***Official DLR September & October 2022 Check-in Thread***

[jenergy]

How fun! If you haven't thought about it already, I highly recommend ordering a birthday cake at a restaurant for him. I've done that for both of my kids and one time Mickey made a huge deal about, leading a parade of characters to our table and the entire restaurant staff sang. Of course if your little is frightened of big characters it might be traumatic. lol

That sounds amazing! How far ahead did you have to order the cake? I am not sure if he is afraid of big characters - only one way to find out!

 

[roflclaw]

I love your guys' mini trip plans! For us -- I grabbed my mom's flight today, $162 roundtrip from Sacramento to Long Beach. I think it's the best we'll find so I couldn't let it go in hopes of something better. ..so long as nothing gets cancelled

Our Schedule is looking like --
Monday: boyfriend and I drive down, leave 2-3am and get there around 9a. Check in, leave bags, head to CA Adventures. Mom's flight comes in at 8p. (pick her up? have her take taxi? Haven't thought these through yet)
Tuesday: first full day, Disneyland!
Wednesday: Also Disneyland! -- our only EMH time assuming the days would be the same
Thursday: OBB (presumably), non park day. Boyfriend's meeting with online friends who live down south and my mom and I will take a day of resort rest/pool/shopping.
Friday: Drop mom off at the airport around 9a and head out.. getting home around 5/6.

Reservations:
Cafe Orleans *** the only super important one
Blue Bayou
Lamplight? - maybe late lunch/early dinner on party night when it's super busy from guests mixing
Carnation Cafe - breakfast Wednesday maybe?

If they move onto daily seatings by then .. I think an attempt to book the Chef's Counter would be our "big" reservation.

Traveling during the week means we lose out on fireworks/nighttime things. Since my mom wants 2 DL days she misses out on the WOC dessert party and while I'd love to do it again, I'm not sure if I wanna spent $170+ for just the two of us -- especially if we need to pick her up from the airport. It'd be a dream if they did it for Villainous though!

Must Do's:
boardwalk pizza & pasta -- BF has been (not so) patiently waiting for his beloved sun-dried chicken pasta.
cafe orleans -- he wants his jambalaya and frites
corn dogs as snacks allows me to eat more corn dogs (it's science)
CHEDDAR BAGEL TWIST
sitting around and drawing characters
train rides
photos! -- the last time my mom went with us we didn't take many pictures as a group and as it's more than likely her last trip ever I want to get the most pictures as possible
sandwiches at riverbelle terrace (why are most of our must-do's food?? )
buying a bunch of art to bring home

Rides:
go with the flooooow~ planning on grabbing G+ each day but other than Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Toad's Wild Ride (cursed to get stuck on this each trip), RSR, & the new ones in GE and Avenger's Campus we don't have any must-dos. Hoping to get as much as we can in and if it's not a ton, that's okay too.

I still need to book our dogs for boarding, figure out if my mom's driving to the airport or getting a ride from a neighbor, research some ECV stuff for her... oh and I should probably get tickets sometime since our reservation window begins in 23 days

 

[ColoradoLime]

That sounds amazing! How far ahead did you have to order the cake? I am not sure if he is afraid of big characters - only one way to find out!

We did at the same time as our dining reservations so 60 days out.

 

[ColoradoLime]

sandwiches at riverbelle terrace (why are most of our must-do's food?? )

I have a whole separate list of must have foods...probably should add it here too lol

 

[ColoradoLime]

Well, I did it. I booked a room at the Disneyland Hotel. I was originally going to make this a budget trip but was conflicted because I think about all the travels we've done in recent years and the older I get the more I put prefer comfort and convenience to being thrifty.

The EMH coming back slightly swayed me but also I just kept thinking about how much we've loved staying onsite at the other parks. Decided to just do it and reserve a room while there was one. I've kept our Westin reservation as a back up in case something changes. But I'm happy with my magical choice. I think I'm going to keep the change a secret from the kids and wait until we get there for them to discover.

 

[katyringo]

It's a Monday morning in May. I'm an educator. I'm gonna need the next 164 days to go a little faster, okay?

 

[katyringo]

Well, I did it. I booked a room at the Disneyland Hotel. I was originally going to make this a budget trip but was conflicted because I think about all the travels we've done in recent years and the older I get the more I put prefer comfort and convenience to being thrifty.

The EMH coming back slightly swayed me but also I just kept thinking about how much we've loved staying onsite at the other parks. Decided to just do it and reserve a room while there was one. I've kept our Westin reservation as a back up in case something changes. But I'm happy with my magical choice. I think I'm going to keep the change a secret from the kids and wait until we get there for them to discover.

Ahhhhhh! So exciting. I'm a little jealous

 

[ColoradoLime]

Ahhhhhh! So exciting. I'm a little jealous

Still time for you to do it! Lol

 

[katyringo]

Still time for you to do it! Lol

Girl... did you just read that I'm an educator?!? Lmao... I need a second job!

 

[ColoradoLime]

Girl... did you just read that I'm an educator?!? Lmao... I need a second job!

Haha I definitely missed that. I get it. I do consider this a splurge as we might not go back for a long time.

 

[ColoradoLime]

All - I just posted a new link on the first post, but will post here too. This is a great article with some basic tips and some expert tips.
https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/maximize-your-time-disneyland/

 

[katyringo]

Sooo..

I was snooping at hotels today. I am 99% sure we are going to keep our rate. We got an amazing deal. Sorry if you have heard me write about it before.. but we snagged 6 nights with 5 day 1 park per day WITH GENIE + at The Anaheim hotel for $2800... FOR ALL 4 OF US (2 adults, 1 10 year old and a 6 year old). This was a Disney Package and was cheaper than booking direct with hotel. The price has gone up a lot since...

In my snooping...The prices on all the hotels for our dates has really gone up! I am anticipating busy days in the Parks. Its the typical fall break time (that is why we chose these dates!). Luckily navigating a busy park is not new to me. Our first trip was December 26-29, 2017! Second Trip was Thanksgiving 2018, and our last trip was 4th of July 2019.
The parks hit capacity multiple times our first trip. but we had an awesome awesome trip thanks to these boards and planning.

 

[Cal-Pie]

Sooo..

I was snooping at hotels today. I am 99% sure we are going to keep our rate. We got an amazing deal. Sorry if you have heard me write about it before.. but we snagged 6 nights with 5 day 1 park per day WITH GENIE + at The Anaheim hotel for $2800... FOR ALL 4 OF US (2 adults, 1 10 year old and a 6 year old). This was a Disney Package and was cheaper than booking direct with hotel. The price has gone up a lot since...

In my snooping...The prices on all the hotels for our dates has really gone up! I am anticipating busy days in the Parks. Its the typical fall break time (that is why we chose these dates!). Luckily navigating a busy park is not new to me. Our first trip was December 26-29, 2017! Second Trip was Thanksgiving 2018, and our last trip was 4th of July 2019.
The parks hit capacity multiple times our first trip. but we had an awesome awesome trip thanks to these boards and planning.

I have no doubt that October will be slammed. During my flight debacle over the weekend, I looked at changing dates, and my hotel (BWPPI) was already booked completely for several of the days I was considering changing to. Other hotels have sharply raised rates since I booked. I always book early, even when I'm not 100% sure the trip will actually happen.

 

[disland7]

Oct 13-19 at Villas at GrandCalifornian. Trying to decide which day I want to book the Halloween party. Between Thursday/Saturday/Sunday/Tuesday - which one is best? Why?

 

[ColoradoLime]

Oct 13-19 at Villas at GrandCalifornian. Trying to decide which day I want to book the Halloween party. Between Thursday/Saturday/Sunday/Tuesday - which one is best? Why?

Honestly I think the best day is which ever one you can get into. Sales were a mess last year. Who knows if it will hold true but I think last year the weekend dates were the more expensive tickets...but they're all expensive. lol

 

[upritbass]

VGC 9/26-30. One OBB night.

 

[katyringo]

Oct 13-19 at Villas at GrandCalifornian. Trying to decide which day I want to book the Halloween party. Between Thursday/Saturday/Sunday/Tuesday - which one is best? Why?

I honestly think it doesn't matter which one. They will all sell out. We are aiming for Sunday the 16th because it's in the middle of the trip

 

[ColoradoLime]

VGC 9/26-30. One OBB night.

Got you down!

 

[ColoradoLime]

I thought it might be fun to post a Question Of The Week to keep the group lively and the excitement going. Join in if you'd like!

QOTW for the week of 3/2/22: This first one will actually be a two parter -

Introduce yourself, share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with.

&

How long has it been since you were last at any Disney park or is this your first time at DL or any park?

I'll put my answer in a different post.

 

[ColoradoLime]

Introduce yourself, share as much or as little as you feel comfortable with.

&

How long has it been since you were last at any Disney park or is this your first time at DL or any park?

I'm Emily - from Denver. Have a hubby and two kiddos, DD 20 and DS 12. We're big Disney fans and it's killing us to have to wait until October. But we're so excited for Halloween! (As if you couldn't tell!) I have a very stressful job right now so October seems so far away but I'm so looking forward to being away from anything work related!

We were last in DL Paris in 2017 but haven't been to DL California since 2013. My son was a toddler back then so I'm excited for him to experience all the rides he couldn't before. Especially Radiator Springs Racers. He's going to love that one! I came across this pic of us last time we were there, totally planning on recreating it on this trip. I think it was in front of either Splash Mountain or Grizzly River Run. Not sure exactly. (Maybe someone else recognizes the water fall.)