My PTR/PR.....family vacation plus birthday!!!!! April 3-6

[austin&pipermom]

Hi, my name is Nicole

This is my first PTR so please bare with me.
First, let's start with some history. We have been to WDW twice ( one being DS 5th birthday). Since we went for his birthday we told our DD that we would go for her's. We live on the west coast now so instead of WDW we decieded to go to DL. We all love anything Disney related.
We are going April 3-April 6 to celebrate DD and DN 5th birthday(their bdays are 2.5 weeks apart). Let's do some introductions:

Me: 29 year old disney addict and planner.
This picture was taken at WDW in 2008. Just ignore my crazy DH.

Mom (Polly): went to WDW when she was a kid, than she came with us in 2008 and fell in love with the place.
Step mom(Jimmie): fell in love with Disney in 2008. She is the most excited for the upcoming trip. Step mom on left, mom on right.

DS 7(Austin)- He is going to be the only boy on the trip. Picture is on his 5th birthday at Ohana's

DD 5(Piper)- One of the 3 princess
DN 5 (Kaydin)- The second princess
DN 2 (Abbie)- She has already told me that we are taking her for her 5th bday.
This picture is on all three of them at DD 4th bday trip to DC. DD-right, DN-middle, DN-left.

DH- He will be missing in action this trip But here is a picture of him pouting on the carousal.

Just because I like these pictures.
Me and my two kids recently. r

Piper's first mickey bar from 2008

Piper's first trip to WDW in 2006

.
That is everbody. I will write some more later.

 

[austin&pipermom]

So on with the show.


Sun. April 3
Leave San Diego going to Disneyland. We will be going by train.

From the train we are taking some taxis.

We are going to be staying at HoJo. I am so excited to be staying there. We plan on going to DTD to do some shopping and just relax at the hotel.

Mon. April 4
MK Day. We have reservations for Minnie's Breakfast. Also we have reservations for BBB for the girls.

Tues. April 6
CA Day. Have reservations for Ariel's Breakfast this day.

Wed. April 7
MK Day. Breakfast will be at Goofy's. We also are having lunch at Carnation Cafe. My DS can't wait to make his own PB and J.

That is are basic outline for the trip. I have already told my mom to be prepared for crowds. I have been playing around with Ridemax all weekend to get some kind of action plan. My mom is the go with the flow type and I keep telling her we have to have some kind of plan. I do not want to sit in line all day. I will see what she says when we are waiting for the rope drop and she sees a mass of people there too.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

I am here & along for the ride

 

[austin&pipermom]

We are back from a wonderful Disneyland trip, and are finally settled into our routine. The kids had so much fun, so many people gave them birthday wishes.
We only had one small snag in our trip, my DM lost her camera the first day in the parks. So we do not have many photos of the hotel and when the kids played in the pool. So here goes nothing.


We left the train station at 120pm from San Diego on Sun. April 3. The train was only 15 min. late. I told my DH that whenever we go to Disneyland we will take the train, it is so relaxing. Here is a photo of the kids waiting to load the train.

When we got to the train station there was plenty of taxis but all cars we needed a van. We called and a van was there in 10 min. Next stop HoJo.
The check in was quick and easy. Our rooms were in building 4 on the second floor with connecting doors. I was happy because that is the building I wanted. These rooms are very roomy and I loved that we were right next to the kid pool. The next photos of are the gift bags I made the kids plus the ones we have of the pool.

The kids would have stayed in the pool all night but be had to go eat. Next downtown Disney.

 

[reyasmommy]

Great pictures.... Looks lie th kids had a Fun time.. The water park at the hotel looks super fun, I should look into it before our trip. How far of a walk was it to the parks?

 

[DizNee Luver]

HoJo's is awesome isn't it?!!!!! We loved our stay there last summer & the water play area is absolutely a blast for the kids!!!!!

reyasmommy the walk is about 8 minutes.....really not that far & well worth it!!

 

[austin&pipermom]

Sorry haven't had my computer with my pictures.
We loved HOJO, that will be our go to hotel.

Downtown Disney

 

[austin&pipermom]

So we finally got all four kids out of the water and dressed. We headed to downtown looking for something to eat. All the kids were unhappy, that is until we crossed the street and they saw the Disneyland Banner. They were so excited.
We wanted to eat at Tortilla Jo's but we didn't get a ressie because we didn't know when we were getting to town. So we made our way to the resturant to see if there was a wait. If anybody has been there they know it is on the opposite end of downtown of where we came in at. When we got there they said that there was a hour wait. We went and tried the Taqueria at Tortilla Jo's, which seated us right away. We loved the food there. We had the Guacamole,Tortilla Soup,Shredded Beef burritos.The kids had Quesadilla, Two Mini Soft Tacos with fruit and salad. The girls already had their birthday pins on and the waiter must have seen them because when we were finished they brought out two birthday desserts and sung happy birthday. The waiter said he put extra ice cream in each bowl so the could share with the other 2 kids.
After eating, on the way back through downtown we did some shopping. First stop was Little Missmatched (DD new favorite store). We browsed through every store we passed until we came too the DISNEY STORE. I think we spent about 2hrs in there. As we were checking out another magic moment happened. One of the cashiers came over to DD and told her she had a telephone call. She went to the counter to the phone, once she said hello her eyes got as big as saucers. She told me it was Goofy on the phone telling her HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She had to call daddy back at home to tell him right than. After that we walked back to the hotel to get a good night sleep before our long day at Disneyland.
Sorry no photos this post, I realized all these photo were on my moms camera that was lost. I promise I have plenty of pics for next post.

 

[austin&pipermom]

First off, if you stay at Hojo make sure you know that you WILL hear the fireworks. My kids just fell asleep and the fireworks started, they were wide awake again. Besides that we did not hear any other noise from our room.

Mon. we wake up early to get to the park when they open. What do I realize when we walk outside at 645 in the morning, it is cold and I forgot the kids jackets in the car at home. So we make our way to the gift shop in hotel to see if they have some jackets. This is us waiting for it to open.

We get the kids some jackets thank goodness. Now we are on our way to the parks. We get through the gates and they are letting us line up on main st.

3..2..1.. Welcome to Disneyland!!!!!!First up Dumbo

Next Mr. Toad than Carousel

On to the Mad Hatter Tea Cups

We get off the ride and who do we see walking around but....

Now we have to make our reservations to Minnies Breakfast. On the way a photopass person stop the girls and wanted so take some photos, so I told my mom to go sign us in and I will let the girls get some photos.

Will post photopass pics later.

Minnie's Breakfast:

The food was simple but good. We love the characters. We saw

The kids had so much fun. Rafki and Hook came and danced with them during one of the songs.Now that all our tummeys are full now we are on our way to BBB.

 

[austin&pipermom]

After breakfast we had to make our way over to BBB I had reservations for all 4 of the kids. When we got inside the store was packed!! I was so glad we had ressies. Once we signed in I told them I didn't know if the youngest one would sit down, she hates when anybody messes with her hair. They told me that they will do the two bday girls and she can watch to see if she wants to do it. My DD has been talking about this since I showed her some pics, so she was so excited.
The fairygodmothers bought back all of us and started on the 2 girls. About halfway through they started on DS. The youngest choose not to do it. They did a great job. DD had the pop princess and DN had punk princess. DD was able to where the extensions 2 days later, they are still in good shape. The only bad thing was it took 2 weeks for the red mickey head to get out of my DS hair. Here is some pics mine/photopass.

The reveal

Next up Toontown, Ice cream, and Fireworks

 

[CandyMouse]

Your kids and nieces are adorable! Looks like you had a great time and got some great pictures! I look forward to seeing more of your trip.