February 2015 - Our Son's First Visit

[ClaraOswald]

Day Nine - Wednesday, February 11th

So this is just our departure day but I thought I'd write about it anyway. Just to close up this report.

Henry woke up around 8:30. We had breakfast in the room. Then Henry played while we finished packing.

He was getting cranky so we put him in our bed and he fell asleep for a little bit. We had called and asked for a late check-out but no one told the maid and she walked in while Henry was sleeping. Thankfully she didn't wake him. But he still didn't sleep long, unfortunately.

At 12:30 we checked out and went next door to Denny's.

We had hoped if we drove around for a bit before going to the airport that Henry would nap some more in the car. No luck. So we just got some gas and went to the airport. Got there around 2pm. Henry and I hung out while G returned our rental car. He seemed tired...

We gave him a little snack. And then G chased him around the airport for a bit. We boarded around 3:30pm. The flight to Vegas was only an hour long but Henry was already cranky. Bad sign. Once in Vegas, we found a place to get food. We had gross tasting over-priced pizza and Henry had pasta, which he barely ate (also over-priced.) Our flight to Omaha was 2 hours and 40 minutes or so. This was before take-off...

Henry was in a pretty awful mood for most of it. He was happy when he was able to play with the cards and magazines in the seat pockets. He didn't want to be in his car seat at all so that sucked. Then towards the end of the flight, it got bumpy. In his seat, he would be safest. But he was screaming bloody murder. So G ended up holding him. It was really horrible. The pilot had even come over the intercom to tell us it would be very bumpy. He certainly wasn't lying. I was so happy when we landed safely at 11:15pm.

While on the flight, the flight attendant could tell I was not feeling the greatest with the bumps. She asked if I wanted ginger ale. I told her my stomach was fine. I just hated flying. When she saw me after we landed, back in the airport, she said "I bet you just loved that landing!" I told her the landing was fine...but the 10 minutes before was horrible.

We got our bags. Then Henry and I just had to hang out while G went to get the car. Henry was content to look at his little photo album.

G had to 'park' the car a million miles away. It was really cold and windy. Henry was not a fan. We were finally on our way home at 12:15am. We stopped at the grocery store so G could run in for some milk. Henry was still wide awake. I thought for sure he'd zonk out on the 30 minute drive but I guess not.

We got home at 1am. Henry ran right over to his toys to play. Such a stinker.

We gave him a bottle and then he went to sleep around 1:30am. Such a long day.

NOTES FOR NEXT TIME....(These are things I wrote in my notebook throughout the trip....)

Pack more comfortable clothes for lounging around the hotel room.
Pack more clothes, in general. That way I can change if it's hot out and I get sweaty.
Remember to bring plenty of toys and book for Henry. Plus tub toys.
Download movies or t.v. shows and make sure we can hook them up to the t.v.
Bring wash cloth from home for Henry's baths.
Buy a LOT of Clorox wipes for the park.
Buy a LOT of hand/face wipes for the park. (Yellow Johnson and Johnson ones are the best.)
Buy a lot of water at Target. At least 24 small bottles.
If we are still using diapers...bring Arm and Hammer small trash bags for the room.
Put money on Disney gift cards for souvenirs so we don't overspend.
Set clean clothes out at home for the day we get home. Especially pajamas if it will be late.
Travel days, leave early. Leaving California at 4pm made for a very cranky Henry all the way home.

And that's that! Over a year later and I finally finished. Ha! Now...back to my 2017 pre-trip thread!

 

[TigerLily15]

Thanks for the trip report! We will be heading to DL for the first time this year with a little one so was nice to hear about your experiences!

 

[ClaraOswald]

Thanks for the trip report! We will be heading to DL for the first time this year with a little one so was nice to hear about your experiences!

How old will your little one be? When are you going?

 

[TigerLily15]

How old will your little one be? When are you going?

We will be going in March and our little one will be 1.5. We've never been to DL, just WDW.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I hope you have a great time. We love both Disneyland and WDW. They are quite different but still really fun. We haven't taken our son to WDW yet. We've been waiting until he's a bit older since it's a much bigger vacation. We are thinking about going in 2019 when he'll be about 5 and a half. Disneyland really wasn't super difficult with a 1.5 year old. Other than ours wasn't great at walking yet so that made it a bit tricky at times. I actually think our upcoming trip with a 3.5 year old is going to be harder.

 

[Frozen2014]

Love your report from 2015. Amazing trip. Your son is sooo adorable. What precious pictures you have with him and the characters.

Can I ask what you thought of the parlour suite at Desert Inn? That's the place and room type we have booked for our summer trip.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I really liked the parlor suite. I mean, the hotel is NOT fancy or anything. It's older and maybe a bit run down. But it was clean enough for us. I liked having the extra space in the suite. It's obviously not as big as a true suite though. The front room is fairly small. I took some crappy photos on our last day....

This is the front room....it had a small pull out couch, a coffee table, t.v., and the t.v. stand had a couple drawers in it.





Our son slept in a pack in play in the front room so we never did pull the couch out....(The light came in a lot through the bottom of the door, that's why the towel is there.) Plus, you could hear the house keeping cart pretty loudly which woke our son up. There is no AC in this room but there is a little fan in the wall. We were there in February so it wasn't that hot out. I am hoping it doesn't get too hot in here in June.



This is the main room. It had two queen beds. In the back corner you can see the sink area for the bathroom. I wish there was more counter space but we survived. Having the refrigerator and microwave was nice.





This is the rest of the room (door to the left goes to the front room.)



Really the only complaint I have is that the bed wasn't very comfortable. But I rarely think hotel beds are anyway. For the price and proximity to the park...I am happy with it as a hotel choice. We plan to stay here again this summer.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thanks for responding about the parlour suite and adding the pictures. Funny how the room looks so much bigger (longer) on the website. Your one comment scared me as you said you had no AC. We're going in August so that's a deal breaker (and likewise, June would be an issue too). After your post I looked up the hotel again and it does mention air conditioning. Did you just have a one off room? I also saw comments on trip advisor about the air conditioning (some good, some bad...but mentioning it was there) .
I hear you about the beds...they are not often super comfy and will cheap out on mattresses...especially smaller places.

Hope you'll do a report of your June trip. Would love to read it.

 

[ClaraOswald]

There is wall AC in the back of the larger room. You can see it back under the window in the photos. There is no AC unit in the smaller front room with the couch. I can't remember if we used the AC during our February trip or not. I remember wearing shorts so maybe it was warm enough to use it. We are hoping our son will sleep in the front room again but if it's hot we may have to quietly open the door in the middle of the night.

Oh yeah...the door between the rooms was super creaky last time so my husband actually went and got WD-40 to oil it...haha! When we go to hotels, we basically move in.

I will definitely be doing another trip report after our trip.

 

[Frozen2014]

Hmm..ok. Thanks for explaining. We booked the parlour suite so we could have two rooms, thinking that our kids will use the pull out sofa. If no AC in that room, then may be an issue. We do have the additional queen but really the suite doesn't get us much. Guess we'll have to see.
Yikes...you had to do your own repairs. :-( Should we second guess Desert Inn? Then again, if you're staying there again then you must have been ok with it.

Looking forward to your next report.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I suppose we all have different standards. To me, putting a little oil on a squeaky door isn't a "repair." I'm sure we could have asked the hotel to do it for us. But we are DIY kind of people, I guess. Most likely wouldn't have been bothered by the door.

If you are a bit pickier with hotels than maybe the Desert Inn wouldn't be the best choice. I'm sure others on the board can suggest nicer places with suites. I've only ever stayed at the cheaper places though. I feel like so many hotels in the areas are just a little too overpriced for our budget.

How old are your kids? If they older, you might want to find a true suite to get some more space.

 

[Frozen2014]

I suppose we all have different standards. To me, putting a little oil on a squeaky door isn't a "repair." I'm sure we could have asked the hotel to do it for us. But we are DIY kind of people, I guess. Most likely wouldn't have been bothered by the door.

If you are a bit pickier with hotels than maybe the Desert Inn wouldn't be the best choice. I'm sure others on the board can suggest nicer places with suites. I've only ever stayed at the cheaper places though. I feel like so many hotels in the areas are just a little too overpriced for our budget.

How old are your kids? If they older, you might want to find a true suite to get some more space.

We're actually pretty easy going with hotels and have stayed in places like Red Roof Inn. But if the room is warm, then that's an issue. We like the cost since we're mixing Disney with LA so overall we need to watch our budget as it adds up.

Our kids will be 12 and 8 when we travel. The parlour suite has 2 queens and 1 sofa bed so technically each child can have a bed, but they often share when in a hotel so not a big deal. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Yeah, 12 and 8 would be fine in that size room I think. I am really hoping AC isn't an issue for us since I can't stand being too hot. I'm sure it will be enough for the main room at least though so if we have to, we can move our son into the extra bed. I guess we'll see. I can report back in June but by then it would probably be too late for you to change hotels.

 

[Frozen2014]

Yeah, at least if there is AC in one room, you can easily move your son. We're going end of August so not too late to hear your experience. Thanks.