High Season DL Adventures--Aug 09 TR--Complete!

[Hawleys]

Since I am a ride fanatic my first list will be must do rides.

Twice a day rides
Splash Mountain
Matterhorn

Once a day rides
Buzz Lightyear
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
Pirates
Haunted Mansion
Teacups (yes, Teacups!)

Once a visit rides
Jungle Cruise
Winnie the Pooh
IASWAA
Mr. Toad
Star Tours
Indy (I confess that I have only been on Indy once but I just didn't get it. Too much jerking and too many weird lights...I felt like I could never tell what was happening. But I will go on it again in August and maybe I will enjoy it more.)

New rides this visit
Roger Rabbit
Tiki Room
Peter Pan
Tom Sawyer's island (does this qualify as a ride?)
Disneyland Train

What other favorites am I missing?

 

[Hawleys]

Jedi Training Academy
Our nephew is a huge Star Wars fan. We will be making a sign and going back until he makes it onstage.

Animation Building at DCA
Did I mention the nephew is a bit of a geek (in a good way )? He loves to draw monsters and reads manga like mad. I hope he enjoys learning how to draw a Disney character.

Alladin
Being a geek in a good ways means acting in all the school plays and taking theater classes all summer so there is no way we are missing this show.

Matterhorn
Baedyn LOVED the Matterhorn on his last Disney visit at 6 years old. We will be riding it several times.

 

[Hawleys]

There is only one date posted in August for the Entertainment Book Rate at the Hojo and it just happens to be one of our nights. I got on the phone today and changed my reservation.

I think this is a sign that it's going to be a fantastic trip!

 

[Hawleys]

I've decided to sent my nephew a package with a few things to get him excited about one week before we leave. Nothing fancy, just little things to keep him entertained on his plane rides.

Baedyn will be in Seattle with his Gramma for 2 weeks before our trip and then she will fly down to San Francisco with him. They will spend a day visiting Gramma's side of the family and then we will take him on the plane to LA.

Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Gum
Skittles
Yes and Know Invisible Ink book
Spiderman Comic books
Disney stickers

It would be nice to have something Disney besides the stickers to put in. I was thinking about mouse ears but DW thought it would be fun to let Baedyn pick out his own ears and I agree.

Any suggestions on a small Disney-themed gift for an almost 10 year old boy?

 

[Hawleys]

I've been thinking about what I will need to take into the park with me and what size bag to carry it in.

Very small water bottle
Very small bottle of sunscreen
Allergy meds for the nephew
Emergency snacks
bandaids
sunglasses
minimal wallet (credit card, hotel key, id, cash)
chapstick
park hoppers and fastpasses
cell phone

Here's a photo of my new Disneyland bag! It's a Sherpani over the shoulder bag that I got at REI this weekend.

 

[Hawleys]

I forgot the most important thing on my list...
PLANS!

 

[Hawleys]

I had been talking to DW about upgrading to an AP pass while we were at DLR in August. It doesn't look like that is going to happen.

We just found out that DW will be getting an 8% pay cut. Thank you State of California. It was going to cost us about $600 to do a budget trip in October, including the cost of APs, flights and some super cheap accommodations. With the pay cut and our already scheduled relatively expensive trip in August there is just no way we can do it.

I'm so bummed. On the bright side, DW says that if our August trip goes well, she will do a three day weekend for Gay Days 2010. That's 16 months away...I can plan that.

 

[Hawleys]

Has my thread been orphaned? Are you out there reading? If you are, delurk and come on in. I'm friendly and I need some help from all the DIS mamas. My nephew is 9 almost 10 and I would love to send him a small Disney themed gift as part of his pre-trip care package. Any ideas?

 

[Docter419]

Don't worry about waking up early on your vacation. Its a must for Disneyland!

 

[Desert Dwellers]

I've been off the boards for a little pre-vacation vacation trip. Living large at a resort pool for a few days. Our Target has Disney themed Pez dispensers. And the Dollar Spot at Target had all sorts of Disney items just last week. My 12 year old son suggests Pirates stuff.

Also, love your Disneyland bag. The color is great!

 

[Hawleys]

Don't worry about waking up early on your vacation. Its a must for Disneyland!

Thanks for the encouragement Doctor419. I think I can wake up early...we'll see about DW and DN. I'm more worried that I won't be able to sleep because I'm so excited.

I enjoyed your honeymoon TR. ESPN Zone is one of my favorite places, too.

 

[Hawleys]

I've been off the boards for a little pre-vacation vacation trip. Living large at a resort pool for a few days. Our Target has Disney themed Pez dispensers. And the Dollar Spot at Target had all sorts of Disney items just last week. My 12 year old son suggests Pirates stuff.

I will head over to Target and look for the Disney themed Pez dispensers. That sounds just perfect.

A pre-vacation trip sounds great! Can you share your location (besides poolside, of course )?

 

[Desert Dwellers]

We skipped down to Tucson for a few days and stayed at the Loews Ventana Canyon. The kids and I were poolside, while Mr. Dwellers played golf. Tucson is still plenty warm, but it's a good 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix. I checked weather for Anaheim this week - it's supposed to be 81 degrees!!!

 

[Hawleys]

We skipped down to Tucson for a few days and stayed at the Loews Ventana Canyon. The kids and I were poolside, while Mr. Dwellers played golf. Tucson is still plenty warm, but it's a good 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix. I checked weather for Anaheim this week - it's supposed to be 81 degrees!!!

Wow, I looked at the this resort online and it is beautiful. Hopefully, you will be rested and relaxed for your next travels. Have an incredible trip to Disneyland TOMORROW! Can't wait to read about it.

 

[yupikgal]

Basketballmom, we are going to be there the exact dates that you are! Are you staying at Ho Jo's again? The last time we were in California was 1999, our kids were 7 and 4, now they are 17 and 14!! What a big change..I'm still not exactly sure where we are staying, I am thinking the Fairfield Inn or the Homewood Suites, we need somewhere where we can have 3 separate beds (1 for me and DH, 1 each for the kids, since they are too big to sleep together now) I'm glad to say that you like the summer, because we've never been there then, and I was kind of scared but it sounds like it will work out as long as we take long breaks in between visits!

Can't wait!!

Kelly from the 49th state

I just had to reply and say.......YAY August!!! We are going too! August 8-13.

Our last 3 trips were the last week of July, 2005, first week of August, 2006, and the weekend after Labor day, 2007. I will say that we LOVED being there in the summer! We are get to the parks at opening kind of people, and also the go-go-go type! Yeah, it is busy, but everything is open, the park hours are longer.....and you can take a 3-4 hour afternoon break and still get tons done!! Also, breaking up walking and riding with a show is a good way to cool down and rest your feet! Aladdin, Billy Hill, Turtle Talk with Crush....and others....good way to take a break!

We stayed at the HOJO in 2006. I don't remember the convenience store being super shocking expensive....I do remember it was nice and had lots of stuff! Milk, fruit, snacks, drinks....I think we even needed something random like nail clippers and they had them. The walk to the park was nice too.

So what are we down to?? 67 days??

 

[yupikgal]

I went to the website, and I'm sure that we will be purchasing this, especially seeing as we have never been to DL in the summer...what a great idea! Thanks everyone!!

Algorithms are cool! I love RideMax, esp. in summer. We pay so much to visit Disneyland, I want to make sure we are efficient in our touring. But I want to have fun, as well.

Just plug in those attractions that are absolutely must do. It will increase your enjoyment because your wait times are minimized. Schedule in large breaks during the day to allow for free time and exploration. RideMax can work, even with different vacation personalities.

 

[Hawleys]

I went to the website, and I'm sure that we will be purchasing this, especially seeing as we have never been to DL in the summer...what a great idea! Thanks everyone!!

I have been playing around with Ridemax for the last couple weeks and it is just awesome. Even if we don't follow the plans exactly it gives a really good idea of the best time of day to visit different attractions and how to use FastPass to your advantage.

They are also going to make a version for the iPhone, if you are lucky enough to have one.

 

[Hawleys]

Yea!

The August Ridemax data are available and I have been spending way too much time making itineraries and backup itineraries. Planning is half the fun, right?

In other really exciting news, it looks like we will be buying AP passes while we are at DLR after all.

Our friend KS was visiting us a few weeks ago and I was telling her about our trip in August. She is a PhD student at UC Santa Cruz and decided that she should really visit Disneyland before she gets her degree and heads off to who knows where. Of course I invited her to come with us. Everyone loves Disneyland, right? The more the merrier right? Well...not according to DW.

DW has been wanting to take this trip with our nephew for many years and has been looking forward to spending some quality time with him. He lives in Indiana and we only see him about once a year. She let me know that she would like our trip to be just the three of us so that the focus in on Baedyn. Isn't she an awesome aunt?!?

So...I had to call KS and explain the situation. She is a lovely person and she was really understanding. Since August wasn't going to work, we talked about going sometime in the fall, maybe in October for Gay Days. And since we are going again, it just makes financial sense to buy the AP. While I am so excited to be able to plan a second trip, I am a bit worried about the finances. The main reason we decided not to get APs was because DW is taking an 8% pay cut this year. On the bright side, she is keeping her job. We are going to have do some serious penny pinching to save the money for this trip.

 

[Desert Dwellers]

Hawleys, I am back home now. I'm surrounded by piles of laundry. Yesterday I downloaded pictures from the two cameras onto the computer, so this afternoon I hope to post my trip report with some of the better pics.

But the crowds were fine. I really was expecting the worst, but it was great. New Orleans Square gets crazy right before Fantasmic, so most nights we stayed away.

Ridemax worked great! The first day we were ahead a half hour to an hour. We had to make adjustments along the way because rides would close down for a while.

But after a while, you get the flow of the fast passes, and I could work a system of always having a current fast pass, so the last day, we didn't even use the Ridemax. I know a lot of people just collect fast passes during the morning and use them in the evening after they've expired. I don't know if it's my OCD, but I was unable to do that. I was compelled to use them during the window of time printed on the ticket. Oy.

You know, I'm jealous that you haven't taken your August trip yet, and you're already planning the second trip!

 

[Hawleys]

Hawleys, I am back home now. I'm surrounded by piles of laundry. Yesterday I downloaded pictures from the two cameras onto the computer, so this afternoon I hope to post my trip report with some of the better pics.

But the crowds were fine. I really was expecting the worst, but it was great. New Orleans Square gets crazy right before Fantasmic, so most nights we stayed away.

Ridemax worked great! The first day we were ahead a half hour to an hour. We had to make adjustments along the way because rides would close down for a while.

But after a while, you get the flow of the fast passes, and I could work a system of always having a current fast pass, so the last day, we didn't even use the Ridemax. I know a lot of people just collect fast passes during the morning and use them in the evening after they've expired. I don't know if it's my OCD, but I was unable to do that. I was compelled to use them during the window of time printed on the ticket. Oy.

You know, I'm jealous that you haven't taken your August trip yet, and you're already planning the second trip!

Hi DesertDwellers. Thanks for the info on Ridemax and crowds and especially the tip about avoiding New Orleans square if we are not going to Fantasmic. I'm prepared to use Fastpass after the expiration window but I understand the OCD tendencies. I've loaded Ridemax onto my laptop so that I can do last minute reworking while we are at DLR.

The pictures you posted in your trip report were great! Hopefully, by now you have plowed through the post-trip laundry. (love this icon)

Things are shaping up nicely for the October trip. I haven't purchased flights yet but there are some great deals (~$160 RT). I did book the Desert Inn and Suites because there didn't seem to be many hotels available (Hojo's and Fairfield Inn are completely booked!!). The big thing between now and October will be saving money.