My Disneyland Birthday Extravaganza: Planning

I’ve recently returned from a week-long vacation in California to celebrate my birthday with friends. Over the next few weeks I’ll recap my days at Disneyland including Club 33, Paradise Pier Hotel, and my favorite things to see, do, and where to dine. I was baffled as to where to begin this blog until Linda (LindaLou to you) advised me to begin at the beginning. That’s what friends are for when your mind is out the door.

Hotel and Airline Reservations

Generally speaking, I have a price already in mind for what I’m willing to spend on airfare whenever I travel. My goal is to find the flight that meets my needs and comes as close to that dollar amount as possible. www.sidestep.com is the first website I check as they pull multiple flights and pricing at once, it’s a terrific tool. Then I begin checking individual airline sites that aren’t included and sometimes those that are because there may be better flight times and routes that don’t come up on Sidestep. Also, I keep constant tabs on specials through various e-mail lists like www.travelzoo.com and www.smartertravel.com just to name a couple.

Eventually, I locked down an outstanding deal on Virgin America. I flew roundtrip from Boston to Los Angeles, non-stop, for a whopping $206.20 including all fees and taxes. Thank you, thank you!

As this was my birthday extravaganza, I decided to treat myself to 2 nights in my favorite on-property hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel. The nights preceeding and following, I stayed at my friend Yoli’s house.

Paradise Pier Hotel is one of the few places where you can stay on the 13th floor.

The last time I did this was in 2003 and I paid $79.00 for the night using the Passholder rate. When I called for current rates I nearly had a corronary. Sit down, are you ready? The regular price was $245.00, the Passholder rate was $199.00, and the military rate was $119.00. These increases are outrageous, it’s the same standard room. Lucky for me, Yoli is retired from the military and I could use her discount since she stayed with me.

Tickets

It cannot be stressed enough that if you put the time into preparing for your vacation, no matter where you go, that you’ll find deals. Unsure as to whether I wanted a multi-day ticket or an Annual Pass I checked out all options online. In the end, I dragged Yoli to Costco the day before my birthday as they were offering the Deluxe Annual Pass at the normal rate of $269.00 but once you took your voucher to Disneyland’s ticket window, you received a $50.00 gift card good for anything in the parks. Nice! I’ll tell you how I spent it another time.

You’re all familiar with Disney’s ad campaign regarding free admission to Disneyland or Walt Disney World on your birthday, right? Due to the fact that I had bought my Annual Pass, I was now qualified to receive a Birthday Fun Card in the amount of a one-day, 1 park ticket which is $69.00. It can be used to buy merchandise and/or Photopass prints and CDs. In a future blog, I’ll tell you how I made my Birthday Fun Card go even further.

Party Invitations

With my hotel and airfare booked and the knowledge of what my AP blockout dates are, I began creating invitations to my birthday party. The funny thing is that I have more friends in CA where I lived for 4 years than I do here at home. By incorporating photos I’d taken at Disneyland over the years along with pics of friends, and former members of Menudo, it made my invitations very personal and unlike anything available in stores. Printing on 5×7 card stock at home was simple and I already had a box of envelopes from photography promo pieces I had made years ago.

Here’s the end result. The collage cover.

The inside of the invitation.

Goodie Bags & Treats

What’s a birthday party without goodie bags! With a maximum of 12 “adults” attending, I bought enough of everything for a dozen people. At Target’s dollar section I found packages of 4 colored pencils in Toy Story and Monster’s Inc themes, tiny Strawberry Shortcake highlighters, temporary Incredibles & Toy Story tattoos, Cars magnets, and Cars kid’s socks (for my friend’s son). They also had Cars goodie bags packages of 8 for $1.69 and Finding Nemo gummi candy. Over at The Christmas Tree Shop I picked up a 16-pack of Cars tiny tissues for about $4.00, High School Musical stickers, and Care Bears chocolate balls with toys inside – 4 for $1.00. In addition to Disney, I respresented my childhood from the 80’s.

After Valentine’s Day, when all the candy was 50-75% off I picked up a bag of Blowpops. If you look at the cover to my party invitation, you’ll see a “Lisa’s Birthday Party” logo. I printed that design out on a sheet of paper, maybe 1.5 x 1.5″. I took those tags, punched a hole in the corner, ran a Happy Birthday ribbon through them and tied them to the Blowpops. These were for Cast Members I’d come across on my birthday. As I handed out each one, I said, “Thank you for coming to my birthday party.” They loved it!

Next week: Paradise Pier Hotel CM makes my day & Club 33 staff/celebrity sightings

Birthday party invitation pics, top row left to right: Me & my friend the other Lisa, logo, Paradise Pier from hotel window in 2003, my friend Yoli & I teaching Eeyore some classic Menudo dance moves, Pluto’s close-up.

2nd row: Dana Daniels & Luigi at the Golden Horseshoe, MDO, sign for DL bday party, Nemo subs, Billy Hill (Kirk) of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at the Golden Horseshoe.

3rd row: Goliath buying drumsticks, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Wendy & Peter Pan, Sergio Blass, me & my fave Aladdin.

4th row: Club 33 mark, Ricky Martin (& Joselo for the fans), El Reencuentro, Mickey Mouse rockin’, Pigs in Space aircraft, and Robi Draco Rosa.

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