51 days left!! I'm getting really excited.
I can hardly focus on anything else but I have this thing called a job which is paying for this trip, so I must push Disney to the back of my mind (blasphemy!) 5 days a week to focus on that. All other thoughts and conversations involve Disney somehow. Even my sullen 15 year old son is getting excited.
Things are booked!! The new hotel reservations are made, and I've booked our Princess lunch at Ariel's Grotto for DD's birthday. We decided to do it on day 1 instead of her actual birthday (day 3) so that we can meet a bunch of princesses right off the bat and then know which ones we need to seek out in the park later.
Day 2 I have booked an Elsa makeover at Anna & Elsa's Boutique. I also
may have booked lunch at Blue Bayou even though we decided it was outside of our budget. Maybe, maybe not, I won't tell. We wanted to eat there last year when we discovered it while we were on POTC, but there were no openings. We had decided against it this year. So we're definitely
not going.
Here's a rundown of our trip plans:
Sunday -
Arrival day aka the happiest day of the year - Arrive in Anaheim around lunch time. Check in to our hotel (hopefully, if the room is ready. If not, beg them to hold our luggage. Or leave it in the car. whatever), go to DTD to spend way more money than we plan to, have lunch (I'll use a coupon to offset the shopping costs), go back to the hotel for swimming, find some dinner somewhere (maybe order pizza - there's more $$ savings!) and watch the fireworks from the hotel.
Monday -
Disney Day 1 aka the day I wake my family up much earlier than they'd like - Spending most of this day in DCA. Not DL because we seriously neglected DCA last year and we realize now hoe much we missed there! In an effort to burn us all out on Day 1, and make my family hate me, I hope to accomplish the following lofty goals before lunch: Meet A&E, get FPs for WOC and Soarin, ride TSMM, Ride Soarin, get RSR FPs and meet Olaf. Then on to Ariel's Grotto at 1pm. This will hopefully cut it for a mid afternoon break and hopefully we aren't all snapping at each other. We shouldn't be... yet. Last year it took a full 3 days before we fought in the Happiest Place on Earth and I left my kids sitting on the ground by Space Mountain and took a walk with my husband. Wait, what? Anywho... If we are on the verge of a family brawl, we'll go to the hotel for a swim, then head back and do some more stuff with shorter waits in DCA, watch WOC and maybe get more FPs for RSR for the evening. I'd love to ride it at night.
Tuesday -
LA Day aka the day I'm not overly looking forward to cause I'd rather be in Disney but will probably have fun while I'm there - Leave EARLY to beat traffic. Hopefully. Who wants to sit in traffic to go somewhere that isn't Disney?? Hit up the La Brea Tar Pits. Joy
Go to the farmer's market, have lunch there and do some shopping. Yep, spend more money. :lol: After that, head over to check out some of the Walk of Fame, see a movie at The El Capitan Theatre, (yay! Disney!
) check out Hollywood Blvd, get ice cream at Ghiradelli's, and head back to Anaheim after 6 (again, to hopefully avoid traffic and not be routed through Inglewood again).
Wednesday -
Beach Day aka the day we will actually feel like we are on vacation aka an actual relaxation day - Yeah, another day not at Disney. I'll be biting at the chomp to go back to my Happy Place but this one should be relaxing and low key. Thinking of Newport Beach. We'd like to check out Balboa island (I hear there's a Princess Party company that sometimes does public events there!) and possibly rent a Duffy Boat. But only I can drink while on it.
Thursday -
Disney Day 2 aka the previous 2 days weren't Disney so why did we do them? day - Rope Drop Magic Morning! I told my family I will NOT miss MM rope drop again because of them. If they want to be lazy and sleep, that's fine, I'll head over without them and they can join me later. During that MM, we'd like to get the big attractions done (Matterhorn, Space Mountain, POTC, Haunted Mansion) but that's only if they're with me. If I get the glory to be by myself, I will browse some shops, grab a coffee and sit on Main Street and people watch, and take in all the details. Maybe go ride Peter Pan by myself because my family must not be related to me as they don't like it!!
Then when they can finally roll their butts out of bed to join me, we'll do as many of the big rides as we can then spend the rest of the morning wandering. Reservation for A&E's Boutique is at 12, so we'll head to DTD for that, and then back into DL for our regular, run of the mill, NOT Blue Bayou reservations at 1:50. I really don't know how I'm going to tell them WHY we need to go back into DL and not have lunch in DTD like we'd planned... any ideas? I may order a cake for DD for that one. After lunch, possibly back to the hotel for a break/swim. If DD goes under water after her Elsa makeover I'll disown her. Anyways, then we'd like to catch Soundsational, then spend the rest of the day just wandering and being spontaneous before fireworks & MSEP at night - hoping to make it to the 2nd viewing of that if my family can keep going!
Friday -
Disney Day 3 aka DD's Birthday aka our last Disney day aka the day I'm going to cry entering and leaving the park, and probably a few more times during the day - We have NO solid plans for this day. We will wrap up whatever else we didn't get done in the first 2 days and play it by ear
If we didn't manage to watch Soundsational Thursday, we'll watch it today.
Saturday -
drive home aka the most depressing day of the year - no explanation necessary. Which is good, cause I don't want to talk about it
Ok, so maybe I'm a bit of an overplanner. My husband likes it because I like to research. I get anxiety over the thought of standing in line. The thought of a possible meltdown while in line (the kids... it's totally the kids I'm worried about melting down. I swear) is too much for me. And believe it or not, I hate both the heat and crowds but will face both for Disney. So I research. A lot. And figure out the best way to do things with the least amount of waiting (go against the crowds) so the standing around wallowing in the heat is minimal. My husband doesn't like to do those things. He likes to be told what he's doing and enjoy the experience, much like when planning our wedding. So he appreciates that I plan, but don't plan out every minute and leave wiggle room in there. So it works out. My kids, howeve, don't appreciate a well laid plan and just want to do what they want to do NOW. They must think Disney is for kids or something.
DH actually told me that before our last trip, he thought I was crazy for all the planning I was doing, but after the trip, he was so thankful that all my hard work (yes, folks, reading about Disneyland is hard work I tell ya) paid off as we had an almost perfect first visit (with NO family fighting ) thanks to me I love him so much!
So now that I've written a novel, I'm going to go get my oil changed before my car explodes and I have to use Disney money to fix it.