You mean we have to pay for him this time?!? PTR Aug 2017

[hmwinter85]

I love reading trip reports, and for the longest time I’ve wanted to write one, so I’m finally going to do it for this trip.

We are going to be spending a week at Disneyland August 19-26. First things first, let’s introduce our cast this trip.



First up there’s me, Holly. I’m 32. I’m the family vacation planner. I’ve been obsessed with all things Disney for as long as I can remember, though my family only traveled to the parks a handful of times growing up. My favorite character is Ariel and I still get uncontrollably excited whenever I see her in the parks. In real life, I’m an Environmental Engineer for an automotive company by day and by night I’m trying to start my career as a science fiction writer. I’m currently trying to get an agent for my first book. This is probably part of the reason why I’ve never written a trip report. As a writer, I’ll do just about anything to put off writing of any kind.

(This is DH, O-Man, and Father in law. Apparently I'm a bad wife and didn't take any pics of just DH on or last trip)

Next, we have DH, Mike. He’s currently 31 but will be turning 32 a few days before our trip. He has always like Disney, but like me, he only went a couple of times growing up. He has now grown into a full-blown Disney addict. He loves all things Star Wars and has an odd fondness for Pooh. DH says he the character he can relate to the most. Read into that as you will. DH has a degree to teach high school English, but was never able to find a full time teaching job so he sells furnaces and air conditioners. He is also going back to school to get a degree in Supply Chain Management.


Finally, the O-Man. He’s 3 and too smart for his own good. He has been conditioned since birth to love all things Disney. DH and I agreed before he was even born that we could not raise a child that did not love Disney. His current favorites are Maui and Star Wars (especially the bad guys), but he’s 3 so this change pretty regularly. Other top contenders are Goofy, Mickey, Donald, Cars, and Toy Story.

 

[hmwinter85]

Our Disney History

A couple of months before DH and I got married in 2010 we moved from Michigan to California for my job. We were living in the mountains outside of Fresno, so we weren’t really close to Disneyland. We went down to the park for a weekend shortly after moving out there. We figured that it would be a onetime thing, figuring it wouldn’t be as good as Disney World that we both knew from kids (keep in mind neither of us had been WDW for a good 15 years). We were fools. By the end of that weekend we had purchased annual passes and for the next two years we spent at least a weekend a month at Disneyland.

(Me unbelievably excited to ride the Little Mermaid at the soft opening. I made my family stand in line for 2 hours to ride this)

In Aug of 2012 while on a big family trip to WDW, I was offered a job back in Michigan. We moved home and in Feb of 2012 we welcomed our son. Shortly after The O-Man was born I started planning our first Disney vacation as a family. We did wait until he was 18 months, but finally we returned to Disneyland for a week in Sept 2015. My in-laws and brother-in-law joined up on this trip. It was a great trip, but it was certainly different with a small child.

(WDW 2012)


(DL 2015)

One Disney trip wasn’t enough for me, so in January 2016 (O-Man was 23 months) we went on our first Disney Cruise, and it happened to the second ever Star Wars Day at Sea. This trip was just the 3 of us and was probably one of the best vacations I’ve ever had.


Finally, this past February we spent a week at WDW. We went the week before The O-Man turned 3 because I wanted one more trip where I didn’t have to pay for him. This trip had started out being just the 3 of us, but my in-laws decided they wanted to go when we told them about it. It worked out because we were able to split the cost of the Cars family suite at AOA which O-Man loved. A few months before the trips my parents, who had retired and were wintering in FL, decided they wanted to join us for a few days as well. It was nice trip, but certainly more stressful as I was constantly trying to change dining reservations, and arranging meet up times for everyone. I also felt bad whenever O-Man got cranky and everyone waited while he took some time to rest and unwind. No one complained, but I still felt like I was wasting their trip.

Upcoming trips:

In addition to DL, we currently are booked for another Disney cruise the end of Sept 2018 and I heard a rumor that DH’s cousin is getting married in WDW next year and that we are invited, so waiting to hear about that.

 

[hmwinter85]

Ok so let’s get down to the details of this trip.


We booked this trip through a family friend that is a Disney travel agent. This will be the third trip she has helped us plan. I didn’t really need the help planning, since I know the area really well and knew exactly what I wanted, but it didn’t cost me anything and she got the commission so it works out.

There were two things that were really important to me when picking out a hotel. 1. I wanted a suite of some kind. O-Man still naps in the afternoon and I wanted to be able to have some separation from him in the room for nap and bed time. Also I knew we would be taking breaks most days and have one non-park day so I wanted space to spread out a little. 2. I wanted a hotel that was either close to the entrance or the Toy Story parking lot. We ended up choosing the family suite at Cortona Inn and Suites. We’ve never stayed there but it had good reviews and most importantly O-Man liked the bunk beds there best. That’s what I get for asking the 3-year-old to help plan.

We will be flying from Detroit to LAX on Southwest. I’ve never flown on them before and their open seating makes me a little nervous. I did spring for the early check in so we should be fine to get seats together, I hope. Neither of our flights are direct, but we don’t change plans when we stop. It will be interesting to see how that works. We had a flight like this once on Spirit flying from LAX to Orlando and we just stayed on the plane. Either way it will make for some long travel days, especially with the 3 hour time change.

Based on reviews I read here I booked Lansky for transportation. DH is super excited that we will have someone meet us at the airport holding a sign with our names. He said it made him feel important. I just like that we won’t have to wait and that they will stop at the grocery store. When we went to DL in 2015 we rented a car and had to wait at least 2 hours in line to get our car. It was hot, everyone was hungry and had to pee, and O-Man was miserable. Never again.

We got 5 day park hopper tickets for this trip. I really want slow down and focus on what O-Man wants to do. After the detailed planning needed for our WDW trip I’m really looking forward to just seeing where the day takes us. My tentative plans for the week are:

Saturday 8/19: Arrival day, get situated in the hotel, maybe swimming, DTD, and dinner at Storytellers.

Sunday 8/20: Parks

Monday 8/21: Parks

Tuesday 8/22: Parks

Wednesday 8/23: Swimming, DTD, Ride Makers or Build a Bear, dinner at Catel

Thursday 8/24: Parks

Friday 8/25: Parks

Saturday 8/26: Fly home

 

[jcc0621]

Following. We leave the day you arrive.

 

[Frozen2014]

Following as well. We come a few days after you leave and love to hear other's experiences.

 

[GlitteryOtters]

Following along as well...I'm a Californian who relocated to Michigan (Ann Arbor!) in 1999 & I'll be flying DTW to LAX on Southwest on 8/21, staying until 8/28. Ariel is my favorite, too, BTW, and I'm also a writer (magical realism & YA). I'm not an engineer, though! This is my zillionth trip to DLR, but my husband's first time inside the parks (we've stayed in the area together several times--even stayed at Paradise Pier Hotel one Dapper Day week-but he didn't spend any time in the parks, so weird!). I regularly fly Southwest on the same route you are taking and, no worries, you guys won't have problems staying together. Early Bird boarding should get you seats together, no problem.

I will warn you that occasionally, even if you book tickets together, when you check in 24 hours before the flight, you may find that your party will be split in the boarding line. This happened to my husband & I when we flew Southwest on our honeymoon, but I was able to save a seat for him without problems. I've seen it happen to others, too, a few times, but flyers on Southwest are usually pretty relaxed and willing swap seats to help a family stay together, especially when it is one with young kids.

I will definitely be looking forward to your thoughts on Lansky...my mother & I are doing an early December trip (she's flying down from Sacramento, I'm flying in from Detroit with the two of us meeting up at LAX) and we are strongly considering booking Lansky to take advantage of the grocery stop without having to do the whole car rental thing. We both have special diets, so our local eating options are more limited & we'll be there for a long trip, so the thought of getting groceries for the trip without having to chase down a taxi or Uber to/from the store sounds perfect.

Both of our trips are coming up soon, looks like I need to get my PTR written up and posted soon, too (have been meaning to do so for a couple of weeks, writer's procrastination has been hitting me hard...).


~Meg