Our first trip in 2 years! A pre-TR for our Sept. trip

[MommyLove]

I’ve been completely obsessing about the DL trip today. I’ve been obsessing since I made the first hotel ressies in April, but I definitely have my REALLY obsessed days, and today’s one of ‘em. Mainly because we finally made the final decision today to spend part of our time on property! More about that later.

We had a goal to try and go at least once a year after our trip in ’05. Well, we made it again in ’06. But not in ’07. DH worked in the mortgage industry and we just couldn’t afford it that year. So we knew we were definitely going this year. We still can’t afford it really. But now it’s been 2 years since our last trip and our kids are growing up quickly! So we’re going out on a limb for this trip financially, but we want these memories for our kids. Plus we’ve been dealing with some really tough stuff over the last year so we feel like we need this trip for ALL of us.

First I’ll start with the cast of characters:
Me (Kathleen) – 30-something wife and stay-at-home mommy of three. Have lived in northern California all my life. Just close enough to visit Disneyland every now and then. Obsessive planner when it comes to Disneyland trips!

DH Ron – Lived in southern and northern California growing up and loves Disneyland too! We spent part of our honeymoon there!

DS Drew – He’ll be turning 11 two days after our trip ends.

DD Holly – She’s turning 9 on Friday!

DD Jaimee, the baby – She’ll have her 6 month “birthday” while we're there.

Here we are (before Jaimee!) in ’06:

I will try to keep planning info in green so those who want to skip the chatter will have an easier time.


So we’re going Friday Sept 12th through Sunday Sept 21st. Yes, we’re taking the kids out of school for it. They go to private school and while taking vacations during school is not encouraged, we are still the ones paying for them to go there and our philosophy is, if we want to take them out of school for a family vacation, that’s what we’re going to do. They don’t start school until the 2nd (I love it when school starts after Labor Day!) so it will be early enough that it shouldn’t be a big pain homework-wise for them to miss a week of school. We love the weather in September – warm enough during the day to wear shorts and go on the water rides, yet still “off-season”. We love the lower crowds and the lower hotel prices. The downside of course, is the refurbishments. But we will get AP’s and go at least one more time before the year is up and hit the things we miss during this trip.

Next up: Hotel Planning!

 

[MommyLove]

I made the first hotel reservations in April. At first I made them for the HoJo. That’s where we stayed in ’06 and we liked it (and we liked the entertainment rate price which I think was $59/night) But the price was pretty high for the weekend days this time around even at the entertainment rate ($110/night). And since I remember how envious we were of the people that were staying RIGHT across the street after a long day walking in the parks, I wanted to find something closer. So I ended up getting a great rate at the Park Vue. I’d looked up the prices on Expedia then called the Park Vue directly and they came very close to matching the Expedia prices. So I cancelled the HoJo reservation and make the Park Vue reservation. Yay, we’re staying RIGHT across the street! And for less $!

I started thinking more and more about trying to spend at least part of the time at the Disneyland Hotel. But I’m a frugal person. I get a big thrill out of getting the best deals and it makes more sense to me to spend so much less $ on a hotel/motel outside the park. But I still remember when I was a kid (maybe about 6?) when grandma came to stay with us and she took our family to Disneyland and she went all out and we all stayed at the Disneyland hotel. This was back in the day when the monorail went to it. Anyway, it was just so magical… like we were still in Disneyland. I wanted our two older kids to experience that at least once while they’re still young enough to love the magic in that childlike way. Plus, since we have a baby now, we will be having more downtime at the hotel instead of it just being a place to sleep like in the previous trips. And since we’re going to have eight full non-travel Disneyland days, certainly there would be enough time to lounge around a very cool themed pool like the Neverland Pool!

So when I discussed this with DH he said, ok, but let’s also spend a couple nights at the Grand Californian.



That’s seriously extravagant, but it would be special to stay there and also very cool to have that private entrance right into DCA. So, in June, I made ressies for 3 nights nights at the Disneyland Hotel and two nights at the Grand Californian!

Today we had our “decision” conversation. Do we stay the whole time at the Park Vue, or do we also spend some nights at the on property hotels? The difference in price? $800. Wow, that is a lot. I went back and forth. But in the end, DH and I both fell on the same side of the decision – to keep the on property hotel nights!

So here’s the final plan:

First four nights at the Park Vue
Next three nights at the Disneyland Hotel
Last two nights at the Grand Californian

We are so so psyched!

Coming up, more planning (including figuring out how to go with a baby!) and more pics from previous trips!

 

[JaneJetson]

I'm so jealous! I'd love to stay onsite some day. Maybe when we have kids so they can use the cute pool and stuff. But for just the two of us, and since we're never there...we're still doing offsite. We did stay onsite at the moderate WDW hotel in January and that was awesome!

I can't wait to hear more! And to see more photos!

 

[mommaU4]

Oh, I am so in for this!! LOL

First off, I have to say you are very lucky to have a DH who loves Disneyland like you do. And second, you have a lovely family.

I'm glad you made the decision to go this year. I think kids are only little for so long and you need to make magical memories while you can. There will come a time when they'd rather stay home with their friends (and dare I say boy/girlfriends!!) then be at Disney with their parents.

You'll have fun taking your 6 month old. That's how old my DS was when we first took him. And I always took my other kids (all four including the twins) when they were babies. It does take more planning, but it's worth it.

Anyway, can't wait to read more.

 

[MommyLove]

I'm so jealous! I'd love to stay onsite some day. Maybe when we have kids so they can use the cute pool and stuff. But for just the two of us, and since we're never there...we're still doing offsite. We did stay onsite at the moderate WDW hotel in January and that was awesome!

I can't wait to hear more! And to see more photos!

Thanks so much! The cool pools was part of the 'pro' argument for staying at DLH. What kid (or kid-at-heart) wouldn't love swimming in that awesome Neverland Pool!

Thanks for checking out my pre-TR so far!

 

[MommyLove]

Oh, I am so in for this!! LOL

First off, I have to say you are very lucky to have a DH who loves Disneyland like you do. And second, you have a lovely family.

Thank you! And yes, I def'ly appreciate my DH! We're so good together and think alike. He's my best friend.

I'm glad you made the decision to go this year. I think kids are only little for so long and you need to make magical memories while you can. There will come a time when they'd rather stay home with their friends (and dare I say boy/girlfriends!!) then be at Disney with their parents.

Exactly.

You'll have fun taking your 6 month old. That's how old my DS was when we first took him. And I always took my other kids (all four including the twins) when they were babies. It does take more planning, but it's worth it.

I'm a little intimidated about that part of it to be honest, but overall, I know it'll be an awesome vacation.
And can you imagine the cute pictures?!

 

[JaneJetson]

Thank you! And yes, I def'ly appreciate my DH! We're so good together and think alike. He's my best friend.



Exactly.



I'm a little intimidated about that part of it to be honest, but overall, I know it'll be an awesome vacation.
And can you imagine the cute pictures?!

My DH is a Disney fan as well. He's been going to Disneyland since he was a kid. He actually got me into all of it.

You better post all of those cute photos in your report after the trip!! I'm reading a few pre-trip reports. It's going to be nice to live vicariously through everyone else for the next few months until our trip...haha.

 

[mommaU4]

Thank you! And yes, I def'ly appreciate my DH! We're so good together and think alike. He's my best friend.

Aww, that's great and you two look like such a nice couple.


Oh, and I have to say, what the heck did you have to join our WISH thread and buy the Wii Fit for??? From what I can tell in that pic, you already look fantastic!!
(not that we don't want you with us of course. )

And yes, the pics of Jaimee and all the kids, will be totally cute. Can't wait to see them.

 

[MommyLove]

Oh, and I have to say, what the heck did you have to join our WISH thread and buy the Wii Fit for??? From what I can tell in that pic, you already look fantastic!!
(not that we don't want you with us of course. )

LOL!! Well, it was about getting in shape, not necessarily my weight. I didn't want to get all winded after a few minutes of walking about the park. Plus, that pic was taken before my pregnancy with Jaimee. I'm about 20 lbs heavier now than in that pic from two years ago.

 

[mommaU4]

LOL!! Well, it was about getting in shape, not necessarily my weight. I didn't want to get all winded after a few minutes of walking about the park. Plus, that pic was taken before my pregnancy with Jaimee. I'm about 20 lbs heavier now than in that pic from two years ago.

Well, I bet your still in great shape. How's the Wii Fit treating ya?

Sorry to already take this off topic! I'll be good from here on out.

 

[MommyLove]

So, we will be in the park for ten days in a row. YAY! Which means we will need annual passes. We will get the Deluxe since we'd never want to go on a super-crowded blackout day anyway. We're definitely off-season'rs (ok, that's not a word, but you know what I mean, heh). And we will plan at least 1 - 2 more trips before the AP's expire so we're excited about that.

But I learned about getting two MM's by getting park hoppers through GAT and since we will be spending the first 4 days off-site, we could defintely take advantage of that. So we will buy those and then upgrade to Deluxe AP's after we've moved to DLH.

Friday the 12th - a travel day, we will be getting there hopefully by 7pm
Saturday the 13th
Sunday the 14th - use 1st GAT MM
Monday the 15th
Tuesday the 16th - use 2nd GAT MM
later on that day, check in at DLH
Wednesday the 17th
Thursday the 18th - MM from DLH
Friday the 19th - check in at GC
Saturday the 20th - MM from GC
Sunday the 21st - MM from GC, head home later that afternoon

I know we could squeeze in another MM on Sat the 13th, but that would make Tuesday the 16th difficult (we'd have to check in at DLH very early) and we just don't want to make that effort, lol.


Next, some pics from our very first family trip in '03!

 

[MommyLove]

Well, I bet your still in great shape. How's the Wii Fit treating ya?

Sorry to already take this off topic! I'll be good from here on out.

Not at all! The Wii Fit has been great. I've been really good about it except for this last week. It's been really busy. But I will resume again tomorrow. Thanks for asking!!

 

[MommyLove]

I plan to do a better job of taking pics than I did for our first three family trips. One thing that will definitely help is that now I have a digital camera and I know how to use it. I will take as many pics as I want! And I will do little videos too! Note to self: get a couple extra camera cards. They're only $13 for 2GB cards last time I was at Fry's last month. Good deal I think. Also, bring the laptop so I can download the pics each day off the the card(s).

Another thing that will help is getting inspired by some of the photography threads here. I especially love looking at the Photo-of-the-Day threads (there's more than one) and the UNO Game thread. Very fun and great ideas for photos to take on the next trip!

I will also take the video camera with us. I took one with us in '03. I did only a couple very short videos and now how I wish I'd done more!


So, on this topic, here are some pics from our first family trip in 2003. I can't belive that was 5 years ago now!

Here's a pic of the kids in the hotel on the morning before their first ever day at Disneyland! They were just 4 and 6 years old! It was the PERFECT age to take them for the first time. They were old enough to really enjoy it and know what was going on and also be able to walk around on their own (we didn't take any strollers). All four of us had the most unbelievably magical and perfect trip!!

Here we are walking from the hotel to the park. Well, I'm not in the picture obviously, heh. We were all dying with excitement!

The kids' first time on the tea cups. Holly LOVED it. She also LOVED the Sun Wheel. She's my little crazy thrill-seeker. She must get it from her sky-diving, bungee-jumping mommy!

Super cute pics of Drew & Holly meeting Belle. Drew kissed Belle's hand right when he walked up to her and she thought that was so cute. So she planted one on his cheek!

Some more cute character photos:

I just love this pic of my son with his arm around Holly on the Alice ride. So so cute.

I'm pretty sure this is after we got off the Jungle Cruise ride:

in front of a cool shop in DCA:

My kids are so little and cute in these pics! It's so fun to look back at these!

 

[JaneJetson]

Those pictures are wonderful! If you have more, you should post them. Your kids are adorable. I really love the teacups photo and the one with Drew's arm around Holly is really priceless. They look like they got along really well. Are they still close even though they are older?

 

[MommyLove]

Aw thanks! I will try to post more - but it takes forevah to do that (I spent way too much time yesterday lol) and I have Holly's b-day tomorrow, then I have to get the kids ready for back to school (1st day is Tue) then get ready for the trip! I need about three of me for the next two weeks, heh.

Drew and Holly get along REALLY well. Which makes this mommy soooooooooo happy. Sure, they have their bickering moments, but they really do love each other. They still beg me to let them sleep together at night. I have to say no a lot because they just like to giggle and play so much that there's no sleeping going on.

 

[mommaU4]

Thanks for sharing the pics. I loved looking at them all but the one of Holly squealing with delight on the tea cups is just so great! She looks like she's having a blast.
And the one of Belle kissing Drew is too cute. I hope you have that framed somewhere, it's adorable.

Thanks again for sharing.

 

[mommaU4]

 

[MommyLove]

Aw, THANKS Beth! For the sweet comments and the Happy Birthday wish for Holly. Holly says, "Thank you and that was super nice. I'm so happy".

 

[reyasmommy]

Hello!


First of all your family is absolutely adorable! It’s awesome that your kids get along so well. I’m so excited for the day that I can give my DD a little brother or sister to play with.

Second you will LOVE Disneyland hotel, the Neverland pool is WAY FUN! Your kids will have such a blast, and it’s so nice to be that close to the park entrance.

Third, your 6month old is going to have so much fun. That’s how old my DD was when we took her for the first time. She did amazingly well, much better then when we took her to WDW last year when she was 1 ½. I’m hoping when we take her to DL next month she will have gotten over most of her fears and have a wonderful time.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[davidsprincess]

Your kids are so adorable! And I bet that they still are even at this age .
I love the picture of your son with his arm around his sister. I love candid photos like that where no one is looking at the camera. It would look awsome in black and white

Anyways, back to your TR. Really enjoying it. Can't wait to read more and see the rest of your pics!