*** The Official 2014 - DLR -July Thread ***(We All Have Been There & Back Home)

[katy621]

What DH & I always do is we fly to SNA, get our hotel & go to the park that day. We hang out at both parks and the the last day we pack & visit DTD. We never really plan out anything, except last year we had to when we went to WDW.

 

[SpacecadetNZ]

Big step in planning arrived for me last Saturday. I got myself for Mother's Day my first swimsuit in something like 13 years! For those cool Disney pools! Now I have 2 1/2 months to try to fit in it better . I"m making more of an effort to exercise each day and Mr FFerret and I are only eating meals with meat on the weekend. Living in TX this is no easy feat, but I can honestly say I feel better.

I'm probably going to wind up wearing a t shirt over the swimsuit anyways to help prevent sunburn (pale blonde, here). but I'll be rocking that t shirt!

Good for you! I am in the same situation. Thinking about the water rides at LEGOLAND though, rather than pools in Anaheim. I am trying hard but I have very little willpower...

 

[RHMH]

Thanks for posting this! I knew McD and MiMi (sp) was close, but not that close

Big step in planning arrived for me last Saturday. I got myself for Mother's Day my first swimsuit in something like 13 years! For those cool Disney pools! Now I have 2 1/2 months to try to fit in it better . I"m making more of an effort to exercise each day and Mr FFerret and I are only eating meals with meat on the weekend. Living in TX this is no easy feat, but I can honestly say I feel better.

I'm probably going to wind up wearing a t shirt over the swimsuit anyways to help prevent sunburn (pale blonde, here). but I'll be rocking that t shirt!

 

[RHMH]

Hello Everyone and Happy Weekend

Can't believe it's the weekend again... Time is flying by.

Here we go with round # 11.... Questions below.

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
Souvenir Disney Mugs, California T-Shirts and Hipsters for the Girls.

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
No, we will stay with our pre-planned agenda.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?
We will walk.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?
YES, I believe so.

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)
Yes

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?
Yes

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?
Purchase Carsland or Matterhorn ride pic’s and the Castle

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?
We arrive on Saturday and by Monday someone will.

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?
Yes, I will post daily and then finish at home with You Tube Videos.

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?
Midori and Lucy will probably be on Instagram and face time with friends on their I-Pads.

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?
Yes, I will probably carry 2.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?
I will be on Dis in the morning and late at night.

To All

 

[Nintfamily]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?

-The kids get to pick their own from their budget. We will buy them a new hat or set of ears. For my DH he has said if he finds a new hat he'd like that, more mugs, Tinkerbell pins and anything else that might catch his eye. I want a new Chamilla charm for my bracelet, a new sweatshirt and I will just keep my eyes peeled for anything else.

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
-
The main thing is our dinning reservation at Goofy's. We will hop between parks and just enjoy

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?

-Walk our hotel is very close

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?

-Yep, it is in the budget to eat there twice. We have eaten there many times and never had an issue.

5. Do you think you might a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)

-More than likely not.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?

-Yes, but it will more than be in the form of can we please come back next summer?

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?

-Yes, there is a spot we had a picture taken and we will go back and take another there.

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?

-Yes. We get there Monday and by Thursday someone will be asking.

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?

-I've never done one but I will try.

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?

-Some of both. Since we are flying the kids will more than likely have their gadgets, I will have a book. DD will be sketching during travel as she is always drawing.

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?

-Don't have one, but I am thinking of investing in one. I need to investigate a bit.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?

-I won't until we get back. We unplug completely once we get to the hotel. The only exception is the cell phone for pictures.

 

[Californiacicle]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
I want to get a silhouette done of my son. I usually do them digitally (I make/sell silhouette jewelry) of him every year anyway.

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan? Normally I go in with a plan. This time all bets are off and I'm going to make this trip more of a go with the flow kind of thing, starting with what land we will visit first. There are shows and things we want to see but I only have an idea of what day we'll see them. The only set meals we have are the special birthday meals. Otherwise we know where we'd like to go and we'll stop when we are in the area and are hungry.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?We will walk.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks? Nope.

5. Do you think you might a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat) We are thinking we'll leave the kid with grandma to have a grandson and grandma date while DH and I go to Trader Sams. We haven't been on a date in three years.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day? Probably not.


7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation? We have PP+ so I want pics of pretty much everything.

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year? No idea.

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home? I'll wait until I get home because I won't have access to a computer.


10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned? We have a long flight so we'l have a tablet and phones. No laptops this time though.


11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day? We have one but it's big and heavy. I don't think we'll carry it in the parks, especially because I can't use my phone for anything other than pictures or video.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney? I don't know if I will at all.

 

[FFerret]

5. RESORT HOP This is our first trip to Cali, so we are definitely going to get a taste of the Disney hotels.

Our first night we fly in late and have a room at Paradise Pier. Really hoping for an upgrade since it'll be my birthday. Come on, pixie dust!

The next three are at the Grand Californian.

And my trick to get the fam to see the Disneyland Hotel is a lunch on my birthday at Trader Sam's. It'll also be my excuse to take the monorail from DL. With two teens and an occasionally grumpy Mr FFerret who hates crowds you have to learn how to scheme. Food is the best motivator

 

[94bruin]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?

A pin to commemorate the trip. Maybe some clothes. Maybe a silhouette. The one we have is from 4 years ago when my younger one was 9mo. I think it's time for an update!

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
We usually have a plan of attack in terms of order. But we are not so rigid that we can't deviate from our general plan.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?
Walk.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?
No

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)
Unlikely, unless we decide to eat at Goofy's Kitchen.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?
Yes! This happens each and every trip we're on. Typically the last day.

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?
No

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?
We've been lucky enough to visit at least once a year since 2009. However, we don't have any plans for 2015, so it may be me that asks the question!

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?
If I don't do something while I'm at the parks, I'll never do one when I get home.

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?
My girls like to play Guess the Disney Character (like 20 questions - yes or no answers only.) However, my girls love to read, so they will most likely do a fair amount of reading on the way down. We usually pop in a movie within 2 hours of DLR.
11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?
No.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?
Before and after the parks.

 

[greewe]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?

I would like a Christmas ornament. I have a Disney tree and try to add a new one each trip.
2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
We will have planned meals but not really planned touring except to do the most popular rides first thing in the morning.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?
We will walk.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?
No

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)
Yes

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?
No, we have plane reservations that can't be changed!

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?
I want to get a picture of my 3 boys in the car in toon town. We started doing this when they were little and the guys are in their 20's and 30's now!

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?
I don't really think anyone will ask but I could be wrong

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?
I scrapbook trips but I've never done a trip report

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?
Probably just read or the kids will do stuff on their phone etc

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?
no

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?

 

[tanyaegangibson]

We (DD9, DS6, and me) are excited to be going in July. We usually go to DL in October for a multigenerational trip (kids, DH, me, and wonderful FIL and MIL), but this year I told DH (who sweetly indulges my and the kids' DL infatuation but isn't that into it himself) that for my birthday present I'd love to go to DL this summer with the kids. So, we're counting down to our July 14th-July 18th trip! Staying at HOJOs for the first time--kids can't wait to play in the water features.

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
Since we're driving (and we usually fly), I promised the kids they can get balloons to take home. And caramel apples from Marcelines. And light sabers. (Yeah, I'm hoping our drive home doesn't include sugared-up kids bouncing balloons into the back of my head with light sabers, though.)

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?

We don't have a touring schedule this time--it's going to be mostly kid-driven. We do have dining plans for character meals, etc., and I doubt we'll deviate from them.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?

Walk.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?

No, I love IHOP but my guess is the kids will want to eat in the parks.

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)

I'm going to take the kids to Studio 365 for "transformations" (shh, don't tell--it's a surprise) one evening, and then we'll wander around DTD for a while and eat at Trader Sam's.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?

Yup, but we're so so fortunate to be going back in October, so I'll just keep reminding the kids of that.

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?

Splash Mountain. Every time.

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?

Um, by day 1 they'll be asking if we can build in this "extra" summer trip every year. Luckily for them, I love theme parks, especially DL, as much as they do. (I'm currently writing a book based in a fictional theme park, which happens to make for a great excuse to keep visiting them.)

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?

I've never done a trip report, but I'd like to start doing them this summer.

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?

DS6 can read now, so we'll probably do some road trip games with finding letters of the alphabet on signs, etc. We also have a deck of storytelling cards that use on road trips.

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I carry it in what we call "the amusement park backpack"--a.k.a., "Mommy's heavy backpack of doom."

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?

Not sure.

 

[RHMH]

We (DD9, DS6, and me) are excited to be going in July. We usually go to DL in October for a multigenerational trip (kids, DH, me, and wonderful FIL and MIL), but this year I told DH (who sweetly indulges my and the kids' DL infatuation but isn't that into it himself) that for my birthday present I'd love to go to DL this summer with the kids. So, we're counting down to our July 14th-July 18th trip! Staying at HOJOs for the first time--kids can't wait to play in the water features.

Dis Family - Glad you joined our July thread. I will add your information to the front page... Have fun planning...

 

[RHMH]

WOW !!! - Love everyone's answers..

Keep them coming... The July group is having fun.

 

[tstidm1]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
Maybe Glow with the Show ears, a Mickey Vinylmation or a World of Color shirt. The memories and pictures are the greatest souvenirs for me especially since Mom will be with me.

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
No, I'm on a preplanned tour, so having a list of what I want to do on my free time will be and winging it will be so awesome.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?
I will Walk. Mom is going to try an ECV there.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?
Probably not, but I love their Pancakes.

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)
Maybe. Depends how much free time I have. May not do this again, so every minute equals three.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?
I will be thinking it the whole way back.

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?
Want to get a picture of the Storytellers statue. That seems to be the most unique statue at any Disney Park except maybe the busts of TV Hall of Famers at DHS.

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?
Probably the Saturday after I get back.

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?
I plan to and will post when I get home.

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?
I plan to read The Disneyland Story or the classic Carl Barks Mickey Mouse comics on my Kindle Fire.

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?
Yes, but will be in the room.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?
Going on a forums/social media fast where the phone will only be used when separated from Mom to contact me.

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
Glow with the show ears and hopefully a disneyland sweatshirt

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
No! I like to plan and stick to it.


3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?
We will walk.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?
Most likely

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)
Yes,hopefully

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?
Nope.

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?
In front of the castle and splash mountain

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?
I dont see either of us saying that.


9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?
Not doing one for this trip

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?
We have a 6 hour flight,lots of movies and books, and a nap for me

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?
Nope

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?
Probably not

 

[Cali Girl At Heart]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
Souvenirs are my weakness, and I love shopping at DLR! Kids will have their own money...they've been saving all year. I'm sure we'll get t-shirts, mugs, magnets, etc. I'd really like a Disney handbag this year.

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
I'll be using Ridemax again, so we'll stick to the schedule.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?
We'll be walking to/from HOJO.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?
Probably not...I don't want to forego precious morning time in the parks.

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)
Yes! I love Downtown Disney, and Ridemax will build in time for any breaks based on what I input.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?
Yes, it will most likely be me!

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?
We always do a castle picture and one in front of the main entrance with the train station in the background.

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?
Not sure exactly, but it's bound to happen.

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?
I've never done a trip report before, but I'd like to for this trip!

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?
We have a ridiculously early flight so I'm guessing there will be some napping, but then the iPads and iPhones will come out.

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?
I don't have one now, but might look into that.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?
I will probably hop on once a day.

Super fun questions, thanks Bob!

 

[Joybelles]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
I have a charm bracelet, but it's often difficult to find charms!! Nothing specific though. DD13 is a HUGE fan of souvenirs... we'll see what she finds....

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?
No dining planned at all. No touring plan. But I would love it if each member of our group (8 of us) picked out 2 "must-dos" (rides, characters, picture locations, etc) so that everyone gets a chance to do what they want. We don't all have to ride/meet (but grandma will want all in the picture), but just make sure everybody gets to do what they want.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?
Walk. Our hotel is close.

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?
No. I believe continental breakfast is included in our hotel.

5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)
Probably not. But I've been reading on Dis about Trader Sam's. Might want to take a look, and if we do, take a look at the hotel too.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?
Not sure.

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?
I'm leaving picture ideas up to Grandma. She'll have her daughter and son (my husband) and all 4 granddaughters. As long as she gets a few pics of all plus her we'll be happy!

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?
Will be interesting to see what everyone says. First time for my nieces (11 & 13) and second for my daughters (13 & 15).

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?
Probably not. But may post if some "above and beyond" happened.

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?
I'll read and so will Auds. Nothing themed planned yet, but maybe will look into it. "Kingdom Keepers" (wrong park, but still....). "Wild Ride" by Jennifer Crusie (fictional, haunted theme park). Our flight is only a couple hours.

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?
I usually just charge my phone at night. Daytime use at the parks will be for pictures and communicating if we are separated. Any maybe a little Facebook, Snapchat, etc.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?
Probably won't. Unless I have a question I want answered right away.

 

[tinibee]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?
Maybe a popcorn bucket depending on how big they are. And it must be mega-cute/kawaii.

2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan? We have a couple meals and activities plan, but everything else is free game.

3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks? Walk

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks? No. The food is ok and the service is generally good, but so expensive! When we’ve eaten there its usually after we leave the park for the night because it’s one of the first restaurants you see and its faster than the take out Chinese from the flyer they push at you as you leave the parks.

5. Do you think you might a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat). Probably not. Too much to do at the parks.

6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day? Maybe my DD (7), but we are going to Aulani after DL so I don’t anticipate many requests to stay longer.

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation? As many as we can to meet or exceed a $69.95 value.

8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year? Probably not at all since they know we won’t be coming back to the states for a couple years after this trip.

9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home? Unless something really interesting happens, no trip report.

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned? Kindles are a godsend to keep my kids busy on all our flights.

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day? I always carry a battery charger. My smartphone is regularly hungry.

12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney? Pretty often. The DISboard phone app makes it pretty easy.

 

[Dismamx2]

1. What Souvenir/s do you plan to purchase during your Disney Vacation?

Youngest dd will want to buy everything she sees eldest dd will look for a couple of days before she decides what she likes, usually we end up with lots of plush's, cups, giant slippers, t-shirts, key-chains, magnets etc


2. If you have a touring and dining schedule… do you think you will deviate from your original plan?

We use Ridemax and will stick with it for the most part but we do often just 'go with the flow'


3. Do you plan to walk, drive or take the Anaheim shuttle to and from the parks?

Walk

4. Do you think you will eat breakfast at the IHOP across street from the parks?

We are not really breakfast eaters but my girls like IHOP in Florida so maybe on a non park day we might have lunch/dinner here


5. Do you think you might take a morning or afternoon and Resort Hop during your Disney Vacation? (Visit the 3 Disney Hotels, shop and eat)

No, except for dinner at Goofy's


6. Do you think one of your family members will ask, Can we stay just one more day?

Probably

7. Do you have certain pictures you have to have taken during your Disney vacation?

Not particularly


8. On what day of your vacation, will one of a family member say – Can we come back next year?

Plans are in place for next years vacation


9. Will you try to keep up with a Disney Trip Report during your vacation or will you wait until you get home?

Umhhh! I'm not sure

10. Do you play games on the way to Disney or does everyone have their own entertainment planned?

Long flights; movies, books, I pads, phones etc

11. Do you carry a portable battery charger with a USB cord for your phone during the day?

No, we don't use our phones much in the parks


12. How many times will you get on Dis while at Disney?

Not a lot

Thanks Bob for all the time and effort you put in here

 

[RHMH]

Super fun questions, thanks Bob!

- I'm really enjoying our group...

Thanks Bob for all the time and effort you put in here

- I enjoy meeting new friends.

 

[Nintfamily]

So excited! Just made Goofy's reservations for the 17th at 5 pm! WOOT! 57 days until we get to leave!

Does anyone else use the lime green Mickey head's for tags? I do! It will be on my lanyard along with a crystal heart. I will try to get a picture of it. Of course I will have my Minnie Ears on