Which way to Disneyland? TR (comparison update 7/26)

[pmama]

Well we made a hotel change for our San Diego half of the trip. We had originally booked a hotel in Coronado that was only 2 stars but got great reviews. It was at a cost of 3-3 1/2 star hotels in San Diego that were not at the beach but we thought it was worth it to stay close to the beach. Well last night I checked on some other hotels that had been too much before. Glorietta Bay Inn just came out with "stay 2 nights get the third free"! So now we are staying there. It gets wonderful reviews and is across the street from Del Coronado. It was voted San Diego's best Luxury Hotel. It has a heated pool, jacuzzi, expanded breakfast, afternoon treats, piano reading room, and a beautiful exterior! It is next to the bay and a block from the beach! We still will be paying a little more than the other hotel but believe now the slight cost difference is worth the upgrade. It still is not the Del but good enough for us. I feel great about this move. It takes a few worries away! Moral of the story is: Always keep double checking for better deals.

On a side note. Both girls have decided to move into the rooms downstairs we built for them about 4 years ago. They are each at least twice the size of their previous rooms with big walk-in closets. DD8 decided she wants to decorate hers Tinkerbell and DD4 want Ariel. So we are making Pixie Hollow and Ariel's Grotto! We painted DD8's room last weekend and put Tinkerbell decals up. It is going to be so cute. Once we are done I'll post pictures.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Schools want that money so they will get you any way they can. The Gov doesn't pay for kids that are late or absent to school no matter what the circumstances! It might be time for you to consider homeschool! I love it! I am enroling in k-12 next year. They even provide your kids with their own printer/computer! (And it's free!) I got so sick of all that drama. The kids have more playdates and activities now than ever before because I have TIME to spare. Before they went to school for 7+ hours a day then came home with 2 hours worth of homework. HS is done within 5 hours! And they learn so much more and at a faster rate! You should do it girl! Sure comes in handy when you're planning a Disney vacation!

I can't wait for your Dland TR. I hope you take lots of video and pics so it'll be like I'm there! I hope to get my TR started soon. Right now all the toys at WDW were 35% off. I wish I'd had your number....the costumes for the dolls came to $16, well even less with the extra 10% off! My mom bought the baby a monorail for Christmas. I just happened to have the receipt w/ me. I ended up buying another one...returning it, got my $80 back for it and used the difference to buy him the train set! Can't beat that. I wonder if you order over the phone if you still get the 35% off!? Anyway....if your trip falls within the 90 day return policy bring your receipt and rebuy the My Girl doll. She'll have enough extra to buy an outfit!!!

 

[pmama]

So, how did the ADR's go? Inquiring minds want to know....

Well, we are 60 days out from the beginning of San Diego trip but I don't think we'll hit 60 days from DLR until Friday or Sat. I don't feel too much in a rush as it sounds like DLR is not like WDW as far as booking up early. I'm leaning toward booking Ariel's Grotto for DD's 5th birthday but still open to Celebration Roundup. I'd like to read reviews on that first. It opens April 1st. So, I can't wait to hear what people think. We may do Rainforest Cafe in DTD the night we arrive. I also may reserve Plaza Inn at 2:00. (I know that's a weird time but we just love the idea of playing musical chairs w/ Alice in Wonderland and Mad Hatter.) By early next week I should have at least made my initial PS. (In DLR it's not called ADR, it's called PS Priority Seating.)

 

[alan_renfroe]

Well we made a hotel change for our San Diego half of the trip. We had originally booked a hotel in Coronado that was only 2 stars but got great reviews. It was at a cost of 3-3 1/2 star hotels in San Diego that were not at the beach but we thought it was worth it to stay close to the beach. Well last night I checked on some other hotels that had been too much before. Glorietta Bay Inn just came out with "stay 2 nights get the third free"! So now we are staying there. It gets wonderful reviews and is across the street from Del Coronado. It was voted San Diego's best Luxury Hotel. It has a heated pool, jacuzzi, expanded breakfast, afternoon treats, piano reading room, and a beautiful exterior! It is next to the bay and a block from the beach! We still will be paying a little more than the other hotel but believe now the slight cost difference is worth the upgrade. It still is not the Del but good enough for us. I feel great about this move. It takes a few worries away! Moral of the story is: Always keep double checking for better deals.

On a side note. Both girls have decided to move into the rooms downstairs we built for them about 4 years ago. They are each at least twice the size of their previous rooms with big walk-in closets. DD8 decided she wants to decorate hers Tinkerbell and DD4 want Ariel. So we are making Pixie Hollow and Ariel's Grotto! We painted DD8's room last weekend and put Tinkerbell decals up. It is going to be so cute. Once we are done I'll post pictures.

UPGRADE!!!! YAY FOR UPGRADE!!! Congratulations. The place looks beautiful.

Also, good for the girls in making the move to the new room. They are going to LOVE it in the years to come. They are both just so adorable!

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi!! I just found your PTR!! We are going to WDW the same time you are going to DL!! I also have 2 girls--Ally is 4 1/2 (and loves Ariel, too!) and Claire is 17 months. This will be their first trip and dh and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. We are staying at the Polynesian and I can't wait!! I haven't been to WDW since I was a freshman in high school. Oh--and I'm also a former teacher--I taught Kindergarten before Ally was born--now I'm a SAHM. You have a beautiful family!! I just love your family pics from your last trip--where were they taken? I just started my PTR last week--check it out in my siggy!! Now I'm off to bed--I'm up WAY too late!! (these boards can be soooo addicting)

 

[pmama]

Schools want that money so they will get you any way they can. The Gov doesn't pay for kids that are late or absent to school no matter what the circumstances! It might be time for you to consider homeschool! I love it! I am enroling in k-12 next year. They even provide your kids with their own printer/computer! (And it's free!) I got so sick of all that drama. The kids have more playdates and activities now than ever before because I have TIME to spare. Before they went to school for 7+ hours a day then came home with 2 hours worth of homework. HS is done within 5 hours! And they learn so much more and at a faster rate! You should do it girl! Sure comes in handy when you're planning a Disney vacation!



I can't wait for your Dland TR. I hope you take lots of video and pics so it'll be like I'm there! I hope to get my TR started soon. Right now all the toys at WDW were 35% off. I wish I'd had your number....the costumes for the dolls came to $16, well even less with the extra 10% off! My mom bought the baby a monorail for Christmas. I just happened to have the receipt w/ me. I ended up buying another one...returning it, got my $80 back for it and used the difference to buy him the train set! Can't beat that. I wonder if you order over the phone if you still get the 35% off!? Anyway....if your trip falls within the 90 day return policy bring your receipt and rebuy the My Girl doll. She'll have enough extra to buy an outfit!!!

I'm so glad homeschooling is working for you. I did look into the virtual academy for my youngest dd for kindergarten next year a while back. It does seem like a great program. However, I plan to return to teaching in a couple years when youngest DD is in school full time. I know, too funny huh? I'm a teacher who likes to take my kids out of school for vacation.

I hope DL is having great sales when we are there. DD4 really wants a castle.

UPGRADE!!!! YAY FOR UPGRADE!!! Congratulations. The place looks beautiful.

Also, good for the girls in making the move to the new room. They are going to LOVE it in the years to come. They are both just so adorable!

Yes, we always said we'd wait till they felt ready for their larger rooms. For the longest time they had no interest. Now, all of the sudden they were ready. I love how much more space and storage it gives them. Cleaner rooms.

Hi!! I just found your PTR!! We are going to WDW the same time you are going to DL!! I also have 2 girls--Ally is 4 1/2 (and loves Ariel, too!) and Claire is 17 months. This will be their first trip and dh and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. We are staying at the Polynesian and I can't wait!! I haven't been to WDW since I was a freshman in high school. Oh--and I'm also a former teacher--I taught Kindergarten before Ally was born--now I'm a SAHM. You have a beautiful family!! I just love your family pics from your last trip--where were they taken? I just started my PTR last week--check it out in my siggy!! Now I'm off to bed--I'm up WAY too late!! (these boards can be soooo addicting)

Oh, I did look at your PTR. Your girls are ADORABLE. You are so lucky you found these boards before your first trip. It really helps you plan an amazing vacation. I didn't find them until our 2nd trip to WDW.

We had the photo shoot done at the Poly, so that will be perfect for your family.

My DH and I just had our 10th Anniversary 2 weeks ago. We say that our Disney cruise in December is our 10th Anniversary trip. (Even though it will be closer to our 11th.) I think a cruise will be perfect for alone time as a couple as well as great family time.

 

[ladybugmom]

Oh, I did look at your PTR. Your girls are ADORABLE. You are so lucky you found these boards before your first trip. It really helps you plan an amazing vacation. I didn't find them until our 2nd trip to WDW.

We had the photo shoot done at the Poly, so that will be perfect for your family.

My DH and I just had our 10th Anniversary 2 weeks ago. We say that our Disney cruise in December is our 10th Anniversary trip. (Even though it will be closer to our 11th.) I think a cruise will be perfect for alone time as a couple as well as great family time.

Would you mind sharing more specifics on the photo shoot? I haven't been to WDW in awhile and didn't realize they offered this!! TIA!!

 

[pmama]

Well, since I posted last DH and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary.

We had plans to drive about 4 hours away to a wonderful hot spring over the weekend. However, DH's grandma became very sick in the hospital so we were unable to go. Thank goodness Granny seemed to pull through once again. We spent the weekend w/ the girls reflecting on how precious this life of ours is. Of course, our Disney cruise in December will allow us some couple time to truly celebrate our milestone together.

DD8 came home from school mid-day for a SNOW DAY. I keep reading about snow out east but we really had gotten almost none. There is over a foot of snow outside and it's still snowing! Love it. Spring Blizzards are the best. Thankfully DH made it home safe from work.

We went to Disney on Ice a couple days ago. It couldn't have been more fitting. It was titled, "Disney on Ice, a Disneyland Adventure"

Luckily we had heard that The Incredibles were the main storyline. So we of course wore our Incredibles shirts. My DD4 was at first disappointed that she didn't get to dress like a princess like other little girls. But, I told her you were more special since this show will have The Incredibles. Sure enough, once it started she felt pretty special. We also got complements on the attire. We didn't see one other Incredibles shirt there.

These were taken w/ my cell phone.

It was great! It was basically the Incredibles taking a family trip to Disneyland. They had scenes from major rides at Disneyland as the Incredibles were supposedly on the rides. Then the Incredibles had to fight Syndrome to save Disneyland and Mickey and Minnie.

It was a great introduction to Disneyland for the girls. I think it also highlighted how so many of their favorite rides are at Disneyland too. They still don't know they're going.


Well, add Fantasmic being closed for refurb to the list of my disappointments. Rumor has it that it won't open until mid June. I was looking forward to seeing how they do Fantasmic in DL.

 

[kaoden39]

What great fun for you all at Disney on Ice. And I am so glad that you were complemented on the Incredible's shirts. I am sure there were tons of princesses there so your girls were a bright relief.

 

[pmama]

Would you mind sharing more specifics on the photo shoot? I haven't been to WDW in awhile and didn't realize they offered this!! TIA!!

I used to have a great thread in my subscriptions where people posted pictures and current information but I don't have the link any more. It has great info. We went right before they increased the price. At the time if you prepurchased the photopass CD it was only an additional $25. Now I think you still have to prepurchase the photopass CD but I think it's now an additional $75. I haven't kept up w/ that thread so I'm not sure what has changed.

The quality of the pictures is definitely not top notch. We had a lot of dark pictures and our photographer pretty much walked around taking pictures. Not making sure lighting, hair, posses were okay. For the price we paid we loved it. Just to be able to get that many pictures of us all but don't expect a lot of quality picture taking.

There is a direct number but if you can't find it Disney customer service should be able to give it to you. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Hey! Did you see the new Disneyland deal? Buy 3 get 2 free? Sounds great! I'd love to go there! You're so lucky girl! DOI sounds so cute! You know I love the Incredibles shirts! Like you said, that stands out. Every little girl is a Princess.

Ya know I got all of those little doll outfits this past trip. Not bad for @ $15 after all discounts. One of her AG's is wearing Ariel right now. It is so cute! I hope the toy sale is still on when we go too.

Any definite plans for December yet?

Oh Congratulations on the 10 years! We just celebrated 11 on the 7th!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Happy 10th Anniversary!!!!!

I'm so glad your girls got to experience the Disney on Ice....focusing on Disneyland......did they love it???? Are they getting more excited for this trip now???

Enjoy your snow....if you still any!!!

 

[pmama]

What great fun for you all at Disney on Ice. And I am so glad that you were complemented on the Incredible's shirts. I am sure there were tons of princesses there so your girls were a bright relief.

You are right. There was nothing "special" about being a princess that night.

Hey! Did you see the new Disneyland deal? Buy 3 get 2 free? Sounds great! I'd love to go there! You're so lucky girl! DOI sounds so cute! You know I love the Incredibles shirts! Like you said, that stands out. Every little girl is a Princess.

Ya know I got all of those little doll outfits this past trip. Not bad for @ $15 after all discounts. One of her AG's is wearing Ariel right now. It is so cute! I hope the toy sale is still on when we go too.

Any definite plans for December yet?

Oh Congratulations on the 10 years! We just celebrated 11 on the 7th!

Yep, great deal isn't it? I did call and asked a Disneyland CM for information. It was pretty evident he had no idea what he was talking about. You'd think they'd train them better on new promotions.

He told me that the promotion was only good for DL hotels and not good neighbor hotels yet. However, on Disney's website it said very directly that good neighbor hotels were included and you could make the res. online.

He also told me if we had a pre-existing reservation and Disney does allow good neighbor hotels that you can use that reservation to rebook the new promotion. After reading the fine print online it says this cannot be done. Our hotel has no more availability during our stay so we would have to change hotels.

After looking at prices the Southern California City Pass still seems like the best deal. (Especially through Costco. It's another $130 cheaper than directly through Disney.)

It sounds like it may be possible to get an additional 2 days free to our 3 day ticket. If so that would be nice. We could enter the parks the day we arrive or the day we leave if need be.

I am very much like you in that I keep rethinking my decisions. It doesn't help to be "in the know" about all the good promotions and deals either. Of course you want to get the most bang for your buck.

My oldest DD would be so jelous of your DD and all the cute doll outfits. Our poor Disney Doll still only has one outfit.

We're keeping our fingers crossed for December. If all goes well we will pay the cruise off the end of September/early October. If free dining came available during December we might consider putting the cruise off till later and just doing WDW. It's hard to resist that free dining. Now that the promotion is out for September I have to keep reminding myself we've already decided against it.

Happy 10th Anniversary!!!!!

I'm so glad your girls got to experience the Disney on Ice....focusing on Disneyland......did they love it???? Are they getting more excited for this trip now???

Enjoy your snow....if you still any!!!

Well they still don't know about the trip. They know I'm considering one. Oldest DD8 is still a very loyal WDW fan. It may just take the experience to convince her. That is one reason I think this trip would be a great surprise trip. When you expect to go nowhere, Disneyland seems much more exciting. I am considering even just telling them a week before that we are just going to visit San Diego. Then, they will caught completely off guard when we arrive in Disneyland for the second half. Might be fun. Haven't decided just yet. Then of course there is the whole, surprise, "Daddy is here"!

 

[ladybugmom]

I used to have a great thread in my subscriptions where people posted pictures and current information but I don't have the link any more. It has great info. We went right before they increased the price. At the time if you prepurchased the photopass CD it was only an additional $25. Now I think you still have to prepurchase the photopass CD but I think it's now an additional $75. I haven't kept up w/ that thread so I'm not sure what has changed.

The quality of the pictures is definitely not top notch. We had a lot of dark pictures and our photographer pretty much walked around taking pictures. Not making sure lighting, hair, posses were okay. For the price we paid we loved it. Just to be able to get that many pictures of us all but don't expect a lot of quality picture taking.

There is a direct number but if you can't find it Disney customer service should be able to give it to you. Let me know if you have more questions.

Thanks you so much for all of the info!! And Happy 10th Anniversary!!

 

[ariel1025]

Hello I am definitely joining your planning fun! I think I saw that you mentioned Memorial Day as one of you days there...we will be there too!! We are only going for a short trip though...but a trip's a trip I have to admit that I had your daughter's reaction at first "I only want WDW" That was too funny!

Your daughters are absolutely precious! And I think it's wonderful that you have so many people joining you for this trip.

I agree with you about Southwest, they are awesome! I haven't had any complications with them (and I use them whenever possible).

Can't wait to read more updates

 

[pmama]

Hello I am definitely joining your planning fun! I think I saw that you mentioned Memorial Day as one of you days there...we will be there too!! We are only going for a short trip though...but a trip's a trip I have to admit that I had your daughter's reaction at first "I only want WDW" That was too funny!

Your daughters are absolutely precious! And I think it's wonderful that you have so many people joining you for this trip.

I agree with you about Southwest, they are awesome! I haven't had any complications with them (and I use them whenever possible).

Can't wait to read more updates

I think it will be fun for us to be able to compare WDW and DLR. We will be coming home the day before Memorial Day. I'm glad you like Southwest. We still have yet to fly but I've really only heard great things.

 

[pmama]

Well we had another snow day.

It was perfect today because it really didn't snow anymore. The sun came out and the kids were able to go play in the snow. Oldest DD had her neighbor friend over for some snow fun!

Here's a picture of our back deck. As you can see, I had them go through the garage door as I didn't want all that snow falling in my house.

 

[pmama]

Who wants to play hidden Mickeys?


First, this one DD4 was excited to discover.

It's 3 mini chip cookies stuck together. She thought it was so "awesome" she saved it for days and carried it around like it was a breakable treasure.

Next, we bought a new breakfast table. Can you spot the hidden Mickey heads?

We didn't buy them just because the chairs look like hidden Mickeys but now we love to call them our hidden Mickey chairs. (I know it's a little stretch.)

 

[pmama]

Well what they say about DLR and dining is correct. I waited a little past my 60 days and pretty much have any time slot available for my dining selections.

I keep going back and forth as to where to go for DD's 5th birthday celebration. I had pretty much decided on Ariel's Grotto. Then I watched different dining videos on youtube and people seemed to be having much more fun at Goofy's.

So, for right now we have lunch at Ariel's Grotto booked and dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. I plan to prepurchase the ARES to save a little so once we decide we can cancel the one decide against. I really thought they had gotten enough princess dining experiences at WDW. When I asked my girls their favorite past character dining experiences DD8 chose Chef Mickeys and DD4 chose the princess dinners. So, that makes me think perhaps we should stick w/ Ariel's. Let me know if you have any advice.

I also made a PS for Rainforest Cafe in DTD the day we arrive in DLR.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Wow, you got a lot of snow!!!! Brrrrrrrrr

Love, Love, Love the chairs!!!

Ariel's is definately more "proper" without a lot of playing where Goofy's has activities up by the buffet (usually twice during a meal). So it will depend on what you think they'd like best. We like both, but they are definately different styles of character meals.