Going Outside My Comfort Zone

[jenseib]

Hi all!
I am Jen for those who don't know me. I tend to have a lot of the same readers, so I'll keep the intro short.

I am a mother of 3, Michael (25), Paige (21) and Claire (9). Claire is my travel partner most times. I am married to a Dairy farmer, Skip.

Skip doesn't like to travel as much, but he might be coming around...you never know with him.



I have been planning a trip to WDW since last April. But when I say planning, I use that term loosely in this instance. We had the dates set, (March 22- 29) but I actually haven't done a whole lot in the way of planning for this trip compared to my other trips. For one, I work from home and have been busy quite a bit lately.
And another is that I am doing some things differently than normal. For one staying offsite at my parents timeshare (And they will be coming along as well).
We have an idea of what we plan to do, and where we plan to go and of course a few dining reservations, but we still have been very lax about this vacation. I don't even have flights booked yet!!!!! But I think I will work on that this week or next.

And then the surprise!!!!!!!!!!!


I am going to a work conference at the end of Feb. I am super excited about this. You may ask why I would be excited to go to a work conference?
Well for one I love my job and two....
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It's at DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

I have NEVER been to Disneyland or to California in general. I am beyond excited about this trip.

Both trips are going to be out of my comfort zone in one way or another, but I plan to make the best of them. Both are coming quite quickly. With the Disneyland one I will be meeting up with a Disney vet who can show me the ropes a bit, plus our conference will have some planned activities, which will be announced at a later date, so I don't have to do too much planning for that one.
The Disney World one needs some work. I need to tweak out my days yet since we plan to do some "put of the bubble" things and my husband is planning on joining us at the end portion and the plan is to do a 3 day cruise on the Magic then. That portion is not booked yet either, so things can change. He is king of last minute, so it makes me a bit nervous about that. That is also the main reason I have yet to book flights. I need to know the exact date to fly back, but at this point if he doesn't cruise with us, I still plan on staying through those dates, so I will just book the flights and be done with it.

Please join me as I plan....or try to plan these 2 fabuolous trips. I will probably need advice every so often as well.

 

[mom2rtk]

WOO HOO! I'm in!

 

[Caretames1]

Holy cow! I'm here!

 

[Dizzy4DL]

Oh wow! You're coming out to my neck of the woods.

And just when I'm planning my first trip to WDW.

 

[dizneeat]

Yeah, I am so lucky lately........

Catching most new PTR and TR right at the start!

Thanks for posting the link, Jen, I would not miss this for the world!

 

[dizneeat]

Now, that is great news!!!!!!!!!

I knew about the offsite trip, but the cruise part is new! I am so excited for you! Are you planning on trying the Aquadunk? I am sure Claire will, if she is tall enough!

And the DL trip is awesome too! You are going to love DL! So different from WDW and then so similar. Be prepared for the tiniest of castles there.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You chose a great picture for your intro!

I'm jealous of your upcoming trip to Disneyland and the possibility of a cruise. Hopefully, Skip will come along for the cruise portion. I'm sure that he'll wait to the last minute before deciding though. Maybe you can twist his ear and make him decide sooner rather than later.

 

[jedijill]

Wow! Big plans. Can't wait to hear all about them!

Jill in CO

 

[Woth2982]

I'm here! How exciting about Disneyland! I love DL, it is much smaller but more intimate I think. I took my friend for the first time during the Tinkerbell Half weekend, she was really overwhelmed looking up information, and was having a hard time believing me about it until she saw it for herself haha.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Checking in. OMG, this is fantastic news about Disneyland. You are going to love it. I love WDW, but I love Disneyland even more.

Corinna

 

[natebenma]

In! In!! In!!!

I am really excited to be following along with this.

I'll be going to Disneyland in July- so I can't wait to hear all about your planning and your trip.

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I'm here! How exciting about Disneyland I've never been and I can't wait to see what your going to do there!

I hope Skip makes up his mind soon so you can start planning.

 

[Camonkeygirl]

Hi Jen. I live in San Diego and spend at least one day a month at Disneyland. Let me know if you have any questions. Your trip reports helped me when planning our first Disney World trip last year.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I'm here, now to get started reading!

 

[scottny]

Here. That is great. Disneyland is nice. Have not been in years. Can't wait to hear about it.

 

[jenseib]

WOO HOO! I'm in!

Woohoo. You were fast!

Holy cow! I'm here!

Yay, she came out from under the rock!

Oh wow! You're coming out to my neck of the woods.

And just when I'm planning my first trip to WDW.

How fun. I am so excited. I am arriving early and my best friend from grade school lives out there and she plans to get together and show me some sites too.

Yeah, I am so lucky lately........

Catching most new PTR and TR right at the start!

Thanks for posting the link, Jen, I would not miss this for the world!

You were fast! I have been slacking a lot lately. But work makes money for Disney, so I need to do that too.

Now, that is great news!!!!!!!!!

I knew about the offsite trip, but the cruise part is new! I am so excited for you! Are you planning on trying the Aquadunk? I am sure Claire will, if she is tall enough!

And the DL trip is awesome too! You are going to love DL! So different from WDW and then so similar. Be prepared for the tiniest of castles there.

I am super exicted. Another thing off my bucket list. I don't really know if I even could've gotten Skip out there as he doesn't want to fly that far. I am horrible with flights too. Not scared, just bored, so I am looking to see if I can find an audio book for my kindle. I love audio books and that should make it go a bit faster.
I am not sure about the Aquadunk. I have to see it in person first. I am not a fan of waterslides, but it doesn't look too bad. I am sure Claire is tall enough. She is practically a giant these days.

Yes, I have heard how small the castle is!

You chose a great picture for your intro!

I'm jealous of your upcoming trip to Disneyland and the possibility of a cruise. Hopefully, Skip will come along for the cruise portion. I'm sure that he'll wait to the last minute before deciding though. Maybe you can twist his ear and make him decide sooner rather than later.

Thanks. I had to go find something fast that had the 2 of us in it.
I wish we could hurry up and book the cruise, but I don't want to pressure him to hard as it's been such bad weather here and he is just going nuts over it. I hope we get a break soon. We got about another 8 inches last night and this morning. Paige went in a ditch a mile from home on her way to work. Then they ended up closing her office about an hour after she did arrive.

Wow! Big plans. Can't wait to hear all about them!

Jill in CO

I can't wait to hear about them too.

I'm here! How exciting about Disneyland! I love DL, it is much smaller but more intimate I think. I took my friend for the first time during the Tinkerbell Half weekend, she was really overwhelmed looking up information, and was having a hard time believing me about it until she saw it for herself haha.

I keep hearing how great DL is, so different yet so similar too. I know to prepare myself for the small castle!

Checking in. OMG, this is fantastic news about Disneyland. You are going to love it. I love WDW, but I love Disneyland even more.

Corinna

I am super excited. I need to start figuring out what clothes fit me. I keep putting on weight...even though I exercise every day. Guess I need to eat less too. I have some dresses that might work but I need to get a sweater to wear with them.

 

[jenseib]

In! In!! In!!!

I am really excited to be following along with this.

I'll be going to Disneyland in July- so I can't wait to hear all about your planning and your trip.

How exciting! I will be writing a TR, but it will be slow going. I won't include the boring parts of the conference though.

I'm here! How exciting about Disneyland I've never been and I can't wait to see what your going to do there!

I hope Skip makes up his mind soon so you can start planning.

I have never been either ,so i am super excited. I know half my days will be in conference, but they usually have some park time or special tours so that will be exciting. I heard they often have a special aread for World of Color too. I am waiting on our itinerary. I can't believe how slow they are at getting us info, but it will all work out in the end.

Hi Jen. I live in San Diego and spend at least one day a month at Disneyland. Let me know if you have any questions. Your trip reports helped me when planning our first Disney World trip last year.

Awesome! I may be asking questions!

I'm here, now to get started reading!

woohoo! Glad you are here!

Here. That is great. Disneyland is nice. Have not been in years. Can't wait to hear about it.

I have never been, so a whole new experience compared to reading about it. At least the girl I am going with knows it fairly well so she can lead me around!

 

[jenseib]

I am going to warn you now that I might have thoughts and ideas all over the place. I am trying to get things together, but I am not quite there yet. Why is it so hard to get my own trip in order? LOL

I am also going to go back and forth on both trips because.....let's face it, they both are coming up fairly fast now.

I am going to start with Disneyland today.
I am leaving Sunday, Feb. 23 at buttcrack AM! Seriously the flight is out of Detroit (DTW) at 6:45 AM!!! I live an hour away so that means I pretty much will not be sleeping the night before. I am half tempted to see if I can just get a hotel the night before so I don't have to bother anyone to take me to the airport in the morning. I need to make that decision quickly.
I was able to get my flight with Southwest points, so it didn't cost me anything but $10 to do so. What a bargain!
The good news is I will be gaining time as I go west, so I will arrive at LAX around 10:15 AM. I do have a connecting flight in Denver to catch though and hopefully that goes smoothly.

I am not sure exactly what I will do once I get to the airport. I will have voucher to get to DLR, but one of my oldest and bestest friends lives in LA and of course I told her right away that I was coming out and I didn't have any plans for Sunday if she wanted to meet up. She said she might just pick me up from the airport and show me around the area and then head towards DL and maybe eat somewhere near the beach. I am up for anything because it will be just great to see her and to be in California!!!
I will be sure to have my camera charged and ready for anything I can see!
If she doesn't pick me up from the airport then she will pick me up from my hotel later. We plan to talk it over this weekend.

Later in the day..at some point ...she will take me to the Disneyland Hotel. That is where I will be staying for 2 nights. I really didn't care too much about which hotel we would stay at, but my friend/room mate that is meeting me there for the conference wanted to stay there and I am perfectly fine with that.
And speaking of room mate /friend....I don't think I have said her name yet..and I am going to leave you with that, because I know she hasn't told many people yet and I don't want to ruin her surprise if she wants to share it in her own way on the boards she writes on.......

 

[Woth2982]

Haha I hear you on scattered plans! I leave in two weeks for the Princess and I am nooooo where near ready! To add to it I have a procedure on Friday for the four bulging discs in my back!

Yay for meeting your friend! If you are going to the beach near DL try and go see Newport Beach! It is absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorite beaches! The vibe there is just so laid back it is amazing.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That early start is painful. Still, at least it gives you most of the day in California. There are a lot of pretty places in Southern California so I am sure you will have a wonderful day.

Corinna