Summertime and Disneyland .Oo-De-Lally!!
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thornton0511
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Hi there and welcome!!! Oh that is so cool that our kids are so alike! Ha you sound like me when I am planning a Disney trip I always tend to follow ones that are similar to what we are doing lol! Happy to have you aboard
thornton0511
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Joining in. Happy birthday.
I completely agree with the not being nearly enough info around on Disneyland. I found that with Paris as well. I need to know what I'm doing every second of the day on vacation and can't plan this trip as much as I want because the info isn't there for me
Aww thank you for the birthday wishes!! Glad to have you join in and welcome! Wow you and I sound so much alike lol. Yeah I think WDW has me spoiled as far as info that is out there and available on EVERYTHING! I can only imagine that foreign Disney parks would be worse, and the scary thing is that I think I would need to know more about Disney parks out of my home country than here lol! I would be a nutcase with that planning.So I am guessing that you have been to Disneyland Paris? Oh that would be so exciting to do!!
thornton0511
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First.....
Next..... I'm definitely joining in!
My family just decided today to cancel our cruise on the Fantasy next summer and instead try something completely new.....DLR!
So excited to hear all about y'all's trip!
Thank you so much
and I am so very happy to have you follow along!! Oh wow sorry to hear that you cancelled your cruise but how exciting for you first trip to Disneyland!!! We have also played with the idea of a Disney cruise but it usually got cancelled out like Disneyland in the past. WDW just seems to be our fail safe go to Disney spot lol. Maybe someday we will take the plunge and do a cruise like we finally did with DLR.
thornton0511
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Happy Birthday Jenn! Joining in again to get my Disney fix until our trip in Dec. Funny how I'm the Disney dad and plan everything and my DW doesn't do anything. Some people just don't get it.
Hi Jeremy! You found me yay! Thank you for the birthday wishes
. I know you probably wish that December would hurry up and get here lol! That is strange how common it seems with a lot of us married folk that one spouse seems to be completely immersed in Disney and the other not so much. Sometimes I think about what it would be like if my DH was as into it as I am but then again that would probably be Disney overload. Plus I think it makes me love him a bit more knowing that he does not love it to the extent that I do but he makes it important enough because he knows how important it is to me...and that means a lot! Besides he has his own obsession which is golf 
and believe me he is to golf as our kind is to Disney lol! Here's to being in total control of Disney planning for our families and our spouses liking it that way!! 
thornton0511
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California Here We Come!
So my story begins the day before our trip starts. Thursday, June 12th. Cory was still at church camp which is about a one hour drive from where we live. You have to be 9 years old to stay overnight for a one week session so Syd still has a year to go until she is old enough. She was kept busy this week however with basketball day camp and also swimming lessons. So on this particular day I was busy shuttling the little one from thing to another and also trying to finish up packing (which by the way I absolutely hate doing and will put off until the last moment) while the hubs was trying to get through his last work day before vacation. Poor hubs. After work DH left and made the drive to pick up DS from camp. We were actually not flying out until Friday afternoon but we knew that DS would be exhausted from camp and a goodnight's sleep in his own bed before starting a vacation would do him some good. Plus it would give me a chance to get his camp laundry done before we left. Yuck!
The boys got home and brought pizza with them for dinner. I had finally gotten everything packed and ready to go. We had a nice relaxing evening and it was wonderful. Pretty much every vacation we have ever taken consists of getting up at the booty crack of dawn to catch an early flight or to start driving. This was a good change.
After dinner and getting the kids showered and cleaned DD wanted me to give her Disney nails. I am by no means an artist but my 8 year old seemed pleased so that is all that mattered. Goodness I cannot tell you how great it was to have a normal evening before leaving for our trip.
We got up the next morning about the same time as we do when the kids have school and we have to work so nothing crazy this time around. The kids had breakfast and we did a last minute sweep of the house before heading out. By 7:30 am we were in the car and headed to Dallas, which is about a 2.5 hour drive from our house. But before that we had one place we had to stop first .
Our flight was leaving from Dallas Love Airport at 1:00pm and this was our first time to both use this airport (we usually fly out of DFW) and use Southwest Airlines (we have always used American Airlines). Since I was cutting costs with this trip I had to get a little creative with our flights. We had enough airline points with American to book 4 one way flights free (4 one way was so much easier than trying to match up 2 roundtrips with miles and 2 OOPs) so that made our coming home flight free but that meant I had to find 4 one ways to our destination. American one way is crazy expensive so I had to look at other airlines. Southwest had very good pricing for one ways and we managed to book with them for $574 total for all four. This meant no straight shot to CA but we could manage. So that only left one missing piece to the puzzle. Departing from one airport and returning to another .and no known shuttles that service both. We knew that it would be easier to park our car at DFW so that way when we returned we could go straight to our car. So the big question is how would we get from DFW to DAL to catch our flight? Travel time between the two is just under half an hour. That brings me to our first stop before heading to Dallas .
The DMIL! Some of you may remember her from my last TR from December. She and my DFIL came along for our last adventure. Unfortunately she would not be joining us for this trip but she was going to be the answer to our dilemma. When we decided to change our trip dates we conveniently rearranged them to help the in laws out with a similar situation. My DFIL had planned on leaving before DMIL for a mission trip in Guatemala. This meant that he was going to drive their van to Dallas and leave it at the hotel he was staying in before his flight. She was flying out on Saturday morning and we on Friday afternoon. She needed to get to her van and we needed to get to our airport. See where I am going with this? So the plan was for her to hitch a ride with us to Dallas to the hotel her van was at. Once there she would follow us to DFW where we would be leaving our car, then hopping into the van with her, and she would then drive us to DAL and drop us off for our flight and then spend the night in Dallas before her early morning flight the next day. That does not sound complicated at all does it? But the real question is would it work?
So after we picked her up we headed to Dallas, stopping first at the gas station that we always have to stop at when headed in this direction for a trip. It's a thing with us. Plus if you gotta stop and fill up on gas you might as well stop at one you like right? This one is super nice and we love it!
We made really good time and had DMIL follow us to DFW. The plan was to park in remote parking because it was the least expensive at $9 a day. Until we got there and remote parking was full. Ruh roh. Was not planning for that at all. And DFW is huge y'all! I quickly pulled up the airport's website on my phone and found where they apparently post the status of the parking availability. That would have been good to know about BEFORE driving here. Ah well. I did however see that express parking was open on the south end. Of course we were on the north end at the time so we had to manage to find a way to the other side while also minding to not lose the DMIL who was following us. We made it though and the fee here was $11 a day so considering we could have been stuck with terminal parking which is outrageous I thought we got off pretty darn good!
We pulled in and after a few minutes of explaining our situation with dropping our car off and not flying out of DFW and needing to get in the van with the DMIL let's just say it all worked out and we had parked the dang car and were now finally headed to Dallas Love Airport. It was now about 11am. Still good on time surprisingly.
Soon enough we saw this happy sign and knew that this part of the travel portion of the trip was almost over!
DMIL pulled up to the drop off section at after unloading our luggage and quick goodbyes we headed in the direction to check our luggage with Southwest. This airport is soooo much smaller than DFW oh my goodness.
We found where we needed to go and got our one bag checked. That's right. We had 5 bags total but we were only going to check one. The reason? Basically we have always had straight shot flights and never a connecting flight, and I had heard horror stories about how people made their connecting flights in time but their luggage did not. We usually do not have much luck when it comes to things like this so I did not want to take the chance. Don't judge me lol. So we checked our one bag that was too big for carryon that had items that could easily be replaced at a grocery store if it came right down to it. And we continued on with the rest of our luggage with our heads held high despite the puzzling look from the bag checking guy who could not understand why someone would not want to check all of their bags when it's free. It's how we roll.
Once inside we stopped to make sure we had all of our duckies in a row
Checked to make sure our flight was still where it needed to be, and headed to security.
Once we had gotten settled in and found our gate it was now 11:45am and for the first time since this morning I felt like I could take a deep breath and finally breathe and enjoy the trip. We were headed to California and Disneyland and I was so excited!!!! So was my little Disney companion.
It was now time to find some grub for lunch. Our first flight was leaving at 1:00 and landing in Houston at 2:00. Our connecting flight was leaving at 3:10 but we felt that would lead to a late lunch and pushing time a bit so we opted for an early lunch of sorts. We found Manchu Wok ..okay. Since none of us were starving we decided to get 4 things of fried rice.
Eh. Its airport food. It served its purpose. And I was under budget for this meal now so that's always a plus!
After quickly eating our so called lunch for the day we headed back to our gate to wait for our flight.
We got word that our plane was a bit delayed so we patiently waited for them to get it all ready to go for us once it had landed.
Soon enough they had called for our group to get in line to board the plane. Thankfully we were in Group A. This was one thing that I was a bit nervous with when booking with Southwest, there is no seat assignment when you book. First come first serve and depending on what order you check in at the 24 hour mark dictates what order you board the plane. You can pay a little more to have them automatically check you in at the 24 hour mark but I had decided to forgo the extra fee. But you can imagine that when my phone alarm went off to mark the five minute mark before the 24 hour check in for our flight I was ready. I happened to also be driving in a rainstorm with Sydney in the back seat when my alarm went off too so pulling over to check in for my flight was fun. So anyways by doing that I was able to score the first group for boarding so we were all able to sit together!
Once everyone got on and situated we finally took off at 1:30pm. Half an hour behind schedule but the pilot assured us that he would make the time up in the air ..um okay. How about you just get us there safely instead lol. It's not a race man.
The engines started and we were excited to get this vacation started! I was just ready to be back on the ground too .ugh I hate flying. Since DS just had his braces put on in March this would be the first flight he has ever taken where he could not have gum to help with his ears popping. He was really having a tough time with it too and I wished that I had bought some ear plugs for him. Sigh.
He was a trooper however and soon we were at the level when everyone can safely move about and then the flight attendant brought us all some goodies for free?! Gasp!! American Airlines only offers a soda but these guys were handing out pretzels and peanuts too. Who does that still? Southwest that's who. Major brownie points with me on this one. American will give you peanuts ..for like $7!! Thank you Southwest you made my day with you free pretzels and peanuts!
So we landed right at 2:00pm. Safely and on time. Thank you Mr. Pilot man for managing to get us to our destination on time and alive .kudos to you! There was nothing to really report about the airport in Houston. I did not even take pictures so yeah pretty uneventful. We boarded our new flight and before you know it we were back up in the air.
On this flight Southwest surprised me with yet another awesome feature. Free Wifi (not free with American of course) and they also had an app that you could put on your phone that allowed you to stream live TV why you fly! They also had this little thing that would show you details of how far you have gone and everything about you flight status while in the air.
And wouldnt you know they brought more snacks. This time with the peanuts we also received wheat thins which I am obsessed with .how did they know? The nice flight attendant even gave the kiddos and extra pkg of peanuts. I love Southwest! As you can see by this time mama was needing some caffeine in the form of airplane coffee. It was by no means Starbuck quality but sometimes you just need coffee.
Sydney spent the last leg of the flight looking out and below.
With good reason too. The view as we got closer and closer to California was amazing!
The flight from Texas to California is definitely a bit longer than the one we are used to traveling to Orlando but we survived and within no time we had landed in LAX and were ready to really get this vacation officially started. It was now 6:30pm, um I mean 4:30pm. We were 2 hours behind Texas time. While it was great to basically go back in time we still felt a bit like it was 6:30 so it kind of messed with us a bit. I was curious if we would adapt to the new time schedule this trip or if our bodies would just stay on Texas time. We would have to wait and see. Up next ..to the car rental place!
So my story begins the day before our trip starts. Thursday, June 12th. Cory was still at church camp which is about a one hour drive from where we live. You have to be 9 years old to stay overnight for a one week session so Syd still has a year to go until she is old enough. She was kept busy this week however with basketball day camp and also swimming lessons. So on this particular day I was busy shuttling the little one from thing to another and also trying to finish up packing (which by the way I absolutely hate doing and will put off until the last moment) while the hubs was trying to get through his last work day before vacation. Poor hubs. After work DH left and made the drive to pick up DS from camp. We were actually not flying out until Friday afternoon but we knew that DS would be exhausted from camp and a goodnight's sleep in his own bed before starting a vacation would do him some good. Plus it would give me a chance to get his camp laundry done before we left. Yuck!
The boys got home and brought pizza with them for dinner. I had finally gotten everything packed and ready to go. We had a nice relaxing evening and it was wonderful. Pretty much every vacation we have ever taken consists of getting up at the booty crack of dawn to catch an early flight or to start driving. This was a good change.
After dinner and getting the kids showered and cleaned DD wanted me to give her Disney nails. I am by no means an artist but my 8 year old seemed pleased so that is all that mattered. Goodness I cannot tell you how great it was to have a normal evening before leaving for our trip.
We got up the next morning about the same time as we do when the kids have school and we have to work so nothing crazy this time around. The kids had breakfast and we did a last minute sweep of the house before heading out. By 7:30 am we were in the car and headed to Dallas, which is about a 2.5 hour drive from our house. But before that we had one place we had to stop first .
Our flight was leaving from Dallas Love Airport at 1:00pm and this was our first time to both use this airport (we usually fly out of DFW) and use Southwest Airlines (we have always used American Airlines). Since I was cutting costs with this trip I had to get a little creative with our flights. We had enough airline points with American to book 4 one way flights free (4 one way was so much easier than trying to match up 2 roundtrips with miles and 2 OOPs) so that made our coming home flight free but that meant I had to find 4 one ways to our destination. American one way is crazy expensive so I had to look at other airlines. Southwest had very good pricing for one ways and we managed to book with them for $574 total for all four. This meant no straight shot to CA but we could manage. So that only left one missing piece to the puzzle. Departing from one airport and returning to another .and no known shuttles that service both. We knew that it would be easier to park our car at DFW so that way when we returned we could go straight to our car. So the big question is how would we get from DFW to DAL to catch our flight? Travel time between the two is just under half an hour. That brings me to our first stop before heading to Dallas .
The DMIL! Some of you may remember her from my last TR from December. She and my DFIL came along for our last adventure. Unfortunately she would not be joining us for this trip but she was going to be the answer to our dilemma. When we decided to change our trip dates we conveniently rearranged them to help the in laws out with a similar situation. My DFIL had planned on leaving before DMIL for a mission trip in Guatemala. This meant that he was going to drive their van to Dallas and leave it at the hotel he was staying in before his flight. She was flying out on Saturday morning and we on Friday afternoon. She needed to get to her van and we needed to get to our airport. See where I am going with this? So the plan was for her to hitch a ride with us to Dallas to the hotel her van was at. Once there she would follow us to DFW where we would be leaving our car, then hopping into the van with her, and she would then drive us to DAL and drop us off for our flight and then spend the night in Dallas before her early morning flight the next day. That does not sound complicated at all does it? But the real question is would it work?
So after we picked her up we headed to Dallas, stopping first at the gas station that we always have to stop at when headed in this direction for a trip. It's a thing with us. Plus if you gotta stop and fill up on gas you might as well stop at one you like right? This one is super nice and we love it!
We made really good time and had DMIL follow us to DFW. The plan was to park in remote parking because it was the least expensive at $9 a day. Until we got there and remote parking was full. Ruh roh. Was not planning for that at all. And DFW is huge y'all! I quickly pulled up the airport's website on my phone and found where they apparently post the status of the parking availability. That would have been good to know about BEFORE driving here. Ah well. I did however see that express parking was open on the south end. Of course we were on the north end at the time so we had to manage to find a way to the other side while also minding to not lose the DMIL who was following us. We made it though and the fee here was $11 a day so considering we could have been stuck with terminal parking which is outrageous I thought we got off pretty darn good!
We pulled in and after a few minutes of explaining our situation with dropping our car off and not flying out of DFW and needing to get in the van with the DMIL let's just say it all worked out and we had parked the dang car and were now finally headed to Dallas Love Airport. It was now about 11am. Still good on time surprisingly.
Soon enough we saw this happy sign and knew that this part of the travel portion of the trip was almost over!
DMIL pulled up to the drop off section at after unloading our luggage and quick goodbyes we headed in the direction to check our luggage with Southwest. This airport is soooo much smaller than DFW oh my goodness.
We found where we needed to go and got our one bag checked. That's right. We had 5 bags total but we were only going to check one. The reason? Basically we have always had straight shot flights and never a connecting flight, and I had heard horror stories about how people made their connecting flights in time but their luggage did not. We usually do not have much luck when it comes to things like this so I did not want to take the chance. Don't judge me lol. So we checked our one bag that was too big for carryon that had items that could easily be replaced at a grocery store if it came right down to it. And we continued on with the rest of our luggage with our heads held high despite the puzzling look from the bag checking guy who could not understand why someone would not want to check all of their bags when it's free. It's how we roll.
Once inside we stopped to make sure we had all of our duckies in a row
Checked to make sure our flight was still where it needed to be, and headed to security.
Once we had gotten settled in and found our gate it was now 11:45am and for the first time since this morning I felt like I could take a deep breath and finally breathe and enjoy the trip. We were headed to California and Disneyland and I was so excited!!!! So was my little Disney companion.
It was now time to find some grub for lunch. Our first flight was leaving at 1:00 and landing in Houston at 2:00. Our connecting flight was leaving at 3:10 but we felt that would lead to a late lunch and pushing time a bit so we opted for an early lunch of sorts. We found Manchu Wok ..okay. Since none of us were starving we decided to get 4 things of fried rice.
Eh. Its airport food. It served its purpose. And I was under budget for this meal now so that's always a plus!
After quickly eating our so called lunch for the day we headed back to our gate to wait for our flight.
We got word that our plane was a bit delayed so we patiently waited for them to get it all ready to go for us once it had landed.
Soon enough they had called for our group to get in line to board the plane. Thankfully we were in Group A. This was one thing that I was a bit nervous with when booking with Southwest, there is no seat assignment when you book. First come first serve and depending on what order you check in at the 24 hour mark dictates what order you board the plane. You can pay a little more to have them automatically check you in at the 24 hour mark but I had decided to forgo the extra fee. But you can imagine that when my phone alarm went off to mark the five minute mark before the 24 hour check in for our flight I was ready. I happened to also be driving in a rainstorm with Sydney in the back seat when my alarm went off too so pulling over to check in for my flight was fun. So anyways by doing that I was able to score the first group for boarding so we were all able to sit together!
Once everyone got on and situated we finally took off at 1:30pm. Half an hour behind schedule but the pilot assured us that he would make the time up in the air ..um okay. How about you just get us there safely instead lol. It's not a race man.
The engines started and we were excited to get this vacation started! I was just ready to be back on the ground too .ugh I hate flying. Since DS just had his braces put on in March this would be the first flight he has ever taken where he could not have gum to help with his ears popping. He was really having a tough time with it too and I wished that I had bought some ear plugs for him. Sigh.
He was a trooper however and soon we were at the level when everyone can safely move about and then the flight attendant brought us all some goodies for free?! Gasp!! American Airlines only offers a soda but these guys were handing out pretzels and peanuts too. Who does that still? Southwest that's who. Major brownie points with me on this one. American will give you peanuts ..for like $7!! Thank you Southwest you made my day with you free pretzels and peanuts!
So we landed right at 2:00pm. Safely and on time. Thank you Mr. Pilot man for managing to get us to our destination on time and alive .kudos to you! There was nothing to really report about the airport in Houston. I did not even take pictures so yeah pretty uneventful. We boarded our new flight and before you know it we were back up in the air.
On this flight Southwest surprised me with yet another awesome feature. Free Wifi (not free with American of course) and they also had an app that you could put on your phone that allowed you to stream live TV why you fly! They also had this little thing that would show you details of how far you have gone and everything about you flight status while in the air.
And wouldnt you know they brought more snacks. This time with the peanuts we also received wheat thins which I am obsessed with .how did they know? The nice flight attendant even gave the kiddos and extra pkg of peanuts. I love Southwest! As you can see by this time mama was needing some caffeine in the form of airplane coffee. It was by no means Starbuck quality but sometimes you just need coffee.
Sydney spent the last leg of the flight looking out and below.
With good reason too. The view as we got closer and closer to California was amazing!
The flight from Texas to California is definitely a bit longer than the one we are used to traveling to Orlando but we survived and within no time we had landed in LAX and were ready to really get this vacation officially started. It was now 6:30pm, um I mean 4:30pm. We were 2 hours behind Texas time. While it was great to basically go back in time we still felt a bit like it was 6:30 so it kind of messed with us a bit. I was curious if we would adapt to the new time schedule this trip or if our bodies would just stay on Texas time. We would have to wait and see. Up next ..to the car rental place!
whoever
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And So it Begins
Well before we get to that. Since this post was going to be picture less I thought I would start by introducing everyone to the newest member of our family.
I am pleased to introduce, Captain Jack Sparrow (we are calling him Jack for short). I love him!!! And now this post has a picture so win win!
Jack looks like Po's clone...
amandaw
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That's great that your DMIL was able to help out with the airport situation! 
We love flying Southwest. Only problem is, in Louisiana, they only fly out of New Orleans & that is about 2 hrs from us. But, sometimes, their prices are worth the drive.
Glad y'all had safe flights there!
You really should do a Disney cruise one day! Your kids would LOVE it! We've done 3 - 1 on the Dream & 2 on the Fantasy. That made it easier to cancel the cruise for next year.
We love flying Southwest. Only problem is, in Louisiana, they only fly out of New Orleans & that is about 2 hrs from us. But, sometimes, their prices are worth the drive.
Glad y'all had safe flights there!
Thank you so much
You really should do a Disney cruise one day! Your kids would LOVE it! We've done 3 - 1 on the Dream & 2 on the Fantasy. That made it easier to cancel the cruise for next year.
BellaBaby
(Im)patiently waiting for next trip to Disney!!
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We also mostly go to WDW, but were put off by the new FP this year so opted for DLR. We just got back June 4th and had a ball!! 
I'm looking forward to your take on DLR. Your family is adorable!! 
BTW, we will most likely head back to WDW next year since the FP system SEEMS to be getting better We do love DLR, but there are things we missed at WDW. That being said, we absolutely LOVED Pirates, Splash and IASW at DLR and will miss those versions at WDW!! I also really liked the feel at Walt's Park.
I'm looking forward to your take on DLR. Your family is adorable!! BTW, we will most likely head back to WDW next year since the FP system SEEMS to be getting better We do love DLR, but there are things we missed at WDW. That being said, we absolutely LOVED Pirates, Splash and IASW at DLR and will miss those versions at WDW!! I also really liked the feel at Walt's Park.
petals
Irish Princess because Cinderella said so!
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Sounds like you had a good flight California is 8 hours behind Ireland but I reckon I live by american time all the time anyway so shouldn't be a problem adapting to the change 
The info on WDW is great. DLP there was barely anything on. We've been there 3 times and the parks are great there but the people are soooooooooooooooo rude! I didn't notice it that much the first two trips we were on but last time was 2012 and after 4 days I was more than ready to come home and I'm normally crying leaving Florida! There was people skipping queues for rides, someone physically pushed me off the pavement to try get in front of me at the christmas tree lighting, there was rude CM's, trying to meet a character most of the time was like being in the middle of a mob or something and then in one restuarant someone just came and sat at a table as we were about to put our stuff on it! Was such a shame because the parks are lovely but that kind of ruined the magic
California is 8 hours behind Ireland but I reckon I live by american time all the time anyway so shouldn't be a problem adapting to the change The info on WDW is great. DLP there was barely anything on. We've been there 3 times and the parks are great there but the people are soooooooooooooooo rude! I didn't notice it that much the first two trips we were on but last time was 2012 and after 4 days I was more than ready to come home and I'm normally crying leaving Florida! There was people skipping queues for rides, someone physically pushed me off the pavement to try get in front of me at the christmas tree lighting, there was rude CM's, trying to meet a character most of the time was like being in the middle of a mob or something and then in one restuarant someone just came and sat at a table as we were about to put our stuff on it! Was such a shame because the parks are lovely but that kind of ruined the magic
DisneyKid4Life
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I have to admit, I LOVE packing... when it's for the trip. Not so much when packing to come home.
OK, I'm glad you're on top of this because I read the airport, DMIL, van, car plan multiple times... and I'm still confused.
Even though I completely understand the strategy and reasoning, I still find it funny that you only checked one bag. I'd have to check the bags for free just because I could and because so many airlines charge for that. Heck, I might just bring some empties. It's principle, lol.
But yay you've landed at LAX. And since you're apparently renting a car, I'm ridiculously excited to hear about the road journey to DLand.
OK, I'm glad you're on top of this because I read the airport, DMIL, van, car plan multiple times... and I'm still confused.
Even though I completely understand the strategy and reasoning, I still find it funny that you only checked one bag. I'd have to check the bags for free just because I could and because so many airlines charge for that. Heck, I might just bring some empties. It's principle, lol.
But yay you've landed at LAX. And since you're apparently renting a car, I'm ridiculously excited to hear about the road journey to DLand.
thornton0511
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Jack looks like Po's clone...
Jack does look like your Po! Awww and your kitty is super adorable too! We are really enjoying having him and our other kitty Milo (who is a fluffy Maine Coon) is starting to warm up to Jack a bit! Meaning he is not hissing and running away as often. I have to tell you though there is nothing more funny than watching a huge Maine Coon running away in fear from a small 8 week old kitten.
thornton0511
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That's great that your DMIL was able to help out with the airport situation!
We love flying Southwest. Only problem is, in Louisiana, they only fly out of New Orleans & that is about 2 hrs from us. But, sometimes, their prices are worth the drive.
Glad y'all had safe flights there!
You really should do a Disney cruise one day! Your kids would LOVE it! We've done 3 - 1 on the Dream & 2 on the Fantasy. That made it easier to cancel the cruise for next year.
Yeah the closest major airport to us is Dallas and that is about 2.5 hour drive from our house.
We have just always gone with American in the past because I could usually find a good deal and they are the only ones who can do a straight shot flight to MCO and LAX but, since they bought out United they have really jacked the prices of their flights up and starting late this fall I believe that Southwest is going to be able to start doing non stops from Dallas so I think we are so over American now. We really had a great experience with them and in fact are using them again for our WDW trip in Sept. Yes I do have a Disney cruise on my bucket list for sure! Gosh there are just so many Disney trips that I have on my list too! I think if we ever do a cruise though we would probably have to do a land and sea package just because I cannot imagine flying all the way to Orlando and not visiting WDW lol! I also want to do Vero Beach at some point. GAH! There is just so much!! That is awesome that you have been able to cruise three times! I will definitely have to come to you for info if we ever decide to do that
thornton0511
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We also mostly go to WDW, but were put off by the new FP this year so opted for DLR. We just got back June 4th and had a ball!!
BTW, we will most likely head back to WDW next year since the FP system SEEMS to be getting better We do love DLR, but there are things we missed at WDW. That being said, we absolutely LOVED Pirates, Splash and IASW at DLR and will miss those versions at WDW!! I also really liked the feel at Walt's Park.
Awww thank you!
that is so funny that we pretty much had the same line of thinking and that our trips to DLR were in June lol! We are so glad that we are going back to WDW in Sept because we do miss it (even with the stupid FP+) and while DLR was a really neat experience it was in no way a substitute for WDW....for us. I will agree with you 100% that a lot of the rides in DLR were superior to those in WDW. And yes obviously I was in awe the entire time because it's Walt's park 
thornton0511
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Sounds like you had a good flight
lol
The info on WDW is great. DLP there was barely anything on. We've been there 3 times and the parks are great there but the people are soooooooooooooooo rude! I didn't notice it that much the first two trips we were on but last time was 2012 and after 4 days I was more than ready to come home and I'm normally crying leaving Florida! There was people skipping queues for rides, someone physically pushed me off the pavement to try get in front of me at the christmas tree lighting, there was rude CM's, trying to meet a character most of the time was like being in the middle of a mob or something and then in one restuarant someone just came and sat at a table as we were about to put our stuff on it! Was such a shame because the parks are lovely but that kind of ruined the magic
That makes me sad. I cannot believe that you had to experience all of that awful in one trip good grief! It would be hard to keep the magic going in that situation.
I wish that there was a way to keep stupid and mean people out of Disney. That would probably help with the rude CM situation as well if everyone was nice and happy and had common sense 
thornton0511
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I have to admit, I LOVE packing... when it's for the trip. Not so much when packing to come home.
OK, I'm glad you're on top of this because I read the airport, DMIL, van, car plan multiple times... and I'm still confused.
Even though I completely understand the strategy and reasoning, I still find it funny that you only checked one bag. I'd have to check the bags for free just because I could and because so many airlines charge for that. Heck, I might just bring some empties. It's principle, lol.
But yay you've landed at LAX. And since you're apparently renting a car, I'm ridiculously excited to hear about the road journey to DLand.
Well Rob since you like packing so much you can come and pack for me on our next trip and keep me out of beast mode lol!
Lol it was confusing to us too. lots of hopping around. it was no easy task getting to CA that is for sure! And I kept hearing DH kind of grumble something about WDW and magical express and what not the whole time too ....HA! look no judging on the checked bag situation lol. We have the worst luck with vacations and I was going to make sure that I got to CA with my clothes and stuff lol. You will be happy to know however that we are flying Southwest in Sept to WDW and planning on checking all of our bags
Ha glad you looking forward to the next part, you know me well friend and that nothing ever goes like it should with us lol!
thornton0511
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LA Car Rentals and the FREEWAY!
We had landed at LAX right on time and headed over to get our, um, one checked bag and proceed to the car rental shuttle. Here is where once again I tried some budget magic. First of all I could not seem to get over the price of rental a car for one week in CA! Everything I looked at was around $400 dollars or more and I just thought that was insane. I did however have a few left over miles after cashing in for our flight back home and had enough to rent a car using my AA miles with Alamo. So I made the reservation. But .when I made the ressie we were, at the time, flying out on Saturday not Friday (we added a day and switched the flights closer to the trip) so obviously I need to add a day to the rental. I still had enough miles to add the one day in the same car and would only have to pay an extra $12.50 for the extra day.Sounds easy right? Wrong. I called American and the person I spoke with said that since the ressie was booked with reward points that no changes can be made. Ugh. Her suggestion was to use the pts I had to book the extra day separate and then see if Alamo will let us combine them when we get there. We had to have a car when we landed so we said fine and made the extra days reservation. So far I am still only OOP $12.50 for a car rental for this trip so whatever.
So anyways we found the shuttle for Alamo (that also serviced National Car Rental too)and loaded our stuff on and were dropped off at the rental place within a few minutes.
It was now 5:30 as we headed inside to get in line to pick up our car. I was crossing my fingers that they would just combine the two reservations or let us go ahead and sign all of the paperwork for the two. We had booked the exact same car and made the times exact for the two reservations. Surely
Finally our turn came and DH told the agent our situation. He said no can do. Seriously? I know rules are rules but there is also common sense. IMO common sense trumps the rules. So now we had a car for one day and we would have to drive all the way back to LAX tomorrow afternoon (keeping the same exact car mind you) just to sign a new set of papers. Oh and apparently I failed to read the small print that said that even though I booked with reward points I am still responsible for the taxes and fees. Boo. That was my fault for not reading correctly though. That cost came to $15.33 which now brought my rental total to $27.83 .still better than $400!
We walked over and picked the car we would be driving for the next week. We went with a Chrysler 200. Nothing too fancy, just a means for transportation. It was very roomy though.
We checked out and plugged in our portable TOM TOM so we would know where to go .and found our way out lol. I have to be honest I was scared to death of us driving around especially in LA. By 6pm were were headed to ..dum dum dum the freeway. Good golly miss molly the freeway is insane!!! How are there this many people in one area? In my sheltered Texas lifetime I had never ever seen anything like this. As soon as we exited onto the 405 it was like BAM! 6 lanes and a HOV lane ..and bumper to bumper cars. I was too scared to take a picture lol. It was also 6pm on a Friday so that might have something to do with the amount of traffic. I now understood why people say you may only travel 20 miles but it will take you 3 hours to get there lol. The whole time it was like going 15 miles an hour and then BRAKE! Cause your lane stops moving. Then you move again and get up to like 20 and then BRAKE!! Lane stops again. Bleh.
Finally 45 minutes later TOM TOM told us we could get off the freeway of death and it was smooth sailing to our first destination. I know that you all are hoping that I am about to tell you we were in Anaheim but not quite yet. Sorry to disappoint. We could not fly all the way to CA for the first time ever and just do Disney! Honestly when planning I was so overwhelmed by how much stuff there is to do in CA. I wanted to do LA, San Diego, Disney, San Francisco, Yosemite, SolCal beaches ..but this was a one week vacation lol. So where was our first stop on this trip?
We had landed at LAX right on time and headed over to get our, um, one checked bag and proceed to the car rental shuttle. Here is where once again I tried some budget magic. First of all I could not seem to get over the price of rental a car for one week in CA! Everything I looked at was around $400 dollars or more and I just thought that was insane. I did however have a few left over miles after cashing in for our flight back home and had enough to rent a car using my AA miles with Alamo. So I made the reservation. But .when I made the ressie we were, at the time, flying out on Saturday not Friday (we added a day and switched the flights closer to the trip) so obviously I need to add a day to the rental. I still had enough miles to add the one day in the same car and would only have to pay an extra $12.50 for the extra day.Sounds easy right? Wrong. I called American and the person I spoke with said that since the ressie was booked with reward points that no changes can be made. Ugh. Her suggestion was to use the pts I had to book the extra day separate and then see if Alamo will let us combine them when we get there. We had to have a car when we landed so we said fine and made the extra days reservation. So far I am still only OOP $12.50 for a car rental for this trip so whatever.
So anyways we found the shuttle for Alamo (that also serviced National Car Rental too)and loaded our stuff on and were dropped off at the rental place within a few minutes.
It was now 5:30 as we headed inside to get in line to pick up our car. I was crossing my fingers that they would just combine the two reservations or let us go ahead and sign all of the paperwork for the two. We had booked the exact same car and made the times exact for the two reservations. Surely
Finally our turn came and DH told the agent our situation. He said no can do. Seriously? I know rules are rules but there is also common sense. IMO common sense trumps the rules. So now we had a car for one day and we would have to drive all the way back to LAX tomorrow afternoon (keeping the same exact car mind you) just to sign a new set of papers. Oh and apparently I failed to read the small print that said that even though I booked with reward points I am still responsible for the taxes and fees. Boo. That was my fault for not reading correctly though. That cost came to $15.33 which now brought my rental total to $27.83 .still better than $400!
We walked over and picked the car we would be driving for the next week. We went with a Chrysler 200. Nothing too fancy, just a means for transportation. It was very roomy though.
We checked out and plugged in our portable TOM TOM so we would know where to go .and found our way out lol. I have to be honest I was scared to death of us driving around especially in LA. By 6pm were were headed to ..dum dum dum the freeway. Good golly miss molly the freeway is insane!!! How are there this many people in one area? In my sheltered Texas lifetime I had never ever seen anything like this. As soon as we exited onto the 405 it was like BAM! 6 lanes and a HOV lane ..and bumper to bumper cars. I was too scared to take a picture lol. It was also 6pm on a Friday so that might have something to do with the amount of traffic. I now understood why people say you may only travel 20 miles but it will take you 3 hours to get there lol. The whole time it was like going 15 miles an hour and then BRAKE! Cause your lane stops moving. Then you move again and get up to like 20 and then BRAKE!! Lane stops again. Bleh.
Finally 45 minutes later TOM TOM told us we could get off the freeway of death and it was smooth sailing to our first destination. I know that you all are hoping that I am about to tell you we were in Anaheim but not quite yet. Sorry to disappoint. We could not fly all the way to CA for the first time ever and just do Disney! Honestly when planning I was so overwhelmed by how much stuff there is to do in CA. I wanted to do LA, San Diego, Disney, San Francisco, Yosemite, SolCal beaches ..but this was a one week vacation lol. So where was our first stop on this trip?
DisneyKid4Life
DIS Veteran
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- Mar 3, 2013
- Messages
- 4,409
First... Sept? WDW? Dates? (Just curious of course. 
)
WOW... $400 for a week????? I think I paid $184 tax in back in 2012, so this really shocks me. Yikes.
OK seriously?? You would have to drive back to LAX just to rent the same car? Hello... Logic??? Bueller??
Oy LA freeways. Yeah, a little culture shock there. You're description is bang on.
YES... WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST STOP??????
)WOW... $400 for a week????? I think I paid $184 tax in back in 2012, so this really shocks me. Yikes.
OK seriously?? You would have to drive back to LAX just to rent the same car? Hello... Logic??? Bueller??
Oy LA freeways. Yeah, a little culture shock there. You're description is bang on.
YES... WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST STOP??????
amandaw
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2011
- Messages
- 4,426
So glad y'all made it safely! Though that is frustrating about the rental car.
I am terrified of driving over there which is why I'm thinking of using other means of transportation. I don't like my DH's driving where we live....I can't imagine how nervous he'd make me over there.
Very interested to see what else y'all did besides DLR. There's so much I want to do also. I know we'll be doing Legoland for sure for my DS b/c I can't work Legoland FL into our October trip. I also want to do the San Diego Zoo. There's so much to do but so little time.......and money.
I am terrified of driving over there which is why I'm thinking of using other means of transportation. I don't like my DH's driving where we live....I can't imagine how nervous he'd make me over there.
Very interested to see what else y'all did besides DLR. There's so much I want to do also. I know we'll be doing Legoland for sure for my DS b/c I can't work Legoland FL into our October trip. I also want to do the San Diego Zoo. There's so much to do but so little time.......and money.
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