Just the 3 of us… almost. Nov '09 TR ~ Update 7/10

[Sunset Cliffs]

Ok, so I know the title is weird but give me a chance to explain. We are planning a trip to Disneyland for the few days before Thanksgiving. We are already going to be in southern California for the holiday so we decided to attach a few days to the parks ahead of time. The real question is…who is actually going on this trip with us?

Let me start with some intros.

Alison, me, 35 – planner of most trips and also the most hooked on all things Disney. I have been writing a TR of our trip to WDW (last June), and I am getting close to the end of it. I’m so glad that we decided to go to DL for Thanksgiving (for many reasons), but one of those reasons is that I was starting to get a little sad that I was close to finishing my last TR.

Todd, DH, 35 – my wonderful husband who loves Disney (almost) as much as I do, thanks to my gentle persuasion over the years. He leaves the planning up to me but definitely has opinions about things like rides & restaurants.

Dylan, DS, 2 – Our son who just turned 2 and who we took to WDW last June for the first time. He had a great time and hung in there with us when we had some long days in the park. Basically, he will have no choice but to be a Disney fanatic as he grows up. ;)

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9d628b3127ccec7869fc054b200000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We have been fortunate to go on a lot of trips to Disneyland over the years. We used to live in southern California and we were AP holders during that time. Since we live in Nor Cal now, it is harder for us to get there. We still have family that live down south, and we always try to go to DL for at least a day since we are already down in the area. What usually happens is that we will mention that we are going, and all of a sudden our group will get larger as other people will decide to join us. We LOVE that because we enjoy spending time with family & friends, and there is no better place to do that than at DL. We have many wonderful memories from these trips with so many different people.

My only problem with it is that I am a planner, which means that planning for a big group is much different than just a few people. By the end of it, I wind up being more concerned about details than anything else. For the past few years, every trip that we have been on (regardless of where we go) has included other people.

So for this November, I have asked Todd if we could have our time in Los Angeles be a trip only for the 3 of us. For some reason that just seems important to me. It will be much easier to plan and it will be nice to go with the flow, rather than stick to a more structured schedule. One small problem….we have had 2 separate groups of people already ask to go with us. We have tried very hard to say no the nicest way possible (& normally we would be thrilled to have these people go with us), but we are sticking with the plan so far. I’m not sure it will last, but as of right now it is still just the 3 of us.

That’s probably enough for now. Thanks for reading and please feel free to give any input! I am always looking for new things to experience at the DLR, especially now that we have a toddler. TIA!

UPDATE!! I will be starting the TR for this very soon & will just attach it to this PTR. I will add links to the bottom of this page for easier access. Thanks for reading!

PTR Chapters
Details, details (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33964135&postcount=4)
Character Meal (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34000626&postcount=15)
Schedule (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34246956&postcount=20)
What are we doing? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34350663&postcount=23)
This is it! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34405078&postcount=29)


TR is started!!
Really? This had to happen today? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35778837&postcount=45)
Griffith Observatory (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35942507&postcount=52)
Are we there yet? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36229890&postcount=69)
Our first ride! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36329103&postcount=78)
A whole new land to explore (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36451500&postcount=93)
Where is everyone? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36574722&postcount=101)
Wrapping up a perfect evening (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36659852&postcount=113)
Change of plans (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36766643&postcount=124)
A little bit of everything (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=36918913&postcount=135)
Getting into the holiday spirit. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=37331040&postcount=157)

[PrincessKell]

I know that feeling too about planning and then when plans change I always have to try to fix them to make sure everyone is included or having a good time. Its great to have family around but there is something special when its just you, dh and the kiddo. Really is.

This year its just me and my dd (since there is no dh in the picture anymore) so its gonna be super exciting for me to enjoy it with her.

Sounds like you will have fun with you family! and what a nice looking family you have too!

[Sunset Cliffs]

I know that feeling too about planning and then when plans change I always have to try to fix them to make sure everyone is included or having a good time. Its great to have family around but there is something special when its just you, dh and the kiddo. Really is.

This year its just me and my dd (since there is no dh in the picture anymore) so its gonna be super exciting for me to enjoy it with her.

Sounds like you will have fun with you family! and what a nice looking family you have too!

Hi there! Thanks for your comments. You are right about "fixing" things when plans change. I always end up feeling responsible for everyone's happiness. You would think that I would learn!

How fun for you to have a trip alone with your DD! That would be a lot of fun to do with Dylan when he gets older. Are you doing a PTR?

[Sunset Cliffs]

We are planning to actually be in the LA area from November 21 – 25, although we are not really sure what we are doing on any of those days yet. We will be driving to LA on Saturday morning and then leaving some time on Wednesday to drive to Todd’s parents house for the Thanksgiving weekend. We have to be sure not to leave too late on Wednesday because of the holiday traffic as everyone is trying to get out of town. We have gotten stuck in that traffic before and it took us 2 hours longer to get to our destination that usual. I really hope to avoid that now that we will have a 2 year old in the car with us.

We are staying at the Howard Johnson for 4 nights. We got a great rate through Mousesavers and I think we got a King room for about $320 for all 4 nights, including tax & fees. We have stayed there before and really like how close it is to the main gate. Staying at the HoJo will save us money since we don’t have to pay for parking when we go to the parks, and we also walk by a couple of places that are easy to pick up breakfast on the way. I would love to stay at a Disney hotel some day, but it’s hard to justify the money when this hotel is a good substitute for a lot less.

Here is a picture of Dylan at the HoJo last year when we stayed there. This is one of the only pictures that I have of the hotel.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9ce34b3127ccef80b79778dcf00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We are trying to figure out what kind of park tickets we are going to buy. Originally we were only going to buy 2 day park hoppers, since we plan on doing other things in the LA area. Lately we have started talking about buying an AP because we have a feeling that we might be back in the area next summer and it will be easy to go back again at that time. What we really need to do is decide what other things in LA that we want to do and figure out how much time we are actually going to commit to doing those other things. Does anyone have any suggestions for not-to-miss things to do in LA?

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I followed you over here Alison. I've never been on this side before. It's kinda exciting. Good plans as usual. I'm always ready to see pictures of that sweet Dylan.

That time will be here before you know it.

Ginny

[LilAnn]

I followed you over here from your TR as well! I've never checked out this side before either. Hoping to visit DL one day so I'll be interested to see what you and your adorable Dylan end up doing!

[figment41]

I am loving your other trip report and had to come sub to this one. Dylan is so cute. Can't wait to read more.

As far as traveling with others when you go alone it will be like you are on vacation. The only schedule you have to follow is your own. It is so much more peaceful. There is no one else to try and make happy except yourselves. Have fun planning!!:wizard:

[sharonW]

I'm a follower also, Allison!! Unfortunately, I have
no suggestions as I've never been to Ca, though
it is a dream of mine.
I'm excited to hear all about the before and after
disneyland visit and still patiently awaiting who the
celeb is on your WDW visit....so its double the fun!!:goodvibes

[ladybugmom]

I'm here, Alison!! Can't wait to read all about your planning!!

[jordanyosh]

HoJo is sooo close to DL. You could pick up an Egg McMuffin on your way over to the park.:thumbsup2

The AP sounds like a good idea, they are just getting so dang expensive.

We head to Vista everything Thanksgiving and that traffic between Orange County and San Diego is ridonkulous!

[tinkgurl]

I'm here!

[wdwgirl03]

Followed you over from your TR. I am so jealous you are going to Disneyland! Can't wait to hear about your plans.

[Raecheal]

I'm here, I'm in...popcorn::

[Sunset Cliffs]

Thank you to everyone who has jumped over to read this from my other TR. I was not expecting so many of you and I am overwhelmed at the support that everyone gives each other here on the Dis. :goodvibes Now I've actually got to make this worth reading! Thanks again everyone.

[Sunset Cliffs]

Now that we are about a month away from our trip, the Disneyland website FINALLY posted the hours for the days that we are going to be there. It is very frustrating to know that you can make a PS at 60 days ahead but have no idea where you will be on certain days because the hours have not been posted.

We are going to be there from Saturday 11/21 until Wed 11/25, and the hours posted are the same every day. We were thinking that we would have to go on the weekend days to take advantage of the longer hours, but now that all days are the same it is more flexible. My first priority is to figure out if we want to do a character meal, and if so, which one?

We had a great experience with Dylan at WDW at a character breakfast, and I would love to do another one but I’m confused… I want to do a meal with the characters that he knows. From my research it seems that DL is very different from WDW, where it is very clear who all of the characters will be at each meal. At DL, it seems like the characters rotate at all of the meals, and there are no meals that have Mickey Mouse at them, which is his favorite character.

There are other good options, but it seems like there is no guarantee that the same characters will be at each meal. We are not interested in the princess meal at Ariel’s.

So that leaves 4 options :
Minnie & Friends at the Plaza Inn,
Goofy’s Kitchen at DLH,
Storytellers Café at GCH, or
Lilo & Stitch Breakfast at PCH Grill.

I’ve read some reviews on All Ears, and all of them say that there are random characters at all of the meals….Captain Hook, Brier Bear, Baloo…I’m concerned because Dylan doesn’t know any of those characters and I don’t want him to get scared. He was not too sure about the Winnie the Pooh characters last time, and he knew exactly who they were.

Does anyone have an opinion of what we should do? Right now I am leaning towards the Lilo & Stitch breakfast because I heard that Minnie Mouse is there, plus the food looks like it is different than the regular breakfast food. We also have enjoyed Storyteller’s Café in the past and we like their food. We have never had breakfast there though, and we would be willing to give it a chance. I would love to hear from anyone who has done some of these meals and what their impressions are.

My favorite picture from our last character meal. :love:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9d701b3127ccef87c952ea56300000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

[ladybugmom]

Sorry I can't be of help--I know nothing about character dining @ Disneyland! I look forward to what others have to say!

[jordanyosh]

You would think a former DL Cast member and Annual Passholder would be able to give you advice.

I have not been to any character meals at DLR.


I would go with Storytellers..because it's the newest restaurant and being in the Grand Californian has the most WDW-like atmosphere.

[*dreamit*doit*]

Also following from your TR! Never been on this side either - can't wait! :goodvibes

[Sunset Cliffs]

Sorry I can't be of help--I know nothing about character dining @ Disneyland! I look forward to what others have to say!

Thanks for your input anyways! Glad you are checking in over here. :goodvibes

You would think a former DL Cast member and Annual Passholder would be able to give you advice.

I have not been to any character meals at DLR.


I would go with Storytellers..because it's the newest restaurant and being in the Grand Californian has the most WDW-like atmosphere.

Wow! I can't believe that. No character meals, huh? Well, maybe you will learn something new from me! Ha! We really enjoy Storytellers as well. It gives us a chance to hang out in the GC lobby too.

Also following from your TR! Never been on this side either - can't wait! :goodvibes

Thanks for stopping in!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Finally, another update. I have been slacking on this because I didn’t realize how busy life really was. Now that we are getting down to crunch time, it is becoming more urgent to figure out what we are doing.

First off is a very loose schedule. I am trying to fit in all of the things that we want to do in a short amount of time. We want to explore some new parts of LA that we have never done before on previous trips. I am trying to keep in mind that we will have a toddler with us, so some things just wouldn’t be practical on this trip.

This is what we have so far.

On the Friday before Thanksgiving, I will work like usual and we will get on the road as soon as we can. The drive to Todd’s parents house is very long and we will probably get there late at night. We will stay the night there.

Saturday morning – have breakfast w/ his family and get on the road. They live north of Disneyland so we are going to take the opportunity to stop at the Griffith Observatory in Hollywood. The pictures of this place that I have seen look amazing and I can’t wait to see the views for myself. The admission and parking is free, so it seems like a good thing to do for an hour or more.

Here are some borrowed pics off the internet of the Observatory.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Griffith_observatory.jpg/800px-Griffith_observatory.jpg

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/05/11/us/11griffith1.600.jpg

http://www.you-are-here.com/building/griffith_observatory.jpg

We might try to find some other things to do in Hollywood, since we will already be in the area. Any suggestions?

After that we will drive to Anaheim and check in to the Howard Johnson. The rest of the day will be spent in DTD or in one of the parks (depending on what type of park tickets we decide to purchase).

Sunday – We will spend the whole day hopping between Disneyland and DCA. Still working on the list of must-dos for both parks.

Monday – The goal is to drive to Newport Beach and explore the area. It seems to be one of the closest beaches to Anaheim and we want to let Dylan play on the sand for a while. I know the water will be cold, so no swimming will happen…just letting him play in the dirt and see the water for a while.

We also want to explore some shops & restaurants, and maybe walk on the pier. Again, still details to work out.

The Anaheim Gardenwalk is something else we’d like to do this day. There is a Cheesecake Factory there, which is what would be nice for a late lunch. Then we will check out the shops. We’ve eaten here before but never wandered around the mall itself.

http://lightingdesignalliance.com/project_images/anaheim_garden_walk001.jpg

The rest of the day is open. We might go back to a Disney park for the evening or try to find something in the area to do.

Tuesday – Back to the parks for a full day. Hopping between both.

Wednesday – After a lot of debating, we decided to do a character breakfast after all. We chose to go with the PCH Grill with Lilo & Stitch because it sounds like the food is slightly different from other places. It will also give us some time to wander around the Paradise Pier hotel, which we haven’t done in quite some time.

We will need to check out of our hotel by noon and then we will probably finish up with shopping in DTD. We need to get on the road fairly early because we have been stuck in that traffic going north on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and it is crazy. It took us twice as long to get where we were going, so I’d like to avoid that.

So that’s the basic plan. Next up will be our must-do’s for the parks.

[ladybugmom]

Your plans look good!!! :thumbsup2

[Raecheal]

hey girl.. your plans sound sooo nice. It's been a rough couple of weeks here in my household... i hope everyone is doing well there.

I'm actually really excited to read your TR for this trip, it's an area i'd love to visit one day. popcorn::

[Sunset Cliffs]

We still have not decided what tickets we are going to purchase. The debate is between getting a 2 day park hopper, or going for the AP. There is a big difference in price, but we know that we are going to be in the Southern California area a couple of more times within the next year. We are trying to figure out if we will have the time to visit the parks for a few days during those trips. Since that is so far away, it is making us talk in circles about what kind of tickets we should get for this trip.

Why is that important? If we get an AP during this trip, then we will probably try to visit the parks every day, even if it is just for a couple of hours in the evening to go on a few rides or have a meal. This will loosen up the schedule on the days that we commit to go to the parks for the full day. There is a lot that we want to do (some things for us adults and some for Dylan), but if we only go for 2 days we will have to pick the things that are the highest priority.

At Disneyland, we already have our list of favorites.

For Todd and I, it’s the usual suspects : All of the Mountains (Space, Big Thunder, Matterhorn, Splash – depending on how cold it is), and Indiana Jones. Since we are still planning to go by ourselves, we will have to ride these as Single Riders (or do the baby swap thing) because the other person will stay with Dylan. During our last trip to WDW, we didn’t do any thrill rides until the last few days of the trip. We had been so focused on doing things for Dylan that we forgot to do some of our favorites. We don’t want to make that mistake again, so we are just going to have to do Single Rider.

For all 3 of us : We have taken Dylan on most of these before so we know that he will be able to handle it this time too.

Buzz Lightyear
Finding Nemo Submarine ride – if there is not a super long line.
Haunted Mansion – this is still up for debate, due to the “scariness level”. Since it will be done up with the holiday overlay, it is a little less dark so I think it will be ok.
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride – again, may be a little too scary at the end of the ride…we’ll see.
Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin
Peter Pan

Just for Dylan : These are things that we know he will love, so we are trying to go on them specifically for him. I’m including some pictures of our trip last November from when he had just turned 1 year old. He really liked the Fantasyland area.

Alice in Wonderland
Casey Jr. Circus Train – he is VERY into trains right now, so this is a MUST.
Winnie the Pooh
Dumbo

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9cf34b3127ccef8ca5808602e00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

The Carrousel

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9cf34b3127ccef8cadaf5609200000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

It’s a Small World – I’m most excited about this for him. Last year he was in awe of this, and he was so little that I’m sure that he was totally overwhelmed by the colors, sounds, etc. This year, he will get it more and that will be fun.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9cf34b3127ccef8cbc463c17700000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b9cf34b3127ccef8cb3ee4c18d00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

One last update, some of our family that we will be spending Thanksgiving with is thinking about going to Disneyland on Tuesday. If they decide to go, I’m sure that we will be spending the day with them. They are DL veterans so it should be pretty low key if we end up getting together. We’ll see!

[LilAnn]

I've never been to DL, but I'm here for the ride. I just couldn't resist posting that Dylan is so freakin' adorable! Those are great pictures!

[sharonW]

Sounds great! Being an east coast gal, I would love to
visit the west coast. Calif looks wonderful!

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Your time is so close. I bet that all of you have a wonderful time no matter what you decide to do. I like the plans you have made tho. I know if I lived close enough to go more than once a year I would have the AP. It just gives me excuses to keep going back. Can't let that pass go to waste.

Have a grand time.

Ginny

[mbfqueen]

How funny!

Us West Coaster's always say we wish we could go to the East Coast lol ..

I do love the West Coast tho, it's truly Gods country (less cement) than the big cities lol

We are going spring break .. so over 4 months we wait .... *sigh*

[Sunset Cliffs]

Your plans look good!!! :thumbsup2

Hi Becky! Thanks again for stopping by.

hey girl.. your plans sound sooo nice. It's been a rough couple of weeks here in my household... i hope everyone is doing well there.

I'm actually really excited to read your TR for this trip, it's an area i'd love to visit one day. popcorn::

Hey there! I'm sorry to hear that life has been tough. Hopefully the holidays will give you some downtime. (??) We love visiting the LA area and it will be fun to do a TR about it, since we have been there so many times.

I've never been to DL, but I'm here for the ride. I just couldn't resist posting that Dylan is so freakin' adorable! Those are great pictures!

Aww, thanks so much. I'm hoping to get some good holiday pictures of him on this trip. Possible Christmas card shots....we'll see how cooperative he is being.

Sounds great! Being an east coast gal, I would love to
visit the west coast. Calif looks wonderful!

California is definitely worth visiting. The great thing about it is that it is so big, you get a wide range of things to choose from. I love living in Nor Cal, but I am always so excited to go south. We used to live there too, so it always makes me a little homesick. :)

Your time is so close. I bet that all of you have a wonderful time no matter what you decide to do. I like the plans you have made tho. I know if I lived close enough to go more than once a year I would have the AP. It just gives me excuses to keep going back. Can't let that pass go to waste.

Have a grand time.

Ginny

I think we are going to go for the AP. You are exactly right. If we buy it, it will force us to take at least one more trip there. Since we are already planning to be in the area, it makes sense to go to DL as well. We leave tomorrow, so we will be doing some things spur of the moment (which is part of the reason why I wanted a trip w/ just us 3.). :goodvibes

How funny!

Us West Coaster's always say we wish we could go to the East Coast lol ..

I do love the West Coast tho, it's truly Gods country (less cement) than the big cities lol

We are going spring break .. so over 4 months we wait .... *sigh*

I agree. The East coast has so much history, and that is why I like to go there. But I love living on the West coast. We feel blessed to live here.

Hang in there, your trip will be here before you know it. This one snuck up on me because we have been so busy. Hope you are having fun planning it!

[Sunset Cliffs]

So tomorrow is the big day! We are working on packing everything up tonight, but it is slow going. Because....I stayed home sick with the flu today! :sick: Yep, my wonderful luck! I am just really glad it was today and not tomorrow when we are supposed to be in the car for most of the day. Hopefully a good night's sleep will do me some good. Luckily no one else is sick.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Have a fun, safe trip Alison. Be sure to get lots of pix of that cutie pie for me to lurk at. We are headed to Nashville next week. Saves me from cooking. Will be anxious to hear all upon your return.

Ginny

[sharonW]

I Hope you have a magical time!!
FEEL BETTER:sick: Can't wait to hear
all about it!!:surfweb:

[tinkgurl]

Have fun! I hope you get to feelin' better. What luck. :rolleyes:

Have a good Thanksgiving! :hug:

Talk to you when you get back!

[ladybugmom]

So tomorrow is the big day! We are working on packing everything up tonight, but it is slow going. Because....I stayed home sick with the flu today! :sick: Yep, my wonderful luck! I am just really glad it was today and not tomorrow when we are supposed to be in the car for most of the day. Hopefully a good night's sleep will do me some good. Luckily no one else is sick.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Oh no, Alison!! I hope you feel better soon! :goodvibes

[LilAnn]

I hope you started to feel better and had a wonderful time! Can't wait to hear about it. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Alison, Hope you are having a Magical time in the land of Disney.

Ginny

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Happy New Year Alison. Wish you all the best.

Ginny

[Bell<3Disney]

One small problem….we have had 2 separate groups of people already ask to go with us. We have tried very hard to say no the nicest way possible (& normally we would be thrilled to have these people go with us), but we are sticking with the plan so far. I’m not sure it will last, but as of right now it is still just the 3 of us.

being one of those people who wanted to go with you, I have to say how dare you tell us no, and want to go on a vacation for once by yourselves!;)

Of course we understood!!!!:rotfl:

[Sunset Cliffs]

Hi everyone! So sorry that I have completely slacked on this TR. It became too overwhelming to try to wrap up my first TR to WDW and start on this one as well. I am going to start this up very soon & I will probably just tack the TR onto this PTR to make it easier. Hopefully I will have some readers!

Genee - you are so funny!! :goodvibes

[sharonW]

I'll be on board, Alison!!:surfweb:
Hurry Back!!

[LilAnn]

You know I'll be on board! :)

[*dreamit*doit*]

I'll be here! :surfweb:

(but if you start it this weekend I'll be in WDW!!!! but after that...I'll be here! :rotfl:)

[tinkgurl]

I'll still here. Please don't do too many updates while I'm gone! I don't want to miss much! :flower3:

[Dugette]

Yea, a new trip report! I'm here! popcorn::

[Sunset Cliffs]

I'll be on board, Alison!!:surfweb:
Hurry Back!!

Hi there! Thanks for stopping in. :goodvibes

You know I'll be on board! :)

How are you doing? Your trip is getting so close now!

I'll be here! :surfweb:

(but if you start it this weekend I'll be in WDW!!!! but after that...I'll be here! :rotfl:)

Lucky girl! Have a wonderful weekend trip. I hope you get just enough Disney magic to hold you over until your next trip!

I'll still here. Please don't do too many updates while I'm gone! I don't want to miss much! :flower3:

I'm sure that I won't do too many updates while you are gone. It has taken me this long to get started, so unless I get a fire lit under me, there will probably only be 1 or 2 updates. I am so excited for your trip. You are going to have so much fun!

Yea, a new trip report! I'm here! popcorn::

Thanks for sticking with me!

[Sunset Cliffs]

My delayed trip report has finally started for our Disneyland trip last November. I’m sorry that it has taken me to so long to get started, but hopefully I will be able to put the effort into it now. Just a warning that there are no pictures from the first day, due to me being sick & not in a “picture taking” mood. I promise that there are a lot of pictures from the rest of the trip.

The story really starts the day BEFORE we left for our trip. The plan was for me to work my normal week and we would get on the road on Friday afternoon. The Wednesday night of that week, I started feeling sick. I went to bed early to try to fight it off, but when I woke up the next morning it was clear that I had a flu of some sort. I called in sick to work & stayed in bed most of the day. I really wanted to use the time to start packing but I could barely move. I was able to do laundry but no packing happened AT ALL. This is the night before we were scheduled to leave! All I could think was that it was so typical of my bad luck for me to get sick right before a major trip. I finally went to bed that night with empty suitcases & feeling really stressed.

I got up the next morning (Friday) and went to work at 7:00 AM for 2 hours. I didn’t want it to look like I was calling in sick but I was really leaving early for my trip. I was so miserable (& looking back, I honestly don’t know how I made it there, at all) but there were a few emergencies that needed to be taken care of. I finally got out the door at 9:00, & when I got home I felt terrible. Todd was still working (he runs his business from home) so I laid down and tried to figure out how to get packed when I could barely stand up.

Todd left to run some errands & Dylan decided it was a good time to be a toddler & test his mommy. Bless his heart, I think he could sense my weakness. :rotfl: We had a few time-outs & a lot of tears before it was over. The whole time I was just trying not to throw up. Todd came home w/ more medication & I told him that I was really frustrated because I wanted to already be in the car on the road. We were still were not packed & were not even close to being ready to leave. I could barely stand up for longer than 5 minutes before I would get dizzy & nauseous so I would need to lie back down. I had written up a To-Do list so Todd started working on it while I got myself packed (in 5 minutes spurts). I told him that I didn’t know if I would be able to drive all the way to Bakersfield that day (a 7 hour drive :scared1::scared1::scared1:).

We just kept pushing forward and the medicine finally kicked in. I felt a little better so I said “Let’s go.” We loaded up the car & left at 1:20, which is about the time I would normally get home from work. We stopped at Sonic on the way out of town to get a big drink for me. I got a large Strawberry Limeade & it tasted SO good. I had barely eaten anything in 2 days so I got a grilled cheese sandwich & I took small bites to test my stomach. I did ok so I ate about ½ of it.

Dylan started watching a movie on his DVD player and he fell asleep at about 2:15. I was happy about that until he woke up ½ hour later. Not good. He never fell back asleep the entire car ride & he did not have a nap before we left.

We just decided that we would stop whenever I needed to & so we pulled off the road quite a bit. Rest stops, gas stations, fast food places, you name it. We let Dylan out of the car a couple of times, but then he didn’t want to get back in so we stopped letting him out. We also had our dogs with us so they wanted to get out too. We drove through Sacramento at 4:00 & surprisingly, we didn’t hit very bad traffic. We were actually a little optimistic until we got to Modesto & our luck ran out. It was stop & go. No reason for it, just rush hour & weekend traffic. I really tried to sleep during the drive because it helped time go faster & I wouldn’t be awake to realize how terrible I felt. I have to say that it was the most silent car ride that Todd & I have ever had, because I was too tired to talk. We usually have great conversations on road trips, so it felt really weird.

The last 2 hours of the drive were awful. I felt so nauseous & Todd wanted to stop but I just wanted to get there so we kept going. We finally pulled into Todd’s parent’s house in Bakersfield at 9:50 pm. It had taken us 8.5 hours to drive there when it usually takes 7. I can’t believe I made it, considering how sick I was. I should get a medal or something. ;)

We had called his parents to let them know I was sick, so I only visited w/ them for a few minutes while Todd brought in our stuff and then I went to bed. I was asleep as soon as I hit the bed, & Dylan stayed up to play with Grandma & Papa. When they came upstairs to go to bed later, they were all so noisy that it woke me up. Dylan & the dogs all jumped on the bed. Todd told Dylan to let me sleep & he had an instant melt down (no nap all day will do that to a kid!). I had him get in bed with me & I read him a book until he calmed down, then I got him to lay down on his little bed. He fell asleep pretty quickly & Todd told me that Dylan kept trying to get upstairs to see me after I had gone to bed. His missed his momma. :love:

Everyone fell asleep quickly….except for me. I was up most of the night being sick. There is nothing worse that being sick at someone else’s house. :sad2: I was up & down all night & I felt like I was keeping everyone awake. The next morning, they all said they didn’t hear me, so that made me feel better. The last time I was sick was at 6:00 am and then I finally fell asleep. What a miserable day to start the vacation!

Up next, day 2 ~ would we make it to Disneyland, as planned?

[tinkgurl]

Aw I hate being sick away from home. I hope your trip starts getting better!

[LilAnn]

Awww, you poor thing. It sucks to be sick in the first place, and I always think stomach bugs are the worst. But it's even worse to be sick when you are on vacation. :sick: I hope you start to feel better soon and that it was just a short-term virus. I hope that you wake up feeling magically better!

Sonic - we tried that for the first time last month as there is only one "near" us. Probably because it's too cold for them to be out on skates up here. I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoy the drinks there. So does Lily - anything with sprinkles on it! :rotfl:

I think that' so cute that Dylan wanted to keep going upstairs to see you when you were sleeping. I work nights and on the weekends, my DH is always saying that Lily keeps trying to go upstairs to see me. She keeps saying "I'm tired. Sleep with mommy." Aww. They just miss their mommies - either that or they have that knack for knowing when we need rest!

[Dugette]

What a rough start to your trip. I hope it gets better quickly. For what it's worth, I completely relate to how you were feeling. (And I'll just leave it at that so I don't completely spoil anything coming up in my TR :rolleyes1) I really hope you were able to kick it quickly and fully enjoy your trip. Can't wait to hear how your next day goes!

[Disney owl]

great report & photos

[*dreamit*doit*]

Lucky girl! Have a wonderful weekend trip. I hope you get just enough Disney magic to hold you over until your next trip!


Thanks! We did! :wizard:

However, our trip ended much like yours started - well for Miren anyway. :( Now both girls are sick. :sad2:

Can't wait to read more and see all your pictures though! :)

[Sunset Cliffs]

Aw I hate being sick away from home. I hope your trip starts getting better!

Yeah, it was a real downer to start the trip. I'm just so glad it wasn't before our WDW last summer. Can you imagine flying across the country feeling like that? Yuck!

Awww, you poor thing. It sucks to be sick in the first place, and I always think stomach bugs are the worst. But it's even worse to be sick when you are on vacation. :sick: I hope you start to feel better soon and that it was just a short-term virus. I hope that you wake up feeling magically better!

Sonic - we tried that for the first time last month as there is only one "near" us. Probably because it's too cold for them to be out on skates up here. I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoy the drinks there. So does Lily - anything with sprinkles on it! :rotfl:

I think that' so cute that Dylan wanted to keep going upstairs to see you when you were sleeping. I work nights and on the weekends, my DH is always saying that Lily keeps trying to go upstairs to see me. She keeps saying "I'm tired. Sleep with mommy." Aww. They just miss their mommies - either that or they have that knack for knowing when we need rest!

The Sonic is about 20 minutes south of us, so it is on the way when we go out of town anywhere. I'm lucky it's not closer or I would want to go there all the time for their drinks. The food is not bad either, but I really get cravings for those Strawberry Limeades!

I felt so bad for Dylan because I had tried to stay away from him for 2 days, because I didn't want him to get sick. Poor little kid didn't understand why his mommy was neglecting him. I finally gave in that night & read him that book. Thank goodness he didn't get sick!! I definitely felt loved. :love:

What a rough start to your trip. I hope it gets better quickly. For what it's worth, I completely relate to how you were feeling. (And I'll just leave it at that so I don't completely spoil anything coming up in my TR :rolleyes1) I really hope you were able to kick it quickly and fully enjoy your trip. Can't wait to hear how your next day goes!

Oh, I hope that you didn't get too sick on your trip. That is NO fun at all! I kept thinking that I was glad that we have been to DL many times, so if we didn't get to do very many things, it wasn't like it was our first trip ever. I would have felt more upset if we were going to WDW while I was sick!

great report & photos

Welcome! Thank you for reading. :goodvibes

Thanks! We did! :wizard:

However, our trip ended much like yours started - well for Miren anyway. :( Now both girls are sick. :sad2:

Can't wait to read more and see all your pictures though! :)

Oh no! Isn't that the way it always goes? A good trip can lead to a hard return. I hope the girls are feeling better.

[Sunset Cliffs]

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Dylan woke up at 7:30. Todd got up with him and told me to try and sleep. We would just have to play the day by ear, so I fell back asleep until almost 9:00. When I woke up I felt a little better, but not great. I could smell food being made, & it was the first time that anything smelled good for a few days, so I went downstairs. They were all still at the table so I joined them & ate a biscuit with butter & jelly. I did not get sick from it but I needed to lie back down for a while.

Dylan played basketball on a little hoop that Todd’s parents had. He is a coordinated little kid. I can’t wait to see what he is interested in doing as he grows up, because he really enjoys trying all different types of sports already.

I finally took a shower a couple of hours later & slowly got ready. Man, did that shower feel good after being so sick! I finally got all packed up and went to find everyone. Todd had taken Dylan outside to see the ducks. His parents live in a really cute community that has a man-made lake. All of the houses are right on the lake & there are quite a few fish & ducks that are in the water. Dylan loves to feed the ducks. It was cold this morning and Dylan was only wearing a diaper & a t-shirt but the cold doesn’t bother him. We left him outside with Todd’s mom so that we could pack the car. We were leaving our dogs at their house while we were in LA, & they figured out pretty quickly what was going on when the suitcases started going out the door!

We went out to get Dylan and we couldn’t find either one of them. We looked around and I saw Dylan leading Connie around the lake, following a pack of ducks that had come up on the grass. They were about 10 houses away & he was still just in his diaper! I started laughing because I was just picturing all of the neighbors going, “Who would let their kid outside like that?” Um, yeah….that would be us. He was so happy, and the ducks were letting him walk right up to them. Crazy!!

We finally got on the road by 2:00. We stopped to get some food on the way out of town & Dylan was asleep before we hit the freeway. I ate a couple of chicken nuggets and did not get sick again. I was making progress. Yay!

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It was extremely cloudy on the drive down. Usually you can see the mountains leading into the Grapevine from a pretty far distance, but the clouds were so low that you could not see much of them at all.

This is right before you hit the slope to go up. You can see how the clouds are cutting the mountains in half!

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This drive is a little crazy because you climb almost 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes. It is very steep, but it is so beautiful. I always get nervous when we drive this pass because on a past trip to DL we got stuck overnight on the top of the Grapevine during a snowstorm. They closed the roads and we just sat there for hours until they could get the roads salted. The wind was so bad that it was literally blowing cars into each other because the roads were so icy. We saw a big rig jack-knife in the middle of the road right next to us, and other cars (with stupid drivers) would lose control of their cars and drive right into it. It was one of the worst nights of my life and I always think about it when we drive through this pass now. Do you want to see how drastic the altitude change is? Here is about 10 minutes later than the last picture. We have risen above the clouds to a blue sky!

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We got to the exit for the Griffith Observatory about 3:45 and found our way off the freeway and onto the road leading up to it. It was really congested with traffic and it took us a while to get there, but we got to drive through some really pretty neighborhoods with interesting looking homes & apartments. We have never been to this area of LA before so it didn’t bother us to have to drive slow.

As we got closer, we could see a lot of people parking and walking up the very steep hill to the Observatory. There was no way that I could walk up that hill, being that I was still sick, and we would have to push Dylan in his stroller. We almost decided to give up and leave since it was so crowded, but Todd just kept on driving until we reached the small parking lot at the top. It was completely packed & there were people everywhere. We drove around a few times and we got lucky when someone pulled out of their spot right in front of us. Wooo hooo! We pulled in and got out of the car.

What a VIEW!! I am so glad that we did not skip this. The Observatory is at the top of a mountain and on the edge of a cliff, so you can see almost a 360 degree view. You can see the Hollywood sign, all of the buildings in downtown LA and beautiful areas of nature. Not to mention the Observatory itself is so unique looking.

We started taking pictures of the Hollywood sign and we realized that it was really close to sunset. Then we noticed all of the people that had cameras set up on tripods and it all became clear. A lot of people were here to watch the sunset.

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Dylan found some telescopes & wanted to use them. So cute!

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Walking towards the building.

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So beautiful!

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Love this picture.

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Continued in next post. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35942514&postcount=53)

[Sunset Cliffs]

We went inside & it was packed with people. The inside of the building is not that large, but the architecture was amazing. There is a pendulum in the middle of the entryway and it was fun to watch it for a while.

The lobby

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The ceiling

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You are allowed to go up on the roof of the building, and we wanted to watch the sunset so up we went. It was pretty windy up there so it was cold but the view was worth it. We were probably up there for 30 minutes or so as we waited for the sun to go down.

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Most people left right after the sunset so we stuck around for a while to avoid some traffic down the hill to the freeway. Todd was saying how he was so glad that we decided to go there, because it combined a lot of his favorite things…architecture, a great view, historic location, etc. We were there about 1 ½ hours and we could have stayed longer. There was a lot of stuff inside that we didn’t do. I’m sure that we will go back again.

We finally got in the car and headed back towards the freeway…and hit a lot of traffic.

Up next…how long does it take us to drive 30 miles to Disneyland?

[sharonW]

I'm enjoying this!! The pics are amazing. Loved seeing the
Hollywood sign, have always wanted to visit Ca. I think I'll
just live some of that dream through you!!:goodvibes
Can't wait for more, more more!

[LilAnn]

Wow, that observatory is such a beautiful building. It looks so perfectly situated too! It looks like you got there at the perfect time. Glad to hear that you were starting to feel better.

The picture where Dylan is walking with Todd on the sidewalk - he looks so grown up! Time is flying by. He looks like a little boy there, not just a toddler.

I also love the photo of you and Dylan (it's a view of your backs) looking at the view with the Hollywood sign. But then again, I think I've mentioned before on your other TR how I love those kind of photos and it's always rare to get the mom and child shot since we're always the ones taking the photos! :laughing:

[tinkgurl]

HI I'm home!

Aw..looks like such a nice way to end the day. The views were beautiful way up there! :cloud9:

[Dugette]

Nice update! First off, glad to see you seem to be feeling a little better. I hope it keeps up.

That drive looks really pretty (of course, I'm sure it was not on that winter night you mentioned...). I love driving through scenic areas like that.

Good timing on the observatory. You got a great parking spot and a great sunset view! How cool. That looks like a neat place to visit. Glad it worked out for you.

Looking forward to your Disney arrival!

[Sunset Cliffs]

I'm enjoying this!! The pics are amazing. Loved seeing the
Hollywood sign, have always wanted to visit Ca. I think I'll
just live some of that dream through you!!:goodvibes
Can't wait for more, more more!

You SHOULD visit CA someday. It is a beautiful state and you can see so many things in a short amount of time. I get spoiled living here, but when I do something new like the Observatory, it reminds me how lucky we are to live here.

Wow, that observatory is such a beautiful building. It looks so perfectly situated too! It looks like you got there at the perfect time. Glad to hear that you were starting to feel better.

The picture where Dylan is walking with Todd on the sidewalk - he looks so grown up! Time is flying by. He looks like a little boy there, not just a toddler.

I also love the photo of you and Dylan (it's a view of your backs) looking at the view with the Hollywood sign. But then again, I think I've mentioned before on your other TR how I love those kind of photos and it's always rare to get the mom and child shot since we're always the ones taking the photos! :laughing:

I'm glad that we got there when we did. We had not planned to see the sunset, but because I was sick we got a much later start than anticipated. Silver lining on the cloud!

Dylan just keeps growing. He was 3' 2" at his 2 year old doctor's appointment, and I'm sure that he has grown at least 2" since then. Everyone asks if he is 4 y.o.! It makes me sad because I want him to stay small, so I can at least pretend he is still a baby for a little longer. I love that photo of us too. We were having a "moment" and Todd caught it with the camera. He was facinated by the blimp that was circling the Hollywood sign.

HI I'm home!

Aw..looks like such a nice way to end the day. The views were beautiful way up there! :cloud9:

Yay! You're back. How was your trip? I'm going over right now to check into your TR.

The view was amazing up there. I wish it was a little less smoggy, but that is LA for you. Rarely is there a nice, perfectly clear day.

Nice update! First off, glad to see you seem to be feeling a little better. I hope it keeps up.

That drive looks really pretty (of course, I'm sure it was not on that winter night you mentioned...). I love driving through scenic areas like that.

Good timing on the observatory. You got a great parking spot and a great sunset view! How cool. That looks like a neat place to visit. Glad it worked out for you.

Looking forward to your Disney arrival!

I was definitely feeling a little better at this point. It got a little better each day of the trip, but I definitely was not feeling like myself for most of it.

The Grapevine drive is really pretty. What was so weird about the night that we got stuck was that it wasn't even snowing. The wind was blowing so hard that it was blowing the snow off the tops of the mountains & down onto the road. It was so scary & I hated it. Even when we drive in the summer now, I check the weather forcast for the driving conditions. LOL.

[Dugette]

Ok, I was just looking at your observatory pictures again...is Todd wearing those sunglasses he got at WDW? Sure looks like it! Funny! Just had to comment on that.

Looking forward to more. I've only been to Disneyland twice (1 day each time), so really excited to experience it again through your family!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Ok, I was just looking at your observatory pictures again...is Todd wearing those sunglasses he got at WDW? Sure looks like it! Funny! Just had to comment on that.

Looking forward to more. I've only been to Disneyland twice (1 day each time), so really excited to experience it again through your family!

Yes, those are his lame glasses from WDW. Ha, ha, I hadn't even noticed until you said that. He leaves them in his car for emergencies (b/c he forgets his in the house all the time). Yes, they still haunt us, even now!

Disneyland feels like home to us. We are fortunate to get to go frequently and it is so comfortable. WDW is exciting because we don't get to go very often. DL is much easier to plan for, and I just love it!

[Dugette]

Hey, I just noticed that you are leaving for DL again soon...have a great time! :cool1:

[sharonW]

Where have I been:confused3..didn't realize your off to DL again.
Have a magical time...can't wait to hear all about it!!

[heatherleigh]

I'm enjoying your report. Sorry you were sick at the beginning. That's the worst. Fortunately, the rest of your crew didn't catch it.

[*dreamit*doit*]

You're in DL now right?? Hope you're having a great time!! :cool1:

These pictures are beautiful!! We've never been to CA but it looks like it might be worth taking a trip out there - lots of nature and impressive landscapes! :thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear more! :goodvibes

[Sunset Cliffs]

Just got back from a trip to DL for Spring Break. We had a great time. I meant to get another update done before we left but it didn't happen. I am almost done with it though, so I will try to post it ASAP.

Hey, I just noticed that you are leaving for DL again soon...have a great time! :cool1:

Thanks! We just got back last night. Great trip but we are exhausted!

Where have I been:confused3..didn't realize your off to DL again.
Have a magical time...can't wait to hear all about it!!

Yes, we bought AP's this year so we are trying to cram in a trip to DL whenever we can. I took notes to do another TR, but I need to make a dent on this one first!

I'm enjoying your report. Sorry you were sick at the beginning. That's the worst. Fortunately, the rest of your crew didn't catch it.

Hi there! Thank you for reading. Yes, being sick was awful. It makes me so grateful for when I am healthy. I think we got really lucky that no one else caught it.

You're in DL now right?? Hope you're having a great time!! :cool1:

These pictures are beautiful!! We've never been to CA but it looks like it might be worth taking a trip out there - lots of nature and impressive landscapes! :thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear more! :goodvibes

We just got back last night. California is a beautiful state. There are so many different places to visit. I actually don't mind driving on our trips because we get to enjoy all of the scenery. If you've ever thought of visiting, I think you should!

[sharonW]

YEAH!!! Can't wait!! Love your TR's.
Bet dylan have a blast again!!!:goodvibes

[LilAnn]

Welome back! Can't wait to see how fast Dylan is growing up!

[Sunset Cliffs]

YEAH!!! Can't wait!! Love your TR's.
Bet dylan have a blast again!!!:goodvibes

You are so sweet! Another update is coming right up.

Welome back! Can't wait to see how fast Dylan is growing up!

He looks so much more like a little boy now. :sad2: He is so tall! He is growing up too fast.

[Sunset Cliffs]

We left the Observatory and got on the freeway at 5:30. As most of you know, any freeway at 5:30 means traffic, but in LA it is triple as bad as anywhere else. I was hoping that we would catch a break since it was Saturday, but it was as bad as I have ever seen it.

Disneyland and our hotel were only 30 miles away. We kept thinking it really wouldn’t take us that long but it kept dragging on. We were bumper to bumper and it was stop and go traffic until the last six miles, when the lanes opened up and we got up to regular speed. Total travel time = 1 ½ hours. Yuck! It is almost painful when you know you are that close and you are stuck in traffic.

We got to the Howard Johnson at 7:00 pm. Todd checked in while I started unloading the car. He came back and said our room was close. We were in building 3 which was right behind the office. Let me just put in my little plug for the Howard Johnson. We love this hotel for the convenience of parking our car & walking to the parks. Since Dylan needs mid-day naps, I loved that it was only a 10 minute walk from the front gate of DL to our hotel room. It also is nothing fancy, but always clean and usually we can get a good rate there.

We had requested a room with a king bed, and when we walked in the door we saw that they gave us an ADA room. As a result the room felt huge, since there was so much space for a wheelchair to move around in. We were so happy! Great location, big room. Woo hoo!! :woohoo:

Here are a couple of pictures of the room. The area in the back corner of the room is where we put Dylan on an air mattress. It was perfect because he had his own little space.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef951be92420800000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef950d818e3cd00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

It took us a few trips to haul all of our stuff in from the car. Dylan was so happy to not be strapped into his car seat anymore. He was getting a little cranky while we were stuck in traffic & kept asking to get down. Now that we were in the room, he was running back & forth from end to end.

While he burned off some steam we talked about what to do. I was still not feeling great, but I was finally feeling a little hungry. We had decided to get AP’s this trip because we are going to be in the Southern Cal area a lot over the next year. We thought it would be fun to squeeze in a few Disney days here & there throughout the year. Also, Dylan is free until he turns 3 in September, and we want to take advantage of that.

We decided to walk over to the park, get our AP’s activated and get some dinner. It would be a good test for me to see how I felt walking all that distance and to be honest we were itching to just walk down Main Street. We walked at an easy pace and got to the front gate in no time. I think the call of Disneyland helped me forget I was sick for a while. It was close to 8:00 by the time that we got into the park. We got our first view of Main Street with all of the Christmas decorations. I wish that I could decorate my house & have it look like that!

Right in front of the little art gallery on the right side of Main Street was Mickey Mouse himself. Dylan spotted him right away and there was hardly a line so we got in it. He kept stepping out of line to watch Mickey & was showing his excitement. Of course, by the time it was our turn he walked up cautiously & gave him a big High-5. Mickey seemed like he was in a hurry to get through the line (no one before us had gotten a ton of attention either), so we snapped our picture and were done. It was a good introduction to the characters again for Dylan.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef9500a1be3a700000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We headed down Main Street and hung a right, & went straight to the Plaza Inn for dinner. We really like this place because there is so much outdoor seating. We usually can find a table & enjoy a meal while not feeling rushed. Since I was not going to eat much, we all split a Cobb salad and the kid’s chicken meal. It was plenty for the 3 of us. The salad tasted wonderful to me after barely eating anything for 3 days. I tried not to overeat, since my stomach was still not totally settled. We were excited because we got to use our AP to get a discount on food for the first time!

We picked a table that was close to the Astro Orbiter. Dylan started to get really excited. He could hear the music playing and would start dancing after he took bites of food.

Checking out the Astro Orbiter

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef95085a6a3c500000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We knew that Fantasmic! was going to start at 9:00 and fireworks at 9:30, so we walked around to Fantasyland to avoid the crowds & try to get on a few rides. They had closed a lot of the rides in FL due to the fireworks & said that they would be open when the fireworks ended. We knew at this point we were stuck, so we decided to walk back to the monorail and take a loop. Dylan LOVES the monorail. He is very into trains right now, & whenever he saw anything that closely resembled a train he would say, “choo, choo”. We doubled back and walked around the Matterhorn to the monorail station. It is a long hike up to the platform! But what a pretty view we had!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef950e756223400000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

The monorail came and it looked brand new. Also the inside is very different than before. I’m pretty sure I took pictures on a different day, but I don’t have any from this night. The inside has a bench seat on both ends of the car, and then one long bench straight down the middle of the car. It kinda looks like this: l ------- l

Also there was neon blue lighting that made the car glow in a cool way. We took a round trip on the monorail and as we were leaving the DTD station, the fireworks started. We got back to the Tomorrowland station and we watched the rest of the fireworks from the platform.

We had to fight our way through the crowd on Main Street to get to the building where we could activate our AP’s. I’m glad we went straight there because there wasn’t much of a line, but after waiting 5 minutes there was a huge line behind us. After we had our new AP’s in hand we made our way out of the park around 10:00 pm. It was not too busy on Main Street by that point, so we took our time enjoying the lights.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef951cd58835300000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We got back to the hotel & I was surprised to realize that I felt pretty good. I was tired but feeling like maybe I was on the road to recovery from the flu. I got ready for bed & when I came out of the bathroom, this is what I found.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef951f529020e00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We had brought Dylan’s DVD player in from the car and he had found it. Todd said he wanted to watch a show on it. I thought it was so cute to find them sitting side by side and looking at their own screens. Dylan reminds me more of Todd every day.

After his show, Dylan went right to bed & we were all asleep by 11:00.

[Dugette]

Glad to see you back--and with another update! :woohoo:

That L.A. traffic sounds terrible...and for a Saturday! Your HJ room looks nice. Sounds convenient. I'm glad you felt decent for the evening. So cool to see all the pics of DL. Dylan looks like he was having a great time. Such a cute picture with Todd and Dylan looking like twins!

Can't wait for more!

[tinkgurl]

That last pic of the boys on the bed is ADORABLE. This would be such an adorable Father's Day present..in a frame that says "Like Father, like Son".

[LilAnn]

Awww, I love that pic at the end. Tinkgurl had such a cute idea! Sorry to hear about all the awful traffic. It does kind of make it worse knowing you are so close! Glad to hear that you were finally starting to feel better by then. It would be awful to be sick through your whole vacation.

[*dreamit*doit*]

Glad you were feeling better just in time to enjoy your trip! :thumbsup2 Can't wait to hear more! :)

[LilAnn]

Hi Alison! It was so fun to see you make an appearance on Jordan's TR! Dylan is such a cutie!

I'm still up in the air about a TR, but I think that's also because I tend to post some pics on FB and then on a family blog too. If you're on FB, PM me so we can try to find each other! I have some pics of Lily from our summer trip on there.

[Sunset Cliffs]

Glad to see you back--and with another update! :woohoo:

That L.A. traffic sounds terrible...and for a Saturday! Your HJ room looks nice. Sounds convenient. I'm glad you felt decent for the evening. So cool to see all the pics of DL. Dylan looks like he was having a great time. Such a cute picture with Todd and Dylan looking like twins!

Can't wait for more!

The traffic in LA is always horrible. We just dealt with it again during our trip a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad that I felt better that night too. I was pretty bummed at how sick I was. I see Todd & Dylan doing stuff like that all of the time and they don't realize it. I'm just glad I had a camera to capture it that time!

That last pic of the boys on the bed is ADORABLE. This would be such an adorable Father's Day present..in a frame that says "Like Father, like Son".

Ooooohh, I like your idea of a Father's Day gift. Thanks!!!

Awww, I love that pic at the end. Tinkgurl had such a cute idea! Sorry to hear about all the awful traffic. It does kind of make it worse knowing you are so close! Glad to hear that you were finally starting to feel better by then. It would be awful to be sick through your whole vacation.

I was really worried that Todd & Dylan would be hitting the park without me. I'm glad I made the effort on this first night to test the waters.

Glad you were feeling better just in time to enjoy your trip! :thumbsup2 Can't wait to hear more! :)

Thank you. I'm glad that I felt better too!

Hi Alison! It was so fun to see you make an appearance on Jordan's TR! Dylan is such a cutie!

I'm still up in the air about a TR, but I think that's also because I tend to post some pics on FB and then on a family blog too. If you're on FB, PM me so we can try to find each other! I have some pics of Lily from our summer trip on there.

It was so much fun to meet Jordan. He is such a great person and it was nice to spend a couple of hours getting to know him better. I'm glad that he & Todd got to meet too, because I knew they would get along.

I am on FB. I just joined around Christmas time. I will send you my info. I do the same thing...post pictures on FB, then send them to family on Shutterfly. Like I said, it is a lot of work (that's why my updates have so much time in between), but I'm so glad I did my first one.

[sharonW]

that picture of the boys is the best, I agree!!!!
A perfect fathers day gift!!!! :goodvibes

[Sunset Cliffs]

that picture of the boys is the best, I agree!!!!
A perfect fathers day gift!!!! :goodvibes

I agree. I'm going to look into different ideas & have it printed.

[Sunset Cliffs]

I slept I until 8:30 this morning. Well, not really. I woke up at 5:45 and saw that Dylan had rolled off of his air mattress bed onto the floor and was halfway across the room. So I got up and put him back on his bed. Then I couldn’t fall back asleep. Did I mention that we had loud neighbors all around us and it seems like everyone decided to get up at 6:30 this morning? I finally fell back asleep at 7:15 and woke up at 8:30.

Todd and Dylan were still asleep so I got up and started unpacking all of our suitcases. I can't stand living out of suitcases and I feel so much better after we are unpacked. After that I ate a small bowl of cereal to see how my stomach would respond.

The boys finally woke up and we got ready pretty quickly. We were almost ready to go out the door when Dylan came up to me & told me that he had gone to the bathroom in his diaper (not the wet kind, the OTHER kind). So I turned around to put down what I had in my hands and I turned back around to see him taking OFF HIS DIAPER!!! I’m glad that I was within a few steps of him or it could have been a lot worse. I managed to get him into the bathroom but by that point he had gotten it all over him. We cleaned him up & then put him in the bathtub. He was not happy about it at all, & we became the noisy neighbors for a while. I think he was embarrassed & he wouldn’t stop crying.

The bath was fast but we lost a lot of time during the whole “clean up” process. We ended up leaving the hotel room after 10:00. Considering that we had planned to be at DCA when it opened this morning, we realized that our plans went out the window. We went straight to DCA and headed over to Toy Story Mania. This was why we were trying to get to the park early. I don’t understand why WDW has a FP for this ride but DCA does not. It would be so nice to get a FP and not have to always deal with the long line.

It did not seem like there were a lot of people in the park, so we were encouraged on our walk over to TSM that maybe we were going to be lucky. Nope, it seemed like everyone was at this ride. There was a 40 minute wait. We figured that we were already in this area of the park so we might as well get in line now. We went next door and got a FP for California Screamin’, and then got in line at TSM.

Dylan did really well waiting in line. He entertained himself by climbing on the rails & we had toys for him as well. He really liked the Mr. Potato Head.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef95188bec30f00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef9501f88229600000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

Of course he was excited to get his own pair of 3-D glasses.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef951e97b025200000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef950fa74628000000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We rode with all 3 of us in one car. Dylan sat in between us, so I hung onto him with one arm and tried to play the game with my other arm. That meant that I had no accuracy what-so-ever, since I was basically pulling the string and the gun was swinging around all over the place. It is such a fun ride!!! Todd beat me, of course, but I think that my score was much closer than it should have been, considering the circumstances. By the time we got off the ride it was 11:40. It had taken 1 hour to stand in line & ride on the ride.

We had an 11:50 PS for lunch at Wine Country Trattoria. We got there just in time for our reservation. When I had called to make the reservation, I had been told that there was no patio seating due to the construction, but when we got there they had the patio open and we were seated outside.

Such a pretty building!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef950dfe0229e00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We were seated under the covered walkway, so we were in the shade. It was a beautiful day and the table was perfect.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef951f4f2c37d00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

We had looked at the menu online ahead of time & we decided to split the Chicken Alfredo Lasagna and a side salad since I was still not eating very much. We ordered Dylan the grilled cheese sandwich off the kids menu which came with fruit & juice. They first brought us some yummy bread with oil & vinegar to dip it in. We got our salad and it was extremely small. I know it is a side salad, but I would have felt like it was small for one person. The ranch dressing that was on it was very good.

Our lasagna came and it was delicious, but again we felt like the portion was very small. The price was $16.00 for the lasagna, and I would say that the size was not worthy of the price. It still was very tasty and different than your usual lasagna.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef9518142836f00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

For dessert, we ordered Dulce de Leche ice cream & it came with Biscotti. Oh my goodness!! This was the best ice cream that I have had in a long time. We had 3 spoons fighting in the bowl. LOL. Dylan was especially excited that we gave him his own spoon & he was really going for it. At one point, he & Todd both took a bite and looked at each other....& they both busted out in the "happy dance" that is saved for when we eat really good food.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef9515dc0838300000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

The total bill for lunch was $30 before tip. Considering what we ordered, it seemed too expensive. Overall I would rate this restaurant as having very good food, but it was too pricey for what you got.

Post-ice cream Dylan who was a very happy boy.

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Saying “Cheeeese”

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Right outside of the restaurant is the Blue Sky Cellar preview area that shows all of the construction around DCA. We never actually made it into the preview area, there are some pictures outside of what is to come.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef950f18522ec00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

Paradise Pier area

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef951feaa421000000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

Another beautiful building.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef950a91ea36b00000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

This is what the front of DCA is going to look like. Look familiar? It is going to look like DHS in Orlando.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a0df23b3127ccef951fd76836500000030O01AcOGrZs5Zsg e3nw8/cC/f%3D0/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

I’m excited to see this park when all of the construction is done. I’m most excited about seeing World of Color, but it is still a couple of months away (I think!). I feel as though I like this park more & more every time I visit it.

Where do we go next?

[LilAnn]

Yay, I log on to the Dis and find an update! I have to say that Todd and Dylan take such cute pics together! You could make a multi photo frame montage for father's day! Dylan is looking like such the little boy now. Doesn't time just fly?

I've never been to DL, but your pics of DCA look gorgeous! It looks like your lunch wasn't too crowded at all and I love the story of how the two boys broke out into the "happy dance." Too cute.

[Dugette]

Great update. I wonder why they don't put in FP at TSM? Seems silly not to have them. Your lunch looked good, despite being small and pricey. I've never been to DCA, so this is all very interesting to see. Looking forward to more!

[tinkgurl]

Yes an update! I love hearing from you!

So, Dylan made his way off the air mattress. Glad to know my little guy is not the only one who rolls around! :laughing: Me and you were in the same boat- I kept waking him up and putting him back on the bed when he was stayed the night at my house over Christmas break.

Aw..poor guy. I know feeling the poop in your diaper is not fun. :guilty:

Loved the pics of him and daddy in line. How do you entertain Dylan in lines?! We are most nervous about this part for our July trip!

[chickyann]

I'm really enjoying your TR, thanks for sharing popcorn::

[Sunset Cliffs]

Yay, I log on to the Dis and find an update! I have to say that Todd and Dylan take such cute pics together! You could make a multi photo frame montage for father's day! Dylan is looking like such the little boy now. Doesn't time just fly?

I've never been to DL, but your pics of DCA look gorgeous! It looks like your lunch wasn't too crowded at all and I love the story of how the two boys broke out into the "happy dance." Too cute.

I love all of the dad/son pictures that I get with them. I wish that I got more of the mom/son pictures but it just doesn't happen very often. Tonight we went to the store & he was walking along with us, chatting away, & Todd said, "He is like this little person now. He's not a baby anymore."

DCA definitely has its beautiful sections. It is under a lot of construction right now so I can't wait to see the final product. The area by this restaurant is supposed to be like the Napa Valley & they have done a really good job with it. The "happy dance" is something that Dylan picked up on from Todd. ;)

Great update. I wonder why they don't put in FP at TSM? Seems silly not to have them. Your lunch looked good, despite being small and pricey. I've never been to DCA, so this is all very interesting to see. Looking forward to more!

The only thing that I can think about the non-FP on TSM is that there is not an easy way to incorporate that line, but it seems weird to do it at one park & not the other. I am enjoying writing about the West Coast parks, since most of my Dis friends have only been to WDW. It's fun to share with all of you. :goodvibes

Yes an update! I love hearing from you!

So, Dylan made his way off the air mattress. Glad to know my little guy is not the only one who rolls around! :laughing: Me and you were in the same boat- I kept waking him up and putting him back on the bed when he was stayed the night at my house over Christmas break.

Aw..poor guy. I know feeling the poop in your diaper is not fun. :guilty:

Loved the pics of him and daddy in line. How do you entertain Dylan in lines?! We are most nervous about this part for our July trip!

Oh, yes. Dylan rolls off his bed all the time. That's why we have not permanently switched him to a big boy bed at home yet. That was a theme during this trip for me. Waking up multiple times at night to find where he had rolled to and then put him back in his bed.

What I like to do before trips is go to the Dollar Store & buy a bunch of cheap little toys. I don't show them to him before the trip. I keep his bag with me in line & I will bring out random toys when he needs a distraction. Usually he will be fascinated long enough to buy us some time. I also keep plenty of snacks & a juice cup available. We are very lucky because he is a good kid, but he gets bored in line sometimes & he needs to be distracted. New toys work with him, & if he loses them or breaks them it is not a big deal because they were only $1.00.

I'm really enjoying your TR, thanks for sharing popcorn::

Thank you so much for reading! :goodvibes

[tinkgurl]

Thanks for the tips! :)

[sharonW]

Love the update! Dylan is such a cutie!!:littleangel:

[*dreamit*doit*]

Oh Alison! I was worried for a minute when you started the story of Dylan and the diaper...I thought you were going to say he had gotten your stomach bug - whew! :scared:

No FP for TSM?? :confused:

[sharonW]

Oh Alison! I was worried for a minute when you started the story of Dylan and the diaper...I thought you were going to say he had gotten your stomach bug - whew! :scared:

No FP for TSM?? :confused:



I was thinking the same thing!!!!!

[blabbermouth]

Another cute update!

I agree about WCT. Decent food, but ours was really REALLY rushed. Drinks are supposed to come before food :confused3 It was nice to have a glass of wine though! We didn't get dessert, but I guess we should have.

[eandesmom]

I'm here :) I think I forgot you had the Thanksgiving trip in there, I was just thinking about the last week!

Oops!

Off to catch up.

[Sunset Cliffs]

Thanks for the tips! :)

No problem. I hope it is an easy situation for you!

Love the update! Dylan is such a cutie!!:littleangel:

Thanks so much!

Oh Alison! I was worried for a minute when you started the story of Dylan and the diaper...I thought you were going to say he had gotten your stomach bug - whew! :scared:

No FP for TSM?? :confused:

Oh, thank goodness that he did not get the flu. That would have been a nightmare in a hotel room.

As far as no FP for TSM... :confused3 I don't know, but it sure is annoying!

Another cute update!

I agree about WCT. Decent food, but ours was really REALLY rushed. Drinks are supposed to come before food :confused3 It was nice to have a glass of wine though! We didn't get dessert, but I guess we should have.

We aren't usually dessert people, but on vacation we get it more often. I could not believe how good this ice cream was. Normally we would get something "better" thank ice cream but I'm glad we didn't this time.

I'm here :) I think I forgot you had the Thanksgiving trip in there, I was just thinking about the last week!

Oops!

Off to catch up.

Thanks for coming over to read! I want to do a TR of the most recent one too, but I am worried that I will get them mixed up. I am going to try to finish this one first & then do the next one.

[heatherleigh]

Oh man, that diaper story sounds like something that would happen w/ our gang! I don't know how many times I've gotten the kids all ready, and we are on our way out the door when baby has a blow-out. I do feel grateful that it happens prior to us leaving on one hand, but geez what timing!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Oh man, that diaper story sounds like something that would happen w/ our gang! I don't know how many times I've gotten the kids all ready, and we are on our way out the door when baby has a blow-out. I do feel grateful that it happens prior to us leaving on one hand, but geez what timing!

I agree. I would much rather change a poopy diaper at the hotel than at the park. But why couldn't it have been a 1/2 hour earlier? He has never taken off his diaper like that. I was so shocked. I think once he got dirty, he realized what he had done and then he wouldn't stop crying. Poor little guy!

[Sunset Cliffs]

After our wonderful lunch and a short visit to the preview center, we headed over to A Bug’s Land to let Dylan go on some really little kid rides. We have never spent any time in this area (other than seeing It’s Tough To be a Bug movie) because Dylan has never been old enough to appreciate the rides. Every day on this trip, he talked about trains (he calls them “choo-choos”) and I knew that there was one in this area.

I have to say that this is one of the better themed areas in the park. There is a lot of attention to detail that give you something to appreciate while walking around. Cute ideas to appear as though trash has been used to create buildings. Little cocoons used as hanging lights. Unfortunately I did not think to take a lot of pictures of the theming.

Our first stop was Flik’s Flyers. Similar to Dumbo in that it is a ride that just goes around & around, but the cars you ride in are made of boxes from Chinese food or animal cookies. We all were able to ride in one car & there are seatbelts in the cars. There was no line and we walked right on.

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Before the ride started.

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Dylan was excited to ride it until we were half way through the ride & he realized that we were pretty high up in the air. He got a little scared & scooted closer to Todd but he did great. When it was over he had a big smile on his face so I guess that sums it up.

Next we rode Heimlick’s Chew Chew Train. Let me just say this is for REALLY little kids, which means it was perfect for Dylan. He LOVED it. What is not to love about riding in a brightly colored caterpillar that loves to eat & burp his way through the ride?

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After we got off the train, Todd went to ride on Soarin’. This is the one drawback to going on a trip with just the 3 of us….Todd & I don’t get to ride any of the big rides together. But it was a small sacrifice to pay to have our own little family vacation. He rode the Single Rider Line & was back in a very short time.

Dylan & I stayed in the Bug’s Land and I asked what he wanted to do. He wanted to ride the choo-choo again, so that is what we did. Again, there was no line either time we rode it. After we got off, we wandered around to see the other rides. The bumper cars are next to the train, but I wasn’t sure if he was ready for bumper cars. There were some benches next to it, so we sat and watched the people on the ride. Whenever he saw a car crash into another car he would say “Uh oh!” Ha, ha. When the ride ended, he didn’t say anything, he just got off the bench & headed for the line to get on the ride. I thought that was so cute! :love:

We waited one time and then we were on. We got in the car & he wanted to drive but I told him that I needed to. I kept driving around the outside of the area & no one hit us. Right as it was ending, I drove really slowly into someone else and he started cracking up. Then it was time to get off the ride and he did NOT want to. He cried a little bit but finally got out when I told him we were going to go on a different ride.

The last ride was a Ladybug ride that is kind of like the teacups. You sit in a lady bug car that is a big circle & you can spin yourself or not. We got our own car & I figured we would just ride around and not spin. Well, that didn’t work out because the car spins you even if you don’t spin yourself. A lot. It got going pretty good by the end of it and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Dylan got scared because it was jerking us around but it ended quickly & he looked happy when we got off. I’m glad Todd was not with us because he would have gotten sick. He does not do well with the Teacups!!

Todd called to find out where we were & we met up with him. It was my turn to ride Soarin’ & Todd kept Dylan with him. I walked right in using the SRL and I waited less that 10 minutes until I was on the ride. I was on the bottom row, but right in the middle. I’m not complaining since I only waited 10 minutes! I love this ride. Everything about it is perfect…the song, the smell, the images. It makes you fall in love with California, even if you already live here. The orange trees are my favorite smell, but I love the ocean smell too.

When I got outside they were waiting for me at the exit. Todd had just finished taking Dylan’s picture with the Cars characters. What a cute little photo op area! Dylan has really started to like the Cars movie so he liked seeing Mater & Lightning McQueen.

Waiting his turn to get his picture taken.

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After that was done, a CM came out of the toy store and gave some kids these bubble guns to play with. Dylan joined right in with the other kids to play with the bubbles. He was so happy. It was a fun & unexpected moment for him.

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Diving on the ground after the bubbles

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After everyone cleared out Dylan was standing there by himself & we realized that this little girl was running circles around him. At first it was really funny because he wasn’t interacting with her at all. She was just running around him while he stood still.

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After a while she kept going & going and he started to look confused. Finally he looked at me like, “what is she doing?”

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It was hilarious to watch him try to figure it out. He finally just walked back over to us and she looked disappointed that she had to stop running. The whole thing was pretty funny.

It was past Dylan’s nap time so we left the park & walked back to the hotel. On our way out we snapped this picture of the California sign at the front of the park. I like the candy cane decorations for Christmas. Very cute!

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We got back to the room & Dylan went right to sleep. Todd was watching football. I kept alternating between watching the game and falling asleep. We both finally fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 6:00, which was when Dylan woke up. He slept for 3 ½ hours! I’m so glad he did because I think that nap really helped since I was still not feeling 100%.

Up next….our first full evening in a park.

[tinkgurl]

Aw..he looks like he's having so much fun with you guys on the rides. So cute!!

Uh oh, I'm scared about my little guy not wanting to get off rides. I have a feeling I might have to carry him off kicking and screaming. :laughing:

:lmao: Love the pic of him on his tummy on the ground getting the bubbles.

[*dreamit*doit*]

After we got off the train, Todd went to ride on Soarin’. This is the one drawback to going on a trip with just the 3 of us….Todd & I don’t get to ride any of the big rides together. But it was a small sacrifice to pay to have our own little family vacation. He rode the Single Rider Line & was back in a very short time.



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I totally agree! We have the same thing with Disney World, since we live in Florida, it's easy for people to join us on our trips, which is always great, but it's also nice to have some "alone" time every once in a while. Ramon and I do the same thing when we go on trips just the four of us and there's something we really want to ride and the girls are either too small or just refuse to ride, we use SRL - little to no wait...always a good thing. :thumbsup2



He has the cutest little face!!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Aw..he looks like he's having so much fun with you guys on the rides. So cute!!

Uh oh, I'm scared about my little guy not wanting to get off rides. I have a feeling I might have to carry him off kicking and screaming. :laughing:

:lmao: Love the pic of him on his tummy on the ground getting the bubbles.

We haven't had a problem w/ him trying to stay on a ride before. This was a first. Now that I think about it, we probably have been very lucky that he hasn't protested before. I should remember that promising to go on another ride worked.

We have video of the bubble incident and it is hilarious. He dove on the ground to get a bubble & then kept crawling around until he went into the full sprawl. I always say that he is such a boy. No fear and loves to be getting dirty on the ground. Ha ha.

I totally agree! We have the same thing with Disney World, since we live in Florida, it's easy for people to join us on our trips, which is always great, but it's also nice to have some "alone" time every once in a while. Ramon and I do the same thing when we go on trips just the four of us and there's something we really want to ride and the girls are either too small or just refuse to ride, we use SRL - little to no wait...always a good thing. :thumbsup2



He has the cutest little face!!

I think the SRL is a great thing. Every once in a while you stuck in a bad one but I appreciate that they have one available for the people who are like us (one parent has to stay with the kids). The baby swap thing is good too but I don't like how they put you in the FP line. They used to let you walk up the exit to the ride, but now it is changed.

[Dugette]

Cool theming in that Bug area of the park. Glad Dylan got to enjoy a train ride (or two)! I don't think I'd like the ride where it spins you on its own. That's neat that Soarin' has SRL! Cute with Dylan "uh oh"-ing the bumper cars! :laughing: Looks like he had a good time with those bubbles. Neat to see a "new" part of the park!

[Craftsman Revival]

Hey there,

I finally de-lurked, so I'm subscribing. I love the photo of Dylan with the confused look as the girl runs circles around him. Hilarious!!

[tinkgurl]

Just thought you'd like to know, I just posted a pic of my little guy on Kristen and I's PTR!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Cool theming in that Bug area of the park. Glad Dylan got to enjoy a train ride (or two)! I don't think I'd like the ride where it spins you on its own. That's neat that Soarin' has SRL! Cute with Dylan "uh oh"-ing the bumper cars! :laughing: Looks like he had a good time with those bubbles. Neat to see a "new" part of the park!

Yeah, riding that car that spun on its own wasn't a pleasant surprise. I'm lucky that spinning doesn't bother me, but I know a lot of people who could have the rest of their day ruined over something like that.

The bug area is so cute. I wish I had taken better pictures of the theming.

Hey there,

I finally de-lurked, so I'm subscribing. I love the photo of Dylan with the confused look as the girl runs circles around him. Hilarious!!

Hi there! Ha, ha. You finally gave in to the power of the Dis. :laughing:

I love that picture too because I remember the moment that I took it. I was thinking, "His face is showing exactly what he is feeling right now."

Just thought you'd like to know, I just posted a pic of my little guy on Kristen and I's PTR!

Thanks for letting me know. I'm heading over there to look at it right now!

[Sunset Cliffs]

We headed back to the parks and decided to go back to DCA for the evening until it closed. Once inside we took a left and went straight to ToT. On our way there I had to keep stopping to take pictures of the beautiful Christmas lights. When it finally gets dark, you can see how amazing some of the displays are!

Our walk to ToT.

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The wait time for ToT was 45 minutes so we got a FP. The next closest ride was Monsters, Inc. and we haven’t been on it in a while so we headed in that direction. We stopped at the taxi outside so that Dylan could play on it for a few minutes. This area of the park was totally dead. As in, hardly another person around at all. It was so quiet that it felt like we were the only one’s there. I think everyone was over at ToT. LOL

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We finally got in line and had a 10 minute wait. I really like this “vending machine” that you see right before you get on. The items are so funny, but they are so true. My favorite one was “Sugar, salt & fat”.

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Getting ready to get on.

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This ride is really cute if you know the movie. I have only seen it once & it was a long time ago. The monsters were a little scary for Dylan (who has not seen the movie). Cute ride, not worth waiting for if there is any line at all.

The outside of the ride is really pretty when it is all lit up, so I took a few pictures in this area.

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We were getting hungry so we looked for food for dinner. We did not want to pay $7.00 for a hot dog (which did not come with a drink!!) so we wandered over to the Pacific Wharf area to see all of the restaurants there. So many choices! We ended up in line at the Pacific Wharf Café & we both got our own bread bowls. Todd got clam chowder & I got corn chowder. They are pretty big & we probably should have split one, but there was more than enough for all 3 of us. Can I just say…YUM!!! This was SO good. As I was eating it, I was already trying to figure out how to come back and get another one later in the trip.

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After dinner we walked back over to ToT so that Todd could go on ToT while I entertained Dylan. I took him shopping in the Greetings from California shop and I found him this cute Buzz Lightyear light up toy that I had seen earlier by TSM. It was $13.00 but I thought it was a good value because it is a full size Buzz toy in addition to having all of the whirling lights on it. It was a good choice because we just brought it with us each night to the parks & he never asked for any of the other light up toys that we saw. That is a pretty good store! It has a little of everything in it.

I took him back by Monsters, Inc to let him play in the taxi while we waited for Todd to finish riding ToT. He came & found us & we took a few pictures before I went to ToT.

Happy little guy.

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I walked right on to ToT. There was no line. I rode next to 2 teenage girls who hugged each other through the whole ride. It was pretty funny. Another really great ride that I could ride over & over again. When I got off, the posted wait time was only 5 minutes.

I went to find the boys. It was getting close to closing time. We took a few pictures by the Aladdin theater.

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We were going to take turns going on ToT one more time, but Dylan started complaining about his diaper being wet so we left to find a bathroom instead. This is one of the prettiest bathrooms in all of DLR. I have no idea why they made it look so nice, but I really like this area whenever we walk by it.


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Have you noticed the total lack of people in these pictures? I kept saying, “It’s Thanksgiving, right? Isn’t it supposed to be busy?” It was so nice & relaxing to not have to fight through crowds of people. How often can you say that going to a park is relaxing?

Diaper change was done & we walked towards the front of the park. We stopped to have a Photopass picture taken & she took one with our camera too.

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There are not nearly as many PP opportunities at DLR as there are at WDW and we never take enough pictures to make it worth it to buy the CD. I’m glad that they are willing to take pictures with your own camera too.

More Christmas lights as we were walking out.

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Right as we were leaving the park, the fireworks started at DL. We were standing in the area between the 2 parks and had a perfect view. There were people everywhere watching the fireworks so we just picked a spot and stood there to watch the whole show. It was great because Dylan never got scared, and I think it was because we were far enough away from them that the booming wasn’t right overhead. He kept saying, “Wow!” whenever any of the big fireworks would go off.

It was 9:45 when they ended & since Dylan had taken such a late nap, we headed on over to go into DL.

[*dreamit*doit*]

How cute! A Monsters Inc. ride! It's neat to see all the different things in DL.

The bread bowl looks yummy! :thumbsup2

[Craftsman Revival]

The outside of the ride is really pretty when it is all lit up, so I took a few pictures in this area.

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How cute! I've never seen this ride at night before.

It looks like a monster-y version of IASW. :)

[Sunset Cliffs]

How cute! A Monsters Inc. ride! It's neat to see all the different things in DL.

The bread bowl looks yummy! :thumbsup2

Yeah, I love the differences in the parks too. And the bread bowl was SO good. I wish I could have it for dinner tonight.

How cute! I've never seen this ride at night before.

It looks like a monster-y version of IASW. :)

Yeah, it's amazing how much cuter it is at night vs. day time. The lighting adds a lot to it. I had never noticed that fountain before either.

[LilAnn]

Hi! We just got back so I just got caught up on your updates. It was soooo hot and pretty crowded in WDW so your pictures look soo relaxing! It looks like the perfect walking around weather and low crowds! :thumbsup2

I still can't get over how big Dylan is getting! Your pics really make me want to visit DL one day. It looks so pretty!

I always thought a Monsters Inc ride would be fun - although I imagined a roller coaster type ride (as if you were one of the doors moving on those tracks). The park looks so pretty at night all lit up. They have Mater and Lightning at WDW too at DHS. They were our only must see when we went back in August since Lily loves that movie.

[LilAnn]

Oh - I forgot to mention that we tried out Boma for dinner one night and LOVED it! Lily enjoyed it also. We are definitely adding it to our future trips - whenever that will be. Your TR review helped convince me to try it out.

[Dugette]

How cute! A Monsters Inc. ride! It's neat to see all the different things in DL.

The bread bowl looks yummy! :thumbsup2

Sorry to be so completely uncreative in my comments, but I second this one! :thumbsup2

[tinkgurl]

Oh wow! Everything looks so neat all lit up at night!!

I wish they had the Monsters, Inc. ride at the MK instead of the Laugh Floor.

[Sunset Cliffs]

Hi! We just got back so I just got caught up on your updates. It was soooo hot and pretty crowded in WDW so your pictures look soo relaxing! It looks like the perfect walking around weather and low crowds! :thumbsup2

I still can't get over how big Dylan is getting! Your pics really make me want to visit DL one day. It looks so pretty!

I always thought a Monsters Inc ride would be fun - although I imagined a roller coaster type ride (as if you were one of the doors moving on those tracks). The park looks so pretty at night all lit up. They have Mater and Lightning at WDW too at DHS. They were our only must see when we went back in August since Lily loves that movie.

Welcome home! I saw some of your pictures on FB. Is it normally crowded this time of year at WDW?

Your idea for a roller coaster Monsters ride is much better that what it actually is. The ride was originally something different (something about movie stars) that failed miserably, so they overlayed the track with the Monsters Inc stuff. Definitely an upgrade, but I think if they weren't limited by the ride that already existed they could have come up with something better.

Where is the Mater & Lightning at WDW? I have never seen it there...

Oh - I forgot to mention that we tried out Boma for dinner one night and LOVED it! Lily enjoyed it also. We are definitely adding it to our future trips - whenever that will be. Your TR review helped convince me to try it out.

Yay! I'm so glad to hear that you liked it. I was so scared to try it the first time & I'm so glad that we did. You are so sweet to take my advice. :goodvibes I'm happy you didn't totally hate it and decide to never read my TR's again. :laughing:

Sorry to be so completely uncreative in my comments, but I second this one! :thumbsup2

Ha, ha. That was really funny. :laughing:

Oh wow! Everything looks so neat all lit up at night!!

I wish they had the Monsters, Inc. ride at the MK instead of the Laugh Floor.

We have never been to the Laugh Floor. The timing is never right when we are there. The Monsters Inc ride is pretty cute, but nothing too exciting. It has the same feel as Snow White or Pinocchio. A car on a track going through different scenes. But it is much bigger & more detailed than those other ride. The doors scene is pretty cool.

[tinkgurl]

Where is the Mater & Lightning at WDW? I have never seen it there...

They are at DHS...usually back over at Streets of America.

[LilAnn]

Welcome home! I saw some of your pictures on FB. Is it normally crowded this time of year at WDW?

Where is the Mater & Lightning at WDW? I have never seen it there...

Yay! I'm so glad to hear that you liked it. I was so scared to try it the first time & I'm so glad that we did. You are so sweet to take my advice. :goodvibes I'm happy you didn't totally hate it and decide to never read my TR's again. :laughing:

We went in May the week before Memorial weekend 3 years ago and it was great. Hot, but not too hot and low crowds, the crowds got bigger the closer to the holiday weekend that we got. However, I thought it was pretty crowded this time around and apparently it was hotter than normal. It felt like August! I haven't posted most of our pics from the trip on FB yet, but once things quiet down I will. I think I might take more of your advice and do a TR too! I don't know how interesting it will be though, we didn't do much!

Mater and Lightening are at Luigi's Garage at DHS, it's basically at the back end of the Streets of America - kind of near the Muppets. It's kind of tucked away and the wait isn't bad at all.

Oh my gosh, we loved Boma. Definitely going there again one day. The hummus - yumm! Lily loved the cous cous there - she kept calling it baby rice.

We'll totally keep reading your TRs, Lily sees pics of Dylan and said "I like Dylan!"

[Sunset Cliffs]

We went in May the week before Memorial weekend 3 years ago and it was great. Hot, but not too hot and low crowds, the crowds got bigger the closer to the holiday weekend that we got. However, I thought it was pretty crowded this time around and apparently it was hotter than normal. It felt like August! I haven't posted most of our pics from the trip on FB yet, but once things quiet down I will. I think I might take more of your advice and do a TR too! I don't know how interesting it will be though, we didn't do much!

Mater and Lightening are at Luigi's Garage at DHS, it's basically at the back end of the Streets of America - kind of near the Muppets. It's kind of tucked away and the wait isn't bad at all.

Oh my gosh, we loved Boma. Definitely going there again one day. The hummus - yumm! Lily loved the cous cous there - she kept calling it baby rice.

We'll totally keep reading your TRs, Lily sees pics of Dylan and said "I like Dylan!"

That is a bummer that it was so hot. I remember that our trip last June was miserable at times due to the heat. I hope that it didn't alter your trip too much.

Awww, that is so sweet about Lily. :goodvibes

[Sunset Cliffs]

After the fireworks, we headed into DL. A huge crowd was leaving and it was really crowded near the entrance & down Main Street. We decided to shop for a little while on Main Street until the crowds went down so we went into the art gallery. This place was so cool! We had not been in this shop before (not sure if it had recently been located here?). It is right next door to Mr. Lincoln (only this wasn’t open yet). I could spend a lot of money in this store, if I would let myself. There was a shadow box that had the word Disneyland spelled out in a bunch of unique things. I think I remember it having an anchor from a pirate ship as one of the letters. I loved it, but it was $95.00 and I just couldn’t justify the money.

About 15 minutes later and there were a lot less people in the park. We wanted to go on rides that we could all go on together, so we walked over to PotC. There was only a 5 minute wait to get on, so we basically walked through the line & right onto a boat.

Getting on the boat.

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It was a great ride, as usual. Dylan is starting to understand all of the different modes of transportation and he thought riding on the boat was pretty cool. The only scary part were the 2 drops, especially the first one since it is almost pitch black when you go down. The second isn’t so bad since it is shorter & a little more light. It’s so cute because we always hold him close during the drops, and I can feel his little hand squeezing mine really tight. Such a brave boy. :love:

My blurry pictures from the ride.

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From Pirates, we walked to the Haunted Mansion. It was all done up in the Christmas overlay (Nightmare Before Christmas). We have taken Dylan on this before when he was younger & we thought the Christmas overlay would be less scary than the real ride. We started to get in line when a group of guys walked in front of us. They were really obnoxious and I’m pretty sure that they were drunk. One guy had a HUGE balloon animal thing that he was wearing on his head, and he kept screaming, “Look, I’m a dragon!!” at the top of his lungs. It was kind of funny at first but they kept yelling & it was obvious they were making others uncomfortable. I did not think it would be a good idea to be in the stretching room with that group because I’m sure that Dylan would have gotten really scared.

When we got to the entrance of the ride, I asked the CM if there was a way to skip the stretching room. She said yes and that she would call for “the key”. She asked us to wait with her and about 5 minutes later another CM showed up with “the key”. The original girl said she had never done it before, so another guy told her to come along and we all walked together. We walked all the way back out the entrance of the ride and took a right towards the railroad entrance. There is a little side area and we entered it. The path we were on took us right past the wall of tombstones. The guy was using his flashlight to show us all of the different names. Now I have stood in line a lot for this ride, even at night. But on this night there was no one around (the line was really short) and it just felt creepy. Even Todd said how creepy & weird it felt since it was so dark & quiet.

We finally got to a door in that wall and he used the key to open the door. Inside was a grey tunnel with some very steep metal stairs. The we went around a corner and walked down a ramp that switched back & forth. It was interesting because there were signs all over the walls, giving directions to the CM’s as to where to go. They were saying things like go left to get outside or right to backstage, etc. It was neat because all of the signs were done in the Haunted Mansion theming…same font, same colors. They looked like signs that would be out for the public to view.

We got to the bottom of the ramp & we walked right behind the displays for the windows that you see right when you get out of the stretching room (the windows are on your left). The windows look like it is showing a storm outside, but the displays are actually very shallow and the wall behind them looked like a piece of cardboard or a really thin board. I was surprised by how minimal it was, considering how real it looks from inside the attraction.

They opened the door and it let us out right near the point where the line goes past the bust statues that look at you. We just merged right into the crowd & we were on the ride in just a couple of minutes. That whole experience was so cool!! When we asked to skip the stretching room, I thought they might just have a different elevator to ride on. I didn’t think they would take us backstage!! The ride itself is so fun when it is done up for the holidays. We have ridden it many times when it is like that, so it was not a new thing. But there is always something new to see, and it feels odd to have everything so bright & lit up (either from the snow or the neon colors everywhere) compared to how dark the normal ride is. I guess I didn’t take any pictures on this ride…

When we finished we walked out and the 10:30 showing of Fantasmic was in progress. There was barely a crowd and we were able to walk right to the middle section and watch for a little while. I love the section where all of the princesses dance with their men. The music is so moving!!

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We stayed until it started getting to the scary part and then we left. I’m not ready to have Dylan see the dragon & all of the fire. We decided it was time to start heading towards the front of the park. When we got to Main Street it was not very busy. I took a few pictures to try to capture all of the Christmas lights, but only one came out.

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Todd loves to get ice cream on Main Street, so we went in & got in a very long line for ice cream. I’m not a big ice cream person so I went looking for a different snack and found the huge rice crispy treats that had white chocolate on top. Oh my goodness!! It looked so good, & I was not disappointed when I tasted it. Todd was still in line for his ice cream sundae so I took Dylan and found some chairs in the back of the ice cream parlor. We sat next to the big elephant (which is so cool, by the way) and enjoyed our treats. Mine was so huge that I could only eat a portion of it, and it took me a few days to finish it off.

Todd was very happy w/ his ice cream.

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The big elephant that stood on our table.

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We walked down Main Street and left the park at 11:00.

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We were walking back to our hotel & I realized that we had a pretty good shot of the California sign without a ton of people in the way so I had to stop & take some pictures. I tried a bunch of different settings on the camera, and these are the 2 that I thought turned out best.

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It’s so pretty. I am going to miss the candy cane decorations when they change the front of the park. It is one of those things that has become a staple when we are visiting at the holidays.

We had a short walk back to the hotel and we were all in bed by 11:45. Before he fell asleep, Dylan was playing on our bed. We were talking to each other & we looked back at him and he was fast asleep. It was so cute because he NEVER does that. I picked him up & moved him to his air mattress and he did not open his eyes or budge at all. We had wiped him out!!

[sharonW]

:goodvibesGreat update as always! I'm enjoying this TR especially since
its the california park which I've never experienced. Love the
christmas decos! Looking forward to more!!

[tinkgurl]

Oh I want to go to DL so bad so I can compare to WDW AND so I can know what you're talking about exactly. :laughing:

I am trying to decide if the little guy would like POTC or not. I don't know how he'd do on the drop. I know it's little, but still, it's a drop.

Ugh, I hate it when there's drunk/obnoxious people! I'm glad you were able to skip dealing with them for much longer! How cool you got to do all of that!

Wow, the ice cream place looks neat! And that elephant is beautiful!! How'd you keep Dylan from playing with that?! :laughing:

[Dugette]

What an awesome evening at Disneyland! Can't go wrong with Pirates...I love the double-drop they have there. How awesome that you got to see the secret route into the Haunted Mansion! Very cool that you got to catch part of Fantasmic! And yummy treats to end the day! :cloud9:

Looking forward to more!

[Sunset Cliffs]

:goodvibesGreat update as always! I'm enjoying this TR especially since
its the california park which I've never experienced. Love the
christmas decos! Looking forward to more!!

It is fun writing about DL when most of the people reading have never been there. It makes me look at the pictures in a different way.


Oh I want to go to DL so bad so I can compare to WDW AND so I can know what you're talking about exactly. :laughing:

I am trying to decide if the little guy would like POTC or not. I don't know how he'd do on the drop. I know it's little, but still, it's a drop.

Ugh, I hate it when there's drunk/obnoxious people! I'm glad you were able to skip dealing with them for much longer! How cool you got to do all of that!

Wow, the ice cream place looks neat! And that elephant is beautiful!! How'd you keep Dylan from playing with that?! :laughing:

I hope that you get to go to DL someday. The layout of DL is very similar to MK. The biggest differences are in the area by BTMRR, HM, Splash MTN, etc. I used to get lost at MK when we would go there because I was so used to DL!

The thing about PotC is that the ride is pretty dark overall. We have taken Dylan on it every time we get the chance, just because we don't want him to be scared of it. We just really pump up the fact that we are going on a "boat ride" and we don't tell him about the drop until we are almost going down it. It has worked so far & he has never cried or been too scared.

The elephant in the ice cream place is huge. I remember seeing it when I was young and it felt gigantic. Dylan liked it but he was preoccupied with eating ice cream. :laughing:


What an awesome evening at Disneyland! Can't go wrong with Pirates...I love the double-drop they have there. How awesome that you got to see the secret route into the Haunted Mansion! Very cool that you got to catch part of Fantasmic! And yummy treats to end the day! :cloud9:

Looking forward to more!

The walk through HM was the highlight to me this evening, since it was new & we weren't expecting it. But overall, the entire evening at DCA & DL was very low key & non-crowded. Perfect!!

[Dugette]

Ooooh, I see you have a new ticker! You're going back in a month? Awesome! :cool1:

[LilAnn]

Ooooh, I love your updates since I have never been to DL (and of course, Lily loves looking at Dylan :laughing:). Your pictures definitely make me want to visit Disney (Dl or WDW) once during the holidays so I can see the pretty decorations.

That is awesome about your impromptu visit backstage of the HM. I never knew you could skip the stretching room. I'll have to try that when I think Lily is finally ready to try it. She was freaked by PotC this time around so it kind of spoiled many rides for her. She was so scared of everything after that.

Those rice krispie treats are the best. For some reason, everything just seems to taste better at Disney! :laughing: Particularly when it's mickey shaped and involves chocolate! :cloud9:

[Craftsman Revival]

I didn't know they would let you skip the elevator on HM! Too bad you couldn't take pictures backstage. :rolleyes1

I love that photo of Todd and Dylan before POTC. Dylan is making his "fake" smile or his "good boy" smile. Its cute that he has learned how to pose for photos so early. When Elijah was that age he would do a really weird fake smile that looked something like this :scared: LOL

[Sunset Cliffs]

Ooooh, I see you have a new ticker! You're going back in a month? Awesome! :cool1:

Yes, my nephew is graduating in San Diego, so we are going to stop at DL on the way down for a couple of days. We are trying to take advantage of our APs as much as we can. I am really looking forward to the whole trip.

Ooooh, I love your updates since I have never been to DL (and of course, Lily loves looking at Dylan :laughing:). Your pictures definitely make me want to visit Disney (Dl or WDW) once during the holidays so I can see the pretty decorations.

That is awesome about your impromptu visit backstage of the HM. I never knew you could skip the stretching room. I'll have to try that when I think Lily is finally ready to try it. She was freaked by PotC this time around so it kind of spoiled many rides for her. She was so scared of everything after that.

Those rice krispie treats are the best. For some reason, everything just seems to taste better at Disney! :laughing: Particularly when it's mickey shaped and involves chocolate! :cloud9:

I wish that Lily & Dylan could meet. It would be so cute to see them play together. She is so adorable! The holidays are the best time of year to visit the parks, in my opinion. Especially after you have been there a few times, since it makes it feel so different.

I don't know why I thought to ask to skip the stretching room. Maybe I had heard that in the past....not sure. But I'm glad that there is that option, because that is the part that scares Dylan the most. He handles the ride part pretty well because we just keep moving.

Those rice krispie treats are AMAZING!


I didn't know they would let you skip the elevator on HM! Too bad you couldn't take pictures backstage. :rolleyes1

I love that photo of Todd and Dylan before POTC. Dylan is making his "fake" smile or his "good boy" smile. Its cute that he has learned how to pose for photos so early. When Elijah was that age he would do a really weird fake smile that looked something like this :scared: LOL

I wanted to get my camera out so bad, but I didn't think they would let me. It was pretty cool to see it though. Especially all of the signs.

Yeah, Dylan has learned to say "cheese" as soon as the camrea is pointed in his direction. Most of the time he isn't even looking at the camera. It takes 10 tries to get 1 semi-decent picture. On our Easter trip, the poor kid had 2 cameras on him the whole time and he was sick of it. :laughing:

[LilAnn]

I wish that Lily & Dylan could meet. It would be so cute to see them play together. She is so adorable! The holidays are the best time of year to visit the parks, in my opinion. Especially after you have been there a few times, since it makes it feel so different.

Those rice krispie treats are AMAZING!

So I finally did it. I started a TR! I think it was your advice about how it really helped document all the memories that really pushed me into it. Plus I am hoping it will help me get over my Disney post-trip depresison.

For some reason, the rice krispie treats don't taste the same when you're not at Disney? :confused3 Lily loved them! She was in heaven when she saw that some of them had sprinkles on it. :cloud9:

[Sunset Cliffs]

So I finally did it. I started a TR! I think it was your advice about how it really helped document all the memories that really pushed me into it. Plus I am hoping it will help me get over my Disney post-trip depresison.

For some reason, the rice krispie treats don't taste the same when you're not at Disney? :confused3 Lily loved them! She was in heaven when she saw that some of them had sprinkles on it. :cloud9:

Sorry that I didn't respond to this right away. I don't check in on my own TR as often as I should (I'm terrible!!). I'm so glad that you started your TR. I'm really enjoying it!

I never eat rice crispy treats unless we are at Disney. While I am eating them I always say, "I should really make these at home more often" and then I never do. :laughing:

[Sunset Cliffs]

The baby in the room next door to us cried all night. I was just starting to fall asleep around 12:30 and it started. Then stopped. Every time I would almost be asleep, the baby would start crying again. At first, I felt really bad for the parents. I know how it feels to be in a hotel with a crying baby. I hate feeling like we are disturbing others! But after it kept going all night, I was totally irritated. We finally got up at 8:00 am and we all were tired!

Our original plans were to go to Newport Beach today to let Dylan play in the sand for a while & just explore a new area. I never took the time to do any research, so I had no idea how to even get there. We talked about it for a while & we decided that we would do it another time, since we didn’t know where we were going (or what we were going to do once we got there). I think the idea sounded nice, but I didn’t commit any time to it, so I guess I really didn’t want to go that bad.

We walked across the street and had breakfast at Mimi’s. This restaurant has the best breakfasts! I wish that we had this restaurant up where we live. Not sure if it is just a southern California thing, but we usually eat there when we go to visit Todd’s parents. This morning I ordered crepes with eggs, broccoli & bacon. It was pretty good. It had an interesting sauce on it that I didn’t love. The meal came with a choice of muffin, which was too big to eat so I took it and ate it as a snack later in the trip. Todd had pancakes & said they were good too. Dylan just ate off of both of our plates. It was nice to have a slow breakfast & not feel rushed since we had nowhere to be.

We decided to just go to the parks & not have a plan….go wherever we drifted to. Sounds like a wonderful, relaxing day, right? We left the restaurant at 10 am and it is just a short walk to the parks. It was much more crowded today at DL than it had been yesterday at DCA. We checked the “times boards” at the end of Main Street & it said that Small World was only a 5 minute wait & Roger Rabbit was only 10 minutes. We decided to do Roger Rabbit first and then work our way forward into the park.

We walked to Toontown & got to Roger Rabbit. There was no line outside, but it started just inside the door. This was no 10 minute line… it ended up being 45 minutes. I was ticked by the end of it because we probably wouldn’t have waited so long had we known the actual time. We just decided to wait because there is no easy way to tell how long the line is (if you have ever ridden this ride, you know what I’m talking about. Most of the line is not easily seen). I wondered out loud if Disney sometimes lies about the times on that board, just to drive traffic to different areas of the park. When we walked by IASW, the line was definitely not 5 minutes either.

We took pictures while standing in line, since there was nothing else to do & the theming is actually pretty cool. Here are a few :

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Almost there!!

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This was Dylan’s first time ever riding this ride, so I had him ride with Todd so I could take pictures & video.

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The ride spins around, & you have the ability to make your car spin more if you want it to. Todd does not do well on “spin” type rides, so he tries to keep the car as still as possible. This picture caught him in a spin that he could not control. It makes me laugh because his eyes look a little crazy. LOL

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Dylan does not look too sure about the spinning part….

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Overall, Dylan had fun & he sounded very happy when we got off the ride. It is a very fun ride, but I would never normally wait 45 minutes for it (unless I had never ridden it before).

We stayed to play in Toontown for a while. The theming here is amazing. It is SO much better than the Toontown in WDW. They really got it right here. I love letting Dylan just run around & play in all of the buildings.

Outside of Roger Rabbit, decorated in Christmas stuff.

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Watching the fireworks going off at the Firework Factory.

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I LOVED this Christmas tree.

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Dylan waited so patiently for his turn in this car. All of these other kids were playing and would not get out. He was such a good boy.

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He finally got his turn & a little girl climbed in with him. At first he looked a little rattled, but then he started playing with her, showing her how the steering wheel turned, etc. He was talking to her & she just jumped out of the car & ran away all of a sudden. Todd said, “That’s how my first date went too, buddy.” LOL. Dylan finally got a minute alone in the car & this was the only picture I got of him. Oh well.

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We headed over to Mickey’s house to see how long the line was to meet him. Mickey’s house is so cool because all of the little rooms have a lot for the kids to play with or climb on.

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The house seemed empty, but the line for Mickey was huge. We decided to skip it since we hadn’t told Dylan that Mickey was there. We went outside & it was getting warm so we decided to move on to IASW. As we were leaving Toontown, Dylan took off running & climbed up on a bench. He was super excited about something & I couldn’t figure out what it was. I finally saw that Goofy & Donald were greeting kids, but they were in this little area that I had not even noticed. It was funny that Dylan spotted them, even though he is a few feet shorter than either Todd or I.

I love this picture.

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We got over by IASW & we took a little break to give Dylan a snack. The line for IASW was huge because they had done the Christmas overlay to the ride. I really wanted to ride it but I didn’t want to wait in that line. It was starting to feel really crowded, so we had another change of plans.

Where did we go next??

[LilAnn]

oh my gosh - I just loved that update! You make me want to visit DL and DCA!

Sorry about the crying baby next door. I am always so worried that Lily is going to be "that baby" when we travel since she has a tendency to get night terrors if she is over tired or hasn't had enough sleep. Of course, we had one night at WDW where she was crying on and off at night for about 30 minutes. I felt so anxious that we were disturbing our neighbors. But what can you do? :confused3

I love all the pics of Dylan! I know I've said it before, but he is getting so big! Like a little boy, not a toddler anymore. :sad2: I love that look on Dylan's face in the Roger Rabbit ride - Lily had that same face on almost every ride we took her on. :laughing:

Isn't it crazy how little kids have such great eyesight? Lily would spot things so much earlier than us too! It was crazy!

[tinkgurl]

Aw, sorry to hear about the not so restful night!

Ugh, I hate it when the wait time is longer than it says. I know they can't always be exactly right. But c'mon...if it says 10 minutes and you ended up waiting 45 minutes...they need to change it to longer! :headache: Something like that happened to us last June, only the opposite of your situation. The wait time said longer than we actually waited. It was towards park closing, so we were guessing that they were trying to steer people away from getting on.

I love that pic of Dylan in the window. He looks like he was having a good time playing around.

Aw..what a good boy for waiting his turn!! That is such a cute pic of him waiting too.

I'd love to guess where you went next, but I don't know anything about Disneyland, haha!

[*dreamit*doit*]

Dylan is such a good boy waiting for his turn in the car. :)

Toontown looks so different! The picture you posted reminds me a little of the Muppets area in DHS.

Hmmm, where did you go next? Somewhere for lunch maybe?? :confused3

[sharonW]

ooooh, just lovin it....HURRY BACK!!!:santa:

[Sunset Cliffs]

oh my gosh - I just loved that update! You make me want to visit DL and DCA!

Sorry about the crying baby next door. I am always so worried that Lily is going to be "that baby" when we travel since she has a tendency to get night terrors if she is over tired or hasn't had enough sleep. Of course, we had one night at WDW where she was crying on and off at night for about 30 minutes. I felt so anxious that we were disturbing our neighbors. But what can you do? :confused3

I love all the pics of Dylan! I know I've said it before, but he is getting so big! Like a little boy, not a toddler anymore. :sad2: I love that look on Dylan's face in the Roger Rabbit ride - Lily had that same face on almost every ride we took her on. :laughing:

Isn't it crazy how little kids have such great eyesight? Lily would spot things so much earlier than us too! It was crazy!

I felt bad for the people with the baby at first. I had Dylan cry in a hotel before too & it is not fun. I know that they were probably trying to console the baby, but after 5-6 hours, it's time to take them for a drive in the car or something!!

I will have to post some current pictures of Dylan. This trip was about 6 months ago, so he is definitely bigger now. It's so hard to watch him grow up some days, and it's so joyful on other days. Wow, it is hard to be a mom!

Aw, sorry to hear about the not so restful night!

Ugh, I hate it when the wait time is longer than it says. I know they can't always be exactly right. But c'mon...if it says 10 minutes and you ended up waiting 45 minutes...they need to change it to longer! :headache: Something like that happened to us last June, only the opposite of your situation. The wait time said longer than we actually waited. It was towards park closing, so we were guessing that they were trying to steer people away from getting on.

I love that pic of Dylan in the window. He looks like he was having a good time playing around.

Aw..what a good boy for waiting his turn!! That is such a cute pic of him waiting too.

I'd love to guess where you went next, but I don't know anything about Disneyland, haha!

I definitely think that they post long wait times at the end of the night. They want everyone to go home! :laughing: Doesn't it make you wonder if they do that intentionally during the day? If the area by BTMRR is really congested, they could post that Space Mountain had a 20 minute wait, & I bet a ton of people would head in that direction.

I like the picture of him waiting for the car too. I actually have video of the same moment and it is very sweet. He is just twisting back & forth, watching the other kids playing. He didn't say a word. Good boy! :love:

Dylan is such a good boy waiting for his turn in the car. :)

Toontown looks so different! The picture you posted reminds me a little of the Muppets area in DHS.

Hmmm, where did you go next? Somewhere for lunch maybe?? :confused3

We are always working on sharing & taking turns, so it was so nice to see it paying off. I had no idea how hard it is for little kids to share.

Toontown is so cool because it is all real buildings, no false fronts. It feels like a little town. There are lots of areas for the kids to play. It's a little scary though, because a couple of the buildings connect (& we didn't know it) and Dylan was gone for a long time. He had walked out a different door and came up behind us. :scared1: I thought there was only 1 entrance and exit. Now I am much wiser.

ooooh, just lovin it....HURRY BACK!!!:santa:

Thank you! :goodvibes

[Dugette]

Neat update. I don't remember the Roger Rabbit ride from when we were there in 2006...is it new? I do remember how cool Toontown was there, though. They did do a good job. Can't wait to hear your next change in plans!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Neat update. I don't remember the Roger Rabbit ride from when we were there in 2006...is it new? I do remember how cool Toontown was there, though. They did do a good job. Can't wait to hear your next change in plans!

I think that Roger Rabbit has always been there. It is the first building when you walk into Toontown. It is straight in front of you. All the little buildings where Dylan was playing are to the left of that ride (if you were facing the building). It is fun to watch Dylan play in Toontown. He sees things that I don't!

[BippityBoo]

HI!!!! I am so happy that I found your TR :goodvibes I use to read your old TR when you went to WDW! Dylan looks so grown up...adorable! DL looks amazing. I really want to go there one day. Toontown looks really cool. Can't wait to read more popcorn::

[tinkgurl]

Hey! There is a new update on both my TR AND PTR!

[Sunset Cliffs]

HI!!!! I am so happy that I found your TR :goodvibes I use to read your old TR when you went to WDW! Dylan looks so grown up...adorable! DL looks amazing. I really want to go there one day. Toontown looks really cool. Can't wait to read more popcorn::

Hi there! Thanks for tracking me down. :goodvibes I can't believe that our trip to WDW was almost a year ago! He has definitely grown a lot since then. He is a total toddler right now, and it is SO much fun. It would be nice if he could have stayed small just a little while longer though. ;)

Hey! There is a new update on both my TR AND PTR!

I just posted on your TR, but I will have to go look up your PTR. Thanks for the heads up!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Apparently, on this trip after the last update, I decided to stop writing down notes. I’m not sure why I stopped but from here on out, I am going to have to go by memory, pictures & video. Sorry if there are some holes to the story. I’m more than a little ticked off at myself for bailing out on my notes. :headache:

When I last left you, we had finished with Toontown and we were taking a break to decide what to do. The park was getting more crowded by the second, and we just weren’t feeling like standing in line for IASW. We decided to take a break from the parks & head to DTD. The monorail entrance was not too far away in Tomorrowland, so we walked to the platform & waited for a monorail to show up. While up on the platform, I had to appreciate the view that we had. The Matterhorn is so striking, and the Nemo submarines are right below. You can see the monorail pulling into the station. This is another thing about DL that I like more than WDW. The monorail drops you off inside the park rather than at the front gate.

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Here is a picture of the inside of the monorail. Look at the way the seating is now. There is a bench on either end of the car with a long bench riding down the middle. Interesting (yet not very functional if you are on the side opposite the doors, & people don’t want to get out of your way!).

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Dylan saying, “Choo, choo” since he kept calling the monorail a “train”.

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After the short ride to DTD, we wandered for a while before I found a couple of shops to browse in. The first being Sephora, which I LOVE! Todd is always so patient while I look at makeup. He tries to give his opinion, but ends up sitting on a bench outside and people watching. LOL

I found a new store (to me) called Something Silver, and it is all types of silver jewelry. I love necklaces & earrings, so I took a quick look in there. I also hit the Disney Vault place next door. It is fun, but not my style so I didn’t spend long in there.

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Another of my favorites. Basin, sigh….. :cloud9:

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A beautiful day in DTD!

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While I was shopping, Todd was trying to keep Dylan busy outside. They found a fountain that had been drained and it had some change in the bottom. Todd gave Dylan some coins to throw in. That lasted about 2 seconds before he wanted more coins. Todd just reached in & gave him back the coins he had just thrown in & showed Dylan how to slide them down the side of the fountain. Dylan thought this was a great game & kept doing it over & over again.

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Eventually Todd realized that people were looking at him funny & he wondered if they thought he was taking the money out of the fountain. He told Dylan it was time to stop, which Dylan was not happy about. Todd said he could do it one more time and then they were all done. Dylan agreed & did it one more time, then proceeded to start bawling because he wanted to keep doing it. Todd tried to get him to walk away but it wasn’t happening, he just kept crying. So he did what any other dad would do…. He took a picture of Dylan crying & throwing a fit.

Wait for it…..






……..





……..




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Oh yeah. That is the money shot, right there. LOL I was in the store and missed this whole thing, so I got to hear about it later & see the pictures. I could not stop laughing at this picture. Is it terrible that I think it is so funny? I guess it took him about a minute to stop crying and then he found a bench to climb on. Such is the life of a 2 year old. You can bet that the picture will be filed away for a blackmail situation later on in his life!

We got a snack from Wetzel’s Pretzels & sat on a bench to eat it. There is something about their pretzels that are so good! As we were sitting there, a few birds were inching towards us, so I threw them some crumbs. Out of nowhere, a bunch more birds swooped down right in front of us. Of course, Dylan was thrilled. We spent the next 20 minutes or so feeding the birds. It is one of my favorite memories from this trip. He was so excited because it was a new experience for him and the birds were right near his feet the whole time. Todd got one of them to eat out of his hand! We have a lot of video of this, but no pictures I guess.

We decided to go back to the hotel for a break and we walked towards the hotel. This meant that we had to go through bag check again, just to walk across the big patio between the parks & get out the other side to where our hotel was. As we were crossing, a lot of people started leaving DL. I think a parade had just ended. So….we headed back into the park to see if the lines were any shorter.

We didn’t want to fight the traffic up Main Street so we got in line to take the train. The Christmas decorations are so pretty during the day, but I really prefer them at night more.

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We rode the train around to New Orlean’s Square, got off and walked over to Critter Country. We got in a very short line for Winnie the Pooh and were on the ride in no time! I videotaped a lot of this ride so that we can show it to Dylan again before our next trip. He loves watching video of the rides!

After the ride, we went into the store that is at the exit to shop for a little bit. It is a much bigger store than I thought & I realized that it has Goofy’s Candy Company attached to it! It is a smaller version of the one in WDW, but it still has a lot of yummy treats. We were checking out all of the candy when Dylan wandered up with a Mickey Mouse plush doll. He was hugging it & would not let it go. We almost bought it for him but at the last minute he set it down & moved onto something else. Thank goodness because I really didn’t want to buy it!

We realized that it was way past Dylan’s nap time, so we headed out of the park & back to the hotel. Dylan was barely awake during the walk home & as soon as we changed him into his pajamas, he fell asleep on the bed. We moved him in between us on the bed & we watched TV while he slept.

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Back to the parks for the evening….coming up next!

[LilAnn]

I totally appreciate the picture of Dylan screaming! I don't think it's awful that you were laughing when you saw it. We've done the same thing, in fact, I think I may have a pic of Lily crying that I was planning on posting later on in the TR, too! They still look so cute throwing their tantrums (in hindsight).

I have to tell you that I was reading this update with Lily next to me and do you know what she did when she saw the pic of Dylan sleeping? she started singing the ABCs because she wanted to sing him a song before he went to sleep. It was too cute. :lovestruc

That is certainly interesting seating on the monorail, but it must be nice to watch the scenary as you go by.

[tinkgurl]

Oh cool! The monorails look neat over there. And they drop you off in the park? How much easier!

:rotfl2: Don't feel bad about thinking that pic is hilarious...because I do too. :rotfl2: This will be a great pic for his graduation! :thumbsup2

[Sunset Cliffs]

I totally appreciate the picture of Dylan screaming! I don't think it's awful that you were laughing when you saw it. We've done the same thing, in fact, I think I may have a pic of Lily crying that I was planning on posting later on in the TR, too! They still look so cute throwing their tantrums (in hindsight).

I have to tell you that I was reading this update with Lily next to me and do you know what she did when she saw the pic of Dylan sleeping? she started singing the ABCs because she wanted to sing him a song before he went to sleep. It was too cute. :lovestruc

That is certainly interesting seating on the monorail, but it must be nice to watch the scenary as you go by.

You know, it is easier to accept that your kid is not going to be perfect, than to stress about it. Dylan is a GREAT kid, but he has his moments that make me think, "oh, he really is a toddler now!". Thank goodness that he is not like that every day. And like I said, it took him about a minute and then he was on to being happy again.

That story about Lily singing to him is so sweet! We have got to figure out a way to get the two of them to meet some day. They would be pals for sure.

I think the point of the seating in the monorail is for just that...the scenery. You drive right over the top of DCA (through the Golden Gate bridge), through the Grand Californian hotel and through DTD.

Oh cool! The monorails look neat over there. And they drop you off in the park? How much easier!

:rotfl2: Don't feel bad about thinking that pic is hilarious...because I do too. :rotfl2: This will be a great pic for his graduation! :thumbsup2

There are only 2 stops on the monorail, one in DTD and one in Tomorrowland. Originally it stopped at the Disneyland Hotel, but when they remodeled a while ago, they changed it to DTD. So even if you are staying at the hotel, you have a short walk to get to the monorail. I love that it drops you off in the park. They check your tickets & do bag check at the monorail entrance. Then you just walk right off once you get into the park.

I agree about the graduation picture. Our school does "Baby Ads" in the back of the yearbook each year. He better be a good kid as he grows up or this one is going in his Baby ad!

[casiland]

We have a picture of my nieces at 3 and 5 sitting on one of the benches on main street crying their eyes out. It was late and they had a bit of a melt down. They are now 21 and 18 and think it is hilarious.

[tinkgurl]

There are only 2 stops on the monorail, one in DTD and one in Tomorrowland. Originally it stopped at the Disneyland Hotel, but when they remodeled a while ago, they changed it to DTD. So even if you are staying at the hotel, you have a short walk to get to the monorail. I love that it drops you off in the park. They check your tickets & do bag check at the monorail entrance. Then you just walk right off once you get into the park.

I agree about the graduation picture. Our school does "Baby Ads" in the back of the yearbook each year. He better be a good kid as he grows up or this one is going in his Baby ad!

I was just going to ask you how they did the tickets/bag check! Thanks for answering. :laughing: Oh man, I would think they would've kept the stop at the Disneyland Hotel?

Haha, that HAS to be his Baby Ad!

[Sunset Cliffs]

We have a picture of my nieces at 3 and 5 sitting on one of the benches on main street crying their eyes out. It was late and they had a bit of a melt down. They are now 21 and 18 and think it is hilarious.

That is great. Especially that they are older and can look back on it and laugh. How funny that it was on Main Street.

I was just going to ask you how they did the tickets/bag check! Thanks for answering. :laughing: Oh man, I would think they would've kept the stop at the Disneyland Hotel?

Haha, that HAS to be his Baby Ad!

It's really nice when you are in DTD and decide to take the monorail in. The line is usually pretty short and when you get off in the park, you are already deep into Tomorrowland so you don't have to walk all that distance from the main gate.

Yeah, I have all of these cute pictures of him as a baby, but I'm considering that picture for his baby ad. I'm so mean. :laughing:

[*dreamit*doit*]

Not only is that pic of Dylan hilarious, but also sooo cute!! Looking like a little man and bawling like a baby! :rotfl: I'm sure you will put that to good use in the future. :laughing:

I just realized that you leave in a few days to Disneyland and we leave to WDW on Sunday - we will each be in our respective home-state Disneys at the same time! :laughing: Too bad we won't be at the same Disney at the same time, we could have met. :upsidedow

[tinksdreamwishes]

I enjoyed reading your trip report! Your little boy is so adorable! Love the pics!

[Dugette]

Oh, wow! You're heading back to DL in a few days! :cool1: Hope you have a great time!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Hi readers (if there are any of you left)! Sorry I haven't updated in a while but we were on another trip to Disneyland & San Diego. My nephew graduated in SD, so we had an excuse to stop by Disneyland for a couple of days on the way down. I am hoping to have an update in the next couple of days. Thank you for sticking with me & I hope you all are doing well!.

Alison :goodvibes


Not only is that pic of Dylan hilarious, but also sooo cute!! Looking like a little man and bawling like a baby! :rotfl: I'm sure you will put that to good use in the future. :laughing:

I just realized that you leave in a few days to Disneyland and we leave to WDW on Sunday - we will each be in our respective home-state Disneys at the same time! :laughing: Too bad we won't be at the same Disney at the same time, we could have met. :upsidedow

You are right about Dylan looking grown up & like a baby at the same time. I always wonder what age it is when kids stop crying about disappointment. I think it will still be a while.

We just got back from DL & had a great time. I hope that you had another wonderful trip! Will you be doing a new TR? Maybe you already started? This is my first time back on the Dis in 2 weeks. :scared1:

I enjoyed reading your trip report! Your little boy is so adorable! Love the pics!

Aww thanks so much & thank you for reading.

Oh, wow! You're heading back to DL in a few days! :cool1: Hope you have a great time!

Yes, we had a great time. The trip kind of snuck up on us. The nice thing about DL is that it is smaller than WDW so it requires less planning on my part.

[Dugette]

I'm still here! :wave2: Glad you had a good trip! Can't wait to hear more!

[tinkgurl]

Well that IS a good excuse to stop by Disneyland! :thumbsup2

[LilAnn]

You know and Lily and I are still here! :goodvibes

[sharonW]

oh goodie.....I'm here!!:)

[SnowWhite09]

Hi Alison - I can't wait to hear more about your trip! :goodvibes

[Dugette]

Hi, Alison. Just saw this article on the home page of the Dis and thought of your trip from last summer to WDW! Sounds like the June trip is something of a tradition for him:

http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/07/01/retired-nfl-qb-kurt-warner-hosts-wish-families-at-disney-world/

[eecteacher82]

I'm still here! I love reading TRs from people who have kids about my DDs age (she will be 3 in November)! It helps pass the time until our December trip! Can't wait for the next update!

[Sunset Cliffs]

I'm still here! :wave2: Glad you had a good trip! Can't wait to hear more!

Well that IS a good excuse to stop by Disneyland! :thumbsup2

You know and Lily and I are still here! :goodvibes

oh goodie.....I'm here!!:)

Hi Alison - I can't wait to hear more about your trip! :goodvibes

Thank you everyone. It was a wonderful trip. I might just add the pictures on to the end of this TR (if I ever manage to finish this TR!).

[Sunset Cliffs]

Hi, Alison. Just saw this article on the home page of the Dis and thought of your trip from last summer to WDW! Sounds like the June trip is something of a tradition for him:

http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/07/01/retired-nfl-qb-kurt-warner-hosts-wish-families-at-disney-world/

Thank you SO much for showing this to me. I have to say it again, Kurt Warner is such a classy guy. Not many people who are pro athletes will give of themselves the way that he does. Now that I think about it, he had a very large group with him. He was probably doing one of these trips. So cool. Thanks again!


I'm still here! I love reading TRs from people who have kids about my DDs age (she will be 3 in November)! It helps pass the time until our December trip! Can't wait for the next update!

When are you going in December. I'm pretty sure that we are going during the week after Thanksgiving, which goes over the first couple of days in December. I love reading TR's with toddlers too. It is funny how similar some of the things are that they all do. Thanks for sticking around!!

[BippityBoo]

Can't wait to hear all about DL!! They have had some exciting changes there recently :goodvibes

[Sunset Cliffs]

Can't wait to hear all about DL!! They have had some exciting changes there recently :goodvibes

Yes, they have done a lot of changes. It was fun to take it all in. There is so much more coming too! I can't wait for the Cars Land, but that isn't until 2012. :headache:

[Sunset Cliffs]

We headed back to Disneyland around 6:30. We were greeted by the Christmas parade. We kept forgetting that we needed to avoid walking in at this time of the day, due to this parade blocking the whole area. People were piled on top of each other. Some were watching the parade & some were just trying to get in or out of the park. Since we were stuck, I took a couple of pictures at the end of the parade. You can see how many people are standing around there.

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Santa!!

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I took this picture to show the lights on the top of the building, but you can see the mass chaos on the street, now that the parade was over.

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We decided to jump on the train at the Main Street station, & get out of the way of all of the people trying to leave the park. Surprisingly, we didn’t have to wait long for a train even though there were a lot of people trying to get on the train. We got off at the first stop, New Orleans Square. We love this area at night & even if we didn’t ride any of the rides, we would be content just strolling around the area & going through all of the cute shops. Of course, the first thing we checked on was the wait for PotC, and there was barely any line at all. So we rode it again, since you can never ride PotC too many times!

Then we wandered around towards the HM, but that line was rather long so we kept going…and ended up at the Pooh ride again. NOT surprisingly, there was no line. It's very different here that this ride usually has a very short wait. At WDW it is located in Fantasyland, but here it is in "Critter Country" which is near Splash Mountain. Since it is one of Dylan’s favorite rides, we went on it again.

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After we got off the ride, we went into the candy store next door again. I was in search of something that I had seen earlier. There were some rice krispy treats (I know, I know… I love those things) but they were in different holiday shapes, AND they were on a stick. They were selling them as a bunch of 4 so we all got our own & sat down to eat them on a bench near Splash Mountain. We watched people going down the big drop & enjoyed our treats.

Can you tell from the look on his face that he didn’t want to share?

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Dylan’s was decorated like a little present & mine was a Mickey head w/ red frosting.

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Once we were done with our snack we wandered around towards BTMRR. The line was really long so we kept going towards Fantasyland. I was surprised to see that it wasn’t very crowded back there. We saw a good photo opportunity & put Dylan in this car outside Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. We haven’t taken him on this ride yet, because it is pretty dark inside & the end of the ride is rather scary. But I love this picture!!

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Next, we were ready to try a new ride for Dylan, but one that he had been talking about a lot. DUMBO!! The funny thing is that he has never seen this movie, so I don’t know why he was talking about it so much. We got in line & he looked excited. A little nervous too. He kept saying “high” and “sky” so I know that he was scared about going up too high. Todd said he would just start going low & work his way up higher once Dylan was comfortable.

Waiting for his turn.

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Finally it was our turn & we got strapped in. I got into the one in front of them so that I could take pictures.

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I thought I had more pictures, but I think that I took a lot of video. Dylan was a little nervous but did not freak out. Near the end of the ride, all of the cars go up high…there is no way to stop them. So at the end, their car rode around up high and then we all came down together. Once we got off, Dylan was so excited. It was like he realized it was over & THEN decided to get happy about it. LOL.

The main thing that I wanted to do this evening was ride on IASW, since it had been decorated with the Christmas overlay. There was quite a long line but I didn’t mind waiting. In the past, we had missed out on riding it because we didn’t want to wait in the line. This time, we waited about 30 minutes. The front of the exterior is so beautiful!!

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Every 20 minutes or so, there was a light show that played holiday music with coordinating colors that were projected against the exterior of the building. There is no way for me to describe it, other than to say that it is truly amazing how they are able to coordinate the video, the music & the exterior of the building all into one show. Here are a couple of photos that don’t do it justice at all.

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Once we were on the boat, we had a lot of fun. I took a lot of video so that we could burn it out to DVD later & Dylan could watch it at home. When I watch the video back, I just marvel at how festive this ride is. You can not fight the Christmas spirit when you are on this ride! Love it!

After this ride, we called it a night. We had some company coming for a visit the next day & we wanted to be sure we had a lot of sleep on this night. Another great day!

[sharonW]

DL looks so pretty at christmas! Oh, how I'd love
to visit Ca someday!! Dylan seems to really enjoy
the disney spirit, sooo cute!:santa:

[Dugette]

This TR is really making me want to go to DL! Especially close to the holidays! I bet the Small World Christmas overlay was cool! And I'd love to ride the DL version of Pirates again...you're right, you can never have too many rides on that!

Looks like Dylan inherited the Rice Krispy treat-loving gene from you! And cool that he got in his first ride on Dumbo!

[eandesmom]

Love the picture in Mr. Toad's car! How exciting, I think the first Dumbo ride is a milestone in its own way. :goodvibes

It's a small world looks AMAZING! How magical.

Great update!

And rice crispy treats.

[eecteacher82]

Another great update! I love the look on Dylan's face with the rice crispy treat! Olivia would have the same "are you kidding me, I'm not sharing this" look! I SO wish they would do the holiday overlay to Small World here!!! I see those awesome pictures and I am jealous of it! I'm glad Dylan loved Dumbo! It's one of our favorites as well, and we ride it at least twice on every trip! Can't wait for another update!

[tinkgurl]

Wow! IASW looks so neat there!

I love that pic of Dylan with his treat. He definitely was not able to share that! :laughing:

Aw...I loved reading about his experience on Dumbo.

[Sunset Cliffs]

DL looks so pretty at christmas! Oh, how I'd love
to visit Ca someday!! Dylan seems to really enjoy
the disney spirit, sooo cute!:santa:

It's weird to be writing about Christmas in July, since it is so hot outside. But it has such a wonderful feeling during the holidays when we were there.

This TR is really making me want to go to DL! Especially close to the holidays! I bet the Small World Christmas overlay was cool! And I'd love to ride the DL version of Pirates again...you're right, you can never have too many rides on that!

Looks like Dylan inherited the Rice Krispy treat-loving gene from you! And cool that he got in his first ride on Dumbo!

I know that WDW has great holiday decorations, but I love that DL changes the HM & IASW to be so festive. Very unique to that park.

Yes, the Dumbo ride was a lot of fun. I was worried that it might be too scary once he got on it, but he was a trooper!

Love the picture in Mr. Toad's car! How exciting, I think the first Dumbo ride is a milestone in its own way. :goodvibes

It's a small world looks AMAZING! How magical.

Great update!

And rice crispy treats.

I am a sucker for rice cripsy treats (obviously), but those ones were too cute to pass up. Too bad they didn't last too long.

The Dumbo ride was definitely a milestone. My little boy is growing up. :sad2: When he finally rides Mr. Toad's, it will be another milestone.

I'm not sure how often you try to make it to the DL resort, but I hope that you will get to see IASW during the holidays. I will try to figure out how to post a video clip so that you can see the inside, because it is too hard to describe in words. VERY magical. :love:

[Sunset Cliffs]

Another great update! I love the look on Dylan's face with the rice crispy treat! Olivia would have the same "are you kidding me, I'm not sharing this" look! I SO wish they would do the holiday overlay to Small World here!!! I see those awesome pictures and I am jealous of it! I'm glad Dylan loved Dumbo! It's one of our favorites as well, and we ride it at least twice on every trip! Can't wait for another update!

Ha,ha. Dylan's face was so funny. I think he was annoyed with me that I made him stop eating it long enough to take a picture. It's not like I was asking him to give it back!!

I love that they actually change a couple of the rides at DL for the holidays. It makes you want to ride them over & over since they aren't there all year long.

Wow! IASW looks so neat there!

I love that pic of Dylan with his treat. He definitely was not able to share that! :laughing:

Aw...I loved reading about his experience on Dumbo.

I want to figure out how to post video so that I can show all of you the light show on the front of the building, as well as a lot of the changes inside.

Dumbo was a great moment for us. I bet you can't wait to take your little guy on it!

[LilAnn]

Aw, I loved that update! Your updates totally have me wanting to visit DL. Maybe one day while Lily is still somewhat young.

Loved the appearance of the rice crispie treats. :thumbsup2 I think Lily was in love with the mickey head on the stick that you had except it was chocolate dipped with sprinkles. There was definitely no sharing going on with her either! :rotfl:

IASW looks so beautiful and festive! I already love that ride in general and that must make it so much more magical!

Love the Dumbo story and pictures. One day I'll get Lily to ride it.

[tinkgurl]

Just had to stop by and say bye! Thanks so much for sharing your trips with Dylan. I'll be thinking about you two!

[Sunset Cliffs]

Aw, I loved that update! Your updates totally have me wanting to visit DL. Maybe one day while Lily is still somewhat young.

Loved the appearance of the rice crispie treats. :thumbsup2 I think Lily was in love with the mickey head on the stick that you had except it was chocolate dipped with sprinkles. There was definitely no sharing going on with her either! :rotfl:

IASW looks so beautiful and festive! I already love that ride in general and that must make it so much more magical!

Love the Dumbo story and pictures. One day I'll get Lily to ride it.

I hope that you do get to visit DL. It's so much smaller than WDW but it has a lot of charm to it.

I was totally thinking of you as I was writing this update, because I knew that you would laugh at me the minute that I mentioned rice crispie treats. :laughing: The funny thing is that it is a vacation thing for me. I never make them at home. Isn't that so weird?

IASW is a must-do for me during the holidays. There is so much new stuff to look at that you can't see it all in one ride.

Just had to stop by and say bye! Thanks so much for sharing your trips with Dylan. I'll be thinking about you two!

Awww, thanks for stopping by. I'm so happy for you & the trip that you are taking your little guy on. I will be thinking about you also & praying for a safe & fabulous trip!! :goodvibes

[*dreamit*doit*]

Hi readers (if there are any of you left)! Sorry I haven't updated in a while but we were on another trip to Disneyland & San Diego. My nephew graduated in SD, so we had an excuse to stop by Disneyland for a couple of days on the way down. I am hoping to have an update in the next couple of days. Thank you for sticking with me & I hope you all are doing well!.

Alison :goodvibes




You are right about Dylan looking grown up & like a baby at the same time. I always wonder what age it is when kids stop crying about disappointment. I think it will still be a while.

We just got back from DL & had a great time. I hope that you had another wonderful trip! Will you be doing a new TR? Maybe you already started? This is my first time back on the Dis in 2 weeks. :scared1:




Hi Alison! I'm glad that you had a nice trip! Now, am I seeing things or does your ticker say you are coming to WDW??? Woohoo!!!!!!! :woohoo: So excited for you! :goodvibes Will it just be the three of you?

We had a great trip, as well. I don't know if I'll do a TR, especially since I'm still working on the one from December. :rolleyes1 But I want to because I took a LOT of pictures! I haven't had too much time to DIS lately, either. :sad2: We'll see, I need to get moving on the current one.

I'd love to see video of IASW, it does look so pretty! Dylan looks so cute on Dumbo and Mr. Toad's car...I miss that ride. :rolleyes: Before you know it, he'll be on the actual ride and loving it! :)