Chance of Lightning & 25 Other Friends at Connor's First Birthday, Birthday Party!

[MrsTeddy]

oh and I love all your family intro photos! Nice start to the TR!

 

[jennyjinx3]

Don't think I would have been able to live the phone thing down! looking forward to more!

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

Oh My Gosh! I squealed with delight when I saw that bottle of True Blood. I love that show. I heard there was a drink made but that's the first time I have seen it. What I would give to find that.

 

[kmedina]

All caught up!!

I'm so glad you started!

Sounds liek things were off to an interesting start!

I'm a bit clumsy too, Les defintely woudl have shared with me tho!

He doens't let me drive either unless he has been drinking or is very very sick or tired. He's a control freak!!

I can't wait to read the rest!

Those boys of yours just get cuter and cuter I swear!!

Things definitely started off interesting.

Crap is not really into sharing his gadgets, but I share.

The more I think about Crap saying I am a bad driver, I think it is a control issue as well. He did not even want to let me drive one night when he had a huge mug of beer. Of course, I insisted. I never drink. If he has more than one small glass, I am driving us home whether he likes it or not.

Thank you. Your kids keep getting cuter too, so I know what you mean.

oh and I love all your family intro photos! Nice start to the TR!

Thanks. No one has complained about their photos here so far, so they either do not know or are okay with it.

Don't think I would have been able to live the phone thing down! looking forward to more!

I never live anything down with Crap. He has a teasing nature.

Oh My Gosh! I squealed with delight when I saw that bottle of True Blood. I love that show. I heard there was a drink made but that's the first time I have seen it. What I would give to find that.

I am not sure where on the West Coast you live. If you ever have to drive through Baker, Alien Fresh Jerky always sells them. They are also sold online, so you can have them shipped to your house. Crap loves the taste, but I do not.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

I am not sure where on the West Coast you live. If you ever have to drive through Baker, Alien Fresh Jerky always sells them. They are also sold online, so you can have them shipped to your house. Crap loves the taste, but I do not.

Just found it online and all I can say is,"HOLY BEJEEBERS BATMAN!" $15-20 for 4 of them! I guess I don't need it the bad.

 

[kmedina]

Just found it online and all I can say is,"HOLY BEJEEBERS BATMAN!" $15-20 for 4 of them! I guess I don't need it the bad.

I had no idea what they cost. Crap buys energy drinks all the time that cost around that or more, so I am not surprised they are that expensive. Based on my experience, I would say save your money. He would probably tell you to go for it anyway. On the bright side, we get to watch another episode in two days.

 

[kmedina]

Crap was at the front desk for a while. Other guests were coming up and quickly leaving. Apparently, the cast member had a hard time locating our itinerary. After multiple trips to the back office, her co-worker finally located it. Even with my emails trapped in the phone, I had everything seared into my memory. We did not need it, but it was a nice touch. It would have been a nicer touch if it was ready when we checked in though. One of my reservations was missing from it as well, so it was not complete.

Our room was in the Adventure Tower, which was outside of the main building.

Our room number was 2047. It was just off the elevator, which was convenient with the large double stroller. As soon as we walked up to our room, we saw the following banner.

Xander was excited when he saw it. We were about to see the eagerly anticipated in room celebration. It would not disappoint either.

The first thing we noticed when we walked in is that Mickey left his footprints all over the room.

There was a huge gift box from Mickey and a plush on the bed.

There was a happy birthday banner on the window.

We found Tinkerbell near the banner. She landed on the large window. I never found a switch to turn her off, so we left her in the window behind the curtains during the day. It took a few days before the battery died and the light went out. Connor loved Tinkerbell and stared at her anytime the curtains were open. He must have been attracted to the flashing light she had that changed colors.

There was a large balloon that played happy birthday anytime it was tapped. This ended up being a huge source of entertainment for the kids. Both boys played with this thing endlessly when we were in the room. Connor enjoyed it so much that he had uncontrollable fits of laughter at times when playing with it. Crap said the in room celebration was worth every penny for the balloon alone. Unfortunately, we had to pop it to pack it into the car when we left the hotel.

There were other balloons as well. Connor liked those too, but he enjoyed the jelly beans in the yellow container more. Of course, I cut them into very small pieces before giving them to him.

There was an autograph book signed by Mickey himself. Xander wrote Connor a message, but we chose not to bring it into the parks. When the boys are old enough to ask the characters for autographs themselves, we will carry the books. Of course, Xander just likes to draw in his and does not like the characters or anyone else writing in it. I told Xander that Connor may not have wanted Xander to write in his book, but he did it before I even noticed. The message says tomorrow is Connor’s B-day. We will teach him how to spell tomorrow when he gets a little older.

The Happy birthday ear hat did not fit Connor, but Aaron told me they did not have an infant size. Xander played with it while we were in the room. Since it was too big, we never took it out of the room. One day, it will fit. We may just have to return on his birthday so he can wear it.

Once we saw everything that was spread throughout the room, it was time to open the box. Connor was immediately attracted to the birthday necklace that was around the stuffed Mickey’s neck. He wore and played with that in the park all day on his birthday. The box was mostly filled with paper, which Crap found very funny. There was a light up Mickey, which Connor loved playing with. It also had a picture frame and a Hidden Mickey book. Some items like the book are above his age range, but overall Aaron was right that the in room celebration was the better way to go over a basket. They have other packages available too, so we may do another one in the future.

I thought the box everything came in was cute, so I tried to save it. Connor destroyed the lid, and Xander destroyed the box our first full day we were back at our house. At least, they had a great time destroying it. They would each climb into the part that fit them. It was really cute to watch even though the box was a goner.

After we thoroughly enjoyed the in room celebration, we explored the room a little. The first thing that caught my eye was the pillow. There was a blue one on the Dream that I loved a lot. It was nice to see it again. This time, there was a Queen sized bed next to it. Putting the pillows from both beds together would complete the phrase.

The headboard above the bed was stunning. It was a castle that lit up with fireworks. When you first turned it on, it played music. Xander loved the lights so much that he complained every night when we turned them off to go to sleep. I will admit that the headboard was pretty magical for me as well.

Crap worked most nights, so he would spend a lot of time at that desk. Since his employer was nice enough to give him 2.5 days off after 4.5 months of employment, I did not complain too much. Even though the room was smaller than its WDW counterpart, we found it spacious enough to park the double stroller in the corner without folding it.

Disney details were all over the room as well. We saw Mickey’s glove holding the light fixtures in the bathroom.

The sink handles even had the Mickey silhouette.

I heard the rooms were renovated in 2010, so everything was on par with what I expected. The headboard is way more beautiful in person than in pictures though. It took my breath away. Crap on the other hand was pleasantly surprised with the room. He wanted to stay at no hotel other than the Grand Californian. Since the rates were higher than our recent stay at the Grand Floridian, I protested. We will stay there one day I promised when we can get a discount or if the rates come down. If I can ever convince him to buy DVC at a time when we could actually afford it, that would be the perfect time to stay there.

Xander was very happy that we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. He keeps asking me why we’ve never stayed at the Disneyworld Hotel. I have yet to convince him that there is not one. After hearing this kid say we need to stay there for weeks now, I think Disney really should build a Disneyworld Hotel.

It was after 8pm at this point, and we were all ready to eat. With no reservations and all of us in a good enough mood to dine at a sit down restaurant, we ventured out into Downtown Disney in search of a restaurant we could walk into without a reservation.

The in room celebration was even visible on our way out the door. We kept the banner up through our whole stay just as Aaron suggested. It was a nice thing to see every time we entered or exited the room.

 

[shan23877]

The in-room surprise looks amazing! The pictures of Connor with all of his loot are awesome! I'm really glad that he liked everything so much. Isn't it funny how the box becomes the toy? Maddie has every toy known to man, but her favorite thing right now is one of the boxes from the move. She's making a theater for the princess to put on musicals.

Ok, that room is stunning! The headboard looks awesome. And those pillows are great, I may have to try to buy them somewhere. I'll bet that DTD has them.

Disney better get started on the Dineyworld Hotel. I wonder if they'll break ground on the Princess Resort for Maddie at the same time? Aren't kids funny?

I've been watching Friends for 3 nights now, and just saw the Vegas episodes tonight. Thought of you of course.

And speaking of clumsy? I'm fine from my fight with the screen door, but today I fell down the stairs. Luckily we have a hot tub to soak my aching back.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lovely in-room surprise. They were all nice touches.

Thanks for sharing pictures of the room. I've never really considered staying on-site at DLR given how many options there are in Anaheim for good neighbours.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice pics from the DLH room. I like how you got a set up a surprise birthday room for Connor with all those gifts and balloons.

You did mention that Crap wanted to stay at the GCH while you wanted to stay at PPH. But the DLH is a nice hotel to stay at and just like you said that it got renovated the last couple of years.

That is very interesting to hear from Xander saying "why we’ve never stayed at the Disney World Hotel". There are so many different types of hotels at WDW. Maybe when he gets older, you need to show him the list and pictures of all the hotels at WDW and convince him that there is no Disney World Hotel. It would be interesting to see if they have a hotel called Disney World Hotel at WDW.

Nice job of the update of your room and can't wait to read more.

 

[kmedina]

The in-room surprise looks amazing! The pictures of Connor with all of his loot are awesome! I'm really glad that he liked everything so much. Isn't it funny how the box becomes the toy? Maddie has every toy known to man, but her favorite thing right now is one of the boxes from the move. She's making a theater for the princess to put on musicals.

Ok, that room is stunning! The headboard looks awesome. And those pillows are great, I may have to try to buy them somewhere. I'll bet that DTD has them.

Disney better get started on the Dineyworld Hotel. I wonder if they'll break ground on the Princess Resort for Maddie at the same time? Aren't kids funny?

I've been watching Friends for 3 nights now, and just saw the Vegas episodes tonight. Thought of you of course.

And speaking of clumsy? I'm fine from my fight with the screen door, but today I fell down the stairs. Luckily we have a hot tub to soak my aching back.

Connor and/or Xander loved every piece in the celebration. Aaron was right about doing that over a customized basket order. I loved that box so much, but the boys had so much fun playing with it. You are so right about kids playing with the box when you buy them gifts. At least they always find something they like. Setting up a box for theater sounds like a great idea. Maddie must be having a lot of fun with that.

The room really was nice. Even though the Grand Floridian was techincally nicer, I preferred the looks of this room better. Without a doubt, the touches in this room were nicer. We had that pillow on the Dream too, and it was my favorite touch from the room. It was so nice to see it again. That headboard was stunning.

As cool as the Art of Animation Hotel sounds, I think The Disneyworld Hotel would have been better. It could have a princess wing, although I think AoA does have a Little Mermaid section, right?

I love Friends. The Vegas episodes make me laugh. My favorite is the one with Phoebe and the old lady who follows her to play her machines. That really happens here. Some people wait for you to leave on a machine they think will hit. My Dad always tells me about people doing that to him. It really gets his goat when someone gets a jackpot on a machine he just finished playing.

We have hardwood floors. I wanted to do the stairs with hardwood too, but Crap said it would be too slippery. Even with carpet, Crap, Xander and I have all fallen down the stairs. Some of us have done it more than others. Luckily, we've never gotten too hurt. Hopefully, that hot tub made you feel better. How lucky you are to have a hot tub!

Lovely in-room surprise. They were all nice touches.

Thanks for sharing pictures of the room. I've never really considered staying on-site at DLR given how many options there are in Anaheim for good neighbours.

I am glad the in room celebration turned out as well as it did. Crap gave me a hard time about ordering it, since he claimed Connor would not remember any of it. He turned one, so I doubt he will remember anything from the trip.

We had always wanted to stay onsite but never did. There are so many good neighbor hotels that are nicer and cheaper, so we always changed our minds before. I am glad we finally did it though. Going into the trip, I thought we would stay there and cross that off our to do list. Even though the benefits of staying on site are nowhere near as great as they are at Disneyworls, I still felt immersed in the magic more than when we stay offsite. Crap did not agree with me on that point, so we will see where he wants to stay on our next trip there.

Very nice pics from the DLH room. I like how you got a set up a surprise birthday room for Connor with all those gifts and balloons.

You did mention that Crap wanted to stay at the GCH while you wanted to stay at PPH. But the DLH is a nice hotel to stay at and just like you said that it got renovated the last couple of years.

That is very interesting to hear from Xander saying "why we’ve never stayed at the Disney World Hotel". There are so many different types of hotels at WDW. Maybe when he gets older, you need to show him the list and pictures of all the hotels at WDW and convince him that there is no Disney World Hotel. It would be interesting to see if they have a hotel called Disney World Hotel at WDW.

Nice job of the update of your room and can't wait to read more.

I loved that the in-room celebration was ready for us when we arrived. Connor may not remember it, but I will always remember the way Connor and Xander reacted to it.

I wanted to stay at Paradise Pier, because it was cheaper. It would have given me a larger shopping budget. As it turned out, our shopping budget was fine. Every time someone canceled coming to lunch, my shopping budget went up. Crap wanted to stay at The Grand Californian, because he was convinced that the other two hotels were sub-par. He was pleased with The Disneyland Hotel and admitted that it was nicer than he expected. Everything worked out nicely.

Right now, there is no convincing Xander there is no Disneyworld Hotel. If it is that obvious to a five year old that there should be one since Disneyland has one, Disney should really get with it and build one. I would stay there no matter what category it was placed in. When he gets older, I will show him that it does not exist if Disney is not smart enough to build one by then.

Thanks.

 

[Velvetia]

I'm joining in! Really enjoying your trip report so far - the in-room celebration looks awesome...and that light up headboard just gorgeous. Can't wait to read more .

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

I had no idea what they cost. Crap buys energy drinks all the time that cost around that or more, so I am not surprised they are that expensive. Based on my experience, I would say save your money. He would probably tell you to go for it anyway. On the bright side, we get to watch another episode in two days.

Woo hoo, now I need to get caught up on the last 2 episodes tonight.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey]

I'm so glad you were able to find something for Connor. I've seen a package similar to that from Disney Florist that I've been thinking about getting. After seeing Connor and Xander's reaction, I really want to do that now!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I loved that the in-room celebration was ready for us when we arrived. Connor may not remember it, but I will always remember the way Connor and Xander reacted to it.

I wanted to stay at Paradise Pier, because it was cheaper. It would have given me a larger shopping budget. As it turned out, our shopping budget was fine. Every time someone canceled coming to lunch, my shopping budget went up. Crap wanted to stay at The Grand Californian, because he was convinced that the other two hotels were sub-par. He was pleased with The Disneyland Hotel and admitted that it was nicer than he expected. Everything worked out nicely.

Right now, there is no convincing Xander there is no Disneyworld Hotel. If it is that obvious to a five year old that there should be one since Disneyland has one, Disney should really get with it and build one. I would stay there no matter what category it was placed in. When he gets older, I will show him that it does not exist if Disney is not smart enough to build one by then.

Thanks.

The in-room celebration will be something that you will remember for a long time. When he gets older he will appreciate it a lot.

PPH is the cheapest out of the three DLR hotels. Good thing that when someone cancels during lunch at WCT it saved you some money so you can do some shopping. The GCH is not a cheap hotel and after DLH got the renovation, it did seem like it would be a great place to stay. I haven't stayed at the DLH in ages. It would be nice to stay there one day, but if I do that I would have to cut back on my trips since one day at any of the three DLR hotels could be 2 to 5 days staying at a hotel across the street from the DLR. I would rather go there multiple times at other hotels. I would love to stay at the DLH with the renovations.

For now, but he will later on. It will be very interesting to see if WDW makes a Disney World hotel. But after the new Disney's Art of Animation Resort, it will be awhile until they do another hotel property. I would like to stay at the Cars room.

 

[kmedina]

I'm joining in! Really enjoying your trip report so far - the in-room celebration looks awesome...and that light up headboard just gorgeous. Can't wait to read more .

The in room celebration was better than I expected, and the headboard was more stunning in person than in pictures. We were very happy staying there.

Woo hoo, now I need to get caught up on the last 2 episodes tonight.

They were really good ones.

I'm so glad you were able to find something for Connor. I've seen a package similar to that from Disney Florist that I've been thinking about getting. After seeing Connor and Xander's reaction, I really want to do that now!

Disneyland has such a small selection from the Disney Florist. They really need to get with it. The one that shocked me the most was that they have no Mickey Rice Krispie treats. I think Peyton would love it.

The in-room celebration will be something that you will remember for a long time. When he gets older he will appreciate it a lot.

PPH is the cheapest out of the three DLR hotels. Good thing that when someone cancels during lunch at WCT it saved you some money so you can do some shopping. The GCH is not a cheap hotel and after DLH got the renovation, it did seem like it would be a great place to stay. I haven't stayed at the DLH in ages. It would be nice to stay there one day, but if I do that I would have to cut back on my trips since one day at any of the three DLR hotels could be 2 to 5 days staying at a hotel across the street from the DLR. I would rather go there multiple times at other hotels. I would love to stay at the DLH with the renovations.

For now, but he will later on. It will be very interesting to see if WDW makes a Disney World hotel. But after the new Disney's Art of Animation Resort, it will be awhile until they do another hotel property. I would like to stay at the Cars room.

I agree with you. If I had to spend less to get more trips, I would do it in heartbeat. Knowing we are not likely to get back anytime soon with Crap's new job and Xander's school about to start, I am glad we did everything we did.

The Art of Animation Hotel looks awesome. I cannot wait to read about your stay when you finally get there.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The Art of Animation Hotel looks awesome. I cannot wait to read about your stay when you finally get there.

It looks amazing and not all of the hotels at the Art of Animation are not opened yet. When I read about the Art of Animation carefully, it is all suites and no standard rooms. So it won't be cheap to stay at the Art of Animation hotel. I possibly won't be going there anytime soon since I have time share points with RCI. If I ever go back to WDW, my group will be staying at the Sheraton Vistana Resort.

 

[kmedina]

It looks amazing and not all of the hotels at the Art of Animation are not opened yet. When I read about the Art of Animation carefully, it is all suites and no standard rooms. So it won't be cheap to stay at the Art of Animation hotel. I possibly won't be going there anytime soon since I have time share points with RCI. If I ever go back to WDW, my group will be staying at the Sheraton Vistana Resort.

I thought one of the four wings was going to have regular rooms. The Suites sound cooll. Until my family is bigger and/or older, I would not want to pay extra for one. Knowing our luck, the regular one will be the girlie one. Crap has a hard time allowing us to do girlie things.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I thought one of the four wings was going to have regular rooms. The Suites sound cooll. Until my family is bigger and/or older, I would not want to pay extra for one. Knowing our luck, the regular one will be the girlie one. Crap has a hard time allowing us to do girlie things.

The standard rooms will be in the Little Mermaid building while the others will be suites. I was hoping that the Cars building will have standards, but that is only for the LM buildings. That's what I read on the WDW website. The suites are very well themed from the movies.

 

[kmedina]

The standard rooms will be in the Little Mermaid building while the others will be suites. I was hoping that the Cars building will have standards, but that is only for the LM buildings. That's what I read on the WDW website. The suites are very well themed from the movies.

Unless I have a daughter, I doubt I can convince Crap to stay in The Little Mermaid Wing. The boys would probably love the Cars Wing.