PTR: EDIT: When Two Holidays Collide!

MacMama0930

I've Found My Laughing Place
Joined
Jul 31, 2016
Hello Fellow Dis’ers!

Firstly, let me introduce the characters that will be playing the lead in this epic story of a family’s first trip to Disneyland at Christmastime.

There is myself, Emily. Happy, feisty, crazy, high stressed, entrepreneur, wife, mother of two.

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I first went to Disneyland when I was 5 years old. For one day. And my memories are vague, if any. Fast forward 26 years, My husband and I took our kids to Disneyland for their first time at Halloweentime. I wish I could say I was an instant smitten kitten, but I wasn’t. I hadn’t prepared at all for the trip, it was 100 degrees, and we barely rode any rides. But still…I knew there was something there…

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So the next year, 2016, we set off again to tackle Halloweentime at Disneyland, again including the Halloween Party. That time, though, I prepared. I joined this group, read countless websites, subscribed to Touring Plans, was confident in how the Fast Pass system worked, splurged on staying onsite…it was flawless.

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I was hooked. Secured ourselves Annual Passes and knew that I’d be a Forever Dis’er. Enjoyed 4 more trips from then until now and now I’m excited to plan our first ever Christmas at Disneyland trip! We all LOVE Christmas time. It's the most magical time of the year!

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My husband, Anthony; bless his heart, isn’t exactly a Disney Fanatic. He enjoys himself to a certain extent, but he had not accompanied me on my last 4 trips. He’s a maybe once a year kind of guy. He teases me relentlessly, but I think he has finally come to terms with the fact that while he got away with 10 years of a Disney-Free marriage, he now has a Disney-Loving wife =)

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And these two little nuggets are my offspring.

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My son, Vincent, is the kindest, most gentle little boy I’ve ever known. He’s still a Mama’s Boy and loves to cuddle but also a hard worker like his Dad and has become a really rad dirt bike rider. He’s smart, and a little serious, and I have high hopes for him.

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My daughter, Luella aka LuLu aka Lug Bug aka Baby Squirrel, is her mother’s daughter, through and through. The power of ADHD is strong in this one. She’s creative, hilarious, all over the place, imaginative, sassy, feisty, and never boring.

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She does not, however, care for Splash Mountain...

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So there’s the Who.

Now the…

When: December 15-18 2017

Where: The Grand Californian, Club Level Theme Park View

More Coming Soon!!
 

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I apologize for the humongous photos - I have no idea how to make them smaller.
 
Cool, I'm on board! We did the same thing our first time around. No research and two young kids - total disaster.

DISBoards has helped take me from a Disney novice to a trip-taking pro! We'll be there a couple of weeks before you and yours.

Huzzah for you and yours getting a Christmas trip in there! I look forward to seeing you put your plans together. Great call with the breakfast with Santa, I'm sure your kiddos will love it.
 


Sounds like fun! I hope your trip goes awesomely!
 
SURPRISE! We have decided to attend the Halloween Party after all this year. We'll be staying for just one night at the Disneyland Hotel on 9/29 and attending the party. So this year we'll get to celebrate Halloween AND Christmas at DLR. Pinch me!
 
Following along! You have a sweet family!

We'll be at DL at the same time during Halloween as well as attending that Halloween party! :)
 


Our Halloween Party tickets arrived yesterday! So excited to see it coming to fruition. :flower1:

We've made reservations for Goofy's Kitchen the morning after the party. It'll actually be the first time we've woken up at the DLR where we are NOT in a mad scramble to rope drop / early entry. It'll actually be nice not having to worry about going into the park on Sat. (Hubby and kid's APs are blocked). I also did a cabana rental at the pool for the first half of the day. I figure we'll hang out at the pool until about 1pm after which we'll probably get on the road.

I feel like we kind of have to do Goofy's Kitchen since it's right there at the hotel, but I haven't been reading the best things about it recently; that the character interactions are practically non-existent. We shall see.

It's September! My party night is THIS MONTH! Whoo hooo!!
 
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That is awesome! Do you guys know what you're dressing up as?

Not too sure yet!! We're thinking a Cinderella theme, but the others aren't set on something yet (clock's ticking guys... ;) ). What are you all going as? Maybe we'll bump into each other at the party lol
 
Not too sure yet!! We're thinking a Cinderella theme, but the others aren't set on something yet (clock's ticking guys... ;) ). What are you all going as? Maybe we'll bump into each other at the party lol

I don't know what we'll be yet!! It's hard to go with a theme because my kids have totally different interests and my husband is kind of a fuddy duddy when it comes to costumes.
 
Another SURPRISE!

I have taken the plunge and booked a VIP tour for December 16th. This is turning into not only an epic trip...but a once in a lifetime trip!!

A CM should be calling in a couple of days to go over our basic itinerary! I simply cannot wait. This was something I had never given much thought to until recently - when certain things have fallen into place and gave us some wiggle room financially.

What would you choose as your itinerary if you had a plaid for 6 hours??
 
Getting excited for our Halloween Party coming up in 21 days!!

Ordered In-Room Celebrations items from Disney Floral and Gifts. Has anyone ever done this? I can't wait for the kiddos to see their little goodies waiting for them =)
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(Pics from www.disneyfloralandgifts.com)
 
Had such a grea time at the Halloween party on 9/29. So glad we made the trip. Ended up driving down on Thursday night, went into the park, briefly, and rode Indiana Jones. Got up early and did EMH at DCA. Slightly disappointed that RSR AND Screamin' were down for the first 20 mins or so, but whatevs; still had a great morning. Took a nice, long break at the hotel, went to the pool. Love the DLH pool. If it weren't for the long death march from hotel to park, DLH would win between the two main onsite hotels. But the GCH gets my vote for proximity.

The crowds were manageable all day and the party was great. Parade had clearly been watered down some as I believe they got some negative feedback last year. And the fireworks. Be still my heart. I'll die of devastation if they move the party to DCA and eliminate Halloween Screams. It's just...just incredible.

Fun times were had by all...can't wait to go back for Christmas!
 
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Planning is well under way.

Come to find out, the new Star Wars movie is premiering 12/15 (our first night at the resort). Because my husband isn't a ride, ride, ride kind of guy, I'm trying to plan a lot of fun things to do outside the park. I was able to purchase movie tickets for my husband and son to the movie on 12/15 in DtD and I will take that opportunity to go have a late lunch (early dinner) at Ariel's Grotto with just my daughter. I am so looking forward to having a special Princess dinner with just her!

My window should be opening up for all other reservations in the next couple of days. We will be doing the WOC Dessert Party on Sunday night. I can't wait for this one. Last year, I definitely shed some tears during this special show - it was just so touching.

I've been in contact with our VIP Tour coordinator and she'll be making breakfast reservations for us at Plaza Inn on Saturday morning at 9:00am and then our guide will meet us there at 10:00 to get the party started! I originally had our start time at 11:00 but if the entertainment schedule stays consistent, the Christmas Fantasy Parade will be at 3:30. This will be perfect timing for ending our tour with seats to the parade. I also asked for reserved seating for Fantasmic's first showing and then hopefully we can just stay seated there for the fireworks.

I was wishing there was a way for our VIP tour guide to score us a couple fresh candy canes, but I don't think even that'll get you candy canes without waiting at 7:00am for a wristband! Haha!! Oh well!
 
Hi, following along. My DS10 and I were at the 9/29 Halloween party too if you saw a Vanellope with an assassin from Assasins Creed wandering through the crowds. it was a great party though it felt more packed to me this year than previous years, we still got to do everything we wanted in about 4 hours, which is much better than a regular day. Your holiday trip sounds awesome, one of these days we're going to do the VIP tour (probably for my DBestF's 40th next year in between Xmas and NY). There's nothing like staying onsite, its getting harder to do off-site trips the longer I get to stay at the Grand ... have you considered picking up a DVC contract?
 
The Star Wars thing at DTD sounds awesome!!
 
Hi, following along. My DS10 and I were at the 9/29 Halloween party too if you saw a Vanellope with an assassin from Assasins Creed wandering through the crowds. it was a great party though it felt more packed to me this year than previous years, we still got to do everything we wanted in about 4 hours, which is much better than a regular day. Your holiday trip sounds awesome, one of these days we're going to do the VIP tour (probably for my DBestF's 40th next year in between Xmas and NY). There's nothing like staying onsite, its getting harder to do off-site trips the longer I get to stay at the Grand ... have you considered picking up a DVC contract?

I have but I can't even choose the Grand as my home...which turned me off a bit...
 
I have but I can't even choose the Grand as my home...which turned me off a bit...
You can you'd just have to buy a resale contract instead of buying direct. I've done both, and resale is pretty much the same but cheaper and needs a bit more research. I'll buy direct again whenever they build a new one in California though, I strongly suspect the new hotel they have plans for will have a DVC component. The other great thing I'm noticing about your trip is that Annual Passes are blocked out so you should have nice low crowd levels!
 

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