Life’s too short...to never sleep in a treehouse! 8/27 TR is up! Link in siggie

[eandesmom]

My responses in pink.
Yes, it was before we had Dylan and YES, it was uncomfortable. I guess they didn't want to put just 2 of us in the car. I think we all were a little traumatized by the end of the ride. We really do need to try it again.

You do, although if you take Dylan I'd probably vote for a stationary car for your first time!

Wow! That is a far distance to go for a camp, but it is a beautiful lake & it is a great place to go for houseboating. This year we had so much rain that the whole lake was full to capacity, which is a huge blessing since we have been in a drought. If you ever do a family trip, let me know!!! I would only have to drive about 15 minutes to meet you!

His youth group is HUGE and they rent buses, it's a whole thing! They love it.
That would be so fun to meet you there!

Ok, I have just read through all of your scenarios. My computer has been down for a few days, so I was behind. I have to say...after reading your first itenerary, I was a little concerned. Mainly all of the stuff that everyone else was saying about spending so much time transporting from place to place. The most recent update looks the best! I agree that Option 1 makes the most sense.

I'm pleased with it and even more pleased as I factor in some of the different show times...we will get to see the Main Street Electrical Parade after all!

I have to say that you are such a saint for trying to accommodate all of your group's wishes. You are basically planning for 4 different "generations" (kids, teens, parents, grandparents) and you are trying to be considerate of everyone's feelings. I think that all of the effort you have put in will pay off. And at the end of the day, if someone is unhappy then they should have been working their booty off on the schedule the way that you have.

Well there are plenty of my wishes, and executive decisions in there too lol! Not to mention some spur of the moment decisions like WL and 1900 for dinner. I finally looked at the 1900 menu last night and am REALLY excited about it. I am not a huge buffet person but it looks GOOOOOOOOD!

 

[eandesmom]

Still catching up...

I love Zappos. I'm thinking, even though I still have 63 days, that I need to start assessing our shoe situation now. I had the girls try on some Keens at Cabelas a while back and they really liked them. I however, did not like the idea of paying $100 for two pair of kid shoes. But on the other hand, they are going to need something supportive for all that walking.

Keens are pricey but they will hold up. I'm a little relieved that neither of the boys really wanted Keens and they've literally lived in the new ones since they came which makes me feel good about being broken in by the trip.

I love that! Is it hand made?

Well, it's not supposed to be, it's supposed to be an official Disney loop couture bag. I don't think it is. I think it's a fake and is handmade. It arrived and since I have 2 of the "real" thing, I can see the difference. It's cute but is missing 2 of the bells (I didn't realize it had bells, my mistake, Sandie would NOT want bells) but doesn't have the interior sewn in tag that the others do, no markings that it is "official" at all so I think it's a fake. Seller agreed to take it back, now I just have to mail it. Except the UPS click and ship site is fighting with me which is really annoying!

And we need to find her a different one which is being a bit problematic.

I'm still on the fence about shirts. Thinking maybe I'll try to do the Mickey head shaped tie dye.

TK makes a mean tie dye....just sayin'

Wow, you can specify that you want your bananas green, but turning?

yup!

What a cool website!

It is, however I didn't end up getting anything from it. I ended up ordering some other sunscreen and making a few small travel bottles for the carry on and park bags. After way too much research I decided we all need to get better stuff for the trip. Now I just have to figure out if I bought enough.

Phew! I just skimmed all four versions of the plan, and all the comments in between, and I have to say my head is spinning! Good thing you got plenty of helpful comments already because I don't think I can come up with anything!

I think we are in good shape. Right now I still have 5 extra ADR's.....which I really need to cancel but....haven't yet.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I'm so far behind again! Boo!

I'm not sure what to tell you about when to go to tea but definitely do what you think is best! That's the only way things really work out!

Your trip is getting so close you must be getting so excited!

 

[Happydog]

Well suddenly your plans seem much more fluid - like you had this already planned out! Seems a go. I would say if you are really wedded to the Tea, then I say what everyone else says -- meaning, go with the monorail.

Seems like you are making progress enough to put this down offically! What a relief!

 

[eandesmom]

I'm so far behind again! Boo!

I'm not sure what to tell you about when to go to tea but definitely do what you think is best! That's the only way things really work out!

Your trip is getting so close you must be getting so excited!

I am! I feel like I have so much to do still as we have some crazy weekends between now and then but that's good as it will go fast!!!!!!!

Well suddenly your plans seem much more fluid - like you had this already planned out! Seems a go. I would say if you are really wedded to the Tea, then I say what everyone else says -- meaning, go with the monorail.

Seems like you are making progress enough to put this down offically! What a relief!

HUGE relief. Not confident enough to cancel all the extra ADR's quite yet but I have pared it down considerably. Only 5 extras. I'll let them go soon but need to sleep on things for a few more days.

There are some drawbacks to the plan.

We will be at "worst" parks twice and one of those days is a crowd level of NINE! So, it will be interesting to see how that goes.

On the positive side, it does flow and has a lot of down time. AND we can see the Electric Parade at least once! The AM only for Epcot and PM only for Epcot has some drawbacks but overall it flows so much better with our adr's and the resorts it's the better choice I think.


I am medium wedded to the tea. Sandie is married, VERY married to it I hope it doesn't disappoint.

I am putting it down officially, I've been putting it all into tripit today! I trip it. I've been putting in show times and such, which is tweaking things a little but not too badly.



I will still do my binder but having it all on my phone on an app is

Now i just need to get my DCA TR done before we leave! Hoping for an update on that tomorrow.

 

[Happydog]

Now i just need to get my DCA TR done before we leave! Hoping for an update on that tomorrow.

YES!!! Please do! I have to start mine!!!! I have been on the website for Disneyland so it is keeping me busy as well!

 

[eandesmom]

YES!!! Please do! I have to start mine!!!! I have been on the website for Disneyland so it is keeping me busy as well!

Coming up next!

 

[englishrose47]

Cynthia I am confused !!!Mainly as to why poor Evan has to pay OOP !!!I usually only do one day at AK but have gone back just to see Nemo as on my day the time didn't work out !!

I find MK is the best park to NOT have to be there for Rope drop as I don't do roller coasters and can get FP for some others I like such as Pooh, Snow White etc !!

DHS needs an a.m day at least once if you want to do TSM!! I usually do 2 a.m session there if posssible , Epcot on the other hand is great for later arrivals other than soarin'

In October I have planned an am visit to each park and also pm visits to 3 of them !!!AK will be 1 day!!

When I go with family they don't do Hopping So each park gets a coup[le of full days at least weven if they are split with Resort time !!

Have I been any help at all !!!

 

[eandesmom]

Having had some good Pooh we wandered out.

We didn’t really have a plan though lunch was on our radar and nothing in the Backlot area was calling our name, so just sort of strolled, heading back towards the other side of the park where most of the rides we still wanted to go on are located as well as a lot of the food offerings.

It wasn’t all that warm, we looked at the Grizzly river run but we weren’t really quite feeling it. Sadly, the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail was being worked on so we couldn’t check it out, it looked right up our alley. Boo hoo!

I was already bumming that there was no Aladdin scheduled. So instead we decided to see what else might be coming in the future for California Adventure and wandered into Blue Sky Cellars.

Walt Disney Imagineering Blue Sky Cellar
This exhibit is a preview center for attractions coming to the park in the near future, including The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Adventure dark ride, the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color water show, and the Cars Land themed area.

It’s set up to look like a winery in Napa, just adorable. Right behind it is the Golden Vine Winery and the Wine Country Trattoria (which was closed for remodeling) and it definitely had that wine country feel to it.

A pretty little walk around the back of the building gives you an introduction.

I love that bottom line.

There art no rules
Heading in, it’s pretty neat, like a mini museum of what’s coming, with concept art, models and some back story.

A lot of cool stuff about World of Color. The Alice segments looked cool. And I'll admit, bummed us out a little (again) that we were THIS CLOSE to it opening.

The winery theme continued inside, with a wall of casks that I got a kick out of

I love the location and concept art for carsland, it's really going to tie the parts of the park together I think. All in all, it's very walkable park, we were all over the place multiple times and it was fine but linking the backlot to Paradise Pier via the new carsland will be wonderful. As it is, TOT is kind of a dead end and really far from everything else, I'm excited about how it will layout, once finished.

By now it was 1:06 and that krispy crème donut, I mean scone, had worn off long ago.

Food was in order. But where?

Jeff really wanted to hit the Pacific Wharf Café. He loves nothing more than good chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. And it sounded good to me too, plus I was sure there would be other sourdough related items that would work for me. However, the line was ridiculous! Like out the door ridiculous.

My original plan had been for taste pilots grill but no one was interested, which was fine with me.

Instead, Jeff opted for some take out from the Lucky Fortune Cookery and the kids and I hit the Bountiful Farmers Market.

Not a great picture!

A view of the “wharf” kind of area a lot of the food was centered around

There was actually a wine soap kiosk right nearby, not a smell that would make me feel clean!

There was also a tortilla making factory/tour. We wanted to check it out but somehow never made it back.

The E’s opted for these puppies

Yes, that’s a GIANT corn dog.

I went for a Chicken Salad wrap

I know it looks small but it was quite good. I opted for a regular menu item not, whatever the featured food and wine menu item was as this sounded much better.

Jeff’s takeout.

No idea what it was but he seemed happy enough.

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

I was loving the flowers in the area

Bellies full, what would we do next?

Would we go Mad? Or Scream?

Mad seemed the way to go. Mulholland Madness that is. Strolling out of the wharf around the backside of Paradise Pier, this ride called out to the E’s.

Not the best pics, it was an awkward angle! It's a "wild mouse" roller coaster.

They loved it so much they went on it three times in a row! Jeff and I went the first time and then sat out.

It was good practice.

We were gearing up Eric to go to…

CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN’

He’d been psyching himself up, and down, all day for this ride. Evan too. It was time to do it. With literally no line he didn’t have time to freak out too much, and as a result I have no pictures. There were some tense moments, a couple of times where I thought we might have to ditch.

Since I’m short on snaps, I thought I’d share this.

Start screaming as your tear through the air on this totally tubular thrill ride! It might look like a turn-of-the-century coaster, but this state-of-the-art steel superstructure is ready to rock you in the 21st century.

The Launch
Buckle up in a coaster car with up to 3 other passengers and enjoy an easy jaunt to the launch site. It's the last quiet moment you have before you hear:

"Launch in five, four, three, two, ONE!"
​

The Ride
Blast up the steep incline to an altitude of almost 120 feet, then plunge downward at about 55 miles per hour! Catapult past the waves splashing against the rock jetty of Paradise Bay before you swoop, swirl, dip and curl. Shoot into the sky blue "scream tube" and then twist and turn until you reach a brief lull at the peak. Catch your breath for half a second before diving into the loop-de-loop that winds 360 degrees around the blazing sunburst...

Do you dare ride the longest and fastest roller coaster at the Disneyland Resort?

The Construction
Reminiscent of the coasters built before the 1930s, California Screamin' rips around Paradise Pier on steel tracks that cover a distance of almost 1-1/8 miles. Thousands of steel towers, struts and beams comprise the gleaming white structure that coils around other attractions on the Pier.

​

What did Eric think?

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

We turned around and promptly went on it again.

And again.

My redneck photos for you

I have to say, and we are ALL in agreement on this.

Our favorite roller coaster of any park. Period. Anywhere. Disney or otherwise. Numero Uno.

There is just something about it that is the perfect meld of old style wooden clackety coaster like Ghost Rider at Knotts, the fast launch of a RRC or Hulk, great loops and rolls and ups and down, SPEED, suspense as it has that lull at the top before you go screamin' down, and yet it feels like a nice long ride, like you are getting your money’s worth.

Up next....Monsters and......

RAIN?

but first. THREE weeks from today....

 

[englishrose47]

Cynthia not 5 minutes before you posted on Disneyland Samantha was telling me about The World of Color and how cool it looked !!! I have to get Wendy & Derek to post some pix now it's opened !!!

Awesome update annnnnd Disneyland is a location on my Free Trips !!!!

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia not 5 minutes before you posted on Disneyland Samantha was telling me about The World of Color and how cool it looked !!! I have to get Wendy & Derek to post some pix now it's opened !!!

Awesome update annnnnd Disneyland is a location on my Free Trips !!!!

It does look incredible. So bummed. We will be back to see it for sure, question is if we wait till carsland opens, or not.

Lucky you, you escort you!

 

[Flossbolna]

I chickened out at California Screamin' I did not go on it... My DCA trip was before I figured out that I can actually do any roller coaster. At least once. There was a wooden coaster last summer which I am not so sure about I ever want to go on again... But loops - they are just great!

 

[glennbo123]

I'm with Jeff -- Nothing better than some chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed California Screamin'!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Since we went the week before you, it's funny seeing your pictures & comparing them to mine. I have some very similar pictures of those same flowers. They were beautiful! Only, I found them at night & I couldn't get the best lighting.

We went to Blue Sky on our trip a few weeks ago. All of the World of Color stuff was gone, since it was available to watch. They had a lot of stuff on the new Little Mermaid ride. As for World of Color, we saw it. I was so excited and I have to say that I was disappointed. TOTALLY due to our location that we had to view it from. Don't bother seeing it from the back of the park. You can't see any of the projections on the water AT ALL. I want to go back & see it again (from the front), but don't know when that will be......

We love the clam chowder bread bowls at the wharf. There is always a major line at that place, but we always stand in it because the food is so good. Usually it only takes 10 minutes or so to get through. They are pretty good about pumping the people through there.

Screamin' is amazing! I love that ride. I'm so glad that Eric liked it because it is a great coaster. You are lucky that you got to do it a couple of times in a row. How fun! Reading your update made me think of the music on the ride, & now I have the song stuck in my head.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

The blue sky cellar was once the theater for th seasons of the vine which was a film about making wine in the Napa Vally, that is why it is themed to a wine cellar.

 

[All7OfUs]

The last time I went on a coaster like that I got off thinking I was going to barf. Not from being queasy, but from sheer fright!! They might grow on me, but I'm not eager to try again too soon.

I was pretty sad when they stopped doing the clam chowder in bread bowls at CHH. I was really looking forward to that!

Ah well! LOVE the theming at the Wine Cellar! THat's classic Disney!

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

did you notice what kind of things cars land will have, or was it just general buildings and such.

i wonder if they will bring it to MGM seems there is a good amount of dead space there they could add it in.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Keens are pricey but they will hold up. I'm a little relieved that neither of the boys really wanted Keens and they've literally lived in the new ones since they came which makes me feel good about being broken in by the trip.

They tried them on again at REI yesterday, so I could make note of their sizes. If i get them, I'll probably go the Zappos route. I went there because I wanted to try some Chacos. My Teva sandals are still in good shape, but they just don't give enough support in the arch for my foot problem (Morton's neuroma). The Chacos were pretty cool, but the straps were really confusing. I'm still debating.

Well, it's not supposed to be, it's supposed to be an official Disney loop couture bag. I don't think it is. I think it's a fake and is handmade. It arrived and since I have 2 of the "real" thing, I can see the difference. It's cute but is missing 2 of the bells (I didn't realize it had bells, my mistake, Sandie would NOT want bells) but doesn't have the interior sewn in tag that the others do, no markings that it is "official" at all so I think it's a fake. Seller agreed to take it back, now I just have to mail it. Except the UPS click and ship site is fighting with me which is really annoying!

Oh, that's frustrating! So, do they sell those at Tren-D?

Having had some good Pooh we wandered out.

There was also a tortilla making factory/tour. We wanted to check it out but somehow never made it back.

I remember doing this in 08. It was actually pretty cool - and they give out fresh, hot tortillas - yum!

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia I am confused !!!Mainly as to why poor Evan has to pay OOP !!!I usually only do one day at AK but have gone back just to see Nemo as on my day the time didn't work out

Well Evan won't be paying OOP, we will be paying OOP for Evan!

For part of the trip. Because we have 2 rooms at the YC we've put 5 on our room and then Evan will get "addeed" to Paul and Sandie's room at check in. I can't add him ahead of time or he'd have to have the same package they do, which includes full park tickets. He'll already have his park tickets from the WL part of the trip. So he won't be on the DDP. Which works out well as he would be charged as an adult but won't eat $47 a day worth of food.

I find MK is the best park to NOT have to be there for Rope drop as I don't do roller coasters and can get FP for some others I like such as Pooh, Snow White etc !!

DHS needs an a.m day at least once if you want to do TSM!! I usually do 2 a.m session there if posssible , Epcot on the other hand is great for later arrivals other than soarin'

In October I have planned an am visit to each park and also pm visits to 3 of them !!!AK will be 1 day!!

When I go with family they don't do Hopping So each park gets a coup[le of full days at least weven if they are split with Resort time !!

Have I been any help at all !!!

Great input Rosie!

I would like to see the MK Rope drop show once but the bigger concern is our AM day there, is a crowd level of 9 with MK beigna worst park to be at! But..it is how it works best in the touring plan so....really going to try for the EMH 8am. We'll be halfway through our trip so I think that's doable.

I have DHS in twice, half days each but both in the AM and both pretty long. So no DHS at Night and no Epcot in the morning...as it stands today. My only worry on Epcot is missing some of the WS performances and of course, Soarin'. But we will make evening EMH at Epcot so I think we will be ok on the Soarin' part.