Carter gives Cars Land two thumbs up!

[luvflorida]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

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]

Originally Posted by 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

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]

Originally Posted by 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!

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]

Originally Posted by luvflorida

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]

Originally Posted by luvflorida

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]

Originally Posted by luvflorida

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]

Originally Posted by AngelDisney

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.

Originally Posted by 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!

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

Originally Posted by Thumper_Man

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!

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

Originally Posted by Thumper_Man

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.