Heading West to the "Original": Flight Home & Final Thoughts COMPLETE 4/10/06 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Well all, it has come time for a new trip report. I hope you all enjoy the hysterics of the pre-trip planning.
Destination: <font color="navy">Disneyland</font> Date: <font color="navy">Feb. 21-25, 2006</font> Adventurers:<font color="navy"> Me (34), Chuck (DH-28), Judy (DMIL-48), & Allan (DFIL-50)</font> Resort/Hotel: <font color="navy">TBD</font> Celebration: <font color="navy">1st Trip to Disneyland and DCA and we somehow convinced the In-laws to join us for their first adventure to any Disney park.</font>
Pre-Trip: How it all came about????
<font color="navy">Let’s rewind and head back to May 2005. Chuck and I are sitting in our local Buffalo Wild Wings with his mom and step-dad eating some wings, drinking some beer and playing some trivia. Chuck and I mention to them that we are considering going to Disneyland in February of 2006.
Now before I go any further, let me give you a little background on my in-laws. Judy is not a Disney fan by any means. She’s never been to a Disney park, seen maybe three Disney movies in her lifetime, and shakes her head at Chuck and I whenever we talk about going back to WDW. Allan has been to WDW once back in the mid-80s. He can’t remember much about it and is more of a fan of comic books and Star Wars.
Anyway…back to the story…Judy perks up and says, “Now if I was going to go to ANY Disney park, it would be Disneyland since it is the original.” [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img] Chuck and I look at each other and know what is about to occur. She starts grilling me for information. I give her what I have so far as I had not done much research yet. She says she wants to go with us, and Allan agrees well because Allan goes where Judy goes.
Chuck and I are in the car heading back to our place discussing just what occurred and are in a bit of shock. Not that I am unwilling to share the Disney experience with others, but these are the last two people we thought would ever join us on one of our trips. We decide to gather the information for our trip and see if they continue to ask about it. For the next couple of months, I ask questions, find prices, and gather as much information as I can. I keep it all typed up and organized in a Word document and finally present it to Chuck, Judy, and Allan. Chuck doesn’t respond as he knows I will handle it all. Judy calls me insane to be this organized and says she will look it over. Allan immediately comes back and says he doesn’t know if they’ll have the money to go since they are now going to Vegas in November. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] Now they go to Vegas once a year if not twice. We started planning this trip in May/June. Wouldn’t have you have planned ahead a little bit if you knew you were going on a trip in February???? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] OK...maybe it's just me. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
About five or six emails go back and forth between the four of us stating that everything will be just fine and even Judy is telling him that there is nothing to worry about. He is adamant that they are not going. I stop answering the emails but then get all frazzled. By the time I get home from work, I have worked myself up into a mess. Chuck now gets to hear me rant and rave about how I don’t care if they don’t go and that we are going as we originally planned and so on and so on. Chuck being the wonderful husband he is just sits there and nods telling me it will be okay. Argh…I am just so frustrated at this point. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]
Deep breath Dawn…deep breath. Judy calls me that night and tells me to blow Allan off. She tells me that the money will be there and to continue planning. I’m still frustrated, but move along in my planning. Around the beginning of October, I am checking out Southwest and trying to find airfare that is decent. I really wanted to avoid LAX but Orange County (SNA) is almost twice the price. Thankfully, I mention my dilemma on the boards and people suggested Ontario, CA. Woooohooo!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] I find really decent prices and email Judy immediately. She calls me at work, and we check for shuttles to the Anaheim area. We find more than one and book our tickets. For each couple, it is $394.60 non-stop on the way there but a layover in Phoenix on the way back. I am happy. This trip is feeling more real.
Through the next month or so, we have many conversations at dinner or over email about what these parks have to offer. I’m not getting any feedback from Allan or Judy so I can’t tell what they are interested in seeing. I gave them the maps that Sarah (DopeyGirl) sent to me so they would have an idea on how the parks were laid out. ([img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thanx.gif[/img] again Sarah!!) Don’t they know I have a need to plan?!?!?!? I am not a commando planner in any sense of the word, but we all own Passporters so we all know what we do. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]</font>
Coming up: Do we ever decide on a hotel or any priority seatings???
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Wonderful start! Your in-laws sound very much like mine! Eerie!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]
it sounds like there's been a stressful start to the planning process. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] I hope it gets smoother from here on in. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
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I hope you made a decision on a hotel by now and called to find out if there is any openings at the resort. If not, the good neighbor hotels may have openings. You can, at that point, call about a week before you go and try to get rooms at the resort hotel you decide on. You can call up to a couple of days before hand. After that, you will be out of luck. Cancellations are 72 hours before and after that people tend to just keep their reservations. Good luck on the hunt! If all else fails, my absolute favorite hotel, even though it is a bit of a drive, is the Residence Inn in Costa Mesa (not Fountain Valley). Ask for a Penthouse suite with a fireplace. They only have a few. They have a full kitchen with all the utensils and cookware you need, a full size refrigerator and french doors on the downstairs bedroom leading to the living room. It is so cool. They have a good breakfast (complimentary) where you can make your own waffles. I've never stayed at the one in Anaheim but by the looks of it, it looks more like a regular hotel as opposed to a bunch of condos like Costa Mesa's. It takes about 20 minutes to drive across town and if you don't take the freeways you feel like you have gotten lost at that point. But it is close to the John Wayne Airport if that is your point of entry. It is also across the highway from South Coast Plaza which I love. (Tiffany's, Chanel, Sears, Rainforest Cafe, carousel, Gap, etc.) It's not the outlets but it does have a lot of stores' newest merchandise like stuff you see in the magazine ads. If you can't find it there, you can't find it anywhere kind of thing. Anyway, good luck on your planning! Let us know how planning is going.
Re: Heading West to the \"Original\": Pre-Trip Part Two
Do we ever decide on a hotel and any priority seatings?
<font color="navy">We left off with the pre-trip planning in the middle of December and we still had not decided on a hotel. To say the least, I was a little paranoid that we weren’t going to get a decent place. December was a pretty busy month with the all of the holiday festivities. For part of their Christmas gift, I put together a Disney themed present for Judy and Allan. I included a Mickey Mouse and Grumpy T-shirt, a couple of DCA hats, two homemade autograph books (Chip and Dale for Judy and Buzz for Allan), some sharpies, a couple of character beanies and guest of honor badges. The present was a big hit and totally unexpected.
On the day after Christmas, I took matters into my own hands and decided to make reservations for at least two meals for our trip. If they wanted others, I would call once the decision is made. We have the Lilo and Stitch’s Aloha Breakfast at PCH on February 22nd and dinner @ Goofy’s Kitchen on February 23rd. You can’t experience Disney for the first time without a couple of character meals, right? The Lilo and Stitch breakfast is for Chuck though as he still gives me a little grief for going to ‘Ohanas without him in December. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
Finally, Judy and Allan came over to watch a movie on the new TV and have dinner. I cornered them into making a decision on the hotel. They balked at the idea of staying at any of the resort hotels due to the pricing which Chuck and I were fine with. I gave them the list of hotels and also brought up getawaytoday.com on the laptop. After looking over all the choices, they decided to go with one of the hotels on the website. They first went for location and found a couple. Next on the must-haves was a place that had smoking as Judy smokes The two that they had picked out had smoking rooms available. Last she needed a room with Internet access because she would have to check things for work at night. WE HAVE A WINNER!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] They decided on the Portofino Inns and Suites. Chuck and I breathed a sigh of complete relief. We booked it immediately. The rooms come with 2 adult 3- day Park Hopper tickets which is perfect as the first and last day are mostly spent traveling.
I am breathing a little easier now as far as the planning goes. We have a night set up the first weekend in February to sit down so I can them the low-down on how everything works, like FastPasses, counter service, shows, and the different types of rides. We still need to decide on a company to pick us up at the Ontario airport and if we are going to use a car service to take us to the airport in Indy. Those are minor details at the moment and will be taken care of. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
We are 24 days out and I have mixed feelings about trip. I am really excited as I have never been to Disneyland or DCA. I am nervous how the in-laws are going to react and hope that there are no major disagreements while we are there. Chuck promises me that he will do everything he can possibly do to keep them from stealing my “Disney magic”. I can’t help but [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] that man!!
I am trying to work out something to meet up with Karen (zacksmom_1993) and Zack while we are out there. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]</font>
Re: Heading West to the \"Original\": Pre-Trip Part Two
What a relief to have the hotel booked Dawn - at least that's now sorted out. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/fairy2.gif[/img] that you and Karen get to meet while you're out there.
Re: Heading West to the \"Original\": Pre-Trip Part Two
Great update Dawn [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] The hotel is the big one to get rid of! Can't wait for the rest of the plans [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Re: Heading West to the \"Original\": Pre-Trip Part Two
[b]So far so good Dawn, and if all else fails, you got Chuck to keep the magic with you [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] What more could you ask for...
Re: Heading West to the \"Original\": Pre-Trip Part Two
Dawn, I didn't realize you were staying at Portofino. We stayed there our first vacation and it was TOTALLY GREAT! We got upgraded to a suite b/c it was a slow time of the year (they didn't even tell us at check-in, just gave us a map to our room!) They have a cute little pool and whirlpool. I love that place!
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