mousehappync
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2013
Welcome! I'm getting so excited about our upcoming trips that I thought a pre-trip report might help me blow off a little Disney steam! We are frequent WDW visitors, but have never been to Disneyland (or to California at all, for that matter!) I hope you'll read along as I plan out three days in Disneyland (and five more in the San Diego area!) and a GLORIOUS eight days at WDW in January, with a pretty epic (and unintentional!) triple split stay (Poly, Bay Lake Towers and Yacht Club!)
Who are we?
We are these people! (At least, we were these people. This picture is from 2014! Family shots are not our strong suit.)
I'm Melissa, the Disney-Planner-In-Chief, ADR-spread-sheet-loving, resort-hopping, trip-justifying, Disney Math Expert in our family. When I'm not planning a Disney trip, I own an antiques business, run the huge vegetable garden at my kids' school and volunteer a lot in our community.
Here's my husband-- he's one of those people who claims he doesn't love Disney, but he has A LOT of fun once he's actually there. I wish we had audio for this picture-- it was absolutely hilarious. Spoiler Alert-- he wasn't the King of Fantasyland that day!
And our boys! They've grown up on Disney, and they love to help me plan. They enjoy EVERYTHING-- except meeting characters! I'd give them cute little nicknames to protect their identity on the interwebs, but-- we're Southern. I monogram everything. And Disney is one of the few places they will still let me indulge matched, monogrammed outfits. So-- meet Grady (almost 10) and John-Harper (almost 8). That's a double name, for you folks above the Mason Dixon, but he mostly goes by JH. They like fast rides, Duffy the bear, Breakfast Dessert (which is a thing at Disney) hotel pools, and the special effects at Trader Sam's, pretty much in that order. And pin collecting--not so much trading.
That's the who, now for the Where and Why!
Where:
Disneyland (and So Cal) In November. Staying at the Grand Californian with three-day Park Hoppers and not one, single ADR. (The WDW planning freak inside me just died a little bit inside!) We are going on very low-crowd days, and are planning to make some last minute reservations at Carnation Cafe and maybe a couple others, but we decided to skip dining packages, character meals and signature dining this trip, since it will just be me and the boys (husband has a conference), so we are mostly winging it. We are spending the rest of our trip at the Coranado in San Diego, which I am VERY excited about!
WDW: January, 2017. Triple split stay-- arrival night at the Poly, two nights in a BLT Studio (that I sort-of accidently rented on points) and four nights at the Yacht Club. We are pretty equal lovers of the Poly and the Beach Club, and didn't particularly love our one YC experience, but the discounts this year for BC were just not that great, so YC it is! Soooooo many ADR's. So many. No dining plan, so we will eat my favorite way-- multiple shared apps/small plates/salads at as many restaurants as we can fit in! Eight-day Park Hoppers.
Why? Because we love Disney! Why else?!
I hope you'll read along!
CHAPTER LINKS
OUR DISNEY HISTORY, Part 1
Who are we?
We are these people! (At least, we were these people. This picture is from 2014! Family shots are not our strong suit.)
I'm Melissa, the Disney-Planner-In-Chief, ADR-spread-sheet-loving, resort-hopping, trip-justifying, Disney Math Expert in our family. When I'm not planning a Disney trip, I own an antiques business, run the huge vegetable garden at my kids' school and volunteer a lot in our community.
Here's my husband-- he's one of those people who claims he doesn't love Disney, but he has A LOT of fun once he's actually there. I wish we had audio for this picture-- it was absolutely hilarious. Spoiler Alert-- he wasn't the King of Fantasyland that day!
And our boys! They've grown up on Disney, and they love to help me plan. They enjoy EVERYTHING-- except meeting characters! I'd give them cute little nicknames to protect their identity on the interwebs, but-- we're Southern. I monogram everything. And Disney is one of the few places they will still let me indulge matched, monogrammed outfits. So-- meet Grady (almost 10) and John-Harper (almost 8). That's a double name, for you folks above the Mason Dixon, but he mostly goes by JH. They like fast rides, Duffy the bear, Breakfast Dessert (which is a thing at Disney) hotel pools, and the special effects at Trader Sam's, pretty much in that order. And pin collecting--not so much trading.
That's the who, now for the Where and Why!
Where:
Disneyland (and So Cal) In November. Staying at the Grand Californian with three-day Park Hoppers and not one, single ADR. (The WDW planning freak inside me just died a little bit inside!) We are going on very low-crowd days, and are planning to make some last minute reservations at Carnation Cafe and maybe a couple others, but we decided to skip dining packages, character meals and signature dining this trip, since it will just be me and the boys (husband has a conference), so we are mostly winging it. We are spending the rest of our trip at the Coranado in San Diego, which I am VERY excited about!
WDW: January, 2017. Triple split stay-- arrival night at the Poly, two nights in a BLT Studio (that I sort-of accidently rented on points) and four nights at the Yacht Club. We are pretty equal lovers of the Poly and the Beach Club, and didn't particularly love our one YC experience, but the discounts this year for BC were just not that great, so YC it is! Soooooo many ADR's. So many. No dining plan, so we will eat my favorite way-- multiple shared apps/small plates/salads at as many restaurants as we can fit in! Eight-day Park Hoppers.
Why? Because we love Disney! Why else?!
I hope you'll read along!
CHAPTER LINKS
OUR DISNEY HISTORY, Part 1
Last edited: