March 2018 Disneyland PTR

[VandVsmama]

so it now looks like the line up looks like this for Friday:
RSR
Luigi's
Mater's
Monsters, Inc
Little Mermaid
Soarin'
Animation Academy
do a meet & greet - probably Anna & Elsa
Tom Sawyer's Island
Columbia Sailing Ship
Star Tours
IJ
Jungle Cruise
Fantasmic! w/dinner package
fireworks
BTMRR
Pirates
train
monorail
IJ a 2nd time (DH & I)
Pirates again (DH & I)
Snow White (DH & I)
Pinocchio (DH & I)
Mr Toad (DH & I)
Storybook Land Canal Boats (last ride of the night before they close)

a total of 24!

for Saturday:
Matterhorn
Alice
Mad Tea Party
Mr Toad
Pinocchio
Snow White
Buzz
Autopia
BTMRR
Mickey meet & greet
Roger Rabbit
IJ
Pirates
HM
Space Mtn
Star Tours
carousel
Jungle Cruise
HM again
train
monorail

21 attractions!

Yeah, we'll be tired. My family can sleep in the car on the drive home on Sunday. Buckle up, kids, and be prepared to do all of your homework on the drive out there on Thursday!

 

[Jaina]

It looks like you're getting some good planning in! I have never tried RideMax. I feel like there are so many variables that go into wait times. How can it be as accurate as it seems?? I'm very interested to see how close you come as you try to implement everything. (However, we want to do WDW in a few years, just DH and I, and I feel like I might want to use it for something like that, where I don't have a "feel" for how the waits work. I got that same purple shirt in blue at the Mills Outlet. (I'm in Mesa) I'm saving it for a future trip though, because as a mom of 5 small ones, my clothes often inexplicably get stains or holes that I have no idea how they happened! I'm so jealous of the Disneyland Hotel!! I need a rich(er than me) sister that wants me to plan a trip to Disney for her, too! ;-) And Disneyland is one of the very few reasons I will take the kids out of school. No Mom guilt for a missing a day or two. I actually just took the 3 oldest out for two days for a quick Universal trip (they'd never been, and earned that trip by not eating sugar for 7 months!) I did have some guilt, but would absolutely do it again.

 

[VandVsmama]

I got YDD's Mickey shirt from the outlet at the AZ Mills mall! It's a small world after all!

 

[VandVsmama]

So....breakfasts. What to do about breakfast on Fri & Sat mornings?

Don't want a sit down breakfast.
Thought of getting DH a breakfast burrito from Tortilla Jo's Taqueria to bring with us, but they don't open until 8 am.
Thought of getting a couple of muffins & coffee in the CS coffee place downstairs in the DLH. That would do for DH, DSis, and I.

I may just bite the bullet and do room service breakfast both days. Or 1 day for sure. But I'd need room service to deliver it at 6 am. I wonder if you can place your order the night before? I may have to call the DLH to ask about that.

YDD will probably be fine with eating strawberries & bananas, so I'll bring some with us and store it in the mini fridge in the hotel room, along with some containers of chocolate milk and/or juice. ODD isn't such a picky eater as YDD is but I can scrounge something up for her no problem.

I can't forget to bring some snacks into the parks with us. YDD's taste buds have changed a bit lately, so her old stand bys like gold fish crackers she doesn't like very much at the moment.

I also thought of doing that whole DTD Starbucks order ahead & pick up thing for DH & DSis, but meh...I don't know!

 

[VandVsmama]

I found our pin lanyards! Thought that ODD's was lost in a box but I thankfully found it this afternoon.

The more I think about it, the more likely I think it will be that we don't have the kids go to school at all on departure day. For any of the kids' homework that requires Internet access, I'll have them do it at home on Wednesday evening so we can get that out of the way and then they can do the rest of their homework in the car on our drive out to Anaheim.

I am anticipating much crying and nashing of teeth over this from the kids. Deal with it, kiddos! Mama can always turn the car around and we can go back home!

 

[VandVsmama]

My "Connecting with Walt" podcast tshirt arrived yesterday! I think it looks great! And it fits well, too. I really love this podcast and it's been great since Craig & Michael with the DIS switched it to once a week! The tail end of each week is Disney trivia. That's been really fun to listen to.


And here are our pin lanyards. On our last vacation to DL, DH got a bigger lanyard and as you can tell, he's a big Star Wars dude. I usually buy 1 new pin per trip as a way to commemorate something fun on that trip. And since I have red hair, there are couple of pins that kind of go along with that! ODD & YDD are going to do pin trading with CMs on this next trip. They have Club 33 lanyards because we got to have lunch at Club 33 on our last DL vacation. IT WAS AMAZING! But they were out of Club 33 pins at the time...so the kids got Club 33 lanyards, DH got a Club 33 hat, and I bought a cool Club 33 decorative key.



Here is DH's Club 33 hat, which is now a part of his official DH vacation wardrobe.


And here's what the back side of the hat looks like....


Our Club 33 visit was amazing. Truly a once in a lifetime experience. I don't think we'll ever get an opportunity to do that ever again. It was THE best meal we've ever eaten anywhere. Everything there is made from scratch...even the condiments. Even YDD, who is one of THE pickiest eaters, thought her meal was SO good. I'd love to go again, but we will relish in the wonderful memories that we have of that special day!

 

[VandVsmama]

YDD's R2D2 t-shirt just arrived today from the Disney Store! She's going to love it. It's in her favorite color and R2D2 is covered in glitter. Got this one in a big sale they had online recently.


** Edited to add **
OMG, YOU GUYS! THERE'S A GLITTERY R2D2 ON THE BACK OF THE T-SHIRT, TOO! I wish this wasn't only a kids' shirt because I WANT ONE, TOO!

 

[RedHotMama]

Great planning! I think you're going to win your sister over.
I wouldn't feel bad at all about taking the kids out of school. But I have always felt that family time and the things you learn on trips is so much more important than whatever they would have learned sitting in a classroom that day. I was the mom who would get in trouble with the office for taking my kids on trips so much. Neither of them were ever behind in their subjects and they were so little at the time. Finally, I gave in and we became a homeschooling family so the trips are officially part of the kids' education. Lol.
I love the shirts you've found! Have you told your sister that you'll all be wearing Disney? Will she wasn't to prepare so she can join you in that?

 

[VandVsmama]

Great planning! I think you're going to win your sister over.
I wouldn't feel bad at all about taking the kids out of school. But I have always felt that family time and the things you learn on trips is so much more important than whatever they would have learned sitting in a classroom that day. I was the mom who would get in trouble with the office for taking my kids on trips so much. Neither of them were ever behind in their subjects and they were so little at the time. Finally, I gave in and we became a homeschooling family so the trips are officially part of the kids' education. Lol.
I love the shirts you've found! Have you told your sister that you'll all be wearing Disney? Will she wasn't to prepare so she can join you in that?

It's going to be the end of the grading period for the 2 days of school that the kids will be missing, so ODD will definitely have to make up some tests and quizzes earlier in the week at school. I don't expect too much homework since it's the end of the grading period, but you never know. I've already given a couple of the teachers a heads up and they've been great and very accommodating. I already know what ODD's math homework is likely to be, so she'll be able to do a lot of that before we even leave for the trip.

I highly doubt that my sister will wear any Disney gear! She's not a Disney fan like the kids and I are. DH usually wears Star Wars and Marvel t-shirts when we go. He will deny it, but he's a closet Disney fan.

 

[VandVsmama]

I'll be honest with you guys...I've read through the Food & Wine Festival menus and most of the the food options don't really sound appealing to me at all. But my sister is a total foodie and she's excited about this and it means that we get to experience Disneyland WITH her, so I'm all in! I don't think I'll be eating much of the Food & Wine food, though.

So just for fun, here's my thoughts on the menus so far:

the Strawberry Patch booth:

• Strawberry & Coconut Rice "Frushi" with sweet Oikos Green Nonfat Yogurt wasabi sauce - can't STAND Oikos yogurt! And with wasabi sauce? No thanks.
• Watsonville Strawberry Pie - not a pie fan, so I'm going to skip this
• Strawberry Frose - meh
• Strawberry Pineapple Flight with Strawberry Popping Pearls - this is a maybe

the avocado booth:

• Avocado & Pepper Jack Petite Guac Burger - DH will love this. I can't stand pepper jack cheese.
• Spiced Oumph! on a Pita with avocado hummus and garlic sauce - I like hummus but with avocado? Nope
• Avocado Ice Cream Bar - no way. I can hardly stand any avocado in anything!
• Kickback Michelada with flavors of pineapple and lime - I would definitely try this.

vegetable booth:

• Grilled Asparagus Caeser Salad - hate asparagus, so I'll pass!
• Compressed Asian Cucumbers with green-green sauce, toasted almonds, and sea beans - what exactly is a compressed cucumber?
• Beet Komucha Sangria - ick! No.
• Health-Ade Beet Kombucha with Wild Berry FOMZ - DH will dig this!

the lemon booth:

• Citrus-brined Pork Roast with tangy barbecue sauce and lemon pepper slaw - I'm definitely going to try this
• Crispy Orange Chicken & Rice with garlic cracker - maybe
• Meyer Lemon Macaron - yep, I'll try that!
• Meyer Lemon Ginger Mule - I don't like ginger in drinks so pass.

the artichoke booth:
I'm skipping this whole entire thing. I think that artichokes are horrible!

garlic booth:

• Creamy Mac & Cheese with garlic bread crumble - nope. hate mac & cheese!
• Black Garlic Soy-braised Pork Belly Banh Mi - LOVE banh mi sandwiches, so I'm definitely trying this!
• Bloody Mary with Garlic-stuffed Olive - can't stand bloody mary's, so I'll pass!

corn booth:

• Sweet Corn Nuggets with beef chili - yep, definitely doing this one!
• Shrimp Boil Tacos with andouille sausage and fresh corn - might try this
• Caramel Popcorn Crispy Treat - nope.
• Popcorn Lemonade Cocktail - this sounds weird. I'll pass
• Popcorn Lemonard with Whippped Cream and Candy Corn Garnish - nope!

Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo:

• Grilled Harris Ranch Beef Tenderloin Slider with chimichurri sauce - yes, sign me up!
• Salt & Beer Vinegar Parmesan Chicken Wings - definitely
• Oikos Greek Nonfat Yogurt Panna Cotta with red raspberry compote - gross. No!
• Orange-Vanilla Cream Float with whipped cream - creamsicle flavors?

pepper booth:

• Jalapeño Popper Mac & Cheese with bacon - more mac & cheese? No thanks. DH will eat it though!
• Verlasso Sustainable Salmon Peruvian Poke with cucumber-lime salad and aji verde salsa - sushi flavors with Tex/Mex flavors? No
• Lime Margarita with Jalapeño Garnish - the margarita sounds nice, but I'll pass on the jalapeno garnish
• Watermelon Lemonade, with optional Habanero Sugar & Chili-lime Half-rim - this sounds good without the peppery sugar

LAstyle:

• Korean BBQ Beef Short Rib Tacos - I am totally getting this!
• Chicken Teriyaki Slider with Spicy Dole Pineapple Jam - meh
• Mexican Chocolate Custard - I'll try it but I don't usually care much for custard. It's a texture thing.
• Mango Agua Fresca - yes!

Nuts About Cheese:
I hate fancy cheeses, even more so when you put nuts & fruit with it. So I'm not eating any of this, but my sister loves this stuff so I think we'll be visiting this booth a couple of times!

• Brie Toast with Fig, Mint and Almond Crumble
• Goat Cheese Fromage Blanc Tartine with Rosemary and Hazelnuts
• Selection of 3 California Cheeses - Point Reyes Blue, Vella Jack and Piscalini Cheddar

California Craft Brews :

• White Cheddar Lager Soup in a mini Boudin's sourdough boule - In addition to hating fancy cheeses, I hate cheese soup even more! But I'll take a fruity flavored beer any day!

 

[RedHotMama]

Creamy Mac & Cheese with garlic bread crumble - nope. hate mac & cheese!

You don't like mac 'n' cheese!?!?
Your pre-previews of the food booths are hilarious.

 

[StarlitNight05]

You don't like mac 'n' cheese!?!?

That was my reaction too! Mac and cheese is one of my go to comfort foods!

But I can sympathize, I'm a very picky eater. Certain textures really yuck me out (e.g., mushrooms are evil).

 

[VandVsmama]

Generally speaking I'm not a picky eater. I'll eat all sorts of stuff. But I usually don't like the sorts of fusion kind of food where you'd combine sushi with Mexican food. I hate avocado because it's a texture thing. Makes me gag! And I'm kind over the beet juice craze. DH & I went on a juicing kick for awhile and if I don't have to drink beet juice for a couple of years, I'll be a happy camper. And I grew up within driving distance of Watsonville, CA, so we had artichokes all the time and my parents would drive over there on weekends to get them from roadside stands. The smell of those things cooking turns my stomach. I don't care how much butter you dip that stuff in, it still makes me want to .

And you guys will think this sounds weird, but I really can't stand wine and I hate most beers. If I drink alcohol, I want it to be a fruity drink with an umbrella. The sort of kind where you can't tell it has alcohol in it. I know, I know...what's the point then, right?

YDD woke up this morning not feeling well. As long as everybody is healthy & well for our trip, that would be really great!

 

[VandVsmama]

Talked to my sister today. She said that on Fri evening once Fantasmic is done, she will be super tired so she’s going to have to go straight back to the room and to bed.

The kids want to repeat what we did 3 yr ago when we went on Pirates 3 times in a row late in the evening on one of our park days. Ok so it looks like there won’t be a date night. But that’s ok! I can handle Pirates 3 times in one day!

 

[VandVsmama]

So what's the weather going to be in 2.5 weeks when we arrive in Anaheim? This is what the month looks like according to Weather.com...High's in the low 70s with low's around 50. I can live with that! We've only been to Disneyland before in late May/early June and October and it's always been warmer than that on prior trips. So I think that the kids & I will probably be comfortable with sweatshirts on most of the day. DH is much more warm blooded than we are, so once it hits 65 degrees, he'll probably be ready for short sleeves.

I'm going to keep an eye on the weather in case any rain forecasts show up!

 

[VandVsmama]

What do I bring into the parks each day?

This has changed a lot since the kids were younger. I used to bring a change of clothes for each child, a ton of food, etc., etc. Now the kids share a small backpack for their essentials. I think we're going to skip autograph books this trip, so their backpack will hold:

• 1 water bottle per kid
• 1 Dollar Store poncho per kid (in case they decide that we absolutely have to ride GRR)
• hand sanitizer
• their spending money
• 2 plastic baggies - 1 per kid when their pin lanyards get heavy and they don't want to wear them anymore

In my park bag, I'm bringing:

• wallet
• everybody's park tickets - I am the keeper of the keys to the kingdom in our family! Can't forget to take a pic of each park ticket on the first day. That saved our rear ends on our last trip when DH lost his ticket!
• small container of sun screen - because yes, even in March, you can get sunburned if you're outside all day!
• a water bottle for DH & I to share
• pin lanyard - to trade a pin with a CM
• 1 larger ziplock bag - to put cell phones, wallets, park tickets into if we go on a water ride.
• cell phone
• cell phone charger + power cord
• sunglasses
• a pen
• no hand sanitizer - because the last time I did that, it leaked all over my cell phone!

I used to pack band aids, a small first aid kit, and a ton of other stuff but on our last Disneyland trip last summer, I pared that down a lot. After several hours in the parks, the extra weight in my park bag became a huge pain in neck. And we don't have a fancy or expensive camera. We just use the cameras built into our phones, so we don't have to hassle with extra camera gear.

What's going into our luggage?
For the kids, it will be:

• their teddy bears
• 3 pr pants/shorts (probably leggings or capri pants) - for Fri, Sat, Sun
• 3 t-shirts
• 3 pr of underwear
• 3 pr of socks
• something to wear to bed
• plus 1 extra outfit 'just in case' of disasters
• toothbrush
• toothpaste
• hairbrush
• their tablets & power cords
• bathing suits & goggles
• ODD's Minnie Mouse ears
• school work to do in the car

What's going into my luggage?
More than that!

• small container of Body Glide - because YDD, for some reason, tends to get irritable chafing between her legs when we are at Disneyland all day.
• toothbrush, toothpaste
• my contact lenses
• medications & vitamins
• 3 pr pants
• 3 tops - 1 of which will be my new "Connecting with Walt" podcast t-shirt!
• sneakers - I'll wear my flip flops out there
• 2 pr of socks
• undies & other stuff like that
• my Star Wars pajama bottoms + the Nightmare Before Xmas tshirt that I use as a PJ top
• hair gel & a comb
• makeup
• Body Glide for YDD
• travel size shampoo
• travel size spray on Lysol - to disinfect stuff like the hotel room phone and TV remote control and other similar stuff
• my Tilley hat - I love love love this hat. It has a huge 4" brim and doesn't look dorky on me when I wear it.

I am purposely leaving my work laptop at home. I don't even want work stuff to invade this trip!

 

[VandVsmama]

What's in DH's luggage?

• toothbrush
• 3 pr pants/shorts
• 3 t-shirts
• 3 pr of socks & undies
• deoderant
• hair gel
• razor

Then there's all of his tech gear, which he will lug with him...

• work laptop & power cord
• work ipad & power cord
• cell phone & power cord

 

[mnmrmustard]

Well that was a LOT of itinerary options! RideMax sounds interesting and looks to really maximize those days. Just don't make your sis spend the entire day jogging around the parks on day 1, she'll think she's running a marathon!

As far as the travel options, I'd go with option 1 simply because option 2 would make you hit more traffic.

Great Disney swag you have come up with for wearing in the parks and very cool lanyards - good luck with the pin trading!

Good mild weather too - score!

 

[VandVsmama]

I just cancelled our River Belle Terrace Fantasmic! dinner package for Fri 3/23. But whyyyyy? Why, when we've never seen Fantasmic ?!

Because....

THIS JUNE WE ARE GOING TO WDW FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!


DH is attending a work conference for a week. He just found out 3 days ago. And since ~ $1800 of WDW travel expenses will basically be paid for by DH's employer as a part of this work trip, that's going to save us a heck of a lot of $$, thus making a trip to WDW much more affordable than it ever would have been. Just last night, we booked air and hotel.

So yeah, I'm going to sacrifice the dinner package. We'll eat counter service in the parks. And my sister will be able to go to bed earlier than she would have been able to if we'd done Fantasmic! together. And...while Fantasmic! is playing and fireworks are going off, we are going to ride Pirates of the Caribbean 3 or 4 times in a row.

 

[RedHotMama]

Exciting!!! Congratulations!