Disneyland 2008, or the trip that almost wasn’t (Currently a Pre-Trip/Reminiscing)

[Phalene]

This will be my first attempt at a trip report (well, starting as a pre-trip report.) In October 2006 we went to WDW and I made copious notes with the intent to write a report but it never materialized.

Last November we went to Disneyland and again I took notes, and again failed to actually write a trip report. This time I am determined to get one written, so I’m starting early in the hopes that I will actually finish it, even if it’s just out of guilt! There’s nothing I hate worse than starting something and not finishing it, so here is my start.

I expect that in the pre-trip portion I will do a lot of reminiscing over last years’ trip, so this may turn in to one and a half trip reports.


First, an introduction:

Me, AKA Mom, or as I prefer “Supreme Ruler of the Universe” (to date I’ve only convinced the kids to call me this under threat of tickling, but I’m an optimist and feel they are getting close to realizing my true identity.) I am a 30 something single mother by choice of 2 wonderful children

DS7 Matthew AKA M&M (not Eminem) or Buddy, an old soul in a young body. He’s the deep thinker who’s quite introverted and reserved around people he doesn’t know well. When he learned that Mom also started with M he would go around pointing at each of us saying “M and M” which is how he got his nickname. Favorite characters are Star Wars and Pirates.

DD4, turning 5 during the trip, Hannah AKA Bébé (not baby, just ask her!) or Hurricane Hannah when she’s most exuberant. She is the polar opposite of Matthew and I, and is outgoing and more than a bit of a flirt. She’s been told a few too many times how cute she is, and she has taken it to heart. At her preschool I refer to her as “Norm” because as soon as she walks in the door everyone calls her name and knows her. Favorite character is Cinderella. She turned 3 while we were in WDW and insisted that the castle at the Magic Kingdom was hers. By the end of the trip, and lots of talking about it, she finally allowed that she AND Cinderella could live there, if that gives you any indication of her personality

And last but not least:

My mother, AKA Nana. I’d give her age but then she might have to kill me, so lets just say she’s older than me She has convinced all the children in the extended family that she is 21, so my son will argue with me that I am older than she is! She has difficulty walking or standing for long periods of time, so she rolls through the World or Land in a scooter-and watch out if you see her coming! She’s rolled over all of our feet at one time or another with that thing.

 

[Phalene]

With introductions out of the way, let’s get to the pre-trip portion:


So, why is this the trip that almost wasn’t? Well, as most everyone is probably aware, rising fuel prices have pushed the cost of airline tickets through the roof. We live in Alaska, so we have little choice besides flying if we want to get somewhere in a timely manner. For the WDW trip, and even last year’s Disneyland/San Diego trip I was able to get very good fares for the flights I wanted (less than $400 per person, which is good for flying out of AK) This year…no dice! Tickets have been over $800 per person so with a heavy heart I decided that we wouldn’t go on vacation anywhere and just plan a trip for the following year.

So, we had all resigned ourselves to not having a vacation this year although Matthew would occasionally ask when we were going somewhere. Both kids had a great time in WDW but with the heat and humidity, not to mention the time difference, it was harder for us to get up in the morning so we were out in the hottest part of the day and we didn’t accomplish more than a fraction of what I had hoped to do. Disneyland last year was much nicer in that regard, only 1 hour time difference and a nice, dry, heat that we tolerated much better. So, given the choice both kids wanted to return to Disneyland rather than go back to WDW right now, and I couldn’t blame them. Our first day there we did more rides in Fantasyland than we had probably done in 2 days at WDW. I kept explaining that we weren’t going to go this year, but he kept stating that he wanted to go back to Disneyland although he did start asking less and less.

Then Disney, in its infinite wisdom, sends out a PIN code. I have never in my life received a code, despite being on every Disney newsletter, mailing, promotion, I could find. But one morning last week, while checking my e-mail I had 2 messages from Disney. Thinking they were just the standard newsletter, I almost didn’t open them immediately. But, since I had a few minutes before I had to leave, I decided to read them then. Lo and behold, the first message had the PIN code! It was the ultimate hook for me. BC (Before children) I had been an AP holder for years. I would go to Disneyland 4 times a year and would always stay at the Disneyland hotel when I visited, and had dearly missed it. BC was 4 visits a year, AC (after children) 4 years without any Disney trip! A big adjustment for me. When we went last year we stayed at the Anaheim Fairfield Inn to save money since we were also going to San Diego, so it has been 6 years since I’ve been to the Disneyland hotel.

A call to Disney reservations confirmed that the rate was available for the time I was interested in traveling, but before booking I wanted to check out ticket prices in the hope that there had been a miracle drop in fares. There wasn’t, so I had to really think long and hard about whether or not to do this trip. My mother had a companion ticket coupon to use on Alaska Airlines so after deliberating for a day or 2 we committed. I called Disney back and the rate was still available so I booked it, and we purchased the airline tickets last night. Its confirmed! We will be staying at the Disneyland hotel October 7 through the 12 with 6 day Park Hoppers (I’m trying to decide if we’ll upgrade to AP’s, I wish now I had done it last year, we could have used them for this trip.)

In order to make most connections in the Lower 48 (also referred to as Outside, in Alaskan lingo) most flights with connections leave here on a red-eye. And, honestly, I prefer that. I don’t like flying during the day because I feel that we are ‘wasting’ vacation time. By flying overnight we get some (a little anyway) sleep and arrive in the morning so we can still do something that first day.

So, we are scheduled to arrive at SNA at 10:15am on the 7th. I figure we won’t be at the hotel until around 11-11:30 and I’m hoping that our room may be ready but we won’t count on it. We’ll plan on eating after checking in and storing our bags, and then play it by ear. Last year we were fresh enough after eating to head to the park, so I anticipate doing the same and spending at least a few hours there before returning to the hotel. I’m excited about sharing the NeverLand pool with the kids; I think they will really enjoy the theming there.

So, we’ll have part of the 7th, all of the 8-11th, and part of the 12th for the parks (our flight doesn’t leave until 6pm, so I’m hoping to spend a few hours that morning in the park before we have to catch a shuttle back to the airport. That gives us 4 full days and 2 half days in the parks. I don’t plan to go anywhere else, so it will be a full immersion into the magic.

 

[mommaU4]

Hi there!

I love your description of your kids!! Matthew sound a lot like my son was at that age. And what a cute explanation behind the M&M name.

I also have a DD named Hannah, but yours sound much more outgoing. Like true royalty.

I don't blame them for not wanting to go back to WDW. The heat and humidity there are too much for me too.
I'm so glad you got the PIN Code and decided to go ahead and book. Kids grow up so fast, it's a shame to miss out on magical memories due to things like high gas prices or airfare. I know it's a sad reality for many families that they cannot afford to go, so I'm glad you were able to swing it.

Sounds like you all are going to have a great time and I'll be along for the ride.

BTW, where in Alaska are you from? I have relatives up there, and my DH and I are hoping in a 2011 to be able to take a trip there, so I've just started doing some research on the different areas.

 

[Phalene]

Hi, and thanks for reading!

We live in Anchorage now, but I grew up just outside of Fairbanks. Alaska is a beautiful place, and I love living here but have barely visited much of the state.

 

[Phalene]

Last year we were on very similar flights, so I don’t expect any issues. Like last year, I plan on using Super Shuttle to get us to the hotel. I’ve used them almost every time I’ve gone to Disneyland, out of both LAX and SNA, and have never had issues. I try to dress the kids creatively for the flight, leaving AK there may be snow and there definitely won’t be any in CA! I plan on doing the same this year, pants for my son that have the zip off legs that turn into shorts and a dress with leggings for my daughter. As soon as we’re off the plane I’ll take the legs of M’s pants and remove H’s leggings so they won’t overheat. A quick stop to pick up luggage and we’ll be out the door. That’s what we did last year…but it ended up being an interesting and expensive start to the vacation.

Here’s the first reminisce of last year’s trip. I’ll try to always put the date in front of it to make it clear what I’m talking about.

(Nov 2007) We had no problems at the baggage claim area, and only waited a few minutes for Super Shuttle before we were on our way to the Anaheim Fairfield Inn. There were a couple of stops, and we were the last drop off. Check in went smoothly and quickly and our room was already ready so we headed up there. I wanted to change since I was wearing pants, but I always use zip ties on the suitcases so I needed scissors to cut it off. My mother had packed a small pair in the outside pocket of her checked bag, so she told me where to find it. I went to look, but they weren’t there. She gave me the look-you know the one that says she thinks you’ve gone completely round the bend so let’s humor the crazy person and came to check for herself. Surprise, the scissors still weren’t there!

So then she went to look inside her suitcase when she discovered she had stolen someone else’s bag! I say stolen and not accidently taken, because how can you accidently take a suitcase that is a completely different size and color! Her bag was a smoky blue and this one was a much larger, black bag. At first we worried that someone on the shuttle had her bag, but then we realized this was going to a local. To make matters worse, the owner had already been waiting for the bag. There was a sticker on it indicating that the bag hadn’t made the owners flight and this was a priority, home delivery bag.

The kids were hungry, the scooter my mother had reserved hadn’t arrived yet, and I was already feeling the heat in heavy jeans. We called the airline and they said we had to bring the bag back to the airport so guess who got that task?

That’s right-ME.

I had to take a cab to the airport, $45 plus tip, drop off the bag and pick up hers that was in the unclaimed area, and then get another shuttle back to the hotel. All told the whole fiasco took over an hour and $60 to correct, not the way I had hoped to start my vacation!

Fortunately, there weren’t any other major issues for the rest of the trip; although by the end of it I was only half joking when I told her it was like I was traveling with 3 children. She definitely made the trip more work, but I kept her around because she seemed to be a Dream magnet!

 

[Phalene]

I updated the title, I notice that there have been more people just viewing this thread, but not posting, so I'm hoping that by noting it's a pre-trip will entice people to offer advice

I don’t think I mentioned it above, but I’m keeping this trip a secret from the kids, or at least that’s the plan provided I can manage to keep my mouth closed. This has added an extra dimension to the planning because the same children that exhibit “situational deaf-ness,” when told to clean their room mysteriously develop supersonic hearing when Disneyland/Mickey Mouse/airplanes/etc… are discussed. So, all planning is currently being done in the evening after they are in bed for the night or during the day while I’m on a break at work.

Right now about the only planning I’ve done is how I’m going to end up telling the kids, and how long I’ll wait to do that. In some ways I would love to be able to keep it a secret until the day we leave, and then just bundle them into the car and head to the airport and tell them there, but that plan has some disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is that our flight leaves at 2:30am, so I’d have to put them to bed as usual and then wake them up and I don’t know how well that would go over. Actually, the more I think of it, the more I think that won’t work. It turns out that we are going to be in Disneyland for Hannah’s birthday, but before this trip was arranged we had talked about having her birthday party at Build-A-Bear. That’s not going to happen since we’re taking a vacation, so we’ll have a smaller party at home after we get back. So, I’m most likely going to have to tell them beforehand so she knows why we aren’t planning that party.

I’d still like to wait as long as possible, maybe until the last week of September? I’ll have to give it some thought on how I can break the news to them-if you’ve ever surprised your family with a trip how did you do it?

 

[Phalene]

Did some more planning, and changes, today. The new AP7 rate that was announced on the boards is less than the PIN code rate I had, so this morning I called back. It took 2 calls, the first CM said it was for current AP holders and he couldn't guarantee that they would honor the rate if I tried to buy an AP when I checked in, but I switched my 6 day Park Hopper to a Deluxe AP, and got the lower rate. I'm saving $55, not a huge amount, but at least enough to cover one meal in the park!

Also, I just found out that the October calendar is up, so I'll really be able to start doing some planning tonight, I want to work on some dining plans.

We'd like to try some different restaurants this year, so we aren't always going to the same places over and over. So, no Blue Bayou this year, and I'm not sure about Goofy's Kitchen. I think we'll try Storytellers, and I want to try a few more of the DTD restaurants-any suggestions?

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Two thoughts on the surprise. First off, there is a Build-a-Bear in DTD, so that may work to your advantage.

Second is how my parents surprised us when I was 12(I'm the oldest). We lived in Utah and dad had a convention in Las Vegas. So, we packed up the trailer and went to the convention as a family. In order to continue the ruse, they informed us we were heading to the Hoover Dam when we left Las Vegas. Well, as fate would have it, my ears began to pop, so my parents invented a wonder cure that always involved closing my eyes(thus causing me to miss all the road signs that indicated we were missing the Hoover Dam exits).

After we all fell asleep to cross the CA border, the gig was up when we came to the fruits and insect border check. At that point, I knew we were in California and I quickly realized that we only came to California for one reason, at which point there were squeals of delight in the van as mom and dad confirmed what I was thinking. That happened 20 years ago, yet I still remember it like it was yesterday.

There has to be a way to surprise your kids on this one. You won't regret it. Think of how excited they'll be if you can keep the ruse up all the way to the hotel if that's possible.

 

[mommaU4]

Hi, and thanks for reading!

We live in Anchorage now, but I grew up just outside of Fairbanks. Alaska is a beautiful place, and I love living here but have barely visited much of the state.

I have relatives in Anchorage but I'm not close to them. Too bad. If I was, I'd ask them if I could come visit! LOL

I had to take a cab to the airport, $45 plus tip, drop off the bag and pick up hers that was in the unclaimed area, and then get another shuttle back to the hotel. All told the whole fiasco took over an hour and $60 to correct, not the way I had hoped to start my vacation!

OMG, what a hassle. How the heck did she get a totally wrong colored bag??
Glad to hear it went smoothly after that.

This has added an extra dimension to the planning because the same children that exhibit “situational deaf-ness,” when told to clean their room mysteriously develop supersonic hearing when Disneyland/Mickey Mouse/airplanes/etc… are discussed.

Funny how that works isn't it??
Good luck if you decide to keep it a surprise. I think that would be great, but I know I could never do that. I have a big mouth.

Also, I just found out that the October calendar is up, so I'll really be able to start doing some planning tonight, I want to work on some dining plans.

We'd like to try some different restaurants this year, so we aren't always going to the same places over and over. So, no Blue Bayou this year, and I'm not sure about Goofy's Kitchen. I think we'll try Storytellers, and I want to try a few more of the DTD restaurants-any suggestions?

The October calendar is up?? Yay, I'll have to check that out.
As for DTD, have you all been to Rainforest Cafe? (sorry if I missed that somewhere) My kids really like it there and I do too.

 

[Disneyolic]

I don't usually read PTRs but I saw your name on a few other TRs I'm reading and decided to 'bite the bullet' and read. Will your reminiscing include some photos?





DM .... aka "Flora" at Fairy Godmothers!

 

[Phalene]

I don't usually read PTRs but I saw your name on a few other TRs I'm reading and decided to 'bite the bullet' and read. Will your reminiscing include some photos?

Yes, I keep meaning to go through some of last year's photos and post them, I just haven't found the time yet.

 

[Phalene]

With school starting soon I made appointments for both kids with the doctor’s for physicals so I now know that Matthew is 46” and Hannah is 41.” This is a very good thing! Last year Hannah wasn’t 40” so she missed out on a lot of the rides, and Matthew was under 46” so he couldn’t ride Indy and was upset.

This turned out to be a good thing, as we got some extra special magic out of it, courtesy of my mother and her mouth.

(Nov 2007) Like I mentioned above, one of the main reasons I kept my mother around last year was that she seemed to be a Dream magnet. Our very first day there I was meeting someone from a board I frequent. After I got back from the airport the 2nd time we headed into Disneyland while I called a friend of mine from a board I frequent. She and her daughters were going to meet up with us so we made plans to meet in front of TomorrowLand. We had time for Buzz Lightyear, and then waited out front a few minutes for them.

As soon as we met up we headed to FantasyLand, and towards Dumbo. When we were almost to the front of the line someone came running up to the group behind us and said the Dream Team was out giving Dream Ears away! We couldn’t leave the line because of where we were, and my mother had gone to the other side of the ride so she could film our ride, so we were stuck. We rode and the kids had a blast, and then we went to meet up with my mother when I noticed a glint of silver in the basket of her scooter.

We get to her and she tells me that she was looking for a good place where she could film the ride when “these people” came up and handed her a pair of Dream Ears. She knew a little bit about the Dream Team from our 2006 WDW trip, but we hadn’t seen them often and never won anything so she was shocked. I immediately took possession of them, and I have to admit that I wouldn’t let anyone wear them.

I told her that the ears were her payment for the hassle she’d put me through, but we were now even.

So what does that have to do with how tall the kids are now? Well, their height made my mother’s 2nd Dream even more magical, but it didn’t seem right jumping right into that story without explaining the first time the Dream Team approached her.

It was either our second or third day there, I can’t find my notes to confirm. We had been to both parks, and Hannah was not feeling the love as she was turned away from both Star Tours and Soarin’ over California since she wasn’t tall enough. It was just before lunch and we headed to AdventureLand to see check out Indy. Unfortunately, Matthew faced the dreaded height stick and didn’t measure up. To head off the disappointment and whining I suggested we go to see the Tiki Room. My mother had no interest in going there, so she went to find a place in the shade close by to wait for us.

I may be in the minority, but I like the Tiki Room (the original, I do not like WDW’s version!) and both kids have loved to sing along when I would play the music. They enjoyed themselves during the show, with Hannah standing up and getting her groove on to the amusement of many other visitors.

When the show was over we made our way towards my mother, who was just across from the entrance to the attraction. As soon as she saw us she started waving her hands, which had papers in them.

She showed it to me as soon as we got there, and explained what had happened. While she was looking for a place to park the scooter in the shade a Dream Team CM came up and started talking to her, asking if she had ever seen Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. When she told him that she hadn’t he proceeded to give her a certificate for a reserved table up front to the show that would start in just a little bit. She got to talking with him, as she does, and he asked how everyone was enjoying themselves. She told him that we had come from Indy where Matthew wasn’t tall enough to ride, and mentioned that we were going to go over to DCA to see if there were any fast passes left for Soarin’ since that was his favorite ride even though Hannah wasn’t tall enough for that either. I think she really laid it on thick, but he ended up giving her a special fast pass for Soarin’ AND told her to be over at the Princess Fantasy Faire at a certain time with the certificate he gave her to have a private meeting with several princesses!

 

[mommaU4]

Wow, your mom is a Dream Team magnet!! I would have loved the private meeting with the Princesses. So cool.

 

[travelmel]

Yea! How cute for your ole mums! I remember back in the old days you could get in to DL for free so all the time we'd have an aunt or a grandma or mulitple aunt/grandma types waiting outside the ride to greet you...it was like getting off an airplane every ride.. "Ohhh.. how was your trip?? Did you have fun?? what happened??" Cute stuff. But now a days it's tough to justify another $80 if your grammy's just gonna sit there and soak up the atmosphere. Not that it isn't a fun deal...but it used to be free if you weren't ridin'.

Glad I found this TR!

 

[elliefusmom]

Ooohhh... my mom has decided to go with us (my 2 kids and I).. I hope she's a dream team magnet too! Have her send some pixie dust our way!

 

[Phalene]

Real life has a nasty way of interfering with my planning, so I haven’t had much time this past week to work on our trip very much.

I think I have figured out how I’m going to keep the trip a secret from the kids, right up until we get to the airport.

My mother goes to the desert every once in a while (her sister, my aunt, has a place there for when they retire) so we’re going to tell the kids that Nana is planning another trip there. As we get closer to the time I’ll start telling them we may need to take her to the airport when she leaves.

This way, she can pack and they won’t think anything of it. We leave on a Monday night, so Monday morning I will take the kids to school as normal, but take the day off of work and come home to do my packing. I’ll get everything packed and hidden in the trunk of the car, and then pick them up as normal. I’m going to try to put them to bed as normal too, and wake them just before we have to go to the airport. That way they will get 5 solid hours before we leave. I’ll help them get dressed (maybe-or just take them in their PJ’s, I haven’t decided) and we’ll head to the airport. Usually we take a cab, but this time I’ll drive and plan on parking in long term parking for 2 reasons: 1 they won’t expect to be going anywhere since we never do that, and 2 I won’t have to bring their car seats with us, which will seriously lighten our load. We’re going to take the Disneyland Express to and from the airport so we won’t need the seats there, and we aren’t going anywhere, so it should work out well.

Once we get to the airport, I’m not sure when I’ll tell the kids. I could tell them immediately, or try and wait until closer to boarding. They are young enough so they don’t know the rules for entering the terminal, so we could go right to the gate, just to “watch Nana leave” and when its time to board tell the kids I decided to go to so we’ll all get on. So, I have a little more planning on that, but I think the main points are worked out.

We are still working on dining. We want to try some different restaurants this time, so we have a few places, but need to get the rest figured out soon as well as figure out which restaurant on which day.

We’re going to plan 2 sit down breakfasts: Storytellers (we went there 6 years ago, but haven’t been back since) and Café Orleans (we did do this last year but my mother really wants to go back) The rest of the time for breakfast we’ll do a combo of groceries delivered to the room and maybe some counter service.

For dinners we are going to try the Wine Country Trattoria and Tortilla Jo’s. We may go back to the Rainforest Café, although we went there last year. I wasn’t that impressed with the food but my mother loved the drink she had there.

We’re planning on 1 sit down meal per day, and the rest counter service, so we need at least one more that we still have to decide on, maybe 2. I’ve been thinking that it would be smart to have a good lunch Sunday before we have to go back to the airport, plus that is Hannah’s birthday so I’d like to do something special on her actual birthday.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Sounds like fun. My 3 yo nephew is telling everybody how he's going to visit Mickey at his house, which is getting all of us more amped up for our visit.

Have you considered telling the kids you're all going with Nana? That may enable you to keep the surprise going until you're actually very close to Disneyland if you wanted to.

 

[Phalene]

I can't believe its been over a week again, and I haven't had a chance to update or even read this board. I'm off to catch up with all the other PTR/TR's, but thought I'd quickly update on the plans I've made so far.

Our Trick or Treat tickets came in the mail, so we are confirmed and ready to go for the party on Oct 10th! I've made some dining plans, but may be changing a few:

• Tuesday: We land at 10:30, shuttle is at 10:45 and 11:15 so I expect we’ll get the second one which will put us at the hotel around 11:45 so I have lunch planned at Tortilla Jo’s
• Wednesday: Breakfast at Storytellers we should be finished just before the parks open, so we’ll be set.
• Thursday: dinner at Wine Country Trattoria,
• Friday is the Trick or Treat Party so it will be a long day. We’ll hit the park in the morning and then plan on going back to the hotel to swim and rest in the afternoon followed by dinner at Hook’s Pointe before we head to the party.
• Saturday: dinner at Goofy’s Kitchen. I figure we’ll have a later start this day since we’ll be up late the night before. We can either finish in the late afternoon, or take a break and after eating dinner head back to the park. If the kids are tired (and they most likely will be) my mother may stay in the room with them after they go to sleep and I can head back to the park
• Sunday, our flight is in the evening, but we’ll have to catch the bus at 3:30ish. We’ll plan on going to Magic Morning, and right now I have breakfast at Ariel’s Grotto planned. I did this because this is Hannah’s birthday and I thought the princess meal would be a treat for her. We’ve had lunch here before, so I thought we’d try breakfast but I’m rethinking this. Since we’ll be flying all evening and they don’t serve food any more, we may be better off having a late lunch before we leave. That would also mean less interruptions on our last park day, so it may work out better. I haven’t decided where we’ll have lunch though

We like to plan one sit down meal per day, we were spoiled by the dining plan in WDW 2 years ago, and it is nice to have that break, so we continue to do it at Disneyland. The rest of our meals will be in the hotel room (we’re planning a grocery delivery) or assorted counter service meals that sound good.

Tortilla Jo’s, Wine Country, and Hook’s Pointe will be new restaurants for us, we have eaten at Storytellers before but it’s been 6 years. The others are character meals for the kids. We’ll keep checking to see if something catches our fancy, we’re not locked into Goofy’s Kitchen or Ariel’s Grotto, so those are the 2 that could change between now and the trip.

 

[travelmel]

I would have loved to try Hooke's Point. I have a crush on the "bad boy" types! LOL

Wine Country gets great reviews... and I think you can watch the MSELP there if you time it right?

 

[puntagordabob]

I may be in the minority, but I like the Tiki Room (the original, I do not like WDW’s version!) and both kids have loved to sing along when I would play the music. They enjoyed themselves during the show, with Hannah standing up and getting her groove on to the amusement of many other visitors.

I agree with you ONE MILLION % Yes, lots of Great Family Special Moments have started within those enchanted walls with Jose and his flock around!

PS... Sounds like your Mom had a wonderful time too ! Great stories! Thank you so much for sharing those!