver]

If the housing market is like it is here they may have trouble selling the place.

It was on the market when we rented it but asked if they would consider a long term lease and taking it off the market. They agreed but have changed their mind.

I forgot to mention that is awesome that you and your DH might got to WDW next Jan or Feb. This year, they had a 30% off discount during that time period. Hopefully they will have that or something even better next year

I was looking at the special right now.....I was hoping for one that included the dining.....since we'd be going during the lowest value season. You'd think they'd want to entice people to go!! I sure hope things work out and we can treat ourselves to this trip!!

 

[ksromack]

I want to go during a slow time and lower resort prices. We want 2 days for each park and maybe 2 extra days to go back to a favorite park or one we still didn't see enough of......lol

I read the reviews and look at pics too. I had all our dining set up for our trip in December before having to cancel that trip. I was up at 3am to go online to make those ressies too!!!! Heavy sigh......... So I already have a list of places we want to go!!

My husband and I just returned from a 9 night stay in Orlando. We stayed the first night on site at Universal so we could do an early entry to WWoHP the next day, plus we got "Express" line for just about every ride in both parks (no wait at all). Then we spend 8 nights at Port Orleans Riverside. I highly recommend that resort. You can take the boat to DTD and bus service for everything else. It's very romantic and the resort is beautiful. PM me if you need any more info on that! It's a moderate resort and we did get lucky and hit free dining for the last 7 nights there (we had a room only reservation for the first night, then a 7-night package with free dining). We, being the gluttons we are, upgraded to deluxe dining (never again, it was WAY too much food, but fun to do once and also fun to eat at signature restaurants that we could never afford on our own out of pocket). We did all kinds of "couple" things ( our last trip to WDW was in 2004 with 4 of our kids, hence THAT one was our last trip until now).

I think the thing I'm most looking forward to next December at Disneyland is the holiday facade at It's a Small World. That's my favorite ride and I'm pretty sure the DL version is better than the WDW version. I'm also taking notes on your trip report for mine next December!

 

[DizNee Luver]

My husband and I just returned from a 9 night stay in Orlando. We stayed the first night on site at Universal so we could do an early entry to WWoHP the next day, plus we got "Express" line for just about every ride in both parks (no wait at all). Then we spend 8 nights at Port Orleans Riverside. I highly recommend that resort. You can take the boat to DTD and bus service for everything else. It's very romantic and the resort is beautiful. PM me if you need any more info on that! It's a moderate resort and we did get lucky and hit free dining for the last 7 nights there (we had a room only reservation for the first night, then a 7-night package with free dining). We, being the gluttons we are, upgraded to deluxe dining (never again, it was WAY too much food, but fun to do once and also fun to eat at signature restaurants that we could never afford on our own out of pocket). We did all kinds of "couple" things ( our last trip to WDW was in 2004 with 4 of our kids, hence THAT one was our last trip until now).

I think the thing I'm most looking forward to next December at Disneyland is the holiday facade at It's a Small World. That's my favorite ride and I'm pretty sure the DL version is better than the WDW version. I'm also taking notes on your trip report for mine next December!

That's funny.....we are plan a weeks stay at POR!!! We were going to stay at POFQ if we would have gone on our WDW trip in December. lol So I've researched those places a lot already!! We are also looking at a 6 night stay at the Poly!! I really want to stay there but can't see doing the whole trip there......EXPENSIVE!!!!!!

So there's a possibility of getting free dining?? That would be awesome!! We are planning on the deluxe because we want to do a couple signature meals and dinner shows. It will probably be too much food (as you said) but my hubby is a foodie and wants to try as much as possible!

The Small World facade all lit up is so neat!! When they do the projection show and then re light the whole thing.....well WOWZERS!!!! It's so bright!!!!!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

That is exciting news that a trip to WDW might be possible for you guys!! Too bad about having to move though. I hope you can find a place or the house doesn't sell.

All that food at the BBQ looks so good! It's making my calorie counting a little difficult for my first day of it! Haha! Looks like the kids enjoyed it there too being on stage and everything. Can't wait to go there next month!

 

[DizNee Luver]

That is exciting news that a trip to WDW might be possible for you guys!! Too bad about having to move though. I hope you can find a place or the house doesn't sell.

All that food at the BBQ looks so good! It's making my calorie counting a little difficult for my first day of it! Haha! Looks like the kids enjoyed it there too being on stage and everything. Can't wait to go there next month!

We hope it works out too!!!

They won't list the house while we're here, but our lease is up in November and they will list it after that. I don't want to be in the house when it's being shown.....creeps me out having strangers looking at my stuff!!!

The BBQ is very good.....yummo!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

So I just realized I don't have any more of the pictures organized and renumbered!! So there is going to be a delay in the report writing while I deal with that. It's a daunting task and that's probably why I hadn't finished it yet......lol

I did get my Photopass CD yesterday......too bad it doesn't let me see or download my last 27 pictures. Waiting to hear back from them on what to do about this issue. It kept freezing up my computer. It won't open the pics and it won't let you "import" them either.

I will leave you with the favorite picture of Michayla and Tinkerbell. A truly special moment!!