MAY Countdown!! This is it, folks

thanks! I added the walk to the May Information Post.


Oooh so envious! :yay: The Grand was also our first hotel in our 1st family trip, we loved it so much! :cloud9:. Welcome aboard!

Thanks. This stay started out as a side trip after a family wedding in San Jose. We figured if we're gonna spend that much on a flight from New Orleans we might as well stay for a bit. Morphed into us buying into the DVC after years of thinking about it. So in the end it's cost us quite a bit. But I have a feeling it's going to be worth every penny. We usually go to WDW every 1.5 to 2 years so we're looking forward to the "new" parks at DLR.
 
Thanks for adding all the info Soaringirl! That will be so helpful- I will be sure to let you know if I hear of anything! I keep hearing talk of Carsland opening in May- I wonder if it will end up opening by the beginning? Part of me thinks that would be awesome, but the other part thinks- ugh the crowds will be awful I can imagine then...

From what I've been reading, it won't happen in May. Here's a link that Hidroguy posted where it's rumored that Carsland will open in June:
New Al Lutz: CL and BVS to Open in June, LMAUA Updates, Mad T Party.
So don't worry about the crowds! We'll have the parks to ourselves! :lmao:

We will be going May 5th to 12th and staying at the Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate. I can't wait!!!! :banana::banana::banana:
Welcome!! I just added your dates to the list :wizard:
 
Hi everyone!! FIRST poster here!! My name is Melissa and I have been stalking these boards for a few years now. We went to D-land for 5 days (a first for my family, but a joyful return for me!) in April of last year. The tips and pointers I read about on here while planning our trip deemed priceless! Thanks so much to everyone on here, we had a fantastic time! Now I have FINALLY convinced my husband on another trip for May, tentatively the 7th-12th. We are trying to decide which hotel to stay at and I have been reading about the Hojo rate through entertainment book on here. I saw that I can buy an orange county entertainment book for like $20 on ebay, BUT what I guess I need to know is, does hojo sell out of the special rate? Will they turn you away for the deal if they've sold as many as they want to already? Also how do you book it? Do you have to use the card number inside when you call or do you just tell them you have an entertainment book and show the card later? I read that the rate is something like $56. Is that right? Thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to lend a hand! :) So excited for this trip!!
 
We'll be joining the May crowd!! We are going to be in California from 5/16 through 5/23. The original intent was to do stuff down near San Diego, but when I realized we'd be near DL, we decided to spend a few night in Anaheim. Plan is to arrive on the 16th and just hang out at the pool area at the HoJo. The 17th will be at DL (bummer about the grad party), and then we'll do a character breakfast on the 18th before heading south. The boys are only 2 and 3 so we're trying to take it a bit on the easy side.

Any recs on the character breakfast? The are in to Mickey, Donald, Goofy, but not the princesses. So I'd like old school, traditional Disney. They know Lion King but that's about it other than the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse crew.
 

Hi there! This thread is growing and growing - so exciting to have others to plan with! I can't wait!
honeybee - here's a link to some info about hojo's entertainment rate:
http://www.boards.hojoanaheim.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14
Here you'll find rates, dates and the number to call. You don't need your enter. card to book - only at check-in, so if I were you, I would make reservations now - they do sell out!
rizzo - We've done all the character meals and love them. I would recommend Mickey's Surf's Up breakfast for you - food is great, character interaction is incredible. When we went, we were greeted by Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Stitch. They get your kids to dance with them and "surf" on little surfboard rugs. Even my then-13-month-old was dancing. I bet your boys would love it!
Hi to everyone else - wow, the days are flying by! Not too much longer!!!!
:yay::yay::yay:
 
annadette - is the food equal at all of them? i had it narrowed down to goofy's kitchen or mickey's surf.

hojo - i had reservations at $125/night and went on today to see how the rates had changed. i made a new reservation at $106/night and cancelled the old one.
 
Annadette~ Thank you for the info!! I called them and they do still have some stuff available! We are ready to book!! Unfortunately I have to wait until Monday because my husband has to make sure our vacation week is ok first. I am crossing my fingers HARD that everything doesn't sell out by then!! :D

Rizzo~When we went in April, we did Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast and it was awesome! We made sure to be there for the first seating and the place was empty! Chef Goofy walked my older girls hand-in-hand to our table! PRICELESS PICS! We saw soo many other characters too and because it was slow, we got lots of time to visit with them and even dance with them! Food is really good too. HUGE selection! I would go again in a heartbeat! I think we may try Minnie's this time though for something different. :)
 
Hi again! Can't comment on the breakfast food at Goofy's - we usually do dinner there when we go. We also love Minnie's breakfast at the plaza because it's right in the park - usually do breakfast there a couple of times each trip because of convenience. I find you meet the most characters there - Minnie of course, usually the Pooh characters, goofy's son Max, Captain Hook (my youngest is terrified of him!) sometimes Genie, Fairy Godmother. Sometimes some princesses- they don't really do any activities for the kids but the food is traditional breakfast fare and it is really good- you can get cereal there, omlettes made to order, and the yummy waffles. They give all the kids a balloon, which is great to tie to the stroller. I think if you are looking to get more of the classic disney characters, then Surf's Up's the way to go - they have breakfast foods there that are different then the other places- a few mexican things that are really good, and also a huge buffet with the typical favorites too. I do love Goofy's but I found that the characters are hit-and-miss sometimes - if a princess isin't available, then you might get Cinderella's mice, for instance, which is cute, but my kids didn't really know them. Sometimes Geppetto is there, Of course you always get goofy and pluto - and I've had both Aladdin and Jasmine a couple of times (love Aladdin- he's so cute) Mulan and Aurora, and Fairy Godmother, oh, and Brer Fox and Brer Bear too. So it varies, but can sometimes be kinda princess-y (I have 2 girls, so we get princessy as much as we can!!! Never enough Pincesses here!) Anyway, that's my two cents!
Glad to hear there's still good rooms at Hojos -we got our 2 doubles for $59 - can't go wrong at that price!
 
so the breakfast character buffets offer dessert? in full disclosure, i'm working on losing 20-30 pounds and i'm down 10 so far...just started on 1/1. so happy to be back in the 140s again! but right now all i want is chocolate cake and the like...ha ha ha.
 
lol....I don't think I've ever seen really seen desserts at the Character Breakfasts - but you can get some pretty wicked french toast at the Plaza and the Storytellers that will set your diet WAYYYYY back!!!! But you will be walking an average of 9-12 miles per day, so I say, "relax and enjoy your trip!" I lost almost 30lbs, then ended up with a surprise pregnancy, so there's lots of rides I won't be able to go on during this trip - but I will be able to eat! Woohoo!!!!! First thing my DH said to me once we finalized this trip was "oooohhh...Blue Bayou potatoes and spicy fries at Cafe Orleans!...and are we getting the dessert boxes at the Fantasmic show???Heck yes!!!" so...it's a common theme in my family - we just love to eat Disney food!
 
Hello May countdowners!

We're going to be at the HoJo May 12-19th. Our first trip to DL! :banana:
 
Rizzo~
Yes, they did have desserts at the Goofy's Kitchen character bfast! There were cookies and cupcakes, cobblers and worms n dirt plus more things I can't remember right now. Great spread! ;)
 
DH and I are taking our four kids (ages 4-11) on our first big family vacation! (I don't count camping!).

We will be in San Diego May 5-8, drive up to Anaheim then spend the 9th-11th at DL!!!!

I AM SO EXCITED!!

I'm so glad I found these boards! The advice and tips have been invaluable!
 
Oh my, I didn't check the DIS the past weekend due to a school project my DD had, and I needed to help! :surfweb:
What a nice surprise to see a lot of DISers checking in! :banana::banana:

I added Honeybee1983, rizzo0904, dolphingirl47, sleepydee, hockeyMomNH, and RNMomto4. Welcome!!! :goodvibes

I also added more information in Post #15, check it out!!!
 
^^^^ Hi! Thank you for adding me to the list! Soooo excited I could pee! LMAO! :rotfl2:
My pleasure! I have to say that our first visit was rides only (after a wonderful WDW Xmas vacation when we had a lot of parades, shows, the works!) it was a marvelous change to enjoy the parks and go ride after ride.
But now I'm looking forward to see WoC and Aladdin, we didn't get a chance to see neither last time (Aladdin was in refurb). We also arrange our days (we're including 3 days at San Diego too :yay:) so we'll be visiting Tuesday-Friday, last day to see fireworks (hopefully!) and Aladdin, while WoC is schedule on a Wednesday. I'm too soo excited!
I know DLR is more laid back, but I still rearrange the itinerary every other day, I'm such a Disney obsessed! :rotfl:
 












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