May 2017 PTR

I have the day off of work today and the kids have the next 2 days off of school so we went shoe shopping. Got ODD a new pair of shoes and holy cow, her feet have grown a whole size! She fits into a women's size 8 now! :scared1: I got a pair of Sketchers Go Walks on clearance. I am so thrilled because normally I NEVER can find decent shoes on sale in my size.

Now I know why everybody raves about these shoes. Holy cow...SO COMFORTABLE!
 
I love the Go Walks. So comfy. Got for first pair before our Disney World vacation and they worked great.
Sounds like you're quite organized.
 
Things have been quiet this past week in terms of trip planning. Lots of other regular life stuff going on! My sister has been in town this weekend visiting, so we've been having a time time hanging out with her. Got the kids new flip flops for the summer, so that will come in handy for visits to Hojo's pool! It's hard to believe that there's only 3 months left to the kids' school year!
 
Ventured over to REI today with ODD and picked up this Witz waterproof container which I have attached to my lanyard! It has its own lanyard that comes with it, but I'm swapping it out for my own instead. Now I won't run the risk of losing any tickets or FP!

Here it is on its own:
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Here it is attached to my DL lanyard. I've put a DL ticket in it so you can see what size it is. IMG_0363.JPG
 


It's a good thing I bought these Sketcher Go Walk shoes ahead of time to try them out because after wearing them for a week or so now, I don't think I'll be able to use these for tromping through the parks all day. My toes keep getting rammed against the end of the shoe and my right foot keeps rolling over to the outer right side of the shoe...and that is SUPER annoying! Plus, I can't really put an insert into these shoes because then my feet won't fit in them (i.e., the insoles that come with the shoe can't be removed).
 
DH is out of town again for work, so it of course has also been busy at home as well. We ran some Disneyland prep errands today. Went to Kohl's and got myself 2 pairs of pants (50% off!). Got YDD a cute hooded tshirt which is big enough to probably last her through spring or summer of NEXT year. Yay! ODD got a pair of capri yoga pants in a neat color. Then we went to the grocery store to get some groceries and these odds and ends for Disneyland....

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  • 2 glow sticks
  • 2 glow necklaces (so I need to get 8 more because I want to have enough for each kid to have 1 for each evening we're at Disneyland.
  • 2 hand sanitizers that you can attach to a bag or purse - 1 for me, 1 for the kids' park bag
  • 1 small purse pack of tissues
  • facial soap for ODD
  • travel pack of Clorox wipes - to clean off stuff in the hotel room like the telephone and TV remote...things that housekeeping can sometimes forget to disinfect. Healthy family = happy vacation!
Our trip isn't for 2 1/2 more months but I buy stuff like this a little bit at a time so that I don't have to break the bank right before the trip with all sorts of odds and ends!
 


:banana: <--- this is me this afternoon purchasing 1 of our 5-day park hopper tickets today.

I also ordered these today! I'll have plenty of time to break them in. Happy feet = happy Disney vacation!:laughing:
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Aren't OluKai's the BEST shoes? I have a bit of plantar fasciitis from time to time, so I wear OluKai flip flops instead of going barefoot around the house. They have the best support without being hideous. I have a pair of slip-ons similar to these ones as well, but they're structured a bit differently. How are you liking them so far?
 
So far the shoes are really comfortable!

Friends of ours were visiting recently from out of town and they discovered that the local Walmart has mini Froggs Toggs chill pad towels for $2! I really like the size of these much better than the regular ones so I bought one to put in my park bag.

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So it looks like for our trip, I still need to buy:
  • a new pair of Olukai flip flops for me
  • a better pair of sneakers for ODD. We recently got her a pair of Vans and I succumbed to the "But Mama, they're so pretty!" and now she's complaining that the balls of her feet are sore at the end of the school day. Hm....that's not going to work for walking in Disneyland all day long! Back to the store we will go next month to buy new shoes again. :rotfl2:Sometimes us parents have to learn the hard way!
  • new pair of sneakers for YDD.
  • new contact lenses for me. My old prescription ran out and I need new lenses! Life has gotten in the way for the past couple of months.
 
More Disneyland prepping!

I dug out of the closet in the kids' bedroom an old backpack that YDD used for school a couple of years ago. This is going to be the kids' park bag. Mommy is going to make them haul their own stuff this time! YAY!!!!

So far, for the kids' park bag, we have:
  • hand sanitizer - which I have (after this photo was taken) attached to the handle strap thingy on the top of the backpack
  • a couple of fans - instead of misters, I'm going with these. Bought them at Christmas time at Cost Plus Imports. They were about $3 each, I think. Sshh - Mommy has stolen 1 of them for her park bag. I'll post a different pic in a bit that shows how big the fans are.
  • small coin purse - for the kids' spending money/gift cards
  • ODD's Moana sketch book. Still need to buy 1 for YDD. This is where drawings will go and this is where characters will sign.
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Here is what the fans look like all opened up. I put my water bottle next to it for perspective. The water bottle is about 10" tall.

OPEN:
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CLOSED:
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I think that I must have been living under a rock lately because a coworker introduced me yesterday to these Hydroflask water bottles. And OMG these things are so great! Coworker has left his in his car all day in the blazing hot sun and when he discovered it later on, the water inside was STILL COLD!

So I bought one today. Total splurge since it was $29.95. Yikes! Now my kids both want one. LOL.

Anyway, here it is in all it's glory. The outdoorsy store I got it from had a whole wall of them in all different sizes and colors! I got one with the flip top lid. They had some with screw on/off tops but I would get annoyed with that after awhile. It doesn't weigh that much when it's full of liquid and I put it in my park bag to see how it would feel when I'm carrying it around with that park bag hanging off my shoulder and it'll do just fine.

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Holy cow, the water bottle really does what the product reviews and advertisements say it does! I filled it up with ice water yesterday evening and this morning THERE IS STILL ICE IN THE WATER! :yay: Pretty amazing.

I've revamped out daily general plan a bit in terms of meals since friends will be with us at DL on Wed 5/31 and Thurs 6/1. And our friends are getting 1 park per day tickets. They live about an hour's drive away from DL.

Dining reservations I will need to make:
  • Tues 5/30 - lunch at Ariel's Grotto. ODD really wants to do this for her birthday meal. I'm not a fan of Ariel's Grotto, but I'm going to just go along with this once for this trip. :-) I had previously told ODD no, so ODD is going to be surprised & excited about this.
  • Wed 5/31 - dinner at Blue Bayou with the MSEP dining package. Our friends have never been to the Blue Bayou!
  • Thurs 6/1 - WoC dessert party. We're going to treat our friends to this. They don't know about this. It's going to be a surprise!
  • Fri 6/2 - breakfast with Minnie & friends at Plaza In.. This is YDD's selection for her birthday meal.
  • Sat 6/3 - dinner at Cafe Orleans so DH & I can have 1 of those yummy fried green tomato sandwiches.
I'm disappointed a bit, but we've decided to pass on the idea of staying 1 night at DLH or GCH and renting a cabana. By passing up on that, all 6 of us can do the World of Color dessert party! There's no other way that our friends would be able to enjoy that show because 1 of them was in a bad car accident several years ago and had to have his ankle completely put back together...he has a ton of screws and pins in his ankle and because of that, standing for long periods of time is really painful.
 
So.....

My theme-park-hating sister has decided that she wants to go to the DCA Food & Wine Festival next year. YAY! :cheer2: I did the math and figured out that it will actually cost me less in tickets to get an AP. Here's the cost break down:

Tickets only:
5-day park hopper ticket = $350 for an adult
3-day park hopper ticket = $315 for an adult
Total = $665

Deluxe AP = $619
Savings of $46.

That's even before being able to use a 10% off discount on dining for the 2018 trip! If I do this, I'd probably just get an AP for myself. DH isn't sure if he'd go with us on the 2018 trip because he might be a little Disney'd out after this trip.

However, if I can scrounge up an extra $822 by day 5 of this trip, then I could upgrade both my ticket and the kids' tickets and end up saving $111 on the tickets/admission price for our 2018 trip. This is a tall order, though. It's much more realistic that I can come up with the $269 that I'd need to upgrade just my ticket.

Since the last day of our visit this vacation is on a Saturday and we'll be going into the parks on Saturday, I wouldn't be able to upgrade our tickets until the last day of the trip...meaning that we won't be able to use the AP discount on food & purchases until the last day. I'm ok with that because I'll still save $46 on my tickets for the NEXT trip by doing this.

I ALSO thought about switching our park days around so we'd be in DL on Memorial Day. But the thought of being in Disneyland ON a major holiday has me wanting to run to the hills because of crowds, so I think that we will pass on that option.

Besides, if we went to DL on Memorial Day, then we'd miss out on having a Memorial Day BBQ with our friends in So Cal!
 
Dining reservations are starting to open up for our dates! :cheer2: Just made a reservation for Ariel's Grotto at 1:10 pm for Tues 5/30. ODD is going to be surprised!
 
Well, YDD saw the Ariel's Grotto reservation on the computer screen and just blabbed the news to ODD. Serves me right for having the Disneyland website up on the screen! :rolleyes1

Just made a Blue Bayou reservation for the 6 of us for lunch on Wed 5/31 at 11:30 am. 2 friends who live about an hour away are joining us in the park that day and they've never eaten at the Blue Bayou! Originally, I was going to go for the MSEP dining package there, but our friends are trying to minimize costs, so skipping the dining package and just doing a regular meal there will save them (and us!) ~$20/person.

Plus, this gives us the best odds for getting a water side table if we get there around 11:15 to the hostess' desk at the restaurant.

I don't have any dining reservations planned for Thursday, which will be primarily a DCA day. Hoping to do World of Color dessert party.
 
So one of my kids snagged my fan as her own! Off to Cost Plud we went earlier today. I picked up this one for my "in the park bag" and bought one for our friends who will be joining us on Wed 5/31 and Thurs 6/1. The toothbrush is there to give you an idea of the size.


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Apparently I can't spell. It's Cost Plus, not Cost Plud. :rotfl2:

I've got 2 more ADRs booked!
  • Wed 5/31 - lunch at the Blue Bayou for us and our 2 friends. Decided to skip the expensive dinner package to save $20/person. This will allow us to have a good chance of getting a water side table since I got the first lunch seating of the day!
  • Fri 6/2 - breakfast with Minnie & friends at the Plaza Inn at 10:00 am. This is YDD's b-day meal. The girls and I are hoping that we can meet Max when we are there because we missed him on our last trip. We're going to be at the parks for rope drop, so by 10:00 am, we will be ready for a break!
No dining reservations booked for Thursday. Just going to do CS for lunch and dinner that day. If I can save up the extra $$, we might do the World of Color dessert party that night.

Tomorrow, I'm going to book either lunch or dinner at Cafe Orleans for our last day at Disneyland. DH and I want to have 1 of those yummy fried green tomato sandwiches!
 
Just booked our last dining reservation! So here's how our revised itinerary looks so far:

  • Sat 5/27 - travel day! Overnight in San Diego.
  • Sun 5/28 - visit the California Sciences Center & LA Natural History Museum w/SIL, BIL & their 2 kids. Overnight in San Diego.
  • Mon 5/29 - Sleep in, let kids play w/their cousins. Maybe go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Drive up to Fontana mid-afternoon (I'm thinking around 3 pm). Memorial Day BBQ w/our friends in Fontana in the evening. Try to get kids early to bed!
  • Tues 5/30 - Leave Fontana ~ 9 am. Arrive DL ~ 10 am. Check into Hojo's and head to the parks! Lunch at Ariel's Grotto at 1:10 pm for ODD's birthday. Hope to catch the Main Street Electrical Parade & fireworks this evening.
  • Wed 5/31 - rope drop! Friends are meeting up with us & they will have 1 park/day tickets, so we are doing DL on Wed. Lunch reservations at 11:30 am at Blue Bayou. CS for dinner somewhere.
  • Thurs 6/1 - use EMH @ DL. Our friends will be joining us at the parks this day as well, but Thurs is their DCA day. They probably won't arrive until 10:30-ish, so we are going to spend the first couple of hours at DL and then switch over to DCA when our friends arrive. No dining reservations for this day. We'll just do CS restaurants since there are a lot of good CS options at DCA! Maybe watch World of Color today.
  • Fri 6/2 - hopefully another rope drop day, but as the week progresses, I think that our chances of this happening will be lower than earlier in the week! Late breakfast at the Plaza Inn at 10:00 am for YDD's birthday & dinner at the Hungry Bear. Watch MSEP again in the evening!
  • Sat 6/3 - Last day at DL! :sad: Check out of Hojo's by 12 pm. Lunch at Cafe Orleans at 12:30 pm. Move car out of Hojo's lot by 3 pm. Overnight in Fontana w/friends.
  • Sun 6/4 - breakfast w/friends, then hit the road to go back home:car:
 

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