mikeeymike
Bringing Some Disney Magic to my Family!!
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2010
- Messages
- 149
Pre-Trip Report:
It's two more sleeps for our very first vacation as a family of four (plus 1 - Gramma's joining us too). Well, it is our first trip flying out of our province (yep - we're Canadian) since the birth of our two daughters. And, you guessed it.. we chose to go to Disneyland.
I will start-off with a pre-trip report, outlining some of the things that we did to plan for our September trip to Disneyland.
But first, here is The Cast:
Me: I'm Mike - the only male in my family so I get to do all the typing.
Wife: Her name's Nicole, AKA The Boss!!
DD#1: Addison is 2 years old and the main reason why we are going to Disneyland - She loves everything and anything about Disney.
DD#2 - Ainsley is only 5 months old - just started solids and loves to smile all the time (except when she is hungry).
Gramma - Nicole's Mom Peggy - who is coming along as an equal participant and not a baby sitter for us - we swear!!
Here is a pic of Addison & Ainsley:
I won't post a pic of the rest of us now. You will just have to be super patient to see what the parents look like. Cute kids so we have to be super cute right?
With only two more sleeps to go, we have the kids bag packed and I think Nicole is packing our bags, while I type this PTR.
This morning, I caught my girls singing in excitement about our upcoming trip. Watch this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOt80CHzpTY
Our Flights:
We live in the province of British Columbia (in Canada) but our flight will take us to Calgary, Alberta to catch a connecting flight to LAX. We leave home early in the morning on Tuesday, September 7th and hope to arrive at LAX by 2pm.
Our return flight is at 7:25 am on September 12th. With an infant and a toddler, getting up early to catch some kind of airport transportation to LAX in time for an International flight will prove to be very challenging.
Airport Transportation:
We considered all modes of transportation. Disneyland Express didn't work for us as they don't operate early enough for us to get back to the airport for a 7:25 am flight. We also looked at the shared shuttle service provided by Prime Shuttle and SuperShuttle but that would mean we would have bring two car seats for the kids.
We chose DK's Livery Service - found this company at limos.com but I called the owner Daniel and negotiated a sweet deal. We get Daniel and a Chevy Suburban SUV to pick us up at the baggage claim (we have to look for a man with our name on a board) and we also got car seats provided as part of the service. A stop at a grocery store on the way to our hotel is also included. DK's Livery Service will pick us up at 4:45am on the Sunday morning departure day and take us back to LAX. If I had chosen a shared van service or Execucar, we would have to be picked up at 3am. DK's Livery Service fee is a flat fee inclusive of all gratuities and it will only cost us $80 each way, $160 return tip. Stay tuned for a review after DK picks up at the airport.
The Hotel:
Initially, I was going to book the Disneyland Paradise Pier Hotel for this trip but after reading a lot (thanks disboards), we booked ourselves to stay at the Hojo Anaheim Hotel. We reserved Disney View Premium Rooms and managed to get 3 out of 5 nights for the $79 Entertainment Rate.
Stay tuned for our Hojo Review.
Our Tickets:
I bought tickets from AresTravel.com and scored three adult 5-Day for the price of a 3-Day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Bonus Tickets for $179 each. My two girls will go in for free, as they are both under 3 years old.
We also called in to Disney Dining and reserved a table at Goofy's Kitchen for Thursday morning Brunch.
This is it for my first post ... if I think of anything else to report as part of our PTR, I will post again.
It's two more sleeps for our very first vacation as a family of four (plus 1 - Gramma's joining us too). Well, it is our first trip flying out of our province (yep - we're Canadian) since the birth of our two daughters. And, you guessed it.. we chose to go to Disneyland.
I will start-off with a pre-trip report, outlining some of the things that we did to plan for our September trip to Disneyland.
But first, here is The Cast:
Me: I'm Mike - the only male in my family so I get to do all the typing.
Wife: Her name's Nicole, AKA The Boss!!
DD#1: Addison is 2 years old and the main reason why we are going to Disneyland - She loves everything and anything about Disney.
DD#2 - Ainsley is only 5 months old - just started solids and loves to smile all the time (except when she is hungry).
Gramma - Nicole's Mom Peggy - who is coming along as an equal participant and not a baby sitter for us - we swear!!
Here is a pic of Addison & Ainsley:
I won't post a pic of the rest of us now. You will just have to be super patient to see what the parents look like. Cute kids so we have to be super cute right?
With only two more sleeps to go, we have the kids bag packed and I think Nicole is packing our bags, while I type this PTR.
This morning, I caught my girls singing in excitement about our upcoming trip. Watch this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOt80CHzpTY
Our Flights:
We live in the province of British Columbia (in Canada) but our flight will take us to Calgary, Alberta to catch a connecting flight to LAX. We leave home early in the morning on Tuesday, September 7th and hope to arrive at LAX by 2pm.
Our return flight is at 7:25 am on September 12th. With an infant and a toddler, getting up early to catch some kind of airport transportation to LAX in time for an International flight will prove to be very challenging.
Airport Transportation:
We considered all modes of transportation. Disneyland Express didn't work for us as they don't operate early enough for us to get back to the airport for a 7:25 am flight. We also looked at the shared shuttle service provided by Prime Shuttle and SuperShuttle but that would mean we would have bring two car seats for the kids.
We chose DK's Livery Service - found this company at limos.com but I called the owner Daniel and negotiated a sweet deal. We get Daniel and a Chevy Suburban SUV to pick us up at the baggage claim (we have to look for a man with our name on a board) and we also got car seats provided as part of the service. A stop at a grocery store on the way to our hotel is also included. DK's Livery Service will pick us up at 4:45am on the Sunday morning departure day and take us back to LAX. If I had chosen a shared van service or Execucar, we would have to be picked up at 3am. DK's Livery Service fee is a flat fee inclusive of all gratuities and it will only cost us $80 each way, $160 return tip. Stay tuned for a review after DK picks up at the airport.
The Hotel:
Initially, I was going to book the Disneyland Paradise Pier Hotel for this trip but after reading a lot (thanks disboards), we booked ourselves to stay at the Hojo Anaheim Hotel. We reserved Disney View Premium Rooms and managed to get 3 out of 5 nights for the $79 Entertainment Rate.
Stay tuned for our Hojo Review.
Our Tickets:
I bought tickets from AresTravel.com and scored three adult 5-Day for the price of a 3-Day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper Bonus Tickets for $179 each. My two girls will go in for free, as they are both under 3 years old.
We also called in to Disney Dining and reserved a table at Goofy's Kitchen for Thursday morning Brunch.
This is it for my first post ... if I think of anything else to report as part of our PTR, I will post again.
