To a galaxy far far away: March-April-May...no wait...Nov 2020 PTR

[VandVsmama]

All of the schools in AZ are now going to be closed through 4/10, so we are planning on NOT going to DL over Easter weekend. We are now targeting for May instead!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

All of the schools in AZ are now going to be closed through 4/10, so we are planning on NOT going to DL over Easter weekend. We are now targeting for May instead!

Hey, join the May Check In thread and in tentative good news for you; Haunted Mansion reopening May 1st.

 

[VandVsmama]

We're now looking at 3 possible weekends:

Thurs 5/14 - Sun 5/17 - we'd go to DL on Fri & Sat with Th & Sun being travel days
Memorial Day weekend - travel day Fri, at DL on Sat & Sun, travel day Mon
Fri 5/29 - Tues 6/2 - travel day Fri, at DL on Sat, rest Sun, at DL Mon, travel day Tues

I've made some ADRs for the 1st 2 weekends listed, along with a Savi's Workshop reservation. When ADRs open up for the 3rd weekend, I'll make some backup ADRs for that time frame, too.

Then we will just play it by ear based on how the corona virus situation plays itself out. DH said this morning, "Even if DL re-opens in April, no way do I want to be in CA right after DL re-opens."

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, we've decided to give it a go and try for a week in southern CA at the end of June & into 4th of July. We've booked a hotel for 3 nights in San Diego near relatives from Fri 6/26 - Mon 6/29. And then we'll check into the BW Stovall's on Mon 6/29, checking out on Thurs, 7/2.

We have dinner reservations at Napa Rose for Wed 7/1. Even if DL isn't open, I REALLY hope that we can go to dinner there that evening! It'll be our 25th wedding anniversary.

We stayed at BW Stovall's a few years ago and enjoyed our stay there. It was very clean! And we liked having 2 pools to use there.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

How were you able to get reservations at NR? Are the online books available now for July? Pixie dust and fingers crossed that your anniversary trip and dinner happen without any glitches!

 

[Jaina]

I hope it works out for you!!

 

[VandVsmama]

How were you able to get reservations at NR? Are the online books available now for July? Pixie dust and fingers crossed that your anniversary trip and dinner happen without any glitches!

I made the reservation a couple of weeks ago. But now when you go on the DL website, you can't make any reservations at all!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I made the reservation a couple of weeks ago. But now when you go on the DL website, you can't make any reservations at all!

Thank you for clarifying -- people on the trip planning board have been asking about this, so it helps to know that the books are actually closed and that we're not just losing our Disney skillz here!

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, on Disneyland.com, they're still showing my 7/1 Napa Rose reservation and it hasn't been cancelled. But the chances are slim to none I think that Disneyland and DTD will be open on 7/1 because on Disneyland's website right now, if you're buying a 1-day ticket, the 1st available day you can use it is 7/16.

I think that it's going to reopen on 7/16.

I have to take a mandatory 2-week furlough at work the first two weeks of July, so that would have been an ideal time to go out of town for a few days. But DH doesn't want to do DL in July (hot weather), which is ironic since we live in Arizona. Hello? Hot weather is our middle name around here. DH said it's the humidity that gets him.

Ok, fine.

So when to go?

• latter half of July - can't because of work
• August - school starts again in early August and now ODD will be in....HIGH SCHOOL!
• September - Labor Day weekend is an option, but DH said it's out because of hot weather
• kids' fall break during October - too many work obligations, can't get time off
• Veterans' Day weekend - our kids' only have actual Veterans Day off, which is on a Wed day this year, so this is out.

Therefore, we settled on...THANKSGIVING! We've never been to DL over the holidays. General plan is:

• Wed 11/25 - kids have this day off of school, so we'll drive to Anaheim, leaving AZ in the morning. Check into PPH. I'm looking forward to dinner at Tangaroa Terrace at the DLH! And maybe we'll go into Trader Sam's, too. Go to bed early.
• Thurs 11/26 - THANKSGIVING DAY! - I hope they restart EMH at some point after DL reopens. I also hope that regular park opening is 8 am because then with EMH, we'd be able to get in at 7 am! We love being in DL at that hour. Our friends are going to join us at DL on Thanksgiving Day, so I'm going to make an ADR for probably a late lunch Thanksgiving dinner-style. DH is already talking about going to the Blue Bayou. He loves that place.
• Fri 11/27 - BLACK FRIDAY! - We will use day 2 of our 2-day 1-park-per-day tickets. We're going to bypass DCA entirely on this trip, so we plan on doing 2 days in a row at DL itself. We have yet to see and experience Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, which was the primary reason why we were going to go back in March. I intend this to be a commando open-to-close day for us.
• Sat 11/28 - check out of PPH by 11 am, then hit the road and make the long sad drive home. I think we'll probably have breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace before we go. Or maybe I'll spring for us to have breakfast/brunch at Steakhouse 55 since DH loves going out to breakfast and I think he'd like that place.

The only times we've stayed on site is when my sister has treated us at the DLH (once for my 40th b-day and another time when she came w/us). I love the DLH, but room rate at DLH is now over $600/night and I can't stomach that. So normally when it's just our family going, we stay off site. We've stayed at various places over the past 7 years...places all within walking distance of the main gate.

So why stay on site this time? I mean, we could stay 3 nights at the Tropicana for ~ $700, which is about half what 3 nights at PPH is going to cost. Why do it this way? I have a couple of reasons:

Possibility of reduced park capacity:
I've been paying attention to what WDW has been announcing (because DH & I are going to DH for 6 days in late January...1st kidless Disney trip! My sister is watching the kids while we're away). WDW will have DRASTICALLY reduced park capacity when they reopen on 7/11. Reduced to the point where they eliminated everyone's 180-day ADRs and told them to rebook them 60 days beforehand. And reduced to the point where you'll need a park ticket AND a reservation at a SPECIFIC park in order to get into that park.

This means that at least at WDW, you need your tickets purchased ahead of time and linked on the My Disney Experience app.

We have no idea whether all of that will apply at DL as well, but I have our 4 park tickets linked into my Disneyland.com account already. Ironically, I also had pre-purchased Disneyland parking at $25 a day for 2 days, but I don't know if I'll be able to use that for hotel parking (which is also $25/day). I'll have to call them and ask before we get there.

Anyway, there is SO much pent up demand, I suspect, with So Cal residents who are itching to go back to the Happiest Place on Earth and since the holidays have historically been so popular at DL, that I figure our family's odds are higher of actually being able to make it INTO DL over Thanksgiving would be guaranteed if we are staying at an on site hotel.

EMH & ability to get an ADR I want:
IF DL has EMH running at Thanksgiving, then we will TOTALLY use it. We WILL get up at the crack of dawn in order to go in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on Thanksgiving Day an hour before everybody else. It's totally worth it. The following day, of course, DL won't have EMH...just DCA...unless they do what they do sometimes during Christmas week and have EMH available at both parks during that time (although I kind of doubt they will this time around).

DH **really** wants to have Thanksgiving dinner at the Blue Bayou. He's already talking about it. I think that we'll probably want an ADR in the 1:30-2:30 pm time frame. The park will be pretty busy at that hour and we will be ready for an extended sit down break. ADRs on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas can be hard to come by at DL. And I know that DL holds some ADRs for on site guests.

 

[Jaina]

That sounds like some heavy duty planning. I hope it all works out perfectly for you!! I will be following along!

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, give it a few days and I officially changed our plans again. I called Disneyland Travel and changed our dates to Labor Day weekend. The kids and I are yearning to return to Disneyland and Thanksgiving just seemed way too far off and no other time frame would work between work and school schedules.

So now we're checking in on Friday 9/4, staying 3 nights, and checking out on Monday 9/7 at the Paradise Pier Hotel. We're sticking with the previously-purchased 2-day 1-park-per-day tickets and we're going to spend both days in Disneyland, skipping DCA entirely. Or at least, that's the plan.

I still hope that they'll have EMH for on site guests so we can get into DL an hour early on Saturday morning. But if they don't do EMH, that's ok, too. I'll just be thrilled to be there.

 

[VandVsmama]

Our plans changed again. We're going over Labor Day weekend now for sure. I changed our PPH reservation a few days ago before the DL reopening announcement occurred. We check in the Friday of Labor Day weekend and check out on Monday. Assuming all of the planets align in terms of getting a park reservation, we'll be in DL park on Sat and Sun.

Today, DL cancelled my 7/1 ADR at Napa Rose. That's ok. I expected it given yesterday's reopening announcements. We'll just do our wedding anniversary celebration dinner on Labor Day weekend instead.

 

[Jaina]

I'm just glad there's finally an opening date and hopefully you can make some plans. I hope thinks are much calmer by the time you go in September!!

 

[VandVsmama]

Also me....


And then there's DH...

 

[VandVsmama]

We also have ODD, who will be 14 in the very near future...



And then there was YDD's reaction a couple of days ago...