Hooray, we're going to DLR in September! (My 1st PTR ever!)

[Mugglemama]

Hello, all! I've been lurking around these boards for more than a year now, thoroughly enjoying all the PTR's, TR's, and great pics. We've done a DLR trip since I first started reading these boards, that trip was last August. I was so busy trying to get my trip binder done for that vacation that I just didn't have time to join in here. But I've had so much fun reading everyone else's reports.

I am a SoCal native, born and raised in Ventura, which is about 2.5 hours North of DL. During my childhood I only went to DL 3 times (my dad was turned away from the gates in the 50's because his hair was too long! Can you believe that? So he swore to boycott them forever, lol.) My mom forced him to take us when I was 6 years old, and the other two times that I went, I was 12 and 13, and he didn't go. Anyway, it wasn't until my DH and I got together that I really fell in love with DL. We went several times over the next several years, and then when our oldest child was 9, we bought AP's. We lived in Lawndale then, just a 25 minute drive from DLR.

We loved going so much! Often, we'd race out there right after I got off of work (I worked at Mattel, and DH stayed home with the kids at that time), and stay for a few hours. Those are truly some of my very best memories in life...being there with our babies (then, aged 9yo, 3yo, and 5 months old!) at night in the off season. It was freezing sometimes, but there were nights I swear we had all of DL to ourselves. We must have gone 60-70 times over those 2years! We also had AP's to DCA, and love it there, too. Because we spent so many wonderful family moments in those places, we all now feel seriously emotionally attached to the parks . So much so, that my oldest daughter plans to enroll in the Disney Internship Program as soon as she's eligible because she wants to work at DL as a career! Lol, she says, "I don't care if I have to be a janitor, I'm working there!" And my oldest son's life ambition is to "live in the house next to DL so I can go there everyday".

So of course, now that we live way out in BFE (also known as Boise, Idaho), we feel so VERY far away from our beloved DL and DCA, and we miss them terribly . We watch Peter Pan and A Bug's Life just to hear the familiar music from the parks. We go to the Disney Store when we're feeling particularly homesick for the parks. The kids and I cluster around the computer monitor to "ride" DL and DCA rides on Youtube, lol! I appreciate everyone's photos so much, because when we look at them it feels like being home again. Not just the parks but the landscape and hills in the background that are so familiar to us. We are SO homesick. I have tons of pics of the kids at the parks, but I never did take any scenery pics. I definitely will next time I am there!

We are planning our next trip in September '08. Over 2 months away and we're already getting ready, lol. I'm spending the days working my butt off to earn extra money for the trip (I work as a freelance writer for money these days...). And in any spare moments, I'm drifting over here to these boards to read your wonderful reports!

I see that most people introduce their "cast", so I guess I should too. We are: ME35, DH40, ODD16, ODS10, YDD7, and YDS3.

I hope to "meet" lots of you here on this board who's reports I have been enjoying for the last several months. Thanks for reading!

 

[mommaU4]

YAY!! I'm first to post!! And to welcome you officially to the DIS as a non-lurker.


I know what you mean about being emotionally attached to the parks. I feel the same way. I grew up going there yearly as a kid with my family and cousins, then with friends from school, then with my boyfriend in high school (who later became my husband), and finally with each one of our kids.

It's not just an amusement park to me. It has a million memories attached to it that make it so much more then that. That's kind of hard to explain to some people. They just don't get it.

I also loved going at night with the kids. Our favorite thing to do was plan to go when it rained. We'd have the park almost to ourselves. It was great.

That's so cute about your kids! I see you've raised them right.

Anyway, that's wonderful you are going to be able to go back!! I can't wait to hear more about your plans.

Oh, and we do the same things when we are missing the parks. In between visits, we'll go to the Disney Store to get that Disney fix. And I love to watch Fantasmic on youtube.

 

[BecBennett]

So how far in the planning are you?

I would hate to live so close and then move away! What on earth do you do for hobbies now if you can't just duck over to DL??

Can't wait to read more of your report!

 

[Mugglemama]

Hi Mommau4 and Bec! I totally had just finished both of your trip reports yesterday when I finally decided to register so I could do one of my own. I really enjoyed both of your reports, and your great pics! Mommau4, I think it's really cool how you can get away to meet up at Disneyland with friends you've met here. And I can totally relate with being the kind of person to already be planning your next DL trip before the one you're on is even over, lol! Your children are beautiful (and your son such a good sport for wearing the Disney shirt you bought him - I recognized it in one of the pics). So good to hear somebody else can relate to being emotionally attached to the parks. Our families totally do not get it! I'm fortunate in that my DH feels the same way about DL that I do, but our parents and siblings think we're nuts.

Bec, sounds like you and Chris had a great time (see, the report is still so fresh in my mind I am remembering names here, lol)! Bec, I loved reading your report, especially all the lingo that I totally did not get, lol! Sorry you had so many health challenges while at DL! I felt terrible for you while reading your report, with all the sniffles and coughing and eye trouble! But it sounds like you still had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed your pics. I especially liked the one where Chris is in the sun wheel hanging on for dear life, because I only went on that ride once, on DCA's 1st anniversary, and we happened to get onto a moving car....and that's exactly what I did!! I hung on for dear life.

To answer your question, no hobby in the world could measure up to getting to go to DL several times per month, but I don't have time for hobbies anymore anyway. I have 4 children, and I homeschool the youngest 3, plus I work from home writing web articles when I'm not homeschooling. And then there's housework and the like, so I'm pretty busy. All of my free brain time is spent dreaming about DL, lol.

To answer your other question, about how far I am in the planning process...I've gotten my budget worked out (always the biggest hurdle), I decided on a hotel, I've purchased part of the new luggage we needed, I have my youngest son's outfits for the days at DL picked out and purchased, and I've started a vacation notebook to jot down things I don't want to forget to do while there, etc. Can you believe after more than 100 trips to DL with the kids, there are still things we have not done? For example, I saw your pic of the Tigger Tail from Pooh Corner, and thought, "I MUST get the kids one of those this time!", and I jotted in down in the notebook, lol.

I won't be making reservations and purchasing tix for a few more weeks. I went with getawaytoday.com for our trip last Summer, but so far I can book the tix and hotel myself for less this time around, so I'm going that route. There just isn't as much to do this time, in terms of preparation. We went for 5 days last time, we're going for 3 this time. That's because the last trip was in August and we thought we needed all the time to do everything, but with Ridemax, we got everything done many times over with no problems and very little waiting, so by the 5th day we only stayed for a couple of hours before heading home. This time we are going to DLR at the end of September, so we're not going to need Ridemax (which means I don't have to make the schedule or spend time reviewing it), and 3 days will be PLENTY of time to do all that we want, and then some.

E-gads! It's 10am, I have to start school with the kids! We're going from 10-12 daily during the Summer. Thanks for your posts and for reading mine!

 

[Mugglemama]

I know it's kind of lame, but one of my favorite things about planning a DLR trip is getting the kids' clothes picked out. My favorite thing to shop for is kids clothes though so I guess it makes sense, for me.

So far, I just have clothes picked out for my youngest. I took a photo of the outfits to use in my first attempt at adding a photo attachment to my post. Here goes nothing...

Okay, that didn't work. The photo must have a url? I have to store pics online in order to post them here?

 

[mommaU4]

I know it's kind of lame, but one of my favorite things about planning a DLR trip is getting the kids' clothes picked out. My favorite thing to shop for is kids clothes though so I guess it makes sense, for me.

So far, I just have clothes picked out for my youngest. I took a photo of the outfits to use in my first attempt at adding a photo attachment to my post. Here goes nothing...

Okay, that didn't work. The photo must have a url? I have to store pics online in order to post them here?

I love shopping for and planning the kids clothes too. It's so much more fun to shop for kids clothes. Well, for me anyway. LOL

Since you are newly registered, I know you have to have at least 10 posts before you can send a private messages and I think it might be the same before you can post pics.

For all my pics I usually just put them in a photobucket account and then I can edit them or resize them easily before posting.

 

[Mugglemama]

Thanks for the info! I guess I'll just have to wait to post photos. I was hoping to ask you a question...in your TR you said you stayed at Radisson in Buena Park, right? We are considering it, and I was curious as to when the breakfast is served? Do you happen to remember the times?

Our trip to the parks is occuring in late September, so the parks won't even be opening until 10am (e-gads that seems so late, doesn't it?). It would be great if the breakfast at Radisson still had a fair amount of warm food left by 7:30 or 8am. Some of the places we've stayed offer "breakfast", but it's usually just donuts and less-than-lovely produce and everything worth eating seems to be gone by 7am! Because of this, we typically still have to provide our own breakfast even when staying somewhere that offers it.

The hotel we stayed in last Summer (Comfort Inn) is nothing to write home about, but it had a kids bedroom with bunkbeds and closing door between their room and the main room, plus they had their own t.v. and drawers for clothing storage, and plenty of room to play in the kids room. But I'd be willing to give up the door between the two rooms to feed them easier in the mornings! (despite the hotels "breakfast" we were still just feeding them cereal and fruit that we had in the room because the complimentary breakfast was sparce and basically gone by the time we got to it, by 7am).

 

[mommaU4]

Thanks for the info! I guess I'll just have to wait to post photos. I was hoping to ask you a question...in your TR you said you stayed at Radisson in Buena Park, right? We are considering it, and I was curious as to when the breakfast is served? Do you happen to remember the times?

Our trip to the parks is occuring in late September, so the parks won't even be opening until 10am (e-gads that seems so late, doesn't it?). It would be great if the breakfast at Radisson still had a fair amount of warm food left by 7:30 or 8am. Some of the places we've stayed offer "breakfast", but it's usually just donuts and less-than-lovely produce and everything worth eating seems to be gone by 7am! Because of this, we typically still have to provide our own breakfast even when staying somewhere that offers it.

The hotel we stayed in last Summer (Comfort Inn) is nothing to write home about, but it had a kids bedroom with bunkbeds and closing door between their room and the main room, plus they had their own t.v. and drawers for clothing storage, and plenty of room to play in the kids room. But I'd be willing to give up the door between the two rooms to feed them easier in the mornings! (despite the hotels "breakfast" we were still just feeding them cereal and fruit that we had in the room because the complimentary breakfast was sparce and basically gone by the time we got to it, by 7am).

The breakfast is served from 6-9:30 Mon-Fri and 7-10:30 on Sat and Sun.
There is a small staff that works the buffet constantly replenishing it when it gets low. We would usually head down for breakfast around 8 or 8:30 and there was always lots of food left. The only problems we ever had were finding tables if it was crowded, but that only happened once. And we just ended up sitting outside which was still fine, just further from the food. LOL

The food isn't super spectacular, but it's decent and hot and for a family of six it's a big savings. Plus being fuller from breakfast meant we could snack for lunch in the park (which I love to do) and then just do a dinner.
The hotel was freeway close which is nice and an easy drive, but they also have a shuttle if needed. We've never used it though so I can't comment it.

Did you see the pics of the room? When you first walk in it's like a living area. That's where the table, sofa bed, wet bar, etc. are located as well as a tv. There is a door you can close between the two rooms if you needed to. And then the bedroom has it's own tv.

I'm not sure how you'd do the sleeping arrangements, but for our family, I had myself and DH in one of the beds in the bedroom, and my 8 year old twins in the other bed next to us. Then my older two, 11 and 13 shared the sofa sleeper. Usually at the end of a full Disney day, they all pretty much crashed and probably would have slept on a park bench if I let them!

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask. If I can answer them I will.

Oh, I almost forgot if you have AAA you'll get a much better rate using that.

 

[Mugglemama]

Thanks so much for the information Beth! That sounds like it would work perfect for us. My kids are so wiped out after a day at the parks that they'd sleep on a park bench too, lol. We always have to wake them up to take them from the car into the hotel at night. I will look into AAA. I'm not a member currently, but I know I was going to enroll last year until I realized getawaytoday.com was a better deal. Not so this year!

Today, I got my tentative plan for meals started. I like to be really organized about these DLR trips now that I have to plan from so far away. We have a couple favorite places that we go to (well, really just one), and I'm going to follow your lead and consider snacking through the park on one of the days. I think my kids would get a kick out of that because I'm always saying things like, "No, we'll get churros at El Pollo Loco later" (they're only 2 for $1 there). In all the times we have been to the parks, we have never even been to Bengal BBQ! It just never seems to make sense to spend $30 on chicken skewers, ya know? But by sharing offerings from different places throughout the day, we could try a ton of stuff and never go hungry.

Today I also added 2 more things to my list of "Things Not to Forget to Do While in the Parks"...which were, 1.Try Bengal BBQ, and 2.Get silhouette portraits done of the kids.

 

[mommaU4]

Today, I got my tentative plan for meals started. I like to be really organized about these DLR trips now that I have to plan from so far away. We have a couple favorite places that we go to (well, really just one), and I'm going to follow your lead and consider snacking through the park on one of the days. I think my kids would get a kick out of that because I'm always saying things like, "No, we'll get churros at El Pollo Loco later" (they're only 2 for $1 there). In all the times we have been to the parks, we have never even been to Bengal BBQ! It just never seems to make sense to spend $30 on chicken skewers, ya know? But by sharing offerings from different places throughout the day, we could try a ton of stuff and never go hungry.

Today I also added 2 more things to my list of "Things Not to Forget to Do While in the Parks"...which were, 1.Try Bengal BBQ, and 2.Get silhouette portraits done of the kids.

I loved doing the snacking! It was the first time we did that and we got to sample so many different things.

And we usually don't get those items because they can add up, but we did it in place of a sit down meal, so while it didn't save us money, I don't think it cost any more either.

The Bengal BBQ was good! I'm glad you're going to try it. And sharing worked out great for us. Ordering two skewers of the chicken for example allowed us to have a few bites each. Just enough to try it, but not so much that we got to full on one thing. Then we were able to try several different foods and desserts throughout the day.

The silhouette portraits sound like a nice idea too. That's one thing I haven't done yet.

 

[Mugglemama]

The silhouette portraits sound like a nice idea too. That's one thing I haven't done yet.

I'm not sure if it was on this forum, but I saw a photo of one that somebody'd had done. The thing I loved about it was that they had lined all the kids' silhouttes up to include in one frame. It looked really cool, and I thought it would be a great idea for our family, especially since our family trips to Disneyland will be changing soon. My oldest graduates from high school next June, and I'm planning a big trip to DLR to celebrate, but that might well be our last trip there together. She wants to work at DLR, but I imagine the family trips we've been doing to Disneyland will change a lot after the one in June. If we get to spend any time with her in the parks after that, it will probably have to be while she's working. I'd really love to get one of those silhouette portraits done of all of them together before then. I think it's only about $7 per kid too, so it seems really affordable.

 

[mommaU4]

Yeah, kids grow up too fast! But it's nice that they will be carrying over their love for Disney into adulthood. And you'll always have that to share.

Thanks for the info on the portraits! I will be looking into that.

 

[Mugglemama]

Did you happen to see the shop that offers the customizeable mickey ears while you were at DL this time?

 

[mommaU4]

Did you happen to see the shop that offers the customizeable mickey ears while you were at DL this time?

No, but I heard about it. That's the one in Toontown right? I forgot all about it since my kids don't like to wear hats and I personally am not a fan of the Toontown area. I try to go in and out of that area as quickly as possible. Usually too crowded for my taste. LOL

Are you planning to customize a hat?? That would be fun to at least try it and see what they offer.

 

[mommaU4]

Hey I just noticed you are at 10 posts now. You should be able to send PMs, post pics, etc. now.

And you need a fun ticker for your upcoming trip! LOL

 

[Mugglemama]

lol, yes i'd like a ticker. i tried the other night but ran out of time and gave up (i've been writing a lot lately for vacation money and had to get back to work).

i purposely tried to post 10 times because i needed to send becbennet a pm, but then i just posted the question to her TR. i wanted to ask her if i could use a couple of the pics she posted from the treat case at pooh corner for an article i wanted to get done tonight, but she hasn't answered yet (they'd be like 16 hours ahead there, right?). anyway, i write web articles and wanted to do one on the treats around disneyland (i have a ton of published articles that are disneyland related). the pics she had would be perfect for the article, but i have to have her permission to use them.

i think we will do the hats. we haven't taken a family portrait in 2 years (photography is my hobby so i do our family portraits), and this year i wanted to do one with all of us in the common area between DL and DCA wearing mickey ears. i just can't decide which park to have showing in the background. maybe DCA because they'll be taking down the golden gate bridge replica soon. the hats look fun. in fact i just submitted an article about them.