Jan
30
Posted by Hollyann
Well, much as I would have liked to say that I was staying at the Beaver Super 8, it’s just not going to happen. So sad. But the good news is, it’s not going to happen because I am never going to be driving through Utah on this particular trip! Side note here for those that do not know… I hate driving through Utah. In fact, I usually put $85 in the vacation budget when the vacation requires driving through Utah, because historical data says I hate driving through Utah so very much that I generally do it at about 95 miles an hour to get it over with quicker. Resulting, at least twice, in the $85 speeding ticket from the Utah State Patrol. They probably won’t be able to have caviar at their Policeman’s Ball this year or something. Getting back on topic here, we will now be flying to Las Vegas and renting a car and driving to Oceanside from there, then doing the reverse on the way home. Yippee!
I don’t particularly like flying, but anything that gets me out of driving through Utah and spending 24 hours total in the car with my kids who really just want to get to the ‘fun’ part of vacation and don’t ride well to begin with, total bonus. We got a reasonably good deal on the flight, which leaves from and returns to Colorado Springs, not Denver, and we will be spending a night in Vegas on a weeknight, which means they practically pay you to take a hotel room. Another side note… Las Vegas is the only place I have ever seen where the same room you pay $18 to stay in on Thursday is $230 on Friday and people are fine with it. Completely bizarre. Anyhow, the other big benefit (for me and Todd, anyways) is that flying buys us pretty much an extra day on each end of the trip. Which means I don’t have to miss a full day of classes (we do leave on a Thursday, which is a school day for me, but takeoff is at 9:10pm) and we all get home on a Saturday afternoon and have Sunday to recover before the kids go back to school. Also, it seems I will get to drive a Dodge Charger (or similar) while on vacation. I don’t have much patience with ‘or similar’ so the Thrifty people may end up feeling the wrath of Holly if I don’t get the Charger. Click HERE to see the beauty. They’re so cool the cops drive them here in the Springs.
The kids have never been on a plane before, and I pretty much load up on Xanax and Patron to fly, so it should be pretty interesting… for Todd. Heh.
Here’s our revised itinerary:
3/18 – Fly out of Colorado Springs (Allegiant Air) to Las Vegas. Flight leaves at 9:10, so we will probably leave for the airport around 6, because my husband is a complete nutcase about that. (missed his flight out to Iraq, oops) Pick up the Thrifty rental Charger at the airport in Vegas and proceed to the Tuscany Suites and Casino and crash.
3/19 – Drive from Las Vegas to Oceanside, CA. We are staying at the Days Inn Oceanside.
3/20 – Sea World
3/21 – Legoland
3/22 – Drive from Oceanside to Anaheim, check in at the GC*s*, kids to Pinocchio’s Workshop in the GC*s* at 8, Todd and I dine at Steakhouse 55 in the Dinseyland Hotel at 8:30.
3/23 – Disneyland, early entry day, Todd and Kayla eat with the princesses at Ariel’s Grotto at 4:50.
3/24 – Disneyland, we all have breakfast with various Disney woodland creatures (technically I believe its called the Chip n Dale character breakfast, usually we get Meeko, Kenai, Koda, and Baloo too, sometimes Rafiki) at the Storyteller’s Cafe in the GC*s* at 7. This will probably also be the day I run to Knott’s Berry Farm to buy fudge and dip mix.
3/25 – Disneyland – watch this space. Some of you may have noticed that Kayla gets ’special time’ with Daddy but Charlie doesn’t. I’m still researching. 
This is also an early entry day.
3/26 – Disneyland – we got nothing planned, it’s our last day there, so I probably won’t plan anything.
3/27 – Drive from Anaheim to Las Vegas, turn in the car, and catch the flight (Allegiant again) home to Colorado Springs. Flight leaves at 2pm, so we will probably have to leave Anaheim at the crack of dawn. 
Jan
24
Posted by Hollyann
Today is 60 days from the last day of my time at Disneyland. Know what that means? I get to call and make my Priority Seatings! For non-Disneygeek peeps, you may know these as ‘restaurant reservations’. East coast Disneygeeks know it as ‘Advance Dining Reservations’. Us west coast Disneygeeks just call it PS. And we don’t get to make them 6 months in advance like the east coasters do. Anyhoo… I wanted one dinner for me and Todd at one of the nice hotel restaurants (Napa Rose in the Grand Californian *swoon*, or Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Hotel), one dinner at Blue Bayou for all of us, one character breakfast at Storyteller’s Cafe (also in the Grand Californian*swoon*) for all of us, and one character dinner at Ariel’s Grotto for Todd and Kayla as their ‘special time’. So, first up, where am I stashing my kids while Todd and I are romantically dining on fine Californian cuisine or steak? Good question. We are staying at the Grand Californian *swoon* and they happen to have a little daycare thingymabobber. Only they call it ‘child entertainment center, in true Disney fashion. It’s called Pinocchio’s Workshop, good for kids 5-12 and open til midnight. Sweet. And, they take reservations. Sweet again. Now that I have that figured out, I guess I better make the PS call before I decide what time the kids are going to PW. BTW (hehe) I am going to start abbreviating everything, just like on all the Disney message boards, because this is a lot of typing. I’ll type things out at least twice before I start though, so if you get confused and whatnot, just scroll back or something.
Now, in general, making PS calls for Disneyland Resort is sort of a thing where you go to the bathroom, get a snack and a drink, perhaps a decent book, and definitely a notebook and a pen, with your *preferred* stuff written on it. Oh, and a calendar, because nothing ever works out the way you want it to ahead of time and there are adjustments galore. So I do all this. My biggest issues when sitting down are that I have no idea what the park hours are while we are there and that I have no clue if PW will take reservations 60 days out too, or if I have to wait longer to get the kid care arranged. As it turns out, neither of these are actually the main problem, but I digress.
First thing, make a reservation for Steakhouse 55. It’s a bit cheaper than Napa Rose, and I didn’t have to google anything on the menu to figure out what it was, so I figured that was a total win-win. PS lady says to me, “what time would you like?” Well, how should I know? is what I am thinking but what I say is “I’m not really sure, do you happen to know the park hours that week?” PS lady replies “Looks like 8am to midnight the whole week.” Now what am I thinking now? I’m thinking “Woohooooooooo! Happy happy joy joy! Extended hours on a week that isn’t actually counted as spring break until the last day we are there!!!”. Also, there may have been dancing. What do I say? “Well, alright, what is the latest time? 9 you say? I’ll take 830.” Done. Yippee!
Next up, dinner at the Blue Bayou. My favoritest restaurant anywhere. PS lady and I are now like best friends, so I tell her “Tuesday, 5:30, 4 of us now” and she says ok, but then she says… “Uh-oh”. Uh-oh is not what I want to hear right now, but I am all kinds of adjustable on times and even, although slightly less, adjustable on days, so no big. Except apparently in this case it is big, because “Uh-oh” translates to “Your favoritest restaurant anywhere is actually closing for refurbishment the day before you get to Anaheim, so no stuffed mushrooms for you.” Damn. I ended up making a PS for Cafe Orleans instead, but I am thinking I’m gonna end up canceling that. (more in a bit).
Next, breakfast. No issues there, we are eating an hour before the park opens on Wednesday with the characters and the yummy french toast. Done.
Next, dinner for Todd and Kayla with the princesses. Only problem there is the closest time they have to 5 is 4:50. So, no problem at all. But I am thinking I cancel the Cafe Orleans PS on Tuesday and move the princess dinner from Wednesday into Tuesday’s spot. In fact, I’m gonna do that right now. Ok, that was fast, all set though.
Now, I’m done! No, wait, I am not, I have no one keeping my kids while I eat steak. I call the hotel, explain what I want, and the very nice GC*s* man says he thinks that PW only takes reservations 30 days in advance but he will see what he can do. He’s able to make them now, yay! One less thing to worry about later. I tell him we are going to Steakhouse 55 at 8:30, and he says that they only book on the hour but that will work out perfect. So the kids are in at PW at 8pm. Will they need dinner, he asks? Nope, my kids wait til after 8 to eat dinner? Never, I will feed them before they come. Have you been to the Steakhouse before, he asks? Nope, first time, actually. Really? Here’s how you walk there. Here’s what I think is yummy. Also, you should keep it in mind for breakfast, one of the best kept secrets at the resort. Keep in mind, I know they are both Disney hotels, but this is all info he is handing out for a restaurant at a different hotel! This is why GC is always followed by *swoon* here. Well, one of the many reasons.
So, all the reservations are done, and here’s how it shakes out into our itinerary:
3/18 – drive from Colorado Springs to St George, UT. We are staying at the Days Inn St George. Travel hotels are cheap because we wanted to save our $ for the GC*s*.
3/19 – drive from St George to Oceanside, CA by way of Las Vegas. We are staying at the Days Inn Oceanside.
3/20 – Sea World
3/21 – Legoland
3/22 – drive from Oceanside to Anaheim, check in at the GC*s*, kids to Pinocchio’s Workshop in the GC*s* at 8, Todd and I dine at Steakhouse 55 in the Dinseyland Hotel at 8:30.
3/23 – Disneyland, early entry day, Todd and Kayla eat with the princesses at Ariel’s Grotto at 4:50.
3/24 – Disneyland, we all have breakfast with various Disney woodland creatures (technically I believe its called the Chip n Dale character breakfast, usually we get Meeko, Kenai, Koda, and Baloo too, sometimes Rafiki) at the Storyteller’s Cafe in the GC*s* at 7. This will probably also be the day I run to Knott’s Berry Farm to buy fudge and dip mix.
3/25 – Disneyland – watch this space. Some of you may have noticed that Kayla gets ‘special time’ with Daddy but Charlie doesn’t. I’m still researching. This is also an early entry day.
3/26 – Disneyland – we got nothing planned, it’s our last day there, so I probably won’t plan anything.
3/27 – drive from Anaheim to Beaver, UT. We are staying at the Beaver Super 8. This, to me, sounds vaguely pornographic when I say it out loud, but that could just be me.
3/28 – drive from Beaver to Colorado Springs.