August 2017 Disneyland Check-In & Chat!

[Aladora]

Hey fellow islander! We're just up island in the Cowichan area I booked our flights out of Victoria way back in January when prices dropped to $270.. couldn't resist that combined with the park ticket deal for Canadians at the time.

We fly out on Aug 26.. we'll be in the parks Aug 27-30. CANNOT WAIT!!!

So jealous of those flight prices, ours were way more than that but this was a bonus AP trip so I can't complain.

We upgraded our tickets last September to APs and this will be our 3rd trip out of them. Based on my math, as long as we go for two 5 day trips in 12 months then it is better to get APs. Add on the discounts for food and merchandise, the fact that I got the original tickets through LMTClub (and retained the discount when I upgraded) and the amazing pin for the GCH which means early entry every day and I don't mind the expensive flights as much!

Our trips are going to cross over, we arrive mid-morning on Aug 27 and we leave mid-morning on Aug 31 so we will be in the parks Aug 27-30.

 

[tandrsmom]

Less than 18 hours! I think I'm going to bust.

 

[JC Butterfly]

Add us to the list for August 20-24. Currently booked at Park Vue Inn which we really enjoy but wish the Courtyard Theme Park Entrance price would go down as that water park looks perfect for my boys!

Currently have Blue Bayou booked for August 20th with the Main Street Electrical Parade package ... trying to find info on if we could add Fantasmic too but it will have been an early morning for us so can't decide if I'm pushing too much/too hard.

Debating adding WOC package.

Really wish tea time was offered during the week as I don't want to add one more thing to a packed Sunday.

I can not WAIT to ride Guardians of the Galaxy!!

Max pass, any of you thinking about it?

 

[Aladora]

Add us to the list for August 20-24. Currently booked at Park Vue Inn which we really enjoy but wish the Courtyard Theme Park Entrance price would go down as that water park looks perfect for my boys!

Currently have Blue Bayou booked for August 20th with the Main Street Electrical Parade package ... trying to find info on if we could add Fantasmic too but it will have been an early morning for us so can't decide if I'm pushing too much/too hard.

Debating adding WOC package.

Really wish tea time was offered during the week as I don't want to add one more thing to a packed Sunday.

I can not WAIT to ride Guardians of the Galaxy!!

Max pass, any of you thinking about it?

Are you thinking of the WoC dining or dessert package? We've done WCT once, CC twice and the dessert party once. I cannot say enough good things about the dessert party, although we have always enjoyed Carthay Circle.

We are thinking of adding Max Pass for 3 days but since we don't arrive in Anaheim until 10:40, we will probably not add it on the first.

 

[JC Butterfly]

Are you thinking of the WoC dining or dessert package? We've done WCT once, CC twice and the dessert party once. I cannot say enough good things about the dessert party, although we have always enjoyed Carthay Circle.

We are thinking of adding Max Pass for 3 days but since we don't arrive in Anaheim until 10:40, we will probably not add it on the first.

For WoC - any of it! I was there in February 2016 and ate at Carthay Circle with my best friend and my youngest son. The food was delicious but the pace was "leisurely", my youngest managed it but I'm afraid when I have both boys there (ages 7 & 5) it will be more of a fight to actually enjoy it. The foot at Ariels' doesn't appeal to me at all. But maybe the Trattoria? The dessert doesn't look that tasty to me either but having a dedicated sitting spot is appealing.

 

[Aladora]

For WoC - any of it! I was there in February 2016 and ate at Carthay Circle with my best friend and my youngest son. The food was delicious but the pace was "leisurely", my youngest managed it but I'm afraid when I have both boys there (ages 7 & 5) it will be more of a fight to actually enjoy it. The foot at Ariels' doesn't appeal to me at all. But maybe the Trattoria? The dessert doesn't look that tasty to me either but having a dedicated sitting spot is appealing.

For us, normal rules tend to go a bit out the window when we are on vacation. Our son is autistic and while he really does enjoy good restaurants, he finds the pacing hard to deal with. We allow him to bring his Nintendo DS to play (with headphones!) between courses and after he is done eating. Heck, there was one day when both he and DH had reached a bit of a breaking point so I left them sitting by a fence near Dumbo, playing on their electronic device of choice while I went off to grab FPs.

In our day to day life we try and push our son to stretch a bit beyond his comfort zone but Disney is somewhere that it is just not worth it to do that.

As usual, I digress. Wine Country Trattoria has been nice each time we have gone but it is never our first choice. The dessert party was perfect for us. We had a light meal at Alfresco Tasting Terrace around 4 and that was enough to tide us over until the bread basket, cheese and desserts at WOC.

 

[IheartRapunzel]

We are coming from Philly too!

How cool!! More people from Philly!!

 

[coloredimage]

I'll update the list later because I'm finally on vacation for the next month and I'm in the single digits!!!!!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... Our son is autistic and while he really does enjoy good restaurants, he finds the pacing hard to deal with... there was one day when both he and DH had reached a bit of a breaking point so I left them sitting by a fence near Dumbo, playing on their electronic device of choice while I went off to grab FPs...

Just a heads up that your arrival day is the annual CHOC Walk charity fundraiser at DLR. The Walk itself will be done by park opening, but the esplanade and parks, especially DL, will be crowded with walk participants. It will still be a very fun day, but depending on how your family does in crowded situations, you might need a little extra prep for that Sunday.

 

[Aladora]

Just a heads up that your arrival day is the annual CHOC Walk charity fundraiser at DLR. The Walk itself will be done by park opening, but the esplanade and parks, especially DL, will be crowded with walk participants. It will still be a very fun day, but depending on how your family does in crowded situations, you might need a little extra prep for that Sunday.

Thanks for the heads up! We land at SNA at 10:40 so by the time we get to GCH it will be 11:30ish. I'm hoping to go into DCA for a couple of hours until our room is ready and then back there to rest until later. That night is our only chance to see the fireworks so we may just hang at the hotel until after dinner and then hit DL at that point.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thanks for the heads up! We land at SNA at 10:40 so by the time we get to GCH it will be 11:30ish. I'm hoping to go into DCA for a couple of hours until our room is ready and then back there to rest until later. That night is our only chance to see the fireworks so we may just hang at the hotel until after dinner and then hit DL at that point.

That sounds like a good plan. Have a great trip!

 

[Gorillamac]

Check Mousesavers.com to see who's offering good deals right now on multi-day tickets. Getawaytoday.com, aRes.com, LMT.com, AAA, etc. all offer discounted tickets. If the ticket voucher has a bar code, you can take it straight to the gates. If you have to exchange it at the ticket booth, try to do it the night before. The booths stay open one hour after park closing.

So am I safe in assuming that if I order tickets directly from Disney I will be able to take them straight to the turnstyles? TIA

 

[Aladora]

So am I safe in assuming that if I order tickets directly from Disney I will be able to take them straight to the turnstyles? TIA

I'm pretty sure this is the case for not only tickets you get right from Disney but also a few other places as well. I am sure that the tickets we got through LMTClub were also ones that we could take right to the turnstiles. We chose to go to the ticket booth with ours but that was because we wanted to upgrade them to APs right away.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

So am I safe in assuming that if I order tickets directly from Disney I will be able to take them straight to the turnstyles? TIA

Any ticket voucher that comes with a bar code should be good to go straight to the turnstiles, whether it comes directly from Disney or from another source. PP is correct that LMT vouchers can be taken right to the turnstiles because they come with a bar code. This is also true for vouchers from AAA.

 

[endoux]

Max pass, any of you thinking about it?

We'll probably do MaxPass for 2 of our 5 days. There are 4 of us, so it's fairly expensive. We're doing a lot of park hopping those days, though, so it just makes sense.

 

[ezonline]

Only three more days and I'm so excited!! We are currently visiting my parents in the SF Bay Area. My mom has told everyone about our plans to go to DL, and that it is a surprise for my DD (10). I am amazed that DD still doesn't suspect a thing. Thursday morning is going to be so much fun! Never tried a surprise like this before. DH is home in Illinois - we're doing a Mommy/Daughter trip. So, Daddy is going to do FaceTime with DD to break the news and tell her about the trip. His way of being involved. Cannot wait!!!

 

[Sue M]

Well our trip starts in Aug, lol. We are flying from Vancouver to Ft Lauderdale late Aug, then to LAX for DL 9/6! Got the Canadian ticket offer for 5 day hopper! Staying off site at a hotel that's walking distance. Really looking forward to DL. Even though we're on the west coast we always go to WDW. I haven't been to DL in 34 yrs so it's really like a first visit, so many changes.

 

[Frozen2014]

Only three more days and I'm so excited!! We are currently visiting my parents in the SF Bay Area. My mom has told everyone about our plans to go to DL, and that it is a surprise for my DD (10). I am amazed that DD still doesn't suspect a thing. Thursday morning is going to be so much fun! Never tried a surprise like this before. DH is home in Illinois - we're doing a Mommy/Daughter trip. So, Daddy is going to do FaceTime with DD to break the news and tell her about the trip. His way of being involved. Cannot wait!!!

Do report back and let us know how the surprise goes!

 

[LoverDisney]

We got our travel documents from Costco today!! I saw the UPS guy just as I was coming home. 19 more days!!

 

[jcc0621]

We are coming from Philly too!

Roxborough here. You?