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

[tygersclaw]

Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought our parkhoppers today! Even with our crappy exchange rate, it was still a better deal to get them from Orbitz by going through ebates.ca since they are offering 7.5% cash back for activities.

I've now pre-paid for our flights, hotel and parkhoppers so the only out of pocket money we will spend will be in the parks!

23 days to go and counting!

I am like you. I have flight, ground transportation, hotel, and park passes and will be watching the CDN $ for the next bit to see how it fairs.

Right now we are $0.83 USD but by the end of February when I go south, the $$ could be as low as $0.77 so I am thinking of buying my USD now in anticipation of the CDN $$ continued decline.

 

[KalamityJane]

Now I'm super excited! I had a friend rent points for the VGC for May for her friend and they cancelled... so she offered them up and we're going again May 10-14! Yay!! All the refurbs should be pretty much done then, I'm guessing. So even if we miss something at this trip, we can hit it in May!

 

[Aladora]

Now I'm super excited! I had a friend rent points for the VGC for May for her friend and they cancelled... so she offered them up and we're going again May 10-14! Yay!! All the refurbs should be pretty much done then, I'm guessing. So even if we miss something at this trip, we can hit it in May!

That IS exciting news!

 

[amberCPA]

I'm a newcomer to this thread as we just booked our trip! We were supposed to go last September for 1/2 Marathon / Labor Day weekend, but we closed escrow on our house the same week and had to cancel our trip.

We'll be in the parks 2/22-2/27 with a day in the middle at LEGOLAND and we'll be staying at the Peacock Suites for the second time. We love the Peacock Suites, it's a bit of a walk, but all of the rooms are one-bedrooms so we can close the door while the girls sleep in the evening.

We're still debating, but I think we're going to upgrade our 4-day park hopper tix to Deluxe Annual Passes. Our girls will be a month or two shy of 2 and 5 years old on this trip and are excited to go more often! We're coming from the Sacramento area, so not a super long trip for an extended weekend to use our passes throughout the year.

I'm disappointed in the closures as this is the first trip my oldest is 40 inches, (she's 40.5" with no shoes), FINALLY, but we'll be back, so we'll catch what we miss another time. Thanks Jasy for the rec on renting a stroller from City Stroller Rentals, just reserved our double stroller so that we can leave our GIGANTIC Double Bob at home! That means we probably won't need a Thule on top of the car either....HUGE Plus when it comes to parking!

For those of you ditching the strollers with your 4+ year olds....We've found that it is sooo much easier to have the stroller, even if our 4+ year old isn't in it much. She gets tired of walking, and starts whining and has melt downs, where if we just have her jump in the stroller from ride to ride now and then, or to and from the hotel, our days are much more enjoyable!! Obviously it helps that we NEED the stroller for our youngest, but the double is a lifesaver for our family!

Getting excited for our trip!!!

 

[Aladora]

I'm a newcomer to this thread as we just booked our trip! We were supposed to go last September for 1/2 Marathon / Labor Day weekend, but we closed escrow on our house the same week and had to cancel our trip.

We'll be in the parks 2/22-2/27 with a day in the middle at LEGOLAND and we'll be staying at the Peacock Suites for the second time. We love the Peacock Suites, it's a bit of a walk, but all of the rooms are one-bedrooms so we can close the door while the girls sleep in the evening.

We're still debating, but I think we're going to upgrade our 4-day park hopper tix to Deluxe Annual Passes. Our girls will be a month or two shy of 2 and 5 years old on this trip and are excited to go more often! We're coming from the Sacramento area, so not a super long trip for an extended weekend to use our passes throughout the year.

I'm disappointed in the closures as this is the first trip my oldest is 40 inches, (she's 40.5" with no shoes), FINALLY, but we'll be back, so we'll catch what we miss another time. Thanks Jasy for the rec on renting a stroller from City Stroller Rentals, just reserved our double stroller so that we can leave our GIGANTIC Double Bob at home! That means we probably won't need a Thule on top of the car either....HUGE Plus when it comes to parking!

For those of you ditching the strollers with your 4+ year olds....We've found that it is sooo much easier to have the stroller, even if our 4+ year old isn't in it much. She gets tired of walking, and starts whining and has melt downs, where if we just have her jump in the stroller from ride to ride now and then, or to and from the hotel, our days are much more enjoyable!! Obviously it helps that we NEED the stroller for our youngest, but the double is a lifesaver for our family!

Getting excited for our trip!!!

Welcome to the thread, I've added your info to the first post!

 

[KalamityJane]

I agree with the stroller, we are bringing our Mountain Buggy and 2 Kinderpacks for our 3 kids

 

[StyledSugar]

I literally stare at the calendar several times a day now I can't wait for our vacation! Putting together a few ideas for my son's birthday in the park and trying to decide what to put in his birthday bag. We opted to do a bag of assorted items this year instead of taking gifts with us.

My son loves to pin trade so we're going to get some pins but aren't really sure what else to add into it. All items will be purchased while hubby (fiancé - same thing lol) and I are doing our "date night" together in the park, while the kids are off doing their own thing. My son will be 12. Any suggestions?

 

[Aladora]

I literally stare at the calendar several times a day now I can't wait for our vacation! Putting together a few ideas for my son's birthday in the park and trying to decide what to put in his birthday bag. We opted to do a bag of assorted items this year instead of taking gifts with us.

My son loves to pin trade so we're going to get some pins but aren't really sure what else to add into it. All items will be purchased while hubby (fiancé - same thing lol) and I are doing our "date night" together in the park, while the kids are off doing their own thing. My son will be 12. Any suggestions?

Suggestions for gifts ideas for your son or for your date night with your husband?

 

[XMom]

Thank you. I always tell my staff "Google is your friend".....I should take my own advice before asking the question lol I found this:

All of the rooms include a refrigerator (a mini-fridge in the hotel rooms and studios; a full-size fridge in the villas).

So yes, we will be bringing a box of cereal with us. I wonder how difficult it would be to get plastic spoons and bowls there? We can bring our own but if anyone has been able to get some while there, then I would love to know how!

If you go to White Water Snacks at the Grand, they have paper plates, plastic ware and jelly in the afternoons. I believe in the morning they have peanut butter out in the tiny packages. They also have a toaster and microwave to use.

Sometimes we get PB in the morning and then grab jelly in the afternoon and pack bread in our carrying so that we can make PB&J sandwiches for snack.

We just left yesterday so feel free to ask any questions.

 

[StyledSugar]

Suggestions for gifts ideas for your son or for your date night with your husband?

Gift ideas. We already have a fabulous date night planned! BB w/Fantasmic seating!

I was just hoping someone would know of something kind of different. Just looking for suggestions

If you go to White Water Snacks at the Grand, they have paper plates, plastic ware and jelly in the afternoons. I believe in the morning they have peanut butter out in the tiny packages. They also have a toaster and microwave to use.

Sometimes we get PB in the morning and then grab jelly in the afternoon and pack bread in our carrying so that we can make PB&J sandwiches for snack.

We just left yesterday so feel free to ask any questions.

Good to know. Did you notice any bowls there?

 

[Larissa]

Styled Sugar:
This was on the Disneyland website for celebrating birthdays:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/birthdays/

Perhaps you could let him pick the first and last rides of the day and give him a gift card? Not very creative, I know.

 

[AZMermaid]

My daughter turns 3 on 2/15. Our trip is 2/7-2/10. Is it weird to get her a birthday button? I am almost thinking about not getting it, because it might open up "How old are you?" 3. Where's your ticket? "Oh, well, she's not actually 3 till next week." I am bringing a copy of her birth certificate just in case we need it, but from what I have read, we won't.

Just FYI, I emailed about the side walkways around the castle. I was told the Wishing Well side is under refub as well for an undetermined ammount of time, but the Fantasy Faire/old Carnation stage side (I hope that makes sense, we haven't been there since they moved FF) was a day to day decision based on the castle refurb. It might be open, it might not. Helpful She said the best, most consistent way into Fantasyland is going to be by Alice.

 

[XMom]

Good to know. Did you notice any bowls there?

Didn't happen to notice. We had cheap bowls from the dollar satire that we packed for soup. We packed a lot of food in our one suitcase so we didn't have to buy every meal. We were in a studio villa so we had a microwave in our room.

 

[anniebean]

23 more sleeps. This will be our delayed honeymoon, first visit for both of us, AND my first plane ride. Time seems to go slower the closer we get to the date!

 

[AmberStar]

For those of you ditching the strollers with your 4+ year olds....We've found that it is sooo much easier to have the stroller, even if our 4+ year old isn't in it much. She gets tired of walking, and starts whining and has melt downs, where if we just have her jump in the stroller from ride to ride now and then, or to and from the hotel, our days are much more enjoyable!! Obviously it helps that we NEED the stroller for our youngest, but the double is a lifesaver for our family!

THIS! My boys are 4 and 5 and we ONLY use a stroller at Disneyland. The place is SO big and we don't take mid day naps so the kiddos get tired and its a lot of walking for them!! Even my 8 year old hitched a ride a couple times. Seriously though, the stroller made us get from place to place much quicker than waiting for my 4 year olds little feet to keep up. He tends to move at a snail pace and gets distracted easily so the stroller was a must!! Oh, and the safety it provides in large crowds (like after fireworks or fantasmic)... Its so easy to lose those little kiddos in a big mob.

 

[Eira]

I'm not sure if this has been asked already, but could someone recommend a good grocery store near Disneyland? I saw a few on google maps, but have no idea which one might be decent! We plan on getting breakfast foods and snacks when we get there. TIA

 

[Gisele]

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http://www.vons.com/ShopStores/Shopping-Help

http://grocery-delivery.vons.com/ca/anaheim.html

 

[Gisele]

Didn't happen to notice. We had cheap bowls from the dollar satire that we packed for soup. We packed a lot of food in our one suitcase so we didn't have to buy every meal. We were in a studio villa so we had a microwave in our room.

Hmm....dollar satire. Is that quite possibly of any relation to Dollar Tree? Kind of sounds too, like some kind of Greek tragedy. Only in America of course.



Lol

 

[cijay]

MIGHT be there that week, depends if there will be a last minute deal at a travel agency somewhere.

I have a very stressful first week of Feb and will need to de-stress. Wherever the good last minutes are is where I'll be and Disneyland is a good place to de-stress.

 

[Aladora]

My daughter turns 3 on 2/15. Our trip is 2/7-2/10. Is it weird to get her a birthday button? I am almost thinking about not getting it, because it might open up "How old are you?" 3. Where's your ticket? "Oh, well, she's not actually 3 till next week." I am bringing a copy of her birth certificate just in case we need it, but from what I have read, we won't.

Here are my thoughts on this. I would get the button since you are there to celebrate her birthday. Even if she doesn't wear it while you are in DL, she can always wear it at home on her actual birthday!

I'm not sure if this has been asked already, but could someone recommend a good grocery store near Disneyland? I saw a few on google maps, but have no idea which one might be decent! We plan on getting breakfast foods and snacks when we get there. TIA

As someone else posted, you can get food delivered but just be aware that Von's has a $49 minimum order. I've asked around for other places that deliver but have yet to find one so we use Von's. So that I can get our order to the minimum, I buy things like sunscreen and shampoo instead of packing them from home.

MIGHT be there that week, depends if there will be a last minute deal at a travel agency somewhere.

I have a very stressful first week of Feb and will need to de-stress. Wherever the good last minutes are is where I'll be and Disneyland is a good place to de-stress.

I agree, Disneyland is a great place to de-stress! Hope you find a great deal!