First I want to thank everyone for all the advice that was posted.
This trip was the first family trip we've planned since moving from Hawaii to Tucson. DH had to go to a 6 week military class in Texas and the kids, DD8 and DS4 had a 3 week school break with nothing to do. So a few Mom's from an on-line playgroup we have been on for 5 yrs decided it was time for the west-coast Moms to meet. (the east coast Moms have been getting together for 3 yrs now at DisneyWorld). Here is my experience.
Day 1 26 Sept 06 Trying to get on the road
The plan was to get on the road by 6am to avoid rush hour traffic. No such luck, this is the morning the kids decided they wanted to sleep in. Have anyone tried to pick up an 8 yr and put them in a SUV? LOL So after offering cookies for breakfast I was able to get them in the vehicle at 745a and off we go. 20miles later I am beamed on the head with a gameboy game cartridge that they have been fighting over since mile 5. All was right after I threaten to tear up "Mickey's House" tickets and turn around. Yeah right, like that would ever happen but kids don't know that yet.
Get to about 20 miles outside of Anaheim, or at least I think I am, and I can't find my directions. Okay I should see a sign for Anaheim off of I-10 right? No, All I see is cars, cars, cars and more cars! Oh did I mention the construction and exits signs that pop out of nowhere 1 sec before the exit. Anyway, I find that I am 10 miles north of where I want to be and by the luck of the fairy gods I am able to turn and get on the right exit and OMG there it is, the sign for DISNEY WAY!!!! (As read to me by my 8 yr old).
Stayed at La Quinta Inns and Suites
Check in was done by a very nice guy that explained everything to me and offered help in any way I needed. We get the 3rd floor King Kids Suite, open the door and it turned out to be a really nice place. The King bed was new and very comfortable. The kids room had bunk beds, a nice plastic table set with 4 chairs. Lots of storage cabinets. I like how the shower curtain curved out at the top so that when you shower the curtain don't blow in and hit you. The only down side was that the fridge was a little old but it kept things cold and there was a damp feel in the room, which I found came from the humidity. Our view was of the the construction area but that was a bonus for the kids. LOL! Plenty of parking in the covered garage. Breakfast was free but the room it was in was small and people was rude to us for some reason. We only ate there once and after that just ate in the room since it had a microwave and the kids like that better anyway.
Day 1 27 Sep Disneyland
Low crowd day Lots of Fog greeted us in the morning and it was cooler then we are use too here in hot Tucson as you can see my DD and DS insisted on jackets waiting for the shuttle.
Met up with one of the families from the playgroup. They have been there before lots of times so they wanted to take us to all the rides they love. (One suggestion to newbies..don't go with oldies on your first day. LOL) We headed to Toon Town first, I don't remember Mainstreet, we went thru so fast. Did the RR Car Toon Spin a couple times. Went through Mickey's house and forgot DD autograph book I made because we did not know that Mickey is at the end of it. (we went back later to get him to sign)
Dragged..err..headed to Adventureland for the Jungle Cruise. The CM was pretty funny. Didn't get to get the map because of the crowd pushing. Next time. Next stop Space Mountain..While friend hubby watched the kids we rode it and it was awesome!! Line was very short and we went again. The kids wanted to do the Astro Orbiter. Turns out to be the favorite ride for my DS (whom I forgot to mention is a High Functioning Autistic) because he loves flying with the wind. We did that 2 times. Off to SplashMountain, only my friend older kid wanted to go with us so her hubby watched my kids and her youngest. It was great!! Told them that Matterhorn was closed and they was upset. They decided to head back to their hotel because the hubby had a back problem and needed to rest. WooHoo!! Just me and the kids!!! Fianlly we can just look around. and look who we found.
Off we went to Astro Blaster!! We practice this game on line so we were ready. LOL Turns out to be 2nd favorite ride for DS4. We rode it 8 times in a row. The CMs was laughing so hard when we came through the 6th time. The line never came out the door so it was easy. I even made it to Level 4 just 500 poinst shy of level 5. Back to Astro Orbitor for 3 more rides. Finally talked the boy into taking a break and eating something. We wander to look at the signs for Finding nemo and got a couple of the expensive hotdog boxes and got the kids to eat. OMG who is that...
We strolled back out to the hub and after walking around and looking I noticed that people were sitting on the curb and benches and looked at my watch and saw that we had 45 minutes before the parade. Parked the stroller and copped a seat right at the hub. Met another Mom going single with her DD. She asked if I would save her seat while she got popcorn. SUre and I have a coupons for free scoops when you buy a bucket. The free scoops was free regular boxes of popcorn. Yummy!! I must say we had awesome seats for the parade for people that had no clue what we were doing. LOL!! I loved the parade and so did the kids. When it was over we joined the crowd heading to the exits after tethering my DD to my pants loops (yep I used a small elastic bungee cord that had clips) I saw the crowd for the shuttles and looked at my huge jogging stroller and decided to walk. There was others heading our way too and the walk wasn't bad and we beat the bus to the hotel. LOL!! Ate a quick dinner in the room and the kids was out by 9p.
This trip was the first family trip we've planned since moving from Hawaii to Tucson. DH had to go to a 6 week military class in Texas and the kids, DD8 and DS4 had a 3 week school break with nothing to do. So a few Mom's from an on-line playgroup we have been on for 5 yrs decided it was time for the west-coast Moms to meet. (the east coast Moms have been getting together for 3 yrs now at DisneyWorld). Here is my experience.
Day 1 26 Sept 06 Trying to get on the road
The plan was to get on the road by 6am to avoid rush hour traffic. No such luck, this is the morning the kids decided they wanted to sleep in. Have anyone tried to pick up an 8 yr and put them in a SUV? LOL So after offering cookies for breakfast I was able to get them in the vehicle at 745a and off we go. 20miles later I am beamed on the head with a gameboy game cartridge that they have been fighting over since mile 5. All was right after I threaten to tear up "Mickey's House" tickets and turn around. Yeah right, like that would ever happen but kids don't know that yet.
Get to about 20 miles outside of Anaheim, or at least I think I am, and I can't find my directions. Okay I should see a sign for Anaheim off of I-10 right? No, All I see is cars, cars, cars and more cars! Oh did I mention the construction and exits signs that pop out of nowhere 1 sec before the exit. Anyway, I find that I am 10 miles north of where I want to be and by the luck of the fairy gods I am able to turn and get on the right exit and OMG there it is, the sign for DISNEY WAY!!!! (As read to me by my 8 yr old).
Stayed at La Quinta Inns and Suites
Check in was done by a very nice guy that explained everything to me and offered help in any way I needed. We get the 3rd floor King Kids Suite, open the door and it turned out to be a really nice place. The King bed was new and very comfortable. The kids room had bunk beds, a nice plastic table set with 4 chairs. Lots of storage cabinets. I like how the shower curtain curved out at the top so that when you shower the curtain don't blow in and hit you. The only down side was that the fridge was a little old but it kept things cold and there was a damp feel in the room, which I found came from the humidity. Our view was of the the construction area but that was a bonus for the kids. LOL! Plenty of parking in the covered garage. Breakfast was free but the room it was in was small and people was rude to us for some reason. We only ate there once and after that just ate in the room since it had a microwave and the kids like that better anyway.
Day 1 27 Sep Disneyland
Low crowd day Lots of Fog greeted us in the morning and it was cooler then we are use too here in hot Tucson as you can see my DD and DS insisted on jackets waiting for the shuttle.
Met up with one of the families from the playgroup. They have been there before lots of times so they wanted to take us to all the rides they love. (One suggestion to newbies..don't go with oldies on your first day. LOL) We headed to Toon Town first, I don't remember Mainstreet, we went thru so fast. Did the RR Car Toon Spin a couple times. Went through Mickey's house and forgot DD autograph book I made because we did not know that Mickey is at the end of it. (we went back later to get him to sign)
Dragged..err..headed to Adventureland for the Jungle Cruise. The CM was pretty funny. Didn't get to get the map because of the crowd pushing. Next time. Next stop Space Mountain..While friend hubby watched the kids we rode it and it was awesome!! Line was very short and we went again. The kids wanted to do the Astro Orbiter. Turns out to be the favorite ride for my DS (whom I forgot to mention is a High Functioning Autistic) because he loves flying with the wind. We did that 2 times. Off to SplashMountain, only my friend older kid wanted to go with us so her hubby watched my kids and her youngest. It was great!! Told them that Matterhorn was closed and they was upset. They decided to head back to their hotel because the hubby had a back problem and needed to rest. WooHoo!! Just me and the kids!!! Fianlly we can just look around. and look who we found.
Off we went to Astro Blaster!! We practice this game on line so we were ready. LOL Turns out to be 2nd favorite ride for DS4. We rode it 8 times in a row. The CMs was laughing so hard when we came through the 6th time. The line never came out the door so it was easy. I even made it to Level 4 just 500 poinst shy of level 5. Back to Astro Orbitor for 3 more rides. Finally talked the boy into taking a break and eating something. We wander to look at the signs for Finding nemo and got a couple of the expensive hotdog boxes and got the kids to eat. OMG who is that...
We strolled back out to the hub and after walking around and looking I noticed that people were sitting on the curb and benches and looked at my watch and saw that we had 45 minutes before the parade. Parked the stroller and copped a seat right at the hub. Met another Mom going single with her DD. She asked if I would save her seat while she got popcorn. SUre and I have a coupons for free scoops when you buy a bucket. The free scoops was free regular boxes of popcorn. Yummy!! I must say we had awesome seats for the parade for people that had no clue what we were doing. LOL!! I loved the parade and so did the kids. When it was over we joined the crowd heading to the exits after tethering my DD to my pants loops (yep I used a small elastic bungee cord that had clips) I saw the crowd for the shuttles and looked at my huge jogging stroller and decided to walk. There was others heading our way too and the walk wasn't bad and we beat the bus to the hotel. LOL!! Ate a quick dinner in the room and the kids was out by 9p.
