Carter gives Cars Land two thumbs up!

[luvflorida]

The photos are adorable!

This is a Trip Report so I moved the thread over to the Disneyland Trip Reports forum and out of the main Disneyland planning forum.

Thanks for the compliment and thanks for moving this to the correct forum!

I realized as soon as I posted the thread that it went to the wrong place! Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Jessica14]

This is my first visit to the DL boards and I am so happy to have found this! We (meaning Me!) are considering a quick trip to DL and DCA next year if my dd's gymnastics meet is nearby (I think it is!)You have totally sold me! I love the pictures and your grand kids are the cutest things! Loved every picture and my DS, 7 did as well! Enjoy those precious babies of yours!
Jessica

 

[luvflorida]

This is my first visit to the DL boards and I am so happy to have found this! We (meaning Me!) are considering a quick trip to DL and DCA next year if my dd's gymnastics meet is nearby (I think it is!)You have totally sold me! I love the pictures and your grand kids are the cutest things! Loved every picture and my DS, 7 did as well! Enjoy those precious babies of yours!
Jessica

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed my trip report! I hope you and your family have a magical time on your trip next year!

 

[luvflorida]

DAY SIX- Saturday, June 23rd- Today was beach day! It was also the last day of our vacation. We were showered and dressed and packing the cars by 7am.
Well, some of us were packing!

Someone was being silly

and looking at herself in the mirror

and someone else was being a train...

Chugga chugga choo choo!

When we were finished packing (and playing!) we walked over to Denny's for breakfast.

This is one of my favorite photos from our trip! Carter and I were discussing a photo on one of the restaurant's walls, when his baseball pancake arrived. He looked at it, picked it up and said, "'Excuse me, gramma, I have to kiss my pancake." I said, "Whaaaat?!?!?!" and grabbed my camera as he gave his pancake a second kiss. Funny little guy!

 

[luvflorida]

It was a little after 9am when we left the CCI and we were on Huntington Beach by 10. Larry and I and our younger daughter had visited Huntington Beach five years ago when we flew out to the West Coast during a tour of prospective colleges. We drove down the California coast from San Francisco to San Diego. We spent a day at Huntington Beach and enjoyed the area, so we decided to return there with our grandkids this trip since it was so close to Anaheim.

They had a great time splashing in the ocean and playing in the sand. The pails and beach toys that are in the photos are the ones I mentioned earlier, the surprises they received on our last night at the CCI.

Some pics of our sweet, beach grandbabies. Well, baby and pre-schooler!

Honest, she did this herself! We did not put the bucket on her head!

Funny girl!

It was late afternoon by the time we left the beach. We drove back to Anaheim and had a late lunch at Mimi's Cafe. Not sure why, but I only have one picture from Mimi's Cafe.

Vanessa waiting for our table to be ready.

I remember it being a very relaxing lunch. It was a beautiful late, sunny afternoon and we sat outside at a table under an awning that let the sun shine through. After lunch, we left Anaheim and drove home to Tucson. We were only on the road for maybe ten minutes when Megan sent me a text from their car saying that both kids were fast asleep in their car seats. We were all back home by 11pm.

 

[luvflorida]

We had an absolutely wonderful trip. Seeing the awe and joy on our grandson's face when he met Lightning McQueen and Mater, and the big smile on his face when he came running up the path after riding the Radiator Springs Racers was priceless! And seeing the wonder and fascination on the face of our granddaughter when she was in It's A Small World is something I will always treasure.

I'll try to finish my trip report this weekend by posting a few final thoughts about our trip. Thanks so much for reading along!

 

[disneyismyheart247]

Your grandchildren are absolutely ADORABLE! I'm so glad you all had a wonderful, West coast trip! Welcome to the West coast, by the way, even though you've been here for four years!

 

[luvflorida]

Your grandchildren are absolutely ADORABLE! I'm so glad you all had a wonderful, West coast trip! Welcome to the West coast, by the way, even though you've been here for four years!

Thank you so much! We are having a great time exploring this part of the country. And we're loving the winters in Tucson.

 

[luvflorida]

We've been home for a week and the grandkids are busy doing what kids do best...
...enjoying life!

A few final thoughts on our Disneyland trip

We loved every minute of our vacation, but two days was not enough to see all we wanted to see at Disneyland. If I had thought it through better, I would have added on a day and gotten 3-day park hopper tickets instead of 2-day park hoppers. We never made it to ToonTown and I know both kids would have liked that area of the park.

I also would have revisited some of the attractions, especially the Disney Junior Stage Show (Carter would have enjoyed seeing it again) and It's A Small World, Vanessa's favorite attraction!

I am so happy that we got to see Cars Land and I'm glad we got to experience just about everything there. Carter got to ride the Radiator Springs Racers four times, Mater's Junkyard Jamboree three times and Luigi's Flying Tires once. He met Lightning McQueen, Mater and Red, and had some Disney magic come his way when a CM singled him out and gave him a special button from Mater. He is one lucky, little boy, that's for sure!

I asked him about the three rides and what he liked best about each one. His favorite thing about Mater's Junkyard Jamboree was "the whipping around part."
His favorite thing about Luigi's Flying Tires was "the ball part" and his favorite thing about the Radiator Springs Racers was "the tractor tipping and Frank revving up." Carter also kept talking about the bridge that's high up on the mountain in the RSR ride. He kept saying how nobody could drive or walk over it. Funny that he even noticed that.

And when I asked him what he liked best about Cars Land, he said, "I liked it all really a lot!"

And, here's the best part...we are planning another trip to Disneyland sometime next April or May! It'll be just the girls this time. Well, except for Carter! Our younger daughter was busy with dance and work and couldn't join us this time, so she is planning to come along next spring with Megan, me, Carter and Vanessa. The grandkids adore their Auntie, and I'm sure they'll love having her with us.

So, that's the end of my trip report. Thank you all so much for reading along!

When you take your trip to Disneyland, I hope you have a magical vacation! And when you return from your trip, I hope you can say, like Carter, "I liked it all really a lot!"

 

[AngelDisney]

Have fun planning your next trip! Thanks for sharing your magical moments!! Best trip report I have ever read!!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Cute trip report, really enjoyed reading it. Glad you had a fabulous time and were able to spend so much time in Cars land!

 

[Thumper_Man]

Aaaaaand...here we are:

My husband, Larry, and me, Sharon.

I finally have a face to go with the name. Your husband's name will be easy to remember. That's my dad's name.

Been busy at work, so I just got started. I'll post as I go along. Bear with me as I catch up.

 

[Thumper_Man]

I had to laugh when I saw this picture. DW (Heather) and I have each been to US, but not together. We were discussing our individuals trips along with D'MIL. Neither Heather or D'MIL remember these stairs. I'll have to show her your pics to show her they do exist.

 

[Thumper_Man]

We ate dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

We have the HRC access pass that lets you accumulate points toward food or merchandise. It's their version of a rewards program. Hard Rock is changing over to a different rewards program and I had received an email a few weeks back stating that any accumulated points would expire on September 30th. So we used our points and dinner didn't cost us anything. Our waiter said he thought Hard Rock has since changed the policy and is now allowing points to be rolled over to the new program.

I have the All Access Card as well. I got the same email and I'll be doing the same thing you did. It would be nice if they would roll over the points, but it don't seem like they are. We'll probably eat there for lunch since I'm only $19 away from another $20 in credit. Then buy souvenirs at the end of the day.

 

[luvflorida]

Have fun planning your next trip! Thanks for sharing your magical moments!! Best trip report I have ever read!!!

Thank you so much! I had fun writing it and I tried to put in as many details as possible.

Cute trip report, really enjoyed reading it. Glad you had a fabulous time and were able to spend so much time in Cars land!

Cars Land was the main reason for the trip, so I am really happy we got to experience so much of it.

I finally have a face to go with the name. Your husband's name will be easy to remember. That's my dad's name.

Been busy at work, so I just got started. I'll post as I go along. Bear with me as I catch up.

Readers will be happy to see that I posted many, many more pics of the grandkids than I did of me! Thanks for taking the time to read my report!

I had to laugh when I saw this picture. DW (Heather) and I have each been to US, but not together. We were discussing our individuals trips along with D'MIL. Neither Heather or D'MIL remember these stairs. I'll have to show her your pics to show her they do exist.

Those stairs are crazy! I had no idea there were three sets of them. I thought I'd be on the lower level after the first set.

I have the All Access Card as well. I got the same email and I'll be doing the same thing you did. It would be nice if they would roll over the points, but it don't seem like they are. We'll probably eat there for lunch since I'm only $19 away from another $20 in credit. Then buy souvenirs at the end of the day.

I'm intereseted in seeing what the new program is all about.

 

[kmedina]

We were at DCA on the same Thursday and Friday. I am interested to read about how your days went. Subbing to read in a little bit.

 

[kmedina]

Your grandkids are beautiful. When we went to Disneyworld just after my older son’s third birthday, he was about 1/8” short of 40”. It was a bummer. For our Disneyland trip, he was about 1/8” short of 46” for Indy (although I think he did that on purpose). We’ve stayed at the Universal Hilton a few times. It is our hotel of choice in that area. I am glad you liked it. The walk to City Walk is fast from there too. Norman never used to be a part of the tour at US. What a cool addition. Sounds like you had a nice day there. I’ve never eaten at the Hard Rock there, but I like the one in Vegas.

I have never done any studio tours, but heard Universal will be getting a Harry Potter land in 2016 like the one in Orlando. We were excited to hear that. We love Johnny Rockets and Bubba Gump. Nice meal choices. It is weird seeing what RSR looks like from behind. That hotel really is close to your destination. Too bad there was not a whole for you to enter.

I love the look on Vanessa’s face when she got her Minnie plush. Then, Carter looked so cute with her too. We enjoyed that DtD drummer too each time we walked by him.

I am going to look for myself in your pictures now, since the 21st was our first day as well. I know what you mean about not much to do in Cars Land for babies. We were there that day for my son’s first birthday. It was sad when the height requirements were announced. He could not even ride anything in Cars Land! Glad you got the rider swap pass, so Carter could ride it a second time. Even though we know about rider swap, I never even thought to ask for them when he had people sit with Connor.

There are actually five cones that serve food. We ate from all five of them. The ice cream cone was the only one that really had a line for us as well. Even though I am not fond of IASW, I love Vanessa’s reaction to it. If we got reserved seating to a parade, I would watch them more often. That is nice Disney magic. We did Minnie’s breakfast on Saturday. Poor Vanessa with Captain Hook. I love the pictures of Carter at 17 months. My boys love the characters too. Connor mostly just stares at them while Xander really loves the interaction. Oh No. Vanessa did not like Pooh either!

My husband did the fastpass line for us the same days your husband did them for you. He was behind you guys the first day and in front of you the second day. We had River Belle Terrace for lunch the next day. I am bumming that I did not think about getting rider swap passes. We only got to ride it once each day rather than twice. Lesson learned for next time. Nice shots of them coming down. We watched the 6:20 Aladdin show the same day.

I liked Luigi’s Flying Tires a lot but my husband did not, so I know what you mean by mixed reviews. Looks like you had a great time at Cars Land. I never saw our group in any of your shots, and we had a large group. When I go through mine, I will have to look for you guys. If I find any, I will let you know.

My oldest always pretends to be a train and stares at himself in the mirror. He is Vanessa and Carter combined. I love the pictures so much. No matter who put the bucket on Vanessa’s head, I love the picture. It is adorable. The smocks they wear over their bathing suits are adorable. Mimi’s was a nice way to end the trip. DH loves that restaurant. We had three day park hoppers, and that was not enough either. I want to go for five on our next trip. DH has already been warned.

on returning next year. Glad your younger daughter gets to go with you next time.

I enjoyed reading your report and am glad you all had a great time. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[luvflorida]

There are actually five cones that serve food. We ate from all five of them. The ice cream cone was the only one that really had a line for us as well.

Thank you! I went back and made the correction in my report and fixed a few typos in the process!

Thank you so much for your detailed response! It sounds like we were in the same areas of the parks at close to the same times. It would be funny if we ended up in some of your pics, but of course, there were tons of people around, especially in Cars Land.

We got a big kick out of Vanessa and her bucket! We all cracked up when we looked over and saw her sitting there with it on her head! My daughter, Megan, even grabbed her camera and got a short video of Vanessa sitting there, singing to herself and swaying back and forth. If I figure out how to post it, I'll share it here.

I'll have to check out your trip report. I hope you and your family had a wonderful time at Disneyland!

 

[luvflorida]

I logged on to my photobucket account this evening and saw that many of my photos are missing. There are red Xs in the place of the photos, both in my photobucket album and therefore in this trip report.

It's especially frustrating because I recently paid for a year's membership for a pro account. I've sent an email to photobucket and hope they can fix the problem. Until then, I apologize for the missing photos.

Anyone else here using photobucket to upload photos? Anyone else having issues?

 

[kmedina]

I logged on to my photobucket account this evening and saw that many of my photos are missing. There are red Xs in the place of the photos, both in my photobucket album and therefore in this trip report.

It's especially frustrating because I recently paid for a year's membership for a pro account. I've sent an email to photobucket and hope they can fix the problem. Until then, I apologize for the missing photos.

Anyone else here using photobucket to upload photos? Anyone else having issues?

I just checked mine as well when I saw your post. Some of my pictures on the reports and photobucket have the red x as well. I do not have a paid membership. Hopefully, this is something they are working on, but I have seen other reports with the same problem over the past year or so.