OK, after a busy weekend I am back with Day 2. Don't worry, we'll get to the parks next!
Day 2 -- Church, check-in, and crowds (Mar. 10, 2013)
Most everyone in America lost an hour that night. Not us. Coming from AZ, we were already on the "right" time and didn't reset anything that night when we arrived. Come morning, we were conveniently already on Daylight Savings Time.
We did let everyone sleep in. My boys (especially DS8) are early risers but the girls are Sleeping Beauties and DD13 was finally pried out of bed for breakfast about 9:30.
We brought nice clothes for late-morning church with my parents -- Grandma loves to show off the grandkids. Since we had everyone freshly scrubbed, I made sure to get some pictures of the kids and my parents.
I figured I should jump in one picture. I went looking for photos of myself with my mother a few years back and the few I could find from my adult years were usually my mother with me, holding a newborn. Not exactly my best look!
We came home for a late lunch and my kids devoured my mother's kitchen. I always think they are so messy when we travel, but then I remember it's because there's no dog hoovering up the crumbs under the table!
Before the kids changed, I handed out the T-shirts and got a positive response. Everyone agreed to wear them the next day.
We repacked everything and finally left for Disneyland
about 3:00. During the short drive across Katella, I craned my neck to spot DCA, finally seeing a section of the Screamin' tunnel. We got to the Paradise Pier Hotel about 3:45. At the front entrance, I grabbed DS16, DD13 and our luggage (3 big suitcases and a cooler) and went inside. DH got directions to go back to the parking garage.
There were about 3 people in front of me waiting to check in and I restrained my usual impatience looking around. DH and the little kids had parked (in the surface lot outside the parking garage) and joined us by the time we checked in.
We got our keys and all was going well until they tried to print the World of Color Fastpasses that were part of the AP rate deal. They finally admitted they couldn't print them due to a system glitch. I wasn't real worried because I didn't need them until Wednesday, so I left.
Our rooms were on the 5th floor, 535 and 537. That's the north end, sort of overlooking the pool patio (none of which was in use because the pool was closed). I was a little disappointed to not get an upgrade, but it was exactly what we'd ordered. The low floor came in handy in the mornings -- we just went down the north stairs and outside, bypassing the elevators and the lobby.
The kids had to bounce on all the beds and toss around the beach ball pillows after DH and I claimed our room from the two connecting. We put our cold stuff -- milk, OJ, grapes -- into one fridge and some small electronics into the safe.
We went downstairs to take a picture with Goofy:
FINALLY, we were ready to walk over to DTD. We thought it would be a good time to test out the shortcut through the GCH (which was readily provided at check-in by the staff with a map and directions). After only one or two wrong turns -- DH was leading at the time, not sure why? -- we emerged into DTD.
We strolled a bit and then I left the family at World of Disney to go upgrade my ticket to an AP and activate my Photopass Plus.
The first sign of trouble was the lines at the ticket booths:
For 4:30 on a Sunday, they were long-looking. I was still a little confused about the process, so I went to the gates (20 people deep to get in) and asked how I upgraded. They told me I could go into the park and have my picture taken, but I would still need to return to the ticket booths for the actual upgrade.
And then I realized --
I didn't even have my Photopass Plus voucher with me! 
It was safely back in the hotel!!! At this point I abandoned my initial plan and returned to the family. I'd have to go back later once I had my act together.
Sidebar: We'd discussed how we all knew people going to Disneyland that week and made it a little game to see who spotted someone they knew first. DD13 won, in the first hour in DTD, when she spotted someone from school.
Everyone voted for dinner, despite the late lunch. I pointed out Tortilla Joe's Taqueria (the CS part) and we agreed to find something there. I knew we wouldn't be eating a lot of Mexican food inside the parks, so it seemed liked a different option.
It was OK. They made our order pretty quickly and I was annoyed I didn't already have my AP for the discount. The quesadillas and DH's steak burrito were good; my chicken tacos were just OK. The kids meal side choices were not as good -- little rabbit DD10 wanted the "salad" and they told her it was just shredded lettuce.
They got fruit and cookies instead. The cookies were hard and basically inedible.
We went into a couple more stores, including the newly remodeled
Lego store ...
... but I could tell the family (at least the male half) was getting tired of shopping. It was fairly busy all around.
We all went back to the hotel so the kids could poke around their room and see what was on TV. I got my Photopass Plus voucher and the gift cards I was going to use for the AP upgrade. DS16 said he wanted to come along, so I told him I would enjoy the company. He is so busy these days that I rarely get one-on-one time with him.
We fought our way through DTD and went through security. The line for the ticket booths was still as long, but it only ended up being about a 20 minute wait (our first Disneyland line! I told DS). The nametag on the girl at the ticket booth was from Chandler, which is very close to us. She said she had started on a college program but was now a seasonal employee. It took a few minutes for the upgrade and I was then the very proud owner of a Deluxe AP!!
Since DS16 didn't have a ticket, he waited outside on the esplanade while I went into Disneyland to get my Photopass voucher and have my picture taken. I found the camera shop pretty quickly but couldn't resist taking one quick shot of the castle.
Note the mass of humanity in the foreground. I'm glad we didn't try to enter the parks that night. It was busy and we would have been tired and grumpy to start our vacation.
The Photopass activation went swiftly and then the cameraman right in the store entrance took my picture for the AP (remember this; it becomes a saga later)
I resisted the urge to do
just one ride and rejoined DS. We were glad we had our jackets when it cooled off quickly after the sun went down.
Back at the PPH, I put together my park bag for the next day and convinced the kids to go to bed at 8:30 since we would be up early. I was worried they would be too hyper to fall asleep, but they all must have conked out quick -- none of them heard the fireworks booms an hour later.
PHXscuba
I actually feel kind of bad for her -- her car was likely totaled, her already sky-high rates will go up if she can even keep the insurance. Me, I have different van for a month. In the grand scheme of things it is a small blip for me.
There are a lot of water activities almost anywhere you go, including some great water parts, lots of little (very little) rivers and lakes, etc. There are some really cool things in Arizona (like our cabin, which is at an elevation of about 9500 feet), and some really beautiful, interesting places, but we usually vacationed in California. 
Obviously I made it from the PPH to the GCH just fine - it's hard to miss the GCH right across the street - but I took a wrong turn once inside the GCH and didn't end up where I wanted to be. Then I had to backtrack. (And, coincidentally, it was also when I was headed to the ticket booths to take care of getting my AP!
