Disneyland - May 2014

[Casey's Mommie]

Is it too early to start my trip report? I just checked and my trip is 103 days away. I probably should wait 3 more days and make it 100 days, but I can't wait!

I just booked our hotel room for May 4-9!!! We are staying at the HOJO. We always stay there, because the kids love what we call the "Pirate Pool" so much, and I refuse to stay anywhere that's not within walking distance. So far I've only managed to get the 20% Annual Pass discount. I'm hoping to get one of the 30% or 50% Super Saver Family Discount emails in the next few months for the week to save even more... We will see.

We haven't been to Disneyland since last May and I'm missing it so much! We got Annual Passes in 2012, and we went in May '12, November '12, and again May '13. I also did a separate trip by myself with a friend in January for the Tinkerbell 5K race. So after spending so many days in Disneyland last year, it's been difficult to stay away for the past 9 months, and I'm definitely ready to get back to my Happy Place!!

Here's my family. I am Wendy and I will be turning 37 on May 5 in Disneyland! I've never actually been in Disneyland on my birthday before, so I'm excited!!! My husband of 10 years is Dave and I'm so lucky that he loves Disneyland (almost) as much as I do!! My kids, Casey 7 and Ryan 3 inherited our love of Disney and are very excited to go back! My MIL always comes with us on our trips and she'll be coming along in May as well.

Here are some pictures of our crew from last May!






Thanks for reading and I hope to be back soon with more pictures from previous trips and planning updates!

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Just popping in to say that it's 99 days until Disneyland!! I'm doing the two digit dance over here, people!!!

I saw that Little Mermaid is on the refurb list while I'm there. It's one of our favorite rides. It's so fun and usually barely has a line. Oh well, a lot can change and I know we'll still have fun.

 

[michelle1177]

I'll be reading along! We are staying at the Hojo from May 3-10. We found a great airline/hotel deal and it was too good to pass up. My daughter (she is 7) loves the Hojo so much that she is always okay to leave Disneyland to go swim in the pirate pool.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Ariel refurb doesn't happen while we are there just so I don't stress out about it. I don't have the heart to tell my daughter since it is one of her favorites and she is already bummed about Soarin.

May will be here in no time!!!

 

[Fairy Floss]

Reading along too...
Going @ the end of May - 1st time ..... So I'll be looking for tips

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Thanks for reading! Lots of May people here! That's great!!

I am hoping the refurbs are minimal. But I'm trying not to think about it too much, because 1) I have no control 2) we're going no matter what and 3) even if something is closed, we're getting annual passes so we'll get to go back soon enough.

Now, I thought I'd do something fun! Here is a progression of Casey (7 years old now!!!) in front of Rabbit's door from 1 year old to 6 years old.

 

[Fairy Floss]

What a wonderful record of her growth

 

[Casey's Mommie]

In exactly 3 more months (or 89 Days) I will be in the car driving to Disneyland!!!

So, like everyone going in May, I've been stalking the refurb calendars. Right now it looks like we'll be missing out on:

Disneyland: Finding Nemo, Space Mt., Pirates , King Arthur Carrousel. Alice, and Indiana Jones will be open on our last day only.

Disney CA: Little Mermaid, Grizzly River Run and It's Tough to be a Bug (Open our last day only)

I doubt we'll do It's Tough to be a Bug because we'll leave around 1 on our last day and I'd much rather do that morning in Disneyland because Casey is finally tall enough to ride Indiana Jones for the first time!!!

Also, I'm so happy that Soarin' was taken off the list. I am super sad about Pirates, but I know we'll still have fun.

Anyway, we'll see how much changes in 3 months and we plan on going back at least 2 more times with these annual passes (and maybe even 3 more times!!)

Thanks for reading

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Just made my first trip related purchase last week, and it's for ME!!! I've always always always wanted a nice Disney Purse. I was planning on buying the Disney Haunted Mansion Smith Bag by Dooney & Bourke. It was expensive ($330) and I've NEVER spent anywhere near that much on a purse before. But I loved it so much that I decided when it became available again, I would buy one. But it wasn't meant to be because it never did make it back to the Disney website so had to do without. It's SO pretty though!



Anyway, I decided I could at least treat myself to a travel bag to carry around Disneyland. It's just big enough for my wallet and camera without having to store it when I go on rides.

Here's the picture from the website



And this one is mine! (I added a pen for scale!)



The elephant charm was quickly claimed by my daughter to add to her backpack. That was okay with me.

It was on sale and I really like it! I can't wait to use it at Disneyland! Only 71 days to go!

 

[TheChapman6]

Just made my first trip related purchase last week, and it's for ME!!! I've always always always wanted a nice Disney Purse. I was planning on buying the Disney Haunted Mansion Smith Bag by Dooney & Bourke. It was expensive ($330) and I've NEVER spent anywhere near that much on a purse before. But I loved it so much that I decided when it became available again, I would buy one. But it wasn't meant to be because it never did make it back to the Disney website so had to do without. It's SO pretty though!

http://s41.photobucket.com/user/wendrobn/media/HMPurse_zps39590473.jpg.html

Anyway, I decided I could at least treat myself to a travel bag to carry around Disneyland. It's just big enough for my wallet and camera without having to store it when I go on rides.

Here's the picture from the website

http://s41.photobucket.com/user/wendrobn/media/purse_zpsd869f1db.jpg.html

And this one is mine! (I added a pen for scale!)

http://s41.photobucket.com/user/wendrobn/media/purse1_zpsf43f147b.jpg.html

The elephant charm was quickly claimed by my daughter to add to her backpack. That was okay with me.

It was on sale and I really like it! I can't wait to use it at Disneyland! Only 71 days to go!

I have a le sportsac purse. It's a cross body bag I only use for disney. I have been storing all my gift cards I've saved all year in in along with copies of our reservations, photo pass, etc. I love that I can wear it on rides and its slick fabric that repels water. You will love that purse!

 

[holymac]

Following along. We will be there May16-19

 

[Casey's Mommie]

I have a le sportsac purse. It's a cross body bag I only use for disney. I have been storing all my gift cards I've saved all year in in along with copies of our reservations, photo pass, etc. I love that I can wear it on rides and its slick fabric that repels water. You will love that purse!

Yes, I love the material! That was a nice surprise when I got it!

 

[malloriewillms]

How fun ill Be following as we're going may1-4 for my sons first plane ride and Disney trip
And his second bday.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[luulu1999]

Following along....we will be going in July....a D&B purse is on my list of things I will be getting my self at the park!! I am using my ebates money I got back getting our tickets

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Following along....we will be going in July....a D&B purse is on my list of things I will be getting my self at the park!! I am using my ebates money I got back getting our tickets

Following along!

How fun ill Be following as we're going may1-4 for my sons first plane ride and Disney trip
And his second bday.

Welcome and thanks for reading!!!

As of today I only have 60 more "sleeps" until Disney! I'm going to make reservations tomorrow for Goofy's Kitchen for my birthday. I wish they were open for a late lunch. I thought it would be good to do a 3:00 early dinner right after our break and then go enjoy the parks for a few hours. But I'll have to settle for a 5:00 and hopefully we can get back to the parks and hopefully have time for at least a few rides. I guess we'll have an extra long break that day with a lot of "pirate pool" time for the kids, or maybe we'll just stay at the park later in the morning that day and just have a later break.

February seemed to just fly by and I hope March flies by too! I'm starting to get pretty excited!!!

So, in celebration of it only being 60 days away... here's a few pictures from our November 2012 trip:

First and last time we ate at Goofy's Kitchen (November 2012)



And this one is from the same trip. Ryan got to hold hands with Goofy and walk down the street with him for a long time. It was great!

 

[Casey's Mommie]

48 More Days...

My dh and I just got back from a weekend trip to Reno for his birthday and I got to try out my new purse! It's the perfect size for my wallet and phone! Casey told me she though it was cute when I used it yesterday to run to the store to get a birthday cake.

I'm still hearing rumors about the Pirates refurb being cancelled, but since it's still on the map I'm not getting my hopes up. I made the Goofy's Kitchen reservations so that's all set. I'm going to try to get to the Disney Store (which is almost an hour away) to see if we can get the kids some t-shirts for the trip. Otherwise I'll just have to find some at Target. Ryan also needs a new bathing suit I think.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

[nwlovely]

Loving your pre trip report! We'll be there May 2-9 and we can't wait! I can't even imagine a Disney trip without Pirates, but I guess I'll just be happy to be in Disneyland! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[Beesma]

We'll also be there in May, so following along We're planning for May 14 and 15. DD and I were hoping to go to Comic Con in San Diego this year but couldn't get tickets so decided Disneyland was the best alternative since we haven't been there since she was 9 and she's almost 19. It's also a pre-foot-surgery trip for me so I'm planning to rent an ECV since walking isn't so much fun these days.

Pirates will still be closed when we're there--sad about that. I've finding conflicting information about whether It's a Small World will be open. I'll actually be sadder if that's closed than I will be about Pirates! We shall see.

Thanks for the early trip report! We're down to 49 days until we head to SoCal! Woo hoo!

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Loving your pre trip report! We'll be there May 2-9 and we can't wait! I can't even imagine a Disney trip without Pirates, but I guess I'll just be happy to be in Disneyland! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

We'll also be there in May, so following along We're planning for May 14 and 15. DD and I were hoping to go to Comic Con in San Diego this year but couldn't get tickets so decided Disneyland was the best alternative since we haven't been there since she was 9 and she's almost 19. It's also a pre-foot-surgery trip for me so I'm planning to rent an ECV since walking isn't so much fun these days.

Pirates will still be closed when we're there--sad about that. I've finding conflicting information about whether It's a Small World will be open. I'll actually be sadder if that's closed than I will be about Pirates! We shall see.

Thanks for the early trip report! We're down to 49 days until we head to SoCal! Woo hoo!

Thanks for reading along!

I just looked it up and there are 38 more days to go! Right now I'm glad there's still another month + to go because I have a pretty bad cold. My daughter had it two weeks ago, Ryan had it last week (and is currently on antibiotics because he ended up with a sinus and ear infection) and I have it this week. I always think I won't get sick because I never get it right away, it takes a week or two for some reason. Anyway, I'm still okay enough to go to work and stuff, but I'm really glad to not be at Disneyland with this. Being sick on vacation is not awesome!

I keep hearing rumors that the Haunted Mansion Purse is going to be re-released sometime in April... and I am hopeful because they changed the pictures on the Disney Store website to show a purple lining. I hope they release enough so I can get my hands on one!! Part of me is a little hesitant about the price and the hugeness of the bag. I kind of hope they release the same design but on a smaller bag, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose.

I ended up forgetting my bathing suit in Reno so I'll have to buy another one before my trip. I liked the style but was getting tired of the print, so that's good at least. Other than that, there's not much more I can do planning wise. Everything is pretty much already set until we get a bit closer.

 

[Casey's Mommie]

33 more days! I can now say I'm going to Disneyland next month! Now I just have to get everyone in my house healthy!!!