The trip when Grandma stole somebody's scooter (3/9-3/12/2019)

Quick fun fact!

During one of our "stop and smell the roses" moments during the trip, Grandma declared, "There's a lot more ponds here now than the last time I was here." Um, what? Ponds? o_O Well, that certainly is something I've never heard before! It took DH & I a couple of days to figure out what Grandma might have been referring to. I thought at first that maybe she was talking about the old motor boat ride. I even asked her if that's what she was referring to. Nope, not the old motor boat ride from decades ago.

Then yesterday, it dawned on DH...Grandma was referring to the enchanted pond area near Tinkerbell's meet & greet area on the border between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. That spot is really pretty at night because sometimes it lights up to music from the Tinkerbell movies.

So....that's one pond. ONE! Which translated to "There's a lot more ponds here now"? Ok, Grandma, whatever you say! :coffee:
 
Sunday morning continued....

Roger Rabbit was fun. ODD & DH rode together, YDD & I rode together, and Grandma rode by herself. Grandma didn't figure out that you could use the steering wheel to turn the ride vehicle around and around. I'm not sure if Grandma understood much in that ride, though, because she never saw the Roger Rabbit movie when it was in theaters way back in the day and she hasn't ever seen it on video. But she enjoyed it nonetheless.

After Roger Rabbit, we spent a few minutes exploring Toon Town. ODD & YDD enjoyed showing Grandma all of the gags and fun interactive stuff there. I enjoy Toon Town when it first opens. On Monday in the early afternoon, ODD & I were there looking for Pluto to take a picture with him and Toon Town was MOBBED with people. I mean, it was insanely busy. Ick, no thank you! It was not pleasant. But when it first opens? It's GREAT!

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This shop is always fun to explore and browse in...
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After Toon Town, it was time to take advantage of our It's A Small World FP. I inquired with a CM about MIL's scooter. MIL was able to ride her scooter right up to the handicap boarding area for IASW, so that was very convenient since there's no way she would have been able to handle going up or down the stairs at the regular exit of that attraction.
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I much prefer DL's IASW to the one at WDW. The entrance to it feels much more grand. And I really love all of the plants and topiaries that they have around there. WDW doesn't have that!
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We all enjoyed IASW. DH & Grandma rode in 1 row with me and the kids being in another row. As you can probably tell, DH was on Babysitting Grandma duty. She required a LOT of assistance getting on and off everything. And pretty much every time she got out of the scooter, I thought she was going to fall down. It was very nerve-wracking, to be honest. 3 days in a row of constant anxiety hoping to God that Grandma doesn't fall down and biff it getting out of the Deathmobile.
 
After IASW, everybody was ready for a break. DH ran off to the bathroom while the rest of us waited on/near a bench close by the IASW shop near the exit to that attraction. Being hard of hearing and too stubborn to buy hearing aids, Grandma half-shouted, "WHERE IS DH GOING?!" Don't worry, Grandma, he's just going to the bathroom.

"HE'S GOING WHERE? HOW COME HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING?"

1 of the kids shouted back, "HE WENT TO THE BATHROOM! HE DID SAY WHERE HE'S GOING! YOU JUST DIDN'T HEAR HIM! HE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!"

So I then ask the 3 of them if anybody needs to go to the bathroom. Kids say no. Grandma says, 'WHAT?!"

"DO YOU NEED THE LADIES ROOM? BECAUSE THERE'S ONE RIGHT OVER THERE!" (as I point to the bathrooms that are near the Mickey & the Magical Map theater)

This is how pretty much all of our conversations went the entire time. She has the hearing of the half-deaf grandma from that Christmas Vacation movie. Seriously. :rotfl2:

With DH back from the bathroom, everybody asked Cruise Director here, "What are we doing next?" Here's how that hilarious conversation went:

me: Well, what do YOU guys want to do?
ODD: I'm hungry.
YDD: I'm tired. I want to sit.
DH: I don't care. My feet hurt.
Grandma: WHAT?
me: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NEXT? (shouting at Grandma)
Grandma: OH ANYTHING IS FINE!
DH: How about Peter Pan?
me: Not if you want to stand for 45 min. We need to get a wheelchair return time for that.
Grandma: BUT I DON'T HAVE A WHEELCHAIR
me: (gives long explanation about wheelchair/scooter return times for Fantasyland rides) We can do that later
Grandma: OH OK!
ODD & YDD: (roll their eyes because they're so DONE with all of the shouting)
DH: I don't care.
me: How about Storybook Land Canal Boats?
Grandma: OK, THAT SOUNDS GOOD!
kids: No, that's boring. We don't want to do that.
DH: I dont' want to do anything right now.
me: Too bad, kids. That's what we're doing. The wait is 10 min. And Grandma wants to go on it. (then I quietly tell them so Grandma can't hear, "This will be the last time she ever comes to DL, so if she wants to go on the dang ride, 1 of us is going to take her on it.")
me: COME ON, GRANDMA, YOU & I ARE GOING ON STORYBOOK LAND CANAL BOATS!
Grandma: WHAT ABOUT EVERYBODY ELSE?
me: THEY DON'T WANT TO GO ON IT. THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE A BREAK.
Grandma: THEY DON'T? HOW COME?
me: IT'S TOO BORING!

If you're mentally exhausted just reading this, then congratulations because that's what it was like handling/wrangling Half Deaf & Half Blind Grandma all day at DL! o_O I personally really like Storybook Land Canal Boats. I doubt that Grandma could hear any of the CM's narration of it, though. I didn't care at that point.
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After that ride, we met up with DH & the kids back near IASW. By this point, YDD & I now needed a bathroom, so we went to take care of that. Grandma must have had a strong bladder because she hadn't needed the facilities all morning so far. Plus, I was starting to get a little concerned because she wasn't drinking any water. And this is an insulin-dependent diabetic senior citizen we're talking about here. I reminded her a couple of times but she insisted that she was just fine.

So at that point, I thought, "Screw it. Nothing I can do at this point if she ends up in the hospital because of her own foolish decisions. First, she loses her ID. Then she practically plays bumper cars the whole time with her scooter. Then she runs over my kid's foot. And now she's refusing to drink. FORGET IT! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! THANK GOD I DON'T HAVE TO EAT LUNCH WITH HER AT THE BLUE BAYOU TODAY! AND THANK YOU, JESUS, FOR SEPARATE HOTEL ROOMS!" >:(

We had a little time to kill before DH & Grandma had to check in for their 11:40 am lunch reservation at the Blue Bayou. ODD wanted to get a new bead for her Pandora bracelet and I know that the Pandora store is in New Orleans Square right near the Blue Bayou entrance. So we headed that way. Passed by the Mark Twain in Frontierland and I thought about maybe getting Grandma on that later that day or the next day (Monday). We kept having to stop & wait for Grandma & DH. Here's why....

The kids & I would walk slow (slower than we normally do at DL). 1 of us would periodically look behind us to make sure that Grandma hadn't veered off in the wrong direction (which happened often...she'd for some reason head another way...it was maddening sometimes). DH's coping mechanism all morning had been to stick ear buds in his ears and play a video game on his phone while walking...so he walked even slower than Grandma scootered in the Deathmobile.

SO IT TOOK FOREVER TO GET ANYWHERE AND IT DROVE THE KIDS AND I TOTALLY INSANE! AAAAARRRGGG!!! :mic:

The kids & I stopped by the petrified tree in Frontierland. The kids read the sign & thought that was interesting. Just as they were finishing up reading it, Grandma & DH caught up to us and Grandma shouted out, "WHAT'S THAT? IT LOOKS LIKE A TREE BUT IT'S A ROCK!"

No, Grandma, it's a petrified tree.

"OH, IT IS? BUT WHY IS IT THERE?"

So I explained.

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Then DH said, "Are we going or what?" o_O Sure, slow poke, how about you go on ahead and we'll pass you on the way there! LOL!

So I told everybody where we were headed (the Pandora store). ODD picked out a really cute Lilo & Stitch bead. Grandma watched the whole financial transaction take place and didn't offer even to chip in to pay for part of ODD's Pandora bead. She never does any of the normal grandparent stuff. She's lucky that I felt charitable enough to go along with DH's crazy notion of bringing her to DL. One and done. That's it. On the drive home, DH blurted out, "Do you want to go again next year?" and Grandma said, of course, "YES!"

Let me just be very frank with y'all...that is never going to happen. Seriously. I can't handle it. The kids don't want to go with her ever again. In fact, the kids would like just a girls' trip some time. I think that I may invite my sister to go with us because that would be a fun girls' trip. DH can take Grandma by himself next time to DL, but that will never happen because he likes to have other people to help wrangle Grandma in. DH's sister (SIL) is the only smart one apparently and she thought we were totally crazy for doing this.

As you have seen so far, SIL was right! :crazy2:
 


Time for lunch!

After ODD finished with her purchases at the Pandora store, it was time to get DH & Grandma checked in at the Blue Bayou. First, I inquired at the check in desk about where would be the best place for Grandma to park her scooter. They said anywhere along the "street" but not blocking a doorway would be fine. That "street" is pretty narrow, so I figured that it would be best for the scooter to be parked perpendicular instead of parallel. That way, there would be plenty of room for other people to park their scooters in case THEY were eating at the Blue Bayou also.

Grandma couldn't park the scooter to save her life. She actually tried a couple of times in this scenario, but all she succeeded in doing is literally getting in everyone's way and at one point, she was blocking 3/4 of the entire walkway there near the Blue Bayou with her parking attempts. DH ordered her off the scooter, then I got on it and *I* parked it. Perpendicular, facing in toward the store. Right in front of the dress shop next door to the Blue Bayou. I checked them in, then DH declared that he needed to use the bathroom.

Grandma walks really slow and seating in the waiting area in the Blue Bayou is at a premium, so YDD snagged Grandma a place to sit down (since she can't stand for 10-15 min at a time) while we waited for Grandma to slowly walk over and sit down. YDD then stood up and Grandma sat down. 5 min later, they called my name (since the reservation was under my name), but DH wasn't there yet. Grandma gets up right away and promptly loses her seat because a much younger woman then sat right in her spot. It happened so fast that the seat was gone before I could even tell Grandma "Don't get up! DH isn't here yet."

So then we had to find Grandma another place to sit down while she waited. And then we waited 5 more min because it took DH awhile in the bathroom. With DH finally there, then I told the CM at the front desk that the whole party was finally there and a couple of min later, they were seated.

Reservation was for 11:40. We checked in at 11:30. DH took so long in the bathroom that they weren't seated until about 11:50 am.

This is an awful lot of hassle just so Grandma can have lunch, right? THAT'S WHY I'M NEVER DOING THIS EVER AGAIN WITH ANY ELDERLY RELATIVE OF OURS! :rotfl2:

Ok, so NOW finally the kids & I can go eat. Thankfully, the French Market was practically empty. There were probably a dozen empty tables and nobody inside ordering. YDD got us a table while ODD helped me with both of our trays of food. YDD had the pulled pork...it was amazingly good as usual. She doesn't like bread (I know, she's nuts), so she just ate the pulled pork part. If anybody is a good candidate for a keto way of eating, YDD would be it because she doesn't like sandwiches, doesn't like hamburgers because of the bun, and doesn't like bread of any kind. How is this my child? :lmao:

ODD & I each had 1 of these:
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After lunch, we had some time to kill and the kids both wanted dessert, but none of the desserts at French Market were appealing to them. So we went over towards Main Street. YDD wasn't in the mood yet for ice cream like I thought, so we went to the Candy Palace instead. ODD was going to get an ice cream, but she wanted a Dole Whip instead, so we walked through Adventureland and got her one there along the way.

At the Candy Palace, YDD selected this epic cupcake...the frosting was taller than the cake part! She really enjoyed it. ODD & I helped her eat the frosting.
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I got one of these...ODD helped me eat it.
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And I also bought some of that amazing toffee for later that evening back at the hotel room...
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I've been eating a keto diet at home, but that all went out the window at DL! :laughing:
 
Earlier in the day, I snagged some FP for DH, the kids & I to go on Indiana Jones. And then when I was able to on the DL app, I then got all 5 of us a HM FP. I can I just stop for a moment here and say how wonderful Max Pass is? I don't mind that the price went up to $15/day per person. It's still a good value at that price. We paid the $10/day rate though by purchasing the sale price DL tickets through the DL website. As you'll see later on in this trip report, Max Pass helped ODD & I go on an amazing amount of rides on Monday evening.

While we were enjoying our treats on Main Street, DH texted to let me know that they were done w/Blue Bayou and that Grandma has stolen somebody else's scooter. See earlier in this trip report for all of the ugly details! :scared1: It was so awful. DH, the kids & I felt so bad for that other woman. Grandma, on the other hand, just totally blew it off and thought it was funny. Only when ODD & YDD were kind of shaming their grandmother (i.e., "But Grandma! You took somebody else's scooter! How would you feel if somebody took yours?") did Grandma mumble, "Well, I suppose I'd probably be a little upset." No kidding, lady, you definitely would. You'd be a wreck over it.

This was at the point in the trip where I thought, "You know what? I'm really kind of done with all of this. Really. Stick a fork in me. This woman is totally impossible and I never ever on God's green earth want to travel with her anywhere on a trip ever again. But I'm going to put my frustration aside for the good of the team right now and suck it up and make the best of it."

For all of you who have grandparents who truly are 'go with the flow' people, who do thoughtful things for your kids sometimes, who think of others, you are truly blessed individuals.

And if you've curled up in front of your computer with some popcorn:: just waiting to read the rest of these adventures...oh wait! There's more in store for you! :laughing:

Ok...off we went next to HM to use the FP that I got for all 5 of us. The kids, like me, were frustrated w/Grandma. None of us could decide who was going to ride with who. Nobody wanted to ride with Grandma at this point. Not even DH. The kids both said flat out "no." I wasn't in the mood anymore to have to endure her talking on a dark ride, so DH got stuck with her while the kids rode together. And I had a doom buggy all to myself. I rode a lot of day time rides alone on this trip! But it was a blessing in disguise because then I didn't have to be social with Bumper Car Scootering Grandma.

The FP entrance to HM is too far for Grandma to walk from the HM exit. So I had Grandma get off the scooter at the FP entrance, then I rode it to the exit and parked it. Grandma shouted, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?" I tried to explain, she shouted again, 'WHAT?!' I shouted back, "NEVER MIND! YOU'LL SEE WHY WHEN WE'RE DONE!"

Grandma: WHAT?!
me: JUST GET IN THE STUPID LINE, WILL YOU, GRANDMA?

Have I mentioned what a blessing it was that we were not sharing a room with this woman?

We walked past the pet cemetary…
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And got a laugh out of Rosie's headstone...
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Everybody loved the HM. That was a big hit. Grandma really enjoyed it. When we exited the ride, she shouted, "OH! THERE'S MY SCOOTER!" I shouted, "YEAH, NOW YOU SEE WHY?" Then DH shouted at his mom, "MOM! WHAT'S THE # ON THE SCOOTER? COULD WE PLEASE NOT STEAL ANYBODY ELSE'S SCOOTERS TODAY?!":rotfl:

While they were arguing over scooters, I took this quick fun pic of a New Orleans Square popcorn cart...
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And because I'm pretty good now at figuring out DL wait times, we then headed over to IJ to use our FP. Grandma sat this one out of course. Didn't need to send Ms. Lightning McQueen to the ER that day.
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For our next trip to DL, we are going with 2 friends (husband & wife) a year from now. Purpose of that trip will be to see SWGE. The husband is an even bigger Star Wars fan than DH & I are. He's also totally blind. He's also permanently disabled from a bad car accident he was in a few years ago...he has a bunch of rods & pins holding his ankle together. When he has to stand for >15 min at a time, he's in pretty much total agony. So much pain. He doesn't need a wheelchair. He can walk and likes the exercise. But it's the standing in lines that is problematic for him.

And you know what? Going to DL with him is easier than going with Scary Scooter Grandma!

Seriously, it is. We went w/them almost 2 years ago. They live ~ 1 hr's drive away from DL, so they went w/us 2 days in a row and we were there with 5 day park hopper tickets (we stayed at Hojo's that time). They are such fun people. Always up for an adventure. They do lots of fun & unique day trips all around southern CA on the weekends. They both have a hilarious sense of humor so we always end up laughing our heads off over silly things whenever we hang out with them.

I cannot wait to go to SWGE with them. It's going to be a lot of fun and it will make up for this most recent...interesting...trip! :rotfl2:

You know how there are some people who you just can't be roommates with? Well, there are some people who just don't make good travel companions. We learned on this trip that my suspicions were correct. Scary Scooter Grandma is not a good travel companion. I mean, let's stop and ponder for a sec about all of the adventures we'd had with her so far on the trip, shall we?

  • had to help her get dressed & undressed at security
  • had to read menus to her
  • had to constantly ask if she had to go potty
  • had to remind her to eat & drink regularly
  • had to watch where she's going so she didn't seriously injure anybody
  • had to watch where she's going so she didn't seriously injure herself
  • had to watch where she's going so she wouldn't run off and get lost
  • had to constantly repeat instructions & information
  • had to have somebody stay w/her almost all of the time because she didn't want to be by herself
  • had to have us check into her hotel room for her because she lost her ID. But she had almost every single other card with her name on it with her...including every grocery store savings card available in her local metropolitan area. But the ONE document she actually needed? No idea where it was.
  • had to make sure she didn't steal anybody else's stuff for the remainder of the trip after the Scooter Stealing Snafu of 2019.
OMG, you guys. The mental energy that it required from DH & I to handle her was nuts. It was like having to deal with a 4 year old child. You don't know how many times on Sat & Sun evening I pointed out a bathroom, asked her if she needed a bathroom, and 5-10 min later, she'd declare that she needed a bathroom. WE JUST PASSED ONE A FEW MINUTES AGO! HOW COME YOU DIDN'T GO THEN?!

It was like a flash back to the days when YDD & ODD were 4 and 6, respectively. Just like that. :scared1: Pretty amazing.
 


Honestly.. you're the saintliest of saints. I don't know if I could have ever done as great of a job as you did with your MIL! From here on out when your girls are misbehaving you can just say you'll make them go to DL with grandma again, and they'll fix their attitudes lol
 
Indiana Jones is one of our family's favorite rides at DL. It's DH's favorite, so we try to get on it more than once. Here's a couple of fun pics of the queue as we waltzed through with our FPs...

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After Indiana Jones, everybody did their usual of turning to me and asking, "So what's next?" Wait times were starting to creep up now since it was early afternoon and we were all starting to slow down and get a little tired. I handed my phone to DH and said, "Here, you look and decide." I was a little tired of being cruise director at that moment. DH then got all excited when he saw that the Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes were running that day. It was operational 6 years ago when we went on our very first family trip to DL, but we didn't go on it then. And DH has been talking about it ever since.

So for a few minutes, we had this hilarious back & forth exchange where DH would ask the kids & I if we wanted to go on it. At that point, the kids didn't care one way or another. They just wanted to DO something, not just stand/sit there talking about doing something. YDD even said, "I don't care! Just decide and let's go!" So I said, "Ok, so it's decided. We're going to do it. Let's go."

Then DH told Grandma what was going on. And the yell-fest with Scary Scooter Grandma started again. It went something like this:

DH: MOM! WE'RE GOING ON THE CANOES!
Grandma: What?
DH: WE'RE GOING ON THE CANOES! THE DAVEY CROCKETT CANOES! (points to the Rivers of America)
Grandma: We're going on canoes?
DH: YOU'RE NOT GOING ON IT. THE REST OF US ARE! YOU'RE GOING TO WAIT RIGHT OVER THERE UNTIL WE'RE DONE!
Grandma: I AM?
DH: COME PARK YOUR SCOOTER HERE SO YOU CAN WATCH...
Grandma: WHY AM I PARKING? WHY CAN'T I COME WITH YOU?
DH: BECAUSE IT'S A CANOE, MOM! YOU CAN'T GET INTO A CANOE! YOU'LL FALL OVER BOARD! AND YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO HELP ROW THE BOAT!
Grandma: I DON'T THINK I SHOULD GO ON THE CANOES
DH: THAT WHAT I JUST SAID!
Grandma: YOU SAID WHAT?
DH: (shakes his head, turns to me) She's impossible. I give up.
DH: (turns to Grandma) GET OFF THE STUPID SCOOTER, MOM, SO I CAN PARK IT FOR YOU!
Grandma: I CAN PARK IT JUST FINE!
DH: NO, YOU CAN'T! YOU'RE IN EVERYONE'S WAY RIGHT NOW AND YOU'RE BLOCKING TRAFFIC. GET OFF THE DAMN SCOOTER, MOM!
Grandma: OK! OK!

Then we unloaded all of our bags & such and left them w/Scary Scooter Grandma and scampered off to the canoes....
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We waited not even 5 minutes to get on board. You definitely have to work on this attraction. No half baked attempts at rowing. The CMs on the canoe were hilarious and so funny and cracked dumb jokes the whole time. It was a very unique experience being able to see the Rivers of America from a totally different point of view. DH **LOVED** it. The kids liked it, too. It was a big hit with our family. I'd love to do this again on a future trip.

After the Davey Crockett canoes, it was time for an afternoon break. We were all ready for it. Grandma clearly needed a nap, but she wouldn't admit it. You could just tell by looking at her. She had that dazed & confused look on her face...sort of shell shocked. DH was tired, I was tired, the kids were tired. So we got the heck out of there and walked the 5 min from the DL entrance to the Park Vue Inn...left Scary Scooter Grandma at her 1st floor room and then went to our hotel room to unwind.
 
Absolutely loving your trip report. While grand theft scooter grandma may not appreciate the amount of time, energy and money that the family dedicated to making her dream come true, I bet your kids just learned a big lesson about generosity (and how unpleasant lack of generosity can be).

Some day soonish I may be roped into taking my mom (similar traveling style as your MIL) on a cruise to Alaska. I can only hope to approach it with the same sense of humor you have!
 
Absolutely loving your trip report. While grand theft scooter grandma may not appreciate the amount of time, energy and money that the family dedicated to making her dream come true, I bet your kids just learned a big lesson about generosity (and how unpleasant lack of generosity can be).

Some day soonish I may be roped into taking my mom (similar traveling style as your MIL) on a cruise to Alaska. I can only hope to approach it with the same sense of humor you have!

There were many many moments when I didn't have much of a sense of humor. Many moments where I was just so frustrated. And one or 2 when I was just downright mad (like her losing her ID and taking someone else's scooter). But I decided that while I definitely can't control the circumstances or the situation or what Grand Theft Scooter Grandma does, I can control how I choose to react to it. Her antics could absolutely ruined the whole trip. But even a bad day at Disneyland is better than a good day elsewhere.

I wasn't thrilled with how few attractions we got to experience on Saturday.
Wasn't thrilled that we left almost an hour later than I had hoped.
Wasn't thrilled with Grandma's sense of entitlement.
Wasn't thrilled with Grandma being just so totally & completely clueless about so many things.
Wasn't thrilled with her running into so many people on that dang scooter.

But so far with the trip, we'd had a lot of really fun moments...
  • we got to see Peter Pan & Captain Hook again like we always do
  • we got to see the Clapping Man. That totally made my day
  • the kids got to ride on Mad Tea Party with DH
  • we got to go on Star Tours
  • we got to go on Indiana Jones
  • we all really enjoyed Flo's V-8 Café
  • we got to stay in a hotel that is so close, you can practically spit on Disney property
  • we got to meet the Mad Hatter & take photos with him. And the Mad Hatter even made Grandma laugh.
  • we got to play in Toon Town. I even got Grandma to pull on that silly door that makes loud noises when you pull on the door knob. She was pretty surprised at that!
  • Grandma got to have lunch at the Blue Bayou & the kids and I got a break from her all at the same time!
Our #1 saving grace, though, was having separate rooms. In prior years when DH had brought up the notion of bringing Grandma with us to DL, he said that Grandma would stay in our room with us. Oh, no way. No way in heck would I agree to that. With a travel companion like Grandma, things just work a lot better when everybody has their own separate space. With a travel companion like Grandma, you absolutely need down time from the person. Otherwise, you'll all be angry and snapping at each other all day long.

I am SO SO GLAD that we took breaks at the hotel. We take hotel breaks anyway when it's just us. But especially on this trip, it was essential.
 
Ok, campers, it's back to our regularly scheduled programming! Back to story time with Deathmobile Grandma! :rotfl2:

During our hotel break, we pretty much all just laid down and watched TV and vegged out. Our family doesn't do so well with not having an afternoon hotel break. We need a break from all of the stimulation. Even if it's for a couple of hours. Everybody asked me, "Where are we going for dinner?" I'm going to share a little tid bit about being married to my DH for all of these years....

He and his relatives take forever to decide where to go out to eat. Oh my Lord. When the kids were really little, there were times when it took them over an hour to decide. When we're at a Disney park, DH pretty much doesn't care where we eat, just as long as it offers some healthy options for him. At the same time, YDD is not an adventurous eater yet, so I purposely pick restaurants that will have something that she likes.

So we went to the Plaza Inn for dinner on Sunday. We ended up walking down Main Street not that long before the 6 pm parade started. Shortly after we got our food and sat down, the parade started to go by. That was fun to see. We could see the parade floats while we ate. The weather was pleasant...a little chilly, but not unmanageable. I snapped this cool pic of some Mickey balloons on my search for a bathroom (I forgot that the bathrooms are to the left of the Plaza Inn, not to the right!).
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YDD & ODD each had the fried chicken. I wanted a corn dog, so I went and got one from the Little Red Wagon. DH had the pot roast (he thought it was good). MIL had the fried chicken, too. YDD & ODD shared this yummy dessert. It was very rich. 3 of us ended up sharing it.
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Dinner was a lot of fun. We laughed a lot. The kids were starting to get a little cold, so they put their hoods on (they have Stitch sweatshirts). I brought a pair of gloves, so they took turns sharing the gloves. And they each took 1 of the 3 scarves I had w/me in my park bag. So everybody was warm enough. Victory! :laughing: I'd forgotten that the Plaza Inn has refillable drinks, so we splurged and let the kids each have a lemonade (normally the rest of the time, they had free ice water).

At some point either during our break or during dinner, I got the kids & I a FP for BTMRR. DH wasn't feeling up to it. He doesn't like roller coasters. So if he's going to do a roller coaster, it would be BTMRR but even then, he has to be in the right mood for it and definitely not right after eating a big meal. Right after the parade ended, a steady stream of people went into the Plaza Inn. When WE were ordering our food, there was hardly anybody there. Why? Everyone was lined up along the parade route to see the parade. But after the parade? It was like a mob of people descended and suddenly it was very busy at the Plaza Inn. Dinner on Sunday worked out really well. We all had a nice time.

So it was off to BTMRR. But first, we got a wheelchair return time for Peter Pan for the 5 of us. It was in 30 min, so we'd be able to ride BTMRR and then go on Peter Pan after that.
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Even though DH & Scooter Criminal Grandma weren't going on BTMRR, they went with us to Frontierland. DH & Scooter Criminal Grandma parked at a bench near the BTMRR exit while the kids & I went on the WILDEST RIDE IN THE WILDERNESS! YEEHAW!
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I really love going on this ride with my kids. Love to hear their laughter. Love it when they're both much braver than me and they both raise their arms up in the air whenever we go over a little hill on the ride. :goodvibes We went on BTMRR at Magic Kingdom last summer...the MK version is definitely a longer ride! And the MK version has cool interactive stuff to do in the queue. The kids & I love both the DL and MK versions of this attraction. Kind of like different flavors of ice cream...they're both pretty darn great.
 
Oh MY what a trip! You'll never forget it, that's for sure! It's bringing back memories when I was 9 and my mother, her brother and father, and I drove from Victoria to San Fransisco. O boy! What a trip that was! I'm older now than my mum was then, and I couldn't even FATHOM doing a road trip with her and my family. There'd be a murder. And my MIL... well... let's just say I know how to make it look like a natural death (KIDDING :rolleyes1)

I too love BTMRR and have to give DH some warning time before going on it. He's not crazy about coasters anyway, so asking him to go on just prior to breakfast was probably not my best situation. After that, the kids and I did all the coaster rides and let him sit at the exits.

I also hear you about the entitlement. Some people are just like that though, and while unfortunate, it's a good learning tool for the kids. I point stuff out to mine all the time and try to have us think 'me to we' as opposed to 'just me'.

I usually stay at the Desert Inn, right beside the Park Vue. I'm glad to hear your breakfast is more full of protein than ours usually is.
 
Oh MY what a trip! You'll never forget it, that's for sure! It's bringing back memories when I was 9 and my mother, her brother and father, and I drove from Victoria to San Fransisco. O boy! What a trip that was! I'm older now than my mum was then, and I couldn't even FATHOM doing a road trip with her and my family. There'd be a murder. And my MIL... well... let's just say I know how to make it look like a natural death (KIDDING :rolleyes1)

I too love BTMRR and have to give DH some warning time before going on it. He's not crazy about coasters anyway, so asking him to go on just prior to breakfast was probably not my best situation. After that, the kids and I did all the coaster rides and let him sit at the exits.

I also hear you about the entitlement. Some people are just like that though, and while unfortunate, it's a good learning tool for the kids. I point stuff out to mine all the time and try to have us think 'me to we' as opposed to 'just me'.

I usually stay at the Desert Inn, right beside the Park Vue. I'm glad to hear your breakfast is more full of protein than ours usually is.

How did you like the Desert Inn & Suites? We are thinking of maybe staying there next year because it looks like it's so much less expensive.
 
After BTMRR, the kids & I met up w/DH & Grandma. We decided to head over to Fantasyland to use our Peter Pan wheelchair return time. We went the back way from BTMRR to Fantasyland. Everyone enjoyed Peter Pan. I'm grateful for the wheelchair return time because otherwise, there's no way that Grandma could have ridden this.
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After Peter Pan, we stopped by the lovely reflecting pond near Tinkerbell's meet & greet. We caught the lovely light show going on there. It's even set to music! It was a very peaceful moment during what was a very busy day.
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We were all slowing down a bit, but nobody was ready yet to call it a night. So the crew all looked to me and said, "What's next?" I suggested Pirates since the wait was only 10-15 min. Grandma was still feeling pretty spry, so we parked her scooter near the exit and she walked through the queue. Well, ok, FIRST we had Grandma get OFF the scooter near the entrance. Then I moved the scooter to the exit. Then I walked back to the entrance to meet everybody else. And THEN we got in the line.

As we walked through the line, I took some pics of the trees since I'm a plant nerd in addition to being a Disney nerd. I would swear that one of these is some sort of Banyan tree.
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And I have always loved the decorative elements throughout New Orleans Square...like this one in the POTC queue...
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So the posted wait time for POTC was 10-15 min. We got halfway through the inside part of the line and then the ride and the line pretty much stopped. The boats all backed up. I thought of the recent posts here on the DIS about POTC breaking down & people being evacuated because of hydraulic fluid or something in the water. And I thought, "Uh oh!" The wait was getting long enough that the kids & I decided to just sit down on the ground right where we were standing. We sat there for about 5 min before the boats started moving again. One stupid woman decided during the hold up that she would stand up in her boat even though her boat wasn't at the loading/unloading dock yet. She promptly got yelled at by CMs.

I swear, some people just do not think sometimes!

Anyway, we finally did get on POTC and it was just as great as it always is. However, I will say that I don't care for the redheaded pirate and that stupid auction scene. I wish the "Take a wench for a bride" was there still instead. In fact, I have a DL pin that says "We wants the redhead." I suppose now it's probably a collector's item! All of the redhead stuff now shows her as a pirate.
 
Earlier in the evening, I'd also snagged FPs using Max Pass for Toy Story and RSR. So the original plan was for all of us to hop over to DCA and do that (Grandma would sit out RSR because she's not limber enough to get in or out of the RSR ride vehicles). DH declared that he was worn out and wanted to go back to the hotel. YDD said, "Me, too!" She really wanted to go on RSR, but was too tired from all of the day's activities to keep on going. So DH & YDD headed to the room while ODD, Scooter Criminal Grandma & I hopped over to DCA.

This is another reason why staying at a hotel within walking distance has always worked out so well for our family. If somebody is tired and wants to leave earlier than the rest of the group, it's no big deal. That person doesn't have to sit around and wait for everyone else so we can drive in our 1 car to the hotel.

On prior trips, I've explored the possibility of us staying ~ 1 hr's drive away (staying with friends for free) and driving in each day. But DH & I always rule it out because of DH's Theme Park Fatigue. Our immediate family has figured out the recipe for fun & minimizing crankiness at Disneyland. The ingredients include:
  1. stay at a hotel on Harbor Blvd or, if $$ is tight, Katella Ave.
  2. be at the parks EARLY
  3. take an afternoon break! Preferably 3-4 hours.
  4. make sure DH has coffee in the a.m.
  5. everybody picks their #1 thing to do and we try to do it on the 1st day
  6. usually just 1 TS restaurant, sometimes 2. Always make a reservation before we get there.
  7. if we're going to use MM, try to use it early in the trip.
  8. decide on a souvenir budget ahead of time.
  9. make sure that DH has time to go off and do his own thing (it usually involves browsing/shopping) at least once on the trip.
  10. Ask everybody a couple of times a day how they think things are going. Adjust plans accordingly based on everybody's feedback.
Alrighty, so we made our way out of the park...slowly...because we kept having to stop, turn around, and see where Grandma was. The trees and plants in Adventureland are some of my favorites throughout both parks...
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ODD wanted a Dole Whip, so we got one for her at the Tropical Hideaway.
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And we saw Rosita...this became my internal nickname for Grandma for the rest of the trip whenever she really got on my nerves (which was usually when she would squawk, "EEEHH?" when she couldn't hear you). The bird form of Rosita, however, had much funnier jokes! :rotfl2:
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Here's what our FP looked like when we were leaving DL...
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Knowing that Rosita was not paying attention to any of her surroundings, I purposely had her stop on Main Street so she could look around for a bit and pay attention to how beautiful, charming, and wonderful Main Street is at night. Especially with the turn-of-the-century music that plays in the background. It's so lovely. Rosita needed to see it. Needed to pay attention to it. Needed to savor it. So far, she had driven all 4 of us totally batty. She was so frustrating to deal with. And at many times, a danger to herself and others when on that scooter.

After this trip, I don't think she's ever going to be going back to Disneyland again. Not given her age, her health, and her multiple physical ailments. Travel is just way too complicated for her.

Here's my slightly blurry photo. It's still gorgeous though! :-)

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As we crossed the Esplanade, we walked/scootered past a large group of high schoolers. Well, they all looked to be about high school age. There appeared to be some chaperones, too. It looked like they were meeting up to leave the park or something like that. Rosita was curious, so we had a little conversation about it. Here's how it went:

Rosita: WHY ARE ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE THERE?
me: I don't know, they're probably with some sort of travel group & they're meeting up for something.
Rosita: WHAT?
ODD: WE DON'T KNOW, GRANDMA! IT'S PROBABLY A SCHOOL GROUP!
Rosita: WHAT? IT'S A SCHOOL GROUP? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?
me: (thinking, 'OMG, here we go again') WE DON'T KNOW. WE'RE GUESSING. THEY'RE ALL WEARING THE SAME SHIRTS. THEY ALL LOOK TO BE IN HIGH SCHOOL. AND THERE'S ADULTS WHO LOOK LIKE CHAPERONES. THEY'RE PROBABLY MEETING UP TO LEAVE THE PARK.
Rosita: BUT WHAT GROUP ARE THEY WITH?
ODD: IT DOESN'T MATTER, GRANDMA! COME ON, LET'S GO ON TOY STORY!
Rosita: OH, OK!

popcorn::I was thinking, "2 more. 2 more rides tonight. I can handle shepherding her for 2 rides. I can do this."

Thank the Lord on high that most of the DCA crowds were gone by that point because hardly anybody had to play Frogger w/Rosita's scooter. People were starting to line up for World of Color. We still haven't seen it because I don't want to stand for an hour. We'll see it when we can afford the dessert party. So we walked over to Pixar Pier and went on Toy Story. Noticed that the Pixar lamp that's at the top of the Pixar Pier entrance arch actually moves! That was neat. Stopped for a minute to take some photos...it's very picturesque at night!
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Now it was time to use our FP!

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Even the FP line for Toy Story has wheelchair & scooter accessible. I'd forgotten that the Toy Story exit has stairs so it's good that Rosita went on her scooter the whole way through the FP queue. She was able to scooter all the way up to the handicap accessible entrance to the ride. Grandma & ODD rode it together and I went by myself. Grandma really enjoyed it and said she wanted to maybe go on it again. Sorry, Rosita, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that and we'll see what we can do about getting another FP for it.
 

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