Former AP holders going through Disney withdrawals...a pre-trip report (with pics!)

[JaneJetson]

And here's an older picture of us at Disneyland in February 2006...

That's all for now. I'll start the actual pre-trip report soon. Oh, and just a warning, I love photos so I'll probably post a lot of them. Sorry they are so big.

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I decided to make an index for people that don't care to read all of the non-trip stuff. All trip related posts have green text.

INDEX

Pre-trip Planning
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26762039&postcount=1 - Introduction
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26786885&postcount=9 - Choosing the date
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26791619&postcount=12 - Saving money on flights
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26840709&postcount=17 - Choosing a hotel
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26850661&postcount=24 - Two-day or Three-day hoppers?
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26899474&postcount=30 - Choosing flight times
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26942362&postcount=38 - Plans for Day One
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26959103&postcount=48 - Park ticket prices for 2009
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27076286&postcount=58 - Car rental and hotel info
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27201571&postcount=80 - More Day 1 Plans
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27314480&postcount=92 - Plane tickets (to use my miles or not to use my miles...that is the question.)
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27334442&postcount=98 - Quick rundown of trip plans. Deluxe APs?
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27438189&postcount=114 - Disneyland photos from March 2005
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27514249&postcount=128 - Disneyland Attractions - Part 1
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27534798&postcount=131 - Disneyland Attractions - Part 2
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27642397&postcount=155 - Disneyland Attractions - Part 3
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27659727&postcount=160 - Flight/Hotel/Car update
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27683840&postcount=163 - Disneyland Attractions - Part 4
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=27825566&postcount=180 - Park hours
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28000125&postcount=192 - Ride and restaurant closures
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28063627&postcount=197 - California Adventure Attractions - Part 1
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=28181119&postcount=209 - California Adventure Attractions - Part 2

 

[JaneJetson]

 

[reyasmommy]

YAY! Another pretrip report. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Disney owl]

great start

 

[JaneJetson]

 

[mommaU4]

And here's an older picture of us at Disneyland in February 2006...

I love this picture of you two! What a great couple you make.

Can't wait to read more.....

 

[JaneJetson]

YAY! Another pretrip report. Can't wait to hear more.

Thanks for joining my report

great start

Thank you!

I love this picture of you two! What a great couple you make.

Can't wait to read more.....

Thanks!

I'll probably add some more tomorrow. I'm off to bed now.

 

[JaneJetson]

 

[JaneJetson]

 

[mommaU4]

I was reading MommaU4's pre-trip report. Her family is going to Disneyland around halloween. Thinking of halloween reminded me of the pumpkins we carved a few years ago (2005) and our costumes that year.

I carved a pumpkin that looked like a skeleton (Graham, my husband, drew it for me and I carved it.)

Graham carved a pumpkin that looked like his own face. It was pretty funny.

We went to a halloween party that year so we dressed up. We were televangelists...sort of. I was originally going to try to look like Tammie Fae Baker but I decided to go a different way with it. We basically just look like a weird, old, church-going couple or something.

Hi! I LOVE the pumpkins!!! They are both great, but that one he did of his face came out so good. How the heck did he do that???

And that pic of the two of you in that costume had me busting up!! Why? Well because you will totally find couples who still look JUST LIKE THAT at the little church in Northern MI that I went to once.

Those pics of the castle are so pretty. January is a nice time to go. We were there last January and it was so empty. Most things we just walked right on, so I hope it's like that for you as well.

 

[JaneJetson]

Hi! I LOVE the pumpkins!!! They are both great, but that one he did of his face came out so good. How the heck did he do that???

And that pic of the two of you in that costume had me busting up!! Why? Well because you will totally find couples who still look JUST LIKE THAT at the little church in Northern MI that I went to once.

Those pics of the castle are so pretty. January is a nice time to go. We were there last January and it was so empty. Most things we just walked right on, so I hope it's like that for you as well.

We're hoping for little crowds as well. We aren't going until the end of the month so all of the New Years crowds will be long gone.

 

[JaneJetson]

I really should be cleaning right now but I'd much rather talk (type) about our upcoming trip...haha.

After we chose January....we picked Wednesday the 14th - Monday the 19th. But then I realized that the 19th is MLK Day which means the parks may be a bit crowded. So we pushed the dates back a week....the 21st - 26th.

As of right now, those are the dates we'll be going. Woohoo!

I started searching for hotel prices and flights and whatnot a couple weeks ago. The airline prices were still pretty high so that was not good. But then a light when on in my head.....I've been a United Mileage Plus member for a few years and I've never cashed in my miles for anything. I decided to head over to their website to see how many miles I have and what I could get for them.

I have around 66,000 miles. I found out that round trip tickets start at 25,000 miles. Hooray! I can afford two tickets! I think I only have to pay a $20 booking fee. I've never done this before so I hope I'm understanding it correctly. That would be awesome for our flight to only cost $20. We'll also have to pay for the new baggage fees. We'll more than likely each have one bag so it'll be $15 each. Basically our flights will be $50 total! That makes me very, very happy.

p.s. If this color, font, or size makes things difficult to read, let me know.

 

[reyasmommy]

I really should be cleaning right now but I'd much rather talk (type) about our upcoming trip...haha.

After we chose January....we picked Wednesday the 14th - Monday the 19th. But then I realized that the 19th is MLK Day which means the parks may be a bit crowded. So we pushed the dates back a week....the 21st - 26th.

As of right now, those are the dates we'll be going. Woohoo!

I started searching for hotel prices and flights and whatnot a couple weeks ago. The airline prices were still pretty high so that was not good. But then a light when on in my head.....I've been a United Mileage Plus member for a few years and I've never cashed in my miles for anything. I decided to head over to their website to see how many miles I have and what I could get for them.

I have around 66,000 miles. I found out that round trip tickets start at 25,000 miles. Hooray! I can afford two tickets! I think I only have to pay a $20 booking fee. I've never done this before so I hope I'm understanding it correctly. That would be awesome for our flight to only cost $20. We'll also have to pay for the new baggage fees. We'll more than likely each have one bag so it'll be $15 each. Basically our flights will be $50 total! That makes me very, very happy.

p.s. If this color, font, or size makes things difficult to read, let me know.

That's so great!! You're almost flying for free, can't beat that!

I worked for the airlines for 8 years before my DD was born. It was so nice to have free flight benefits. Unfortunately I didn't use them as often as I would have liked. Sure I could fly for free, but I needed money for where ever I decided to go. The best trips would be the day trips. We would go to Vegas for the day and fly back at night or go to the Mall of America to do some shopping then take the last flight back home. OHHH those were the days

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Those photos are great. I love the ones of the castle at Christmas time.

 

[mommaU4]

Great deal on the plane tickets! I love it when things work out like that. And I think it was smart thinking to move your dates back. We went one year on MLK and it was a zoo.

 

[JaneJetson]

That's so great!! You're almost flying for free, can't beat that!

I worked for the airlines for 8 years before my DD was born. It was so nice to have free flight benefits. Unfortunately I didn't use them as often as I would have liked. Sure I could fly for free, but I needed money for where ever I decided to go. The best trips would be the day trips. We would go to Vegas for the day and fly back at night or go to the Mall of America to do some shopping then take the last flight back home. OHHH those were the days

Yeah...I'm just hoping I'm doing everything right. I'll be sad if I have something wrong and I can't get the free flights.

Those photos are great. I love the ones of the castle at Christmas time.

Thanks!

Great deal on the plane tickets! I love it when things work out like that. And I think it was smart thinking to move your dates back. We went one year on MLK and it was a zoo.

We used to go on holiday's when we had AP's. It wasn't too bad if we didn't plan on going on many rides. We'd just hang out and people watch. But if you want to go on rides, it's no fun.

Oh, and New Years Eve is horrible. It was a big mistake going to that one year.

 

[JaneJetson]

 

[reyasmommy]

There was really no question about where we'd be staying. We stayed at the Anaheim Plaza for both trips last year. It's an older hotel but the rooms were clean and it was a 10-15 minute walk to the park. In August, last year it was insanely hot out side (108 degrees) so the walk to the park was pretty terrible. But using the pool in the middle of the day was nice. In November, it rained a bit so we drove to the parks. This time, we'll be walking for sure. It won't be hot out so that's good. Since we don't have AP's anymore, we don't want to have to pay for parking. I think it's $11 a day now. That would be $33. No thanks. We also like the Anaheim Plaza because they have a fridge and microwave. We go to target and get snacks and water and keep them in our room.

We are not picky with hotels. As long as they are clean, we don't really care about too much else. I do need it to be fairly quiet thouh. All hotel beds are pretty uncomfortable for us. We have a tempurpedic bed at home so we're spoiled. All other beds are terrible for us....haha.

I have a hard time spending a lot of money on a hotel room I'll barely be in. It would be cool to stay at an actual Disneyland hotel but I just don't think I could ever convince myself to spend that much. I always think to myself....with that money, I could stay an extra day or two in a cheaper hotel.

We did splurge a little on our hotel for WDW in January. As a kid we always stayed offsite or at a value resort. So I wanted to stay at a moderate resort. We paid quite a bit more but we loved our resort - Port Orleans Riverside. It was very quiet so we'd probably stay there again. I think it was $145 a night or something like that.

Anyway....we're staying at the Anaheim Plaza on our trip. It's about $69 a night. After taxes and whatnot, it comes to about $405. Not too shabby. I think we also have to pay $4 a day for parking (although last time at check-out I noticed they didn't charge us so I asked the girl at the front desk, "Don't we owe for parking?" She said, "No, you're fine" and smiled. I thought that was nice of her.)

I think the prices they want at the DL hotels are outrageous! We were able to stay at the DL hotel a few years ago because I got 1/2 off for being an airline employee, otherwise there is no way I would ever have had the chance.

When we go to WDW we usually stay on property at a moderate resort, but last year we decided to go another route. We ended up at a 3 bedroom/3 bath condo for around the same price we would pay at disney for a moderate. And this place was BEAUTIFUL!!! Plus they had maid service!! Most condos/time shares in Orlando don't have maid service.

 

[JaneJetson]

I think the prices they want at the DL hotels are outrageous! We were able to stay at the DL hotel a few years ago because I got 1/2 off for being an airline employee, otherwise there is no way I would ever have had the chance.

When we go to WDW we usually stay on property at a moderate resort, but last year we decided to go another route. We ended up at a 3 bedroom/3 bath condo for around the same price we would pay at disney for a moderate. And this place was BEAUTIFUL!!! Plus they had maid service!! Most condos/time shares in Orlando don't have maid service.

That would be cool. We stayed on property and didn't rent a car or anything since we only wanted to do Disney the whole time. We're hoping to go back in 2010 and we'll probably just do that again. But if we had a car, it would be cool to stay in a condo.

 

[mommaU4]

The Anaheim Plaza seems nice by looking at the pics on their website.

I'm with you, I cannot pay a lot for a hotel. I would if I was going someplace where that was my main destination and there was nothing else to do. In other words, if I was going to some tropical island and I wanted a nice resort to hang out at.

But at Disney? No way. I'm in the parks all day!! LOL We don't even do those afternoon naps the way some families do, so why would I spend a fortune on a hotel I'll barely see? If it's clean, then I'm good to go.