Presenting - Pumpkin Planning Project.........A PTR Production!!!

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Well hello there all and welcome to the first ( and certainly the first of many! ) instalment of the Pumpkin Planning Project!

Now, just what is the Pumpkin Planning Project I hear you ask

Well, you see, my DD and I are have always wanted to go to Disneyland at Halloween time.................and when do you see pumpkins at Disneyland other than Halloween???!!!

We are super excited about this trip, so let me start by introducing us!

Me - Sue 44 ( but I have the Peter Pan syndrome and I refuse to grow up! )
DD - Laura - will be 15 by the time we jet out!

Here we are in our happiest place on earth on our last trip!!!

I am a Disney nut ( understatement! ) and I am happy to say I have passed my love of all things Disney onto the darling DD.
My thing is Minnie and The Nightmare Before Christmas. DD is THE biggest Lion King fan you will ever come across and she adores all things Pirtaes and of course miss Minnie Mouse! She has a very special Minnie who accompanied us on our last trip and will be making the journey again ( if she is a good mouse!!! )

We are all set and ready to go...........flying from Sydney Australia on the October 24th and landing in LA on the 24th of October before we even left Gotta love the extra time at the beginning of the trip!
Our first 12 nights will be spent at the wonderful Howard Johnson hotel which I secured for just $59.00, yes just $59.00 per night! Gotta love having an annual pass - more on that later!
The remaining 4 nights will be spent at the Carousel Inn and Suites. I actually got a very good package deal with airfares tht included 4 nights at the Carousel so just popped it in at the end of the trip! Haven't stayed here before so any comments would be appreciated!

Have a few things planned...........definitely doing Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and hope to get tickets for the actual night of Halloween.
It is not something that is celebrated here in he land of Oz so we are giddy with excitement about going trick or treating, especially at Disneyland!

We will also be doing the Happy Haunts tour, but this is a surprise for the DD. I will be letting you in on a few surprises along the way!

Planning on just being swept up in the magical moments and getting as much park time in as we possibly can .Our favourite rides are the Haunted mansion ( me ) and Pirates Of The Caribbean ( surprise, surprise!! ) for DD.

So, join me if you will on a magical pre trip report. If I have as much fun writing this one a I did doing our last trip report, then we are in for a fun time indeed!

All Halloween tips ( or tricks!! ) most welcome!

Take care and thanks for coming along

Sue

 

[monkey30]

Yahoo, ready to read along with your planning as well!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi all ( I know you are out there, I can hear you breathing!!! )

Just popping in for a quick update!

I have been checking up regularly on the halloween superthread as I am keen to know when the tickets go on sale for MNSSHP.
I will be buying an annual pass for this trip as I managed to secure the AP rate for our stint at the Howard Johnson. I have a question though if someone out there can help?!
If I purchase the AP now, can I access the AP section on the Disney website and therefore use it to get my MNSSHP tickets?

We did buy AP's for our last trip but just activated them inside the park when we got there. I am wondering if I get the AP now if this will effectively "activate" the card if I use it as I don't want 6 months to expire before we get there!!!
I would like to get the tickets for the Halloween party with the AP as from what I am led to believe, AP holders get to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public!

Phew, I think I have confused myself!!!

So, DD is thinking of dressing up for the event as Pocahontas. I am thinking this will be an easy costume to pack and as for my "costume"........ I am going to have a shirt made that reads.......

"I'm with Pocahontas"

Was very excited to read on the Disney blog earlier this week that email is now an option for making dining reservations! This will definitely save me getting up to make calls at 4am

We will be doing at least 2 of the character meals. We loved Surfs Up with Mickey and friends breakfast at the Paradie Pier and Minnie and Friends will definietly be happening!

I have also promised DD dinner at the Blue Bayou! I must admit, I am looking forward to that one myself. Still contemplating the Fantasmic priority seating again......................not too sure on that one yet. Also will be getting a World of Colour picnic deal too!

We have not done WOC before, so any tips on this will be most appreciated too as I have read so many different things about where to stand etc that any help will be grand!

Stay tuned for more and please feel free to say hi as it always nice to know I have company!!!

Until next time

Sue

 

[WAMUMOF4]

that picture is gorgeous your shirts!

 

[monkey30]

I dont know about u but I am searching the boards trying to find info... my kids are already tired of talking about it!!LMAO

 

[KiwiMouseGirl]

Yay! I LOVED your last trip report, definately subbing to this one. How awesome is it that you will have been able to experiance Disneyland on both of the major holidays! JEALOUS! Looking foward to hearing about all of your misadventures Your fellow Diser from across the ditch, Cass (p.s, im leaving for my trip on Sunday, and would love some helpful critisism on my trip reporting when I get back )

 

[australiankaren]

reading along.....one day I too will go to disneyland....one day

 

[miss.potatohead]

Yay! Looking forward to the trip (and the lead up to it!)

 

[Staceycs]

Hi Sue,

I'm so glad to see you are travelling over for Halloween! I'm even more excited to see that you are doing this PTR.

I think I remember we chatted on the boards about our December 2010 Christmas trips?

You guys look lovely- it must be great to have a daughter who shares your love of all things Disney

I'm wondering- have you booked your flights yet?

My DH and I are going for Halloween too...departing Sydney on Sept. 22nd and staying at the Desert Inn and Suites for 5 nights. We are then off to WDW for 3 nights, staying at All Star Music, and then we are on my absolute Dream part of the holiday, cruising on the Disney Dream for 4 nights!

Funnily enough, we have ben discussing our costumes this week too. We are going to MNSSHP at WDW and I've been looking on e-bay etc. for adult costumes. Maybe it's just me, but they seem very expensive! I want to go as a princess (preferably Cinderella), as I jokingly always get very jealous when I see that only the little kids can buy princess dresses at Disneyland.

In terms of emailing the ADR's to Disneyland, do you know if the lead time has changed from 60 days out for this? That would be excellent if it has!

Thanks for starting the PTR- I look forward to reading your posts as we get closer to Halloween!

Stacey

 

[australiankaren]

Hi Sue,

I'm so glad to see you are travelling over for Halloween! I'm even more excited to see that you are doing this PTR.

I think I remember we chatted on the boards about our December 2010 Christmas trips?

You guys look lovely- it must be great to have a daughter who shares your love of all things Disney

I'm wondering- have you booked your flights yet?

My DH and I are going for Halloween too...departing Sydney on Sept. 22nd and staying at the Desert Inn and Suites for 5 nights. We are then off to WDW for 3 nights, staying at All Star Music, and then we are on my absolute Dream part of the holiday, cruising on the Disney Dream for 4 nights!

Funnily enough, we have ben discussing our costumes this week too. We are going to MNSSHP at WDW and I've been looking on e-bay etc. for adult costumes. Maybe it's just me, but they seem very expensive! I want to go as a princess (preferably Cinderella), as I jokingly always get very jealous when I see that only the little kids can buy princess dresses at Disneyland.

In terms of emailing the ADR's to Disneyland, do you know if the lead time has changed from 60 days out for this? That would be excellent if it has!

Thanks for starting the PTR- I look forward to reading your posts as we get closer to Halloween!

Stacey

heres our halloween costumes for last year

we ordered them online, and had them shipped to BLT...worked out well.
tossing up about doing them again this year or trying something else, its just so damn hot I couldnt dress up the whole way

 

[Staceycs]

we ordered them online, and had them shipped to BLT...worked out well.
tossing up about doing them again this year or trying something else, its just so damn hot I couldnt dress up the whole way

Thanks Karen- what a great idea! I'm sure things in the US will be much cheaper. I think dressing up will be a ball!

 

[australiankaren]

you dont have to do the whole hog...even funny hats work, just makes youo feel part of it

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi Sue,

I'm so glad to see you are travelling over for Halloween! I'm even more excited to see that you are doing this PTR.

I think I remember we chatted on the boards about our December 2010 Christmas trips?

You guys look lovely- it must be great to have a daughter who shares your love of all things Disney

I'm wondering- have you booked your flights yet?

My DH and I are going for Halloween too...departing Sydney on Sept. 22nd and staying at the Desert Inn and Suites for 5 nights. We are then off to WDW for 3 nights, staying at All Star Music, and then we are on my absolute Dream part of the holiday, cruising on the Disney Dream for 4 nights!

Funnily enough, we have ben discussing our costumes this week too. We are going to MNSSHP at WDW and I've been looking on e-bay etc. for adult costumes. Maybe it's just me, but they seem very expensive! I want to go as a princess (preferably Cinderella), as I jokingly always get very jealous when I see that only the little kids can buy princess dresses at Disneyland.

In terms of emailing the ADR's to Disneyland, do you know if the lead time has changed from 60 days out for this? That would be excellent if it has!

Thanks for starting the PTR- I look forward to reading your posts as we get closer to Halloween!

Stacey

Hi Stacey

I sure do remember us chatting back in 2010! It doesn't seem that long ago does it?! And now we are both about to embark on new adventures..................how lucky are we!!!

Thanks so much for the nice comment and yes it is just wonderful to have a daughter who loves all things Disney too. It is something special we will share forever and this trip is going to be just magical

Ok, we have booked and are all paid for our flights! I got a deal with a harvey World Travel which includes - Return flights Sydney to LAX, return transfers to motel and back, all taxes and 4 nights at the Carousel Inn and Suites for $1545.00 per person! They did our whole month long trip last time and wwe couldn't have been happier!

I had been looking for flights for months and jumped at this when I found it! We were originally only going for 12 nights as I have had our accomodation booked at the Ho Jo since last year! So, when I managed to take advantage of the deal it included the extra 4 nights we just added to the end of the trip! Bonus for us!

The Carousel has mixed review, however I fugure because we got it included it doesn't really matter AND we get more park time so YAY for that

Your trip sounds fabulous and how wonderful to be doing a Disney cruise! I can't wait to hear all abot it as we are doing WDW for our next family trip and want to do a cruise if we can!

I think I have found a costume to wear.............it's called Coffin Bride and I a floaty type gothic number! Nothing too scary o course and I think it will be great for a pic in front of my mansion!!!! Being a bigger person, I need something that will suit and this looks ok!!!!

I found a great costume site with loads of costumes for adults and they have loads of your Disney princess ones too!

As for the ADR's, you can let them know up to 60 days in advance.

Take care

Sue

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Yay! Looking forward to the trip (and the lead up to it!)

Hi and welcome!

Glad you are along for the ride, should be loads of fun!!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

reading along.....one day I too will go to disneyland....one day

Hi Karen!

So glad you stopped byand thanks for sharing your Halloween pic!

Yes, you really will have to get to DL one day! I will be organising our first ever WDW trip when we return from this one and I am sure you will be able to give me lots of tips!!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

that picture is gorgeous your shirts!

Thanks for that lovely comment! I am not really one to have my pic taken often but I thought I am at Disneyland and I am going to have my pic taken......no matter what I look like!!!

My shirt is from the Disney store that we purchased whilst we in San Francisco and DD's shirt came from Jay Jays!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

I dont know about u but I am searching the boards trying to find info... my kids are already tired of talking about it!!LMAO

Yep, I am on every single day! DD is happy to hear all about it so no complaints so far!!!

 

[Staceycs]

Wow- what an amazing airfare deal! That's excellent

Each day I 'trawl' the boards for airfares.... I think we'll just have to bite the bullet and lock in our flights soon, especially since we leave on day 1 of the school hols.

Carousel looks great! Lots of recent refurbs and you can't beat that location!

So many exciting things to look forward to!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Jumping in a quick bit of info I just found!

I am going to surprise the DD with a night out at the Pirates dinner Adventure show. I have discovered that as of the 19th of April, the ART system now are running their shuttles out to Beuna Park!

Has anyone got any feedback on this particular show? We have been to the Medieval Tournament dinner and thoroughly enjoyed it and as the DD has a thing for all things pirtaes, I am sure we would enjoy this too. Another attraction is I can now get there on the cheap and the tickets are often buy one get one free!

I also noticed the ART now services Westfield Main Place mall at Santa Ana which I just adore! It has my 2 favourite stores with a Macy's and a Disney store!!!

Last time we were there I spent an absolute fortune on cabs to and from this mall! Now I can get a 3 day bus pass each for just $10.00

Did someone say more spending money???!!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Sue! Thanks for posting the PTR link - I was wondering if you had a date nailed down!