Can't get enough of the Disney good stuff!! Pre/TR May 2015 trip *COMPLETED*

[DenaRox]

I'm BACK!!!!

Some back history...

In 2013 We went on a trip to WDW. That was the first time both DD and DBF had been and it was an amazing adventure. So much so that in 2014 I had disney fever and just had to get to Disneyland! None of us had ever been. Sadly DBF could not get time off from work so what started as a family adventure morphed into an amazing trip of firsts for DD and myself. You can click HERE to read my pre-trip/trip report all about how i kept that trip a secret for i think it was 8 months!!! I am currently updating it to add the actual trip report. Apparently i like talking about Disney planning and trips so much that I'm crazy enough to be doing a trip report AND finishing a pre-trip/trip report at the same time hahaha. <--- it's COMPLETED!! finally lol


I am really looking forward to planning this trip WITH my daughter and i'm so excited to be going back so soon and to get to experience the parks in a whole different way. Hope you enjoy my ramblings and feel free to follow along with my insanity of my other trip report lol

 

[DenaRox]

1. Where to stay & how to get there!
2. Transportation, ADR's & Beach tours!!!
3. Gift Cards, ADR's and currency exchange sadness!!!
4. Day 1: Sat may 16 - Off we go
5. Day 2: Sun May 17 - Surf's Up breakfast & Beach Bus tour
6. Day 3: Mon May 18 - Park Hopping
7. Day 4: Tues May 19 - Hopping & WOC
8. Day 5: Wed May 20th - Last Day Blues

 

[DenaRox]

Where to stay & how to get there:

Now that I have visited both world and land I have come to the conclusion that for our family staying on site is a must in DisneyWorld but not worth it at all in Disneyland. The perks are > the cost for world but not so in Disneyland. Not for us where money is a big factor anyway.

On our last adventure to DL we stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn. I really loved it there so as soon as we agreed to take this trip I went to book a room. Sadly the hotel was all booked up for the dates we are planning to travel and our dates this trip are NOT flexible. I was disappointed but I also knew there were many great good neighbour hotels and began my search.

I narrowed it down to the following hotels:

1. Park Vue
2. Candy Cane Inn
3. Desert Inn & Mini Suites
4. Carousel inn & Suites
5. HOJO
6. Tropicana Inn & Suites

right off the bat DD said no to the HOJO. too far! lol! We were spoiled staying at BWPPI. After checking for availability it was then narrowed down to:

1. Candy Cane Inn
2. Desert Inn & Mini Suites
3. Carousel Inn & Suites

In the end we ended up booking a parlor suite at Desert Inn.

I like that it has the separate living room area in case someone wants to stay up later than the others. Also i got a good deal through ebates/orbitz so i ended up getting some $$$ back plus got the room for 109/night instead of the 149/159 being quoted on expedia and the hotel site itself.

We are not fussy travellers. All we ask is that our room is very clean and our shower has hot water with a decent stream so i am sure i will be just as happy at the Desert Inn as we were at the BWPPI.

Yay for having a place to stay!!!

Now on to the getting there business.
Because this is a rather spur of the moment trip it just didnt make financial sense to use the same plan of action we used for our last trip. For that trip flights were very very cheap as i was booking 8months before so it made sense to use airmiles to buy park tickets and just pay for flights. This time around though flights are crazy expensive. I had no choice but to use my airmiles for the actual flights and scope out ways to buy the park tickets at a discount. I ended up going through ebates/orbitz and got some $$$ back plus got 4 day park hoppers for the price of 3. yay!!!

so we have a place to stay, a way to get there AND our tickets to the happiest place on earth!! woohoo this really is happening!

still have to book transportation to/from hotel, book a beach trip,and make an itinerary lol. but first...i have to head over to add a day to my previous trips report. One should really finish one report before starting a new one hahaha.

 

[DenaRox]

For our first trip to DL back in October, DD and I used Supershuttle to get to and from the airport and our hotel. The highlight was the price lol. This trip we are booked to take the Disney Resort express bus. I figured we deserved some air conditioning, entertainment and big comfy seats as compared to a hot, dirty shuttle van. We will be starting this trip off happily, not a sweaty, grumpy mess

Also on our previous trip DD and I went on the OC beach bus tour. We loved it and decided as a family we needed to go on another tour. We were going to do a LA tour but my BF has never been to the ocean and the cost of the other tours made our decision easy... Beach bus tour again!!! DD and I had so much fun with Tom that we are really looking forward to hitting the beaches again with the BF. It will be a lot more fun with him there

And seeing as this is just full of repeats, we also booked two meals... The Surf's up breakfast at the Paradise Pier.
DD and I LOVE Stitch so a meal with him again is a must. We also decided that our WOC meal was so worth it that we would book one for Fantasmic this trip. Would really have preferred the dessert party but we decided to give the Aladdin's Oasis meal a go.

We didn't want to take a big chance on booking a sit down meal as it's the day we arrive and who knows what we will feel like or how long we will take to get there but we knew we had to book something just in case we couldn't get to the park before the fastpasses ran out. Let's hope that all goes smoothly

Still working out our itinerary and starting to panic because the trip is so close...13 days to go!!!!!

 

[DenaRox]

For this trip money is a lot tighter, mostly because we just went in October but also because we are saving for our trip to Japan in 2016... To keep on budget we decided to limit our park spending to 100$ each. Thats to cover all souvenirs, snacks etc. I figured the best way to stay on track was to get each of us a gift card so I contacted the Disney store about purchasing gift cards but sadly cards purchased in Canada can only be used in Canada and the ones on the online store will not ship to Canada

Luckily i have friends in the USA so i purchased our 3 cards from the disney store online, had them sent to a friend with free shipping and then she just mailed them to us.

Went to the bank today to get our US$$$$ my goodness that hurt. I love being Canadian but OMG do I hate our crappy dollar. 700 USD cost us 865 Canadian. I really wish i would have bought more US$$$ back when i bought the money for our October trip, the dollar was at 95 cents instead of the sad 82 cents it is now I swear the next time, if ever, our dollar comes close to USD I am grabbing a bunch and opening a US funds bank account. Should have done that long ago... Have I mentioned I am a horrid procrastinator ????

So, now we have our US money for tipping, meals and just in case. I am pretty sure i will pay for our hotel on my mastercard so i can earn some airmiles, unless my chase no exchange fees card comes in time, in which case i will use that because hello!!! they sure ding you any way they can.

I have been going back and forth over the Aladdin Fantasmic meal... Being that we will be on airplanes and in and out of airports and shuttles i am not sure that we won't want a sit down full meal so just to cover my bases i made an ADR for Riverbelle Terrace Fantasmic meal. I have time to decide what we want and if the 20$ extra per person is worth it for us and then will just cancel whichever reservation we no longer want. What would you do??? The Aladdin meal seems more like a lunch than a supper, might make more sense to grab a snack on way to park and have a good sit down meal... plus it's a grad nite when we arrive so might be a good way to get out of the crazy for a bit!!!

Exactly 10 days, 7 hours and 1 min until we are in the air on our way to Disney!!! woot woot!!!

 

[kaoden39]

How fun!

I look forward to reading your trip report. I might want the sit down meal for Fantasmic. You're apt to be tired and the sit down meal is nice for that reason if no other.

 

[DenaRox]

How fun!

I look forward to reading your trip report. I might want the sit down meal for Fantasmic. You're apt to be tired and the sit down meal is nice for that reason if no other.

Thanks so much I
talked it over with the family and we all agreed that the riverbelle terrace meal was the way to go. YAY for more yummy food. now i have to research the fp you get with that meal as i was prepared for the normal blue FP that comes with the Aladdin one

 

[PHXscuba]

Looks like a fun trip with your daughter and BF. My friend and I are taking our daughters for a birthday trip this summer and we are super-excited. Hope your trip goes well!!

 

[VandVsmama]

Hope you have a great time! Looking forward to your TR!

 

[DenaRox]

Looks like a fun trip with your daughter and BF. My friend and I are taking our daughters for a birthday trip this summer and we are super-excited. Hope your trip goes well!!

Thanks so much, our trip was short but super sweet. Hope your trip is amazing, would love to take a a trip with my bestie and our kids someday.

Hope you have a great time! Looking forward to your TR!

Thanks, we had an excellent time. Hopefully i will do a trip report soon but still finishing up our trip report from our oct 2014 trip !!

 

[kaoden39]

 

[DenaRox]

Day 1: Sat May 16th 2013 - Off we go!!

Super early flight means being at the airport at 3:30AM. OUCH! Flew to Minneapolis and during the layover we did some shopping and ate. Back on the plane and off to LAX we went.

First thing I noticed upon exiting the airport was that it was a lot cooler than when we were here there in October. Sad for me, awesome for DD who is a little heater. lol.

Caught the big disney bus to our hotel, more expensive than using supershuttle but 1000x more comfortable and relaxing!! Worth every penny.




Checked in and headed to the park to trade in our vouchers for tickets and grab our photopass. Walked about and checked things out, pin traded a bit and then had our supper at the Riverbelle Terrace. The food was so yummy.



IT was our fantasmic meal so when we finished eating we leisurely made our way to the reserved section and chilled with the masses. it was SOOOOOO cold and i was tired and miserable and almost left at least 100x. Thankfully i didn't because i really enjoyed it (we skipped it in Oct and we missed it in WDW as well ) a lot.




Afterwards we were all pooped from being up so early so we kind of watched the fireworks as we walked and headed straight to our hotel and crashed instantly.

 

[DenaRox]

Day 2 - Sun May 17 - Surf's up & Beach day!

Early rise for our beach tour. We scheduled our Surf's up breakfast for today so we can start our day with some Disney joy before heading to the beach.

We were one of the first in to the restaurant and it was a bit busier than when we were there in Oct but still got a lot of interactions with characters. This time they were all wacky and silly and oh so much fun. Stitch was hilarious. He sat with us and goofed around. He did not like my hairstyle so he was generous enough to fix it for me..hahaha.He also loved the Tsum Tsums, especially the Stitch one Even pluto was funny. Probably the best character interaction we have ever had!!! Perfect start to the morning.



Next we hopped the beach bus with Tom. Such a funny and relaxed tour guide. We did it backwards this time which was a nice switch for DD and I. First we went to Laguna Beach. In Oct we just hit the beach so this time the three of us went to the sand pools and walked our way to the beaches. It was such a relaxing and beautiful walk. Sat in the sand for a bit and played in the water but then shopping called and of course we had to hit up Johnny Rocket's for milkshakes YUM!!




Next we went to Newport Beach. To make it fun for DD,Tom took us on the ferry right over to Balboa. it was cool and so sweet that he was mixing it up just for us. We headed straight to the beach as I wanted some sun time and DD wanted to hunt for seashells. She hit the mother load and while i sunned DD DBF frolicked in the water collecting seashells and sand dollars to bring home as souvenirs for her friends and classmates.



we then walked about Balboa fun zone for a bit and did a tiny bit of shopping as it was time to head to Huntington beach.
I really would have liked to have more time here but we were starving by now so had to stop and eat and then took a quick walk on the pier then headed back to the van as it was time to head back. We got dropped off at downtown disney instead of our hotel because we just had to have some Earl of Sandwich!!! Did a bit of shopping and then it was time for bed!!

 

[DenaRox]

Day 3: Mon May 18 - Park Hopping

While DD and I got ready DBF went and took advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel and brought us back some bagels and fruit. We headed to DL and our line luck has continued from Oct as we were again 1st in line.
At rope drop we were walked all the way on to Space mountain and it was so different after riding it 1000000x as Ghost Galaxy. Still loved it so much but both DD and I like the Ghost Galaxy overlay better.



Rode Star tours,



Buzz Lightyear, Haunted mansion (another I love but prefer the holiday version),



Big thunder mountain. Then we figured we should grab some food so sat down for grub and a rest at the hungry bear. With full tummies and rested feet we headed to spash mountain.

Nobody got wet this time so DD was a much happier camper. Shoe catastrophe so we headed back to hotel for replacement!

Back to parks we decided to head to DCA. We rode mickey's fun wheel (big deal as i HATE ferris wheels),




the silly swings, and Tower of terror (just the two of us as DD made it clear in Oct that she did it once but NEVER again so DD rode the jellyfish ride a few times instead.





Next we all went on California Screamin'. This is huge as DDis NOT a fan of coasters and took a lot of convincing to get her on but she loved it!!! In fact she loved it so much we got back on again. This is where we started doing silly things for each photo. DD's idea and it was fun and cute.




We gave goofy's sky school a go then headed to grizzly river run. We all got wet but i was SOAKED. It was park close time anyway so we headed back to hotel for the night, grabbing food to go on the way.

 

[DenaRox]

Day 4: Tues May 19 -
Today DBF mixed it up and grabbed us danishes and toast while us girls got ready. Headed to DCA to give wide right a go. Got to gates and continued our streak of firsts Made it to the rope and were the farthest right you could get and right at the rope.

Had lovely convo with the others in line as well as the CM's at the rope. Overall jolly mood. We walked the whole way and other than a few mishaps (lady ran over DD's foot with her stroller and left a huge bruise )and some teens who were trying to sneak in front over the sidewalk past the rope (cm right with us gave them heck and sent them back) we were walked right on to RSR..first.

We didn't have a car to race against but it was still so much fun and we got off and walked right back on through single rider line with only a 5 min wait.
We grabbed some RSR FP's for later as we walked about then we headed over to screamin' and rode right away as the line was very short. We told the lady that we were doing thumbs up this time and DD explained how we had done it for all the pics so she was totally game. Awesome lady


then went and met up with an online disney friend who i was so excited to meet. We shopped a bit, checked out turtle talk with crush then headed ton DL to do a bit of shopping. I wasn't feeling to good so we went our seperate ways and we went back to the hotel to rest.

We had supper reservations at Wine county Trattoria for our world of color meal and had to wait quite a while (i think they lost our reservation) so we missed out using our RSR fastpasses we snagged earlier in the day and by the time we were done there was a HUGE line . That was something different from when we were there in October, in Oct there were individual lines for each of the 3 restaurants that offered the meal but this time there were two lines and wine county and Ariel's grotto were both together We got in then ended up in the wet zone which we were all fine with. Right when it started all three of us started getting really bad tummy aches. We stuck it out for most of the show but had to leave a bit early which helped to beat the crowds anyway. As we left we got to see a bit of the 60th fireworks being tested in DL. The part we saw was amazing We watched the end of it from the balcony of our hotel then went to bed.

*** what with the late meal and missing last rsr fp and then big lines and tummy aches no photos were taken on our grumpy yucky last half of the day ***

 

[DenaRox]

Day 5: Wed May 20th - Last Day
Last days are always sad days. We headed to DL for an early morning. But really only had a few hours before having to head back to check out and head to airport. We took some photos, rode a few rides, bought some 60th pins and then had to say goodbye to happiest place on earth.... until next time