A high of -15°F and the Governor canceled school? Let's get the heck outta here!

[thewesterberg]

This winter in Northern Minnesota has been butt-freakin' cold and full of lots of snow.

We're sick of shoveling.

We're sick of the cold.

And now it just came across the wire that Governor Mark Dayton has canceled all public K-12 schools on Monday because of the bitter cold. Lows into the -30°s with highs only reaching -15°. Yup, those numbers are negative numbers. And wind. Cold, cold wind. (There isn't a smiley with icicles hanging out of it's nose, I looked.) I seriously think that Elsa from Frozen took up residence in Northern Minnesota. There's some crazy ice castle somewhere around here, I'm sure of it. I may strap on my snowshoes and go look for her so we can have a little *chat*.

But guess what? The planets all aligned last month for us to plan a somewhat impromptu trip to Disneyland. And our departure is on what is to be one of the coldest days in decades. Only 3 more days until we escape this frozen tundra on Monday night and we are off to Vegas and Southern California, baby! <ice, ice baby> So glad we had the foresight last month that we would need to get outta here! But this means it will be close to a 100° temperature difference. I'm thinking we may not want to come home...
That is, if we are even able to leave... planes can fly when it's that cold, right? Please tell me I'm right!

Here's a little trip report where we trade in cold, snow, winter boots, and Elsa's castle for sunshine, sand, sandals (I will be wearing sandals!), and Sleeping Beauty's castle.

 

[thewesterberg]

Back in October a little message caught my eye in my Facebook Feed.

Ayres Hotel of Southern California was having a Facebook contest... like this status and share why you like staying at Ayres Hotels to win a chance at a night's stay and 4 Parkhopper tickets to Disneyland.

So I answered! We had stayed at the Ayres Orange during the summer of August 2012 and really enjoyed every bit of our stay. Comfortable accommodations, free parking and wifi, delicious breakfast, and an easy ride on ART to bring us to DLR.

A few days later my phone dinged that I had a Facebook notification and it said Ayres Hotel had tagged me. With shaking hands I went to Facebook to see what was going on...

Winner, winner, chicken dinner... I'm going to Disneyland!!

But we didn't know when....

School, work schedules, airfare costs, etc. etc.

So I started digging. We could fly from our hometown to Vegas on Allegiant, then drive to Southern California. Never been to Vegas. That could be fun. Allegiant flies Mondays and Fridays. So either a long weekend or a week day trip. But the rates are all over the place and this has to be a budget trip. There's good rates at the beginning of January...

How about lodging? We have one night at Ayres, what about other nights? We have a few DVC points. Maybe VGC? Looked, available for a studio one night and a 1 bedroom another night, but I needed to wait until Dec 1 to book. Looked back on the 1st... already booked. Dang.

Guess we will have to wait.

But that didn't stop me from looking! And sure enough the two nights we needed magically appeared on the DVC site for a studio... PERFECT!

Airfare dropped.

The stars are aligning...

But we have four tickets and there are three of us (me, DH, and DS10)... Hmmmm.... We had lots of offers, mainly the high school kids I work with!

However we went a different route... A note was sent to DS friend's mom proposing the crazy idea of him joining us on the trip, but we needed a quick answer. No pressure or anything. We waited, and hoped, and his parents said YES!

Plane tickets were purchased.

VGC reservation was made.

Redeemed our free night for Ayres Hotel in Fountain Valley (didn't realize it when I booked that the hotel wasn't even open yet... They opened before Christmas and they will be having their grand opening while we are there!)

As Hannibal says on the A-Team:

I love it when a plan comes together.

 

[jmedrew]

Enjoy!! Im also from Minnesota (but living in Germany right now) and I remember it was exactly 20 yrs ago this last happened! I was a senior in high school and the govener shut down the schools. I have to say I am not missing the weather. It was 52 today in Germany and we are getting stationed in Florida next!

Have fun!!

 

[dvc at last !]

Congrats - Enjoy your vaca and the warm !

 

[arthur06]

We live about 30 minutes south of Albert Lea, and school here is cancelled as well. This is so miserable right now.

Glad you had the foresight to get out of town!

We did VGC and DL last year (November 2012) and loved it. Have a great time.

 

[thewesterberg]

Enjoy!! Im also from Minnesota (but living in Germany right now) and I remember it was exactly 20 yrs ago this last happened! I was a senior in high school and the govener shut down the schools. I have to say I am not missing the weather. It was 52 today in Germany and we are getting stationed in Florida next!

Have fun!!

You were smart getting away! Enjoy the weather... and enjoy Florida!! Lucky duck! I usually love Minnesota a lot... but this winter is definitely wearing on me! I had forgotten about Governor Carlson canceling back in those days (I was in high school too) until the cancellation came out today.

Congrats - Enjoy your vaca and the warm !

Thanks, we plan on soaking up as much sun as possible!

We live about 30 minutes south of Albert Lea, and school here is cancelled as well. This is so miserable right now.

Glad you had the foresight to get out of town!

We did VGC and DL last year (November 2012) and loved it. Have a great time.

Hello fellow Minnesotan! Isn't this winter just getting old? I'm glad we had a white Christmas and all, but this cold can go away! Any tips on staying at VGC? We've been to DLR before, but haven't stayed on site until now! Can't wait!

 

[jwwi]

Wow, what a great trip you have planned. Congratulations on winning the tickets and hotel stay. You will really love GCH, it is so beautiful and convenient to everything at DL. Having only been to DL/CA once I don't really have any advise. Recommend you see WOC, it is a great show. Maybe you will get lucky and be able to see it from your room.
Freezing here in WI too, heard that it was going to be a bad winter...... but this is kinda ridiculous. Enjoy your trip, can't wait to read more about it.

 

[crisi]

My sister comes back from Hawaii today. She is NOT happy. They seem to have had a nice vacation though.

 

[tbay]

Enjoy your vacation we are from northern Ontario just above Minneapolis
and the weather is as bad. Cold cold weather if it isn't snowing it is 30 below.
Glad to hear someone gets a break from this lousy cold winter . Have a wonderful time.

 

[wiigirl]

Congrats!

 

[omalley1118]

Wow and I've been complaining about single digits her in NJ... I am so psyched for you!!! I do also love it when a plan comes together!!!

 

[thewesterberg]

Wow, what a great trip you have planned. Congratulations on winning the tickets and hotel stay. You will really love GCH, it is so beautiful and convenient to everything at DL. Having only been to DL/CA once I don't really have any advise. Recommend you see WOC, it is a great show. Maybe you will get lucky and be able to see it from your room.
Freezing here in WI too, heard that it was going to be a bad winter...... but this is kinda ridiculous. Enjoy your trip, can't wait to read more about it.

Thanks! While we've been to DLR before, never have stayed on site. We made a family trip about a year and a half ago and I've been fortunate to attend a work conference at the Hyatt down the street 3 times (which always includes a side trip to DLR!) I'm so pumped to stay at the Grand and explore there. Disappointed that WOC is shutdown while we are there... was hoping to watch from our balcony!

My sister comes back from Hawaii today. She is NOT happy. They seem to have had a nice vacation though.

I think this is the perfect reason for throwing a grown-up hissy fit in the Hawaii airport...

Enjoy your vacation we are from northern Ontario just above Minneapolis
and the weather is as bad. Cold cold weather if it isn't snowing it is 30 below.
Glad to hear someone gets a break from this lousy cold winter . Have a wonderful time.

I saw that on the news that you guys up north were experiencing just as miserable (if not worse) conditions! Stay warm!

Congrats!

Thanks!

Wow and I've been complaining about single digits her in NJ... I am so psyched for you!!! I do also love it when a plan comes together!!!

Whenever it is colder than you're used it, it seems like a plenty good reason to complain! I think I'll post our plan here tonight and then see what really happens!

 

[GiantsNiners11]

Great read. Thanks for posting your TR!

 

[thewesterberg]

The bags are pretty much packed, the iDevices have music, books, and movies loaded on them, and the dogs are confused by all the chaos... must been we're almost due to leave!

So after securing our flights and hotel rooms it was time to figure out "The Plan". This is not going to be a terribly relaxing trip, but we are going to cram a lot in and have fun while we are doing it. That's a direct order from Mom. There WILL be FUN.

Here's what we came up with:

MONDAY
DH will suffer through work, I will go in for a bit to wrap up some loose ends, and DS will stay home (and play X-Box, I'm sure - Thanks to the cold weather and Governor Dayton canceling school.) Eat supper at home, my parents pick us up, pick up DSFriend and head to the airport!

Flight leaves at 9pm. Gets to Las Vegas at 10:30pm. (And this is where I at first forgot there's a 2 hour time difference. Oops. The boys will be tired. But it won't be as bad since school was canceled.)

Pick up the rental car from Budget (the whole time hoping that our experience isn't as horrible as all the reviews on Yelp/Trip Advisor/ Google). We got a great deal - around $80 for our stay, which doesn't include a Saturday. Glad I watched the rates... it dropped by half for a small window and then went back up.

Head to Henderson to our hotel for the night, Best Western Plus.

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TUESDAY
Breakfast at the hotel, pack up, and hit the road!

First stop? Hoover Dam. Our hotel is about 25 minutes from the dam - can't be that close and not stop! The plan is to not use the Dam (paid) Parking Lot, not visit the Dam Tourist Shop, or go on the Dam Tour.

Instead, we will park in the free lot, and our hope is to be their earlier than the shop is open and before the tours. The reason? We've got a long drive ahead of us... everyone up and at 'em bright and early... you can sleep while we drive through the desert!

After visiting Hoover Dam, we will hit the road. I foresee a stop at the In 'n Out in Barstow for lunch.

The plan is to head to Hollywood - park at the Highland Center, visit the stars, see the hand prints, and get some pictures of the sign. I've been there before but no one else has. DH wanted to stop there when we were out there a year and half ago but it didn't work into our plans. This time we will make it happen!

After that, head to the Ayres Hotel in Fountain Valley. Enjoy their evening reception if we get there in time.

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WEDNESDAY
Eat at the hotel. Pack up.

Head to Huntington Beach and let the boys explore and hang out for a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't try swimming. Yes, I know it will be cold. But these boys are from Minnesota. I looked and the current water temps at Huntington Beach are about the same as what Lake Superior is in the summer. I'm sure they will at least dip their toes in.

After this we will head to....

THE VILLAS AT GRAND CALIFORNIAN!!

See if our room is ready, and if it isn't, that's okay. We can explore the resort and maybe the boys will even go swimming in the pool for a bit. At some point we'll head over to the Disneyland Hotel - I lost my DVC card last time we were at WDW and I was told by the kind folks here on the DIS that I can get a replacement one at the DVC center. And since we're over there, we must stop at Trader Sam's. I've never been, but it sounds like a pretty cool place to check out. A meal will be had at Earl of Sandwich. I already know what I'm getting...

We'll wrap up the day by spending some time in the evening hanging out, and doing laundry. We are packing only in backpacks for this trip... I love the cheap airfares of Allegiant but they nickel and dime you on everything... only free bag is your personal bag so that's what we are packing in for this quick trip! I consider it part of the adventure!

THURSDAY
Park days!! We will have EMH at DL as resort guests so we will be at the gates before opening. We only have this one day to do both parks so we will be utilizing every single second! DS has requested Matterhorn for the first ride so that's the plan and then hit Space, Buzz, and Star Tours before venturing into other parts of the DL. At some point I will probably buzz over to DCA and grab FPs for RSR. After awhile we will head over to DCA and take in the rides there. DCA closes at 8 and DL at 9... I hope to head back there to take in a couple more rides and we'll close up the park.

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FRIDAY
Bright and early departure for this crew! Our flight in Vegas is at 2:30. I hope to be on the road no later than 7am for the drive back.

Whew.


SATURDAY & SUNDAY
Recover.

 

[thewesterberg]

Great read. Thanks for posting your TR!

Thanks for reading!

 

[a742246]

One of my favorite things to do in Huntington Beach, is to rent the bikes and ride the bike paths. If you have time that might be something to consider.

 

[thewesterberg]

One of my favorite things to do in Huntington Beach, is to rent the bikes and ride the bike paths. If you have time that might be something to consider.

Fun idea! Have to keep that in mind!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

I have a snow day from work tomorrow--totally jealous of your escape! We have to wait another month You are probably on your way to Vegas right now!!

 

[cosmos]

Have fun and enjoy the weather!

 

[elcapitanJack]

On our way to WDW [AKL] today. Weatherman said this morning that it's been the coldest winter in 30 years, and then states it will be a high of 12 degrees with a low of -4 tonight... and 3-6" of new snow.

Southwest Airlines take me away....