dizneekrazee
Fullfilling my bucket list, one vacation at a time
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2008
- Messages
- 2,602
Hi! This is my 1st PTR!! I have to warn you all in advance that I talk alot (or, for this matter, write alot)! So grab a Dole Whip, a churro, or a plastic bucket of popcorn and enjoy!
Our next family trip to the DisneyLAND Resort (DLR) is Oct. 30, 2008- Nov. 3, 2008!! I am so excited!
The staring Characters this trip:
Myself (Brandy)26, DH (Jose)28, DS(Antonio)9, DS(Xavier) will be 5, and DS(Giovanni) will be 3. We are, for this trip anyways, a family of 5. My DSS, at this point, is not coming on this trip with us, he is usually with his mom for Halloween.
So, the trip planning is quite simple to me, I dont really stress off choices, well, maybe just a little. Our trip plans consist of hotel ressies, ticket purchases, planning out meals and making the necessary ressies, ordering out Halloween party tickets, and getting Disney Dollars and gift cards loaded up so we dont have to bring a bunch of cash/credit cards.
We almost always stay at The Desert Inn & Suites, which you can see in my siggy below. I made our hotel ressies back in March, the day I temporarily left school for personal reasons (I am a nursing student). I made them that day to help make myself feel better. We got an excellant rate,
I mean a price that cannot be beat!! As mentioned above, we are checking in on Thrusday 10-30-08, at $69 that night, Friday night, which is Halloween, is $89, and the following 2 nites, which are obviously and Saturday and Sunday night, are a surprisingly only $59, yes $59! I couldnt believe it myself when I found that rate!! 
And the reservations were made!!
Each time we go to DL, we always stop and my Disney Store, get a gift card and put a few hundred dollars on it, and also get some Disney Dollars for fun. This year, being as we are more broke that previous years, I decided about 4 weeks ago to get the gift card started now! So each week I add $25 to my card. If I continue that trend, no more, no less, I think it came out $675 by the time we leave. This is not for tickets or hotel, just food and souvies!! I will also try to add more than $25 if possible on a couple of weeks. Although $675 should be plenty on a card, although my goal is $800.
I also just found out the other day that the tickets for the Halloween party became available for advance purchase for APers (which I am not) and for Disney Visa cardholders (which I am), so I bought our tickets today!!!!
For our admission tickets, I will not go in and buy them all at once, I will buy one here, and another there, and so forth. That also goes along with our hotel stay, I will not pay them at check out, I will mail them the full payment in advance, that way I do not have to worry about that when the trip is over. I am still thinking if we should upgrade to APs, hmmm....
Now, for the part that I do stress over, dining....
I can sit on the computer for hours trying to decide how many restaurants we will have time for in our 3 day trip. I must always include at least 1 charcter meal, which usually takes place the day we head home at Goofys Kitch, but this year I want to try something different...
This year, we are going to try either Chip n Dales Storyteller Cafe, or Lilo n Stitchs restaurant in PPH. We have never been to either, so I am open to suggestions and recommendations. I still have, like what, 3 months before I can make my ressies anyway.
We initally were going to do Ariels for lunch this year, but, after reading the menu, and looking at prices, I really didnt think it was worth it. So that was quickly nixed. We were going to allow each of our 3 boys that are going with us on this trip to pick the place for 1 meal each, but I have to admit, I will be strongly influencing their choices!
Meal planning is one of my favorite parts of trip planning! Now to review the meal sites....
Our next family trip to the DisneyLAND Resort (DLR) is Oct. 30, 2008- Nov. 3, 2008!! I am so excited!
The staring Characters this trip:
Myself (Brandy)26, DH (Jose)28, DS(Antonio)9, DS(Xavier) will be 5, and DS(Giovanni) will be 3. We are, for this trip anyways, a family of 5. My DSS, at this point, is not coming on this trip with us, he is usually with his mom for Halloween.
So, the trip planning is quite simple to me, I dont really stress off choices, well, maybe just a little. Our trip plans consist of hotel ressies, ticket purchases, planning out meals and making the necessary ressies, ordering out Halloween party tickets, and getting Disney Dollars and gift cards loaded up so we dont have to bring a bunch of cash/credit cards.
We almost always stay at The Desert Inn & Suites, which you can see in my siggy below. I made our hotel ressies back in March, the day I temporarily left school for personal reasons (I am a nursing student). I made them that day to help make myself feel better. We got an excellant rate,
I mean a price that cannot be beat!! As mentioned above, we are checking in on Thrusday 10-30-08, at $69 that night, Friday night, which is Halloween, is $89, and the following 2 nites, which are obviously and Saturday and Sunday night, are a surprisingly only $59, yes $59! I couldnt believe it myself when I found that rate!! And the reservations were made!!
Each time we go to DL, we always stop and my Disney Store, get a gift card and put a few hundred dollars on it, and also get some Disney Dollars for fun. This year, being as we are more broke that previous years, I decided about 4 weeks ago to get the gift card started now! So each week I add $25 to my card. If I continue that trend, no more, no less, I think it came out $675 by the time we leave. This is not for tickets or hotel, just food and souvies!! I will also try to add more than $25 if possible on a couple of weeks. Although $675 should be plenty on a card, although my goal is $800.
I also just found out the other day that the tickets for the Halloween party became available for advance purchase for APers (which I am not) and for Disney Visa cardholders (which I am), so I bought our tickets today!!!!
For our admission tickets, I will not go in and buy them all at once, I will buy one here, and another there, and so forth. That also goes along with our hotel stay, I will not pay them at check out, I will mail them the full payment in advance, that way I do not have to worry about that when the trip is over. I am still thinking if we should upgrade to APs, hmmm....
Now, for the part that I do stress over, dining....
I can sit on the computer for hours trying to decide how many restaurants we will have time for in our 3 day trip. I must always include at least 1 charcter meal, which usually takes place the day we head home at Goofys Kitch, but this year I want to try something different...
This year, we are going to try either Chip n Dales Storyteller Cafe, or Lilo n Stitchs restaurant in PPH. We have never been to either, so I am open to suggestions and recommendations. I still have, like what, 3 months before I can make my ressies anyway.
We initally were going to do Ariels for lunch this year, but, after reading the menu, and looking at prices, I really didnt think it was worth it. So that was quickly nixed. We were going to allow each of our 3 boys that are going with us on this trip to pick the place for 1 meal each, but I have to admit, I will be strongly influencing their choices!
Meal planning is one of my favorite parts of trip planning! Now to review the meal sites....
