I have been to DL and DW 5 x combined but neither in 15 yrs. So it was like a first time w/ so many updates/changes.
Our family of 5 left on a Thurs AM from N seattle in the family SUV. We drove straight to San Fran. W/ stops for lunch dinner, gas, potty; we arrived at 10:30. The kids did great and the drive wasn't bad at all especially since I got to drive through the scenice part of N Cali. Mt Shasta is Cali's Mt Rainier. So beautiful.
We spend a full day in SF and two nights staying with a friend. Boat tour, my DS 2 was picked to be in a street show, trolley, crookedest St, Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.
Sat morning we headed a bit down the coast and stopped at a beach for lunch and then on to Anaheim.
WE had two nights at the HOJO w/ 2 qns beds. The rms are large. There was a fridge and the two skylights make it very bright, especially in the AM.
I picked the HOJO because I wanted to play at the pirate's cove there.
Day 1 for Disney..Arrived at 6:40 for 7AM MM. That was tough but we rallied and ate our on the go breakfast while in line. We headed straight to FL - dumbo, tea cups and a few other rides. Small world, princess Merida, Space Mtn, buzz lt yr, Autotopia, star tours,m matterhorn all by 10:30 and then off to Jedi Training.
My kids all made signs and I had them in bright shirts - orange, yellow. Two decided they didn't want to do it so when the trainers came out they shied away. The other one was picked. they pick a lot of kids and I am pretty sure at least one of my other kids would have been picked had he stayed at the front. This was really cool and fun. Another ride on Autopia and DH let all the kids get the driver's licenses at the end. Such a sucker but they are kind of cool and fit in the clear side of their pouches. a lunch stop w/ food brought from home. I packed a lot of food as I didn't want to be shopping and I didn't want to spend our time sitting and eating too long.
After we headed to critter country and met pooh, tigger and eyeore.
Kids were getting tired so we headed back from naps. We'd had a long few days of traveling. The youngest two did nap and then boys later went swimming. We went back to DL about 5. Rode some rides twice did our fast pass on Splash Mtn. All of us went on that and of course got the picture but I was closing my eyes screaming.
DD and I caught the parade. She loved seeing the princesses and many waved and blew kisses at her.
We also stayed for fantasmic. And we could see the fireworks from our room.
A few side notes: I bought the photo pass plus and had it mailed to SF. It arrived in 5 days and what a deal. We got tons of pics in the park. Still haven't looked at them. But we got to take the pkg pictures from Ariel's Grotto and Mickey's Surf Up. And then of course all the photos on to the disc from the big rides including carsland.
What we often did w/ FP - we would get 5. First time through we used two or three and mom went w/ boys on Space Mtn. Then we did child swap and when mom got off, dad went w/ boys again. Then we could come back later and do the same thing but one boy would have to wait the first time because we only had two FP left. But they still got lots of rides.
For matterhorn we did single rider and child swap. Matterhorn had really long lines one day but single rider was a breeze and you sit alone anyway.
I made an autograph book for DD and she saw 8 princesses and the main disney characters but other than that not many. For the boys I purchased the Disney Jr Encyclopedia. i;m glad I did as they can read it and such and really didn't get that many autographs either since they weren't in to princesses.
I bought disney lanyards for all the kids w/ pouches. They enjoyed wearing them and put their surfs up and first visit pins on them too. They collected their pressed pennies in these. Buy the M &M containers at the store and fill 2 qtrs/1 penny alternating and you are set for all the penny press machines. This worked great and makes a good souvenir. You can buy holders for them too.
I tried to dress kids in bright colors each day and parents too. It helped a lot for spotting each other, especially noticed the day when DH wore black. Not so easy.
Day 2. Breakfast at Mickey's at paradies Pier hotel. Highly recommend. We saw stitch, minnie, mickey, daisy, pluto. They came around several times to the table and posed, etc. Then 3x during the meal they did the surf dance party. our table was right in front so this was great. The food was really good too - lots of variety. Dh said the mickey waffles were really good too. And there was a penny press!
Then we went to play at pirate's cove at HOJO. After that we went to Laguna Beach and spent the afternoon. This was about a 30 min drive. This was our off day but we got a bit of sun and worn out.
To be Continued...
Our family of 5 left on a Thurs AM from N seattle in the family SUV. We drove straight to San Fran. W/ stops for lunch dinner, gas, potty; we arrived at 10:30. The kids did great and the drive wasn't bad at all especially since I got to drive through the scenice part of N Cali. Mt Shasta is Cali's Mt Rainier. So beautiful.
We spend a full day in SF and two nights staying with a friend. Boat tour, my DS 2 was picked to be in a street show, trolley, crookedest St, Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.
Sat morning we headed a bit down the coast and stopped at a beach for lunch and then on to Anaheim.
WE had two nights at the HOJO w/ 2 qns beds. The rms are large. There was a fridge and the two skylights make it very bright, especially in the AM.
I picked the HOJO because I wanted to play at the pirate's cove there.
Day 1 for Disney..Arrived at 6:40 for 7AM MM. That was tough but we rallied and ate our on the go breakfast while in line. We headed straight to FL - dumbo, tea cups and a few other rides. Small world, princess Merida, Space Mtn, buzz lt yr, Autotopia, star tours,m matterhorn all by 10:30 and then off to Jedi Training.
My kids all made signs and I had them in bright shirts - orange, yellow. Two decided they didn't want to do it so when the trainers came out they shied away. The other one was picked. they pick a lot of kids and I am pretty sure at least one of my other kids would have been picked had he stayed at the front. This was really cool and fun. Another ride on Autopia and DH let all the kids get the driver's licenses at the end. Such a sucker but they are kind of cool and fit in the clear side of their pouches. a lunch stop w/ food brought from home. I packed a lot of food as I didn't want to be shopping and I didn't want to spend our time sitting and eating too long.
After we headed to critter country and met pooh, tigger and eyeore.
Kids were getting tired so we headed back from naps. We'd had a long few days of traveling. The youngest two did nap and then boys later went swimming. We went back to DL about 5. Rode some rides twice did our fast pass on Splash Mtn. All of us went on that and of course got the picture but I was closing my eyes screaming.
DD and I caught the parade. She loved seeing the princesses and many waved and blew kisses at her.
We also stayed for fantasmic. And we could see the fireworks from our room.
A few side notes: I bought the photo pass plus and had it mailed to SF. It arrived in 5 days and what a deal. We got tons of pics in the park. Still haven't looked at them. But we got to take the pkg pictures from Ariel's Grotto and Mickey's Surf Up. And then of course all the photos on to the disc from the big rides including carsland.
What we often did w/ FP - we would get 5. First time through we used two or three and mom went w/ boys on Space Mtn. Then we did child swap and when mom got off, dad went w/ boys again. Then we could come back later and do the same thing but one boy would have to wait the first time because we only had two FP left. But they still got lots of rides.
For matterhorn we did single rider and child swap. Matterhorn had really long lines one day but single rider was a breeze and you sit alone anyway.
I made an autograph book for DD and she saw 8 princesses and the main disney characters but other than that not many. For the boys I purchased the Disney Jr Encyclopedia. i;m glad I did as they can read it and such and really didn't get that many autographs either since they weren't in to princesses.
I bought disney lanyards for all the kids w/ pouches. They enjoyed wearing them and put their surfs up and first visit pins on them too. They collected their pressed pennies in these. Buy the M &M containers at the store and fill 2 qtrs/1 penny alternating and you are set for all the penny press machines. This worked great and makes a good souvenir. You can buy holders for them too.
I tried to dress kids in bright colors each day and parents too. It helped a lot for spotting each other, especially noticed the day when DH wore black. Not so easy.
Day 2. Breakfast at Mickey's at paradies Pier hotel. Highly recommend. We saw stitch, minnie, mickey, daisy, pluto. They came around several times to the table and posed, etc. Then 3x during the meal they did the surf dance party. our table was right in front so this was great. The food was really good too - lots of variety. Dh said the mickey waffles were really good too. And there was a penny press!
Then we went to play at pirate's cove at HOJO. After that we went to Laguna Beach and spent the afternoon. This was about a 30 min drive. This was our off day but we got a bit of sun and worn out.
To be Continued...
