Prof Drake
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 26, 2016
This is a pre-trip report for a trip coming up fast: We arrive at DLR July 5th and leave July 10th. We’ll stay in Santa Barbara the night before and night after our DLR time. We have five day park-hoppers, which we will either use straight through (so not going to the parks on our departure day) or use with a day off to rest in the middle, depending on how we feel.
Here are our particulars:
We’ve previously stayed in places accessed by ART, which made us reluctant to try to go back and forth for naps. But at this point both our youngest and oldest family member could use them, and probably can’t nap in the parks. So we decided to try staying across the street. We are price sensitive and wanted a real suite (not a “mini suite” with a partial wall) so we made reservations at both the Camelot Inn and Desert Inn. I called to ask about things like ECVs in the rooms; I checked to see if Eastern Gateway construction/demolition was likely to be an issue at the Camelot; and I asked for advice on this board. In the end, because my wife really doesn’t like hard beds (which people on this board noted as an issue with the Desert Inn) and because the Eastern Gateway still hasn’t gone back to the planning commission (so won’t be underway while we’re there), we decided to stick with the Camelot reservation.
In my next post I’ll talk about the first two days of our current itinerary plans.
Here are our particulars:
- My wife and I are middle-aged. Neither of us eats gluten, I'm “pescatarian” and I’m also in an ECV (but can walk and stand limited amounts). I’m a planner — I create custom plans at touringplans.com as a fun way of thinking through how we might spend each day. I have no illusions that my family will exactly follow these plans, but I still think it’s somewhat useful.
- We’re bringing a daughter, 8yo, who will be on her third trip to DLR. Previous trips were October 2015 and May 2014. She treasures her pressed pennies and autograph book from those trips, but has totally grown out of the clothing.
- We’re also bringing a son, 2yo, though on the verge of turning 3. He was on the 2015 trip as a baby. He’s close to dropping his nap, being potty trained, and reaching 40” in height, but none seem likely to have happened by the time we arrive.
We’ve previously stayed in places accessed by ART, which made us reluctant to try to go back and forth for naps. But at this point both our youngest and oldest family member could use them, and probably can’t nap in the parks. So we decided to try staying across the street. We are price sensitive and wanted a real suite (not a “mini suite” with a partial wall) so we made reservations at both the Camelot Inn and Desert Inn. I called to ask about things like ECVs in the rooms; I checked to see if Eastern Gateway construction/demolition was likely to be an issue at the Camelot; and I asked for advice on this board. In the end, because my wife really doesn’t like hard beds (which people on this board noted as an issue with the Desert Inn) and because the Eastern Gateway still hasn’t gone back to the planning commission (so won’t be underway while we’re there), we decided to stick with the Camelot reservation.
In my next post I’ll talk about the first two days of our current itinerary plans.