HopLow1968
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2014
- Messages
- 162
Who we are: I'm 47, Gf is 25 and is definitely a kid at heart.
What Disneyland means to us:
For me - My mom was from Southern California, and I grew up on her stories of Disneyland an almost mythical place. We weren't particularly well off, but she managed to take me twice – once when I was 12, and once as a later teen. Now I love my mom, but she has always had some significant emotional problems, and sad to say, those problems pretty much ruined both trips for me.
Fast forward and I'm 19, I've just graduated Marine Corps boot camp and am stationed in Southern California. I'm going to Disneyland!
That first time I went, I was by myself, but at the gates there was this punk girl (with an amazing mohawk – coming from a small town I found her exotic and intriguing as all-get-out), who had brought her little sister but somehow had lost their tickets. I had some back pay burning a hole in my pocket and a chance to play the hero to a beautiful girl and her kid sister. They were grateful and we had a ton of fun. And Disneyland was amazing!
Anyway, I find that I don't really like living in Southern California, but I love Disneyland. I find out about annual passes. After that, I went practically every chance I got.
Eventually I got out of the Marine Corps, left Southern California in 1996 at a dead run, and sort of lost the Disney fever over the years.
For her – she grew up very poor. And while she heard of Disneyland and saw commercials, she had no expectation that she would ever go. In fact, she has a sadly sweet story of how as a little girl she found a Disneyland autograph book in the trash somewhere. She kept it and would use it as exhibit A, telling neighborhood kids about her amazing Disneyland trip (which, of course, she had completely made up). Using her imagination to build a fictitious Disneyland in her mind, down the tiniest details. I don't remember how that story came up, but when she told me, I knew that I had to take her to Disneyland.
The planning:
It was January when I decided to start planning a trip.
How long of a trip? As a former AP holder, I remembered the level of detail and I wanted our trip to be long enough for her to get a sense of that. At least 4 days would be required, maybe a little more. I began to research. It didn't take me long to figure out that 5 day tickets would be perfect for us. Everybody seems to recommend hoppers, so I go ahead and do that. Excited about DCA, I've never seen it.
When to go? Both of us having other financial commitments, I knew it would take awhile for us to save up money for the trip. I also had to balance: crowds, weather, and park hours. Disneyland is best at night, so off-season weekday hours wouldn't work that much. I remembered Halloween as being one of my favorite seasons. I remembered a party where people dressed up, the park was decorated differently, dry-ice was so thick off the Rivers of America that New Orleans Square felt like Victorian London. Yes, Halloween season would be perfect. A balance of low crowds on weekdays, and weekends for night-time Disney fun. And maybe a Party as well. Pixie dust – it turns out that since I had last been Disneyland had given up doing much special for halloween...for almost a decade. But they had since brought it back – with a vengeance! It looked like the parties were better than ever. Hmm, and, the parties are at night. So maybe I could get some weekday off-season nighttime after all!
And then the slow wait began....saving up money, reading forum boards constantly, learning new things, reminded of old. Carefully tweaking plans as new information comes up.
Excited about a whole new park that I had never seen (DCA). And finding out that it happened to be the 60th for Disneyland. What would the anniversary celebrations bring?
Sad to hear that Mainstreet electrical parade was no longer, won't be the same without a night-time parade. But wait - 60th anniversary announcement – there is a new night-time parade, Paint the Night and it sounds amazing!
Fantasmic is still running. God, I loved that show! I can't wait to show her. I bet her mind will be blown when she sees the Columbia as Hook's Jolly Roger. Best go with a dining option. Note to self- I see the front row is still a pain because the railing blocks the view.
This show World of Color, lots of people rave about it, but the viewing sounds problematic. Should we do the dining? Seems to give an advantage, but that not much. Back and forth, eventually budget issues compel me to dump the dining package and go with a fastpass instead. I'll be armed with a print out of the viewing area with the best spots marked out.
Announcement – Fireworks every day, even on weekdays, because of the 60th. Great!
A few disappointments, but mostly a series of exciting revelations and pixie dust.
My list of what I would do differently is pretty small so far because we haven't gone yet. The biggest one is probably the way I handled buying tickets. I bought them too early, before the MHP dates were announced. If I had waited, I could've bought a combination of MHP tickets and 3 day Hopper. The way I did it cost more, and meant we missed out on a chance for a 3rd MHP.
And now – we leave on Tues. Bursting with excitement!
What Disneyland means to us:
For me - My mom was from Southern California, and I grew up on her stories of Disneyland an almost mythical place. We weren't particularly well off, but she managed to take me twice – once when I was 12, and once as a later teen. Now I love my mom, but she has always had some significant emotional problems, and sad to say, those problems pretty much ruined both trips for me.
Fast forward and I'm 19, I've just graduated Marine Corps boot camp and am stationed in Southern California. I'm going to Disneyland!
That first time I went, I was by myself, but at the gates there was this punk girl (with an amazing mohawk – coming from a small town I found her exotic and intriguing as all-get-out), who had brought her little sister but somehow had lost their tickets. I had some back pay burning a hole in my pocket and a chance to play the hero to a beautiful girl and her kid sister. They were grateful and we had a ton of fun. And Disneyland was amazing!
Anyway, I find that I don't really like living in Southern California, but I love Disneyland. I find out about annual passes. After that, I went practically every chance I got.
Eventually I got out of the Marine Corps, left Southern California in 1996 at a dead run, and sort of lost the Disney fever over the years.
For her – she grew up very poor. And while she heard of Disneyland and saw commercials, she had no expectation that she would ever go. In fact, she has a sadly sweet story of how as a little girl she found a Disneyland autograph book in the trash somewhere. She kept it and would use it as exhibit A, telling neighborhood kids about her amazing Disneyland trip (which, of course, she had completely made up). Using her imagination to build a fictitious Disneyland in her mind, down the tiniest details. I don't remember how that story came up, but when she told me, I knew that I had to take her to Disneyland.
The planning:
It was January when I decided to start planning a trip.
How long of a trip? As a former AP holder, I remembered the level of detail and I wanted our trip to be long enough for her to get a sense of that. At least 4 days would be required, maybe a little more. I began to research. It didn't take me long to figure out that 5 day tickets would be perfect for us. Everybody seems to recommend hoppers, so I go ahead and do that. Excited about DCA, I've never seen it.
When to go? Both of us having other financial commitments, I knew it would take awhile for us to save up money for the trip. I also had to balance: crowds, weather, and park hours. Disneyland is best at night, so off-season weekday hours wouldn't work that much. I remembered Halloween as being one of my favorite seasons. I remembered a party where people dressed up, the park was decorated differently, dry-ice was so thick off the Rivers of America that New Orleans Square felt like Victorian London. Yes, Halloween season would be perfect. A balance of low crowds on weekdays, and weekends for night-time Disney fun. And maybe a Party as well. Pixie dust – it turns out that since I had last been Disneyland had given up doing much special for halloween...for almost a decade. But they had since brought it back – with a vengeance! It looked like the parties were better than ever. Hmm, and, the parties are at night. So maybe I could get some weekday off-season nighttime after all!
And then the slow wait began....saving up money, reading forum boards constantly, learning new things, reminded of old. Carefully tweaking plans as new information comes up.
Excited about a whole new park that I had never seen (DCA). And finding out that it happened to be the 60th for Disneyland. What would the anniversary celebrations bring?
Sad to hear that Mainstreet electrical parade was no longer, won't be the same without a night-time parade. But wait - 60th anniversary announcement – there is a new night-time parade, Paint the Night and it sounds amazing!
Fantasmic is still running. God, I loved that show! I can't wait to show her. I bet her mind will be blown when she sees the Columbia as Hook's Jolly Roger. Best go with a dining option. Note to self- I see the front row is still a pain because the railing blocks the view.
This show World of Color, lots of people rave about it, but the viewing sounds problematic. Should we do the dining? Seems to give an advantage, but that not much. Back and forth, eventually budget issues compel me to dump the dining package and go with a fastpass instead. I'll be armed with a print out of the viewing area with the best spots marked out.
Announcement – Fireworks every day, even on weekdays, because of the 60th. Great!
A few disappointments, but mostly a series of exciting revelations and pixie dust.
My list of what I would do differently is pretty small so far because we haven't gone yet. The biggest one is probably the way I handled buying tickets. I bought them too early, before the MHP dates were announced. If I had waited, I could've bought a combination of MHP tickets and 3 day Hopper. The way I did it cost more, and meant we missed out on a chance for a 3rd MHP.
And now – we leave on Tues. Bursting with excitement!
