Adam&Alex's Mom
Adam & Alex's Mom
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2007
Background:
We have been anticipating our DL vacation for over 6 months! Our plan was to fly out on Monday, August 6th to return Friday, August 10th. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and purchased 3 day park hoppers. We live in Texas.
The cast is me, DH, twin boys DS4, DM (58) (my Mom). This is a first trip for all of us and to say we were excited would be an understatement!!
Count down….
The days before takeoff were hectic… you know how it is before you leave work for a vacation… you want to leave “in a good place” …In addition to winding down work tasks I printed out Hydroguys tips… some of DL magical beginning lists (packing lists, height requirements etc…) and packed like a maniac. It was a crazy few days but finally time to head out!
Day 1 – we arrive!
We left our house at 5:45 am on the day we left. My two are plane crazy and were VERY excited to be going to the airport. We had purchased two small rolling backpacks and each DS was able to pick one change of clothes and a few toys to take with them. I also placed a few snacks in each pack. It worked out really well because they each had some of their “stuff” with them and they had something to occupy themselves with in the plane and during our layover. We had one layover in Utah and arrived at SNA around 1 pm.
I had reserved an exclusive SuperShuttle before we left and it worked out great. We walked out to the ground trans area and the van was waiting… we loaded up and had plenty of room! There was one lady that needed to leave at the same time and we agreed to share the van as long as were the first stop…
Arriving at the hotel was amazing. We could see little peeks of the park as we were driving down the highway and the boys were getting more and more excited. When we pulled up we saw a statue of Mickey… The hat… we could feel the magic!! A bellman was quick to come over and over to help with our bags. We had 5 suitcases, 3 backpacks and 2 car seats so help was appreciated!! The bell man checked our bags as we were early for check in and we went to pre-register… we arrived a little before 2pm.
When we got to the front desk we were pleasantly surprised to see a little couch and TV area for the kids. Disney movies were playing of course and the boys settled in with my Mom as DH and I went to check in. There was only one person in front of us in line so the wait was minimal… when it was our turn we inquired about paying for an upgrade to concierge. Luckily it was available and we were placed in a pool view on the 8th floor of the Sierra Tower. Our CM also gave us 5 autograph pics of different characters, first visit pins, and balloons for the kids (we had called and req this from vacation planning). Keys in hand we headed up to the Concierge Lounge (CL) for a drink and snack. We had dinner reservations at Goofys and didn’t want to stop for a big lunch.
The lounge was nice and the snacks were good. In the fridge was Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Apple Juice, Whole Milk, reduced fat Milk and Water. Snacks were an assortment of chips, uncrustables, some pastries and fruit. Nothing over the top but it was nice. The view is great and the CM’s are all very nice and helpful. After a quick snack we took off for DTD to purchase autograph books for dinner.
I was very surprised that there was not a wider selection of autograph books… there a few small ones and I saw 3 that had a place to hold a pic… one was a princess book so that was out… I saw nicer ones OL and regretted not pre-purchasing these. Each boy picked one and then the search was on for a pen… the pages in the book had desins on them and the CM said a sharpie would be best but they didn’t sell them… 45 minutes later we found one at the Compass Sundry Stand… my tip would be to take your own marker.
We were able to get into our room (2656) shortly after 3 and we were pleasantly surprised by the size of our room. We had 2 queens and a daybed and the view was amazing. There was NOT much storage space for our stuff… so we ended up living out of the suitcases for the most part.
Dinner at Goofy’s was awesome. The character interaction is worth the price. We saw Pluto, Goofy, Minnie, Aladdin, Chip and Dale. The boys had time with each… and they even got to dance the Macarena. The food was OK… not great but good. After dinner we decided to head to the pool. We grabbed some vests for the boys and they headed to the little slide. It wasn’t very slippery but they really enjoyed it. We had to bail on the pool after 15 min because got sick in it and they closed it
so we headed over to the Cove pool and it actually worked out better. This ended up being our only time in the pool the entire vacation believe it or not! After a long day we headed to bed to get ready for early entry in the morning!
Day 2 – First day in the park
I got up at 4:30 to start getting ready for EE. I woke my family up at 5:15 and we headed out the door around 6:15 am. We arrived in line around 6:30 and we were maybe the 10th family in our line. The lines got long FAST. We sat in line and ate granola bars, uncrustables and drank apple juice that we had grabbed from the CL the night before. Around 6:57 ish the opened the doors and picked a family for the count down. It sent chills down my back… the moment had arrived at last! The line moved quickly as they started letting people in. Once in we decide to start up the photopass card right away at the entrance then we headed to the left and towards FL. We saw the majority of people heading toward Nemo and my DH vowed we would NOT be doing that!! We had our pic taken outside the castle on the way.
We headed towards Peter Pan only to find it was down.. so we went on to Dumbo and walked on. What a thrill!! So we walked on again Next we walked on to Mr. Toad (both boys cried)…. After some soothing we walked on to Peter Pan since it was now open. One boy cried and one was fine. We decided to stay away from anymore dark rides for awhile so we headed over to TL and on to Astro Orbitor (5 min wait) which the boys loved. Our next stop was Buzz Lightyear (we walked on) and had a blast! We emailed our pic to some friends and then decided to be daring and try Star Tours. We had maybe a 5 min wait. The boys LOVED it. I have one that is infatuated with Space. We exited and caught up with my Mom (she had been on a hunt for coffee) and I tried to convice my DH to get FP for Autopia as EE had ended… he wasn’t sold on the idea… he didn’t want to split the group up and said the lines were not bad and wanted to head on to POC… so why argue? Off we went. My DH and the boys rode Astro Orbitors one more time and then we were off… we had maybe a 3 min wait for POC. One of my DS was hesitant to get in because it seemed dark… but a nice family helped me coax him in (a little pixie dust!) This was my Mom’s first ride and everyone enjoyed it. By this time we need a break and decide to take a ride around the park on the train. We had a snack as we waited for the train (more snacks from the CL) Next was Splash Mountain…we had maybe a 15 minute wait… the lines were starting to get longer. To my surprise my Mom got on the ride with us. What a blast!!! We went and tried to grab some FP for BTMRR but it was down… so the FP machines were down as well. Next was a ride on the steam boat Columbia… my boys were so excited!!! By this point it was hot… we were tired and hungry. So we finally grabbed some FP for Autotopia and headed on the monorail for DTD. We had lunch at the ESPN Zone and then headed to the room for a nap. We all crashed for a good 2.5 hours!!!!
To Be Cont'd - (Don't worry it gets less verbose!!)
We have been anticipating our DL vacation for over 6 months! Our plan was to fly out on Monday, August 6th to return Friday, August 10th. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and purchased 3 day park hoppers. We live in Texas.
The cast is me, DH, twin boys DS4, DM (58) (my Mom). This is a first trip for all of us and to say we were excited would be an understatement!!
Count down….
The days before takeoff were hectic… you know how it is before you leave work for a vacation… you want to leave “in a good place” …In addition to winding down work tasks I printed out Hydroguys tips… some of DL magical beginning lists (packing lists, height requirements etc…) and packed like a maniac. It was a crazy few days but finally time to head out!
Day 1 – we arrive!
We left our house at 5:45 am on the day we left. My two are plane crazy and were VERY excited to be going to the airport. We had purchased two small rolling backpacks and each DS was able to pick one change of clothes and a few toys to take with them. I also placed a few snacks in each pack. It worked out really well because they each had some of their “stuff” with them and they had something to occupy themselves with in the plane and during our layover. We had one layover in Utah and arrived at SNA around 1 pm.
I had reserved an exclusive SuperShuttle before we left and it worked out great. We walked out to the ground trans area and the van was waiting… we loaded up and had plenty of room! There was one lady that needed to leave at the same time and we agreed to share the van as long as were the first stop…
Arriving at the hotel was amazing. We could see little peeks of the park as we were driving down the highway and the boys were getting more and more excited. When we pulled up we saw a statue of Mickey… The hat… we could feel the magic!! A bellman was quick to come over and over to help with our bags. We had 5 suitcases, 3 backpacks and 2 car seats so help was appreciated!! The bell man checked our bags as we were early for check in and we went to pre-register… we arrived a little before 2pm.
When we got to the front desk we were pleasantly surprised to see a little couch and TV area for the kids. Disney movies were playing of course and the boys settled in with my Mom as DH and I went to check in. There was only one person in front of us in line so the wait was minimal… when it was our turn we inquired about paying for an upgrade to concierge. Luckily it was available and we were placed in a pool view on the 8th floor of the Sierra Tower. Our CM also gave us 5 autograph pics of different characters, first visit pins, and balloons for the kids (we had called and req this from vacation planning). Keys in hand we headed up to the Concierge Lounge (CL) for a drink and snack. We had dinner reservations at Goofys and didn’t want to stop for a big lunch.
The lounge was nice and the snacks were good. In the fridge was Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Apple Juice, Whole Milk, reduced fat Milk and Water. Snacks were an assortment of chips, uncrustables, some pastries and fruit. Nothing over the top but it was nice. The view is great and the CM’s are all very nice and helpful. After a quick snack we took off for DTD to purchase autograph books for dinner.
I was very surprised that there was not a wider selection of autograph books… there a few small ones and I saw 3 that had a place to hold a pic… one was a princess book so that was out… I saw nicer ones OL and regretted not pre-purchasing these. Each boy picked one and then the search was on for a pen… the pages in the book had desins on them and the CM said a sharpie would be best but they didn’t sell them… 45 minutes later we found one at the Compass Sundry Stand… my tip would be to take your own marker.
We were able to get into our room (2656) shortly after 3 and we were pleasantly surprised by the size of our room. We had 2 queens and a daybed and the view was amazing. There was NOT much storage space for our stuff… so we ended up living out of the suitcases for the most part.
Dinner at Goofy’s was awesome. The character interaction is worth the price. We saw Pluto, Goofy, Minnie, Aladdin, Chip and Dale. The boys had time with each… and they even got to dance the Macarena. The food was OK… not great but good. After dinner we decided to head to the pool. We grabbed some vests for the boys and they headed to the little slide. It wasn’t very slippery but they really enjoyed it. We had to bail on the pool after 15 min because got sick in it and they closed it
so we headed over to the Cove pool and it actually worked out better. This ended up being our only time in the pool the entire vacation believe it or not! After a long day we headed to bed to get ready for early entry in the morning!Day 2 – First day in the park
I got up at 4:30 to start getting ready for EE. I woke my family up at 5:15 and we headed out the door around 6:15 am. We arrived in line around 6:30 and we were maybe the 10th family in our line. The lines got long FAST. We sat in line and ate granola bars, uncrustables and drank apple juice that we had grabbed from the CL the night before. Around 6:57 ish the opened the doors and picked a family for the count down. It sent chills down my back… the moment had arrived at last! The line moved quickly as they started letting people in. Once in we decide to start up the photopass card right away at the entrance then we headed to the left and towards FL. We saw the majority of people heading toward Nemo and my DH vowed we would NOT be doing that!! We had our pic taken outside the castle on the way.
We headed towards Peter Pan only to find it was down..
so we went on to Dumbo and walked on. What a thrill!! So we walked on again Next we walked on to Mr. Toad (both boys cried)…. After some soothing we walked on to Peter Pan since it was now open. One boy cried and one was fine. We decided to stay away from anymore dark rides for awhile so we headed over to TL and on to Astro Orbitor (5 min wait) which the boys loved. Our next stop was Buzz Lightyear (we walked on) and had a blast! We emailed our pic to some friends and then decided to be daring and try Star Tours. We had maybe a 5 min wait. The boys LOVED it. I have one that is infatuated with Space. We exited and caught up with my Mom (she had been on a hunt for coffee) and I tried to convice my DH to get FP for Autopia as EE had ended… he wasn’t sold on the idea… he didn’t want to split the group up and said the lines were not bad and wanted to head on to POC… so why argue? Off we went. My DH and the boys rode Astro Orbitors one more time and then we were off… we had maybe a 3 min wait for POC. One of my DS was hesitant to get in because it seemed dark… but a nice family helped me coax him in (a little pixie dust!) This was my Mom’s first ride and everyone enjoyed it. By this time we need a break and decide to take a ride around the park on the train. We had a snack as we waited for the train (more snacks from the CL) Next was Splash Mountain…we had maybe a 15 minute wait… the lines were starting to get longer. To my surprise my Mom got on the ride with us. What a blast!!! We went and tried to grab some FP for BTMRR but it was down… so the FP machines were down as well. Next was a ride on the steam boat Columbia… my boys were so excited!!! By this point it was hot… we were tired and hungry. So we finally grabbed some FP for Autotopia and headed on the monorail for DTD. We had lunch at the ESPN Zone and then headed to the room for a nap. We all crashed for a good 2.5 hours!!!!To Be Cont'd - (Don't worry it gets less verbose!!)
In our room the kids found that "someone" had left them chocolates on thier bed... we told them it was because they had been good in the park that day which made them happy. The next nights we left a few dollars for nighttime housekeeping and we received extra chocolates with our turndown service... So quick baths and then bedtime. Channel 44 in the hotel was princess bedtime stories... the boys really enjoyed this. They would play a few cartoons and then a princess would come out and tell a story... I believe we saw Snow White and Belle tel thier stories... it was a nice way to fall asleep.
from the CL for your wait for EE. I might have to think about checking on concierge for our trip!! 
