Disfans

This is a great idea, a friend of mine just sent me. A temporary tattoo for your child, with your cell phone number pre-printed on it. If your child becomes lost at Disneyland, he or she has your cell phone number on their arm, so when the child is found you can be contacted immediately. Safety Tat
Personally, I think this is a fantastic idea even for an older child. I thought my school aged children knew my cell phone number, because we had practiced it over and over, and I thought they had it memorized. I found out differently, to my surprise.

My then 12 year old daughter went on a field trip with her girl scout troop to the movies. Their leader made a decision to go to a different theater, with a different movie time. The leader couldn’t find my cell number in her phone, and my daughter couldn’t tell her what the number was. My daughter was safely under the supervision of an adult this time, but what if she had gotten separated from her group? She wouldn’t have been able to call me even if she could have found a phone, because she didn’t remember the number I thought she had memorized. This temporary tattoo would have helped.

My daughter is now old enough to carry a small cell phone in her purse when she goes out, with my number programmed in. My son, however, is an active 9 year old and while I still recite my cell phone number for him to memorize, I’m getting the temporary tattoos for outings.

I love that they have included some for special needs kids, who may not be able to speak, have autism or food allergies. As the mother of a special needs child I appreciate this aspect of this product immensely. This kind of information is essential in an emergency, difficult to obtain from a child in an emergency situation, and even more critical if you are separated from your child when the emergency occurs.

If you have already tried this product, please leave a comment and tell me what you think. I’ll be giving it a try the next time I’m bound for Disney, and I’ll let you know my thoughts as well.

After a long journey, we arrived in Orange County, CA at 9:30 in the morning. A great advantage to flying early in the morning, is that we arrive early in the morning. This is a very cool thing to me, that Disneyland has over Disney World. When you fly to Florida, unless you’re on Eastern Time already, you pretty much lose a whole day for travel. Not so flying into California, I always feel like I’ve gained a day, if I fly in early enough.

The kids were immediately appreciative of the cooler temperatures in the OC. Back home, even at 9:30 in the morning, it was at least 90 degrees. At John Wayne that morning, we were grazing 75 degrees.

We stood in line for our rental car at Hertz, because I don’t rate #1 Plus Gold Membership. I had rented an economy car to save on our expenses. The nice lady at the counter asked if we’d like to upgrade to a Solara for $10/day extra. It amounted to about $60 dollars, and I figured I had saved that much on the rental car by booking through Travelocity, so I said “why not!”.

The kids were enchanted with the concept of a convertible. They claimed to have never ridden in one before. (this I don’t quite believe… but they were excited about it) The extra $60 was worth it because one of the kids claimed this to be our best vacation ever. After a quick stop at IHOP, across the street (almost literally) from John Wayne Airport, we sallied forth.

I grew up in Southern California, but I still get lost on the freeways. I highly recommend getting a map, and directions from the person at the rental counter. I consulted my Hertz map, and set off in search of a Target.

On this day, we had PLENTY of time, so I figured we’d find a local Target before heading to our hotel. My daughter needed a swimsuit, and due to recent changes in security restrictions, I didn’t pack a lot of toiletries. Target stocks a large number of sample sizes of shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and any other toiletry item a person might require on a short visit to California. I also make it a habit to purchase a 24 pack of bottled water at Target before checking in to any hotel. You never want to drink tap water in a hotel, and while most hotels offer bottled water in vending machines or even in the rooms, the prices are outrageous. For example, at a recent hotel stay, Aquafina water was stocked in our room for the bargain price of $3 per bottle. Across the street at Target, I purchase 24 bottles of water for approximately $4.

If you stay near Disneyland on Harbor Blvd, Target is located on Harbor, just past Chapman on the left hand side. You can find toiletries, clothing, and beverages and snacks for your hotel room, at a very economical price. The nearest Walmart, is on Euclid, in the Anaheim Plaza. Head North on 5, and exit at Euclid.

Comfort Inn Maingate

We purchased our supplies and found our hotel, right off the Harbor Blvd exit on the 5 Freeway. Well, not right directly off the freeway. It’s a short drive down Harbor Blvd, on the right hand side before Chapman. My first impression of the hotel, was that its smaller than any other place I have stayed before, but I knew it would be, this being a 2 Star hotel.

I have no trouble with a 2 Star hotel, as long as it is clean and well kept. The lobby was very small, but clean and well kept up. The staff at the front desk was courteous, and we were in and out in just a few minutes.

There was just a parking lot, no security, and the pool was a very small one, located in a corner of the parking lot. Our room was on the back side of the hotel, away from the parking lot. It seemed very quiet and a nice location, but this was just after noon, and most hotels are pretty quiet at that time of day. It was away from the street and there was no noise from the street as far as I could tell.

The room itself, was not as small as my first impression. We had booked a 2 double, kids suite, and it was actually quite large for a 2 star room. It appeared very clean, and once we figured out the air conditioning, very pleasant. 2 Double beds in the main room, with a bathroom,refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, television and desk.

Just off the main room, where there would ordinarily be a connecting door to the room next door, was a door with glass windows, through which was a bunk bed, television, child’s table and chair set, and best of all.. a full bathroom. The kids loved the bunk bed, with the thoughtful touch of reading lights with their own light switches above each bed.

Everything seemed clean and well kept, so I unpacked our bags, and set about trying to find a place to plug in the trusty laptop, video camera, and cell phone. Since I wanted to sit on the bed and watch TV, rather than sit at the desk and work, I tried to plug in near the bed. The light was plugged in, and the alarm clock, and as I reached to unplug one, I noticed the lamp cord was extremely frayed, and the plastic end of the plug was actually melted. I unplugged both the lamp and the alarm clock and moved the edge of the bed away from the outlet. That melted plug frightened me a little bit, and I worried that the bedding could catch fire.

There was another plug in the wall nearby the other bed, so I just moved over and tried to plug in there. My computer’s plug actually fell out of the outlet. This was not good, I was getting a bit frustrated. I moved over to the desk, plugged the computer in, and turned the overhead light on, which flickered constantly. Three strikes on electricity. Now I was left with the light from our window, and the light in the bathroom to read by.

Before we went out the next morning, I called the front desk and told them about the electrical problems. They offered to send someone out right away to fix them. We spent the day out at California Adventure, and by the time we returned, the major issues were fixed. The reading light over the desk no longer flickered, and the plug for the lamp over the bed was repaired.

My only other complaint about the hotel, was that the water in the shower fluxuated in temperature while you’re in there. It can be quite annoying to have to dodge out of the way when the water suddenly shoots up 10 degrees. It happened every time I was in the shower, not just during the busy “morning rush” times either. We skipped the parks on Saturday, and slept in late, but the water temp was jumping up and down even when the main rush of people had already left the hotel.

Our stay at Comfort Inn Maingate was mostly pleasant and quiet. There was no street noise from Harbor Blvd, as our room was located on the back side of the hotel. The swimming pool was very small and located across the parking lot, we did not use it. We were visiting my parents while we were in Southern California, and used their pool instead. If we had not had the other pool to go to, we possibly would have used the hotel pool, but it did seem inconvenient to have to walk across the parking lot, to use a very small pool.

Our room was on the ground floor, and while it was quiet 99% of the time, when the upstairs neighbors came in, every movement they made was loud and jarring downstairs in our room. The first night we were there, the neighbors came in at midnight, and proceeded to spend the next hour getting ready for bed, with much stomping and banging. The children and I were both awakened by the noise. The neighbors didn’t seem to be making a lot of noise on purpose, it was just the normal activities of using the bathroom, and settling down for the night, which made a lot of noise downstairs. This continued for each night of our stay.

The hotel offers a “continental” style breakfast in the morning, and honestly, we did not partake of their breakfast. I had read that it was a very small buffet, seating is limited by space, and we had many other offerings to choose from. I did manage to snap a quick photo of the outdoor seating for the continental breakfast on our way out of the parking lot one morning.

It seems best that we avoided it. Harbor Blvd has many different restaurants to chose from. Dennys, IHop, and Carrows to name a few. There are also many fast food places for the budget conscious. Another option that I have used from time to time is to buy breakfast food at a grocery store, such as cold cereal

and milk, with paper bowls and spoons, for the kids to eat in the room before we leave. Most rooms have small refrigerators and microwaves available. Making your own breakfast and eating it before you leave, is by far the least expensive option if you want to avoid the free breakfast buffet.

All in all, the Comfort Inn, Maingate was a very pleasant, clean place to stay. There were a few, minor problems, but I have no major complaints about the place, and it was very clean and comfortable for me and the kids. The staff was helpful and nice, and it suited our purposes very nicely. I’m glad to know there is an affordable place that offers a kids suite. Its so nice to have a private bedroom and bathroom for the children so I’m not forced to go to bed when they do, and so I have a private bathroom to myself.

So what is a Disneyland bound traveler to do when their budget is small.. and travel packages are waaaay too expensive? That’s the question I asked myself after I finished breathing into a paper bag. I freaked out a little, pondered… fiddled and tweaked the packages online, and moped and fretted. After I was done, I shook myself, got a grip and went back to work.

I consulted my trusty copy of “The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2006″ ..

I took some of their advice, and checked with AAA, Costco, and Expedia. I changed my flight, and I changed my hotel, and I saved a lot of money.
Normally, when traveling with the entire family, we will choose, for the sake of convenience, a non-stop flight. With 3 kids and a wheelchair, and various paraphenalia required for our Special Needs child, its so much easier to travel if we don’t have to deplane, and find another plane, etc. You can imagine the hassle we avoid by paying the higher price for a non-stop flight.

This time, it will just be me and 2 able bodied children, ages 12 and 8. They aren’t toddlers anymore, and can manage quite well with minimal assistance from me, so a stop in Denver won’t kill us. These kids have traveled quite a bit, so they know they will have to tote their own backpacks, and they’ve experienced the joys of Airport security and air travel before.

So instead of flying on the pricier American Airlines, non-stop round trip, we’ll be going on Frontier Airlines, and making a stop in Denver. The plane also leaves bright and early, Thursday morning, at 6:50am. My husband is not so happy to drive us to the airport at 4AM, but he did volunteer.

In addition, I skipped the pricier hotels, and went for a 2 star hotel, that I haven’t stayed at before, The Comfort Inn, Maingate, in Anaheim. They offered a Kids Suite, with 2 bathrooms, and include Continental Breakfast. My kids love to partake of a hotel breakfast, so we’ll check it out.

With an economy car from Hertz, the total package cost $1409.63. Thats right… I’m under my budget, by $90.37. Yes, its a 2 star hotel, we’re making a pitstop in Denver, and I haven’t bought my Disney tickets yet… but I’m happy.

I really, really, really wanted to stay at Paradise Pier. I love staying at Disney hotels. HOWEVER. The only room available, was a standard room, for which I would be paying a premium price. If this was a trip just for me, I’d be fine and happy. Picture me in a room with two arguing kids, hot and sweaty from Disneyland, and nowhere to go. All there is in the room, is a bathroom and 2 beds. That’s no fun. I’m not one of those people who goes to bed early on vacation. I like to sit up and watch tv or read and relax, and with 2 kids with me, I often have one of them go to sleep first, and send the other in after that first child is sleeping. In a one room, two bed situation.. its lights out for everyone at the same time. None of us would have been happy with that, and I sure don’t want to pay extra money for it.

Right now, I’m happy with the room I chose. Its a Kid Suite, with a bunk bed, and two bathrooms, microwave and refrigerator. I have not stayed at this hotel before, but I don’t mind trying a new place, so I can tell y’all about it. I’ll write about some of my other favorite places in another post.

So here are my money saving tips for this post.

1. If you don’t mind changing planes, do it. Non-stop flights are more expensive, you pay for the luxury of flying straight through to your destination. Also, early morning flights are less often chosen by travelers, and airlines will give a better price for them.

You should keep in mind, however, who you are traveling with. Young children and toddlers, and special needs children and adults will not do as well on a 1 or 2 stop flight. Don’t torture yourself and your fellow passengers, opt for a nonstop flight, you will be glad you did. I’ll also try to schedule flights for young children, when they are more likely to nap. If you have a way to upgrade to First Class, by all means go for it. The extra space is so worth it when you are traveling with children.

2. There are sooo many hotels to choose from. Shop around and find one with a price and comfort level you are happy with. Don’t settle for a Standard Double room at Disney, when you can find a much nicer room for less money, less than a block from the park. One of the main differences between Disneyland and Disney World, is that there are many more hotels that are “offsite” to choose from, and competition is a good thing. There are many different price ranges, and different rooms and accommodations to suit any need. It just takes a little legwork to find the best deal.

3. When you have tons of time to plan, check with Costco and see what travel plans they offer.

4. Automobile Club (AAA) can get you discounted hotel room rates, and upgrades and discounts on rental cars.

Now, I have to pack.. our flight leaves in the morning.