Celebrating a decade together.....Disney style About This Page:

[disney_duke]

Great plans Jen! I'm so glad you guys are celebrating with Disney. And with the Davids. 2 days away!

[MinnieJen]

We are back and had an amazing time. I am working through our ton o' pictures now and hope to post the first of our adventures soon. I will also finish up a few post I meant to get up before we left regarding planning and stuff!!

[Colexis Mom]

Welcome back!

[chezp]

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had such a good time!

[MinnieJen]

For every trip we try to re-evaluate what the boys can now ride for height and what they may now be brave enough to ride plus anything that we have missed recently or that is new to the park. I used youtube to show Ty some videos of a few rides to see what he might want to try. He also does a little better on the big boy rides if he knows what to expect. When first did POTC with him Kent and I knew it well enough to warn him about the upcoming "whoosh" and that worked great. Since it had been a while on a few of the rides we were considering we used youtube to show Ty what it was about. On our list to try for the first time were Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin, Mickey’s Fun Wheel, the newly redone Disney Junior Show, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Gadget Go Coaster and the Aladdin show. We have had the Aladdin show on our list for the last 3 trips and it just keeps getting bumped. We also wanted Ty to be able to go on Soarin’ again with Daddy since he only did it will me in January so that was on the list. Two big openings were scheduled for just after we were leaving DLR, Star Tours and Little Mermaid, so we were hoping very much for a soft opening on each of them.

I do my usual ziplock snack bags for all of our trips so I had those made up about 10 days before we left. I had plenty of supplies so I offered to make 3 extras up for the Davids to use on their days. I added some cute toys I found in the dollar sections of both Target and Walmart. I also picked up some glow sticks for night lights in the boys’ rooms at the Anabella since our suite had rooms for each of them. I found cool glowing straws in that same area of Walmart that I thought the boys would like when we eat at Blue Bayou since I know it will be kind of dark in there.

Since we have Ty all potty trained and Ethan starting to learn and both boys long out of bottles I decided we could redo how we carry things into the park. A diaper bag is not what we use at home now so why would I carry one into the park? I have a packing cube that I bought from Ebags years ago that I keep in our car with extra clothes pullups and wipes incase one of the boys needs something when we are out but the need is not longer urgent enough for me to carry a bag into Target or the park or wherever. So I decided to do something similar for the parks. Our double stroller has a good sized storage area underneath both sides so I decided to use a smaller version of my car pack for the parks. I used a smaller packing cube cus it lays nice and flat and has a handle on it. I packed an extra tshirt and shorts and pair of socks for each boy, a couple pullups, a travel pack of wipes and our first aid kit in it. It was perfect. This way I would have a tote bag on the stroller hook with the daily snack bag and an extra pack of wipes and that would be it. We would have the other side of the stroller basket for sweaters and shopping. I stocked up on travel size tubes of sunblock and bought a new pump of hand sanitizer to put in one side of our cupholder and we were set for touring.

With the elimination of the diaper bag there were a few more things that I would be carrying in my purse that usually went in the diaper bag. Lotion and lipbalm and stuff. I did not want to carry my heavier everyday purses with me plus I wanted something very very organized. My usual touring bag was pretty small so I was on the look out for something that would work. I found this bag on Ebags, which we have used a lot so they send me ecoupons often. So I wanted for a good deal and ordered it and hoped it would be a good one since I never truly now until I use it. It had a bunch of patterns to choose from. Had tons of pockets and a small bag to match and put inside. It had an adjustable strap so I could wear it shorter on one shoulder and longer across my chest if my one shoulder needed a break. It was also a nylon material so dirt and water resistant.

LeSportsac Deluxe Everyday Bag - eBags.com

I had been wanting to add some new large suitcases into our collection as a couple of ours had died. We really like the hard sided spinner style. We have a couple of Heys USA bags and have been very happy with them. I knew they had some large disney styles but they were no longer available and I found a couple on discount sites but not for very cheap so I gave up on that and found a basic style at target for a good price and bought it. Literally the next day I got a text from a friend saying that she had found a cool mickey suitcase at TJ Maxx and wanted to know if I had seen them!!!! Now this was on a very bad weekend for our family. My boys were both sick and Kent and I had been up all night. I was really not feeling well at all but I HAD to go see what was there. Kent said to run out quickly. There is a TJ Maxx very close to us so off I went. They were the hard sided spinner Heys USA ones!!!! They had two left, a large one and a medium one. I was hoping for one in a girly style since I am usually buying boys stuff around my house. They called all the other TJs in the area and no luck but I was very happy with my find and bought the two remaining for a good price. The next day I went to urgent care and found out all four of us had a terrible case of Strep Throat so I have to hope I did not give any cooties to the lovely girl at TJ Maxx who helped me. When I went to Target to get us all antibiotics I returned the first bag I bought. So it all worked out great. Granted now when I see the mickey bags I do remember the “Great Walker Strep Throat Plague of 2011”.

Here is the style I bought but for much less money .

Disney Mickey Signature Luggage Set - Heys USA Disney Luggage Collection


I have done small bags of skittles tied up with a small thank you note for standout CMs in the past and it was a very fun experience to give them away. I decided that I wanted to do something like this for this trip since it was our 10th anniversary and we were spending extra days. I had to pick things that would not melt though. I bought a big tub of RingPops since I thought that was going with the wedding theme. I bought a huge bag a mini tootsie rolls and I had ordered a bunch of those fortune telling cellophane fish that I thought where cute. I added some pirate temp tattoos and we were set on the bags. I asked Kent to take one of our few wedding digital snapshots (vs the formal pics) and crop it down and print it on regular paper with a thank you on the bottom from us. He printed them up and I did a quick lamination in my craft room and tied those on the bags and it was all done and ready to spread some pixie dust!!

I packed up most of the consumable items in one suitcase so that one would be empty coming home. So that suitcase was very heavy with daily snack bags, the CM thank you bags, wipes, pullups, tradable pins and lanyards, the stroller items etc. But we checked the weight in it was fine. I packed everything else just fine in the day or two before we left and added a few things as the weather reports firmed up.

We have always bought water and carried bottled water through the parks but this time I bought the “new” Brita bottles that filter tap water and hoped they would work well and would save us some weight in luggage or money from buying on property. I ran a few bottles full of water through to clear out the carbon dust and to test the taste. So far, so good. Packed those up.

I gave myself a pedicure and did a funky pattern with a cute little mickey head on the big toe. I gave my hair a quick color and I was ready to go!!

Up Next: Day One

[disney_duke]

I'm still remembering how incredibly organized you were at DL when we met up. And I'm still blown away by all your details!!! Amazing. I kinda used to be like that.... I've gotten much more lazy as the kids have gotten older!

That luggage is CUTE!!! I wish it wasn't so darn expensive though.

[Colexis Mom]

Great post about getting ready! Can't wait to hear about your first day!

[MinnieJen]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

I'm still remembering how incredibly organized you were at DL when we met up. And I'm still blown away by all your details!!! Amazing. I kinda used to be like that.... I've gotten much more lazy as the kids have gotten older!

That luggage is CUTE!!! I wish it wasn't so darn expensive though.

Thank you!! I am curious how I will plan for things when my boys are older and how it will all change.

I know the regular price is high which is why I was soooo happy to find them at TJ Maxx for much less!! Check your local store.

[chezp]

You do sound very organised!

[Disney4us2]

Love that luggage.... I have to check our TJ Maxx. Can't wait to hear more.

[OhToodles!]

Sounds like it was a great trip! I can't wait to hear all about it.
DH & I plan to visit DL in 5 years for our 10th. Happy belated Anniversary - ours was the day after yours.

[MinnieJen]

Up Next: Day One

We had an early flight at 845 am so I asked if our housesitter could come a night early and drop us at the airport on her way to work in the morning. She is an old friend and is happy to help us save on parking/shuttle fees. I had us all packed and ready to go so that morning we just got dressed and woke up the boys and off we went. Check in to SWA was easy and since we qualify to do family seating between A and B we don’t have to worry much. That day they were having tons of flight delays and cancelations due to bad weather in Chicago. We had our gate moved because of a delayed flight but we were on time thank goodness. We grabbed breakfast at the airport and got to our gate for a gate check for the stroller and they needed some kind of an extra step to check in Ethan which is odd and the curbside guy did not tell us we needed to see the gate agent either. Whatever it was they did not need anything from us. I always travel with the boys’ birth certificates just in case but they did whatever magic in their system and gave us his boarding pass and the gate check.

Every since Ethan has been over two and past the lap stage of flying we try to go one boy with one parent on either side of the isle and we have never had any trouble with it. I had Ty and Kent had Ethan. Both boys were very well behaved for the whole flight. Watched movies and played games ate snacks. Sometimes we have noticed the angel the plane has to take for the sound regulations into Orange County can bother the boys’ ears but not this time.

We landed just after 10 am local time. We got all of the luggage and a cab to the hotel. The driver was a loon who was not the safest driver and had Kent and I both on edge but we arrived in one (or four) piece. We checked in at the Anabella and at 11 am our room was ready!! I was thrilled. So we went to our room and dropped off luggage. The bellman was very sweet to tell us what was in the area and how to walk to DLR. He didn’t know that we are DLR pros! I resisted the temptation to unpack and I just pulled our things out of my carryon for the day in the park and off we went.

We headed off to the brand new Tangaroa Terrace for lunch. It is in the Disneyland hotel and was opening that day. We found it quickly and the CMs were all very excited since we were their 4th lunch table. I ordered the Hawaiian Cheeseburger, Kent ordered the Kalua Pork Flatbread, we got the Cheese Flatbread and the Chicken nuggets for the boys. I also grabbed a yogurt parfait to eat right away since the boys would be hungry. The ordering system is all on the touch screen and then you pay and get your drinks with a table number. All worked perfectly and we chose a table outside. Kent ran around and took tons of pictures while I got the boys set with some yogurt. The boys were starving so they were happy to eat it up! The fruit was all good and included Kiwi which was a nice addition and the granola was mixed with toasted coconut.

It was a beautiful day and we were so happy to be in our happy place. The food came and it was all delicious.




See my removed bacon....






The rice had a slight coconut flavor, not sweet but just enough to keep it from being plain white rice.

Kent had part of my burger and I ate some of the cheese flatbread. The burger was juicy and I loved the grilled pineapple with the teriyaki sauce and the creamy havarti cheese! A great combo with good balance of flavor. I removed the bacon on my half but Kent liked it on his. The flatbread was very thin and so yummy!! Kent loved his pulled pork flat bread. He said he also liked how thin and crispy it was and that the bbq sauce tasted fresh and the cilantro was a great added flavor and actually want more of it. Next time he will ask for extra.

Several CMs stopped to be sure we had all needed and brought Kent lemon for his iced tea. When Kent went back for a refill he noticed they added a container of lemon so they took his request seriously. One of the managers came by and told us a cute story about his sons and how they ate lots (like Ethan who was sampling all of our plates). We left and I gave him a CM thank you bag and he was so excited!! Yay!

As we got up to leave we saw a plate with the fish and chips walk by and it looked very good. I love panko breadcrumbs!! The CM said it was her fav. I also wanted to try their asian chicken salad so I will add those to a list for a future trip! We enjoyed the whole experience here even with the crazy consturction that continues at the DL Hotel. We will be back for sure!!

We headed towards the parks and through security and to the ticket booths to deal with our APs. Our APs had expired in Feb and I had decided not to renew right then in the hopes that waiting until May that we would get the extra few months added to our year. We also had to buy a pass for Ethan now since he just had his third birthday. I went up to an open window and could tell this CM was not a happy lady…..I was determined to cheer her up!! I asked Kent to put sunscreen on the boys while I took care of the passes. I told the CM that needed to purchase AP. She asked me which ones. Premium please. She asked if we had previous passes. Yes, but they expired as of February. She looked at me and you could tell she was expecting and issue here as she asked if I had the expired passes with me. I smiled big and said of course. She (and Kent) seemed very surprised by this. I could tell I was breaking down her grumpy wall!! I told her we needed an additional forth pass a our little guy was now three. She verified our address and asked for Ethan’s information. She asked if I wanted to pay for the whole balance today (not a small one) and was shocked when I said yes. I am bit confused by this since I thought you had to be a southern California resident to pay over time and she knew we where not. Maybe she is just not used to people buying passes from out of state and forgot. Either way we paid the chunk o’ money and moved on. She told me that the new passes will not have our photo on the back and they would only be seen by the CM, scanning the cards, on their screens. She went on to say that we would be asked for ID often for purchases and to be prepared. I told her no problem. She said so many people complained about their “bad” photos and wanted them redone. She complained that they were not the DMV after all. I told her she got to spread way more magic than the DMV ever did. That did it! I got a big smile!! My job was done!! She told me we needed get Ethan’s picture taken for his brand new pass but all of ours would carry over but we could redo Ty’s anytime we felt he had grown out of his current one. I thanked her and she thanked me and called me a treasure!! You can bet she got a CM thank you bag.

Pics to follow...

[MinnieJen]

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...1&d=1308325142






Brand new highchairs! We almost felt bad letting Ethan make a mess.

[MinnieJen]

[MinnieJen]

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

Sounds like it was a great trip! I can't wait to hear all about it.
DH & I plan to visit DL in 5 years for our 10th. Happy belated Anniversary - ours was the day after yours.

Thank you. The same right back to you!!