From East Coast to West Coast in Under 3 Months WDW/DL PTR Updated 1/30!

[Pluto0809]

Looks great!

I've never been to the swan and dolphin during Christmas but I know they have a huge white Christmas tree and Santa does meet and greets but not in his red suit he wears swim trunks and a Hawaiian shirt!

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the resorts. Maybe we will even meet Santa!

I cannot wait for all your reviews! your doing so many great things!
This is going to be a GREAT Trip Report!

I just hope I can get the report started before next year after the curve ball I got thrown at work yesterday.

Make sure you stop at the Yacht Club to see the train display and the Beach Club to see the chocolate carousel. They sell gingerbread at the BC, too. The lobby smells great.

If you have time you might want to go to Wilderness Lodge before you do the monorail resorts. The boat to WL from MK is a lovely ride. And after checking out the gorgeous Christmas decorations you can either take the boat to Contemporary, which is a fast five minutes or a bus. The Disney Springs bus, the DHS bus and the AK bus all stop at C R from the WL - but be sure to ask the bus driver first.

All the Boardwalk Resorts are on our list to tour! We did see the Beach Club carousel a few years ago.

Thanks for the transportation tips! I don't know if we will have time for the WL but I would like to get there. We have seen those decorations on a previous trip so they aren't a priority.

Day 6 at Magic Kingdom sounds great! You have lots of fun rides lined up. I'm glad you will be eating lunch at BOG! Watching Wishes from outside the gates is a really fun experience, but don't blame you if you can't make it that late.

Day 7 sounds nice! I am curious to hear how PizzeRizzo is. Anna & Elsa's wait hasn't been too bad, hopefully you can get in there with a 20 min wait or even less. I really enjoyed breakfast at Akershus so I can't wait to hear how dinner is!

I'm excited to take Mom to BOG for lunch. She's only had dinner there previously. Wishes will probably depend on how long dinner takes.

I'm also interested to check out PizzeRizzo. So far the reviews haven't been great, I was thinking about getting the canoli for dessert but people are reporting that the filling is only on the ends. I have been stalking the Anna and Elsa wait times and have been excited to see how low they have been. We may even get them in on our full Epcot day.

 

[Pluto0809]

WDW Day 8 – Last Day

Saturday, December 3rd will be our last day at WDW. But we should have at least ¾ of the day to have some fun. Mom’s flight isn’t until 7:45 pm and mine is at 9:15 pm. That means we should not have to catch the Un-magical Express until 4:45 pm.

Once we finish packing and check our bags, we will be heading back to MK for one more day of fun.



Our original plans were to hit up a few rides with our FPs and then have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. After they changed the menu there, we cancelled that ADR and added Yak and Yeti on our AK day.

Our FPs for the day are:

Peter Pan 9:25 am – 10:25 am (I can’t find another Peter Pan picture right now so you are getting a repeat from a previous post)



BTMR 10:25 – 11:25 am



Tomorrowland Speedway 1:10 pm – 2:10 pm



Yep you read that last one correctly! Mom has no memory of riding the TL Speedway so she wants to do it this trip. I will definitely be making her drive so she can see how hard it is to control those cars!

I’m not sure if we will keep the Peter Pan FP. If we get on it a previous day I might try to change it to something else.

Lunch will be at Casey’s or Columbia Harbor House, most likely whichever one we didn’t go to the first day.





I’m hoping to get on Pirates again and I’m sure there will be something we want to go back and buy.

The last thing we will do before heading out around 3 pm is to use up any leftover snack credits at the Main Street Confectionery. I love to get snacks on the last day to bring home. I know I’ll probably get fudge and maybe one of the big chocolate chip cookies. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mom got a candy apple.

After that it will just be the sad trip back to the airport and saying our goodbyes before boarding our planes. But at least I will be seeing Mom again in less than two months for Disneyland!

Well that’s all for now, I’ll see you on the other side of the trip! I’m really hoping to start a TR soon after I’m back plus finally talk about DL here. I don’t know if that will happen though until after Christmas. I got handed a huge project yesterday that should normally take me two or three months to complete. It’s due 1/2/17 which gives me less than a month when I get back. I would have had it mostly finished by now but it had been decided that it could wait till next year. Well, the County Manager changed his mind so I guess I will be working some serious overtime next month! Hopefully I will be able to sneak in a few updates on the DL PTR in between all the craziness.

 

[rteetz]

I love late flights on departure day so you can still do some Disney stuff before you leave.

I know many don't like the speedway but I do, it was one of my favorite rides when I was young.

Looks like a nice trip and I can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Good luck on your project at work.. Loads of $$ for overtime! which means more money on DISNEY!

I do love MK on your last day. and yes it will be hard to say goodbye THANKFULLY you have DL right around the corner! YAY

 

[Wood Nymph]

Saturday, December 3rd will be our last day at WDW.

Dec 3rd is our arrival day but we are avoiding MK that day.

Our original plans were to hit up a few rides with our FPs and then have lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. After they changed the menu there, we cancelled that ADR and added Yak and Yeti on our AK day.

We had a LTT booked, too, but changed it to BOG lunch when the stupid Disney "powers that be" decided to take away all the popular entrees from the lunch menu. Seriously, what were they thinking?

I got handed a huge project yesterday that should normally take me two or three months to complete. It’s due 1/2/17 which gives me less than a month when I get back. I would have had it mostly finished by now but it had been decided that it could wait till next year. Well, the County Manager changed his mind so I guess I will be working some serious overtime next month!

That's too bad that you got stuck with the extra work as soon as you get back. I've had that happen for our October trips and it is not pleasant.

 

[missangelalexis]

Your last day sounds great! Always nice to have that final bit of magic before heading home. Have a wonderful trip!!!!! I can't wait to hear about it when you get back

 

[Chicago Mo]

I know your having a great time and i cannot wait to hear all the details!!!

 

[Ladyfish77]

I somehow missed your PTR! I saw D's post of FB with you and some I spy bags, so I hunted down your PTR! I'm sure you had a great time, and I hope to remember to look for your TR!!! Very cool that you can do these trips with your family! I need to pry my brother out of his town and get him to visit here or WDW with his kids this summer.

 

[Pluto0809]

I love late flights on departure day so you can still do some Disney stuff before you leave.

I know many don't like the speedway but I do, it was one of my favorite rides when I was young.

Looks like a nice trip and I can't wait to hear all about it.

It was nice to have those few hours before we had to head to the airport.

I really like the speedway too other than the gasoline smell. That makes me nauseous if I stand there too long.

I've started the TR, link will be below. You may be on your way to Disney already, if so have a wonderful trip and good luck with your races!

Good luck on your project at work.. Loads of $$ for overtime! which means more money on DISNEY!

I do love MK on your last day. and yes it will be hard to say goodbye THANKFULLY you have DL right around the corner! YAY

Thanks, the project went well and is done. As for the overtime $$$, nope, nope and nope. I'm salaried so no overtime for me. But the boss (who's really my boss's boss but since she left I report to him at the moment) is giving me 3 extra vacation days that I'm going to use towards Disneyland. So at least I got something.

It was hard but DL is only 29 days away!

Dec 3rd is our arrival day but we are avoiding MK that day.

We had a LTT booked, too, but changed it to BOG lunch when the stupid Disney "powers that be" decided to take away all the popular entrees from the lunch menu. Seriously, what were they thinking?

That's too bad that you got stuck with the extra work as soon as you get back. I've had that happen for our October trips and it is not pleasant.

You made the right decision, it was super crowded both Saturdays we were there.

I was so bummed when they changed the menu. I doubt we will go back to LTT for a while and it was a favorite.

It was a rough few weeks but everything is now done!

Your last day sounds great! Always nice to have that final bit of magic before heading home. Have a wonderful trip!!!!! I can't wait to hear about it when you get back

Thanks! We did have a wonderful time with a few minor glitches. I did see your PM with the link to your new TR but I have no idea when I'll get to check it out. I'm still pretty busy since the boss left and now I've got more responsibilities.

I know your having a great time and i cannot wait to hear all the details!!!

We did have a wonderful time!

I somehow missed your PTR! I saw D's post of FB with you and some I spy bags, so I hunted down your PTR! I'm sure you had a great time, and I hope to remember to look for your TR!!! Very cool that you can do these trips with your family! I need to pry my brother out of his town and get him to visit here or WDW with his kids this summer.

No worries, it wasn't too exciting. We did have a wonderful time and I will be posting a link to the TR in a few minutes.

 

[Pluto0809]

Disneyland/California Schedule

Howdy folks, hope some of you are still hanging around! I finished up my huge project on Friday and while I’m still pretty busy at work, I thought I better get a move on this TR since Disneyland is only 29 days away! I also managed to start my TR from last month’s trip. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to update but I’m going to try for at least once a week. Here’s a link if you would like to join in.

Sweet Caroline Bum, Bum, Bum. A Groovy Mother/Daughter Trip Nov/Dec 2016

I’ll apologize now as I don’t know when I’ll be able to get caught up everywhere else. I’m sure going to try but work has just been kicking my butt the last few months!

So now for this update, I thought I would give you a quick outline of the Disneyland trip in this post and then do a longer update about each day. There won’t be many (if any at all) pictures since I’ve never been to Disneyland or LA.

Our dates for this trip are Wednesday February 1st through Tuesday February 7th. We won’t be doing the whole time at Disneyland as none of us have been out to LA before. Well, Mom may have, she and my Dad traveled a ton before he passed away, but I’m not sure.

Day 1, Wednesday, February 1st

This is mainly a travel day. There was a bit of drama with the airline tickets but I’ll talk about that in the next update. I will be flying Southwest with a layover in Denver, CO. I land in Orange County at 10 am. Mom, Johnny and Jocelyn are flying American Airlines with a layover in Chicago (O’Hare) and they land at 12:15 pm. We plan to take an Uber to our hotel and then spend the evening at Downtown Disney. Since both of our flights leave the East Coast around 6 am, I have a feeling we will end up in bed early.

Day 2, Thursday, February 2nd.

California Adventure. At least I think it will be DCA on this day. I’ve been going back and forth between the two parks for our first day. I think DCA will be better because it will be an easier day after our long travel day. But then I found out that the Disneyland version of Pirates of the Caribbean (my favorite WDW ride) will be closing for rehab on 2/3/17. So now I’m torn as to which direction to go. Plus I’m concerned that DL will be more crowded on Friday.

Day 3, Friday, February 3rd

Disneyland probably. DL is open from 9 am till 12 am so I’m thinking this would be a good day to try to get as much as possible in. Johnny and Jocelyn only wanted to one day in each park and I want to try to get as many rides done as we can. I’m not sure though if the extra hours will be worth the Friday crowds.

Day 4, Saturday, February 4th

We will be doing the Walt Tour through The Anaheim Tour Company. The tour lasts 8.5 hours so the evening will probably be back to Downtown Disney.

Day 5, Sunday, February 5th

This is our LA Day. We are going to rent a car for the day and explore LA. I’ll get more into the details of the day once I get here. Of course a lot of this day hinges on whether or not the Pittsburgh Steelers make the Super Bowl. Since that’s our team, we will have to change plans in order to watch the game if they make it.

Day 6, Monday, February 6th

We will be splitting up for this day. Mom and I are headed back to the Parks. We have hoppers and plan to use them this day to catch stuff that we missed the first two days. Johnny and Jocelyn will explore LA some more.

Day 7, Tuesday, February 7th

Travel day again. My flight out is at 11:35 am and I fly through Vegas this time. Mom, Johnny and Jocelyn will be leaving at 12:50 pm and flying through Dallas TX.

Up Next: Airfare Drama, Hotels, and Day 1

 

[missangelalexis]

Welcome back! Sorry work has been kicking your butt.

Your general plans sound good. I'm sure it's tough deciding which parks to do on which days, especially with such limited time. Pirates was also closed for refurb during my time there

 

[Chicago Mo]

WOHOOOOOOOOOOO!! So excited for all this!!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Your Disneyland trip sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to go to there someday.

 

[missjackiemcg]

I'm baaaaaack!! We got back from WDW on 1/1/17 and went back to school on 1/5, blah!!! OF COURSE we are all sick now, too, so I haven't even started thinking about getting my TR going. Figured I should get caught up reading here first and hopefully be inspired to start I am happy to report we did FINALLY check out the Country Bear Jamboree and as you saw from the pic on FB, Jimmy was able to chase down and get a picture with Big Al (4 Bears total actually!!) during MVMCP.

 

[Pluto0809]

Welcome back! Sorry work has been kicking your butt.

Your general plans sound good. I'm sure it's tough deciding which parks to do on which days, especially with such limited time. Pirates was also closed for refurb during my time there

Thanks, it was a rough few weeks there. I'm finally catching up and will probably be great right before I leave for California which will put me behind again!

I think I've decided not to worry about Pirates and do Disneyland on Friday for the extra hours. Al least it's an excuse to go back again, right?

WOHOOOOOOOOOOO!! So excited for all this!!!

Me too!

Your Disneyland trip sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to go to there someday.

I've been wanting to go there for years now, I'm so excited the trip is almost here.

I'm baaaaaack!! We got back from WDW on 1/1/17 and went back to school on 1/5, blah!!! OF COURSE we are all sick now, too, so I haven't even started thinking about getting my TR going. Figured I should get caught up reading here first and hopefully be inspired to start I am happy to report we did FINALLY check out the Country Bear Jamboree and as you saw from the pic on FB, Jimmy was able to chase down and get a picture with Big Al (4 Bears total actually!!) during MVMCP.

Ugh, I hate going back to work right after vacation! No worries if you haven't gotten started with your TR, you saw how long it took me. Plus I need to catch up on everyone else's so you can hold off. LOL.

I really enjoyed following along with your trip on Facebook. So glad you got to meet the bears too!

 

[Pluto0809]

Airfare Drama, Hotels and Day 1

Airfare Drama

Back in July, Southwest released their flights for our February dates. I pretty much always fly Southwest now since it is usually cheaper and you get to check two bags free. On the date the flights were released, I told my brother to call me any time after 8 am (when I got to work) and we would coordinate our flight times.

When I got to work, I pulled up the schedules and was pleasantly surprised to see my flight would be $238 and their flight around $450. I had been tracking other airlines and my flight had been running $300-$400 and theirs $500-$600. There were also some great times that would leave our respective cities around 9 am and get us to Orange County airport around 3 pm.

John didn’t call right at 8 am but I wasn’t worried. He likes to sleep in so I figured he would call when we was up and ready. But then a little before 8:30 I got a text telling me to check my e-mail. He had gone ahead and booked their flights without calling me. And he had booked them on American Airlines at a cost of $497. Plus they will each have to pay $25 each way for checking their bags. The times he booked were awful too. They depart at 8:26 am, have a 36 minute layover at O’Hare (Chicago) and arrive at Orange County at 12:15 pm. On departure day, he scheduled them to leave Orange County at 12:50 pm with a stop in Dallas, final arrival time back home at 9:59 pm. I was pretty upset as was both my Mom and Jocelyn. It turned out that John doesn’t like to fly Southwest because of the boarding procedures so he went behind everyone’s back and booked what he wanted, costing each of them an additional $100.

Luckily for me, Southwest had many different options so I was able to book my flights to arrive a little earlier than they do at 10 am. I am not thrilled that my flight leaves Atlanta at 6:10 am and I’m not thrilled that I don’t arrive back in Atlanta on the flight home till 8 pm as I have to work the next day but that was the best I could do to coordinate with their flights.

Hotels

We went back and forth a lot on which hotel we wanted to stay at. John was adamant that he wanted to stay at one of the Disneyland resorts until I started running prices and determined they would be double the cost of the Good Neighbor Hotels. We also talked a bit about a split stay, moving from the Good Neighbor hotel to somewhere in Los Angeles. In the end, we decided to just stick with one hotel and I started researching.

I focused on the hotels along South Harbor Boulevard since it is directly across the street from the park entrances and narrowed it down to three. I've included links to the hotels web sites just in case anyone would like to see pictures (since I've included none).

Carousel Inn and Suites

Tropicana Inn & Suites

Best Western Park Place Inn

All three hotels are pretty much side by side and directly across the street from the parks. I was leaning towards the Carousel Inn or Tropicana since neither one is a chain hotel. Prices for both of those was almost identical for the 6 nights. In the end though, free breakfast at the Best Western won out. It was $36 more for the week per room than the other two hotels so for $18 a person, we get breakfast for the whole week. Definitely cheaper than eating out every morning.

Day 1

As you read above, I will arrive at Orange County Airport at 10 am and the rest of the gang arrive at 12:15 pm. I’ve stocked myself very well with books, my IPod and a recent purchase of a travel DVD player. I have five seasons of Once Upon A Time on DVD and I figured my long travel day would be a good time to get started on those. I came very close to buying an IPad instead but I didn’t think I would have much use for it on a daily basis.

Once we meet up and claim our luggage, we will be taking an Uber to the hotel. Jocelyn is in charge of all ground transportation for the week and she researched and found out that Uber was the cheapest option. I’ve never used Uber but John and Jocelyn are pretty familiar with it so I will follow their lead.

I don’t think we will do much this afternoon/evening. Probably just relax, have dinner somewhere in Downtown Disney and maybe do some shopping. We will be exhausted after our travel day and I’m hoping to get to bed early so we are fresh for the next day.

Now I do have a bit of a contingency plan for this day. If you look back at the airline times above, you will see that Mom, John and Jocelyn only have a 36 minute layover at O’Hare. In February. Yeah, not sure how my brother thought that would be a good idea. Of course I’m a little nervous because I’m laying over in Denver on the way there but at least I have over an hour. Fingers crossed that the weather is OK on this day.

So anyways, my contingency plan for if they miss their flight out of O’Hare and it turns out there is a long delay and they aren’t going to arrive till evening. I am going to find my own transportation to the hotel, probably one of the shuttles. I plan on dropping my suitcases at the hotel and then heading to the parks for the rest of the day. This will mean that I will have to add an extra day to my tickets but it will be worth it to have a few hours of solo time. I plan to get the lay of the land since I’m not familiar with the parks, ride Pirates of the Caribbean since it will be closing the next day for refurbishment, and do some serious character hunting. That little evil selfish part of myself is almost wishing this might happen.

Up Next: Day 2 California Adventure

 

[missangelalexis]

Sorry to hear about the airfare drama! How rude of your brother.

You are going to love how close the hotel is to the park! And the free breakfast will definitely come in handy.

Your Day 1 plans sound good. And that backup plan isn't too bad either

 

[Wood Nymph]

I would be worried about a 36 minute delay in Chicago, too. I hope they make their connection but your Plan B sounds fun if they miss it.

 

[Ladyfish77]

only have a 36 minute layover at O’Hare.

Yep, bad idea. If their first flight is delayed at all, they will never make the second flight!

Don't think of it as evil, just karma if you get some alone time in the parks . I do feel sorry that your mom got stuck with that plan, though.

 

[Chicago Mo]

oh no... Sorry he went on his own! That totally sucks, and your right. Feb in Chicago isn't pretty. But i am hoping they get out on time! also i don't want anymore crappy weather...

If i get a vote on your hotel it would be Carousel! It's so pretty!!!

Glad you came back to the dis.. Ive missed you!