Disneyland 2013 (Day 1 )

Moments from Day 1 of Disneyland.

"Frozen" themed entrance.

Lots of time spent at Toontown.

Lots of Tater photos.

Even grown ups pose with characters (we had quite the chat with Jack).

The castle....sigh.

Sunday was Day 1. It was busy, but that was expected. We just skipped the long lines and took the crowds in stride. We hit the park at about 9 am (early for us) and stayed until closing at midnight. We did go back to the hotel for some chili, a nap, and to bundle up with coats and mittens.

Yes, there are many more photos to edit and share.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a magical day!

Navigating Disneyland on a Budget

While I'm not a certified Disneyland expert, I have been to the Parks a number of times in the past five years. With four kids teens. And a husband. Plus 2.

And if you haven't heard, it's expensive.

We're at Disneyland this week for a 5 night vacation (3 days at the Parks). So I thought I would share a few of my tried and true tips for keeping the budget balanced.

1.  Book a hotel room with a kitchen.

Go ahead and pay a little bit more. You will get your money back and save a bunch more also. And Anaheim is the perfect place to find a suite with a kitchen. That place knows how to cater to families! I don't cook every meal, but just one meal a day with a large family can add up to big savings. Plus, you get to skip the long waits for a table. And, you have some control over how healthy the meal is. Just how often can you eat a burger and chicken strips?

I'm planning on cooking 2 dinners on this trip, and 1 lunch. I decided on chili and spaghetti for dinners since they are fast and inexpensive. We'll just leave the park for a few hours, relax, eat dinner, then grab a coat and gloves for the cooler nights and head back for more fun. The lunch will be on a day that we are not going to Disneyland (a day of rest), so I plan to grill chicken by the pool (weather permitting).

2.  Consider a hotel with complementary breakfast and dinner receptions.

This is an option with lots of hotels near Disneyland. We have done this at Homewood Suites and Residence Inn. This trip we will be staying at a Staybridge Suites and they will be offering a light dinner on Tuesday to Thursday nights.

I have to admit that the food is ok. Not awesome. But you're not at home in your kitchen or paying $100 at IHOP. It's ok for the price. And if you get sick of the free breakfast, splurge one day and go out for a meal.

3.  We don't drink pop/soft drinks at meals.

This may seem obvious, but not to our family. I have to admit that we are a pop drinking family. But when we eat at Disneyland, we drink water. This kills my oldest kid, but it saves us $28/meal. $4 drinks x 7 adults/teens. Yep. That's a bunch of money. Plus, it's good for us to drink water. And we can always have a pop back at the hotel after a long day of walking!

3.  Have the kids carry a backpack and let them pack snacks and drinks for the day.

I make a Costco run and buy a bunch of individually packaged snacks either before I leave and bring them with me, or stop at a store near Disneyland.  In the past, I have been known to package snacks myself, using baggies. But this year I'm taking it down a notch and spending a bit extra to have everything ready to go.

Then, in the mornings, the kids pick out what they want for the day, grab a few cold waters out of the fridge, and they are good to go. But that doesn't mean that I deprive the kiddos of churros or mickey ice cream sandwiches.....

4.  Give the kids a set amount of money for snacks and souvenirs.

I give the kids (and us parents too) a set amount daily for park snacks and let them choose how to spend it. For our family, $10 a day works. That will buy 2 or 3 items per day. They have control over how to spend it. And they can choose to only spend some of it and save some for another day.

It's interesting watching their choices.  I have one kid that buys food as soon as he hits the park, and is broke within a few hours. I have another that saves his, then uses the money to buy something in the future, not even Disney related. And then there is the one who only buys 1 snack a day, but on that last day will go crazy and buy treats all day. The fourth one falls in the middle, with not set strategy.

Same idea with souvenirs.  Since my kids are a getting older, they don't get into all the toys like when they were little. So this trip we decided on $30 per kid. Again, the money is theirs to spend as they wish. But I do hold back until the last day to pass out the money. It's too tempting to make a decision on day 1, then regret it later and wish they could redo their purchase.

Well, that's my strategy for staying on a budget while visiting the happiest place on earth. I have friends that like to splurge when they travel and would hate all of these ideas, and that's okay. But I like to take at least 1 trip a year to Disneyland along with a few beach trips, so I like to travel on a budget and cram in as many family vacations as possible. Especially now that I can see them growing up so fast and a future where they may not be able to travel with us!

Have any ideas to share? I would love to hear from you. Just scroll down and leave me a comment.

Disneyland Christmas Photo Prompts

Just in case you have been to Disneyland a few times, and need a little inspiration for photo ideas....... 

I created this for myself, but thought maybe others would like a few photo hints.

Any questions on the prompts? Leave me a comment.

Any that Tater prompt? That's a personal one. That's my nickname for our little princess. Just go ahead and substitute that one with your little princess or pirate's name.

81 days (Disney Craft)

I've been planning on making a paper chain to help countdown the final 100 days until we leave for Disneyland.

Today was that day.

But apparently I can't count.

Turns out today is only 81 days until we leave.

That error works for me.....I'm 19 days closer to visiting the Mouse.

Anyways, I decided to use pipe cleaners rather than paper.

It's pretty simple, but here are some photos to help guide you:

pick out colors:

cut pipe cleaners in half:

make a circle, add another and another and another....

admire your hard work

And where did I hang my Disney chain? Right outside the front door, so we can pull off a chain every day when we head out of the house.

 

 



total cost: $3.28
total time: 15 min.

Now go have an awesome day!

Six on Saturday

We booked a trip for Disneyland this week. We'll be going in December. So this week's theme for Six on Saturday will be awesome photo ops from the happiest place on earth.

1.  Open...open...open



2.  DCA

3.  Walt and the Mouse

4.  Couple photo

5. Castle reflection

6.  Balloons

Orange Blossoms

I love, love, love the smell of orange blossoms. I'm sitting in my backyard right now, sniffing like crazy.  How many days until this fragrance is lost for another year?

My husband however does not appreciate the orange trees like I do. Since those blossoms make him sneeze like crazy! And since I've officially decided to keep him around, I guess I won't be able to have an orange orchard in my next backyard. Too bad. So sad.

And I just remembered that when we go to Disneyland over Spring Break, as you pass through the tunnel under the train tracks, and enter Main Street, you can smell orange blossoms. And that is just one reason why I love Disneyland in the spring.

Is there a fragrance you associate with spring? Or a particular smell that is linked to a memory for you?

Laughing Place

I know.
 

I had a Disney post not too long ago.
 

But these made me laugh out loud.
 

And everybody needs a laughing place. Right?



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5 Faves...Disney Style

fgtrAnyone who know me knows that I am a crazy Disneyland fan.

Like I want to go every 3 months or so.

Like I have withdrawal pain when I see a Disneyland commercial.

Or when I hear the fastpass whistle I feel like I'm getting stabbed in the heart (my daugher's text message alert on her cell).

Don't judge. That's all I'm asking.



(Yes, it is!)



 

 

 

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Palm Springs Recap

Here are a few photos from our Palm Springs getaway. It's really hard for me to narrow down which photos to post. And I change my mind from day to day (I've been thinking about this post for a few days now).

My view from the bed (after I jumped into the fluffy white cloud and made some happy noises.) The bed had these enormous throw pillows that I'm sure I need to get for our bed!

My artistic self portrait.

Mark enjoying a drink in the heat before heading out for Greek food.

 The Day of Love. Waiting for the tram to take us to Disneyland.

Riding the horse drawn carriage down Main Street.

Cars Land opened the week before our visit. We only went on 1 of the 3 new rides (long, long lines). This ride had a 2 1/2 wait, but if you went as a single rider, it was only a 45 min wait. That's why Mark is sitting by a stranger. I was in the next car, with a stranger. That's OK. Remember, we have been together for  20 years. We'll sit together another time. The ride was super fun. 

When we got to the park we made reservations for dinner at the Blue Bayou. Hey, it was a special day, and no kids, so we thought a $45 meal of steak and lobster sounded like a nice treat. But after a few hours we decided we really didn't want such a big meal. It would just make us tired and sluggish. So we cancelled the reservations. Later, we heard that you could purchase reserved seats for Fantasmic and get drinks and desert included. We were told it was expensive, but the best seats to enjoy the show. So Mark bought us tickets. $60 per person. It was ridiculously expensive. But it was great having a chair to sit in and the snack box was yummy. Cheeses, crackers, grapes, cheesecake, key lime pie, cookies. But it was awkward to juggle the tray and a drink in your chair. We probably won't do this again, but it was a nice treat. And the view was perfect!

I have more photos of the swanky hotel to share later (didn't want this post to be too long),

And if you want to travel to Disneyland with us sometime, just let me know. We're always up for a little Mouse lovin. (Mark says no more visits in 2012, but that's only 6 months until another visit could happen :)

Spring Break Mini Album

Hello everyone.  I know Spring Break was over 3 months ago, but I just now finished the mini album (started it yesterday). I even have some unfinished projects that are older (2011 December Daily would be one of them). So, I'm crazy about this album because it has lots of everything. Photos, receipts, brochures, journaling....but not lots of everything for every day. It just seems like the right balance for documenting the trip.

See all the bits and pieces sticking out? Love it!

I used a Smash book that I decorated before the trip. Just added random bits of paper and embellishments (Disneyland themed and colored) and stamps (ocean animals for the beach days). And I pulled a few things from my stash.

I packed a gallon size Ziploc bag in my purse to hold anything and everything I might want to save from the trip. I save everything that is flat and can be added to an album. Then I make decisions later as to what goes into the album and what gets tossed. This trip I saved extra copies of stuff to share with Chelsey, since she wanted to make her own album.

So, now we are back from the trip, photos are printed, and free time is available. I decorated the cover with a panda photo that was included in the photo pack I purchased at the San Diego Zoo. Didn't even know it was there until I was digging through my Ziploc bag! Out came the gel medium and I had an instant cover. I also added the Mickey key chain that I picked up while at Disneyland.

So here are a few of the pages out of the album.

Brochures and parking stubs for hotel.....

Simple pages...

pages with just journaling....

You can see that I used washi tape to layer photos again in the album. I like that I can fit so many photos on one page, but not have it so cluttered.

photo booth strips and entrance tickets to zoo....

Disneyland postcard (sent to my house before the trip) and my photo on the bottom...

lunch receipt and journaling...

Page documenting the trip cost.  I questioned doing this (do I want to share costs with other people that might see this album?), but in the end I wanted to include this because I have wanted to refer back to costs of previous trips before. And it will be fun to see what the costs are 10 years from now.

This is another first in a vacation mini album: the notes to self for future vacations. Sometimes the memories fade and I don't remember things that may be useful in the future. So now I have a place to note things.

I highly recommend these Smash books. They are just so fun and they come with the pen/glue stick attached to the book. The glue does not work great with photos, so I just use washi tape instead. The glue does work great with paper items though.

Have you used a Smash book yet? What project have you used your book for?