*****Official February 2015 Thread! Come check in and chat!*****

[StyledSugar]

I wish I could pre-purchase Disney gift cards but since I am in Canada, there is really no easy way to do it.

Aladora,
I'm not sure if this is an option for you in Canada?...but several of the gift cards I puchased for Downtown Disney Restaurants (Like Ralph Bennans Jazz Kitchen etc) gave options to have gift certificates emailed to you instead of being mailed. Maybe this could work for you too

This is a great time to do so, because many restaraunts are offering bonus gift cards for certain $ amount purchased prior to Dec 31st...due to Holidays & most require bonus gift cards be used by end of Feb or end of March--which works perfect for our Feb trips.

Obviously no bonus ones for Disney gift cards...but still prepurchasing these for restaurants that don't offer their own gift cards...like Blue Bayou etc.

The emailing option is something I will definitely look into since I'm in Canada too! I will check and report back for the rest of us Canucks lol

 

[AZMermaid]

Oh really who was it? I love weight watchers. I actually lost 50 on my own before making the show and ww is what I did

Ummm.... I can't remember her name. The woman who was the first woman to win. They hung out at the same bar before she was on the show, lol! I want to say my sister was friends with her partner. Good luck!

My must do that is off the radar of a lot of people is to take in the flag retreat ceremony on Main St. It happens around dusk and is beautiful.

 

[StyledSugar]

Yes, you can purchase the Jazz Kitchen ones as e-certificates if you are in Canada! If you purchase them by December 30th, then you get an additional $25 bonus certificate for every $100 e-certificate you buy!

It says on one of the pages that gift cards are not available outside of the US but I believe that just means the physical cards and not the e-certificate. I purchased the $100 and received the $25 bonus one. They came to my inbox.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ummm.... I can't remember her name. The woman who was the first woman to win. They hung out at the same bar before she was on the show, lol! I want to say my sister was friends with her partner. Good luck!

My must do that is off the radar of a lot of people is to take in the flag retreat ceremony on Main St. It happens around dusk and is beautiful.

Ali Vincent?

 

[AZMermaid]

Yes!

 

[junebug18]

I used to watch The Biggest Loser! I haven't in a few years though. How fun that you were on the show!

It was quite the experience

 

[junebug18]

Love that show! Judging by your location and the ages of your children, I take it you're Emmy Lou (looked on TBL website lol)?

As for must dos, I'd say definitely try to watch Fantasmic, take in a character breakfast (I am assuming it's after the finale that you are going lol) and most importantly, just take it all in and enjoy the park. My kids love pin trading, so that's something to consider. Oh who am I kidding, DH and I love it too lol It gives you something else to do in the park and we have so much fun doing it!

Lol yep that's me! I bet my kids would love to get into the pin trading. We are hoping to hit a breakfast just not sure which yet

 

[StyledSugar]

For those interested, right now you can purchase Cheesecake Factory e-cards and for every $25 you spend, you get a free slice of cheesecake! Valid from 1/1/2015 - 3/29/15. Offer ends on December 31, 2014.

https://thecheesecakefactory.cashstar.com/gift-card/buy/?ref=tcf1

 

[StyledSugar]

Lol yep that's me! I bet my kids would love to get into the pin trading. We are hoping to hit a breakfast just not sure which yet

Congrats for doing the show! Unreal how much you guys go through and I'm sure we don't see the half of it lol I'll be cheering you on while watching the finale!

My kids go into it when they were probably about your kids ages. It's been a lot of fun for us!

As for a character breakfast, our favorite is Minnie and Friends in the park. Lots of characters and great food!

 

[Aladora]

Aladora,
I'm not sure if this is an option for you in Canada?...but several of the gift cards I puchased for Downtown Disney Restaurants (Like Ralph Bennans Jazz Kitchen etc) gave options to have gift certificates emailed to you instead of being mailed. Maybe this could work for you too

This is a great time to do so, because many restaraunts are offering bonus gift cards for certain $ amount purchased prior to Dec 31st...due to Holidays & most require bonus gift cards be used by end of Feb or end of March--which works perfect for our Feb trips.

Obviously no bonus ones for Disney gift cards...but still prepurchasing these for restaurants that don't offer their own gift cards...like Blue Bayou etc.

Thanks for the info but what I meant by pre-purchasing Disney cards was how at US Targets you can get Disney gift cards at 5% off which we can't do up here in Canada. That's likely because of the whole exchange issue but it still sucks!

To answer the question about budgets and saving:

I don't tend to budget that much for our trips but whenever I get some extra $, I put it aside for vacations. We had a play structure in our yard that DS had outgrown that I sold for $300, when the woman came and picked it up I took the cash and dropped in into a piggy bank and that went towards our August trip. Any money I "earn" through ebates, along with any $ I get through Swagbucks gets put aside. British Columbia teachers went out strike in June and they did not go back until the end of September and our lovely Provincial government, in an attempt to appease parents, paid $40/day per child for every day the kids missed. That ended up being $520 which went right towards this trip. Between ebates and Swagbucks, I have another $210 and by the time we go I should easily add another $100 or so to that total. Now that we have a Keurig at work, I've been taking the cash I would have spent on my daily Starbucks and added that to my savings, I think there is a couple of hundred in there already.

But...getting 5% off Disney cards at Target would still be nice!

 

[MG3G]

Hey what is the info on the %5 off at target? I haven't ever heard of that... can those cards be used for anything in the parks? How about tickets?

I have money saved for our food etc in American but if I can "make" 5% by making a quick pit stop at Target on our way to the airport in Seattle then we will leave a few minutes sooner!

 

[thatgrljme]

Hey what is the info on the %5 off at target? I haven't ever heard of that... can those cards be used for anything in the parks? How about tickets? I have money saved for our food etc in American but if I can "make" 5% by making a quick pit stop at Target on our way to the airport in Seattle then we will leave a few minutes sooner!

You get 5% off all purchases with a Target Credit or Debit card. They are just Disney gift cards and I believe can be used to purchase anything where credit cards are accepted.

 

[onceinalifetimedct]

Just found this thread. We are travelling to DLR in February. I am totally overwhelmed by pretty much everything.

Can someone help me with Fantastic and FP and whether I should book a dining package to get the FP. I'm lost.

Also trying to figure out FP and FP+.

Sorry if this is super repetitive. I couldn't sleep last night once I got sucked into the Disney website and started to book dining packages.

 

[AZMermaid]

There is no FP+ at Disneyland. Just the traditional paper fastpass. They work sorta like an ATM. You stick your ticket in and a piece of paper comes out that says, for example, return from 10:20-11:20. When you come back, you enter the FP return line and wait under 10 min generally. It will say on the bottom of the FP what time you can get another one, but generally it is when the window opens, so 10:20 in my example. The times the FP machines are giving out will be posted, so you will know what time you are getting. I hope that helps. It sounds confusing, but after you do it once, it is easy!

 

[starjazz]

Can someone help me with Fantastic and FP and whether I should book a dining package to get the FP. I'm lost.

Disneyland is pretty easy, so don't get too overwhelmed with the planning. Just have fun with it.

Fantasmic offers 5 options for viewing, far as I can tell. From most expensive to free they are:

1. Blue Bayou dining package - about $60 per adult - includes dinner and a seat in the best viewing location, plus cushion to sit on for the show. Show up 45 minutes before show time.
2. River Belle Terrace dining pacakge - about $40 per adult - includes dinner and seat in the next best viewing location. Again, 45 minutes early to show up.
3. Hungry Bear Dessert package - about $20 per adult - includes a boatload of sweets and a good viewing location. Show up 45 minutes early.
4. Get a fastpass on the day of the show - free - reserved viewing locations by group. Show up 90-120 minutes before the show for good spot.
5. Just wing it - free - show up whenever you want and hope you can see something.

There is also an "on-the-go" meal package, runs about $20 per adult, but you just get the basic fastpass that you can get for free in the parks.

So, it just depends how much money you want to spend - how important a great view of the show is, etc. We, personally, are doing the River Belle Terrace dining package for our group.

Hope that helps!

 

[ClaraOswald]

So...the water at California Adventure will be drained while World of Color is down, right? We were there one other time it was drained. Unfortunately, it's pretty ugly.

January 2009

 

[onceinalifetimedct]

We, personally, are doing the River Belle Terrace dining package for our group.

Hope that helps!

thanks for your replies! Will you then stay and view the show from your seat at the River Belle Terrace, I read that as an option, not sure if it is a good one. Also, we will be there on a Thursday which is showing that F! plays at 7:30pm, what time would you reserve dinner for in order to see that show?

 

[Aladora]

thanks for your replies! Will you then stay and view the show from your seat at the River Belle Terrace, I read that as an option, not sure if it is a good one. Also, we will be there on a Thursday which is showing that F! plays at 7:30pm, what time would you reserve dinner for in order to see that show?

I *think* that was one of the possibilities being tossed around before the F! FP started but I can't remember reading anyone post here that they were able to do that.

 

[TinkerJR]

Christmas is over and it is time to start planing our trip! We will be in the park February 13th through the 15th. We are in NorCal so we will drive down on the 12th and drive back-up on the 16th. Hoping to avoid some of the crowds by making Presidents Day a travel day.

I will be traveling with DH, DS (11), DD (5), and our long time friends and their DS (21) and DD (16). We are all Disney semi-regulars, so we are going to have a low stress (hopefully) trip enjoying the park and the SoCal weather.

We have stayed near to the park (Desert Inn & Suites) and far (Best Western Meridian Suites). Haven't decided on a hotel yet , but actively looking.

We have moved our trip up by 1 week, so we will be there the 6th through the 8th. Looked at the park calendar and noticed that most of our passes are blocked out on the 14th & 15th!

 

[Aladora]

We have moved our trip up by 1 week, so we will be there the 6th through the 8th. Looked at the park calendar and noticed that most of our passes are blocked out on the 14th & 15th!

I've changed your dates on the first post.

I'm not sure if you are looking at booking a hotel with your friends or just for your family but the DI&S has their largest suite (up to 10 people) available for your new dates for $269/night. If you split that with your friends, it's not too bad. If you just go for a room with 2 Q, the rate is $119/night which is pretty much the same as the Best Western you mentioned.

If those are your two choices, I would definitely go for DI&S, even though the Best Western is probably nicer.