The Franco bunch's first summer vacation Trip report from Summer 2013

[Markie Mouse]

Well, after much debating, I finally convinced my wife to go back for the 29th leap day. We will be there Feb. 27th through March 3rd. Since I posted the last PTR so much has changed. Like my weight. I struggled with weight and got back up to 320 but now I'm down to 280, I lost my job at the recording studio but now produce at home and work at Best Buy, my aunt died from complications from a tumor removal, and we had our 3rd child.....D'Artagnan James Franco. This will be a emotional trip for me because my aunt and I always talked about going back so I will thinking about her a lot on this trip. I will be buying a new camera and will be testing it out on this trip. I returned the Sony A55 I used for the last trip and will be buying a Canon S100. More compact and still great quality.

The Cast
Me(trust me you don't need a photo)

My DW Amanda

My DD Isabella

My DS Zeke

My DS D'Artagnan

and last my DB Antonio

This trip should be fun, and I am already expecting a huge showing for the 24 hour day but me and my bro figure the crowds will die after 2-3am and we will have a blast till they close. The plan is to get there the 27th, go out and eat, walk around DTD, maybe catch a movie, get some sleep, hit rope drop the 28th, stay till closing, sleep in till around 9 am the morning of the 29th stay till about 3-4pm go back take a huge nap, go back about 8-9 pm till the kiddos are puckered out my wife or bro will go back with them and we will party the night away till 6am. Rest the 1st, go back to hit everything we missed on Friday the 2nd, and leave the 3rd. Can you tell I've planned this out. Well it should be fun, but are there any tips to making my TR more interesting?? Its only my second one and I'd like to make it more memorable not only for you guys but for myself to look back on.

 

[kaoden39]

Hi there!!


Oh boy I am sure you are going to see crowds! But who knows? I am thinking that it can't stay busy all 24 hours.


Congratulations on your son. He is a doll!!

 

[Markie Mouse]

Hi there!!


Oh boy I am sure you are going to see crowds! But who knows? I am thinking that it can't stay busy all 24 hours.


Congratulations on your son. He is a doll!!

Thank you, he has been the easiest baby so far. Would you know how to change the title of this thread? You know others put update or added???

 

[kaoden39]

Thank you, he has been the easiest baby so far. Would you know how to change the title of this thread? You know others put update or added???

My third child was my easiest by far. His dr told me that it was my reward. I believe it.


I think that if you go in and edit the first post you can change it there.

 

[Markie Mouse]

Bought the tickets today, we will be staying at the Tropicana Inn, we thought about the Castle Inn again but after much convincing and trip adviser research we chose the Tropicana. Its the cheapest of the good neighbor hotels right across the way, it was only 250 more than castle on getawaytoday, and the rooms looked far cleaner. Now I'm' off to buy my camera today.

 

[Markie Mouse]

Had a long day. I ended up getting the canon s100 and wow for a P&S camera it is amazing. You can expect a ton of pictures on the TR. The video shoots at 1080/24p which is film/cinema specs so I might even have amazing videos. We have our driving arrangements set, our hotel is booked, our itinerary is going to be more laid back this time so now its just a waiting game. I can't believe I'll be there in only a couple weeks. I also bought a backpack/leash for my DS Zeke, he is a runner. I always thought they were so cruel but if you knew my son, you would know why that changed. Well, I hope next time I post we will be at the Land!

 

[Markie Mouse]

Here are some pre trip test pics, but I actually returned this camera and bought the Sony Nex 5, its a compact system camera. I couldn't deal with not having a high F stop for the shallow D.O.F.(Bokeh) portraits. It gives me DSLR quality in a compact frame. But here's what I got with the Canon.

Can't wait for the new Camera now, can't believe it's only 2 weeks and couple days now.

 

[Markie Mouse]

So excited, I came home to find our package from getawaytoday and we got some cool wristbands, a kids backpack, and our paper work. Just made it harder to wait.

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Hey, I really like your TR. I love DL at christmas time, just not a fan of the crowds. We'll be there the first or second week of december this year in hopes of lighter crowds.

have fun at the leap day thing Also, I'm not sure what kind of deal you got for tropicana, but for future reference, I recomend the name your price thing on priceline. I have yet to spend over $80 per night for 3 1/2 star hotels (usually 69-75/night). I tend to get the ones a little further down on Harbor, but the shuttle service and larger rooms more than makes up for it for me. Can't wait to hear about your new trip

 

[Markie Mouse]

Hey, I really like your TR. I love DL at christmas time, just not a fan of the crowds. We'll be there the first or second week of december this year in hopes of lighter crowds.

have fun at the leap day thing Also, I'm not sure what kind of deal you got for tropicana, but for future reference, I recomend the name your price thing on priceline. I have yet to spend over $80 per night for 3 1/2 star hotels (usually 69-75/night). I tend to get the ones a little further down on Harbor, but the shuttle service and larger rooms more than makes up for it for me. Can't wait to hear about your new trip

Thank you, I payed 120/night and will end up paying another $45 in parking fees but it is located right across the street and we need that for the 24 hour day. It was worth it for us since we only go once a year, if that. I agree about the Christmas time but we do not think we will ever go back, the con's outweighed the pro's for us.

 

[heatherleigh]

I just got all caught up on your past/future TR! I've enjoyed everything.

I am particularly interested in the very first trip you eluded to in the beginning (horrible spring break crowds). Do you remember if it was the end of March?

We are going next month, and I am very nervous about this (I was aware, prior to seeing your post). Were you still able to go on rides, despite the overwhelming crowds? I am afraid we will only get on a few FL rides during MM, then it will be out of control. On two of the weekdays, I will be alone in the parks with my two girls who are 3 & 5 yrs old. The 4 hour wait for Nemo (or one of the rides you mentioned), especially gave me a scare.

 

[Happy 2 B Me]

A Lurkie here--- I enjoyed reading about the prior trip and am looking forward to reading and following this TR. You seem like such a fun and enjoyable person to be around I am trying to figure out how you can adopt me. Not sure it is workable I am WAY to old, it was worth a try though. Ok know that I am following along .

Patty

 

[Markie Mouse]

I just got all caught up on your past/future TR! I've enjoyed everything.

I am particularly interested in the very first trip you eluded to in the beginning (horrible spring break crowds). Do you remember if it was the end of March?

We are going next month, and I am very nervous about this (I was aware, prior to seeing your post). Were you still able to go on rides, despite the overwhelming crowds? I am afraid we will only get on a few FL rides during MM, then it will be out of control. On two of the weekdays, I will be alone in the parks with my two girls who are 3 & 5 yrs old. The 4 hour wait for Nemo (or one of the rides you mentioned), especially gave me a scare.

It was March 15-19 and it was all weekdays,the crowds were high but barely manageable(besides Nemo-4hr wait and Indy 75/min+ wait+constant breakdowns) I would expect Star Tours:TAC to be a 60+ min wait as well as The Little Mermaid ride. I would suggest for your MM to hit up Peter Pan asap as that ride during the day always has a 20-30min+ wait. I also think the trip is what you make it, if you expect high crowds, prepare mentally and emotionally. When the crowds and lines get crazy find something "different" to do. Meaning stay away from rides for bit and take in the sights. Check out "The Disneyland Story presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" or ride the Mark Twain if it is up. Check out the Blue Sky Cellar in DCA, take a time out basically. It has saved us so many times on our trips from just blowing up at all the rude inconsiderate people at the park and just made us focus on not letting them ruin our trip. Hope you have fun. Are You doing a TR yourself?

 

[Markie Mouse]

A Lurkie here--- I enjoyed reading about the prior trip and am looking forward to reading and following this TR. You seem like such a fun and enjoyable person to be around I am trying to figure out how you can adopt me. Not sure it is workable I am WAY to old, it was worth a try though. Ok know that I am following along .

Patty

HAHA, awesome! Thank you. I try to be fun, life's way too short and I'm glad I realized that at 26.

 

[Markie Mouse]

I got my new camera today. It works beautifully. I'll be posting test pics as soon as I get some. The video is unbelievable for a camera and it not being a camcorder. Only one more week and I'll be enjoying SoCal and being a part of Disney history. Which brings up something, should I even go to it? I payed for an extra rest day but I was thinking the day after might not be so crowed but then I got to thinking(which I do way too much of) How would they get the park up and running in only 2-3 hours the day after leap day? Would they just shut down rides throughout the day to do maintenance on leap day or do it throughout the day after leap day. Then I heard people will be lining up the night before and they should reach capacity early morning. YIKES Any help or suggestions would be nice. Go leap day or the day after leap day?

 

[Markie Mouse]

Well after messing with my camera I got some ok test pics. We decided to just go on leap day at 6am till we can't go any longer, go back to the hotel and nap till around 8-10pm let the kids have fun till they pass out and me and the wife(or brother) will stay till 6am. Can't miss a once in a lifetime(or maybe every 4 years) moment. Im so excited but stressed because of work and school. I have to jam 2 weeks of homework into one week before we leave. But here are the Test pics from the NEX 5N.

 

[Markie Mouse]

Only one more day now and we haven't cleaned the car. I have a lot to do, pack, get camera cases ready, finish my homework a week early, and work my closing shift at work. We decided to add an extra day at the gates because we think it will be ridiculous for most of the day on the 29th so if we miss a lot that day; the day after will be for shows, taking in sights, and taking advantage of photopass. I will be making a flickr account so I can maybe do live updates but I'm still not comfortable with my iPhone yet, so I don't know how easy to "do", it will be. Any tips from iPhone users would be helpful. I bought a new app for phone my BTW, its the Disneyland Magic Guide so I might do a mini review of that. If you can't tell by how late this post is, I am super excited to finally be going back to DLR.

 

[kaoden39]

Have fun!!

 

[Markie Mouse]

Gonna be working on the trip report very slowly due to my backed up homework. Overall the trip was the best Disneyland trip we have had so far even though we missed Tangled, The Matterhorn, Aladdin, Frozen Lemonades, and the Dole Whip. The only negatives this trip was the fact I was sick the whole trip, and Leap Day, though some may had fun, was a bad experience for me and my Family. I will get to that later. I took over 1300 photos but only 150 made it to my TR. See you soon!

 

[kaoden39]

Welcome back! I look forward to hearing all about it!!