Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM

I just bought my National Parks Passport a few weeks ago at age 45. I LOVE it.......my only regret is that I didnt buy it years ago!

Jason, This is the best trip report!!! I love how you two travel! The Disneyland pictures are getting to me...............A week ago today, we were still there...........I miss it........... Can't wait for more!!! Heidi

Jason, I am just loving your trip report!!! Since I am still feeling sad that our almost three week road trip is over, your trip report is cheering me up! Love your pictures at the National Park sign! We do that to! I think my favorite National Park signs is the one at Crater Lake National Park and one of the ones at Glacier National Park. We have noticed that when a National Park has several entrances, some of the signs are nicer than others. So sad to hear that people have over time taken bits of the petrified wood. I have to admit that I also particiapated in a blunder similiar to that when

TCD, Unless I stayed at the Grand Californian, I wouldnt bother to stay at the other two Disney hotels. (The Disneyland Hotel or the Paradise Pier) Believe it or not, our off site hotel was closer to the park entrances than those two hotels!!! The Grand Californian is beautiful though and I would love to stay there sometime. However, you can stay at the off site places so much cheaper. We stayed at the Park Vue, it is the closest off site hotel, although there are many close by that would only be several foot steps more! We paid around 120.00 a night for August. I know it is more than other ho

Just finished reading your most excellent trip report!!!! Started it before our vacation.......got home, went right into reading your new one......got caught up on that and then finished this one!!! Like I said earlier, this trip report has inspired me to do a Disney cruise!!! Thanks again for sharing! Heidi

Love reading about your cruise!!!

This is going to be a fun read!!! We just got home on Thursday from an almost three week traveling vacation.....put on aroung 2,800 miles. It was our third western adventure. We are from the east coast too....NH. However, we fly out west, rent a van and stay in different hotels every night as we travel around. You guys are awesome to do all that traveling and set up a tent every night!!!! My hat goes off to you!!!!! We LOVE Hershey too!!! We used to sneak in a trip every year. Its only 8 hours from our house to Hershey. We havent been for three years now....darn kids growing up and getting too

So true Carol! We stayed at the Park Vue Inn and were literally on the other side of the crosswalk on Harbor. I figure from the end of Main Street to our hotel is about the same distance as if you are at WDW to go from the end of Main Street to the last bus stop at the Magic Kingdom....usually the Pop bus stop. Its crazy how fast we could get back to our hotel from the parks. And Yes, it was super fun to just exit Disneyland, walk a few steps and walk into Disney California Adventure. Although, we really didnt need Fast Passes on this trip, what we would do is grab a FP at Disneyland, exit the

TCD, Thanks for mentioning that book, I'll have to check it out. I'll let you know when I am ready......at the moment I am dealing with jet lag, and just plain exhaustion after being on the road for three weeks. We put on a little over 2.800 miles on our rental van!!! It was quite a trip! I'll do the trip report when things settle down this Fall. Disneyland is both similar to WDW and different........if that makes sense! Like I said lines were almost non existant.........saw tons of character with no handlers with them......no finger scan to get into the parks........seemed like more live ente

Carol, We were surprised too!! We had been there in 2009 and while the lines were not nearly as long as WDW, there were lines. This trip was almost shocking at the lack of lines. I am sure there had to have been a wait for TSM in the afternoon, but we were never there at that time........our longest wait by far was riding the new Radiator Racers with Fast Passes.....even with the passes we waited a good 20-minutes. That area was packed! Heidi

Hey TCD, We just returned from our three week western adventure plus disneyland so I am wayyyyyy behind. However, I just finished page three and had to stop to make a few comments. One of our FAVORITE things to do in all of WDW is to bike on that path from the fort to the lodge!!!! I just LOVE the photos you posted!!! I miss the fort......... The footprints in the walkways at the Lodge......I have always loved them......guess what they had out at Crater Lake National Park?? Yup, footprints in the walkway....pretty funny! Oh yes, I took lots and lots of pictures of Crater Lake as well as the Lo

Thanks TCD! I am sure I will take a bunch of photos. If I can figure out how to post them here, I will!! Thanks for all the updates today! Looking forward to hearing what you did on your second day on Castaway Cay! Heidi

TCD, No WDW trip, which is hard for all of us. We havent been since I met you at TSM last summer. We usually get 2-3 trips in a year, so this is a longggggg dry spell for us. However, part of our three week trip involves five nights at Disneyland!!!!!! The other part is a tour of some National Parks; Glacier NP, Crater Lake NP (I think I remember reading sometime in the last year that you spent a night at the Crater Lake Lodge once many years ago.......did I remember that right??) Redwood NP, Yosemite NP and Sequoia NP. This is our third western adventure/National Park trip in the last five ye

Thanks Cherie!!

Thanks for clearing that up for me!!!!

Why oh why do I always have the "0 warning points" beneath my post count??? I never see anybody else with this.

TCD, Yikes page 21 for me!!!!!! I have been so busy this summer and not on-line very much. Went on last night and found your report. I couldnt stop reading and was up very, very late reading!!! As usual awesome report!!! You had me laughing and feeling like I was right there with your family! I honestly have never been all that interested in a cruise. Being up here in NH, we usually make 1-2 or so trips to Disney a year and I have never wanted to give up our WDW time for a cruise. However, after reading your report, I have changed my mind!!!!!! I am now tossing over the idea of doing a two wee

Thanks SO MUCH for sharing these pictures!!!! They are awesome!! They certainly are bringing back many, many wonderful memories for me!! Cant wait for more!!!

Great trip report! Sounds like fun despite the rain! Looking forward to the next update. Heidi

Stef, Another fun report!! Thanks for sharing! When do you think you will get back? Looking forward to the next report! Heidi

Is it just bright or is it lit up as well? I couldnt tell from the photos. My youngest gets migraines. One of his triggers is blinking/bright lights. When I saw your photos, the area looked like a migraine waiting to happen to me!

TCD, Another awesome report! Almost felt like I was right there with you and the girls! Ugh on the eel...........no way could I eat that! We have ridden the monorail loop literally hundreds of times over the years.......none of us have EVER seen that Mickey on the roof! That was neat! We will be on the look out for it next trip! Like others have said, you guys sure pack a lot into a day! Love the pictures of the new resort. Sure looks like fun! Heidi

Stef, I am all caught up! I loved reading about your mom/son time with Nate. I have two boys and I hope that when they are 22 they will want to hang out with me too! How irratating to read about the CM yelling at Nate for riding the bike out by the dam. We are big bike riders and ALWAYS have our bikes at the fort. I have always seen the sign for no bikes by the Trading Post, but there is absolutely NO sign at the other entrance. If they are going to yell at someone then they need to have signs at both ends. I mean if you are coming the other way how would you know that no bikes are allowed?? W

Thanks TCD!! I am doing GREAT, so no need to worry!!! I guess after laying on the couch for the better part of four months, I am trying to get caught up on things. That means my FF reading has started to slide a bit. I wouldnt let the Jawas poke my baby either. Looking forward to the next report. Off to read Stefs! Heidi

TCD, Man, I just read your report in one sitting!!! Great report as usual. I know I have said this before, but I love "seeing" all the fun you have with your girls. Its great that you live close enough to go so often. I wish we lived closer. Oh, and we were another family that took our kids to Disney as babies/toddlers. There was NO WAY we could have missed a few years of Disney fun, so we went. Took a slower and different pace and still had a blast! Looking forward to the next one! Heidi