Nothing to See Here...

[Sherry E]

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[kaoden39]

I was thinking of doing that. See, the July birthday trip is the lowest priority as far as a DLR hotel stay. It would be nice to do it for one night just to get those perks, but it is not necessary. But, there is a potential October trip on the horizon - some friends from Idaho are supposed to be coming to town and DLR would be involved - for which I may need money for a hotel, and most importantly, a December trip always needs a hotel stay (preferably with MMs). So I actually thought that maybe I should put down a one-night deposit on a room for December NOW - just to get something booked - and then when the AP rates and other PIN offers and things start coming out, if those rates are better for a room, I can switch. Central Reservations is usually good about allowing reservation changes with no penalty applied (unless they have changed that policy). I just don't want to necessarily blow money on a hotel room for July now, when I could be putting money down for a December room, which is more important on the food chain to me. I can't do anything about October yet until my friends decide what their dates will be.

I forget, Michele - what are your December dates again? I know your trip plans have been off and on and off and on, but the exact dates escape me. I am looking at going sometime in the first half of December (because hotel rates are cheaper then and the crowds are lighter) - no later than the middle of the month (when prices go up). Probably - not 100% sure yet - the weekend of Friday, 12/11 - Sunday, 12/13-ish. I was tempted to do weekdays smack dab in the middle of the week, but Kerri (Pixiewings71) is going to be at DLR sometime around the 12th and I would like to see her, if possible. Don't you just hate this figuring out dates stuff? I mean, the end result is a fun, wonderful trip and for the most part, the planning is fun, but it can be stressful too!

I know how confusing it can be. We are going 11/30-12/4. Partly because of the price and mostly because I know from memory that it is slower around that week.

 

[Sherry E]

I know how confusing it can be. We are going 11/30-12/4. Partly because of the price and mostly because I know from memory that it is slower around that week.

I think your dates are the perfect time to go - because of the exact reasons you gave. I think you said it yourself before - you get the full holiday experience at Disneyland and all the fun food and entertainment, etc., but with fewer people (and for a cheaper hotel price). I think that once Thanksgiving ends, there are only a few golden weeks to get to DLR and enjoy the lighter crowds and lower prices before everything gets out of control mid-month!! I may be looking at your time frame too. I did want to see Kerri, but those almost-mid-month dates are cutting it close as far as AP or PIN discounts. Your dates are better!

So I would rather put down a deposit for December than use the money for one night at the hotel on my birthday next month (especially since checking in at the hotel would be just one more thing to do on an already jam-packed morning in July), but.....my wheels are still spinning and the Snowball is still rolling and I am still finding myself devising ways to squeeze in one night in July so I can have a little more time to play. Otherwise, knowing Shawn, even though she is getting the day off work to go with me to DLR on 7/21, she is the type who is likely to say, at 2:00 p.m., "Okay! Time to drive you home now!" Yes, she would leave that early! At least a hotel stay would encourage her to stay longer and she could take me home the next day.

Decisions, decisions....

 

[kaoden39]

I think your dates are the perfect time to go - because of the exact reasons you gave. I think you said it yourself before - you get the full holiday experience at Disneyland and all the fun food and entertainment, etc., but with fewer people (and for a cheaper hotel price). I think that once Thanksgiving ends, there are only a few golden weeks to get to DLR and enjoy the lighter crowds and lower prices before everything gets out of control mid-month!! I may be looking at your time frame too. I did want to see Kerri, but those almost-mid-month dates are cutting it close as far as AP or PIN discounts. Your dates are better!

So I would rather put down a deposit for December than use the money for one night at the hotel on my birthday next month (especially since checking in at the hotel would be just one more thing to do on an already jam-packed morning in July), but.....my wheels are still spinning and the Snowball is still rolling and I am still finding myself devising ways to squeeze in one night in July so I can have a little more time to play. Otherwise, knowing Shawn, even though she is getting the day off work to go with me to DLR on 7/21, she is the type who is likely to say, at 2:00 p.m., "Okay! Time to drive you home now!" Yes, she would leave that early! At least a hotel stay would encourage her to stay longer and she could take me home the next day.

Decisions, decisions....

Argh. I know what you are saying. I would go insane if I didn't drive myself and I had to be dependent on someone else on what time to leave to go and what time to leave to go home. Honestly if I lived in the area I would have an AP and I would be there every chance I could.

 

[Sherry E]

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[want2bsnowwhite]

Loved your trip report !!! Thank you for sharing part of your Disney life with us. Heading to Disneyland for my birthday in 3 weeks. Needed a Disney fix. Ran across your TR , and loved every minute of it.

Caroline

Loved reading about Brett Michales. Poison is one of my husbands favorite groups of the 80s. When my husband had hair.

 

[Sherry E]

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[wazowskiLOVER:)]

Oh Sherry, like you said, I'm silently watching in from time to time on your TR! I haven't been on lately though because of youtube (sad, but true). I've been on a big youtube kick lately and I'm making ridiculous amounts of videos (so lame!).

If you guys do plan on meeting up though I'm going to be so excited for you (Kerri and yourself). That would be tooooo cool. I really do wanna have a special trip where Courtney, Kerri, you and myself meet up. It would be SOOO much fun, I KNOW it. Its just so hard especially since this weekend will be my 5th trip to DLR this year and I'm burning a hole in my pocket with all these trips. I know though that we're gonna go in October for MTOTP, so if you do end up going on your October trip with your friends from Idaho, that could possibly be a meet up time!

I love you Sherry! No abandonment here!

 

[Sherry E]

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[wazowskiLOVER:)]

No! Don't abandon me! I am not going to DLR as often as you are, but I still have things to post here and there!

Actually, I don't know what is happening with my Idaho friends. Remember I told you a whiel back that plans tend to be chaotic and stressful with them leading up to a trip, and then everything is usually fine once we are there. Well, I keep tryign to get dates from them on when they THINK they might be coming in October, because if they are NOT coming then I may take the unused tickets I currently have and apply them towards an AP renewal if I can, and I MAY do that renewal in July, where I could get $20 off for renewing early. I just need them to tell me one way or the other IF they are coming in October or if they are not. And if they are not, then I have to decide if I want to try to take advantage of the low PPH AP rates for late September (so I could still catch the Halloween stuff, but not the TOTP), of if I want to wait and see if any good AP rates come out for October so we can go and catch the TOTP again - in which case, then it might be on your weekend or Courtney's weekend.

And then I also thought of scrapping a weekend plan for October and maybe we will just go for one day if the Idaho contingent doesn't come out, just to see the Halloween stuff, and then just focus on a longer December extravaganza - because you KNOW Christmastime is my favorite time to be at DLR. Initially I thought I would likely be there during Kerri's time frame - and I may still be - but I also MAY be there during Michele's time frame (not for as long, but somewhere in there)! I find that I cannot plan too far ahead because $$$ issues keep popping up to set me back, so every time I think I can book a hotel and start a plan, something happens to mess it all up. I don't want to wait until the last minute, but I may have to. Or, this year may just be a series of day trips and that is it - one on 7/21 for my birthday, one in October for Halloween stuff, one in early december to see Christmas stuff, and one on Dec. 26 to get Shawn's Fun Card for her birthday. I cannot imagine not staying in a hotel, but money may dictate that I do not this year. So even if we do a bunch of day trips, that will be okay.

In any case, I may end up missing Kerri if I don't go during her December time after all.

Well thats too bad! I'm such a planner that I hate when things are up in the air. It really drives me crazy, but when it ends up that way with no way of changing it, you kind of just have to roll with the punches. Hopefully you can go in October for one of our weekends! That would be so great!

 

[kaoden39]

I'm still here. Just quietly so.

 

[Sherry E]

Well thats too bad! I'm such a planner that I hate when things are up in the air. It really drives me crazy, but when it ends up that way with no way of changing it, you kind of just have to roll with the punches. Hopefully you can go in October for one of our weekends! That would be so great!

Well, yes, basically, if my Idaho friends can't let me know what their plans are for October or even IF they are still planning to come out, then I may just go ahead and use the tickets I have and get that new AP, and they will have to fend for themselves. Even Shawn was saying, "Look, they have to be grown-up enough to communicate about plans, especially if someone is offering them free tickets!" So there I can take control of the situation, but as far as money in general, I have to roll with the punches!

I'm still here. Just quietly so.

Good! You can't abandon me either! You never know - I may end up at DLR during your time there for the holidays and I will find you!!

 

[kaoden39]

Well, yes, basically, if my Idaho friends can't let me know what their plans are for October or even IF they are still planning to come out, then I may just go ahead and use the tickets I have and get that new AP, and they will have to fend for themselves. Even Shawn was saying, "Look, they have to be grown-up enough to communicate about plans, especially if someone is offering them free tickets!" So there I can take control of the situation, but as far as money in general, I have to roll with the punches!



Good! You can't abandon me either! You never know - I may end up at DLR during your time there for the holidays and I will find you!!

 

[mariezp]

Sherry, you really know how to guilt your fans into coming out of the woodwork, don't cha? And look at you while I was gone.... moving on up into the high muckety muck of the Dis... now a mod. You go girl! I really do need to check back in on the DL side of the world cause I really miss everybody over here. There is so much to plan for WDW and only so much computer time in a day that I haven't been doing a good job of keeping an eye on everything.

I am green with envy at all the day trips you have coming up! I wish I were gonna be there too! I am so missing Disneyland.

 

[Sherry E]

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[Sherry E]

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[Sherry E]

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[want2bsnowwhite]

Sherry Love your trip reports! Never been to Catalina Island. Is that far from DL ?? I up in the Seattle area, Catalina looks like alot of the parks we have here.

My 11 year old daughter walked in while I was watching a youtube video of Poison, My daughter said that is so wierd. She did say she thought he was cute in the pictures that you have of him, minus the makeup.

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry Love your trip reports! Never been to Catalina Island. Is that far from DL ?? I up in the Seattle area, Catalina looks like alot of the parks we have here.

My 11 year old daughter walked in while I was watching a youtube video of Poison, My daughter said that is so wierd. She did say she thought he was cute in the pictures that you have of him, minus the makeup.

Hi, want2bsnowwhite! I did reply to you on the last page (before the Catalina pictures) but wasn't sure if you saw it.

Bret looked different back when I knew him. It is a little odd for me to see old pictures of him and then see what he looks like now. I mean, it is not like Michael Jackson-level different, but Bret's face has changed somewhat due to various accidents and surgeries to fix teeth and noses and all kinds of things.

Catalina Island is about 22 - 26 miles off the coast. You can take a boat (the Catalina Express) from Long Beach (where the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific are) and it takes just under and hour to get to the island, or you can go from San Pedro and it takes a bit longer. Long Beach and San Pedro are about 20-30 minuutes from DLR. Not far at all. Along the way to Catalina, you usually see dolphins and maybe a seal or two, along with some flying fish here and there as you get closer to the Island. There have been random whale sightings though I have not seen one yet, darn it! On the island, you can take tours into the interior, where there are all kinds of buffalo and deer and goats and things. A lot of bees, too, for some reason! On the semi-sub tour, if you are lucky you may see a shark (we did!). It was too quick for me to snap a photo of it, but I saw it! There are also a few eagles who reside on Catalina.

It is normally very sunny and clear on Catalina (though cooler in temperature than on the mainland). But those gloomy pictures I got are very reminiscent of Washington and the Pacific Northwest, aren't they? As you approach it from the boat, you can see that the houses and structures are stacked on the hills in a sort of Mediterranean-style. Very much like what you would expect to see in Greece or Italy. But the town of Avalon is very casual and beachy (even though the beach itself is the size of a postage stamp), and all the locals are friendly and laid back. Sometimes it seems very much like a fishing town. There is a place there that serves great pancakes, and all the grubby, weathered fishermen come in to fuel themselves before they hit the water, and everyone knows everyone else by name. All the shop keepers who have lived on the Island for 100 years love to talk about the history of the Island and tell stories. And if you take a golf cart up into the hills and park on a cliff or hill overlooking the panoramic ocean vistas, breathing in the sea air, it is one of the most calming and rewarding experiences. Totally different from the warp speed fun of Disneyland, but almost just as addictive!!

My biggest celebrity sighting on Catalina? Back in 2001, after a full day of activities, at night we saw a very tall Nicolas Cage walking through town with his then-wife or then-girlfriend, Lisa Marie Presley!!! People recognized them, but no one cared too much! We also saw a guy from Def Leppard there back in 1990, I think. Ed McMahon used to stay at a hidden retreat somewhere on the Island but we never saw him.

 

[Sherry E]

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