Our 2nd Family Trip, an introduction and a question!

[Honeybee1983]

HI everyone! I wanted to introduce myself officially even though I already posted on May countdown! HI, I'm Melissa, aka honeybee1983! I'm planning our 2nd family trip to Disneyland for April 30th-May 5th! We are gonna stay at the Hojo. I am BEYOND excited!! I've been to Disney quite a bit myself from early childhood, but as for my husband and kids, their first time was April of last year! It was an amazing trip! I actually lurked on this board planning our trip...and also after we got home, sulking because we had to leave! LOL Anyway, the tips and hints I gathered here were priceless! We has SUCH an awesome time and my kids STILL talk about it everyday! I got 'em hooked! YES! Disney addicts for LIFE! I mean is that a bad thing, really? I don't think so! hehe Thank you everyone on here for all for your help/tips and your lovely trip reports! I am actually not really sure why I didn't join the board earlier? Shy I guess! LOL Anyway, I have finally convinced the hubs (who still doesn't quite get the magic yet, but thank God he loves me a lot!) that it's time for another trip!! I cannot wait! We are keeping it a secret from our 3 little ones until we get off the plane and board the Disneyland Resort Express!! We are gonna be sneaky and tell them we are going to visit Grandma! But they will know where we are REALLY going when they see that fun, colorful Disneyland bus pull up! Can't wait to see their faces and hear their squeals of delight!! Hopefully I can keep the secret! I have almost slipped twice already, and I've got THREE months left! LOL Anyway, onto my question: So, like I said, we are staying at the Hojo, and I know that hotel is a board fave here, but what I want to know is what do you all do for breakfast? Anyone buy it from their little mainstreet cafe/gift shop? If so, how are the prices? Any other suggestions for good but not too crazy expensive breakfast?? Thanks! Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

 

[GrandBob]

When we stay at HoJo's (our favorite place!), we eat breakfast nearly every morning at Mimi's. Huge breakfasts for a reasonable price. They have a kid's menu, but you may want to order 2 or 3 adult meals to share among your 5. Sign up for their email newsletter online, and they'll send specials via email.

-Bob

 

[annadette]

Hi honeybee! We already met on the May thread, but I think I can give you some advice, or at least let you know what my family is planning to do. This is going to be our 5th trip to Disneyland (but only our 2nd with 2 kids, and the second trip that we drove all the way). My DH got hooked on DL during our first trip, so it's always pretty easy for me to twist his arm and get him to plan a trip with me - especially since we don't have to fly anymore, and he loves to drive. He didn't have much of a childhood, so he says that being at DL helps him to recapture some of the days he never had. He gets really emotional when it's time to leave to go home too, so we always have plans for another visit on the backburner! Anyway, this is our first time at the Hojo's too, and I am so excited. In the past, our hotels have always had breakfast available, but for the most part, it's usually just cereal, toast, apples, oranges and sort-of-dry pastries. The only place that had a really good breakfast that I've stayed at was the Candy Cane Inn, and financially, it just wasn't in the cards this time. In any event, we usually do a couple of Character Breakfasts during our trip, but those are really expensive so I am not planning on doing them more than once or twice this time! Since we have a fridge and coffeemaker in our room, I think I am going to order a small load of groceries from Von's (the Safeway - your first order is free delivery!) We were thinking of bread, cereal, muffins and poptarts, and milk, plus some snacks for the park. As long as the kids get a bowl of cereal in the morning, they're usually good to go until lunch. Plus, you can order any fruit too - apples, bananas or things you can just grab and eat as you walk to the gate in the morning. I think doing it this way will save a lot of money. Remember, you'll be walking past a Mcdonald's and a super-expensive IHOP everyday, and although it will be tempting, eating there all the time will probably increase price (not to mention fat-content!) of any breakfast! I've heard the store at hojo's has absolutely everything you might need, but I've also heard that they are pretty pricey. Good for anything you might have forgotten, maybe. They do have cereal cups and cereal bars and stuff like that too. Not sure about milk, but they probably have that too! Anyway, that's kinda what I've got planned. Hope my advice helps! Only 3 months to go - can you believe it????EEEEKKKK!!!

 

[skiingfast]

When we stay at HoJo's (our favorite place!), we eat breakfast nearly every morning at Mimi's.

If not Mimi's, McDonalds is the way to and from the parks as well.
Coupon in this link.

There is also a Millie's, similar to Mimi's though I haven't eaten there, but some people like to go in and grab a muffin to eat on the way to the gates.

 

[Brady's Mom]

This is what we do when we stay at HoJo. We usually drive, so we bring breakfast food with us. That way we have what our kids like and what we like and we don't have to take our chances on being able to find it. We also have a "skinny" cooler that we bring that holds 2 gallon jugs. We buy OJ and a gallon of milk and keep it in the cooler on ice. There are ice machines at HoJo that are easily accessible. We empty the cooler regularly (bathtub) and re-fill it to keep our stuff fresh and REALLY cold.

This frees up the fridge for water bottles (a few), lunch meat, fruit and vegies and any take out that we may have.

There are plenty of storage drawers to hold our non-perishable food that we bring - so we can keep our space fairly clean.

What we bring for breakfast - cereal, oatmeal, frozen breakfast sandwiches (DS and DH love them), yogurt and hot chocolate packets.

For lunch - lunch meat, lettuce, tomato, spreads, fruit, vegies (carrots/celery), chips and cookies.

It works for us and saves us a trip to the store when we get there. This only works when we drive. It gets expensive to fly 5 people roundtrip so we usually drive it instead - it takes us about 10 hours.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We bring breakfast foods with us.

If you want snacks and waters too you may want to place an order with Von's and they'll deliver it to Hojos.

 

[Honeybee1983]

Thanks everyone for the great advice!! Unfortunately we can't bring too much with us as we will be flying...wish we could drive to be cheaper, but we live about 22hours away! The suggestions of Mimi's (LOVE that place!) and Vons are wonderful! My sister may be coming with us and she has special dietary needs, so we may NEED to order from Vons anyway. Thank you Skiingfast for the coupon link too! We will definitely at least use the mcyd's one! I am getting sooo excited for this trip! And I am THRILLED with the booking of our hotel room! It's actually official now!! Let the planning commence!!!