(More than)A FIVE years of Trips! -- TR Started! Day One - updated 6/10

[hurleysweety]

Saturday morning we woke up and were so excited we don't have to go get breakfast. I was content to put on some sweats and practically sleep-walk my way to the elevator which conveniently drops you off next to the food. It was pretty vacant when we arrived. It was around 7:15, I think...maybe later. They had egg "patties" and bacon to make egg sandwiches. YUM!

I also made a waffle and got some fruit, yogurt, and a piece of coffee cake. But my camera was still dead...so no pictures.

We took off to the parks. Parked in toy story, maybe 12 rows of cars there before us? Was so nice to be in the parks so early!

Here are some really bad photos of the toy story lot.

Also had to capture the display above those lovely security booths

Took a ride on the astro blasters

DH got an amazing score!

Time for Pirates! And our endless search of hidden Mickeys on that ride

And then Thunder Mtn

DH's favorite characters

And then it was time to use FP for Space. We believe this to be the first time we used our FP during the actual suggested time...We always end up using them soooo much later

And then we used Indy FP. Thank goodness we had these! The line was insane!

We were starving by this time so we headed out to grab a cheap bite before taking a break. But before we left, we got to see my dad's favorite part of main street, the musical quartet acts.

We headed over to DCA for about 15 mins - maybe we thought about eating there for a second? Anyway, crowds were picking up there for sure. Oh, and you can see the construction where the giant sun/fountain area used to be. I'll miss those flowers - so pretty!

Oh, and we got some Soarin' FP too before we left. And got a promo ticket for a Tron token.

And took those goofy, take a photo with a wall "look at me in front of DCA" pictures.

 

[tksbaskets]

I just love your trip reports. Your pictures are great. Couldn't you just hug the castmember who came up with the fastpass system?? LOVE IT! I am a bit concerned that you and your DH never got a snack....

The constructions is crazy there. Can't wait to see the finished product.

TK

 

[deejdigsdis]

Going back a bit to House of Blues... We've only eaten there once but I really don't see us going back. In my nearly 17 years of marriage I've NEVER seen my husband push a plate of food away in a restaurant and not finish it -- until House of Blues. Just a part of our not-so-great experience, but I don't think we'll go back.

I was just looking for Hidden Mickeys on Pirates last week! We only found 1 that we were looking for. The one on the wall in the battle scene.

 

[hurleysweety]

I just love your trip reports. Your pictures are great. Couldn't you just hug the castmember who came up with the fastpass system?? LOVE IT! I am a bit concerned that you and your DH never got a snack....

The constructions is crazy there. Can't wait to see the finished product.

TK

Thanks for reading them! And YES, we do love FP when we feel its worth it. I can't tell you how many times we get them and then use them later at night when there is like a 15 min wait, and we're like, wow, big time saver... But when we bypass a 60 min space mtn line or a 45 min Indy line, we're happy. Especially when we get into the actual queue, and realize that its actually probably longer than the posted time. I get a rush of, "Oooh, I beat the system." Yup, me and the hundreds of others using FP too...

Going back a bit to House of Blues... We've only eaten there once but I really don't see us going back. In my nearly 17 years of marriage I've NEVER seen my husband push a plate of food away in a restaurant and not finish it -- until House of Blues. Just a part of our not-so-great experience, but I don't think we'll go back.

I was just looking for Hidden Mickeys on Pirates last week! We only found 1 that we were looking for. The one on the wall in the battle scene.

It was so weird. We were sooo excited about this meal, the discount, the fact that it was our only sit down on the trip...and it just failed! LOL! Now that we look back, its almost hilarious how bad it was - I just think of all my friends (oh, and my dad is like this too) that are more impatient (and outspoken!) then me. We would have been talking with a manager and getting free food and apologies all over the place. I don't think my review does it justice...lol.

 

[hurleysweety]

We're going back! Its been a crazy summer at our house. Lots of unplanned for things like our R/O system breaking and flooding our downstairs while we were at work, or car troubles, or deciding to jump back into youth ministry after thinking we were done. And also going with friends to San Diego for a weekend, and wishing most of the time that we were in Disney, which meant a delay til we went back to DLR. Oh well.

Details for the trip so far...
We're Going:
Sometime during the weekend 23-26

We're Staying:
Wherever I can get the best quality for the best rate

Who's Going:
Just me & DH (going with the in-laws to WDW in October, gotta get a trip away by ourselves!)

 

[Hawleys]

Hooray for a new trip in the works!
I always enjoy your trip reports.

 

[skiingfast]

Some good reasons to get to the parks.

 

[hurleysweety]

Hooray for a new trip in the works!
I always enjoy your trip reports.

Thanks! I enjoy writing them (and for the most part, never actually reaching the end of one...)

Some good reasons to get to the parks.

Any reason is a good reason.

 

[hurleysweety]

We just got our hotel reservation. It was a journey.

About three weeks ago I had the amazing revelation that I should try to rent points and stay at GCV on the rare chance that a studio was available. I had an awesome guy on the boards call in almost every day and had us on the waitlist to get a studio if it opened up for our dates. It never did, and we kinda knew it wouldn't. But for future reference to anyone reading. If you ever want to rent points for GCV, you better do it exactly 7 months out (chances are, most people don't have points there and can't book in the 11 month time frame). Also, the rooms there are about double the amount of points at WDW.

So for the last three to four days I have been on every single travel site, every single disboard disneyland thread, every trip advisor hotel rating to figure out where we should stay. What was important this trip? We decided convenience. We've stayed at GCH, and nothing beats that. But for 2 nights, it was going to be over $700. And less we forget, we are going to WDW in less than a month. So we start looking at walking distance hotels and their ratings and amenities. Why does CCI cost so much with rooms so small? What exactly is served at Park Vue Inn's social hour? How much is parking each day there? Does this place have indoor or outdoor rooms? Are there any resort fees? It was a whirlwind...

So to summarize, I can probably tell you about every hotel on Harbor Blvd. I can tell you all about which hotels are in Disneyland North and South on Hotwire. I can tell you about the recent winning bids on Priceline for Anaheim and what forums give the best info. But what I love about all this, is I have to do this in order to know that I have booked the best room for us. You see, what I've learned over the course of all of this, is that the best room for us is going to be a lot different then the once in a lifetime visitor's week long trip. Its going to be different for a family of five who needs lots of space. Its going to be very different for a single mom with two young kids, or a group of college students out on their own.

So we are staying at the Red Lion! We got a great rate through Orbitz which includes the breakfast buffet and parking. We can hop on over to take the toy story shuttle if we don't want to walk (We could drive too, of course, but we detest that parking garage...so funny how things change!). Check out the hotel:

Not sure when we are leaving on Saturday as DH just found out he was invited to something by his boss - more of a cool thing to go to, not a mandatory thing. And we'll leave later on Monday depending on when we arrive Saturday (that was part of the deal for me). If it was up to me, we'd do our normal leave at or before 6AM, stop at a ultra convenient chicfila for breakfast around 7, and grab a starbucks around 9:30, and roll into disney around 11:30. Its quite a perfect plan for a planner like me.


However, I think we've successfully done that once. I'm not complaining at all. I seriously cannot wait to go. I can't wait to see WoC again, not in freezing weather with grumpy DH. I can't wait to see the new esplanade. I can't wait to try the new food (because afterall, thats really why we go...) and so excited to see Halloween Decor!

Ok - time for youth ministry tonight - gotta go see my freshman girls for a bit. Catch ya'll up later!

 

[hurleysweety]

We leave in 3 days.

Gone are the days I would plan for DLR for up to 6 months in advance. Now, if I make any plans at all I consider it a miracle. I guess thats what happens when your job responsibility doubles and your free time is so rare that you get confused when you have it (Did I forget to do something?? )

Anyway, this will be a trip of little planning. The kind where we wake up and decide what to do, where to go, what to see. I just look forward to being away from reality for a couple days and pretending that there is nothing more important going on in my life than where the nearest churro stand is located.

I'm not excited for all the walls of construction that are everywhere. I follow dateline Disney pretty closely and am almost in shock of how many walls they have put up. I'm just glad I'm not there on a once in five year kind of trip. Is it just me, or do construction walls put a damper on the magic of the atmosphere? Ya, I know, I sound a little , but I love the feeling of being trapped in a fantasy world where $3.50 for water and $7.50 for ice cream is the norm, and not hearing drills and construction. But FWIW, I cannot wait to see it all done, and be able to have vivid and abundant memories of how things were, the process in which they've changed, and what they are now. All that said, I cannot wait for:

• Little Mermaid
• WoC in not freezing weather
• The new CS locations over by Paradise Pier
• Having one last chance to enjoy Blue Ribbon Bakery before the main street overhaul/refurb
• Free HOT buffet breakfast at our hotel
• Walking to the park
• Taking the Toy Story Shuttle if we're too tired
• Halloween Decor
• Riding Haunted Mansion Holiday
• Riding Ghost Galaxy/Space Mountain
• Seeing HalloWishes
• All those little extra entertainment options
• Seeing DH free from stress/pressure and fully relaxed

 

[Hawleys]

Thanks! I enjoy writing them (and for the most part, never actually reaching the end of one...)

Well, everyone needs something to strive for. Maybe this trip will be the one...

 

[hurleysweety]

Well, everyone needs something to strive for. Maybe this trip will be the one...

At least I get close sometimes... One of these days, I'll get to write, "and then we went home and we were very sad." Maybe I just don't like to remember that part!

 

[hurleysweety]

I think there should be an award for least amount of planning possible, mostly because I would win right now.

After a very busy couple of weeks at work (stressful, but good in the end), I have had so little time to devote to planning! I have not typed up or written out one bit of information for this trip. I keep having moments of panic about this and coupled with the fact that its 9pm here, and we leave at 7am tomorrow morning (for a morning breakfast event that DH's boss invited us too, albeit free, it will put us in Disney around 5 instead of our normal 11:30am arrival). So 10 hours from now...and I have not even thought about what to pack. Folks...this should be interesting.

24 hrs from now, we'll probably be in DCA, wasting some time before lining up for WoC at 10pm.

 

[tksbaskets]

I think there should be an award for least amount of planning possible, mostly because I would win right now.

After a very busy couple of weeks at work (stressful, but good in the end), I have had so little time to devote to planning! I have not typed up or written out one bit of information for this trip. I keep having moments of panic about this and coupled with the fact that its 9pm here, and we leave at 7am tomorrow morning (for a morning breakfast event that DH's boss invited us too, albeit free, it will put us in Disney around 5 instead of our normal 11:30am arrival). So 10 hours from now...and I have not even thought about what to pack. Folks...this should be interesting.

24 hrs from now, we'll probably be in DCA, wasting some time before lining up for WoC at 10pm.

What fun!! You could always ride TSMM while you are waiting

 

[DLR29]

Hope you had a great trip! Can't wait to read another one of your TRs.

 

[Hawleys]

Hi hurleysweety! I hope your trip was the time out from life's stresses that you and your husband needed.

 

[hurleysweety]

Well hello there disboard family! I've missed you!

And I have great and exciting most excellent news!! We're headed back in 2012!

You see, like always, we can't stay away. We've have a problem and frankly, we've stopped caring how weird our friends think we are. My parents have accepted it. His parents are on their way to loving Disney just as much (been on 3 Disney trips with them now and already talk of a 4th for next Christmas). My boss, when I told him we were going, replied with, "Well, of course you are..." as if he knew long before we planned the trip that we'd end up there.

So let me tell you how long this trip has been talked about....maybe since January? The trip was born out of many conversations about going somewhere new, somewhere different, just to get away and be together, alone, on vacation (haven't done that in a over a year now and I think it is a great part of a healthy marriage). We started looking at all kinds of things, but then my sister got engaged and just got married last Saturday (congrats, sissy! ). And then my parents had a business trip to Vienna (they are in sales and one of their companies takes them somewhere fun every year). And then we have DH's second job which basically makes him unavailable from Jan-March to go anywhere. And then we bought a house in March and moved in April.

So trip plans were talked about (Cruise, Alaska, San Fran, San Diego, Milwaukee, Texas, Las Vegas, New Orleans, even a few international trips were talked about - all-inclusive in Mexico, adventure in Scotland, Paris, Italy or maybe even Fiji?) But we wanted to leave NOW, not in 6 months. So in 6 months we'll go to a new place. For now, lets go see what we haven't in California.

That said, our San Diego Beach Trip turned into
an Los Angeles and Hollywood City Trip turned into a
"VISIT CARSLAND TRIP!" Yes, yes, yes, we are headed to Disneyland for Cars Land. I mean, how can you drive to Southern California and NOT go to Disneyland. I'm pretty sure we are unable to do so.

Photo Credit - disneydreaming.com

Who: Just me and the Hubs!
Dates: June 18-22,plus 2 days in Santa Monica before, and 1-2 nights in Newport afterwards
Days in Park: 2 or 3 day park hoppers
Hotel: Hilton Anaheim
Celebrating: 4 Year Anniversary! (about 3 weeks late, but we haven't had time to celebrate yet)

We're a little excited over here. We're so excited to go on vacation. So excited.

 

[DLR29]

Wooo! Congrats on another trip (and buying a house! That's exciting too)!!! Carsland is gonna be so awesome! Counting down the days...

 

[JadeDarkstar]

whooohoo what fun, you must take lots of pics

 

[hurleysweety]

Wooo! Congrats on another trip (and buying a house! That's exciting too)!!! Carsland is gonna be so awesome! Counting down the days...

Thanks! Excited, but nervous for Cars Land! So used to having many different threads of advice to read through - but everything is so hypothetical right now, its hard to make any real plans.

And the house is fun too - but it can be overwhelming doing projects, fixing things, shopping for and buying furniture, painting, etc. So far, we are loving it, though.

whooohoo what fun, you must take lots of pics

Thanks! Of course there will be more food than anything.