We're Home From the Road!! 17 Days of Travel with Tons of Pics~COMPLETE!!

[kelmac284]

Oh I know when I was looking for the info on D23 tours of the studios I saw that adventures by disney. WOW. That sounds soooo cool. But yikes it is spendy!!! I am still hoping to someday get into Club 33. My mom has a friend who has a company membership but I don't know if she still has access or not. I def still have that on my bucket list. At this point we have NO plans to go to Disney till the fall of 15 which is a LONG way away but to be honest as MUCH as I love Disney with the price increases and all the stuff that is down I am ok with it. We are hoping to do some other fun stuff and I am really looking forward to our East Coast trip next year so hopefully those things will keep my mind off of it. We are hoping to go in maybe September of next year to see what if any of the 60th anniver stuff there is. By then it will almost be over LOL but we will def be ready to go back by then!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Oh I know when I was looking for the info on D23 tours of the studios I saw that adventures by disney. WOW. That sounds soooo cool. But yikes it is spendy!!! I am still hoping to someday get into Club 33. My mom has a friend who has a company membership but I don't know if she still has access or not. I def still have that on my bucket list. At this point we have NO plans to go to Disney till the fall of 15 which is a LONG way away but to be honest as MUCH as I love Disney with the price increases and all the stuff that is down I am ok with it. We are hoping to do some other fun stuff and I am really looking forward to our East Coast trip next year so hopefully those things will keep my mind off of it. We are hoping to go in maybe September of next year to see what if any of the 60th anniver stuff there is. By then it will almost be over LOL but we will def be ready to go back by then!

It is spendy but does include a lot of things and VIP treatment from the time we step off the plane. So it would be like an Anniversary celebration if we were to do it.

I get the Disney getting so expensive. That's why this trip only included 3 days and the rest is trying new things. The kids have never been to San Diego, Universal Studios, Farmer's Market, Disney Family Museum, etc. Almost everything on our trip. So I'm really excited to see them try new things and we may find new favorites. Disney is getting very close to pricing out of our budgets....which is sad!

I'm doing the Diva trip next year.....hopefully they'll have the 60th Anniversary stuff available all year!!

 

[kelmac284]

Yeah mom and I won't be doing the diva trip. Too many other things going on. She is SUPPOSED to be getting her knee fixed but she keeps putting it off. But we have our big trip to the east coast coming up next summer for Katy's 16th birthday so other than a few quick little weekend trips we won't be doing much of anything saving up for that trip. I am hoping to hopefully get back to the diva trip in 16 though. In fact we have no plans to go to disney at ALL until fall of 15. So that is going to be the longest we have gone. I am sure I will be in major withdrawals by then LOL.

But as of now we have that trip next summer and then we put in over a year ago to go to the Aulauni in Summer of 16 so 3 years in advance but somehow I doubt we will get in and since mom already paid for her week we will probably switch it to another timeshare so we can at least GO to hawaii. I have only been once and girls never been. We can still go to the Aulauni I think for the day and just check it out at least. We have until Jan of 16 and if we don't get it we will have to book something else.

And then in Jan of 17 we are FINALLY hopefully going to go to DW. The girls have a long break in January so we are going to try and go then. Hopefully everything will be cheaper and possibly free dinning if they are even doing it still by then but that is the best time for us to go that works with the girls school. So bummed we have to wait that long esp since we were supposed to go THIS November but it is what it is and we have some other fun stuff planned in the meantime. Not much Disney but like you said other stuff that will hopefully be fun and good memories. Mom and Dad are getting older and it is getting harder for mom to get around so def knocking out some bucket list items!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Yeah mom and I won't be doing the diva trip. Too many other things going on. She is SUPPOSED to be getting her knee fixed but she keeps putting it off. But we have our big trip to the east coast coming up next summer for Katy's 16th birthday so other than a few quick little weekend trips we won't be doing much of anything saving up for that trip. I am hoping to hopefully get back to the diva trip in 16 though. In fact we have no plans to go to disney at ALL until fall of 15. So that is going to be the longest we have gone. I am sure I will be in major withdrawals by then LOL.

But as of now we have that trip next summer and then we put in over a year ago to go to the Aulauni in Summer of 16 so 3 years in advance but somehow I doubt we will get in and since mom already paid for her week we will probably switch it to another timeshare so we can at least GO to hawaii. I have only been once and girls never been. We can still go to the Aulauni I think for the day and just check it out at least. We have until Jan of 16 and if we don't get it we will have to book something else.

And then in Jan of 17 we are FINALLY hopefully going to go to DW. The girls have a long break in January so we are going to try and go then. Hopefully everything will be cheaper and possibly free dinning if they are even doing it still by then but that is the best time for us to go that works with the girls school. So bummed we have to wait that long esp since we were supposed to go THIS November but it is what it is and we have some other fun stuff planned in the meantime. Not much Disney but like you said other stuff that will hopefully be fun and good memories. Mom and Dad are getting older and it is getting harder for mom to get around so def knocking out some bucket list items!

How fun.....Aulani!! Do you have to get on a waiting list to get in? (are you talking timeshare or regular rooms??) We are hoping to go to Hawaii in summer of 2016 and would like to do 2 nights at Aulani at the end of our trip. Just not sure how soon we have to try and book something like that.

 

[kelmac284]

We have an RI timeshare and you are supposed to be able to trade into dvd but it is proving not so easy. I think just to get a normal room is not that hard. We already paid for our week so if we don't get in we'll switch to a regular one. We are planning on summer of 16 too. How cool if we were there same time!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

2 WEEKS!!!

We will be leaving on our road trip 2 weeks from today.



This is the group (all but my oldest, Nick, who is furthest to the right) that will be going!!! **Goofy's Kitchen 2010**

 

[DizNee Luver]

We have an RI timeshare and you are supposed to be able to trade into dvd but it is proving not so easy. I think just to get a normal room is not that hard. We already paid for our week so if we don't get in we'll switch to a regular one. We are planning on summer of 16 too. How cool if we were there same time!!!

That would be!!! When are you looking at going? We were thinking late June-early July (maybe even over the 4th).

 

[luulu1999]

Two weeks!! How exciting!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Two weeks!! How exciting!!

I know.....now things are getting exciting!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

13 Days!!



So I love the new Buena Vista Street but I kinda miss this sight!! Buena Vista transports you back in time to when Walt arrived in LA.....but the above picture says California "hang loose" to me. Glad I got to see the park before and after the remodel!

So my bedroom is overflowing with stuff that I will need to get into our rental van as well as 9 people.......it's going to be interesting (especially since we are sure to add "items" as we go along)

 

[PHXscuba]

So glad you are in countdown mode!! Best of luck pulling it all together.

PHXscuba

 

[DizNee Luver]

So glad you are in countdown mode!! Best of luck pulling it all together.

PHXscuba

So far, so good. Have all the kids clothes packed (less their pj's, shoes/sandals)....getting all of the toiletries, first aid, meds, snacks, drinks, diapers, feeding supplies all ready. Have all the directions printed out. Need to put together "tips" envelopes for the motels and get some assorted cash but will wait until the week of.

 

[DizNee Luver]

12 Days!!!



This was at Goofy's Kitchen, December 2012.

 

[kelmac284]

That would be!!! When are you looking at going? We were thinking late June-early July (maybe even over the 4th).

Oh bummer. We have to go the first part of June not only to coordinate with the girls school/swim schedules but also because when you book the timeshare you only have so long to use it and we have to use it before like the 2nd or 3rd week of June I think it is. She can extend it but we would have to pay extra. I can't believe we might be in the same place and miss eachother by a week or two . Oh well like ALL our other trips nothing is set in stone till it happens. Even when we book it LOL.

We have since decided NOT to go to SF on Labor Day because eventhough we were only going to go for a couple days the prices for hotel and esp parking are outragous. 55 bucks per night to park in a hotel you are already paying 200 a night for. NO THANKS. We may still drive down for the day and come back that night but at this point who knows. I told mom to just forget about it and we need to save up for November. The Disney tour already cost each of us 50 bucks to join D23 and then the tour is 60 per person so 240 for the 4 of us JUST to do the tour but I want to do that no matter what since ONLY D23 members can do it and it is only offered a few times a year and usually at times we can't go. I am praying we get tickets on wed!!!

Then we have airfare to get there and eventhough it is relatively cheap it's still almost 200 per person round trip. Then we are hoping to do a day at Universal which is like 80 per person and a hollywood tour so even for only 4 days and no Disney it is going to be spendy. And then if she doesn't get her knee fixed we MAY try to go to Vegas over the kids President's day break which is the week before the diva trip. I'm not counting on that either cuz if she doesn't do her knee she is supposed to go back to Mexico in January with a bunch of friends and of course we need to save for our summer trip. So that is just a pipe dream but I hope to SOMEDAY get there cuz I really want to take the girls to the grand canyon. We were supposed to go to Yosemite in August just for the weekend but I cancelled that too cuz Shane was supposed to split it with me and he started complaining about being broke and I didn't want to get stuck with the entire bill cuz even just 2 nights camping was almost 500 bucks to sleep in a tent!!!

Anyway so excited your trip is almost here and glad you are going to stay over in Sac. We are planning on going as long as nothing comes up. Girls were not thrilled about going back to the museum cuz for teenagers once in a lifetime is enough LOL but I convinced them it would be fun to see you guys and we can then stay and have lunch in Old Sac and make a day of it.

How sad am I that I am almost as excited to see your report as if I was going on the trip myself LOL

 

[DizNee Luver]

Oh bummer. We have to go the first part of June not only to coordinate with the girls school/swim schedules but also because when you book the timeshare you only have so long to use it and we have to use it before like the 2nd or 3rd week of June I think it is. She can extend it but we would have to pay extra. I can't believe we might be in the same place and miss eachother by a week or two . Oh well like ALL our other trips nothing is set in stone till it happens. Even when we book it LOL.

We have since decided NOT to go to SF on Labor Day because eventhough we were only going to go for a couple days the prices for hotel and esp parking are outragous. 55 bucks per night to park in a hotel you are already paying 200 a night for. NO THANKS. We may still drive down for the day and come back that night but at this point who knows. I told mom to just forget about it and we need to save up for November. The Disney tour already cost each of us 50 bucks to join D23 and then the tour is 60 per person so 240 for the 4 of us JUST to do the tour but I want to do that no matter what since ONLY D23 members can do it and it is only offered a few times a year and usually at times we can't go. I am praying we get tickets on wed!!!

Then we have airfare to get there and eventhough it is relatively cheap it's still almost 200 per person round trip. Then we are hoping to do a day at Universal which is like 80 per person and a hollywood tour so even for only 4 days and no Disney it is going to be spendy. And then if she doesn't get her knee fixed we MAY try to go to Vegas over the kids President's day break which is the week before the diva trip. I'm not counting on that either cuz if she doesn't do her knee she is supposed to go back to Mexico in January with a bunch of friends and of course we need to save for our summer trip. So that is just a pipe dream but I hope to SOMEDAY get there cuz I really want to take the girls to the grand canyon. We were supposed to go to Yosemite in August just for the weekend but I cancelled that too cuz Shane was supposed to split it with me and he started complaining about being broke and I didn't want to get stuck with the entire bill cuz even just 2 nights camping was almost 500 bucks to sleep in a tent!!!

Anyway so excited your trip is almost here and glad you are going to stay over in Sac. We are planning on going as long as nothing comes up. Girls were not thrilled about going back to the museum cuz for teenagers once in a lifetime is enough LOL but I convinced them it would be fun to see you guys and we can then stay and have lunch in Old Sac and make a day of it.

How sad am I that I am almost as excited to see your report as if I was going on the trip myself LOL

Just tell the girls it would only be for a couple hours as we still need to drive almost 5 hours.

Yeah, the parking fees in SF is a joke! We actually got a cheaper place with FREE parking!! Hopefully we can get one of their spots (they don't have enough spots for all their rooms but he says they have lots of air travelers that don't have vehicles)....so fingers crossed!!

I was a D23 member from the start but last fall I didn't have the money to renew, so my membership lapsed (which is a bummer since it would have been cool to be a member from inception to years down the road) but oh well.....it is what it is!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well we have added back in Johnny Garlic's~~Guy Fieri's restaurant in Santa Rosa. Trying to save a few bucks, we were looking at eating at the Charles Schulz Museum~Warm Puppy Cafe. BUT.....looking at the calendar, they are hosting a hockey tournament at the ice rink that is connected to the cafe. I'm thinking that would be chaos at best......so happy we'll be adding Johnny Garlic's back in. I did find a lunch menu & if we can keep to that....it won't cost too much to eat there. Wouldn't it be AWESOME if Guy just happened to check in while we were there!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

11 Days!!



The twins meeting Mickey for the first time.....this was right before Michayla broke out in tears which in turn caused Shyann to start crying as well. I will say that on our Christmas Trip in 2012 that Michayla did much better and had a special meet up with Mickey (her little one on one).....very special moment!!

 

[luulu1999]

So excited for you guys!!!! We leave in 25 days and i have the biggest part of our clothes packed lol 10 days will be here before you know it

 

[DizNee Luver]

So excited for you guys!!!! We leave in 25 days and i have the biggest part of our clothes packed lol 10 days will be here before you know it

I think I have all the kids clothes done now......just need to get the adults going on theirs (which includes me)

Just over 3 weeks for you......bet you're getting pretty excited!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

10 Days!!



Playing in the autopia car in the lobby by Goofy's Kitchen/Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Hotel. (2012 trip)