PTR: It's the Final Countdown!!

[Edelweiss]

Hello!

Im a relative newbie to the board and I love reading others PTR so here is ours. We are trying to keep this upcoming trip the first week of October a secret from our wee ones. I guess formal cyber introductions are in order, so here goes:

ME: Harried, crazy, mom to 3 kids who has only been to Disneyland one time. I was 17 years old and it was on a choir trip for school. We had less than a day to run through the park and ride everything. Hence, no memories except for spinning in a teacup and getting ears with my name on them. Oh, and the kid that got suspended for mooning us all on the bus, but I guess that wasn't a Disneyland thing.

HUBBY: Strapping, Handsome 40 year old Daddy who also has been to Disneyland only one time. With an ex-girlfriend and her family. And then the ex-girlfriend broke up with him after the trip. So I have NO IDEA what he thought about Disneyland.

DS (9): Our oldest child who is our resident brainac. He doesn't understand why the government does spend tax money well (our conversation this evening). I think he will analyze every portion of Disneyland. And he doesn't like movies at all. I know. Sort of strange. But he did like Lady and the Tramp at one time. That's Disney right? (I said I'm new! Okay, yes I had a Disney deprived childhood..now that's out of the way...moving on)

DD (7): Our Princess... who is currently in the other room with scissors, glue and heaven knows what else. I'm sure I'll find the remnants of something destroyed in just a few minutes. She (as most others) is princess obsessed. Rapunzel, Cinderella, you name it. All I know is I am pro-Princesses and I am anti-Polly Pockets. Do you know how hard those things are to pick up??

DS(3.9): Our little destroyer... it is a good thing he has the cutest face on the planet since he is the one that keeps me on my toes. He love Buzz Lightyear and all things Toy Story. And he loves Cars too. I only hope that he picks me out a nice nursing home in my old age as a reward for spending 16 hours a day chasing after him.

And so in a nutshell that is us...

We are taking this trip because life changed for us in Feb. Our neighbor passed away suddenly when his carport full of snow collapsed on him. We are still so devastated. But at his funeral, the one thing that stuck with me was how much their family loved to vacation. And we have NEVER really vacationed anywhere beside the relatives. So at that funeral, I decided that this year WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYLAND.

And I am a bit overwhelmed and nervous.

BUT even more so, I AM SO EXCITED!!! I finally get to REALLY go to Disneyland!

Looking forward to learning more from the Disney experts on this board!

thumbsup2

 

[BeautyAndTheBeast22]

Subscribing!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Edelweiss]

Wow! Hi Subscribers! I'm honored. Thank you! Since I'm about as new as it comes to planning this trip, PLEASE feel free to give me any advice. And once I can figure out how to insert pictures, I'll see if there are any that are fit for actual publication.

So, is it just me or does it feel like the wife part of this relationship (me) is doing most the planning. My DH would do just as well to wake up the morning of the trip, throw a few items of clothing in a sack (maybe a toothbrush if he thinks about it), do the same for the kids, get in the van and leave. Hotel reservation? What? We'll worry about that when we get there. We would arrive at Disneyland with probably half a Gogurt and bottle of water.

Me? I obsess about every little detail. Almost to a fault. I have been saving money for the trip, obsessing over what kind of Autograph book Cinderella will sign and most important the itinerary. The President of the United States does not have an itinerary as planned as we do for this trip. I'm running around like crazy and the DH is well... He knows how to chillax (which is why I had to marry him!)

I think we need to find somewhere in the middle. Leave some time to just explore and get crazy. But also have some things planned. I know that I'll regret it if we don't plan some down time. I'll have some kids in serious melt down mode!

So far the rough outline of the trip is as follows:

Day 1: Drive to Las Vegas
Day 2: Las Vegas
Day 3: Leaving Las Vegas, Arrive Anaheim
Day 4: Disneyland
Day 5: Mickey Halloween Party (haven't decided)
Day 6: Disneyland
Day 7: SeaWorld, Beach, or Universal Studio
Day 8: Checkout of Anaheim hotel.. so that puts us driving back to Vegas on a Friday afternoon. Which I have heard NOT to do that. I think my neighbor was finally able to overcome his Anaheim to Vegas issues with a good, qualified therapist.
Day 9 & 10: Driving back to La Casa with an overnight stop at a friend's house.

So I'm so conflicted about #1) Universal Studios (age appropriate?) #2 Beach? Which one? or a quick side trip to San Diego to Sea World?

Anyway if you have advice, please throw it my way.. I'd be so grateful!

 

[Lynne G]

How much fun your family will have. So jealous, my kids are in jr and sr high, so no fall vacations for us.

We just did SW SD, the SD Zoo, USH, and DLR at the end of August. For your age kids, I would suggest either Legoland or the Zoo. Both would be better for the age range of your kids. SW SD was fun, but not a big park, and not alot you all can do, except for the shows. USH is ok, but I think your youngest should be older/taller to enjoy most of the park with everyone else. Anyway,
just my opinion and I hope you have a great trip!

 

[Edelweiss]

How much fun your family will have. So jealous, my kids are in jr and sr high, so no fall vacations for us.

We just did SW SD, the SD Zoo, USH, and DLR at the end of August. For your age kids, I would suggest either Legoland or the Zoo. Both would be better for the age range of your kids. SW SD was fun, but not a big park, and not alot you all can do, except for the shows. USH is ok, but I think your youngest should be older/taller to enjoy most of the park with everyone else. Anyway,
just my opinion and I hope you have a great trip!

Thanks Lynne for the advice! You know my oldest son (9) is a big fanatic of Legos. I am so undecided about LEGOLAND because I've heard it is REALLY pricey and if your kids are too old then they may not enjoy it. But then again, it seems like it may be good for their age group.

The more I think about the SoCal City Passes, I'm sort of thinking they might not be the right fit. I think Universal wouldn't be fun because they wouldn't be tall enough for anything. And I wasn't sure about Sea World.

I mostly wanted to make sure we went this year because the oldest still qualifies under the child prices.

Just out of curiosity, I am wondering if there is some way we could secure our tickets before we go. Hmmmmm...... that would save some time at the gate!

 

[Lynne G]

Edel,
As to the price of Legoland, check the DIS in the forum for either South California forums. I can't remember which one right now, but one has a stickie for coupons for Legoland. Check it out. It may help you.

Also, when we went to Legoland, my older one was 12 (boy) and little one (girl) turned 9 one of the two days we went. My older loved, loved the legos. He was kind bored the 2nd day we went, but he is the kinda kid that really liked miniland. There are rides that will get you wet.

Check Legoland's website, they may have coupons and will give you a lay of the land. I would think your kids would love the driving school and the oldest would being able to drive his own boat.

We really had fun at Legoland, but alas, my kids are ride junkies now. The little one looked dismayed when she said California Screamin' only had one loop and wanted DLR to have more thrilling rides.

 

[Edelweiss]

Edel,
As to the price of Legoland, check the DIS in the forum for either South California forums. I can't remember which one right now, but one has a stickie for coupons for Legoland. Check it out. It may help you.

Also, when we went to Legoland, my older one was 12 (boy) and little one (girl) turned 9 one of the two days we went. My older loved, loved the legos. He was kind bored the 2nd day we went, but he is the kinda kid that really liked miniland. There are rides that will get you wet.

Check Legoland's website, they may have coupons and will give you a lay of the land. I would think your kids would love the driving school and the oldest would being able to drive his own boat.

We really had fun at Legoland, but alas, my kids are ride junkies now. The little one looked dismayed when she said California Screamin' only had one loop and wanted DLR to have more thrilling rides.

Hey thanks Lynne! None of my kids are ride junkies just yet. But alas, I fear after this trip, that will be coming!

I will look for coupons to LEGOLAND and that thread. I thought a friend told me there's a free kid admission with an adult admission coupon somewhere. I'll have to hunt that one down.

So what kind of rides at LEGOLAND get you wet? Do they have those kind of rides too at Disneyland? Should I bring extra clothes?? I didn't even think about those kind of rides.

Thanks!

 

[Lynne G]

Check the web for ride lists. If I can remember, at legoland, there was a pod thing that you stood or sat in that spun, and water was shot at your vehicle. I think you could shoot at others too. The other was a pirate boat ride, and water was shot around, so you could easily get wet. My kids had their bathing suits on, as we dd the very small water park part of the park (extra charge or part of a combo ticket) . Those are the two I remember. I did have a change of clothes for the kids.

At DLR, in CA, there's Grizzly Rapids. Typical tire down the river ride. You could be only a little wet or really soaked. In DL, there's Splash Mountain, log flume ride. Most of the time, if you sit near the front, the better chance to get wet.

The Legoland discount thread is in the So Cal Themeparks. There are links there for many different ways to save. I hope you can find one that will help.

 

[luulu1999]

we are going to be doing a beach day on our next trip and I am pretty sure we are going to Newport beach because Balboa Island looks fun I also would like to go to Santa Monica just so I can say I have been I had also considered other things like sea world lego land and universal because we will be there 10 days but after careful consideration....I didn't want to do legoland because it is basically a themepark like disneyland and my kids are to small for Universal and then Sea World I was just a little put off because of the price of the tickets and then to do the fun stuff like swim with the dolphins was so much more, I have just decided to get Deluxe AP's and spend our days in Disneyland

And I know how you feel about being the planner....I ask my BF about stuff and his response is always "it don't matter, whatever you want"

 

[Edelweiss]

And I know how you feel about being the planner....I ask my BF about stuff and his response is always "it don't matter, whatever you want"

So my DH will say to me "Whatever you want." "Okay, honey," I'll say. "How about we go eat at _______." And he'll say "No, not that place." "Okay, I say," "How about we eat at ____________ instead." "No, not that place either."

Arrrrggghhhh drives me CRAZY! So I just figure that I'll make general plans and ask all my questions on this board and then he'll just come along for the ride (no pun intended there.. lol ) I think he is slowly starting to get excited.

So my plans today are to buy the tickets to Mickey's Halloween Party and to buy the photopass.

And to put away laundry. Because apparently I would rather plan a Disney trip all day and ignore the laundry. But it never seems to go away. So I suppose I should be like Mary Poppins and "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun." But notice Mary Poppins wasn't doing laundry. She figured out how to get beds to make themselves and toys to put themselves away.

That chick is seriously brilliant!

 

[tlovesdis]

Definitley buy your tickets ahead of time! You can get the actual hard tickets at the Disney Store or Safeway (not sure where you live). or buy them online at Disneyland.com and print out the vouchers to redeem at the turnstyle! Or depending on where you are staying, you can buy them at your hotel!

 

[Edelweiss]

I can't believe October is creeping up! I'm starting to get butterflies about our trip. I notice that I am randomly trying to clean everything around me! My kids still don't know about this trip or what we are doing and they think Mom has pretty much lost her mind. But I've made a lot of progress this last week which includes:

1. Buying Mickey's Halloween Party Passes for all of us
2. Booking a hotel room for an extra night in Anaheim. Originally we had talked about LEGOLAND but ultimately hubby and I decided against it as we crunched some numbers and OUCH... it would add an extra $500 on to the trip with tickets, hotel room and gas. So instead we decided we are having a BEACH day. I am thinking Huntington Beach looks nice?

This week I need to figure out everyone's Halloween costumes, buy the Photopass (actually need to do that today), buy the actual tickets to Disneyland, start packing and of course obsessively cleaning. This will not be one of our typical vacations where I am trying to pack and clean the night before.

I also need to figure out where the best place to buy tickets is for Disneyland. I called Triple AAA and they said the prices are pretty much the same except for you get free parking if you use them. Which is cool but our hotel is pretty close so Im not sure if we will be driving over there.

I also want to figure out a FP schedule.. and learn more about World of Color.. That thread completely confused me and I'm still not sure what Fantasmic vs. World of Color means. So if anyone out there does, I'd appreciate it!

I can't believe it's almost here!!!