Awesome surprise trip w/tons o' Pics!! Completed 5/18/07

[CrAzY4DL]

I am a big ol Disneyland fan. We have gone every year since my oldest daughter turned 3 (2002) and my parents used to take me all the time when I was a young’un

. In fact, my parents honeymooned at Disneyland.
November of 2005 we bought our first APs on my suggestion of, it’s cheaper to get APs for the 3 of us instead of 2 or 3 day tickets this year AND 2 or 3 day tickets next year. Little did I know that that little piece of plastic would somehow consume my brain for an entire 9 months!! Like, CRAZY consume!! After our annual trip in November

, I went twice in December-once with my sister-in-law and our two 2 year old daughters

and once with my friend Nancy for a “grown-up” trip

. I went once in January with my mother-in-law and my 2 daughters

, my family of 4 went once in February with Nancy’s family of 6

, once in March for my hubby’s birthday

, once in May for my soon-to-be 3 year olds bday with my grandparents

and then once in July all on my own

.
Hubby and I had a LOT of disagreements about all of these Disney trips. Seems OTHER people in the family (him and older daughter) would like to go somewhere other than DL all the time. <snort> They’re so crazy!! LOL So, after July, I didn’t mention it anymore. I was a little sad when our APs expired in November but I got over it.
Then, something crazy happens!! The first week of March hubby says to me “I’m really surprised you haven’t said anything about going what with the everyone plays for the kids price deal going on right now” and my whole body went WH-WH-WHAT?!?!?! LOL So, I told him the only thing I regretted about our year of Disney was NOT taking our youngest DD to DL just me and her. She is the only other one who GETS the DL thing like me. She hasn’t been since May of 2006 but still wakes up from her “good” dreams about Disneyland all the time.
So, hubby said “then I think you should take her during this special”. Well, friends and neighbors, that was all I needed!!! So, I have started planning our trip. We are leaving early April 17th and coming home late April 20th and staying at the second best Anaheim hotel (DLH is the best to us!), the Lemon Tree Hotel and I have booked us one dinner at Café Orleans. We have never eaten there but I would like a Monte Cristo sammich without paying Blue Bayou prices, LOL. I have been kicking around the idea of a character meal but the only one I really like is the Princess dinner at DCA because they come to you. Every single Princess comes to YOUR table while you are eating. It’s amazing. But seriously, we did this dinner 3 times last year and I just don’t think I could do it again, LOL. Maybe if they ever had a Peter Pan meal or Cars meal then I would go for it cos DD3 is really into those characters. I will update this again before we leave on the trip. Just thought I would get it started so I can’t wimp out on a TR when we get back. Not that I have ever backed down from a TR!! I wrote one for every trip last year. LOL

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Oh! I forgot to say, this trip is a surprise because I haven't told DD3. It's basically her birthday present as she turns 4 May 20th. I looked into us going in May for her actual bday, but with end of the year stuff for DD7's school and the whole "adults pay for kids price" deal and then Senior Nights would have been going on in May, DH talked me into going in April. Didn't have to talk very long or hard tho, LOL!! I am SUPER bummed to be missing out on Splash Mountain tho,
DD is exactly 40" tho so I am REALLY hoping to take her on Soaring. And GRR would have been great but that requirement is 42". Oh well!!! LOL


I'm going home, I mean to DL!!!

 

[momto2nenas]

Wow, how exciting for you! Now how mad would DH be if you came home w/ APs?

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

OMG, APs are NOT going to happen!! LMAO Ummm he would PROBABLY file for divorce!!!

 

[ozbrooke]

You'll be there at the same time as me!

Say hi if you see us!

 

[chanchiluv]

Congrats on getting to go back with your dd!

Make sure you get her a birthday button at Town Hall while your'e there. It's close enough to her real birthday; she should get to celebrate it at DL!

We're going right before you guys: April 8 - 14th, and we're planning on celebrating ds's birthday on that Friday. His birthday is in May too.

Here's wishing you a Magical Trip!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Thanks!! I am sooooo excited!! DD and I took my grandparents last May for her bday and they REALLY wanted to go and had never been so I was like, ok! Well, Jyl and I went on MAYBE 3 rides a day because my grandparents didn't want to do anything. Granny complained about EVERYTHING-there's too many people, everything here is Disney (***?!?!?!), there's nothing to do, etc. And then when we got home, she was like, next time you go I want to go again!! Ummm I think not! LMAO So this time, it's just us. She is JUST at the 40" mark so I am hoping for us to ride Soarin' cos I think she will LOVE that and we have never seen the Aladdin show so that's at the top of my list. She is a HUGE Pirates fan (loves anything Pirates but not the PoTC movies, LOL!) so we will do the ride which she LOVES but then gives her nightmares, go figure! This is definitely a stop and smell the roses trip for us. THREE whole days at DL!! Well, not WHOLE days. We're leaving home about 5am on Tuesday, get to hotel about 10:30-11am, check in, nap if we have to THEN on to the park. WOOHOO!!
Here are 2 of my fave pics from our May trip last year. The first one, look how dead Bugs Land is!! LOL

And this second one, I took her on the Matterhorn and instead of crying or anything, she calmly covered her eyes when it got dark and when we got off, she says "That was quite scary Mommy, yes?" and I said "yes but you were so brave!" and then we went on Haunted Mansion and she did exactly the same thing and I said, you know you were soooo brave you deserve a strawberry!! So, here she is eating her prize for being so brave!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Ok, adding to my Pre-Trip report now that I have made a few ressies and whatnot.

My hotel is paid for!! My tickets have been purchased and should be here before 4/7!!

The plan:
Day One-Tuesday, April 17th:
1. Leave Modesto about 5am. Get to Anaheim about 11am <cross fingers!>
2. Check into hotel, nap if we have to, MAYBE take a swim. Depends on if DD3 has figured out where we are yet! LOL
3. Go to DL, we have ressies at Cafe Orleans for an early-ish dinner at 5:50pm. MMM!!! Monte Cristo!! We have never eaten here but I do NOT feel like paying Blue Bayou prices for a child who does not appreciate the ambiance, LOL.
4. Park closes at 9pm, get in car go back to hotel. SLEEP!
Day Two-Wednesday, April 18th:
1. Park opens at 9am. Leave hotel about 8:15am (not staying on Harbour), park, get into park. Head to City Hall to get Character meet and greet list.
2. Head to Fantasyland and ride Peter Pan and Dumbo as many times as we can (DDs favorite rides in FL)
3. 10:50am ressie at Plaza Inn for breakfast with Minnie and Friends.
4. No plans after breakfast. This is a FUN do-whatever-we-want trip, so I'm not planning anything after this. Whatever we do, we do.
Day Three-Thursday, April 19th:
Last day in the parks
1. EE day, Park opens at 8am.
2. Ride whatever rides we want
3. Parades/shows/whatnot
Day Four-APril 20th:
DTD Day.
11am ressie at Rainforest Cafe, shop, leave for home (nothing sadder!)

Can't wait!!! Bought a new camera, should be here the week before we leave. YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Camera is here, it's awesome!!!! Has a fireworks setting!! LOL Too bad I won't be there for fireworks. Oh well!! We have them and F! on DVD. Can watch then any ol' time. Less than 5 days!!! Yesterday I made my packing list and meal plan and today I am going to go buy some snackies!!
*Snacks to buy:
Blueberry applesauce
FF hot dogs
Target cheddar wedges (they are PERFECT for DL!! DD loves yellow cheese!)
Crystal Light to Go-Peach Tea
a small (6? 12?) case of bottled water
Smuckers Uncrustables
*Planned Meals/Budget:
Tuesday, 4/17:
McD’s at 8am-$10
Snacks at DL-$10
5:40pm Café Orleans (Cap-$30)
Snacks from Main St. Bakery-$10
Total-$30
Wednesday, 4/18:
Snacks/breaky at hotel-$0
10:50am, Minnie and Friends-$33.98 (Cap)
Snacks at DL-$10
Dinner at Pizza Port-$15
Total-$25
Thursday, 4/19: EE Day, 8am
Snacks/Breaky at hotel-$0
Croissants from Georgies for lunch-$10
Dinner at FrenchMarket-$25
Total-$35
Friday, 4/20: DTD
Snacks/Breaky at hotel-$0
Stop by Georgies Donuts on way to DTD-$10
Lunch-Rainforest Café-$30
11am-#864
Dinner-McDs-$10
Total-$50
*To Pack:
For Jyl-
4 warm weather outfits
4 chonies, 2 pairs of socks
3 cold weather outfits
1 lightweight jacket
Bathing suit
3 pairs of shoes (flips, crocs, Vans)
mini Supergirl backpack
For Mom-
4 warm weather outfits (helloooooo gauchos!)
2 cold weather outfits
2 pairs of shoes (Crocs and Reef flips)
2 pairs of socks
bathing suit
chonies/undergarments
mini Jansport backpack
regular backpack for locker

GAAAA!! I'm so excited!!! Laundry on Sunday, pack on Monday, leave Tuesday at 5am!!!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Day One: Tuesday, April 17th, 2007

Part One:
My original plan was to be on the freeway by 5am, but that didn’t work!! I hardly slept the night before so I let myself sleep in until 7am. Pottied, showered, loaded car with our stuff, got lil Jyl out of bed and had her go potty and we were off!! Stopped at gas station down the street from us (I had ½ a tank) and filled up and we were on the freeway by 7:27am. RIGHT ON! We made excellent time, zooming through Fresno 67 minutes after leaving Modesto. I SWEAR I was NOT speeding!! There was almost NO traffic and what traffic there was, I just did the same speed as them! LOL

We stopped in Bakersfield at Olive St., our usual “halfway” mark. Went into the Starbucks and used the restroom. I got me a medium Peppermint mocha with an extra shot of peppermint (I hate coffee, but figured the caffeine couldn’t hurt!) and a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant). We had the BEST service here!! Cutest little guy helped us and convinced me to warm my croissant, which I did. Then we stopped at Burger King for real food. I got me a sausage croissant and then got Jyl a hamellette sandwich, some cheesy tots and an OJ. Got some gas (was at half a tank again, LOL) and we were back on the road. Gave Jyl her food and OJ and she scarfed them down in nothing flat and asked for more food, please Mommy. Said I’m sorry baby but there is nothing left so she settled in watching DuckTales. (My almost 4 year old and her insatiable appetite would be a recurring theme this trip!)

As we were leaving Bakersfield, Jyl FINALLY asked where we were going.

I told her, just for a drive! And she said “Ok” and went back to watching DuckTales. Go figure!! Once we were on the Grapevine, she noticed the barren mountains and said “We’re going to see Nancy!” (our friend who lives 90 minutes from us in Twain Harte) and I said, “noooo baby these are different mountains. Nancy’s mountains are very green with trees, remember?” Again, she said “Ok” and went back to, you guessed it, DuckTales. LOL This DVD was SUCH a great choice from Netflix! Both my kids ended up LOVING it! Plus, it’s over 3 hours long! HA!!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Day One: Tuesday, April 18th, 2007
PART TWO:

We arrived in Anaheim a few minutes before 1pm and as we were driving on Disneyland Dr. (I think it was Disneyland Dr. Was the road that takes you to DTD and Grand Californian and Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel?) Anyways, we passed the DL Hotel which was have stayed at a few times with Jyl in the past and she chooses NOW to look up from her movie and says “Mommy, I think we might be at Disneyland! I see the hotel!” to which I promptly lied and said “No baby, Disneyland is far far away! I sure wish we were at Disneyland tho!” and she said “Yeah, me too. I wish we could go far far away” and went back to her video. Hee hee Sneaky mommy!!! We got to the parking garage and ended up on the Goofy level. Jyl spots all of the pictures of Goofy and says again, “Mommy, I think this is Disneyland!!!” to which I AGAIN lied and said “Naaaah, we are at Target!” and she said “Ok, I want cheese!”. Hee hee Seriously, this kid will never trust me again! HAHAHA!! We park and I open her door and unbuckle her and point my new camera at her and say “You were right Jyl. We ARE at Disneyland!” and then snap a picture. Here is the face she was making:

Then she says, “Not Target???” and the people getting out of their car next to us just laugh and laugh! We get down to the ground and wait for the tram and call my parents to let them know we have arrived.
My dad is particularly tickled with all of the sneakiness that went on and then we board the tram.
The line for bag check isn’t bad and the one to get in the park isn’t terrible either. Must be the whole, 1pm thing, LOL. Once in the park, we realize it is really quite warm and our heads are already getting hot! We head straight to the Mad Hatter where we each purchase a hat. Mine is black with the Cheshire cat on it and it says in hot pink letters “Crazy works for me!” (It’s funny cos it’s true!) and Jyl picks out a white adults hat with Tinkerbell on the front that lights up when you push a button. $44.72 for TWO hats!!! CRAZY!!! LOL
We get a locker ($6.00) and then board the train
[URL=http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p19/potterphreak1978/?action=view&current=100_0288.flv][/URL]
(click IMAGE above for video)
where Jyl promptly tells everyone she is going to Disneyland in a fairly loud song, LOL. We take a trip over to the Toon Town station and head immediately for Space Mountain. I check Jyl’s height and we get Fast Passes. Then we head to Star Tours where Jyl has her first ever flight to Endor!! She did NOT like Star Tours. We were in the front row and she does NOT like feeling like she is going to fall, LOL. Got a teeny bit teary here but quickly got over it. She LOVED the robots and still talks about them! HAHAHA

After failing to reach Endor, we ride Buzz Lightyear

and then make it back for our Fast Passes at Space Mountain. I wish I could have bought the picture of us on this ride, but Jyl was SOOOO short you can only see me and one of her little arms sticking up, LOL. She had a death grip with the other hand though but joined me in saying WOOOHOOO several times. After the ride, she said she liked it but didn’t want to ride it again, maybe tomorrow. Ok, fine with me!
We went to the bathroom and then to the Space Station where I bought her a lollipop for not freaking out on 2 very scary rides. The one she chose came in a 3 pack and was $3.75.

Off to Pizza Port for a lunchy snack! We shared a kids spaghetti with a METEOR meatball which came with grapes and carrots and a small drink.

Jyl ate all the grapes and 2 carrots, 3 bites of spaghetti and then chomped down on her sucker. I actually let her finish it too! Usually I am in such a rush, my kids get half of it down and then we are off! LOL

Off to Fantasyland! We get our PhotoPass pictures in front of the castle (not a fan of this days! LOL) and then go over by Snow Whites wishing well. Jyl has never been over here and it turns out to be really hard to drag her away. She LOVES the fish that pop up out of the water when Snow White sings. LOL Mary Poppins and Bert were there and I couldn’t drag Jyl away from the fish long enough to get a photo with them. Oh well!! This is a FUN relaxed trip, so just let it go Mom!

We head into Fantasyland and check out the Tinkerbell shop, see nothing that catches our eye (except Jyl is into the Capt. Hook costume and a sword. My lil tomboy!) We decide on Snow White first, cos the line is non-existent and Jyl has never been on it before. We walk right on and she loves it. Afterwards, Pinocchio, only a 2 minute wait (or even less!) and the on to the Carousel, which had a wait of maybe 5 minutes.

We catch the train from Toon Town station and take a ride to my personal favorite, New Orleans Square. Pirates of the Caribbean, my #1 favorite ride at DL, was a walk on. Jyl was a teeny bit scared of the ride. Must have been fear of the unknown cos she used to LOVE this ride (if you hadn’t noticed the shirt she was wearing, it’s a PoTC one and it’s her absolute favorite shirt and has been since her last trip, May 2006.) We head to Haunted Mansion where the wait is about 5 minutes. I hold her in my arms in the stretching room where the screaming always freaks her out but this time no problems. After HM, we hit the bathroom over by French Market and then head to Café Orleans for our 5:50 dinner reservation. Can you believe I had to ask for directions?!?! I have never eaten here before, LOL, and couldn’t find it. We sit down and I order the 3 cheese Monte Cristo and water with lemon, and Jyl orders the kids mac and cheese and an apple juice. I snap a gorgeous photo of the Columbia

and of Jyl being the little Pirate that she is


and then our food arrives.


Jyl didn’t really care for the mac and cheese, ate maybe 5 bites of it. She scarfed down her 2 bunches of grapes and 1 strawberry, my 2 strawberries and my 2 bunches of grapes and then drank my water. She didn’t like her apple juice at all, which was my fault. At home, we water the kids’ juice down-half water, half juice and I guess full on juice was too much for her, LOL. She had a bite of my sandwich and thought it was tasty but didn’t want any more. She especially liked dipping her strawberries in my powdered sugar, LOL. I LIKED the cheese Monte Cristo but not as much as the original. Next time, will definitely be going with original, LOL. Grand total was $23.68, I made it an even $30 with tip and we were off.

We walked to Main Street to get Jyl some cotton candy ($3.00) and then cleaned out our locker and headed to the candy shop. We got a Mickey Mouse chocolate covered coconut heads package, 1 dark chocolate covered strawberry and a marshmallow stick covered in caramel and chocolate. Total-$9.16.

We left the park and headed to the Kmart by our hotel and bought some bubblebath for Jyl (this stuff is cool!!! It’s bubblebath, shampoo AND body wash all in one!!!!) and a beach towel for the pool. Went to the hotel and checked in. We got room 205 which was on the 2nd floor and had a balcony! We had a beautiful view of the pool and Jacuzzi at night

We went to the pool. Pool was like ice but the hot tub was exquisitely toasty. So warm though, we only stayed 15 minutes or so. Jyl got super pink cheeks! LOL

After the tub, we went back to the room where Jyl took a bath and I unpacked. Jyl went to bed and I watched TV and then read and then out before 11pm.

 

[disneyfanatic4]

Sounds like you had a great first day. Your photos turned out great and you have such an adorable little girl. Thanks for sharing.

 

[momto2nenas]

Loving your trip report and all the pics! You're getting me excited about our trip in less than 2 months!

 

[Adi12982]

What an AMAZING first day . . . makes me even more excited for my frst trip to DL!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Thanks guys!! I am working on getting day 2 up, it's REALLY long!! LOL Never done a report with pics in it, usually just post a link for the whole trip at the end. I like this better, just a lot of work to shrink them to size, upload them to photobucket and then write the whole report too. LOL Hope to have the next installment up by next Tuesday!

 

[serendipity]

Jumping on board...can't wait to try the NORMAL monte cristo

 

[bubblygrl]

Great TR, can't wait to read the rest!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Jumping on board...can't wait to try the NORMAL monte cristo

LMAO, well yeah I guess me saying NORMAL there does sound funny!! HAHAHAHA!! What I mean is, the 3 cheese Monte had no meat. The original Monte Cristo has cheese AND ham and is delish!! The 3 cheese one is a LOT of cheese for 1 person. And dd liked it but didn't want more than 1 bite. Go figure!!! This kid did nothing but eat during the trip, it seems!! And "dragged" me along with her!! HAHAHAHA

 

[CrAzY4DL]

We woke up this morning a little after 7am. I went downstairs and got some of the free breakfast stuff for Jyl. They offered Fruit Loops, Cheerios, Frosted Flakes and Raisin Bran; milk, Sunny D, Coffee, a big pitcher of ice water with several lemon slices floating in it, and a few tea bags and hot chocolate pouches; Bananas, red apples & green apples; apple horns, berry horns and bear claws; several different brands and flavors of yogurt. Not bad for included in the price! I got Jyl some Raisin Bran, Sunny D, an apple (red) and a Yoplait Strawberry yogurt. I grabbed a bear claw for me. Not as tasty as I remember from being a kid, LOL. Jyl took 1 bite of the apple, ate the whole yogurt and drank the milk from her cereal. TYPICAL!

While Jyl was eating, I took a shower and got our stuff ready for the day. We got to the parking garage (Daisy, 9C) right around 9am and took the tram over to the park. While waiting in the bag check line, Jyl was dancing around and I was chatting with a nice guy and his female friend and I guess he is a dance instructor and my daughter has “an amazing turnout and needs to be taking dance lessons”. LOL Right on! Line to get in the park was equally huge, but hey, it was opening time, what did we expect?! We got a locker ($6.00) and headed straight to Peter Pan. Blech, 30 minute wait for this ride but Jyl loves it so I took it in stride. After soaring over London, we took a ride on Snow White, 5 minute wait at most. Afterwards, I stopped the PhotoPass lady and got a few pictures taken of us on the inside of Fantasyland, something I had never done before (these pictures did NOT turn out, the sun was shining right on us.)

After our misadventures with the PhotoPass (HA!) we went to Snow Whites wishing well (yes, AGAIN!) Got a picture of Jyl looking into the well


and then dragged her away from the fish (YES, again!!!) and we headed to Plaza Inn for our 10:50am reservation with Minnie and Friends. Plaza Inn was a MADHOUSE!!! We have eaten here 3 times before, twice when it was Pooh and once when it was Princess and this was just crazy!! Or maybe it just felt that way since it was just me and Jyl against the world I mean the Land. HAHA!! They had a nice selection of grub. I got the “breakfast” which consisted of biscuit with gravy, bacon, ham, and scrambled eggs and then 1 piece of French toast for me. I got Jyl 2 Mickey waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. As we were in line waiting for waffles, they ran out!! It took about 5-10 minutes for more waffles to come out too!! <sigh> So we stuck it out waiting while the rest of the food got really cold. Our total came to $32.95 after my AAA discount. The characters we saw were Minnie, Chip, Dale, Hook and Pluto. Minnie came first and she took a picture


and scrammed outta there faster than you could say MOUSETRAP. Chip spent an equally short amount of time with us, but Pluto was pretty good. Hook was AWESOMELY sweet but really not in character at all, LOL. When he came around to us, I told Jyl “Jyl, I smell a codfish!” and he just acted all butt hurt about it. Oh well! LOL

Dale never made it to us, but we saw him from across the room. Overall, I think I will stick with Ariels Grotto for character meals. It’s better choreographed, you’re not rushed, if it IS crowded you never know because you don't have to get up and maneuver around other people and the food comes to you. Live and learn!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

Hey guys-have a few spare minutes so posting a teeny TASTE. More like, a tastelet. Like, when you go to Cold Stone or Baskin Robbins and get a teeny tiny itsy bitsy yellow polka dotted spoon to taste the ice cream? Yeah, this is like that!

Jyl and I decided to head over Toon Town where we got FastPasses for Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin (neither of us had ever done this ride before) and while we waited for them to become available, we went to Mickey’s house. The house was not crowded but the line in the barn to meet the Big Cheese was horrendous!!! We waited over 30 minutes to get in there, but at least it was air conditioned! Can’t complain too much!! You know how they could make this better tho? If they would show actual cartoons instead of commercials for cartoons on a continuous loop! LOL Jyl wants to live with Pluto!


After meeting the HMIC (Head Mouse In Charge!) we went to RRCTS and waited in a fairly decent line even with our FastPasses. Not much to say about the ride. Jyl and I LOOOOVE the movie so I guess maybe I expected more from the ride? I really despise Toon Town (it’s just so hot and there’s no shade and soooo crowded and I never can find a place to sit, blah blah whine and moan) so I let Jyl choose 1 more thing to do here and she chose to take a picture in a car. Go figure!


We got on the train at the Toon Town station (very big line to get on train!) and once we were seated, the train broke!! Or the train in front of us broke; we never really got the full story. So we decided to rest our feet while others chose to get off.


Less than 10 minutes after announcing they didn’t know how long we would be sitting there, the train chugged its way on to Main St. We got off and headed to California Adventure.


***Ok, that's it for today!! Sorry for the teasingly small update! LOL But life happens and waits for no trip report <sigh>***

Up next-What rides, if any, do we do at DCA? Do we find any new Potato Head pieces for my addiction?! Would YOU take an almost 4 year on Tower of Terror?! An injury for one of the people on our trip.