hotshot
12-05-2005, 09:06 PM
My daughter (almost 8) and I (28) just returned from DL and I vowed to myself that I would contribute my trip report to the MP collections.
This is a lot of detail because I enjoy reading all of the details on other reports so just be warned…
Background: I decided that we would be going to DL back in June. Originally it was going to be us and three other friends from church and my 22 yo lil sis, but it wasn’t really a priority for them, so they didn’t really put enough effort into saving their money and at the end of they day it was just my baby and I- which was perfect.
Here we go…
We were originally planning to go in October, but my finances weren’t quite right especially since I would be footing the whole bill. I decided to wait until the first few days of December, not to close to Christmas and after all the crowds from T-day are gone.
After I decided to postpone the trip, I was so anxious that I wanted to at least do something that would ensure I locked in a date. I went to priceline.com and bid $43 for the DL area. My bid was accepted for the Crowne Plaza. I had read up on what my options would be if I bid and I was pleased that I got the CP- although I preferred the Hyatt. Now I know both of these hotels are not within walking distance, but they have their own shuttle and it worked out well. I am a little picky when it comes down to rooms and I felt quite comfortable during our stay. More about that later..
Okay so now we have our hotel- we are definitely going 11/30-12/03- yeah!
The next decision will be whether or not we drive or fly… let’s see how much it cost?? Okay we are driving. I live in the bay area and after the transfer fees we were looking at nearly $300. I tried to do the priceline thing for a car, but out of San Jose I could not get anything accepted in the $16-$19 range for a full size. Well it turns out that as I was searching different rental car places and I found a Thrifty standard size rate for $16. $74 for four days.. cool huh- I thought so..
Got the car and hotel- I was praying for gas prices to go down and they did, so it was all coming together.
I got the 2 day hoppers (I wish I had planned for 3 days..) through my job- $160 for both of ours... My boss got them for me... He is a great guy!
11/29- night before we leave- I had a meeting to go to that night so did not get to start packing until 9:30pm or so. What to bring? I had been monitoring the weather and I knew that there was a chance for rain on Friday.. Well I figured I had a car so I could pack anything and everything I wanted just to be safe and I did! Okay so now it’s 2am – time to go to sleep- I am exhausted, yet soooo excited -today all of my planning actually comes to fruition.
11/30- goal was to be out of the house and headed to the rental car place by 8:30- yeah right! I got up around 7:45 and started cleaning the house… who wants to come home to junk –especially dishes in the sink. Yuck.. Okay 9:00a time to get Jaylah up and in the shower. She is already up laying in the bed watching Spongebob…. “Guess where we are going to day??” I say… She gets a huge grin on her face! Okay she is now getting ready and I am finishing up with last minute packing stuff. Time for me to get in the shower, but before I do I call my mom who is taking us to the car place to let her know I will be ready in about .5 hours…(Just fyi- I have a 97 Altima and I did not want to put the miles on it – I am thoroughly enjoying not having a car payment and want it to last me as long as possible)
Mom arrives at 9:45 and we head to the bank, then the Thrifty. They don’t have a Dodge Magnum!!! Taurus.. no I don’t want a Taurus- then she says I can give you a Jeep Liberty at the midsize rate… I’ll take it! We head back home to load the car (SJC is about 5 minutes away from me) and that takes a good hour- I wanted to make sure I had everything.
I was on a budget, so I brought my toaster and some butter, utensils with plans to stop by the store and get some things for breakfast. (This was a great tip I got from someone here- it was so nice to not have to worry about where to eat in the morning- we ate as we got ready and were off to the parks- it was perfect).
I got some movies from Netflix and brought my laptop for Jaylah during the drive. Okay I think that is it. Let’s go.. stopped at the store and got some cereal, milk, bread, croissants, water, chips, and some bananas. And we are off.
We officially ended up on the road at 12:45- I pray over the car and the entire trip and we are off- (He is so good!) but had to stop for ten minutes or so to get the movie on the laptop going. We made one stop in Visalia at Taco Bell at 2:50 and another at the Grapevine to get some gas (didn’t want to get stuck in the mountains) $2.79!!! I don’t think so… I got $10 worth and headed out.
I did not know what everyone meant when they said LA traffic. I mean I knew that I would be arriving around 5pm- but geez! Bumper to Bumper to Bumper to Bumper…..
I am not sure how long it should have taken, but we were stuck there for a good 90 minutes or so- we made the best of it and I let Jaylah beat me at the license plate game. We arrive at the Crowne Plaza at 7:15pm. About 6.25 hours from the bay area is not bad I guess.
We check in and we get room 440. As I am trying to get up to the room to use the bathroom the concierge stops to give my some free dining card… It ends up that she want me to attend a 90 minutes timeshare presentation. In return she will give me $100 Disney Dollars… hmmmmmmmmmm. Okay so when would I be able to do this. I would have to break away from my DL time- but $100 DD?? Well I did it 3:30pm the next day- I’d be there (they had a play room for Jaylah right next door).
Okay we unload the car and park, I check the fridge to see if I can get the milk in there (it is SoyMilk, so it was okay in the car all day) I knew that the fridge was filled with overpriced stuff- what I did not know is that none of it could be moved or taken out without you being charged for it- it was a computerized refrigerator, interesting- well there was an empty space so I got the milk to fit.… I ordered takeout from Outback, Jaylah had a bath and it is about 10pm- time to lay down it had been a long day…
12/01- Alarm goes off at 8:30. I am up and in the shower- I wake J up and she is getting dressed. Well I did not plan for enough time to get ready and eat so we miss the first bus (CP has their own shuttle they share with the Hyatt, runs like clockwork, it was great) that leaves at 9:35, no worries- we slow the pace a little, I french braid her hair and we head downstairs to catch the 10:05. We get to the gates and all the old memories come rushing back- I had not been in about 6 years and although Jaylah had gone when she was 2 she didn’t remember anything. Okay so the forefront of my mind is “what are the crowds going to be like….” I walk into Main St, and there are people everywhere. I knew that it was unpredictable and had my RideMax list in my backpack just in case- but only the wait times would really tell me how the day was going to go. Out first ride is Mr Toad’s… J is scared…. WHAT! If she is scared of this I have not got a chance with Space Mountain or anything else I so love here… I start to get nervous thinking about the next day and a half just walking around and going to shows… okay well- let’s just walk by Space Mountain and see how long the wait is (btw, wait time for the toad was about 5 minutes). Get to SM at about 11:15 - 10 MINUTES!!! What??? Okay, so I calmly begin to tell J about the ride and what it is like,- she wants to ride… We wait for about 10 minutes and I could see the nervousness in her face- I tell her that she does not have to ride if she does not want to… she says she does and get’s a little annoyed because I keep asking her if she is sure.. Okay so I forgot how fast and ambiguous that ride is…. I was a little scared myself on it… It does seem a bit faster than I remember- but it was fun. HISTA is next and she kept her glasses off and feet up after the bug scene.. Next is Small World 3 minute wait - she loved it…then to Matterhorn- she did not like the snow monster, but she liked the ride. (It ended up being her fave). That was a 10 minute wait. We are hungry now so we go eat at Club Buzz (I think that is what it is called) Burger and Fries for $17.. I had waters and Capri-suns in the backpack. Now what- she wants to go shopping. It is about 2 and we need to start heading back toward Main St anyway cause I have a timeshare prezo at 3:30.
Okay well we get back to the hotel at 3:10- the free DSL has not been working since I arrived and they send someone up… they still cannot get it to work… I just end up using my blackberry to check emails. I attend the timeshare prezo with no intent to buy and I told them that in the beginning… they thought I was joking or something cause they proceeded to try and convince me I needed to invest $60k with $7k down on vacation points. I kindly said no, no, and no and after about 1 hour 45 minutes I was headed back up to my room with $100 Disney Dollars in hand… that was easy! I felt bad for the sales guy- but hey I told’em.
Back to DL to see the parade and Remember. We got back to the park a little before 6- I was trying to situate myself near the hub and the curb near the parade but ppl were pretty packed in (people get so touchy when it comes to their spots- I mean I understand that you have been there a while saving it, but you can just politely say “I’m sorry this is taken”, I would have to say that is one of the few times I was not happy at the happiest place…)
Remember is a little more important than the Parade so we sit right smack dab in the center of the castle on the sidewalk of the hub, We tried to watch the parade from there- I even had my 72lb, 8 yo on my shoulders at one point (I have no idea how I did that)- but we did not get to see it that well. It is now 7pm or so and we have another 45 minutes to wait, so we wait and people watch The show was great- I did not get the whole wanting to cry thing – but it was a great show.
The next image I have in my mind are human ducks waddling down Main St. That is just what we were doing trying to get out of there. There were so many people trying to go the same place all at once and you could only move a few tiny steps at a time- so we just kinda all waddled toward the exit- It was actually quite funny to watch everyone in the same motion hardly moving anywhere.. We stop at the Main St general store and Jaylah wants a snowglobe- the line is crazy so I promise her tomorrow we will get one.
We catch the 8:50 bus and are back at the hotel by 9:05. We get Red Robin for dinner (I hated eating so late, but it is so hard to stay on schedule at that place) (RR is in the hotel parking lot) Final day at Disney tomorrow- I couldn’t believe it was almost over… Still no DSL and now no hot water!!- they are having water problems they say- Jaylah can take a bath in the morning… and we are asleep by 11…
More to come later
This is a lot of detail because I enjoy reading all of the details on other reports so just be warned…
Background: I decided that we would be going to DL back in June. Originally it was going to be us and three other friends from church and my 22 yo lil sis, but it wasn’t really a priority for them, so they didn’t really put enough effort into saving their money and at the end of they day it was just my baby and I- which was perfect.
Here we go…
We were originally planning to go in October, but my finances weren’t quite right especially since I would be footing the whole bill. I decided to wait until the first few days of December, not to close to Christmas and after all the crowds from T-day are gone.
After I decided to postpone the trip, I was so anxious that I wanted to at least do something that would ensure I locked in a date. I went to priceline.com and bid $43 for the DL area. My bid was accepted for the Crowne Plaza. I had read up on what my options would be if I bid and I was pleased that I got the CP- although I preferred the Hyatt. Now I know both of these hotels are not within walking distance, but they have their own shuttle and it worked out well. I am a little picky when it comes down to rooms and I felt quite comfortable during our stay. More about that later..
Okay so now we have our hotel- we are definitely going 11/30-12/03- yeah!
The next decision will be whether or not we drive or fly… let’s see how much it cost?? Okay we are driving. I live in the bay area and after the transfer fees we were looking at nearly $300. I tried to do the priceline thing for a car, but out of San Jose I could not get anything accepted in the $16-$19 range for a full size. Well it turns out that as I was searching different rental car places and I found a Thrifty standard size rate for $16. $74 for four days.. cool huh- I thought so..
Got the car and hotel- I was praying for gas prices to go down and they did, so it was all coming together.
I got the 2 day hoppers (I wish I had planned for 3 days..) through my job- $160 for both of ours... My boss got them for me... He is a great guy!
11/29- night before we leave- I had a meeting to go to that night so did not get to start packing until 9:30pm or so. What to bring? I had been monitoring the weather and I knew that there was a chance for rain on Friday.. Well I figured I had a car so I could pack anything and everything I wanted just to be safe and I did! Okay so now it’s 2am – time to go to sleep- I am exhausted, yet soooo excited -today all of my planning actually comes to fruition.
11/30- goal was to be out of the house and headed to the rental car place by 8:30- yeah right! I got up around 7:45 and started cleaning the house… who wants to come home to junk –especially dishes in the sink. Yuck.. Okay 9:00a time to get Jaylah up and in the shower. She is already up laying in the bed watching Spongebob…. “Guess where we are going to day??” I say… She gets a huge grin on her face! Okay she is now getting ready and I am finishing up with last minute packing stuff. Time for me to get in the shower, but before I do I call my mom who is taking us to the car place to let her know I will be ready in about .5 hours…(Just fyi- I have a 97 Altima and I did not want to put the miles on it – I am thoroughly enjoying not having a car payment and want it to last me as long as possible)
Mom arrives at 9:45 and we head to the bank, then the Thrifty. They don’t have a Dodge Magnum!!! Taurus.. no I don’t want a Taurus- then she says I can give you a Jeep Liberty at the midsize rate… I’ll take it! We head back home to load the car (SJC is about 5 minutes away from me) and that takes a good hour- I wanted to make sure I had everything.
I was on a budget, so I brought my toaster and some butter, utensils with plans to stop by the store and get some things for breakfast. (This was a great tip I got from someone here- it was so nice to not have to worry about where to eat in the morning- we ate as we got ready and were off to the parks- it was perfect).
I got some movies from Netflix and brought my laptop for Jaylah during the drive. Okay I think that is it. Let’s go.. stopped at the store and got some cereal, milk, bread, croissants, water, chips, and some bananas. And we are off.
We officially ended up on the road at 12:45- I pray over the car and the entire trip and we are off- (He is so good!) but had to stop for ten minutes or so to get the movie on the laptop going. We made one stop in Visalia at Taco Bell at 2:50 and another at the Grapevine to get some gas (didn’t want to get stuck in the mountains) $2.79!!! I don’t think so… I got $10 worth and headed out.
I did not know what everyone meant when they said LA traffic. I mean I knew that I would be arriving around 5pm- but geez! Bumper to Bumper to Bumper to Bumper…..
I am not sure how long it should have taken, but we were stuck there for a good 90 minutes or so- we made the best of it and I let Jaylah beat me at the license plate game. We arrive at the Crowne Plaza at 7:15pm. About 6.25 hours from the bay area is not bad I guess.
We check in and we get room 440. As I am trying to get up to the room to use the bathroom the concierge stops to give my some free dining card… It ends up that she want me to attend a 90 minutes timeshare presentation. In return she will give me $100 Disney Dollars… hmmmmmmmmmm. Okay so when would I be able to do this. I would have to break away from my DL time- but $100 DD?? Well I did it 3:30pm the next day- I’d be there (they had a play room for Jaylah right next door).
Okay we unload the car and park, I check the fridge to see if I can get the milk in there (it is SoyMilk, so it was okay in the car all day) I knew that the fridge was filled with overpriced stuff- what I did not know is that none of it could be moved or taken out without you being charged for it- it was a computerized refrigerator, interesting- well there was an empty space so I got the milk to fit.… I ordered takeout from Outback, Jaylah had a bath and it is about 10pm- time to lay down it had been a long day…
12/01- Alarm goes off at 8:30. I am up and in the shower- I wake J up and she is getting dressed. Well I did not plan for enough time to get ready and eat so we miss the first bus (CP has their own shuttle they share with the Hyatt, runs like clockwork, it was great) that leaves at 9:35, no worries- we slow the pace a little, I french braid her hair and we head downstairs to catch the 10:05. We get to the gates and all the old memories come rushing back- I had not been in about 6 years and although Jaylah had gone when she was 2 she didn’t remember anything. Okay so the forefront of my mind is “what are the crowds going to be like….” I walk into Main St, and there are people everywhere. I knew that it was unpredictable and had my RideMax list in my backpack just in case- but only the wait times would really tell me how the day was going to go. Out first ride is Mr Toad’s… J is scared…. WHAT! If she is scared of this I have not got a chance with Space Mountain or anything else I so love here… I start to get nervous thinking about the next day and a half just walking around and going to shows… okay well- let’s just walk by Space Mountain and see how long the wait is (btw, wait time for the toad was about 5 minutes). Get to SM at about 11:15 - 10 MINUTES!!! What??? Okay, so I calmly begin to tell J about the ride and what it is like,- she wants to ride… We wait for about 10 minutes and I could see the nervousness in her face- I tell her that she does not have to ride if she does not want to… she says she does and get’s a little annoyed because I keep asking her if she is sure.. Okay so I forgot how fast and ambiguous that ride is…. I was a little scared myself on it… It does seem a bit faster than I remember- but it was fun. HISTA is next and she kept her glasses off and feet up after the bug scene.. Next is Small World 3 minute wait - she loved it…then to Matterhorn- she did not like the snow monster, but she liked the ride. (It ended up being her fave). That was a 10 minute wait. We are hungry now so we go eat at Club Buzz (I think that is what it is called) Burger and Fries for $17.. I had waters and Capri-suns in the backpack. Now what- she wants to go shopping. It is about 2 and we need to start heading back toward Main St anyway cause I have a timeshare prezo at 3:30.
Okay well we get back to the hotel at 3:10- the free DSL has not been working since I arrived and they send someone up… they still cannot get it to work… I just end up using my blackberry to check emails. I attend the timeshare prezo with no intent to buy and I told them that in the beginning… they thought I was joking or something cause they proceeded to try and convince me I needed to invest $60k with $7k down on vacation points. I kindly said no, no, and no and after about 1 hour 45 minutes I was headed back up to my room with $100 Disney Dollars in hand… that was easy! I felt bad for the sales guy- but hey I told’em.
Back to DL to see the parade and Remember. We got back to the park a little before 6- I was trying to situate myself near the hub and the curb near the parade but ppl were pretty packed in (people get so touchy when it comes to their spots- I mean I understand that you have been there a while saving it, but you can just politely say “I’m sorry this is taken”, I would have to say that is one of the few times I was not happy at the happiest place…)
Remember is a little more important than the Parade so we sit right smack dab in the center of the castle on the sidewalk of the hub, We tried to watch the parade from there- I even had my 72lb, 8 yo on my shoulders at one point (I have no idea how I did that)- but we did not get to see it that well. It is now 7pm or so and we have another 45 minutes to wait, so we wait and people watch The show was great- I did not get the whole wanting to cry thing – but it was a great show.
The next image I have in my mind are human ducks waddling down Main St. That is just what we were doing trying to get out of there. There were so many people trying to go the same place all at once and you could only move a few tiny steps at a time- so we just kinda all waddled toward the exit- It was actually quite funny to watch everyone in the same motion hardly moving anywhere.. We stop at the Main St general store and Jaylah wants a snowglobe- the line is crazy so I promise her tomorrow we will get one.
We catch the 8:50 bus and are back at the hotel by 9:05. We get Red Robin for dinner (I hated eating so late, but it is so hard to stay on schedule at that place) (RR is in the hotel parking lot) Final day at Disney tomorrow- I couldn’t believe it was almost over… Still no DSL and now no hot water!!- they are having water problems they say- Jaylah can take a bath in the morning… and we are asleep by 11…
More to come later