**Official August 2016 Check In Thread**

[helenk]

Hi there. This will be my third trip to Disneyland but my 8 year old grand-daughter's first. We will be there August 13th to the 20th and staying at the Tropicana. I've never stayed there before but got a good rate so I am happy. We plan to do the Disney parks have a down day and I plan on visiting the Aquarium in Long Beach. The fun part of this trip is that my grand-daughter does not know she is going. It's a surprise and I am proud of myself for keeping the secret. I plan on letting her know once school is done in June

 

[NerdyGoofy]

I'll be there with my mom and sister August 15-20! We've been to WDW too many times to count, but this is our first Disneyland trip! Not sure where we're staying yet - hopefully we'll figure that out soon! I think I'm most excited to see the nighttime shows! I've heard such amazing things about Paint the Night, Disneyland Forever and World of Color!

 

[Disney_Alli]

I'll be there with my mom and sister August 15-20! We've been to WDW too many times to count, but this is our first Disneyland trip! Not sure where we're staying yet - hopefully we'll figure that out soon! I think I'm most excited to see the nighttime shows! I've heard such amazing things about Paint the Night, Disneyland Forever and World of Color!

Yay! I love first DL trips! Don't forget to get your First Trip buttons! There are lots of options for places to stay - please ask questions here or on the board if you have any! I'm a WDW girl to the core but I so love my Disneyland trips too!

 

[JessiLynn015]

We are going back for the second time this August! Our dates are the 13-18th at DLH. My son turns 4 on the 17th and he's beyond excited to be tall enough for "McQueen ride" this year. We're actually doing a coast to coast trip and will be arriving in California from Orlando. I can't wait!!

 

[Disney_Alli]

Just a couple more weeks until most of us can make dining reservations! (And my birthday!) What does everyone have planned for dining on their trips? I have way too many meals planned! I'm betting we'll end up sharing a bunch of meals and skipping a bunch of the counter service places I want to try (as usual, lol)

 

[Belle2006beauty]

Just a couple more weeks until most of us can make dining reservations! (And my birthday!) What does everyone have planned for dining on their trips? I have way too many meals planned! I'm betting we'll end up sharing a bunch of meals and skipping a bunch of the counter service places I want to try (as usual, lol)

Hope you have a nice upcoming birthday!

As far as reservations are concerned we are hoping to book the Blue Bayou for our anniversary day (I have a gift themed to it) and possibly a WOC dinner package. We thought about the dessert party, but I just don't know if I can wrap my mind around the expense. Mostly our plan was quick service places and sharing food so that we could try more stuff. Thanks to Pinterest I have a huge list of snack stuff I want to try. You?

 

[mcuoghi]

Right now I'm planning on WOC dinner package at Wine Country, PTN package at Blue Bayou, and Goofy's Kitchen (for our arrival night!). Plus I want to try the Fried Chicken at the Plaza Inn. And have a corn dog. I have a feeling we won't have to worry about being hungry this trip!

 

[OneThree]

The wife really wants to do the Blue Bayou package but I'm thinking the kids won't enjoy that? Would Aladdin be better?

 

[mcuoghi]

The wife really wants to do the Blue Bayou package but I'm thinking the kids won't enjoy that? Would Aladdin be better?

DS is 5, DD is 7. I've showed them video/pictures, they think it's neat. They also are not very picky eaters. Of course I'm hoping for a waterside table so we can watch the boats. Plus, I personally was not excited over the dinner choice for Aladdin's.

 

[Disney_Alli]

We really want to eat (and drink) at Cove Cafe so that's where we're going to head after we upgrade our 5-day hoppers on the first day. We have a breakfast and a lunch planned at Carnation Cafe (different days) we're doing the PtN package at Blue Bayou because it was on hubby's list anyway. We're having dinner at Ralph Brennan's on our relaxing slow day so that we get out of the parks early. We also have a lunch at each Cafe Orleans and Carthay Circle PLUS we're doing the WoC DP one night... And I have a huge list of Counter Service places we need to try too - including Rancho del Zocalo which I loved that first two times I was there and missed out on during my last trip.

The funny thing is that when I'm hot or busy I don't get hungry that often which is why so many restaurants I want to try I've never eaten at - I just skip meals on trips and never notice (another reason we do a LOT of sit down lunches - we get a built in A/C break and I remember to eat at least once a day)

 

[Belle2006beauty]

That's a really good point about getting hot and needing the a/c breaks.

 

[Disney_Alli]

That's a really good point about getting hot and needing the a/c breaks.

We spend 3 weeks in WDW last August for our wedding and honeymoon and those sit down lunches really saved us - especially the first week when I had 4 days to show 6 newbies around the 4 WDW parks and we went practically rope drop to fireworks. We'd take at least an hour to just chill for every lunch and that gave us the energy to keep going.

 

[JessiLynn015]

My birthday is approaching as well and falls just before I have to make our FP+ reservations.

As far as restaurants go, we only plan on doing a dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. We are on the dining plan for the WDW portion of the trip, so we thought our DLR trip would have less of a rigid schedule.

 

[Disney_Alli]

My birthday is approaching as well and falls just before I have to make our FP+ reservations.

As far as restaurants go, we only plan on doing a dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. We are on the dining plan for the WDW portion of the trip, so we thought our DLR trip would have less of a rigid schedule.

Our trip last summer had me making FP+ reservations a week before my birthday. It just kept the excitement building all summer long. One of the nice things about DL is that the dining is so much more relaxed than WDW and most places you can get in to if you're willing to wait or you can stick mostly to their very good counter service options. I also noticed the other day that UVA/Catal are on OpenTable if you use that at all and reservations through them wouldn't have the cancellation penalty that DL ones do.

 

[bcwife76]

We haven't really thought about dining reservations yet but our reservation window doesn't open til the end of June so we still have time. We already have tickets for Medieval Times for the night we arrive.

 

[Disney_Alli]

We haven't really thought about dining reservations yet but our reservation window doesn't open til the end of June so we still have time. We already have tickets for Medieval Times for the night we arrive.

That's fun! Have you done Medieval Times before?

 

[OneThree]

Speaking of advance reservations? How early can you book a pool cabana reservation?

 

[Disney_Alli]

Speaking of advance reservations? How early can you book a pool cabana reservation?

My understanding is 60 days - same as dining but I could be wrong. I've never done it and it's been replaced in our plans so I won't be calling.

 

[bcwife76]

That's fun! Have you done Medieval Times before?

Yes, once - years ago! Like probably 15 years or so?! It was my husbands' first trip to Disneyland (he was my boyfriend back then!) and we went there for dinner one night. Looking forward to the show and seeing what my kids thinks of it!

 

[Disney_Alli]

Yes, once - years ago! Like probably 15 years or so?! It was my husbands' first trip to Disneyland (he was my boyfriend back then!) and we went there for dinner one night. Looking forward to the show and seeing what my kids thinks of it!

I haven't done it since I was a teenager - we went to the show in Toronto twice.