The one for the Bucket List 11/21-25/14

[DharmaLou]

Greetings! This will be my 4th trip to DLR in the past 2 years (DD & DH's 3rd) so I thought for the fun of it I'd try to do a trip report this time.

We arrive November 21st mid-morning (our flight lands at SNA at 9:25 and we're heading straight over) and our last day is November 25th. We'll spend the next 5 days with my cousin and her family who live in Ventura County.

Background:

Me: I grew up visiting DLR every few years when we'd come to California to visit my cousin/aunt/uncle who lived in the Valley. I'm not 100% certain, but This might be my 12th visit. I've also been to WDW 3 times.

DH: His first visit was 2 years ago when we went for the first time as a family. His family wasn't able to travel much, so he had never had the chance. I thought he might be skeptical and just going along with it for the sake of DD, but as we planned our first trip he did a ton of his own research. He's also a big Marvel fan, so he's excited about all of those characters there now, too. This will be his 3rd trip.

DD6: Her first trip was exactly 2 years prior to this one, and this will be her 3rd. She is tall enough to go on all the rides, and she says the first one she wants to go on is Screamin'! She LOVES roller coasters. She's also a princess at heart, and she says she's most looking forward to seeing Rapunzel.

Why the Bucket List? Well, ever since my first trip to DLR at age 5 I have wanted to stay at DLH. Obviously I didn't get to make the decisions as a child where we stayed, but as an adult I checked it out and realized how expensive it was. So, we have been saving our pennies for the last 2 years so that we could stay here this trip. It will be our one and only because we just can't justify the cost as much as we would love to!

So, stay tuned. We have 3 weeks until arrival. It can't come soon enough!

 

[petals]

I'm going to be there the same time as you

 

[yupikgal]

Have a great time! We will be there the week before you, and like you, we also saved and made payments all this past year to stay at the DLH! Can't wait, it's our first time staying there!

Have the time of your life, we are so excited about ours! Check out my PTR
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3345749

 

[DharmaLou]

2 1/2 weeks to go! We've got everything planned as much as we can at this point, but I'm considering making an Ariel's reservation for DD and I on the day she has her Frozen makeover. DH is planning on spending a good part of that day watching football at ESPNzone. We did Ariel's last time we were there and we didn't plan on doing it this year, but since it would be just DD and I it might not be a bad idea.

Other plans:
Breakfast with DD at Plaza Inn (DH isn't a big breakfast person, he can go on rides that DD doesn't want to go on while we're eating)
Dinner at Goofy's Kitchen

One of my very good friends has an AP so they will meet up with us on Saturday to hang out. Her boyfriend isn't a huge Disney fan, but he is taking one for the team to meet up with us. The promise of some drinks at the Cove Bar or Trader Sams was enticing to him!

DD wants to take THREE princess dresses with her. Elsa, Ariel and Cinderella. Last trip she took ONE. She's going to need her own suitcase just for the poofy dresses! Elsa is a given since she is having a Frozen makeover, but I'd really like her to keep it to 2 dresses instead of 3. But you're only 6 once and you might as well live it up!

I am REALLY looking forward to all of the holiday treats. I'm working really hard at losing weight and am down about 20lbs in the past couple months from clean eating, but I am giving myself full permission to eat whatever I feel like on this trip. We usually snack for two meals of the day and then have one big meal.

 

[MommyJKM]

2 1/2 weeks to go! We've got everything planned as much as we can at this point, but I'm considering making an Ariel's reservation for DD and I on the day she has her Frozen makeover. DH is planning on spending a good part of that day watching football at ESPNzone. We did Ariel's last time we were there and we didn't plan on doing it this year, but since it would be just DD and I it might not be a bad idea.

We did Ariel's in May and my DD was 3 1/2 and LOVED it!! She saw ALL the Princesses and they all spent a nice amount of time with her. She had me frame each pic with each princess and put them in her room
It's worth it to see them if your DD loves them!!

The food is just okay, I would never eat there if it wasn't for the option to see ALL the princesses. I didn't eat last time (my parents did) and waited for the Shrimp Louie at Pacific Wharf

 

[Disney127]

Why the Bucket List? Well, ever since my first trip to DLR at age 5 I have wanted to stay at DLH. Obviously I didn't get to make the decisions as a child where we stayed, but as an adult I checked it out and realized how expensive it was. So, we have been saving our pennies for the last 2 years so that we could stay here this trip. It will be our one and only because we just can't justify the cost as much as we would love to!

So, stay tuned. We have 3 weeks until arrival. It can't come soon enough!

Happy for you that you can stay at the DLH. We stayed there last October and had a fabulous time. My girls loved the pools! We usually stay off-site but we did a split stay, wanted to spoil my parents for their 48th Anniversary. This time, DD (12) and I are trying the Paradise Pier (another split stay with BWPPI). Saw all the different reviews but we just have to go and see for ourselves.

 

[DharmaLou]

Happy for you that you can stay at the DLH. We stayed there last October and had a fabulous time. My girls loved the pools! We usually stay off-site but we did a split stay, wanted to spoil my parents for their 48th Anniversary. This time, DD (12) and I are trying the Paradise Pier (another split stay with BWPPI). Saw all the different reviews but we just have to go and see for ourselves.

I stayed at PPH in January for the Tink Half with 3 friends - it was easy to justify sharing a room with 3 others! It had some nice Disney touches, and I enjoyed it, but it didn't feel like a complete Disney immersion. The pool seemed fairly average with no over the top touches, but I did appreciate the proximity not only to DLR, but also to the race start!

 

[DharmaLou]

Well, we're about 36 hours from our departure, and this last week has draaaaagged by! We are close to being packed and the last load of "preparatory laundry" is in the dryer. I did DD's nails today, and I've already done my toes and soon will be doing my nails.

We don't have a set plan. I know a lot of people plan things to a "T", but I'm not doing a lot of that this time. Tentatively we have:

Friday: Arrive at DLH about 10:30-11am, be at DLR by 11:30. Return to get settled in about 4 or 5 pm and spend the evening at DCA.

Saturday: early entry at DLR and get our A&E passes. Meet up with friends about 10am and spend the day with them between the parks, drinks at Trader Sam's to end the day.

Sunday: early entry at DCA, DH head to ESPNzone at 9 to get a seat to watch football, DD6 and I go to the Frozen boutique to get an Elsa makeover at 10:20, head to Fantasy Faire when we're done, and back to DCA for lunch at Ariel's at 1pm. Rest in the room about 4 or 5 to meet up with DH and then to DLR for evening rides and fireworks.

Monday: Early entry at DCA, Breakfast at Plaza Inn at 9, time in DLR, back to the hotel to swim in the afternoon, dinner at Goofy's Kitchen at 5, World of Color.

Tuesday: Early entry at DLR, meet up with friends about 1 and park hop, perhaps more swimming and time at Trader Sam's, hopefully one last Fireworks show.

I'm really looking forward to splurging a bit on food. I've been eating extremely clean for the last 7 weeks or so with no exceptions. Hopefully I won't do a number on my stomach, but the food and sweet treats are some of my favorite things about the parks!

DD is ready - only 2 more sleeps!

 

[DharmaLou]

Well, here we are. We've been there, done that already. I can't believe that what took SO long to arrive went by so quickly! But, we're back home and I brought home a nasty cold as a souvenir. I'm on day 9 of it with no signs of it letting up. Boo. But, since I'm lacking motivation to do much else, I might as well get started on the TR!

The alarm went off at 5:15 on Friday morning - about 2 hours before my usual wake up. Not like I slept, I mean c'mon - WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!! I got up and finished last minute things such as packing toiletries (I had showered the night before), feeding the cats, making sure all the notes for the pet sitter were out, and getting dressed. About 5:40 I woke DD6 and helped her get ready. BIL arrived at about 5:55am so that we could head off to the airport!

Our flight was on time, and oddly enough when we went through security we didn't have to remove our shoes, jackets, or take out our 3oz toiletries. Apparently it was because they had the dog sniffing people and luggage on our way to security. The dog (a gorgeous golden retriever) took his time with my bag. I was a little nervous, and it wasn't until a couple days later that I realized WHY he was so interested in my bag!

Not only that, but I had the bag in my room for some time, and Ellis loved to sleep inside of it. No one bothered him there!

We made it to the gate with plenty of time to spare, so DD and I used the restroom and got some coffee/water, and then DH did the same. I had been eating incredibly clean for the 2 months leading up to our trip and lost 30lbs in preparation for it (I still have about 100 lbs to go), so this latte was the first "treat" I had had. I was a little worried how my body would adust to sugar and a lot of carbs, but I did well.

We boarded and departed on time. This timer? I set it on my phone approximately 2 years in advance. It was so exciting to finally see it hit 0:00:00

DD is quite the reader despite just having turned 6. She read the emergency card from front to back.

We had an amazingly smooth flight with no bumps, which is not common when taking off or landing from Denver. Still, I rewarded myself with a vodka cranberry at about 8:30am and 20,000 feet Thanks to Southwest for the free drink coupons! The flight attendant was pretty awesome - it was basically vodka with a splash of cranberry (and also my first alcohol in about 2 months!)

As we prepared for an early landing (yay!) we pointed out things out the window to DD - Angel Stadium, the Matterhorn, so on and so forth - and DD says "I think we're taking off again!". Yep. We were. It seems there was a disabled aircraft on the runway at SNA so we had to circle the airport. I was anxious to get there, but I knew that even if we we landed 15 minutes early we still would have to wait until our shuttle arrived to head to the hotel, so it didn't really matter. After one circle we landed - still early!

Our bags came quickly and we were out the door on the jaunt to the Super Shuttle pick up. We only had a 5 minute wait or so before ours arrived. We had an older couple with us who were headed to the Hyatt for a conference, so they were dropped off first. Fortunately for DD, who managed to snooze her way from SNA to DLH!

We arrived at DLH about 10:20am and proceeded to the desk anticipating checking our luggage and returning later to get our room, but in a great stroke of luck, they had a room ready! All I had to do was secure the balance on my credit card - $2084. The only problem was that I only had $1900 available on my PayPal Visa!!!

Next: How do we handle this problem, and when will we get to the parks??