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View Full Version : Buddy Trip is On!



Pat-n-Eil
11-23-2005, 07:22 AM
A few weeks ago I made a post about the different ways I'd enjoy Disneyland. I have enjoyed it once as a child, once as a teenager and many times as a father with my kids from little to teens. I've never gone alone, but I have enjoyed the park by myself at different intervals during recent trips.

The two ways I have yet to enjoy the park are with a buddy or group of buddies and as a couple with only my wife.

Yesterday I took the biggest step in fulfilling one of those hopes.. A good friend of mine and I are going to Disneyland next March just to hang out and enjoy some fun, food and atmosphere. He went there once as a kid in the early 60s and again in 1977 with his wife & boys and enjoyed the original opening of Space Mountain.

We talked about various ways to go from cheapest to most expensive. I helped him come to the realization that since he believes he'll probably never go again (he's in his mid 50s) he wanted to do it right. So we decided on staying at a Disney property - and to my surprise, we were able to book the Disneyland Hotel cheaper than the Paradise Pier. Our two night trip including 3 day parkhoppers (through AAA of course for the enhanced FastPasses) cost us a total of $676. We figure this whole trip will probably cost us $550/$600 a piece with food & such.

Now he's really excited. He LOVES Song of the South but he's never been on Splash Mountain. He really enjoys Indiana Jones movies, but he's never experienced the ride. He absolutely loved Space Mountain, and so I'm sure this will be a great time. Not to mention DCA with it's Soarin', Aladdin, 'ritas, lobster nachos and Wine Country Trattoria. There are so many things at Disneyland now that he has never seen or done, and he's one to really enjoy this kind of thing.. We're just going to have a Ball!

As the seasoned DLR guy, I I'm going to do what I can to bring the magic. I can give him the Goofy's Kitchen experience which he's looking forward to and I'm thinking Blue Bayou too.. because he has always wanted to dine there ever since 1977.

We chose the date not only in honor of our birthdays - but also because of the refurb schedule. Pirates is going down on March 6th - and Mansion will be down until March 5th. We both agreed that Pirates of the Carribbean was more important to both of us than the Haunted Mansion - but I'm hoping that maybe the Mansion will open a couple of days early and we'll be able to enjoy it too!

So.... ROAD TRIP on the way.. Yes!

hlbtimes2
11-23-2005, 08:09 AM
How exciting! I, too, am planning a trip with friends. I've been there as a tean, alone with dh, and as a family with kids. I've never been there with friends. We are going in early May. We have our flights booked, and have picked the Candy Cane Inn as our hotel. Flights, park hoppers and hotel are costing us about $500 (each) for a 3 night stay. We all have families and are lucky to be able to get that long of a break and to be able to spend that much. We would have loved the Disneyland hotel, but just couldnt bring ourselves to spend the extra.

Out of the 3 of us, I'm the disney geek. One of the girls hasnt been in about 15 years. She was still in high school then. She's been to WDW once since then, but it was with a 3 month old baby, and only for 2 days- so she didnt really get to do much. The other person was there about 9-10 years ago.