May 2017 PTR

And in case anybody is interested, here's what Ridemax came up with for Saturday, 6/3:

Saturday, 6/3, is ODD's birthday celebration day.
It's also "check out of Hojo's day."
It's also "last day at DL day!" :sad:

7:00 am -- pack up, formally check out of Hojo's, store luggage @ front desk
7:20 am -- arrive @ DCA main gate
8:05 am -- RSR
8:27 am -- Mater's
8:41 am -- Luigi's
NOW HOP OVER TO DL!
9:20 am --
runner gets FP for Buzz. Rest of group goes on Snow White
9:36 am -- everybody goes on Mr Toad
9:54 am -- runner walks to Splash Mtn. Rest of group goes on Pinocchio.
10:04 am -- runner gets Splash Mtn FP.
10:21 am -- everybody goes on It's A Small World.
10:59 am -- go on Buzz using FP
11:19 am -- Haunted Mansion
11:50 am -- go on Splash Mtn using FP
12:15 pm -- send runner to get Star Tours FP. Make sure kids go to the bathroom.
12:25 pm -- runner gets Star Tours FP.
NOW EVERYBODY HOPS TO DCA FOR LUNCH
1:00 pm --
lunch at Ariel's Grotto
2:30 pm -- 1 adult leaves the park to walk back to Hojo's & move car to a DL lot. Other adult stays w/kids in DCA, takes them to Animation Academy a couple of times, take pics, shopping.
FREE TIME
5:39 pm --
runner gets BTMRR FP
DINNER
6:46 pm --
go on Star Tours using FP
7:13 pm -- go on BTMRR using FP
7:25 pm -- go on POTC
8:00 pm -- go on Jungle Cruise
Then say our good byes to DL, get car out of DL lot, pick up luggage from Hojo's, drive to Fontana, crash at our friends' house overnight.
 
Total attraction counts so far for Wed-Sat:

Wed --> 16 (I'm including MSEP as 1)
Thurs --> 13
Fri --> 10
Sat --> 14
 
Tuesday 5/30 is a lot more relaxed. Wed & Thurs are jam packed since our friends don't go to DL hardly EVER and they want to get as much in as possible.

Here's what I have for Tuesday:
  • 8:00 am -- pack up the car. Friend #1 will have left for work already by this time.
  • 8:30 am -- say goodbye to Friend #2 (Friend #2 is the one who's blind) & hit the road.
  • 10:00 am -- arrive at Hojo's. Check in, store luggage at front desk, then walk to parks.
  • 10:30 am -- arrive @ DCA main gate. 1 adult gets RSR FP while the other adult takes kids to meet Oswald or say hi to the Buena Vista Street folks (like Officer Blue).
  • NOW HOP TO DL
  • ~10:45-11:00-ish -- satisfy Mommy's need to go to the Tiki Room once during our vacation.
  • 11:15 am -- Tarzan's Treehouse
  • Then take a Main Street vehicle down to Town Square.
  • Eat at some CS place for lunch. Kids will be hungry by 11:30-ish.
  • 12:30 pm -- runner hops over to DCA w/all of our tickets to get Toy Story FP.
  • FREE TIME -- unpack at the hotel, nap, swim. Or unpack, swim, nap.
  • DINNER -- no plans yet. I'm thinking we should do Cafe Orleans for dinner.
  • 6:53 pm -- Pirates of the Caribbean
  • 7:34 pm -- Haunted Mansion
  • 8:00 pm -- get a spot near Town Square (if possible) for 8:45 pm performance of Main Street Electrical Parade. Send 1 adult to the ice cream shop on Main Street for ice creams for kids. Kids snack while we wait.
  • 8:45-9:15 pm-ish -- Main Street Electrical Parade.
  • 9:30 pm -- maybe hang out a tad to watch fireworks from Town Square?
  • NOW HOP TO DCA TO USE RSR FP BEFORE DCA CLOSES AT 10PM. Goal is to be in line by 9:50 pm.
 
Yesterday, ODD did her presentation in English class on Walt Disney. She dressed up as Minnie Mouse and had to bring visual aids or props, so I let her use 3 of our Disneyland attractions posters that we have at home (you know, the ones that came in a calendar a couple of years ago). It was a big hit! She got 30 out of 30 points on the presentation, so 100%! She practiced it at home a few times the night before.

As of this Saturday, it will be 2 weeks before we leave for our trip!
 


Thanks for sharing your plans! I am trying to plan our two days (6/1 and 6/2) and I think you've convinced me to try out RideMax. I've come up with an itinerary myself but I'm going off of a lot of guesswork.

You definitely have a fun trip planned! Seeing your planning process has helped me quite a bit :)
 
I called Hojo's to update the credit card for our reservation. So we are all set! I'm looking forward to staying there & our kids are looking forward to some pool time. Now I need to start focusing on stuff that needs to get attended to at home before we leave! stuff like....

- put in a request at the post office to have our mail held while we are out of town
- clean & put clutter away....I really hate coming home to a messy house
 
Thanks for sharing your plans! I am trying to plan our two days (6/1 and 6/2) and I think you've convinced me to try out RideMax. I've come up with an itinerary myself but I'm going off of a lot of guesswork.

You definitely have a fun trip planned! Seeing your planning process has helped me quite a bit :)

I really love RideMax. We've used it a few times now. We definitely do not stick to the RideMax plan to the letter and often deviate from it each day because things usually change in terms of what we want to ride that afternoon or evening, for example. But for the most part, we usually stick to the itinerary for the first part of the day and definitely for the first 2 hours after the park opens.
 


OMG, I AM SO EXCITED!!! The skirts that I ordered from Damsel Duds (now known as Damsel Designed) arrived in the mail today. They're PERFECT! ODD got a pink skirt with blue sash. YDD got a green skirt with purple sash. They fit perfectly and are well made. Totally worth it. The girls can't wait to wear them in the parks!

2 weeks and 3 days until we're in Disneyland.

Here's their Etsy shop in case anyone is interested --> https://www.etsy.com/shop/DamselDesigned
 
After today, we are looking at 12 days until departure! This may sound weird, but right now, it seems so close yet so far away all at the same time. It probably seems super far away because there's a lot going on before the end of the school year...plus I have other stuff to do still:

  • Mon-Wed this week: ODD had field trips
  • Thurs this week: ODD cleans out her locker at school
  • Fri this week: ODD & YDD's project week starts at school.
  • Mon-Thurs next week: project week continues @ the kids' schools.
  • Thurs - YDD cleans out her cubby @ school, brings everything home.
  • Fri - last day of school! Award ceremonies for both kids at 2 different schools at 10:15 am. No after school program on the last day, so ODD has to be picked up at 11:15 am and YDD's pick up time is 11:45 am. Drive home w/both kids, I telecommute rest of the day, we finish packing. Take kids to swim practice that evening.
  • Sat 5/27 - Departure day!
For departure day, I would LOVE to be on the road by 6:30 am so we can avoid having to drive through the desert during the hottest part of the day. But realistically, I don't know if that is very realistic. I don't know if I can get DH to wake up that early on a day off! :laughing: I also thought about us leaving on Friday evening and spending the night at about the halfway point in Yuma, AZ. But I'm cheap and I don't want to spend more money than we have to. :rotfl:Plus, knowing my DH, he is going to end up working late-ish on Friday because he's going to try to wrap up a bunch of stuff before he leaves on vacation.
 
Our plans have officially changed for Monday, 5/30.

No Cafe Orleans for dinner. And we're not doing Ariel's Grotto for lunch. It's going to be cheap CS for dinner that day....because....

WE ARE HAVING LUNCH AT CLUB 33!!!!!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG I AM SO EXCITED I JUST CAN'T STAND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Ok, our overall meal plans have changed because of the Club 33 reservation. Here's what's on the tentative itinerary now:

Tues 5/30:
  • 12:00 pm lunch at Club 33
  • dinner at McDonald's - yes, at the Golden Arches. Because our spare change is going to Club 33 for lunch & souvenirs instead! We'll stop at McD's on our way back to the parks after our break. Plus, Tuesday is a Grad Night. I know that DH and I won't want to battle the high school student mobs at CS restaurants. I also know that the Grad Night students aren't allowed to leave the parks. Plus, this will give us down time for a nap, TV, and a swim at the hotel pool.

Wed 5/31:
  • 11:30 am lunch at the Blue Bayou w/friends. DH & I plan on splitting the Monte Cristo sandwich
  • dinner at Hungry Bear w/friends (~$50)
Thurs 6/1:
  • lunch at Flo's V-8 Cafe w/friends (~$50)
  • dinner at Paradise Garden Grill w/friends (~$50)
Fri 6/2:
ODD's birthday celebration day
  • 12:40 pm lunch at Ariel's Grotto. I can't believe that we're actually going there again to pay those astronomical prices for the food, but ODD really wants the princess character meal for her 11th birthday.
  • dinner at CS. I do want to try one of the legendary corn dogs at DL during our trip, so maybe we'll go to the Stagedoor Cafe or something like that.
Sat 6/3:
YDD's birthday celebration day
  • 10 am breakfast w/Minnie & Friends at Plaza Inn
  • dinner at some CS place. Budgeted $50 for this.
 
I'm so excited for you!! I hope you're planning a TR at least for the Club 33 portion so we can see what it's like. You're going to have so much fun!
 
Well, I think that I should relabel this thead as "The Ever Changing Dining Reservations PTR." :rotfl2:

We talked to the kids. Since we're going to Club 33, it's kind of overkill to go to 2 character meals on top of that. The kids were not thrilled, came back down to reality when we explained to them that going on a birthday trip to Disneyland for 5 days is pretty darn special.

So we've cancelled the Friday 6/2 lunch reservation at Ariel's Grotto. And I cancelled the Saturday 10:00 am breakfast at the Plaza Inn with Minnie & Friends. I should have just kept that original Friday 10 am Plaza Inn breakfast reservation. :thumbsup2 Now there is only 10:40 am available on that date. Dang it! That's the last seating for breakfast...which means that some of the characters might be in a bit of a rush. Oh well, I'll settle for it and I'll call Disneyland Dining and I'll continue to check online in case somebody cancels for 10:00 or 10:20 am.

So instead of spending $210 for lunch (includes tax & tip) on Saturday, we'll spend $40-$50! I can live with that. We can take ODD to Ariel's Grotto when we go to DL next March with my sister. Here's what our dining plans now look like:

  • Tues 5/30 - 12 pm lunch at Club 33. Dinner somewhere cheap.
  • Wed 5/31 - 11:30 am lunch at Blue Bayou with friends. Dinner probably at Hungry Bear.
  • Thurs 6/1 - lunch at Paradise Garden Grill. Dinner at Flo's V-8 Café.
  • Fri 6/2 - 10:40 am character breakfast at Plaza Inn. Early dinner at a CS place in DL or DCA.
Now I'm headed back to Ridemax to redo the attraction plans for Fri and Sat. LOL!
 
Forgot to add in my previous post....

The weather forecast is looking good so far! High temps are predicted to be:
  • Tues 5/30 - 76
  • Wed 5/31 - 76
  • Th 6/1 - 74
  • Fri 6/2 - 75
 
Some last minute trip prep happened yesterday.

- bought an extra hand sanitizer at the grocery store
- also got 1 extra travel sized shampoo
- did a deep clean of both bathrooms
- picked up some clutter around the house
- cleaned out the car
- started packing some odds & ends in the kids' suitcases
- did some laundry

Today, I have some more house cleaning and de-cluttering to do. Yesterday evening, DH & I were talking about meals during the DL portion of our trip. He said, "We don't have to worry about breakfast because we get free breakfast at the hotel." Oh, silly DH, we're staying at Hojo's. No free breakfast for you!

The prior 2 times we've been to DL, we stayed at Best Westerns, which have free breakfast.

My DH was pretty surprised. He said, "WHAT? No free breakfast? What planet are they on? What are we going to do for breakfast?"

Well, honey, ODD & I are going to eat Raisin Bran every morning. YOU are going to have instant oatmeal. YDD will probably have yogurt & fruit since she hates cereal. I'm glad, though, that DH brought up breakfast because we talked a bit about the general plan each day...get up early, breakfast in room, at the parks for rope drop, go on rides all morning, have lunch at the parks, go on a couple more rides, then head back to the hotel.

And when at the hotel, REST. EVERYBODY TRIES TO TAKE A NAP! Kids swim in the pool. Parents relax. Maybe we eat dinner off site on Tues & Friday (1 of which is a Grad Night I know for sure).

OMG, I just did it again...changing dining plans. :rotfl2: I listened to that DIS Unplugged podcast recently in which they were doing a food review of Jimboy's Tacos and we want to try it.

So anyway, in the course of this conversation, DH said that he wants to have bread, meat, and cheese in the room in case he wants to have a sandwich when we're at the hotel on our breaks. About 5 min from SIL & BIL's house in San Diego is a Costco, so the plan is for us to hit up Costco when we're out there Memorial Day weekend so DH can buy his favorite lunchmeat & cheese.

come to think of it, I do need to get a couple more things at the grocery store for the trip. I'll do that on Thurs or Fri. Here's what I have so far in our fridge/pantry which we'll bring with us:
  • a box of Nature Valley peanut butter granola bars - these are my favorite. Seriously. My #1 "go to" stave-off-the-hangries granola bar
  • a box of fruit roll ups for YDD (but I need 1 more box)
  • a box of apple cinammon oatmeal for DH
  • some disposable spoons
  • mustard (for DH's sandwiches)
  • goldfish crackers
Stuff I still need to get at the grocery store:
I'm getting this stuff here rather than in CA because grocery prices are so much cheaper here in AZ.
  • some sourdough bread
  • 1 more box of fruit roll ups
  • canned/bottled juices
  • 4 single serving containers of chocolate milk
  • 2 packs of strawberries
  • bananas
  • some watermelon
  • yogurt
  • some disposable bowls - I need 16
At a convenience store near Hojo's, I'll buy a half gallon of milk
 
We leave the day after tomorrow!

The house is pretty darn clean at the moment. I'm finishing up laundry today, so more thorough packing will start in earnest this evening. I'm wrapping things up with work so everything's in place for when I'll be out all next week.:thumbsup2
 

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