Post by alleinesein on Feb 14, 2018 20:50:25 GMT -5
My uncle won $100K from an Iowa Lotto scratcher. I found out about it while watching tv and he was in a commercial. He spent the money on a new car and paid off a bunch of medical bills. The $$ really helped him out at a time when he really needed it.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 14, 2018 16:23:57 GMT -5
Price out renting 2 studios at the Poly. It may be cheaper than a 2 bedroom.
Disney kinda failed with the 1 bedrooms- they really should have 2 beds in the bedroom. The extra space is nice but they dont hold any more people than a studio.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 14, 2018 0:18:50 GMT -5
My go to clothing for hot weather and theme parks is a swing dress or a LLR carly with a pair of skimmies underneath. They look cute, keep you cool and are comfy enough for climbing in and out of rides.
We already did this, didn't we? I remember going to food distribution centers, not food banks. These were different and had only government manufactured foods. Government cheese was the best!
I remember visiting the one in Des Moines, IA with my grandpa and great grandma. She is the one who was eligible and she would split the food with my grandparents and they would cover part of her grocery bill. I ate a lot of government cheese growing up along with farina, instant mashed potatoes, and grape juice. I'm sure she got other items but those were some of the things she shared with my grandparents. Government cheese made the best mac and cheese.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 13, 2018 17:03:14 GMT -5
The only studios that have 2 queen beds are at Old Key West.
Studios and 1 bedrooms will have 1 real bed and 1 pullout couch. There are some studios and 1 bedrooms that will also have a twin sized murphy bed or pullout chair.
If you want to be guaranteed that everyone has a real bed you need to book a 2 bedroom.
I'm glad to see good reviews! My boys are 4 and 7 and Lego obsessed. My husband is a very large child who still asks for Legos as gifts, too. The kids mentioned wanting to go to Disney, but aren't actually huge fans of anything Disney (except Cars, and that's not as big for them anymore).
I think we will make a trip out there this summer & stay at the hotel. I'm having to talk myself off of the edge from buying VIP passes. (It's ridiculous that there isn't a price break after the first pass! You only need one tour guide and it costs no more to have 4 people listening to a bedtime story than 1 person.)
We would probably go during the week, mid-June. Will SoCal kids still be in school?
Nope. Most locals will be out by mid June. The school year tends to end at the end of May/beginning of June.
They would lose so much money if they did. There are approx 1 million AP holders for DLR and the average price between the 4 passes is around $811. They are easily bringing in $500 to $800 million a year in just AP sales and it could even be as high as $1 billion if you factor in the Premier passes. And locals spend $$$ in the park; my mom and I spent around $1000 on our last trip to the park on food, merch and the spa at the Grand (it was mostly at the spa but totally worth it!). They really need to just eliminate the cheaper passes if they want to reduce the number of APs. Most of us who have the more expensive passes just suck it up and absorb the extra $15-20 a month because we are brainwashed by the mouse but the people with the SoCal pass would probably just drop their APs.
Most of us were expecting the big price jump to be next year closer to the opening of Galaxy's Edge.
Hopefully renewal rates will be posted soon. I need to know what to expect when I renew; at least I got an extra month out of my last renewal. I can't access the renewal rates because my pass doesn't expire until Nov.
What would really reduce the number of APs is if they got rid of the monthly payment option! It would be very difficult (either financially or just emotionally) for most people to plunk down $2-$4K for their family to have APs, but paying the downpayment plus the monthly fees makes it more palatable.
I read there was no more renewal discount for APs.
They haven't said that they are taking away the measly DVC AP discount so I should still be able to get a whole whopping $20 off my $999 AP renewal.
They added the payment plan many years ago to entice SoCal residents to the park. It used to just be limited to SoCal residents and then they opened it up to anyone in California and Baja. If they ever move to eliminate the payment plan I will just start buying Disney gift cards at a discount at Target and use that to pay. I can pick up 1-2 a month and put down a decent amount in GCs and pay the rest in cash.
Disney created their own monster and now they have to figure out how to deal with it. They wanted locals to come into the parks and spend money and we did in droves!
Post by alleinesein on Feb 13, 2018 0:22:12 GMT -5
Here is a good rough itinerary to start with; you can add or subtract things based on what the kids want to do.
Tip #1- Go on a Sunday and get there early. Saturdays are EMH for Disneyland and Fantasyland will already have lines when the park opens to the public. By going on a Sunday you dont have to compete with the EMH crowd.
Tip #2- Have one of the adults grab a few lockers so you can store stuff. The lockers inside the park can be insanely crowded so opt for the ones located outside of Disneyland; they are just to the left of guest services next to the bathrooms and picnic area. If you are bringing sack lunches for the kids this is a great location since you can just grab the food from the locker, eat lunch and herd everyone into the bathroom. Itinerary 7:00-7:30am- Arrive at Disneyland and park. This gives you time to get through security and get on the tram. Do a bathroom break before you go into the park. 8:00am- Park opens. Head immediately to Peter Pan and get in line. This will have the longest line in Fantasyland throughout the day so you might as well hit it first while the kids are excited. 8:00-10:00am- Hit up the rides in Fantasyland and head to IASW. After riding IASW pop into Toon Town. 11:00am- Bathroom and snack break then head over to the "princess" area next to the castle. Do the character meet and greets with the princesses and check the schedule for storytime in the theater. 12:00pm- Lunch. 12:00-3:00pm- Head over to Critter Country to ride Winnie the Pooh and character meet and greets with the Pooh gang. Then head back towards Fantasyland stopping at Haunted Mansion (if the kids want to do it), Pirates, Jungle Cruise and Tiki Room. 3:00pm- Try to catch Mickey and the Magical Map at the Fantasyland Theater. It is a great way to let the kids rest and it is in the shade.
Other things to add in/consider 1. Designate one adult as a runner for FPs. There really wont be many rides that the kids can get FPs for but Buzz is one of the rides that they will probably like and it does offer a FP. Have one adult take all the tickets over and get fast passes for the group. They can do this while you are doing a bathroom break. 2. Have the girls pick their top 3 rides and use that to come up with a game plan. If everyone wants to do the same thing it makes life easier but you may have girls that have been to the park before and want to ride the more adventurous rides. Consider splitting up into groups if you have some kids who might be a bit scared of riding some stuff. 3. Parades should be back later this spring and they are supposed to be moving the Pixar Play parade to Disneyland. It is really cute and the kids will probably love it if they have seen Pixar movies. 4. If it is anyone's first visit to the park get them a button from guest services. You can also grab the "i'm celebrating" buttons that the girls can wear. 5. Get some sort of wristband that the kids can wear with your cell phone #s on it in case they get lost. Tell the girls to find a friendly cast member and have them call you. 6. Group photos- Castle pics can be a total PITA but sometimes they have a photopass photographer off to the side of the castle over by the princess area. They can coordinate a group shot. Other locations are at the entrance with the flower mickey head and train station in the background. 7. Character Meet and Greets. Do not miss the princesses; they are a lot of fun and they are really great with kids. 8. Jedi Training Academy- If you have any young padawans in your group they may want to do this. You will need to register when you get in the park and everyone who wants to participate needs to be present to register. If they are all into Star Wars this would be one really great activity.
Food. Since you can't feed them a steady diet of churros and dole whips you may want to get them something a bit healthier. If you opt for the bring your own you are all set. If you plan on treating the girls to food in the park there are a few places that are good for large groups. Rancho del Zocalo has a decent amount of seating and has shade; it is mexican so if you have picky eaters they may turn up their noses but you can grab them food elsewhere and bring it over. Red Rockets Pizza Port has pizza, pasta, salads and lots of seating. The pizza can be $$ but the pasta dishes are reasonable and they are big enough to share- the spaghetti and meatballs can easily feed 3-4 kids.
How fun! Come the weekend before Memorial Day, maybe we will see you lol. The SoCa discount pass ends the Thursday (I think) before Memorial Day. Last year it made crowds crazy high right before it expired. I'm really hoping it isn't as bad this year as that's when we are going, the discount isn't as good as last year but who knows.
We were up there last year on the last day that the SoCal tickets were valid and it was a nightmare. They didn't have enough staff to handle the amount of people and it took us over an hour just to get into the Mickey and friends parking garage. We were there for a special movie preview for Pirates and even at 8am it took us almost an hour to make the u-turn at Disneyland Dr and Ball.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 12, 2018 19:46:37 GMT -5
Be very careful with weekends in May. The SoCal resident ticket deal that is going on right now ends in May and the park gets stupid busy as people try to use up their tickets.
I'll come up with a rough plan of attack tonight and post it
They are killing us out here in CA. My AP went up almost $200- I currently pay $799 (renewal rate; pass is normally $849) and the new price is $999 and I have no idea what the renewal rate will be.
I really feel like they’re going to phase out APs totally in DL. Or just keep raising prices to the point nobody can afford them so basically the same thing.
They would lose so much money if they did. There are approx 1 million AP holders for DLR and the average price between the 4 passes is around $811. They are easily bringing in $500 to $800 million a year in just AP sales and it could even be as high as $1 billion if you factor in the Premier passes. And locals spend $$$ in the park; my mom and I spent around $1000 on our last trip to the park on food, merch and the spa at the Grand (it was mostly at the spa but totally worth it!). They really need to just eliminate the cheaper passes if they want to reduce the number of APs. Most of us who have the more expensive passes just suck it up and absorb the extra $15-20 a month because we are brainwashed by the mouse but the people with the SoCal pass would probably just drop their APs.
Most of us were expecting the big price jump to be next year closer to the opening of Galaxy's Edge.
Hopefully renewal rates will be posted soon. I need to know what to expect when I renew; at least I got an extra month out of my last renewal. I can't access the renewal rates because my pass doesn't expire until Nov.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 11, 2018 23:22:25 GMT -5
They are killing us out here in CA. My AP went up almost $200- I currently pay $799 (renewal rate; pass is normally $849) and the new price is $999 and I have no idea what the renewal rate will be.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 10, 2018 19:45:29 GMT -5
I like the Toy Story ones with Rex.
I just ordered these last week and the Etsy shop I got them from has some really cute ears. The shop name is TheAvengears if you want to check them out.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 10, 2018 7:16:33 GMT -5
There arent that many rides with FPs in CA. If she has a ticket for the park she needs a FP. Everyone needs to scan their ticket in the FP return line.
Check the list of rides that have FP. It might be a huge waste of money if you cant ride anything and if she isnt tall enough. It isnt like WDW where everything has a FP; out here it is mainly the thrill rides.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 7, 2018 23:36:57 GMT -5
I'd put in a request now and hope that someone with home resort priority can book something ASAP. Another option to consider when you put in a request is the Treehouse Villas at SSR; they sleep 9 and have 3 bedrooms (1 queen, 1 queen, bunk beds and the couch and chair pull out in the living room). They are just a tad bit more $ than a 2 bedroom but way cheaper than a 3 bedroom.
edit- oh wait I see, floods .. no they are full Length leggings, I put on ankle boots and walk around and the leggings inch up slowly and a sort of bunched look forms
Do they hit right above the ankle bone (like a bootie) or are they proper ankle boots that actually cover the ankle? If they hit right at the bone your shoes are the problem not your leggings. The friction from the shoe moving while you walk is making the leggings ride up because they hit at about the same place on your ankle.
My favorite movie theater by my house (where I plan to see the film on opening night) is currently only showing 2 showtimes for Black Panther. But if you go on Fandango, there are about 10 showings. I can't help but wonder if this is more than an innocent mistake and someone is hoping for low ticket sales.
I was thinking it was just a mistake, but given the recent lack of publicity for Proud Mary and articles like the one here, I can't help but wonder.
Certain chains are really bad about posting movie times that are more than a few days out. It is really annoying. One of our local ones did it with Coco; they waited until the wednesday prior to post showtimes.
I've met Guy and he was really nice. We were both staying at the Grand Californian for the weekend and our rooms were right down the hall from each other so we kept running into each other. He was there for an event at the DCA Food and Wine festival and he had his family with him. He reminds me of some of the guys I hung out with in high school.
I'll get to meet Duff in April so it will be interesting to see what he is like in person.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 3, 2018 22:41:25 GMT -5
Do you have a connecting flight? Could you get beer at the airport and just carry it onboard? Our bigger breweries all sell their stuff at the airport and you can just grab and go.
I house/dog sit for a friend. I sleep in the master because that is where the dog sleeps and she is used to sleeping with a human. The dog isn't allowed in the guest bedroom or the guest house so I sleep where she sleeps; she is getting old and her hearing is failing so she likes being near a human.
My friend made me write out a list of food that i like and she stocks up the fridge for me and also leaves some $$. She usually buys me way too much food and I end up bringing most of it home with me. I can eat whatever I want from their pantry and the garden; if I end up house sitting during strawberry season I get fresh berries every day. I also have access to pot baked goods (cookies and brownies) that they keep in the freezer; too bad I dont partake in that stuff.
Post by alleinesein on Feb 1, 2018 16:11:40 GMT -5
Thin Mints and Toffeetastic. The graham cracker smores are pretty good but I have to drive to another county to find them since my council only has the sandwich version.
They have a bad habit of getting rid of the cookies that I like- Lemon Chalet cremes, the cranberry ones, the really good cinnamon ones, etc.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 30, 2018 22:50:12 GMT -5
You need at least 4 days to do the parks if you do one park per day, 1 day for rest and pool time and at least 1 day to go back to the parks to check out what you missed. Travel days can be a wash depending on your flight times.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 30, 2018 19:44:49 GMT -5
Boba Fett was out?!?!? I always seem to miss him!
Thor and Loki are so much fun although Thor wouldn't talk to me the last time I was up there. He did not approve of my plan with Loki to cause some chaos and destruction in the park.
Rooms in the Grand aren't any closer than staying in the Adventure or Fantasy tower at the DLH. I was just up there a few weeks ago and we were in the DVC wing at the end of the hallway. The hotel doesn't look that big but because of how it is laid out you could have a hike to your room. There is a lot of backtracking through the hotel if you enter via the DD entrance because the elevators are in the lobby. Besides if you stay at the DLH hotel you can hop on the monorail to leave the park and then it is just a quick 1 minute walk to your room. I am not looking forward to them building the new hotel in DD; it is going to impact all of the hotels and cut off monorail access for quite awhile.
Pooh never has a line. We complain if it is a 5 minute wait. I think that people forget about it because it is over in Critter Country instead of Fantasyland.
Was your EMH morning with the delay at Disneyland? They have been horrible about opening the main gates and getting people into the park for EMH the past few times I have been up there. For some reason they are doing the "first family in the park" thing during EMH and they wont even open the gates until they do their little photo op. It is very annoying. DCA has been super awesome about letting people into the park (via the main gate) 10-15 minutes before EMH starts. We had one morning where they let us in 15 minutes early and then they did rope drop 5 minutes before opening. We were walking onto TSM before EMH even started. It was great!
origami , I’m glad I’m not the only one that went to the wrong area! I think legoland resort is the first location that came up on my phone so I picked that figuring signs would take us to the park but nope. Kind of like how Disney calls everything Walt Disney World resort. Then I see signs all over the park that say Legoland resort. 🤷🏻♀️
On my google maps the address is 1 Legoland Drive, which I assume is correct, but it has the point is a street over - Grand Pacific or something. So my directions are still wrong. And I just realized if I had driven from the north it would have made me pass the correct street to go to the wrong one!
That would be Grand Pacific Palisades resort on Armada Drive. It is right next to the Legoland parking lot but for some reason they did not put the entrance in an easy to get place. I hated getting off work when Legoland closed; so many tourists could not navigate the roundabout at Legoland drive and Armada. Legoland is super easy to find if you actually follow the directions on their website because they tell you to take Cannon Rd. Most of the apps will route you to the staff parking lot off of Palomar Airport Rd.
Post by alleinesein on Jan 30, 2018 13:45:56 GMT -5
Getting around WDW is a pita. Rent the car. You wont need it to get to the studios or epcot but it will be worth it to get to the magic kingdom and animal kingdom. The disney busses can get crowded and you will have to constantly unload and fold up your stroller.
*shrugs* I live in San Diego and we usually have some of the highest gas prices in the US. Prices are always fluctuating so I only notice if they creep up near $4 a gallon.
I don't think it is a shrug. Republicans are pushing this tax break and how it is so good for the average American, but gas is up. Groceries are up. I don't know if it was here or another board but someone was mentioning toilet paper going from $16-22 since the summer. If I were a Dem I would be talking about this everywhere. People don't immediately notice these incremental increases but this COLA and tax cut are going to be eaten up.
I think we are just so used to seeing prices go up and down all the time that it is our "normal". Even just driving around the county you see a huge difference in gas prices- yesterday I saw premium for $3.41, $3.73 and $5.99 within a 20 mile radius of my house.