Nick, Marie, The Diva's & Me!! Finally Finished 10-20-13!!

[DizNee Luver]

Welcome to Nick, Marie, The Diva's & Me Thread!!!!

I'm Laurie and will be your hostess!!

I'm a huge Disney fan, trip report writer, photographer, wife & mother. I'm going on my 3rd Dis Diva's Girl's Trip and once again.....bringing along some family with me!!

Meet Nick, my oldest son and his beautiful fiance, Marie!!

Nick joined us for our family trip in 2010 & 2005 but Marie hasn't gone for quite a long time!!! So since they couldn't join us for our December trip, I thought it was only fair to treat them to this trip!

So the three of us will be flying from Portland, Oregon to the Santa Ana Airport on Wednesday, February 27 and going home either Sunday, March 3 or Monday, March 4......depending on flight costs. Right now staying over Sunday night will save us quite a bit but we'll see what it looks like when I actually have the money to purchase our tickets.

I've been debating on whether to stay on property or HoJo's but Nick said the HoJo's would be fine since he didn't plan on spending a ton of time in the room. So I'll be booking that soon.

Hope you'll join us on our adventure!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Diva Schedule, Post #34
Our Schedule, Post #35
Fantasmic Dessert Seating, Post #56
Updated Itinerary, Post #79
And the trip begins!, Post #230
DL Train Station & Corn Dogs!, Post #231
Star Tours, Space Mountain & the Matterhorn, Post #249
POTC, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, PPH Room, Post #251
PPH Room, Part 2, Post #253
DCA/PPH View of the 2 parks, Post #256
Happy Hour in the PPH Concierge Lounge, Post #257
Rainforest Cafe, Post #266
Disney Vacation Planning Goodies, Post #267
World of Color from our PPH room, Post #268
Gift Baskets, Minnie & Friends, Post #277
Minnie & Friends, Part 2, Post #278
Luigi's Flying Tires & Cozy Cones, Post #292
Mator's Junkyard Jamboree, Asst CarsLand, Post #293
Asst CarsLand, Radiator Springs Racers, Post #294
Indy & POTC, Post #299
Blue Bayou, Post #301
Diva's Redneck Meet-n-Greet Decor/Party, Post #305
Princesses and Fantasyland Rides, Post #306
Pixie Hollow & Astro Blasters, Post #307
CarsLand, Post #308
Anthony's 12th~CARS Disney Movie Theme Party, Post #315
Anthony's 12th~CARS Disney Movie Theme Party, Part 2, Post #316
Anthony's 12th~CARS Disney Movie Theme Party, Part 3, Post #317
Anthony's 12th~CARS Disney Movie Theme Party, Part 4, Post #318
Anthony's 12th~CARS Disney Movie Theme Party, Part 5, Post #319
Anthony's 12th~CARS Disney Movie Theme Party, Part 6, Post #320
Walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour, Post #341
Walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour, Part 2, Post #342
Scavy Hunt, Post #347
Dooney & Bourke's, Flag Retreat & Coke Corner, Post #366
Fantasmic, Post #371
Fantasmic, Part 2 and Fireworks, Post #372
Fireworks, Part 2, Post #373
Magic Morning, Post #412
Magic Morning, Part 2, Post #413
Goofy's Kitchen, Post #422
Goofy's Kitchen, Part 2, Post #423
TSMM & Mickey's Fun Wheel, Post #438
Goofy's Flight School, BugsLand, Post #439
BugsLand, Part 2, Post #440
Red Trolley & Trolley Treats, Post #441
Soarin', RSR & Carthay Circle, Post #449
Carthay Circle, Part 2, Post #450
Carthay Circle, Part 3, Post #451
Animation Academy, Post #456
World of Color, Post #457

 

[DizNee Luver]

This will be my 3rd trip with the Dis Diva's. This is a wonderful group of ladies that I've made some life long friends from. The Diva's go this time of year every year. Here are a couple pics from my first 2 years.

The group continues to get bigger & bigger and this year I believe we're up to 70 ladies!!

There are different big events like the Meet-n-Greet party & the Scavenger Hunt. There are group rides & group photos. Then you can join in on group meals.

I've been on the Meet-n-Greet committee for all 3 of the years I've attended. I'm usually in charge of the name tags, snack bags & snack table. This year I'm pretty much just doing the snack table. Here's some pics of the snack table the last 2 trips.

The 2011 party theme was the Luau:

At the 2012 party, the theme was Party of Peril:

This year the theme will be the Redneck Diva Hillybilly Hoedown!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Here's a few more pics of Nick & Marie. We'll be celebrating their engagement (even though they got engaged a long while ago). Marie wanted to finish getting her Master's before setting a date for a wedding. Well she got her degree and now the wedding has been set for September 7, 2013!!! It will be fun spending time with them and bonding with Marie outside the chaos of our normal home life!!!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi Laurie!

I will be following along..........I love your reports! I so wish I didn't live all the way over here in Australia as the Dis Diva's trips make me envious every year! I do enjoy hearing all about them though and the pictures you posted are simply gorgeous!

Subbing in right now!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hi Laurie!

I will be following along..........I love your reports! I so wish I didn't live all the way over here in Australia as the Dis Diva's trips make me envious every year! I do enjoy hearing all about them though and the pictures you posted are simply gorgeous!

Subbing in right now!!!

Welcome!!! I'm so glad you'll be following along!! Maybe one of these years you can join us. I know you're far, far away......but maybe the timing of one of your trips will coincide!!

 

[lsulindy]

Aw... My grandparents were Nick and Marie. Married 60 years before my grandma passed. Your title made me

Best wishes to them for a long and happy marriage!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Aw... My grandparents were Nick and Marie. Married 60 years before my grandma passed. Your title made me

Best wishes to them for a long and happy marriage!

Aww, that's awesome!!!!

 

[nicholaseck]

Found it. Thank Mom. We are both excited to go and cannot wait to be leaving cold Oregon for a warmer SoCal.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Found it. Thank Mom. We are both excited to go and cannot wait to be leaving cold Oregon for a warmer SoCal.

It will be fun!!!

 

[nicholaseck]

Aw... My grandparents were Nick and Marie. Married 60 years before my grandma passed. Your title made me

Best wishes to them for a long and happy marriage!

Thanks for the well wishes. We are both really excited for not only this upcoming year, but the rest of our years together as well.

 

[DizNee Luver]

I booked our hotel today.....after debating the pros & cons of staying onsite vs off property, I ended up going with a comfortable, cheaper option off property. We are booked for the HoJo, Disney View/Premium Room!!! We stayed in these rooms in 2010 & loved it!! We had nice & large rooms, comfortable beds, small balcony & AWESOME view!! We didn't seem to mind the walk to the gates (some people complain that it's too far....but with 4 kids we were able to do the walk in about 8 minutes).

The grounds are beautiful with floral, foliage and fountains.

There's a pool towards the back and then a water play area up by the office.

As you enter the room, the bathroom & separate sink will be off to one side.

There will also be a huge closet, a small fridge, small microwave & a coffee maker.

The room has 2 queen beds.......very comfortable, the~ I can't wait to spread out & hog the whole thing with fluffy pillows comfortable!!

The thing we all noticed was the amount of counter (well actually dresser top) space & drawers to store stuff during our stay!!

The room truly is bigger than the "normal" rooms. In our room, on top of what you see......we had 2 cribs (not full sized but also not the portable type) & 2 jogging strollers and we still could easily walk around the room.

There's an arcade downstairs of Building 1 (which is the one we're in) and a pretty decent gift shop.

If you are an Annual Passholder for Disneyland, you can get a 20% room discount and a 10% discount in the gift shop.

But with all those wonderful reasons to stay.......this is the selling point for me!!! THE VIEW!!!

We were able to sit out on the balcony and watch fireworks, see some of the high water sprays & lighting coming off WoC and the fireworks during Fantasmic. Plus seeing the park & the monorail pass by across the street!!

 

[nicholaseck]

Hooray were staying at the HoJo. I love this hotel. It was very nice to use as a "getaway" from the parks (if needed) and still feel like you are a part of the parks. I did enjoy the fireworks would be so close, you can feel the booms.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hooray were staying at the HoJo. I love this hotel. It was very nice to use as a "getaway" from the parks (if needed) and still feel like you are a part of the parks. I did enjoy the fireworks would be so close, you can feel the booms.

I enjoyed our morning strolls to the park.....great way to wake up!! Hopefully our room actually has a view of the fireworks. I know my room was great, but you boys had your view blocked by trees. Of course I don't know have much firework watching we'll be doing from our room unless the weather is too cold/or misty.

 

[nwdisgal]

Laurie, I am excited you are starting a new report! Plus, I get to meet you all soon at the Diva meet

So Nick will be your first child to get married, right? What an exciting event to look forward to. Nick and Marie are a cute couple. . Well you know if Marie is going to be part of your family she has to catch the Disney bug. I bet that will be an easy bug to catch

 

[maryr1oz]

Hi Laurie - i've been a shameless lurker of your reports for years and wanted to say hi

I too am from Australia and wish i didn't live so far away so i had the chance to hang out with the Divas

Can't wait to read more about your upcoming trip, hope all the planning goes well

 

[DizNee Luver]

Laurie, I am excited you are starting a new report! Plus, I get to meet you all soon at the Diva meet

So Nick will be your first child to get married, right? What an exciting event to look forward to. Nick and Marie are a cute couple. . Well you know if Marie is going to be part of your family she has to catch the Disney bug. I bet that will be an easy bug to catch

Welcome Pam!!! Glad you're along for the ride!! I'm looking forward to meeting you!! I always love putting a face with people I'm friends with on the Dis & FB!!!

This wedding has been a long time coming. Even with me suggesting they get married while she was in school for tax purposes....... but alas that didn't happen. I'm excited for them (and officially making Marie a part of our family!!)

Marie (and Nick) are both fans of the Nightmare Before Christmas.....so Christmas presents this year was easy to get while we were on vacation in December!!

I think Marie IS a fan of Disney.....it just has been a while since she's been able to go.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hi Laurie - i've been a shameless lurker of your reports for years and wanted to say hi

I too am from Australia and wish i didn't live so far away so i had the chance to hang out with the Divas

Can't wait to read more about your upcoming trip, hope all the planning goes well

Welcome, I'm so glad you finally posted!!! It's so nice to meet some of my readers!!!

Maybe one of these years you can make the journey to join us.....the one nice thing about the Diva trip, is it's at about the same time, every year and the dates are usually announced pretty early on.

 

[Belle Ella]

Can't guarantee I'll be able to follow with everything since I'm barely online these days, but I had to say I'm excited to see you again soon!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Can't guarantee I'll be able to follow with everything since I'm barely online these days, but I had to say I'm excited to see you again soon!

I can't wait to see you too Jessica!! I was sorry we missed you in December.....hopefully you'll stay healthy!!