"Where dreams came true" trip report Last day added

[DorkyDisneyMom]

I have been dying to write this trip report. I know that only you guys here would appreciate it. My family and friends eyes glazed over every time I tried to tell them about planning my trip. So to be back and to be able to tell people who might actually think the things that we did were magical is going to be great.

So here we go......



The cast

DH: ::cop: 36 trip goer, overtime worker, and at times second guesser

Me: SAHM 34 trip planner, Dis lover, rule follower.

DD: rincess: 7 High School Musical Freak!, sometimes thinks she is 15.

DS1: 5 Train Lover, AKA The Luckiest Boy, and keeper of all obscure facts. He has a form of High Functioning Autism.

DS2: 3 Pixar obsessed. Cars fanatic, also has Autism. He is brilliant and too funny!

My sister: 37 Pirate lover, and expert kid wrangler.

My Mom: 56 (I think), Disney trip sponsor and financier. Recent BSN graduate.

DNephew1: 15 anime freak and too cool for Disney, loves coasters.

DNephew2: 14 Lego freak and high anxiety rider. Excellent stroller pusher and Fantasyland partner.

Our Friends: Laura Disney lover, Troy Disney first timer. They were only with us the first day. After that they went to go visit family. Troy had never been to California.



If you are looking for short and sweet. This ain't it. I talk alot, and have been planning forever. And Gosh Darn it! I stay at home and sometimes the only adult conversation I get is from the telemarketers.



Yikes! I meant to hit preview post and instead hit the other one. I guess there is no backing out now.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

We decided to do this trip because my mom graduated from college and wanted to celebrate. She also goes WAY overboard at Christmas time. So we talked her into this trip. We thought that my nephews would still be at a decent age and not too cool to be seen with their Dorky family and my kids are at great ages.


My mom, sister, my DD 18 mos., my DN#2 7, and I had been to Disneyland in 2001 for Christmas, it was so wonderful. It was empty because of September 11th. The decorations were more than we could have imagined. The weather was wonderful. We decided that trip, we would only ever go again at Christmas.


So fast forward to 2006.


Started doing research on when the best time to go was. It seemed that the agreement was the week after Thanksgiving, or the first two weeks in December. As long as it wasn't at the same time as "The Candelight Procesional" So I decided the week after Thanksgiving was going to be good. I only have one in school so pulling her out for a few days wouldn't be so bad. I know. I know. I am one of those moms.


Mom put me in charge of finding which hotel we should use. HoJo seemed to be the one for small kids, and close too.


Originally had booked HoJo through Walt Disney Travel Company. We shopped around for prices and Disney beat everyone by $300.00, including booking everything separate. Weird, I know. Plus we got all the freebies that everyone else was offering. Score!


Then Grandma decided to stay on property at the DLH. Changed reservation paid about $150 more and we're staying on property!! Standard room. Who cares?! We are staying on property.


Booked cheap flights through Southwest. We are flying to SNA it was only $20.00 more. We have a layover in PHX. We are going to pick up Grandma and suprise the kids.


Our friends decide to go too. They also got the same cheap flights. So we will have them too!

I begin to read and reread and obsess over the details. I learn new things all the time. I try to share them with the others. Their eyes glaze over or they end the coversation really quickly. Everyone except Laura. She is my "Disneyland Drug Dealer". She is only going to be there for one day though.


I started the kids on the Disney Movie Extravaganza too.


I showed the boys movies of the rides on YouTube just to see how they would react. I didn't want them freaking out in line. I also knew that I needed to gently ease them onto some of the rides. I wanted to be sure they knew what it looked like and what happened. Meltdowns are no fun.


Got a new DVD player for the plane ride. We thought our old one was broken. Found the charger for the old one and it works. Score!


Got "The Santa Clause 3" movie, plus Tom and Jerry, and some Looney Tunes too. I wasn't going to pay for Ratatoullie, my kids saw it in the theater and barely made it through it. Plus they have been primed and ready to go with all the "ride" movies and others. They were well versed in Disney. Tom and Jerry are always a favorite. Plus that counts as a mouse too. Picked up treats at Dollar Tree and the Evil Empire.


I also packed the kid's clothes in the gallon Ziplock bags. So everyone had their outfits for the days laid out and labled. That was the best. No wierd or mismatched outfits for us. We didn't have to try to find anything. It was like McDonald's "I'll have the Cars shirt with blue jeans please." "Here you go. Have a nice day." Much easier than anything I have ever done before.


Ordered Von's online. Way easy! The first delivery was free too! Score!


So the plans were set. We were going to stay 11/27-12/1. We would arrive at about 9:30am, take a taxi (research says it's the cheapest, easiest and fastest) and do the parks. Then we would leave 12/1 at 3:25 and get home at about 11:30pm. Sounds good to me.



If you are still with me. Good for you.

 

[tinkermell]

Great start!!

Looking forward to more!!!

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

We had scheduled the first and earliest flight we could get in order to have the most time in the parks that day. Which sounds great on the computer. In real life it meant we had to leave our house by 3:15am, 3:30am at the very latest. We were going to pick up our friends and drive 90 minutes to the airport and that should give us enough time to check in, get through security, use the restroom etc;.

I had been packing for a few days. I like to pack in increments, that way I don't forget anything, and I am not hurrying around. We had been up the night before ordering our groceries. My husband had been second guessing me on that decision. He thought we could walk to a store and get them. Obviously he hadn't done his research. We didn't have a car, and weren't going to need one so grocery delivery seemed the best option. Anyway, we were up till almost 11:00 trying to agree on what to order.

We finally got bed after that and set the alarm for 2:30am. Our DS3 got up somewhere in the middle of that time and neither one of us could get back to sleep. So finally I just got up and took a shower and got ready. It must have been about 2:00 when I got up. I was running on Disney adrenaline at that point. It was like that commercial "We're too excited to sleep"

Woke the kids up got them dressed we were out the door by 3:10am. I had some stuff that I was going to pack before we left. Medicine and bandaids stuff like that. Well with it being so early I forgot it. So make sure to pack everything the night before just to be sure you get it. Especially if you leave in the middle of the night.

The plane ride was pretty uneventful. I was hoping that the boys would sleep. They didn't. So we watched The Roadrunner outsmart The Coyote and then we watched Jerry outsmart Tom. They were pretty well behaved. My DS3 kept trying to escape from his seatbelt he also kept flipping the tray table down. The flight wasn't full so the seat in front of him was empty. My husband sat in front of our other son so in case he decided to kick the seat. He didn't. He was great. I think what he enjoyed most was the safety card. He thought that was the most interesting thing. He enjoyed the Skymall magazine too. He would flip through it and pick out what stuff he wanted on each page. It was kind of a fun game. I would pick out really funny stuff and ask him if he would want that. He would just look at me like I had three heads, and then say "Teasing."

We had a layover in Phoenix we were going to pick up Grandma and suprise the kids. We exited the plane fine. DS3 was in the stroller, and DS5 had his "partner". He is a wanderer, so he has to have a hand otherwise he will be gone in a flash. He doesn't run, he's kind of like Dory, "Look! Something shiney!" So I was his "partner" and we made it to the next gate fine with plenty of time to spare. We hit the restrooms again and waited for Grandma. She arrived while I was looking for chapstick in the gift shop. I didn't get to see the kids react to her. Too bad. I had DS3 with me, so I got to see his reaction. He was pretty excited.

We get on the plane the big kids sit by Grandma. I get to sit by DS3 again. Seriously, how many times can you flip the tray table down?! I'm glad it didn't hit him in the head. Although maybe that would have stopped him. It really wasn't that big of a deal, except he was doing it during take off and landing. I kept getting scolded by the flight attendants. "Yes, I know it needs to be up, thank you." So I got out the toys that I bought for him. I got him 4 new Cars. He loved those and he played wih those on the tray table. Short flight. No naps again.

We get to SNA. DS3 stroller, DS5 Grandma's partner. DD7 good to go. I get off of the plane. We are trying to decide to get our luggage. I do the headcount. It's automatic for me "1, 2, 3". WHERE IS DS5?! OMG! We are in California! Danger! WHERE IS DS5?! I think I aged about 50 years.

"Look! Something shiney" was over at the windows watching the planes. His partner had let go of his hand. Oh man. I feel like the Abominable Snowman in Monsters Inc. "Rule #1 Always...No, NEVER let go of his hand!"

So we make it to baggage claim. Head to ground transportation. Get a taxi van for the same price as a car. It took 2 minutes for it to arrive. Load all of the children plus Grandma. Sit back, and listen to DS5 tell me all about a taxi. He even sang me a taxi song. That was really all he talked about at preschool. "First, I'm going on an airplane. Then, I'm going in a taxi van!" This was his first time in a taxi.

Traffic was great. $50.00 including tip and 20 minutes later we were there. We were at Disneyland! We were at the DLH! We saw a band coming trough the parking lot. DS5 thought that was great too. "Look Mommy! A tuba!" Yes son, if you think that is great just wait until you see the rest.

The entrance was decorated. My daughter thought it was beautiful. We went into the lobby. My mom checked us in. The kids watched cartoons. Our room wasn't ready yet. They said to check back around 3:00. My husband asked DS3 if he was ready. He told my husband "Yes, I am ready for presents!". He spotted all of the fake presents under the tree in the lobby. He thought that they were for him. Too bad.

The plan was to drop off the stuff with "Bell Services" and meet our friends at the front gates. So my husband quick changed into shorts and we were off.

Downtown Disney was all decorated. The tree out there was huge. Stopped and took some pictures. Lovely. Downtown Disney wasn't really that crowded. We made it to security. Huge line. Waited in that thing behind the woman who brought everything including the kitchen sink in her diaper bag. Man, it seemed like it took forever. I'm sure it wasn't. It just seemed like it.

My mom got me this new purse for the trip. It was really cute. It had all these compartments to keep everything organized. Very nice purse. The purse I carry at home is a Big pink seatbelt bag. I switched to this purse 2 days before the trip. I kept on putting it down and not being able to find it. I was so used to looking for the big pink one. I couldn't find anything in the new bag either. Is it in the front compartment? Or the back? Or in the middle? Where is it?! Grrr!! By the end of this trip I was ready to thow the bag off the pier in DCA. My life is just not paced that way.

My life is more like, here is some money. Gimme the change and I will throw it in there with one hand and hope for the best, before my boys run off. Need to use the phone? It's at the bottom under the sunglasses. So if you are going to switch bags, do it before your trip. Or get one that is easier to manuver if your kids are runners.

Made it through security just fine. On to the park! I don't think there was a line to get in. I don't really remember. I knew where to get strollers. I had decided in Downtown Disney to get 2. DS5 just couldn't keep up.

Hit the stroller line. Checked our stroller with them and got theirs. I know that they don't get great reviews. I thought they were good. Much better than hauling our own Big Kahuna, or the cheap umbrella stroller. I really liked that they stored ours for us though. Wonderful idea. I put a big Christmas bow on ours. I bought it at the Evil Emipre so we could find ours among the sea of strollers. Don't forget yours. I put a luggage tag on the other one. It helped so much.

Ok so we are at Walt's park. Seriously?! We are at Walt's park?! We see Minnie in front and the kids stop to take pictures. Aww how sweet. The train starts to pull in as we are going under the bridge. Perfect! It has been a pretty rough year. We are here here finally. Yipee!

The Christmas tree is HUGE! So beautiful! The music is wonderful. The horse drawn trolley is there. We are here Main Street!! Aren't those shops so cute. Look at the castle!! Yep we're here.

 

[BillyFan]

I'm on board. It sounds like a great start!

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

Ok so now on to the stuff you really care about.

The plan was to take the train to NOS and go to Critter County and do Pooh with the "littles", while the "bigs" did Splash and HMH.
Then we were All going to do Pirates.
"Bigs" would do Indy.
"Littles" would do Tarzan's treehouse.
All would do Jungle Cruise.
Then over to Redd Rocketts to eat.
All would do Autopia.
"Bigs" do Space.
"Littles" HISTA.
All BLAB.
"Bigs" Star Tours.
"Littles" Astro Orbiter.
All Nemo, if line permitting.
All small world after dark.
Maybe Toad, or something.
All parade.
All fireworks.
Espn Zone for dinner.

I was pretty happy with that. Our friends were only going to be there for the first day. It was his first time to California ever. So I wanted to make sure that we got all the good rides in. We were going to be there for 3 1/2 more days so Fantasyland could wait. That day was also EE so I knew it was wise to avoid it.

What actually happened.

We split up and decide to meet at Pooh. Some want to walk and see it all first. Ok fine by me. I just wanted to get my son on the train so we didn't have to hear, "Can we ride the train? When can we ride the train? I hear the train. Can we ride the train?". I thought if I got him on it first he could focus and do the rest of the park. The wonderful world of Autism.

The second-guesser thought we couldn't get the strollers on the train. I'm not sure. I, still to this day don't know. I just assumed that you could. Rather than argue about it, we walk. We catch up with the others.

We walk past Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Indy. The wait is only 10 minutes. Friends decide to do Indy. We do Tarzan. They are still on Indy.

We decide to hit Pirates. Walk on. Love that ride. Captain Jack looks great. I haven't seen the new editions. What is funny about this ride is I had just read a thread somewhere. People like silence, and no lights on this ride. So we get on, and my husband is trying to film with the video camera. I told him to turn it off and be considerate of others around us. He did. Then all we hear through the ride is "Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me. Drink up me hardies. Yo ho". I'm like, how is this quiet? I mean you could not hear anything but this song. We went from scene to scene trying to hear what the pirates were saying but all you could hear was this song. My kids could barely hear me when I was trying to talk into their ears. Mind you I hadn't been on this ride since 2001. I thought, wow, those people are freaks, this is far from quiet or relaxing.

So we get off Pirates. Friends get on Pirates. We decide to meet at end. I was thinking that we should just split at this time because they want to do all the big rides first. I thought it would be best if my kids were eased onto rides. I didn't want anyone to freak out. We still had quite a few days left and I didn't want to have to make a scene everytime we did something.

We met up and ate at Hungry Bear. I have heard some bad reviews of this place. I wasn't even going to eat there because I had heard it was so bad. Well it was 2:00pm my time. I had been up since 2:00am. I hadn't eaten since 6:00am. So I was hungry. I had some kind of sandwich with fruit. It was ok, not wonderful, ok. So maybe the trick is to starve your sleep deprived body so much that it tastes good?! Would I eat there again? Maybe.

So after eating we look at the Splash waiting time. 5 minutes. Pooh looks like a walk on too. I was going to help Grandma with the boys and do Pooh. Instead DS5 decides he will go on Splash. What?! Ok. Are you sure?! I quote. "If I get to sit next to you Mommy." Awww. Well of course I will get my well groomed, good hair day, cute outfit, self soaked, if I get to sit next to you. Super-brave boy.

Grandma takes DS3 to Pooh. He does the reride 3 times. He loves that ride. My mom told me that was one her most special moments with him there.

Back to Splash. I have never ridden it. Last time I was there I was 7 months pregnant. I'm sure they don't recommend that ride for you then. I also am not a big fan of getting wet. I have to look good for the pictures. So we are going through the huge queue and seeing no one. We get to the loading place and line up. They stick my DH in front, Friend's DH next, DD7 middle, Friend, and then empty seat, then DS and me. All of the weight is in the front. That can't be good. Well we are back here, hopefully we are ok. The front was wet until we got to the drop. Then the front was Soaked. We got wet. But my DH and FDH were sopping. Oh well, it's still early plenty of time to dry off.

Others want to do HMH. I'm not sure. Maybe I should go do Pooh with DS5. Grandma isn't feeling well. Go to find Grandma. All of us do Pooh. She is ready to go back and take a nap. She called to see if the room was ready. It was. DS3 was ready for a nap too. He needed to see the parade and fireworks, and ESPN. Grandma took DS3 back for a nap. He was exhausted. Gave her the claim check for the stroller so she could cart him back.

Off we go to ride HMH. Walk on. DS5 decides to ride this one too. He has never seen Nightmare. Niether have I. We saw it on Youtube it didn't look too bad. He wanted to be my partner again. Great. Rode it. It was pretty fun. He liked the "bomb present" at the end.

We decide to head towards TL. On the way back we hit Jungle Cruise. Walk on. I have never ridden this ride either. I like good clean fun, and silly jokes. Loved it.

Hit Star Tours. Walk on. DD and DS fight over who gets to sit by me. AWWW that never happens. Don't you remember? I'm the mean one.

Hit Asto Orbitor. Walk on. Didn't ride. Kid's liked it.

Hit BLAB. Walk on. I am terrible at this. I even knew where the hidden targets were. Still no good. I didn't share my information with DH. He's a firearms instructor. He had enough of an advantage.

Hit Space. DS decides he will ride this too. What?! Ok . He rode as my partner again. He told me, "I will never ride that again. It was too scary." Good. Neither will I. I swear I almost fell over after I got off of it. I was so dizzy. My DH had to hold his hand for a while.

Hit Autopia. Never been. Walk on. DD7 drove. She isn't that great of a driver. She still has 9 years to learn. Fun family ride.

Walk past Nemo. Check line time, 35 minutes. Now, I know that is a great time. It won't get any better than that. I urge them to ride. No takers. What?! Ok.

On to it's a small world. 5 minute wait. DS loved this ride. I loved this ride. Dh not so much. But, hey at least it's "Jingle Bells".

On to Toad. I wasn't so sure about this one. We had seen it on Youtube. The train part I was afraid was going to send him over the edge. He loves trains. I'm just not sure if he likes to pretend to be hit by one. I let him drive. I told him to "Drive carefully.". He really tried. Somehow we got hit by that train though. He was fine with it. He kind of jumped a little but, was fine. He wanted to drive Toady's car in the front instead. Fine by me.

At this point we decided to do Indy. 10 minute wait. Never been. DS5 is up for it. He has his designated partner. DD7 "drives". OMG! Did I just hit my head on the rock wall?! Fun ride. DS5 said it was scary, was fine though.

Friends want to ride Pirates. We want to ride BTMRR. Split up and decide to meet later to line up for parade. DH takes kids on BTMRR. Grandma calls and says she has a great spot for the parade. She also says DS3 is freaking out.

I walk/run to find her. She is clear at the front of the park. If I weaved past you on Main St. and scared you. Sorry. I found her with so much clear room around her it wasn't even funny.

So I decide to sit down. We take the stroller and block a path with a lady next to us. It wasn't too bad. Dh called and brings the other kids with him. They sit with us. Apparently the woman standing 3 feet away from me was saving a spot. No idea. We move stroller away and the crush starts to move forward. My kids are all kind of on top of me. I move DS5 over a little. Lady makes remark. I move DS5 back. Another family squeezes in. Lady makes another remark. Family doesn't move. No fight but it wasn't pleasant. So we saw the parade. I was under a pile of kids, but we saw it.

I really liked it. Those skating snowflakes were great. One even winked at my son. Minnie's skating dress was magical under the lights. We got it out of the way the first night. See Hydroguy's rules.


Our friends decided to skip the parade and fireworks. They went to RF Cafe.


I was exhausted. My Dh was exhausted. My DD wanted to ride more rides. By this time my sister had arrived with her boys. So we sent DD with her.


We decided since it was nearly 9:30 our time we were done. We wanted to take the train around to TML Station and then take the monorail out. Before we got on the train they said it was this train's last trip around. We had to get off at Toontown and then wait for the next train. I didn't care. I just wanted out, and DS wanted to ride the train. It was fine. You couldn't see anything though. Oh well, next time we'll ride it in the day. We exit at Toontown.

While we are waiting for the next train.
The fireworks begin....


Above our heads.....


We don't have headphones for the boy.


We use them to help with noise.


Oh dear.


Prepare for freak out in 3, 2, 1.....






Nope! Didn't happen.

Disneyland Dreams do come true.

I don't know how we ended up having to go all the way around back to Main St. Station. But, we did. Then we had to go through DTD. We ate at Tortilla Joes, walk up window. I had the chicken burrito. It was ok. DH had carne asada. Better. The boys had nachos. Skip em'. Hate that fake cheez.

Went back to hotel to find out that we had been upgraded to the "Dreams" tower. The pool looked great. We called for bell services. They came with our bags and groceries.

Went to bed praying the boys would sleep in. They are usually between 5:00-6:00am. That would be 3:00am or 4:00am.

 

[Hound 109]

I hate "fake cheez" (ballpark nachos) too.

Fabulous Trip Report DDM.

You write so well & tell quite a yarn. Looks like you accomplished a LOT in the first day.

I'm in..... & am looking forward to several more days.


hound -

 

[nunzia]

Great report so far! Yeah for you on the upgrade. (I'll take the nachos..fake cheese is ok sometimes )
I have never gotten groceries at DLR..how does that work? Who does it?

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

I went to Vons online. They are also known as Safeway.

I just went on and registered. I entered the DLH address as the delivery address. You can shop by aisle, or products. Just put them in your cart and buy them. When I registered it said the first delivery was free. I only needed one so that was good. They give you the "card" sale prices too. They will adjust your total before they deliver it. They ask you select a time frame to have them delivered in. So we chose later that night hoping we would be in the room. They never called us. They just left the groceries with the bell desk. Super easy! If I can do it. You can do it.

We bought bottled water, pop, jerky, donuts, Coco pebbles, apples, oranges, juice boxes, chips. Stuff that was easy to bring into the park. Or easy to eat for breakfast.

We only had pop left over.

 

[RENThead09]

thank you so much for the incredible trip report and the info on Vons. I had never heard of that, but will most definitely use it on my next trip. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[nunzia]

I went to Vons online. They are also known as Safeway.

I just went on and registered. I entered the DLH address as the delivery address. You can shop by aisle, or products. Just put them in your cart and buy them. When I registered it said the first delivery was free. I only needed one so that was good. They give you the "card" sale prices too. They will adjust your total before they deliver it. They ask you select a time frame to have them delivered in. So we chose later that night hoping we would be in the room. They never called us. They just left the groceries with the bell desk. Super easy! If I can do it. You can do it.

We bought bottled water, pop, jerky, donuts, Coco pebbles, apples, oranges, juice boxes, chips. Stuff that was easy to bring into the park. Or easy to eat for breakfast.

We only had pop left over.

That is great! Best tip I've had in a long time for DL
I wonder if there is any way to purchase beer. DH likes one at night, but the price in the DGC lounge is a bit steep..

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

I would think you could. Go to Vons.com and find out. You can do preview shopping. You can even make an electronic list and it will save it for you.

I'm glad to help. I learned so much from everyone else.

 

[CrAzY4DL]

That is great! Best tip I've had in a long time for DL
I wonder if there is any way to purchase beer. DH likes one at night, but the price in the DGC lounge is a bit steep..

My hubby works for the website, safeway.com and yes, you can purchase alcohol online. Wine and I believe hard liquor as well! I love their delivery and can't wait to use it sometime down at DL.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

Sorry, I have the world's worst cold now. Therefore I am not responsible for grammar or spelling. If it's going to bug you, consider this your warning.


When I last left you, you were worried about the boys' sleep schedule...

They slept until 6:00am. YES! If we were at home it would have been 8:00am. It's another Disney Dream come true.


The plan for this day was Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast, 8:30 PS. It came free with the package. Make to the gates by opening, and go left. I thought that going left had served us pretty well on day 1.

What actually happened.

Since the boys were up so early, everyone decided to get ready and hit GK early. We were only about 20min early. Which was great because I was worried about missing 10:00am opening.

Goofy's Kitchen was great! I decided to try the peanut butter pizza after reading about here. Yum! Grandma had an omlette. DH had a little bit of everything. DD7 had a little bit of everything and a bit of ice cream. DS5 had 4 waffles, bacon and sausage, pumpkin pie, and a thing that looked like a present. DS3 had sausage, sausage, and more sausage, fruit, and some ice cream sprinkles. DN's had Pepproni pizza. My sister had a little bit of everything too. All very balanced Disney meals. My philosphy "I don't care what you eat, as long as you eat."

We saw Goofy, Chip, Baloo, Cinderella, Mad Hatter, and Pluto. My kids loved it. We got some great pictures. I missed the Mad Hatter, I have since seen him on DVD. He was really funny. He complimented DS3 on his selection of ice cream sprinkles for breakfast. He said, "It always good to have so much sugar for breakfast." He also had the boys make silly faces for their picture. DD7 and I were in the bathroom, that is why we missed him.

We finished up and were on our way. We had to go to the room for something. We were going to miss opening. We decided to take the monorail in. DS7 has been talking about it for months. He told me he wanted to ride it 100 times. Ummm......no. We get on, take it to Tomorrowland. Everyone wanted to do Autopia. I needed to get strollers. I took DN15, with me.

We head down Main St. to go get strollers. WOW! Is it beautiful. We get stollers, and I go to City Hall and get 3, 1st time buttons. Go back to Tomorrowland and meet with everyone. I was thinking we could go back the way we did yesterday. Everyone wants to stay here. The streets are pretty crowded. I plead my case. No one believes me. I relent and say ok. DD7 wants to do Jedi Training Academy. DH takes all the boys to BLAB, and Asto, and BLAB some more. These are the only rides DS3 can ride over here.

DD7 lines up for Jedi. I didn't make her a sign. I know...I read the rules. She is usually pretty lucky though. She stands off to the side raising her hand, jumping a little. I think, "I should have made her a sign." A bigger girl, jumps in front of my daughter and pushes her out of the way. My daughter trys to get her place back. No go. Grr! Oh well, we will just try again. Meanwhile the "pusher" gets chosen. Guess who else gets chosen? DD7. The Padawan saw it and picked her too. Awww Disney magic.

She gets her robe. Does the "training", and fights Darth Maul. She does a great job. She isn't afraid, she doen't know who he is. I saw Chapter 1 with that little kid but, didn't see any of the other new ones. Moving on. She gets her certificate and is proud.

We decide to do HISTA. I have never been. We take all sorts of funny pictures with the glasses while waiting for the show. I am a little worried about the boys. They give you this big scary warning about how loud it will be. Also something about intense action or some such thing. I sit on the end in case I need to make a break for it. I tell DS5, if it's too scary, take off your glasses. He's fine with that.

Ok, to the funniest part. In the beginning the CM tells about "Hidden Mickey's." There are "Hidden Mickey's here and here and here." The movie starts. Some of the way through the movie these guys come on the screen. They look like they have on Mickey ears. I'm thinking, "Those aren't very well Hidden Mickeys. I thought they were supposed to be hidden" Weird. I continue watching, the mouse ear guys are talking, I'm laughing at the mouse ears. I keep thinking, "I can't see. I wonder what the son looks like." Then, I realize I don't have MY glasses on. I had the lovely yellow glasses on but, not mine. Yeah, the yellow glasses are to be worn OVER your own glasses. Duh! So I put my glasses AND the yellow glasses on. The Mickey ear guys have the inventor helmet thing on. So if you want to see Hidden Mickey's take your glasses off and just wear the yellow ones.

The movie ends. The kids do fine. Everyone makes fun of me. The CM thanks us for "coming to see him even though it's not raining." How nice. So make sure you go see him.

Everyone wants to do Space. I take Grandma, DN14, DS's to the arcade. We play some games while we wait.

Next we do BLAB. My score gets worse. How is that possible!? DS3 gets 900points. Woo Hoo! Others do Star Tours and Astro.

DS3 and I do BLAB a few more times. Our vehicle gets stopped. We were just outside the tunnel. Darn! Oh well, better score this time.

Spend time debating what next.

We head decide to head to Pirates. My sister's favorite ride. We do Pirates. Small wait. It is so quiet this time. I could actually hear the pirates. Now I know what they were talking about.

HMH. Bombs again. 10 minute wait.

Spend time trying to decide what next.

Decide maybe BTMRR. Or Indy. Others are starving, We try Golden Horseshoe. The Billy's are on. No go. We go to the Take out window on the other side. No idea what it is called. Get cheese sticks. YUM! Crispy outsides, gooey insides. Fries. Yum! Funnel cake for Grandma, and cookies too. Yum!

Decide to go to DCA and do HSM2, and maybe Aladdin.

On our way out, we spot Captain Hook. DS3 has been talking about meeting him for a while. We play this game, "I'm going to Disneyland..." His is always, "I'm going to Disneyland to see Captain Hook."

I stop the convoy, and get the autograph books out. The boys are walking up to Hook. There is a little girl in front of us, she begins to cry when she sees him. It's their turn now. DS5 gives him his book and pen. Hook, signs it and flips the book shut. DS3 gives him his book too. Hook, signs his book, flips it shut, and knocks it to the ground on purpose. Hook is pretending to laugh. DS3 says, "I got it. I got it." I ask them to stand by Hook to get a picture. Hook, then grabs DS3 by the top of his hair. He didn't pull it. It just looks like it in the picture. He has a handful of his hair in his hand. I at this point am kind of laughing, I knew he could be that way. DS3 was oblivious at this point and just thrilled. Our turn was almost over, poor Hook was being mobbed. So DS5 says "Bye." DS3 says "Bye. Bye. Codfish." Hook waves his finger at DS3 and makes "Tsk, Tsk, Tsk" at him. I was laughing, I was proud so proud of my son.

Head toward exit gates. Get in altercation with "the guy". Tells me, "Hey foureyes, why don't you lose weight so your husband will find you more attractive." You know because my day wasn't frustrating enough.

Seriously people. Let's have a plan. Stop wasting time trying to figure out what to do. Ridemax anyone?? Please follow me, I promise that this will work. Didn't you read what Dangermouse said? The worst thing is listening to her kids fight about what to do next.

Head to DCA. At this point I am ready to freak out. We wasted alot of time today and "the guy" was just icing on the cake.

Decide to do Soarin'. First time for almost all of us. Great ride. We were in the second row center. My daughter kept asking me, "Is this real? Are we really flying? Mom, is this real?" My answer was, "As real as things are at Disneyland." She didn't really like that answer. I told her, "Shush. Enjoy the ride."

We head toward Sunshine Plaza to wait. I decide, that the boys would have fun at Flik's Fun Fair instead of wating for show. Daughter has a freak out, and wants to ride TOT. What?! We wasted more time waiting for nothing. So we split up. DH, DD, DN15 head to TOT. I take everyone else with me.

We do all of that several times. Yay! No more wasting time. Rides! Chew Chew train is cute. Tuck and Roll is fun with DS3 driving. Flik's Fun Flyer's is great for the boys. We had to have Casey Junior Circus Cookies everytime. Ladybug boogie is ok. We did Tuck and Roll, and Flik a bunch of times. I felt a little better. DN14 is an expert at helping me load and unload.

We then decide to go swimming at the hotel. I was good for that. I was pretty frustrated by the whole day.

On the way back I stop at World Of Disney just to take a break. I pick out my ornament. Blue Mickey Head with silver ears, and the Fab 5 in front of the castle. Tink is in the back with the "Dreams" logo. Cute. Everyone's faces are painted so you can see who they are. Sometimes you never know. Head to the check out. The CM at the check out was so sweet. She told me she liked my ornament I said, "Yeah, you can tell who everyone is." she says, "Yeah unlike some of those Princesses. Some of them are so bad."and made a face that looked like this I think she was suprised at what came out of her mouth and she said, "I probably shouldn't say that." I just laughed. We both laughed so hard that I was almost crying. It was that kind of day.

Stopped at Sephora on the way sprayed myself with perfume while my mom waited for Naples pizza. Went into Marceline's and got salt water taffy and chocolate covered carmel popcorn.

Got back to hotel as others were finished swimming. We ate Worst. Pizza. Ever. Watched Heather get kicked off ANTM. Booooo! Put boys to bed hoping for another good night's sleep.

I went to bed and was so upset by the day. I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night. I was sure this trip was not supposed to be this way. I had been planning for months. I was so sad I began to cry. I just prayed that tomorrow would be a better day. It couldn't get much worse.

I needed to get to sleep we had EE in the morning. I wasn't going to be late. I had the DIS formula in my head. That was the plan, no matter what. I finally fell asleep at 2:45am.

 

[CardinalsFan]

"Look! Something shiney" was over at the windows watching the planes. His partner had let go of his hand. Oh man. I feel like the Abominable Snowman in Monsters Inc. "Rule #1 Always...No, NEVER let go of his hand!"

I think this is the funniest thing I have read on the DISboards ever!

Head toward exit gates. Get in altercation with "the guy". Tells me, "Hey foureyes, why don't you lose weight so your husband will find you more attractive." You know because my day wasn't frustrating enough.

Whoa! I must have missed something. Who the heck is "the guy" and did someone really say that out loud?

 

[ctamama]

Whoa! I must have missed something. Who the heck is "the guy" and did someone really say that out loud?

You can read about "the guy" here:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1652454


DDM: loving your trip report!!! Totally busting up at all the funny things your DS3 says......what a cutie!

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

Thanks ctamama.

I have no idea how to quote, or post links. I really have no idea how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer. I would show you all pictures if I could.

I'm not sure I should even be allowed near the computer.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

If you are still with me. Good for you. On with the DREAM.


The boys were up at 5:30am. DS5 was singing Casey Jr, when he woke up. He knew that today was the day for him to ride it. Today was EE so it was ok. I had warned everyone the night before about EE. It wasn't even really an early EE just 9:00. I did warn them though. Don't!! Be!! Late!!

I got my family ready. We were ready to leave at 8:30. No one else was. Grr! My mom also wanted to take my DD7 with her. So finally at 8:45, like a true Disney survivor, I voted everyone off the island. I left with my DH, DS3, and DS5. I told everyone else "Call me when you make it to the park. BuH BuH ByE!"

We took the stairs down to ground level without a moment to spare. My Dh is 6'3, he had DS3 in the stroller. I had DS5. We were racing in DTD. I bribed DS5 if he raced with me. So he did. We made it through security pretty fast and chose our line. Our line was on the end. Don't ask me which gate, it was the slow one. I was freaking a little.... or a lot. I knew that we had no time to waste.

We got through the gates. Finally. Up, Main St. just a few seconds after rope drop. I had given DH the plan so he was on his way through the castle. Peter Pan first (always first). We waited maybe 3-5 minutes to load. This was a first for all of us. I rode with DS3. WOW! No wonder that line is always so long. I love that ride! DS3 loved seeing Hook above the croc. He even sang "Crickety, crockety, cric, crook the Croc is after Captain Hook." By the time we got off, they had opened up all the switchbacks in the line.

Next up Dumbo. We had to wait for one go round to get on. My husband saw that go round and said, "That's it?" To which I promptly replied, "Did you just say, Thank you beautiful wife for not making me wait 20 minutes for that?!" I thought so. I rode with DS3 I think we had the orange one. Fun, but short. He drove the elephant.

Next was to be Matterhorn. Huge line. It looked like only one side was running too. No way.

We went to Mad Tea Party instead. Finally got call from others. Others were able to get in on the tea party too. I asked a girl in line how to get to Alice. I had never been. She told me and gave me the Dis rundown of order. I almost asked her if she was a DISser but I thought she might think I was crazy. Mad Tea Party over. I was the spinner, everyone was dizzy. My husband's legs were squished.

Next up Alice. New ride for us all. When we were in line there was a young boy trying to get to his friends. The mom of the friends said, "Sorry next time." I let the boy cut across my line to get to his friends and told him, "Welcome to Disneyland." Yesterday was fresh in my mind. I was determined to share some magic today. Not sure how others felt about it, but, one boy is not going to make or break the line. The mom thanked me. My DN's had to leave the line to go to the bathroom. They tried to cut the line when it was time to get on. My sister told them, "Too bad. Get out! I am not about to start a riot." So I rode with DS3, and sister. My sister said, "Now that was a great ride. Old School." I told her that she would have liked Peter Pan even more. During that ride we got a call from Grandma and she told us that she had gone to the dress shop and gotten DD7 a dress.

When we got to the part where you ride outside we saw DD7. She was dressed as Minnie Mouse. So I called from the ride, "Look, it's Minnie Mouse. I love you Minnie." She thought that was pretty funny.

Next was supposed to be carousel. We saw they were getting ready to open Casey Jr up. Decided to line up for that instead. DS5 was about to burst. I was feeling great too. We had done EE and the plan worked. We had wasted no time. We get on Casey Jr. first car. DS5 wanted to sit close to the engine. Love that song. Got off and rode again. Backward caboose. Got off and tried to formulate plan. DS5 rode again while waiting.

The plan was to finish Fantasyland, we had Toad, Pinoc., and Snowy to go. There were no lines for any of those. Go to DCA and do that park. Everyone was set. Others had to use bathroom first and wanted to trade pins. I needed strollers too. I took DN14 with me. I called my friend Laura while I was in line. She understood the power of a plan, I talked to her and told her how things were going. I also asked her about the beach. It was covered in seagulls, in case you are wondering. Yuck! Birds give me the heebie jeebies.

We met everyone back at Village Haus. Decided to do Pinoc. first and then Snowy. New ride. Walk on. Fun ride. DS3 thought that the donkeys were funny. Did they just say what I thought they said?

Next up Snow White. New ride. On our way to the ride I see a few Dream Team members sort of hiding. I told my sister just in passing, "That's who we need to look for." I don't think she heard me. Walk on ride. Man that witch is mean. I really liked the part where she turns around and is old and ugly.

As we are getting off the ride. The Dream Team greets me, "How was your ride?"
"Good." I say.
"Well we have some questions for you if you don't mind."
"No, I don't mind." secretly freaking trying to sound cool.
"Do you have any ID with you?"
"Yes," reaching for purse.
"We don't need to see it now, just a little later."
"Do you know anyone who works here at Disneyland?"
"Nope. I don't know a soul who works at Disneyland." me wracking brain just to make sure.
They might have asked another question but, I forget. I was flipping out. I was thinking we had won Grand Marshall for the parade.
"Ok well I think we might have some good news for you, why don't you come with us."

We walk through FL and through the castle, making small talk. A guy stops and asks one of the ladies "Are you who we are supposed to look for?" She answers "Yes, just not at this moment." More small talk.

The whole time I am thinking. OMG! We won! Now I am going to have to register and post on the Dis. I wonder if we won Grand Marshall. DS5 is going to freak, he will get to ride the bus. How cool. Maybe we just won mouse ears though. Don't get too excited.

We go into the office that is next door to City Hall. She asks everyone if they want to come in. She says, "Maybe the kids want to do something else, it's just going to be a boring meeting." DSis takes kids to Fire Department. DS5 has been wanting to visit.

We go in and I think she asks me "How has your trip been?"
"Good." me
"Great, do you like to shop?"
"Yeah. We haven't done much since we have been here. I just bought a Christmas ornament."
"Well, you may have just won a $500.00 shopping spree at World of Disney."
"What?!" me "Wow! That is so great."
"We need to have you fill out some paperwork, and see your id to make sure you won."

I fill out all the paperwork. I win.

She then asks, "Do you have any plans for this afternoon at 3:30?"
"We have reservations at Rainforest Cafe."
"Well, I will call and see if they will change them."
Plans changed in nothing flat.
She says, "I will meet you in front of World Of Disney between 3:15 and 3:30.
You will have two ambassadors following you to help you shop. They will also be in charge of keeping track of how much you spend. They will be your personal shoppers."

We go outside and take our picture in front of the Fire Department.

OMG! This is way better than Grand Marshall. $500.00. I wonder how far that will go??

We head over to DCA. We head toward GRR. New ride. Everyone except for DH and DS3 ride. We just miss the geyser. Phew! We were still pretty wet though.

Head toward Pier. Stop to get drinks and chips.

Do Golden Zephyr. Fun. Why is it called Golden when it is silver?

Head toward Screamin'. DS5, DD7, DN15, DSis, and DH all go do that.

Mom and I and DS3 and DN14 decide to do Sunwheel instead. Non-sliding. Grandma goes shopping, DN plays some games, and DS3 finishes Cheetos.

I call a few friends. I call my friend Laura again. She was so nice. She said, "And that is what happens to those that have a plan."I don't really believe that but, it nice to hear. Then she tells me, "You suck!"

Everyone is finished and it is time to eat. DH decides that he will take the children and let me go shopping with my mom. He is kind of grumpy too. He is just leaving us all behind and not waiting for us to catch up.

I start crying. That was the last straw for me. I can handle a lot but, that was it. I was thinking, "By all means please do not be happy. Please do not share one of the most special things that has ever happened. Please do not thank me for all my hard work. Please don't have a clue at about how fricken rare it is to win."

We make it to the Rainforest Cafe. Our table isn't ready yet. I'm half way composed by then. I ask DH, why he won't come with me. He thinks that since Grandma paid for the trip that she should go instead. My mom saw me crying. She was having none of it. I told her what DH thought. She told me, "I don't want to spend anyones money except my own. That doesn't sound fun at all."

So I am thinking I have to go shopping by myself.

DSis says, "We will take the kids to take a nap. You two go all by yourself."

Our table is ready. I tell DH the plan. He makes sure it is OK with everyone.
Everyone is fine.

Our table is in a corner with some parrots and butterflies. The monkeys were near by too. I had crabcakes. I have never had them before. Good. DS5 had mac and cheez. He ate it. I am not sure what everyone else had. I would find out later that everyone thought that the food there was overrated. I think that you don't go for food but for the "show"

We leave RFC to help take kids up to bed. My kids never nap. Never. I tell my sister just put them in bed and turn on cartoons. I tell my kids I will bring them back a treat if they are good. Channel 100 has old Disney cartoons so try that. I freshen up and we head toward WOD.

On the way we talk and DH thinks we should buy everyone else stuff. I'm thinking that we should buy our family stuff and everything else is a bonus. He thinks that we should buy everyone else sweatshirts. I'm thinking this will be a short shopping trip if we do. Not a fight but, close.

We meet Diane out in front of Disney. She introduces us to Garnette and Brian (maybe). We say, "Hello" and try not to look so much like deer caught in the headlights. They ask us where everyone else is. I tell them, "No you are supposed to say, Thank you for not bringing all 9 of you." They laugh. I say, "I love my children but, no thanks."

Then it hits me. I don't remember the last time I was in a store without at least one kid. We weren't going to have to worry about money. This should be fun.

 

[mla1977]

So cool! I can't wait to hear what you got!

 

[tinkermell]

My goodness!!! What a wonderful Dream!! Hope you had fun, without the kids in tow!

Please continue.............................