Surprise! We're going to Disneyland...with Cass, Rob & Kira

[jenseib]

What????!!!!!???? They took those potatoes off the menu? That really is dumb!
Those suites look great. I thought the one we toured was nice but these make that one look like a butlers apartment.
So did the minecraft legos get purchased while she was with daddy?? hahaha. Claire is a huge lego fan. I don't mind them....sure don't want to step on one though..it ranks in pain with child birth.

You are good at spotting stars. I could be standing next to one and have no clue. My friend was at DL in Jan and she saw quite a few too.

 

[cntkg1]

Wow Wow Wow! What amazing pics, Cass! They are so clear it makes me feel like I was right there with you!

Loving your trippie. Keep it going.

 

[Disney127]

Hello fellow Calgarian! Enjoy reading your trip report, sounds like you all had a great trip! Can't wait to read more. Also, love the photos!

 

[Timon]

She wore it every single day and it wasn't really white by the time we left *** yeah, it was more gray when we got home.

**********
They were pretty darn awesome, especially since we could watch them from bed

I forgot to put the channel on the TV with the music though and some of my shots had Captain Jack Sparrow in them from the reflection

You forgot to mention the sirens about 30min later only for us to find out there was a fire at Small World the next day.

I was going to mention it in the post about the next evening

That hotel has so many nostalgic details. We went to Trader Sam's when we were there, but did not go into the hotel- so thanks for the tour. The CL lounge view is impressive!

The elevator lady sounds very sexy! Interesting choice for the DL hotel!

LOL, right??? A little too...suggestive maybe

Gosh I am missing that hotel!!! I really want to go there right now!
You guys had a great view...nothing like watching fireworks right from your bed.
I am glad you got to do the slides this time around....I still don't get why they close at 5!
The elevators were so funny and I totally forgot about them till you reminded me. Yes the GC one was more perky and she was always excited to say LOBBY!!!! and going up...but when going down she made it sound sad.
I can't remember but do they have refillable mugs at DL? It seems like we were trying to figure it out last year and they did but it was more limited??? Or I could be crazy.
I love the early morning walk! I had such issues sleeping in with our time change. It does make it nice to be able to hit rope drop though and not be dead tired.

I totally forgot about the elevator until I heard it Jen!!! Then I remembered how much fun we had with it last year

No, I don't think they have the refillable mugs but his coffee and a mug was only $6 so why not?

Yes, the early morning walks are awesome, good for pics and good for the soul

Loved the DLH pic on the empty street!

Thanks, it wonderfully quiet and peaceful walking down there

Great trip report! Love Kira's purse - it is exactly appropriate! Dani would like one too, so I might have to do some shopping soon. Kira took a great picture of you eating breakfast! Loved the Darth LMAO! And really like that hoodie on you! Can't wait to read more.

Her purse kind of sucked because after putting sunscreen on her legs on Wednesday, the pattern rubbed off!!! We couldn't figure out why her legs were blue and purple??? Then we noticed her purse! Both sides have almost completely rubbed off

I bought that hoodie the year before and kind of forgot about it! Didn't start wearing it until a few months ago It's my fave hoodie ever!

Did you make that Autograph book? If so where, and what do the inside pages look like? I would love to do something like that for my son's first trip next month.

I did make the autograph book

http://cassworld.ca/autograph.htm

What????!!!!!???? They took those potatoes off the menu? That really is dumb!
Those suites look great. I thought the one we toured was nice but these make that one look like a butlers apartment.
So did the minecraft legos get purchased while she was with daddy?? hahaha. Claire is a huge lego fan. I don't mind them....sure don't want to step on one though..it ranks in pain with child birth.

You are good at spotting stars. I could be standing next to one and have no clue. My friend was at DL in Jan and she saw quite a few too.

I was so mad about the darn potatoes Jen! I was even planning on ordering extra this time

Yeah, definitely made the 1-bedroom suite was saw look tiny! However, I wouldn't complain about being in any of them

Yes, of course she bought those Legos with her Daddy!

I remember last year, I spotted a couple and you were like WHO??

Wow Wow Wow! What amazing pics, Cass! They are so clear it makes me feel like I was right there with you!

Loving your trippie. Keep it going.

Awww thanks Nanc I wish you were there

 

[Timon]

We vegged in the room for a bit. Kira was having earring issues, the ones that she chose to wear were giving her some problems and her ear was really starting to hurt.

I went to DD in search of some new ones for her as well as a Sharpie.

The earrings were an easy choice, found something at the Silver store but the Sharpie was a no-go. I decided to check the World of Disney one last time but couldn't find anything. Finally, I asked a CM if she knew where I could get Sharpies around DD. She said no, she couldn't think of a place and as I thanked her and started to walk away she said "Can't think of a single place to buy them" as she took a Sharpie out of her pocket and handed it over to me!

I said "Seriously???"

and she just smiled back and said "Seriously!" and handed it over to me!

Talk about Disney magic

After I got back, I promised Kira some pool time


Kira and I spent a little over an hour at the pool then back to the room for Kira's bath. Originally, the weather for today was supposed to be really nice so I figured we would spend a few hours at the pool so I made dinner reservations for 7:30 in order for us to have some pool time. Since it was pretty cold that night, we were done by 6pm and we were all pretty hungry.

I went down to see if they could fit us in earlier and the CM I spoke to was rather unfriendly! She said IF my whole party was there, she could check me in but I probably wouldn't get in earlier. She made it sound like it was crime to try to change my reservation time

Back to the room where we munched on some snacks until 7pm. We checked in and had to pay in advance, price, tax and tip! I thought it was weird because usually you get your bill AFTER you eat or in some cases, you have to prepay the entire amount when you make your reservation, but only in WDW.

After paying, we got in line to get our pic with Goofy. This was a cute little change from last year because he has his own little kitchen now! Last year, he was just tucked in to a little plain corner.

After pics, we sat and waited, along with a billion other people, for our names to be called. It was about a 30 minute wait and it seemed like people who checked in WAY after us were getting seated well before us. It was the longest and hardest wait we had for ANYTHING the entire week!

We were all kind of petering out by the time we were called, to be honest. Eating at 7:35pm was just too late for us for this trip. I only had one other later reservation for the rest of the week and I was able to stop there the next day and change it to an earlier time.

Before we even sat down, Pluto showed up!!! Man, that was QUICK I was a little bummed cus I just wanted to eat and I knew that Rob and Kira felt the same way

A fun visit from Pluto lifted our moods and then I sent Rob and Kira off to grab some food while I waited for our server to place drink orders.

Food was pretty good, atmosphere was a little chaotic though. It didn't help that they had this guy go around with a little cart, filling it with dirty dishes. The dude just SLAMMED the dishes in there, it was so loud! I got a headache before my meal even began from all the noise! You can see the cart in the background here...

Rob's first plate..

And second...

And mine...hush! I am carb-loading

The best thing on my plate were those scalloped potatoes on the left. Before I could take a second bite, Minnie stopped by...

Then a few minutes later, Chip, who sat on Kira's lap LOL!

Between getting the camera ready, the camcorder ready, the sharpie and her autograph book ready and the fact that the characters never used the same rotation to visit the tables, I barely got to eat! I was getting a little annoyed to be honest.

Dale danced with Kira...

By the time I was able to go for seconds, the scalloped potato dish had been removed. I waited patiently for a new one to arrive but after about five minutes, I asked one of the cooks how long it would be and that is when they told me there was no more!!!!!!!

WHAT??????

I was SO bummed!!! It was the only thing I really wanted!!!!

I got back to the table and moped a little. Then Kira wanted to check out the desserts so I went up with her.

Kira was getting cold and VERY tired and I was still bummed. The only one that was happy was Rob...he was still eating. That man loves a buffet

Rob was so stuffed, he could barely walk LOL! Kira and I were fading fast, so glad the room was right there! We all crashed immediately, dreaming of our first park day tomorrow!


*Edited to add*

I forgot that we had intended to watch the fireworks again from bed. We let Kira watch the Bedtime stories on the TV until just before 9. I called Guest Services to find out what channel they play the music on but she told me that due to unforeseen circumstances that the fireworks were cancelled.

Hmm, well we knew what those circumstances were as the night before, part of it's a small world caught on fire during the fireworks! Guess they didn't want a repeat of that so they were shutting it down. Oh well, no fireworks for us until Friday!

 

[Tricia's mom]

Hmmmm, I think the banging dish cart has scared me away..... Sounds like the dirty chef Mickey at Wdw.

 

[southbound]

Hmmmm only 3 kinds of potatoes on your plate!

You have some great photos of Kira, Cass.

 

[Timon]

Finally our first park day!!!

We were up around 6 so I made Rob a fruit salad and Kira some toast and then hopped in the shower. The shower was barely warm I was hoping it was just bad timing and that Rob would have hot water after me but he didn't and he wasn't very happy. I am okay with a cool shower but Rob likes is HOT!

Rob grabbed some coffee and a chocolate croissant as we headed through Downtown Disney just after 8am to get there for the 9am Early Entry.

Got in line with the rest of the Disneyland Hotel guests and waited until just before 9AM when they opened the gates.

We handed over our e-tickets and were given our regular park tickets. We had to sign them and get our photo attached via their little scanner and then we walked up to Rope Drop.

We marched swiftly with the herds after they lowered the rope and we were joined just at the entrance to Carsland by the guests who used the Grand Californian's entrance. We beat them, but just barely!

Stayed to the right and walked down to Radiator Springs Racers. We joined the queue and a few minutes later it was stopped. They announced that the ride was currently not running but I knew that it was a common occurrence so we just stayed put! It was barely two minutes later that we started moving again, right onto the ride!

Rob and Kira were very excited for their first ride on RSR as I had told them how totally wicked it was!

We all loved it, it was just so awesome! Disney really got it right with Carsland! The whole area is just amazing!

Here is the "race" part of the ride I took on my phone a couple days later...

In the weeks leading up to this trip, Kira and I watched several movies together which I knew would be beneficial to enjoying the rides that much more. She didn't know why we were watching Cars, Alice in Wonderland, A Bug's Life, Snow White, Indiana Jones (3 of them!) and a few others but I am glad we watched them because most of them she had completely forgotten about!

Funny thing is she would point stuff out to me (like a sign that said Indiana Jones) and would say "Look Mommy!!! We just watched that!" and then I shared another secret with her and replied "All the movies that we watched together recently have something to do with an attraction found here at Disneyland"

MIND BLOWN!!!



She had the biggest eyes when she asked "There is an Indiana Jones ride here???????"

She was so happy and excited when I said yes, however, I wasn't sure she would actually do the ride. She is a HUGE ride chicken! I don't know how two thrill ride junkies created a ride chicken but she won't do anything unless it is pretty tame!

She even grumbled a little about RSR because it gave her "butterflies"

We saw Mater "greeting" guests as we walked by the Cozy Cone, so we stopped to say hi.

Then it was off to what turned out to be one of her favourite rides ever...

She LOVED Mater's Junkyard Jamboree!!!

We did too, actually

The music is fun and quirky and the ride is deceivingly fast and the best part is that there were never any line-ups!

After Mater, it was time to run over to do Toy Story Midway Mania before EE was over. That's when we noticed the sky...

We did a turn on on Toy Story then headed back towards California Screamin' so Rob could go on.

Kira and I watched and waited and then waved to Daddy when he went by. By then it had started to sprinkle. Rob took Kira on to King Triton's Carousel while I hopped into the single rider line for the coaster that Rob was just on. By the time I got on the coaster, it was raining pretty good.

I tried to record the whole ride on my phone but the rain was pelting me and was getting pretty wet so all I got was the take off...

By the time I was done on the coaster, it was POURING!!! I found Rob and Kira under the Carousel, near the exit. Rob went in search of some ponchos because we were all getting really wet and it didn't look like it was going to stop raining anytime soon.

The original plan was to do all rides at the Pier but we would have gotten even wetter because none of them provide shelter. Kira was getting really cold at this point so we stopped at a store over near Corn Dog Castle and I bought myself a hoodie and promptly put it on Kira. It was way too big on her obviously but at least it would help to keep her warm!

We waited until 11am for CDC (okay, that is NOT a good acronym) to open and then since we were all hungry anyway, we grabbed an early lunch.

Kira has only ever had a few corn dogs in her short little life but I knew she would like them and I have been hankering for one of these babies since last year so we got one each. And guess what? She ate every single bite!!!

And thus begun a new food love for my kid Every meal going forward she asked for a corn dog

It was still pouring by the time we were done so Rob decided to go back to the hotel and get new clothes for him and Kira and new shoes for Kira as well since hers were soaked and her poor little feeties were freezing!

Kira and I continued on in the rain.

By the way...apart from feeling terrible knowing my family was so cold, I was LOVING the weather!!! I have not seen any real rain since last summer and it hardly rained at all last year at home so I was on

 

[Tricia's mom]

How did Kira like the Indiana jones movies.... I was going to show it to my dd ( almost 8) before our trip...not sure if it will entertain her ....??? I haven't seen it in years.

 

[Crustysgirl]

What a bummer about the potatoes at both places!!
I love the character meals for the characters, but they can be kind of a bummer with food because it's hard to eat. Sorry you guys were so hungry. I hate when restaurants make you pay before especially with the tip. How are you supposed to know how much to leave when you have no idea if your service is going to be good or not.
Kira is so cute with her new found love of corndogs.
Glad you enjoyed the rain!

 

[Kiren]

So far I've only been reading TR's for cruises but now I'm hooked! Seeing your pictures and hearing your stories is like reliving my trip all over again! We stayed at Disneyland Hotel too!

 

[heaven2dc]

Really having fun reading all about your trip! I have only toured the three Disney resorts and have seen a few rooms but your standard view was pretty amazing! Nice upgrade Aren't those suites gorgeous?!! Would love one day to see the Fairy Tale Suite (better yet stay in it!) Thank you for sharing your pics of the suites!

We visited Disneyland in January on a rainy day and we live in So Cal and were so cold! My son's gf at that time bought me one of those rain ponchos (she had "talked" me into leaving my jacket in the car and I thought I could tough it out) Don't you just love RNR and California Screamin'? My fav two attractions at CA - can't wait for Soarin' over California to open again!

 

[Timon]

Hello fellow Calgarian! Enjoy reading your trip report, sounds like you all had a great trip! Can't wait to read more. Also, love the photos!

Howdy neighbour

Glad you're enjoying it Looks like you're going soon!!

Hmmmm, I think the banging dish cart has scared me away..... Sounds like the dirty chef Mickey at Wdw.

The food is actually much better than Chef Mickeys and don't let one guy keep you from trying it, maybe the dude was having a bad day or something and was taking it out on the dishes

Hmmmm only 3 kinds of potatoes on your plate!

You have some great photos of Kira, Cass.

There was ONLY three kinds of potatoes

How did Kira like the Indiana jones movies.... I was going to show it to my dd ( almost 8) before our trip...not sure if it will entertain her ....??? I haven't seen it in years.

She LOVED them!!! We did cover her eyes on a couple parts (like when they open the ark) and she was quite happy that we did cus she is a scared-y cat


That reminds me, we still have to finish number 4!!! We ran out of time and only got half-way though!

What a bummer about the potatoes at both places!!
I love the character meals for the characters, but they can be kind of a bummer with food because it's hard to eat. Sorry you guys were so hungry. I hate when restaurants make you pay before especially with the tip. How are you supposed to know how much to leave when you have no idea if your service is going to be good or not.
Kira is so cute with her new found love of corndogs.
Glad you enjoyed the rain!

Exactly!!! I am a pretty generous tipper when the service is good but I'm not sure I agree with 18% for a buffet like this! He got us drinks and gave us refills ONCE, never saw him again!

So far I've only been reading TR's for cruises but now I'm hooked! Seeing your pictures and hearing your stories is like reliving my trip all over again! We stayed at Disneyland Hotel too!

I peeked at your trippie last night, sounds like a great trip! And you live in my favourite city in the whole world

Really having fun reading all about your trip! I have only toured the three Disney resorts and have seen a few rooms but your standard view was pretty amazing! Nice upgrade Aren't those suites gorgeous?!! Would love one day to see the Fairy Tale Suite (better yet stay in it!) Thank you for sharing your pics of the suites!

We visited Disneyland in January on a rainy day and we live in So Cal and were so cold! My son's gf at that time bought me one of those rain ponchos (she had "talked" me into leaving my jacket in the car and I thought I could tough it out) Don't you just love RNR and California Screamin'? My fav two attractions at CA - can't wait for Soarin' over California to open again!

Yes, I could definitely do a stay in any of the GC suites!!! We totally lucked out on our view, so lucky! Yes, love those rides!!! We will be back to see the new Soarin' (we all love that one!) World of Color, Splash, Peter Pan, Matterhorn (might need a chiro visit!) and hopefully the new shows if they stick around for a bit

 

[Timon]

While hubby was heading back to the room, Kira and I continued on in the rain. We did Little Mermaid since it was right there and it was all indoors! Almost identical to the one in WDW minus the very cool queue.

Then we headed towards Bugs Land. First we hopped on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train

Heimlich selfie!

Then we got in line for Flik's Flyers, she liked that one!

Last stop in BL was the Buggies. Bit of a wait for that one just because it is slow to load and unload. That is where Rob found us and joined us for a ride. Love the theming here!

We got Kira a change of footwear and ironically enough, it had just stopped raining so she didn't need the extra jacket. At least her toes were nice and warm now, thanks Daddy!

We walked by TOT and got these:

Then we did the Monsters Inc ride and then headed into the Animation Academy Building where we killed some time at the AMAZINGLY themed Sorcerer's Workshop. I love that place! Sad they removed the last part of it for the Anna and Elsa Meet.

We went to talk to Crush (always fun and I love that there are actual seats in this one!) and then it was time for Tower of Terror for the non-chickens

We waited at the exit for Rob. She was running around burning off some energy while I checked emails and then I looked up and saw her doing this...

Just as I was about to open my mouth to yell at her to get down, a CM walked by her and told her to get down. Perfect!!! She would have been grumpy at me if I told her

Her and Rob went to meet Sully while I happily used two fast passes! Actually, the ride was walk-on so I didn't need them! This is my favourite "new" ride (HM being my fave "old" ride) and just can't enough of it!!! If I could skip the whole Library room and go straight to the boiler room, I would have done it 10 times but it takes so much time! I got to go upstairs again this trip, which I think is just so neat! I love the boiler room here compared to WDW but hands down, WDW is my fave mostly because of the room where you move into the elevator shaft, so much more anticipation

I guess I was gone long enough for my kid to miss me cus I got a big hug when I joined them LOL!

and I was just in time to see this...

 

[Timon]

Rob was getting hungry and I knew just where to go!

We left DCA and walked the very short distance over to DL

Kira's first time at Disneyland Park

We spotted Snow White and Pinocchio right after the tunnel so Kira and I got in line at Pinocchio and Rob stood in line with the princess

I went and got us FP for Indiana Jones while I sent Rob to The Plaza Inn. Told him to get the fried chicken

Joined them just as they got a table

As I knew he would, he LOVED it! He ate most of the chicken, biscuit and greens, Kira ate most of the cake and I ate most of the mashed potatoes and gravy...perfect!!!

We went and rode Indiana Jones with our FP. I explained to her exactly what the ride was and I was proud that she was willing to give it a try.

After we got off, we asked her how she liked it. She said it was very bumpy and it hurt her hips and her tummy (she's a bit of a hypochondriac ) but at least she wasn't crying

Rob then asked her if it was too scary for her and she replied "I dunno, I covered my eyes the whole time"

Well, no wonder she got banged up a bit, she wasn't holding on to anything because she had her hands over her eyes!!!

She said she might try it again later, so that was awesome!!! Normally she would be crying and getting mad at us and telling us that she was never going to do that again! So, hey, this is a step up

After Indy, we did Pirates.

And she took a step backwards

We told her that there were two drops and she FREAKED out! She was okay until we were on the ride and just about to go down the first drop. A huge part of it for her is just the thought of it, you know? She imagines the worst and then it eats at her. She was so upset about the drops, she couldn't enjoy the ride. I knew she was fine but she has a hard time letting go of stuff.

She was mad for a bit but you know what? The next day she rode it THREE times and loved it!!!

After she calmed down, we rode HM and then walked over to Big Thunder just to show her what it was like. I had originally hoped she might try it this trip but after the Pirate meltdown, I knew it was off the table!

Kira and I were getting pretty hungry so we stopped by Stage Door Café. Can you guess what we got???



If you guessed salads and wraps then you are....


..........


..........

TOTALLY wrong and obviously not reading all my report



We split this...

Hey, don't judge! We're on vacation


Walked past once more just to give her another good look

Then onto stuff I knew she would not complain about!

First up was Pinocchio while Rob sipped a coffee to keep warm, then he joined us for Snow White, both walk-ons

Mr Toad's had a line so we skipped it and did the Carousel

Then a spin on Dumbo

And Mad Tea Party where Kira spun both her and her Daddy dizzy

Then we finished off the night with It's A Small World, the first time any of us have been on this version. I loved all the Disney characters in it but I just have so many memories of the one in WDW that this one just can't compare. When I think of IASM, I think of my mom, and riding it with her. It was one of her favourites and still is one of mine because of it. And I also have great memories of riding it with Kira when she was 10 months old and again at 2 years old, she just LOVED it

Sounds sappy but since my Mom never had the pleasure of meeting my daughter before gracing Heaven with her presence, I feel like it's a place, on some magical level, where we can all "be" together

It was about 7pm, one hour before the park would close but Kira was DONE!

We headed out, snapped a quick pic of us at the Castle and DCA at night

And before long, she was in Dreamland

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Good TR so far!!! Sorry to hear about Goofy's Kitchen

 

[pmaurer74]

Looks like a great trip so far. It is making me excited for our stay in June. I have been wanting to try those chicken nachos they look like heaven! The one image with the mountains... could you only see it on a clear day? Had you booked a standard view room? I would love this view and would like to know what to request.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

wow I love you TR it makes me want to go now not 8 months from now.

 

[Timon]

Another early morning in the Happiest Place on Earth

It must be nice to have someone make you breakfast in bed while you watch a movie for the 8th time in 3 days

And I even made my hubby a fruit salad, with a view, for your viewing pleasure!

And here's a pic of our tickets before we continue on to a park!

Arrived at about 8:30 for 9 AM early entry

Forgot to mention that Rob bought her one of these babies, which as it got closer to being full, she would whip out of her purse and say "Be prepared to be amazed!"



She's a funny kid!

So after we got through the gates, we headed up to Main Street where they hold you for rope drop.

With a nice view of an empty area near the castle...

We struck up a conversation with a lady next to us who was nice enough to take our photo while we waited...

Once they dropped the rope, everyone walked slowly through the castle without running or bumping into people...



Wait, yeah....no that didn't happen

Our first goal that morning was Mr Toad's Wild Ride and we were probably the 4th or 5th car on, so no wait, yay!

Then we headed to Alice, where there was already a pretty big line-up!

For whatever reason, I can't stand the movie but I just love the ride

It's 5 o'clock somewhere...

The crowds were already crazy so we walked over to Tomorrowland where we were met with...

more crowds!!

Star Tours was already at 30 minutes, Buzz was closed so we hopped in line for Astro Orbiter. Not much else to do really, they only open two sections of the park for EE, so dumb!!!

By then, it was almost 10am and the crowds were CRAZY! Here's a scary view...non EE peeps waiting for rope drop...

We took advantage of the low crowds near the Partners statue and got some pics...

And then we joined the herd for rope drop as we were headed for Adventureland

By the time we got there, the line for Indiana Jones was already at 30 minutes! No thanks! We went to check on Pirates, as Kira said she wanted to try it again but it was closed.

So, we climbed a tree...

We toured the Treehouse for a bit

and we were going to go over to Haunted Mansion when Rob spotted the line for Pirates moving.

YAY!

We walked right on and Kira was actually looking forward to it!

Passing by Blue Bayou

None of my pics that I took with our good DSLR turned out ( I really need to take some photography lessons!) but Rob took several really good ones with his damn camera phone!

Thankfully, Kira loved Pirates the second time around! YAY!

 

[Timon]

After Pirates, it was time for...

Oh. My. God. Not. Another. Character. Meal.

This is the meal that made me hate character meals! Let me first say that Kira loved this meal. She had a blast with all the great characters, loved the food, got a lot of new signatures for her book. From her perspective, it was fabulous way to kill an hour and a bit.

Starts off well with a nice pic the PhotoPass lady took for me..

Now, for my perspective...

First of all, if you know me, I think the name says it all...Breakfast with Minnie and Friends. For those who don't know me personally, well, let's just say that I dislike Minnie Mouse. Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking.

Shush!

I don't really have a good reason to hate her. But I do. She just bothers me. And she holds Mickey back.



So the first thing they do when you step inside is this...

It just can't end well with her face stamped all over my hand, right?

We ended up sitting one table away from where we sat the afternoon before, which was funny because this place is HUGE!!!

And where we were seated, the characters just kinda appeared out of nowhere so you just couldn't prepare!

As per usual, I sent Rob and Kira up for food first.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally returned with food. But Rob didn't get any drinks and he couldn't find the syrup. And then Tigger showed up...

So I ran up and got Kira some milk and found some syrup only to RUN back to the table because she came along...

and then....her

And then this guy showed up out of nowhere!

Even scared the crap out of Kira

I was FINALLY about to go grab some food for myself when...

Okay! Stop it already! It's not easy because I wanted to get it on video with the camcorder (Rob's job when I have the DSLR because I need both hands for that sucker. Normally I do both at the same time but I can't with the good camera) and then I was taking pics with said DSLR, flipping through the autograph book, trying to get to their page because they literally just appeared out of thin air so I couldn't prepare, all while Rob and Kira were trying to eat.

AND... I haven't eaten anything yet!

Finally there was a tiny little break so I ran up to the buffet only to find a very small selection.

Holy cow, this is probably the smallest buffet I have ever seen! And it really irks me when a breakfast buffet has no toast! Every breakfast buffet I have ever been to at WDW has toast! Even Disney Cruise buffets have toast, why is it so darn hard to find toast in Disneyland???

I found enough (minus the toast) and sat down and started eating...

and then a minute later...

It's funny now looking back but I was in a very foul mood at this point and the first thought that went through my head when I saw him appear behind Kira was...


Get lost Pooh!

Except, the exact words in my head were not Get or Lost, they were slightly less Disney-like, I'm sure you can guess what they were

By the time I could finally eat my food, Kira and Rob had seconds!

Oh and I forgot to mention my absolute favourite part of the meal...the family next to us! They were a large party that didn't seem to give a crap about anyone but themselves, literally shoving their butts and elbows and other body parts practically into our faces!

This was not even close to how bad it got...

(note their entire party blocking the whole aisle so that the lady can't get through with her food!)

Yeah...by then I was about to EXPLODE!

Most of the people had finally cleared out when Dale showed up! I thought we were done!

And then Hook came back...

And we hunted down Chip before we left...

Let's just say that I was SO glad when it was all over! I'm glad Kira had a great experience but it is not something I will repeat. And it ruined me for any future character meals, to be honest. If I am going to spend that much money on a meal, I want it to be free of stress and frustration for ALL of us.

But hey, that's just me! I've done tons of character meals over the years and have some fabulous memories of them but for now, at least, I am done with them