A Pink Pixie Princess...FINALLY! A 2017 Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend Trip Report!

[Ariel484]

@Ariel484 Check Harveys website, they are offering pre-orders for the bags for an August shipping date...! Both streamlines and the Park Hopper.

AHH I know!! Got them! Now I REALLY need to be in purse jail and sell some stuff!

 

[lurkergirl]

AHH I know!! Got them! Now I REALLY need to be in purse jail and sell some stuff!

I'll make room for you. Ha!

 

[Ariel484]

I'll make room for you. Ha!

Seriously though!!

 

[TeeterTots]

I just wanted to say hi because I think I'm going through trip report withdrawals! Lol!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I just started reading your report. I already have comments/questions after the first few posts!

I am flying into SNA for this trip. I've done it before. Pros - so much closer and easier to navigate than LAX. Cons - the steep approach and departure due to their noise rules. Did you pre-book the Super Shuttle or did you purchase it on site? I've done both in the past. I think pre-buying is a little easier. I don't pre-tip though; that just seems awkward to not tip at the time of service.

Back to Paradise!

A quick note about staying at Paradise Pier - yes, there are off-property hotels around that are cheaper. I drove myself nuts over debating whether or not to try one. Ultimately I ended up sticking with Paradise Pier because I was on this trip by myself and wanted to stay somewhere that I was 100% familiar with (this would be my 3rd trip staying there). In the future, I don’t think I’d hesitate to try an “off-site” hotel, but this trip - by myself walking around at weird hours - didn’t seem like the time to do it.

I am having the SAME debate for my Disneyland Half stay. I currently am booked on Harbor Blvd. at the Desert Inn. It's super close to the crosswalk (actually closer to the park entrances than Paradise Pier, but I'm a little concerned about the walk to the start at O'dark thirty. I'm assuming I won't be the only one walking at that time, however. I've stayed at Desert Inn before and it's adequate but nothing too exciting. I've never stayed at Paradise Pier and it's so tempting, despite being much more expensive.

I am wondering about the walk to the parks though - it seems actually a little creepier looking at the map since you have the parking lots and such to walk through...I think. I'm not actually sure what route you take to get to the parks. Harbor has homeless people even being right at the crosswalk. They're probably harmless, but I don't like the vibe it creates. I am going solo on my trip, as well.

Edit: I decided not to stay on-site for this trip, but I also decided not to stay at the Desert Inn.

P.S. I'm really hoping I can do Tinkerbell in 2018 so I can also get the pink Coast to Coast medal. I did Tink 2015 but I had done Princess last in 2014.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I just finished reading your TR! I love all your medal shots!

I had to laugh when you said that the earlier version of the Pixie Dust Challenge medal was bad. I think the word you used was hideous. It really was awful! I did it the inaugural year and I really wish the medal looked like it does now!

You should consider getting a digital luggage scale. I consider you are getting the full value of the checked luggage; using 98.4% of your weight allotment.

Good job to your DH and his test. That sounded brutal.

 

[Ariel484]

I just wanted to say hi because I think I'm going through trip report withdrawals! Lol!

Hi! I am also going through trip report withdrawals (and just plain old TRIP withdrawals )

I just started reading your report. I already have comments/questions after the first few posts!

I am flying into SNA for this trip. I've done it before. Pros - so much closer and easier to navigate than LAX. Cons - the steep approach and departure due to their noise rules. Did you pre-book the Super Shuttle or did you purchase it on site? I've done both in the past. I think pre-buying is a little easier. I don't pre-tip though; that just seems awkward to not tip at the time of service.

ah, now that you mention it, I do remember that about the arrivals and departures! Landing and taking off are by far my least favorite parts of flying no matter the airport!

I did pre-buy AND I pre-tipped - I do agree that it is a little awkward! SuperShuttle hasn't disappointed me yet and I do feel that the drivers have earned their tips every time...I do feel a little odd not handing them tips so I'm usually just like, "I pre-paid your trip!" like a weirdo.

I am having the SAME debate for my Disneyland Half stay. I currently am booked on Harbor Blvd. at the Desert Inn. It's super close to the crosswalk (actually closer to the park entrances than Paradise Pier, but I'm a little concerned about the walk to the start at O'dark thirty. I'm assuming I won't be the only one walking at that time, however. I've stayed at Desert Inn before and it's adequate but nothing too exciting. I've never stayed at Paradise Pier and it's so tempting, despite being much more expensive.

I'm sure you are right that you won't be the only one walking to the start at the time. The fact that you've stayed there before is helpful - that was my big thing, I haven't stayed off-site yet and didn't want this trip to be my first time doing it.

YES, Paradise Pier is significantly more expensive. I had rooms booked there are at the Fairfield Inn for awhile and couldn't decide what to do, because FFI would have been cheaper, but Paradise Pier is much more familiar to me - I told Mr. Ariel484 about it - price difference and the fact that I was iffy on staying at a new place by myself (especially since I feel that I am still not super familiar with Disneyland and the surrounding off-site hotels) and he made the decision for me. The fact that he agreed with me made me feel less guilty about spending the extra money!

I am wondering about the walk to the parks though - it seems actually a little creepier looking at the map since you have the parking lots and such to walk through...I think. I'm not actually sure what route you take to get to the parks. Harbor has homeless people even being right at the crosswalk. They're probably harmless, but I don't like the vibe it creates. I am going solo on my trip, as well.

Ugh, I can't help with that! Maybe there's a video on YouTube of the walk??

Edit: I decided not to stay on-site for this trip, but I also decided not to stay at the Desert Inn.

There are so many options! It's so hard to pick!

P.S. I'm really hoping I can do Tinkerbell in 2018 so I can also get the pink Coast to Coast medal. I did Tink 2015 but I had done Princess last in 2014.

I hope you can get it! I'm curious to see what happens to this race weekend, and really all California race weekends since it sounds like runDisney in California is having permitting issues...

I just finished reading your TR! I love all your medal shots!

Thanks! I love taking medal shots!

I had to laugh when you said that the earlier version of the Pixie Dust Challenge medal was bad. I think the word you used was hideous. It really was awful! I did it the inaugural year and I really wish the medal looked like it does now!

Yep! Sorry but I just think that it's the ugliest medal runDisney has come up with (besides the Infinity Gauntlet medal - and I recognize that both of those medals were thought-out and have meaning, but they are still not aesthetically pleasing to me!).

You should consider getting a digital luggage scale. I consider you are getting the full value of the checked luggage; using 98.4% of your weight allotment.

Yep, just getting my money's worth! At this point I feel like it's sort of a little game...Mr. Ariel484 will make his guess, I go to the airport with my guess and then it's the moment of truth!

Good job to your DH and his test. That sounded brutal.

Right?? He said he was totally exhausted afterward - I would have been too! Thankfully he is almost completely done with his degree (2 more classes this summer and then he has to write a paper). The end is near! Maybe we need to plan a Disney trip to celebrate? [/QUOTE]

 

[DVC Darcy]

Cameo appearance from the Monster Pup:

The expression on your pup's face cracked me up!

 

[Ariel484]

The expression on your pup's face cracked me up!

He pretty much always has that look on his face! He is constantly not impressed with me!

 

[wehrengrizz]

Day 1: Thursday, May 11, 2017

I'm strung out on John Wayne

Yeehaw, it’s Disneyland day!

This would be my 4th visit to Disneyland as an adult (apparently I also went once when I was 1.5 years old or something...don’t remember that at all, obviously), and there were a lot of “firsts” on this trip. For starters: first solo trip, and first time flying into a different airport! For my other trips I had booked flights that went into LAX, but this time I decided to try flying into John Wayne in Santa Ana.

"Hello there, it's meeeeeee"

I did not get direct flights, unfortunately, but they were free (and free checked bags since they were on Southwest), so no complaints!

I was on the road by 4:30 AM...I seem to have become a little stupid with flying, because it’s been a trend with me to not leave home early enough and not realize I have not left home early enough until I get to the airport. That trend continued on this trip. I’d gotten an email from Southwest before the trip that they made some kind of change to their ticketing system and they suggested arriving early - I guess I didn’t understand the change because I assumed all would be well when I successfully checked in the day before and got my boarding pass. I’m an idiot.

The change ended up being at the airport - self-service kiosks had been installed and I needed to use one to print my bag check info. The line wasn’t terrible, but it was slow (for anyone who remembers my issues with over-packing...Big Purple weighed in at 43.5 pounds! I am so proud). Between that and a longer-than-expected line at security, I had just enough time to buy a granola bar and arrive at my gate at 5:45...exactly when boarding started. Ack!!

Flight #1 took me to Denver...I had just enough time to get *real* breakfast there before boarding for flight #2 began! I felt like I had *just barely* enough time for everything that morning...so it was a short, quick travel day (as short/quick as flying across the country can be), but also a little more frantic than I would have preferred!

Breakfast...steel-cut oatmeal with peanut butter and banana. Once I stirred it up, it didn’t seem like such an insane amount of peanut butter. It was really good!

Our plane sat for a bit before taking off, but we still ended up landing early at 9:15AM PST...hello California!

So, like I said - first time flying into John Wayne, and after this trip I am a HUGE fan. My plane landed at 9:15 and I was off the plane, through baggage claim and on my Super Shuttle by 9:45!! Another 30 minutes later, I was walking into the lobby of Paradise Pier. SO much quicker and easier than LAX!

how do I keep missing your TRs? lol I'm way late but totally going to binge through I also am an avid fan of 1. SNA 2. anything NOT LAX

 

[Ariel484]

how do I keep missing your TRs? lol I'm way late but totally going to binge through I also am an avid fan of 1. SNA 2. anything NOT LAX

TRs can be sneaky like that!

I am a huge fan of SNA! I didn't think LAX was bad at all but SNA was so much better.