3 reports + links to more- 8 days since May + conversations galore

I knew I was missing something! They are the ones with the characters, yes. Sorry 'bout that.

Gold chains, eh? You had quite a different life down in SoCal than I was having up in San Jose, even though we're practically the same age!

The dancing men in gold chains and unbuttoned shirts in the old Pavilion Lounge never looked like they were 'Disney people.' I got the feeling that they were locals looking for some sort of nightlife, and they just slithered into the Pavilion Lounge on weekend nights to hit on the chicks!:rotfl: There is always one guy in a place like that who thinks he is John Travolta circa the 1970's, and he adopts his triumphant, arm-in-the-air, hip-jutted-out, smoldering-pouty-lips pose on the dance floor to bring a breathy, dramatic conclusion to his crazy, arms-zig-zagging-wildly-around-mixed-with-pantomime-moves. I only watched....and stayed far, far away. Maybe it was the buzz from my nice daiquiri or the infectious giggles of my friends at the sight of this serpentine Lord of the Dance. but I could NOT stop laughing. Just endless, stomach-hurting, face-contorting laughter. Ahhh....I miss the good ol' Pavilion Lounge.
 
Oh that sounds like fun. :)

I think I met one of those guys during our freshman year Spring Break. My mom had moved out to Miami to marry stepdad, so my two main college friends wanted to come out to my "home", of course! We had a nice time just hanging out in Miami, going to Key West with my mom and such, but one LONG day we went to Fort Lauderdale, and we had a picture taken with this man that I"m sure had moves just like that, when not on the beach. Oh I should scan that picture...
 
So walking fast was better for your ankle than walking slow? I think there is something to that because I notice the same thing when I have leg pain or something askew in my foot. It always seems to be less painful to just walk fast. I tried to explain that to my friend last year - because when she is in pain, she walks slow - and I think she thought I was just trying to zoom along because she was slowing me down, but that wasn't the case. It does me no good to keep sitting down and 'resting' and then standing up again to walk. The pain is only going to start up as soon as I stand. But if I keep walking and stay upright, then eventually my leg adjusts and it calms down.

Gee, Eamon looks so comfortable with Mickey - he has got him in full bear hug! So different from other photos in the past where he looked a little more tentative with some characters!

I have not yet read anything about Hopper being in IASW, but it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, why not? May as well put him in there, but I haven't heard anyone refer to him.

Ahhhh...those Mickey Mouse pancakes bring back such fond memories of old trips to DL....except in those old days, they used to give you a choice of having butter or a brick of ice cream with your pancakes. Mmmmm...ice cream and pancakes...such a decadent way to start a day at DL (which I could never do now or I would pass out!!).
 
Oh that sounds like fun. :)

I think I met one of those guys during our freshman year Spring Break. My mom had moved out to Miami to marry stepdad, so my two main college friends wanted to come out to my "home", of course! We had a nice time just hanging out in Miami, going to Key West with my mom and such, but one LONG day we went to Fort Lauderdale, and we had a picture taken with this man that I"m sure had moves just like that, when not on the beach. Oh I should scan that picture...

Oh, I am certain you probably saw at least one guy just like that in Ft. Lauderdale. I can just envision all those gold chain-wearing, reptilian Tony Maneros (I think that was John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever) shimmying all around Florida to entice all the girls on Spring Break, making sure everyone saw their great (albeit, dated) moves!!! SOOOO funny.
 


We went over to DCA, where, since it had been a whole hour since we ate, we had a cookie and lattes. Love those iced lattes!

Our ONLY goal for that moment was Grizzly. Yet again it was a long line and no FP, but we were determined. We had no ponchos no changes of clothing, and no extra shoes. But we were going to go on it!

We had, for some reason, so much stuff with us on that day that we took up TWO free lockers. Sorry!

We got in line, and we were right behind a family of 4. They had a taller, but obviously not much older than E, boy along with an older. For some reason, E and that boy had some sort of subconscious issue with each other...E kept moving close, and the boy would glare, E would get closer, the boy would glare more...it was really weird. Now, as long as it's not an adult glaring, I don't have, or didn't have in this case, much of an issue with letting them work it through on their own. I mean, the kid's glaring, big deal.

Plus, I had a STRONG feeling that he wasn't really glaring. My face is such that people think I'm angry quite often. It's annoying, and it happened even before I got my "engagement wrinkle". It's just the way we Waldrons are made (ha, you think I'm giving something away! I'm not...that's what my grandfather's *original* last name was, but then his dad left and once my great grandmother finally quit the Catholic church so she could divorce her husband and marry the nice Protestant man she'd met, that man gave my grandfather HIS last name. So you still don't know my mom's maiden name, so there!). My mom had it, my aunt has it, I have it...on the other side of my family, the women with my shape all have the same knees. No matter how thin or heavy we might be, we all have chubby knees. It's just a family trait.

So anyway, the kid's glaring didn't bug me. Robert, on the other hand, was nearly going ballistic. He was enraged! It was crazy. He started grumbling about it, almost too loud. I was trying to calm him down, but man this glaring kid was pushing his buttons.

So we're going around the GRR line, which of course we've never really been in (since it's usually 5 minutes or less when we go), and I notice that the boys in front of us have REALLY good rhythm. In turn they each started drumming on things, and it was good!

So with that as a conversation starter, I struck up a conversation with the mom. "Do your boys play musical instruments? They keep an excellent beat." That sort of thing. And it turned out the family was from Australia! It turns out that both of the boys really really want to play drums, but they haven't yet convinced the parents of it. The glaring boy was only 5...an older 5 than E, but still, only 5. And they hadn't been here long, just a few days, and the day before he got really super-tummy-sick, and this was the first time he felt well. So...explanation given for the glaring. (just in case you think I'm being holier than thou against Robert, just wait...I got my comeuppance later that day, LOL) They were a lovely (physically just ridiculously good looking AND very kind as well) family and it was fun talking to them for 20 minutes or so. Once the boy had an introduction, he didn't glare anymore. :goodvibes

We were sent on a different raft than them, however! We were in with a couple we'd seen at the lockers, and the woman was so sweet. She kept checking on E's seatbelt, b/c of course it's loose on him. He was sitting between her and hubby...R was sitting on one side of the "doorway" to the raft, I was on the other. Oh noes! The other people on the raft was a group of mom and two teenaged kids, and it was another great raft ride! Alas, they had all been on it many times before, so no one got the extra fun of seeing someone's first GRR experience.

We got...yeah...a bit wet. Not E, he was fine. But me and Robert, and the others on the raft, oh yes. The teenaged girl was drenched head to toe. She was going to trick a friend, who had refused to go on the ride, into going, but that plan was ruined b/c she couldn't pretend the friend wouldn't get wet! :rotfl:

Oh I love that ride...

And then we took a swim break. :)
 
So walking fast was better for your ankle than walking slow? I think there is something to that because I notice the same thing when I have leg pain or something askew in my foot. It always seems to be less painful to just walk fast.

Gee, Eamon looks so comfortable with Mickey - he has got him in full bear hug! So different from other photos in the past where he looked a little more tentative with some characters!

Mmmmm...ice cream and pancakes...such a decadent way to start a day at DL (which I could never do now or I would pass out!!).


Yep. Interestingly (to me at least), I've never been a good walker. When not overly squishy, I much prefer to run. Even when squishy, once my legs and lungs can take it, I prefer to run. Walking really messes up my hips; I'm just built funny I guess. And I can't help but wonder if my choice in footwear is causing some problems...I'm generally walking right now (and of course for Disney), but I"m buying running shoes. I think the next shoes I get will be actual walking shoes; see if that actually does make a difference in the support. (it probably will)

Good gravy the kid loves Mickey! And for whatever reason, this time he actually posed. Usually there's the autograph book (which I think he only does b/c others do it), there's a hug, then there's the pose, but he doesn't WANT to pose, so he just looks somewhere else...I don't know why he does it. But when you're there and watching him, he loves the characters; it just comes out wrong in pictures. But not with Mickey this time. :)

And I hear ya on passing out with that b'fast. :)
 
I'm just going to keep on going.



Swimming! Yay!

On this day, I sat it out. No real reason...I actually did want to swim, but I also wanted to relax. And I wanted a bevvie. There were some chairs open right near the pool, which was different from the other days, so I just sat right down. Robert promptly went and got me a pina colava. Ahhh, nice. I had my mp3 player so I listened to some Lilly Allen without feeling guilty about the language or subject matter and did some people watching. And boy oh boy was there people watching!

The family nearby was heavily tattooed. I don't have problems with the idea of tattooing. I just don't understand WHY people want to do it so much on their bodies. Robert felt strongly that someone was from Blink 182, b/c of how they looked AND how tattooed they were, and they did carry themselves sort of, I don't know how to put it, famously, but it's not like they were Shanna Moakler and what's his bucket. If they were famous, I didn't know who they were.

ETA: I just looked up the guys in that band. Only T Barker is that tattooed it seems. And it certainly wasn't him. (but man that would have been cool...we used to love their show, and I've heard that he and Shana are back together, and I think she's just beauteous)

Anyway, one guy was tattooed even on his face...around his hairline and his eyebrows. Not scary like prison stuff, but artwork. The other guy wasn't quite as covered but he was close. And the women they were with also had some tats. Then there was an older girl, younger girl, and a very very NEWborn baby. The mom of the kids, you could tell, was normally absolutely itty bitty, b/c even with the baby weight still there a bit (she had an excellent suit to hide it...one of those ones that looks like a bikini from behind, but has fabric in the front coming down from a ring at the top then joining the bottom of the suit) she was very small.

Oh I wanted to hold that baby so badly! She was so tiny. Sigh.

I took some pictures. For almost every single moment of his pool time, E was smiling. A closed mouth smile, b/c he doesn't want water in his mouth, but a smile all the same.

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Hey look, he's putting his face in the water, yay!!!! This was a re-enactment of the first, true-first, moment (that I missed).

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Even when coming up for air, you can still see the smile.

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By the way...E wanted nothing more than to climb the skull rock. But the crocodile scared him. Interesting fellow.
 


Dinner is being made, Robert's in town...must post quickly! (ETA, finished up the post well after dinner)

We got out of the pool (area) at last, went to the room, got ready. Up to the lounge for some snackages, and Natalie was there and brought us two games. One was a Barrel of Monkeys, which E decided was too hard, but I think he just said that so we could play the board game.

Sorry about the way I took this...I rotated it to see if that would be better, but all it did was make me dizzy.

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Fun game! The team of Robert and Eamon beat the solo team of Molly. There's strategy involved! I'm bad at game strategy.


At last we left, and we caught the monorail in.

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The first thing was Star Tours, and then Buzz. I *think* that this time on Buzz was only R&E, and if that's so, then there was a ride stop that caused the closing of the line. (if it wasn't then, then it was earlier that same day) Almost as soon as they went in, the CM at the front suddenly closed the line, ran in back somewhere, tried to change the estimated time for line and FPs, it didn't work, and so on. It was really a little scary, b/c she seemed scared! I wish the CMs wouldn't do that...

While waiting, I noticed two separate groups of people completely ignore the fact that the line was closed, the FP line was closed, and even the line to GET FPs was closed, and they waded through strollers to climb over the chains to get into the line. Why would they DO that???? :confused3

The guy next to me was reacting the same way as I was...we started talking. His family was also on the ride.

Well finally R&E came out, clueless that the ride had been totally shut down! Turns out that Buzz's face had gone poof; the ride itself was fine, but the line had to be shut to fix poor Buzz.

We wanted to get over to iasw again, but we ran smack dab into the "street party". Um, yeah....that's just weird. Call me crazy but I don't need an MC for a Disney parade, and it's not even a parade, and it's weird to see Mary and Bert dancing like that, and yeah, I don't need to see other characters dance to current stuff either. And then the confetti thing at the end... Serious eye-rolling to me and Robert, though we were impressed by how quiet the big vacuums are!


We finally got out of there and into the castle, where Robert was distracted by the Heraldry Shoppe. So we went on in, and Robert spent, in his mind, about 1K on various swords...:rotfl: They have some cute engagement and wedding things...so if you're into heraldry stuff, check it out!


So here's my comeuppance, and it's weird to talk about b/c there is always the possibility that someone in my story is from the Dis, but here goes. We were in line for small world. There were three women altogether with a few kids between them, and a cute baby in a ring sling. Robert commented on the sling, and the wearer talked about how she actually made it and has a business, and if we have a need for slings, etc etc... We started talking babywearing, and I personally never got into the ring sling, but Robert did, I mentioned that I had a traditional Korean podegi from my MIL. Well...the maker of the sling started calling it a "pod"...it took at least 15 minutes for me to understand that she was calling the podegi a pod. Why? Because podegi isn't said with a P, it's said with a B. Like Pusan is actually Busan. The P spelling persists because Americans haven't figured it out yet...even I do it obviously (I do write Busan, but I don't yet write bodegi). So she's shortening it, which is weird, but she's using the wrong consonant, which is just wrong. And the women she was with were Asian, and it just felt uncomfortable to me, while we continued casual babywearing conversation.

So then they break out the dollar store light sticks that you can turn into bracelets and necklaces, and they just keep squishing them to make more and more to fully deck out the kids...and...they mention how it's from the dollar store...and E is asking about them and looking at them and I'm explaining them and mentioning to Robert that I meant to stop by the dollar store to get them but Eamon and dollar stores don't mix well so I hadn't... Then we were seated in back of them, and they continue...and E can see that they glow b/c it was getting darker and darker and he keeps asking about them.... And finally I couldn't take it anymore and I leaned in all romantically to Robert and whisper something rude about how "they could have at least offered" since they'd mentioned that the things are from the dollar store....

And then Eamon said something more about them and the woman in front heard him, and turned around brightly asking if he wanted one, he said yes please, and she gave him TWO bracelets.

And I felt like absolute junk. I know they didn't hear me; they were just busy making them for their OWN children, and they certainly weren't the jerks in the situation!

And so, as we entered the ride, after she handed two bracelets to E...I started crying. Again. Because I was such a rude and rotten person. My favorite ride ever at Disneyland, and the first times on it since November I think...and both times I start the ride crying. :sad2:


After iasw, we took the monorail back, and went to sleep.
 
Oh Molly! Your story about the glow in the dark things. That is just funny. I would have been thinking the same thing! I have the Magic Kingdom game. Ordered it for Xmas one year. I like it and think it is fun, as does my kiddos, but it bugs me that it is the Magic Kingdom and not Disneyland. They should have options, ya know?
 
OH, and I forgot to say, you made me look at the AP Calendar, and dang if they don't have a fabulous Concierge rate on my bday! $179 for Paradise Pier Concierge which I understand has better stuff than DLH, and actually is usually priced higher than DLH Concierge. ???

Man, this is killing me!
 
OH, and I forgot to say, you made me look at the AP Calendar, and dang if they don't have a fabulous Concierge rate on my bday! $179 for Paradise Pier Concierge which I understand has better stuff than DLH, and actually is usually priced higher than DLH Concierge. ???

Man, this is killing me!

179 for concierge????? That's only like 30 bucks more than the usual (relatively) great AP rates at PPH. Do it. (enabler)


OH, and I've decided that for a future trip, I *will* have glow sticks, and I will bring a ton and try to get them to any kid around us. Kinda make up for the negativity I had.

Robert is still defending how touchy he was about the other boy glaring at E. It was a funny conversation, but I don't think we're going to see eye to eye on it at all. We even tried to explain our thoughts by pretending that the boys were dogs...didn't end well for E, he ended up being the clueless but cute golden retriever trying to make friends with a grouchy malamute who was telling him to get away...:rotfl: I continued to be on the side of "OK, if the malamute growls or bites, it's still the golden's fault for not backing off", and Robert thinks that the malamute's owners should have noticed. We went pretty far in the analogy. :3dglasses


************

I'm still up so what the heck. I'll continue.


Our last morning dawned. After swimming the day before, my guys kinda felt icky. Strange, and they are still feeling icky. Robert and I were wondering why I wasn't feeling icky (knock wood), and I think I just discovered the difference...swimming on the 28th vs sitting around having a drinkie. Interesting....

Anyway, so Robert was tough to wake up, but I was strangely bright and shiny. Therefore, that morning I ran up to the lounge to snag coffee and cream cheese. Then we realized that it just wouldn't do, we should have a proper breakfast. We also decided that it was our last day and we needed more time, so we would just go to DCA that day and not worry about being very very early. Yay!

Besides gumbo, the thing we were still missing from the trip was WhiteWater Snacks. That needed to be remedied, and since I was up, I was the chica to do it! So I left the boys alone in the room while I wandered.

Hmm. When did I/we pack? Must have been the night before...I had vast amounts of time alone, oh, while E slept and Robert was...somewhere...I hate packing nowadays. Too many wildcards! We discovered that housekeeping on Thursday had thrown away a big huge disneyland bag (that I would have LOVED to keep) that was housing the empty stormtrooper blaster box. Over time I realized how she must have thought it was OK, but it's still not OK, ya know? We needed it, and the other housekeepers had been ignoring it, but I think it got moved to just the wrong spot. Anyway, I'd wanted it for the plane, so I could check the blaster, and now the box was gone.

Well anyway, all that was taken care of by then. We had somehow fit the big plastic sword in the big tote we had, and Robert, it turns out, fit the blaster in there too. :eek: So we were all packed. I could wander at will, without any guilt.



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I could not believe the NOISE coming out from behind this lovely plastic sheeting to the left (as you approached it from the seating of the lobby) of the front desk of the GCH.

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A lamp.

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At long (not really) last I reached WWS, where I ordered french toast sticks and a no-meat breakfast burrito to go. I settled in to wait for it.


On the wall.

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I didn't know there's a microwave in there....

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I saw a CM wander with a bag of food. I figured it was mine. But she was calling out a number that was NOT mine. She wandered, went back...came back out, talked to the cashier...the cashier went rooting for her receipts, and it turned out the order was mine. HOW the wandering CM got such wrong number (I was something like #6, and she was calling out something like #228) I don't know. She handed it over, I was happy. But I decided to check the burrito. I usually have more trust, but something told me to look. And lookie there...not a vegetarian burrito. Sigh.

They had a new one for me made quickly, and apologized. I was just glad I'd checked.

Since it had all taken what felt like a year, I was trying to scoot back fast.

But pictures called to me anyway, LOL.

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So, the funny handle looking thing at the top of the hotel facing the camera is some sort of strange extension of the e-ticket elevator. It's an express, going only from the Ground to the Lounge. You use your keycard, and there's a phone, I imagine to use if you've forgotten your keycard. I decided to take it.

I'm pretty sure there are some mickey heads in here...this is the wall paneling in the elevator on the side.

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Going up....

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Finally I got back to the room with the ready guys and we shared our food.

I finished getting ready, we called the Bell guy to get our bags, and we said goodbye to the room! It was much much sadder than I thought it would be at the start of the week. Go figure!
 
While eating, some other pictures were taken. E was just being silly. And gross.


OK I was going to post pictures of it, but decided not to. E was goofing at the closet mirrors, making faces and such, and then suddenly was about to lick it. As I took pictures (because I'd been doing that already), we were both saying Nooooooo. Then he made a funny face at the mirror b/c he didn't get to lick it. Odd. But the pix were much too big in photobucket, and really grainy, and I just decided against it. :rotfl:


More pool/grounds views. Yes the pool was open. Yes Robert and I were beyond jealous. Yes we thought about just swimming and figuring out how to get dressed later on. Yes we had looked at airfare for Saturday, to see if it would somehow be OK to just dump the non-refundable tickets we had and buy new, and stay an extra night on points....no, it wasn't a good idea at all b/c the airfare was just too high. Sigh. When I planned this trip and bought the tickets, we figured he'd be working that Saturday, b/c that was his schedule. But when they announced the closure of the dept, later they decided that Friday would be The Last Day, so suddenly he was at loose ends until Tuesday when he was starting the new (current) job. It was a bummer we couldn't extend the stay, but it also would give him a nice long weekend after the vacation to rest.


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It was around this time that I finally noticed, waaaaay back there, the other pool. Robert had been doing laundry Thursday night (AHA! That's when I had the time to pack!!!) which is tucked back there, and he'd actually been there before in Sept '07 when we stayed at the PPH and laundry had to be done, he totally knew about the pool but didn't know that I didn't know, so didn't think to tell me. Compartments. There are compartments in his head. Silly.


OK so then the Bell guy came up and took our stuff, and we left. Of course we went up to the 11th floor one more time...needed some coffee and we wanted to thank people. I put in a good word for Natalie, I turned in the comment card that I didn't want to leave in the room b/c it was about the housekeeper. The concierge lady at the desk read it and talked to me about it, and was sorry it had happened. Offered a box if we needed it, etc.


The sign outside the lounge is somewhere between the first no-flash pic and the second with-flash pic.

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We were really taking it easy that day, and, all of a sudden, I'm realizing I left more out from the night before! Darnit!

So the night before we didn't just monorail home and sleep...I just mentioned that R did laundry and I packed, but I just remembered that we went into the Lego store and E played at the tables where you build stuff. He had a lot of fun, understood that we weren't buying things, and left when it was time to go. It was wild.



Robert had promised him another short while in there for the morning, so while they stopped in Lego, I went on to World of Disney, because even though it was the last day I NEEDED those Crocs. I'd checked online, and couldn't find the Disney themed Crocs anywhere. And the only cheapie Athens I could find were in some green and orange that I wasn't attracted to, not even for $20 cheaper than at Disney.

So off I went that morning. It's a lot of fun in there when you don't have a little beast saying "I want" every 2 seconds! There's a post on mouseplanet about how you have to set things right from the beginning, they don't take it, etc etc etc...yeah, I didn't contribute. LIke I've mentioned, Robert and I grew up poor, and hate saying "no" just to say "no". We try to be reasonable about things, and we don't have unlimited funds, but he has been known to get a "yes" out of us when there had been "no" stated before. We've created the problem, but on the other hand, long before there were yesses after nos...there was a little boy workin' our nerves (as my friend from NJ would say), not understanding "no" when he should have.

Anyway, he's getting better now and we're glad, but it was still nice to be in there alloooooone.

I found the Crocs. They felt different and that's all I was going for. :) R&E found me, there was some kerfluffle over whether or not we were going to get sunglasses for E...the ones he wanted were too big for his head, the ones that fit him he said hurt and he was quite vehement about it. So no sunglasses (he had hats to help with the sun...of course by Friday that wasn't around anymore!). I know I just said he was better, but he knew Robert wanted to buy him something and he insisted on making suggestions... We left WOD quickly...no extra souvenir for Eamon, and no true souvenir for me (R tells me the Crocs don't count).

I changed shoes, was happy to feel different, and we went to DCA!


First up, Muppets. Next Monsters.

We wanted to take some drawing classes again, but we managed to hit the same rotation as the other day, and no one wanted to work on Donald Duck or Pluto again.

So I took them to the Blue Sky Cellar. I hadn't seen those interactive video screens on the wall with the wine barrel decoration, but they sure did! I finally dragged them away to have lunch at WCT again.

I had noticed the AP Dining Pin signs up, and so we were shooting for one of those. :) It turned out to be the same server that the divas WCT group had in March, and he either remembered me or pretended he did (I think he did, b/c he made a comment about the grilled cheese I'd ordered then), which again was nice.

R tried the veggie lasagna, which was good. I had the caprese sandwich, and E had the...yep, grilled cheese sandwich. All was good, though it was COLD. We were right next to the door, brr. I'd had to run to the First Aid station while we waited for the table, and I had bandaids on the tops of my feet (as did the woman who suggested the Athens...we both have wide feet so our feet rub where they shouldn't, but some bandaids to protect the skin while the bones of our feet feel better is a small price to pay!) and an ice pack for my ankle, so I was even colder than they were.

We opted to not use the AP discount (if we had, we would have needed to order something else and we were full...I was even taking half my sandwich away with me), and we got the dining pin (a Jungle Book theme).

Alas...that sparked problems, b/c E wanted it, but R wanted me to have it, and, well, we ended up at PT Fleas. Robert *really* wanted me to have it and was not going to let me gift it. PLus, he still wanted to get E something, and he wanted something as well.

We spent a nice long time in PT Flea's, where I found nothing (not true, I found about 20 things I wanted, along with a nice big tote bag with a protected spot to display pins...but it was all too $$ for my comfort), and each of them found a pin they wanted. Robert traded with the CM which he likes doing.

E didn't want to go to bug's land again, so we decided to wander. As we walked by the Food and Wine area in Sunshine Plaza, Robert noticed that it was a chef who was on a recently aired episode of Iron Chef. He called him Chef Jeff, but later he told me it was actually Chef Simon. Black hair, was doing something with raw food, or somewhat raw, I don't know. I don't understand their obsession with Iron Chef, especially since it's usually meat, but my guys LOVE watching it!

I wandered off, still in search of a souvenir, b/c the Crocs didn't count and R said the pin didn't either (since we didn't PAY for it). Okey dokey.

Nothing, nothing, big fat nothing...I wandered back, defeated. The chef was done, the people who had paid for the presentation were being served the food, it was time to head on out of the park.

Of course we stopped for lattes and a cookie (though no one touched the cookies for hours after that). Left through GCH.

Since we were well ahead of time, we used the last 2 tokens for the RC boats, and that was just as fun as before! Brilliant thing, those boats are.

E then ran around in the grass while Robert and I sat and stood, respectively.


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I believe there were some low-energy lightsaber battles as well.



While wandering, we saw a wedding starting...we'd seen one the day before, but just as the bride would have walked past our view, some big kid stood in front of me and E and blocked it. :( This time, however, we just saw the ahead-of-time pictures with the Cinderella carriage and the bride and groom and parents...just looked as we sloooowwwwllllly walked by... I remember not minding if strangers watched those before-wedding pictures as we took them...it bothered me that our GUESTS were stopping and watching, but then if my dad hadn't decided to wash the car before picking me up I wouldn't have been late for my own schedule, but I digress.

Eamon was very excited to see the bride; he really wants us to get married again so he can see me in a poofy dress. I'm happy to oblige, as soon as I'm happy with the ol' bod AND we can easily afford it.

We made our way to the actual lobby, where we retrieved bags. They didn't like how we did it; they wanted to just bring it over to the DL Express waiting area 15 minutes before the bus came. But I had rearranging to do. I felt a bit like a hick...oh well!

While waiting we met another mixed race couple (opposite of us again) with kids, who had just bought into BLT in March and were staying at DLH on incentive points. They had surprised their kids with the trip, telling them that they were going to see their grandparents...and the kids were disappointed that they weren't seeing their grandparents! Whoopsie! I'm sure the kids were going to get excited soon, but I felt bad for the parents. They were, however, looking forward to telling the grandparents that they were more exciting than Disneyland!

Last minute I went in to use the bathroom, and stopped at the giftshop on the way out. And there...I found...the same red sparkly mickey head earrings the nice woman at DCA opening was wearing...yay! I wanted them. Everything was with Robert and E.

I asked the CM to hold them. Not b/c they were rare or expensive (ha! 6 bucks), but because there would be no way R could find them quickly. I ran out, told him I'd found the earrings and they were behind the counter and could he go pay for them. He was happy I'd found something and ran off with E to do it. They came out just in time, we got to the bus, and had a nice ride to the airport.

Well...R and I did. E, however, fell asleep and was extremely cranky when we had to get off. Started crying and saying no, and that he hated that bus...all while trudging down the aisle. Poor dude.

We had SO much time, it was lovely! Robert asked a passing TSA agent about our plastic toy weapons, and she was iffy about it. We were allowed one free checked bag each, but we were very worried about things breaking in the "weapons" bag, so we checked two bags and decided to take our chances. The Alaska agent said we could come right back and check the third, if they wouldn't let it through.

And off we went!

We continue our perfectly lovely encounters with LAX TSA agents. After we went through and were waiting for our 18 million things to come off the belt, I could see she was stopped on the bag of food and toy weapons. I didn't get her attention, but while looking at her, I stated clearly "toys". She turned and smiled at me, and said that SHE could tell, but if we were catching another flight we might not get the items on... She let us through. She and I chatted for just a moment as she looked at the rest of our items on the belt, I liked her. I liked that she had the leeway to say "those are plastic and they've been to Disneyland, they are sunburned and wearing Crocs (LOL), and I will let this pass."

of course...while unpacking...I found that Robert had packed a bunch of small Tabasco packets from the Taqueria, and those were in that bag, and she didn' tsee them...so there's always sort of bad with the good, but the good so far has outweighed the bad with the TSA people there, and it was positive overall.

Got to the gate area, E was tired and started worrying about the plane and how it was going to stay up (oh man I'm so superstitious, don't start this now, little guy).... Got some water and some cashew into him, made him a sandwich (have I shown the packets of PB and jelly we bought to go in our carryons???) while we were in the gate area (rather than on the plane), made R a sandwich, I ate the rest of my caprese...had a nice calm time.

Soon enough the flight was boarding, we were off, the flight was fine (actually it wasn't, I hate the Alaska route from LAX, I won't do it anymore, it's too scary, I was actually crying (silently) during the flight b/c of the turbulence, and this was, of course, before the Air France flight the other day...I haven't had the same turbulence using Virgin or Southwest, I don't know why, but I'm just tired of being so frightened on Alaska going home...BUT we landed successfully and that's good), we got to the parking garage and were on our way home.


And on that note, good night!
 
OH, and I've decided that for a future trip, I *will* have glow sticks, and I will bring a ton and try to get them to any kid around us. Kinda make up for the negativity I had.

Go figure!

Glow sticks necklaces/bracelets were a big hit with our grandson and granddaughter (3 and 1). I bought them at Walmart for less than a dollar. We shared with several other kids who were around us. They were thrilled. Their parents were thrilled too because they said now we don't have to buy the high-priced ones. :)
 
I know I said early on (before you began poosting recaps and pictures) that this seemed to be a longer trip than what you did the last time, but truthfully, I got so wrapped up in reading and following along with the activities that I lost track of how many total days and nights there were!:rotfl: It seems to me that, aside from your foot/ankle mishap and the inability to get on GRR more times, overall it was a really well-rounded trip. You had a lot of good meals - both counter service and sit down, you went on a lot of rides and did all the good stuff over and over again, you were very productive but also got in a lot of good rest/relaxation time, you took lots of photos, managed to come away with some jazzy earrings and an AP pin, E got his nifty space age toys and got to play in the Lego store, found a clever way to get E to eat the black beans, met some nice families and the wonderful Natalie - and really (it appears) enjoyed staying onsite! So since you had said a while back that this was the best family trip to DLR so far, would you say there was anythign you really wanted to do or that E or R wanted to do that didn't get done at all, or anything you want to try for next time you go? Do you think you might go for a character meal next time?

And, speaking of whch....when will the next DLR trip be?? (I'm rolling the Disney Snowball your way:rotfl:)
 
Glow sticks necklaces/bracelets were a big hit with our grandson and granddaughter (3 and 1). I bought them at Walmart for less than a dollar. We shared with several other kids who were around us. They were thrilled. Their parents were thrilled too because they said now we don't have to buy the high-priced ones. :)

That's so nice of you! I absolutely intend to do that the next time. Either dollar store or a bulk purchase from Oriental Trading Company. I love 'em too, they remind me of skate parties when I was 10 or so.

I know I said early on (before you began poosting recaps and pictures) that this seemed to be a longer trip than what you did the last time, but truthfully, I got so wrapped up in reading and following along with the activities that I lost track of how many total days and nights there were!:rotfl: It seems to me that, aside from your foot/ankle mishap and the inability to get on GRR more times, overall it was a really well-rounded trip. You had a lot of good meals - both counter service and sit down, you went on a lot of rides and did all the good stuff over and over again, you were very productive but also got in a lot of good rest/relaxation time, you took lots of photos, managed to come away with some jazzy earrings and an AP pin, E got his nifty space age toys and got to play in the Lego store, found a clever way to get E to eat the black beans, met some nice families and the wonderful Natalie - and really (it appears) enjoyed staying onsite! So since you had said a while back that this was the best family trip to DLR so far, would you say there was anythign you really wanted to do or that E or R wanted to do that didn't get done at all, or anything you want to try for next time you go? Do you think you might go for a character meal next time?

And, speaking of whch....when will the next DLR trip be?? (I'm rolling the Disney Snowball your way:rotfl:)


Sherry, you hit it all on the head!

I would say that there are still things we wanted to do.

We wanted to see Aladdin, but when it was showing, the guys were still focusing on whatever ride was in front of them, so we couldn't get over there at the right time.

I wanted to go on Screamin', but I couldn't deal with it as early in the AM as it was when we were there.

I was really disappointed that E didn't go on HM or the Space queue. These were things we talked about quite a bit, and he was excited to see them, and it makes me sad. Space especially, since the ONLY plan was to see the line...but it's inside a building, and the ramp in kind of spooks him...I just know he would LOVE the line, even if he didn't go on the ride.

I wish we'd done more rides on Pooh! We're used to just going round and round on it, so to have the lines was odd.

I now wish we had gone swimming even more. It was a lot of fun, even if the guys contracted Legionnaire's disease from that last day, LOL. (coughing and congested lungs, they were in a body of water...)

Robert wishes I had bought more for myself, and he agrees with the Space thing above, but he really liked this trip and fell madly in love with concierge. Even though our families were poor growing up, when he was a preteen his dad had moved up in the world and was sent on long business trips where they stayed in luxury hotels in Asia. At one point they lived in Taiwan in a 3 story townhome that the company paid for; they had maids...he LIKES having people pay attention to him and bring him food, LOL. So even though it wasn't their paychecks paying for it, he does like having that luxury that his dad's company provided them on long business trips to Asia.


**************
An aside. E wanted to watch Mamma Mia, and we're on his fave song, the one between Sophie and Sky on the beach (he likes it b/c Sky does Kung Fu moves). And I just have to say...that actress in that totally modest one-piece suit looks HOTTER than if she were wearing the skimpiest of skimpy bikinis. That's an awesome, swimmable, suit and she looks incredible in it.

And now they're going to make me cry with Super Trooper b/c Sophie's hair is like mine when long and I wish more than anything that my mom had been alive to embarrass me and make me cry the night before my wedding. (the other song that slays me in the same way is as soon as Donna says "we have time" and they get Sophie ready, and then of course the next song Donna sings to Sam)

***************


More things to figure out, and to do in the future......


I felt like I ate too much. Robert felt like he ate too little. E felt like he ate too few cookies (yeah, ok). We've GOT to figure out the eating thing better. Because it doesn't seem to be working perfectly for anyone.

I wanted a character meal! But I couldn't justify it. I wanted to at least SEE Goofy's since we were right there, but getting from wherever we were over to there just seemed crazy, the way our feet were feeling.

Oh and by the way, the Athens Crocs worked nicely. They still are. They have the same squeaking problem as my maryjanes, but that's just b/c my feet are sweaty (if that becomes a tag I'm erasing it!)

We should have gone on the canoes when we knew they were open!!!!! None of us have ever been.

I forgot to get a veggie skewer from Bengal, again.

We didn't see Disney's Playhouse! I had it in my plans. We walked into DCA just at the right time; we could have gotten in line and gotten in inside of 5 minutes. E refused, flat out, no interest. Wanted to see Muppets instead. :confused3

I'm sad I was so scared on Mulholland, when E loved it so much. I'll have to dose myself with Rescue Remedy in the future, make sure I'm wearing pants instead of a skirt, put him on the other side of the ride car, and go. Well, except...when is it closing? Uh oh.



If E and I run away to visit my brother, we'll do at least a day trip. Brother wouldn't mind if E and I snagged the car and stayed in Anaheim a night, but it would be more fun with brother!

But as a family, if we can swing it (if this job stays as a temp and has the contract renewed, R only gets FIVE vacay days a year...the fervent wish is that his boss continues to love him as much as he already does, and gets the bigwigs to love him and they bring him on fully...in which case he'd get the awesome bennies including lots of vacation, but of course he wouldn't be able to TAKE the vacation yet), I'd like to go for the holidaytime again. Even though we're not xmas people, we love the decorations, and I think E would be more willing to go on HMH than plain HM. That's my wish, at least. But I really don't know.
 
Molly, It sounds like all in all you guys had a good trip. You may have said and I may have missed it do you like PP or DLH better? Isn't it amazing how much kids grow up between trips? I am thrilled that the next trip we take to Disneyland all three of my kids will be teenagers and they will be able to wander off on their own therefor giving Scotty and I more adult time. Woo hoo.
 
Definitely a good trip. We were sad to leave.

PPH and DLH...several times we really felt that PPH would have been a closer walk, even though we were really close (right next to the elevator, and even without using the club level elevator you can walk out the "back" (lol...hubby and I had differences of opinion of the front and back of the tower! I felt that the side facing DTD was the back, and he felt it was the front) and be really close to DTD, but still, it's a walk.

I dislike, immensely, the bedframes that bruised me at DLH. They are tall frames so there was always a bit of sliding even for me and definitely for hubby, and it just hurt when I'd go off the foot end. The frame "racked" Eamon at least once.

But the pool, despite that useless pirate ship, was more fun than the PPH pool...however I should say that I've only been in the PPH pool once, and it was a chilly late afternoon! The view of the pool was nicer than the park view on our first PPH stay and the pool/parking lot view we had the last time when we were upgraded to a suite.

I *think* that PPH slides ahead just a tiny bit, when taking everything into account, but the pool...yeah, that would be a hard choice!


3 teenagers, wow! What a more grownup trip that will be!
 
Definitely a good trip. We were sad to leave.

PPH and DLH...several times we really felt that PPH would have been a closer walk, even though we were really close (right next to the elevator, and even without using the club level elevator you can walk out the "back" (lol...hubby and I had differences of opinion of the front and back of the tower! I felt that the side facing DTD was the back, and he felt it was the front) and be really close to DTD, but still, it's a walk.

I dislike, immensely, the bedframes that bruised me at DLH. They are tall frames so there was always a bit of sliding even for me and definitely for hubby, and it just hurt when I'd go off the foot end. The frame "racked" Eamon at least once.

But the pool, despite that useless pirate ship, was more fun than the PPH pool...however I should say that I've only been in the PPH pool once, and it was a chilly late afternoon! The view of the pool was nicer than the park view on our first PPH stay and the pool/parking lot view we had the last time when we were upgraded to a suite.

I *think* that PPH slides ahead just a tiny bit, when taking everything into account, but the pool...yeah, that would be a hard choice!


3 teenagers, wow! What a more grownup trip that will be!

Yeah, I like the Dreams Tower, an we have stayed in the Tower with the lobby the name has escaped me. One stay we had a DTD view and a pool view. like both, the time we had the DTD view we could hear the noise from DTD at night. There was a Mariachi band playing that we could hear. That wasn't so bad but come on when you pay that much a night for a hotel you want to not hear things like that. The pool view one out on the noise alone. I stayed at the PP many year ago before it was the PP, it was like the Pan Pacific, and it was new at the time. Yes, I guess I am old. I didn't mind that walk at all, it didn't seem any farther than the DLH to me because I had stayed at both at that time. I like the DLH because to me it is closer to the DTD action, and I was the one that complained about the noise.

Yes they will all be teenagers:scared1:, 13, 15 and 16. The two older ones are girls and the hormones are a crazy thing and now my son is a little over a month from turning 13 and his hormones are horrible and he is always fighting my authority. Big mistake. But, yes it is a grown up kind of trip, and I think it is kind of sad to me, there is no little ones that want to go to Playhouse Disney or the Princess Fun Fair, or even BBB. But on the other hand Dad and I can pursue adult things.
 
Molly, it was so funny - I had a dream last night where none of it made sense (in typical dream fashion) and I have forgotten most of it, but one thing I remember is bumping into someone wearing jazzy red earrings with Mickey heads in the dream!!! I don't think the person was supposed to be you, necessarily. I think it was just some random person, but I vividly recall this person having jazzy red Mickey head earrings in her hand. I guess the idea of those must have stuck in my subconscious!! Now I have to see them. In the old days (meaning like the '80s and 90s), when I would go on souvenir-buying missions in DL and the DLH, I would load up on watches and other tchotchkes, but I would also load up on Mickey earrings of different types. I haven't bought any earrings there in SOOOO long, nor have I even worn the ones I bought in the last 10 years, but I guess there must still be a part of me that perks up when I hear about earrings!!

Even though you and E will likely be able to swing a day trip to DLR if you go to San Diego, hopefully, if all goes well with Robert's job, you will be able to make it back to DLR for the holidays again this year (and get on GRR 500 times). I know what you mean about liking it at that time of year even if you don't particularly celebrate Christmas. DLR is just really pretty then, no two ways about it. It is eye candy. No matter from what faith or culture or religious beliefs anyone comes, I would still recommend to anyone to go to DLR during the holdays because it is a feast for the senses, with all the smells and sounds and the colors and the lights and the merriment...on and on. And the famous DLR attention to detal carries over into things like the Christmas songs, which can be heard in jazz format in NOS, or with a banjo/western twang in Frontierland, or California-style in DCA. When my Jewish friends go to DLR, they do notice the lack of Hanukkah decorations in comparison to the Christams stuff everywhere, but we all kind of realize that we are not really focusing on the religious meaning of any holiday when we are at DLR in December (and I was raised as a Protestant, but am not really practicing any faith at the moment); we are just enjoying the beauty of it all.

Did you say that the shoes you were wearing were New Balance running shoes (the ones that ruined your feet)? Now see, for the last 4 years I have lived in my trusty New Balance shoes - they are very durable on the outside, I have discovered - to stave off any nasty plantar fasciitis attacks, but mine are actually supposed to be walking shoes, I think. I also have big ol' wide feet, and I noticed my original pair of NB's were a little wider than the IDENTICAL pair of them I bought as back-up a couple of years later. Same Item Number, same style, same color, same exact size - but the second pair of NB walking shoes was made a tad bit narrower, for some inexplicable reason. I have worn them enough to let them stretch out, but they are staying as is. So I tend to gravitate towards wearing my original black NB's because they have more room in them than the newer, shinier, back-up pair I got later on. I can see that if I wore the second pair around for days and days on end, I would probably have some issues with my toes being squished. As it is, I blister easily. And after that last December DLR trip, the newer NB shoes did something weird to one of my toes even though they were well broken in. So the next trips will probably require the older NB shoes!
 
Oh I will take a pic of my cute little earrings.

So you had a dream that someone was wearing the earrings, and Toocherie had a dream I was pregnant. Excellent....

I, meanwhile, dreamed of Disneyland all night long, and in the dreams were two semi celebrities that I knew in the dream, and my friend who is the son of a longtime now late celebrity...we were all at Disneyland and it was a fun dream. I slept until NOON today, despite Robert and Eamon trying to get me to wake up. What the heck???? I'm so glad that I can sleep like that, and I'm glad that they are fine on their own and don't make me wake up, but when I sleep til noon I like to know I'm going to sleep until noon!

I've made up for it though...they had to go over to MIL's (I was invited and might have gone, but now I'm mad at her about something piddly, harumph, so I refused to go when hubby asked last night) and then they are spending time with Robert's oldest friend, and I'm doing some housework. I recently sold a TON of my wedding books, and I'll be selling some Anne Rice books I enjoyed but won't be reading again any time soon (there are phases, you know, and Anne Rice is one of them...I can't imagine wanting to read the books again, but if I do, they are at the library), and I found that we could dump, or repurpose, a bookshelf! So I've emptied that bookshelf. I think I'll put E's homeschooling books in there, since he's approaching kindy age, and I'm sure will be wanting more and more books. Now I just have to figure out where to put that bookshelf.

Also I think I'll be mopping the hallway floor today. Don't be grossed out, but I haven't cleaned the floors since we've been here. Swept, yes. Cleaned up spills, oh yes. But no actual mopping. They are real wood, and they intimidate me. But the owner tells me just vinegar and water, so I think I'll do that today. Wish me luck that I don't ruin the floors....



Trip-related...

I wrote down all of what we spent while there, and we didn't do too badly. There were a couple misplaced receipts that caused panic when I looked at the bank account (not that it caused problems, but I was afraid someone had gotten ahold of our account), but we were just clueless b/c it was charges for things we shouldn't have forgotten, like my Crocs, the earrings, a pin Robert bought after the earrings b/c the CM had something he wanted to trade for but he didn't have anything tradeable left on his lanyard, our lunch the last day...things like that that we shouldn't have forgotten.



Sherry, yeah, NB running shoes. Cute pink ones that everyone has right now. Not comfy!

The nurses at the First Aid station at Disneyland suggested I get Rykas. I think I'll try those next. The first pair of Disney shoes I got were Asics, and I had them "professionally" fitted, but he put me in a NINE, and those were the first ridiculously uncomfy athletic shoes, and it's all been downhill since then. My feet ain't a 9, folks. Nines are what I could go for if I were wearing skinny Nikes, just to get the room somehow, but really I should be an 8 in hobbit shoes, LOL. And that's a size up from pre-Eamon, so see, I'm willing to have bigger feet and not lie about it, but I'm not a 9. Since those Asics I've had two Sauconys (size 8.5 then 8), and last time I went back to New Balance hoping they'd be as comfy as I remember them being, but they haven't been.
 

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