A holiday tale, a tale that's quite COMPLETE!!!....Halloween 2012!

[zanzibar138]

Welcome back MinnieSue Yay for another update!

You're so lucky getting to go again so soon! I have to wait until September next year... But I can't really complain, I'm still averaging a Disney trip of some description every year

Your excursion to LA looked like fun, and the showing of TNBC looked amazing

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Welcome back MinnieSue Yay for another update!

You're so lucky getting to go again so soon! I have to wait until September next year... But I can't really complain, I'm still averaging a Disney trip of some description every year

Your excursion to LA looked like fun, and the showing of TNBC looked amazing

And more updates on the way!!!!!

A Disney holiday every year sure sounds like heaven to me. After this trip in September, we will have to wait 2 and a bit years

Oh well, it should be the MOST thought out well planned trip ever!!!

And yes, the time we spent at Madame Tussauds was a blast and I am going to check what is screening at the El Capitan theatre in September as it really is a treat!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

DAY 5 - Sunday 28th October 2013

Up at 7.30am this morning and after getting organised, headed over to the Paradise Pier for our breakfast reservation with Mickey and Friends - Surfs Up! Our first pic of the day was with miss Minnie Mouse herself! the photo was then delivered to our table and as I had purchased the photopass plus, we got the pics for free as any pics you have taken at the charcter meals are included in the price! I tell you, it is some of the best money I have ever spent!

We had done this charcter meal in 2010 and were curious to see if it had changed at all. It hadn't! the characters were the same - Minnie, Mickey, Pluto, Daisy and Stitch. We had seen Goofy in 2010 but he was nowhere to be seen this time. The only other difference was when they got the kids up to "surf" with the characters, they were not provided with a big carpet shaped like a surfboard as we had in 2010. Other than that, it was basically the same. We really did not enjoy the food that much and have decided money would be better spent on other things in the future so would not do it again. The only character that we did not see else where on our trip was Stitch.

So, we got pics with them all...............

Our Surfs Up button

We did have fun with the charcters though!

Our meals

Inside decor

And a nice lady offered to take our pic together on the way out!

We were then off to Downtown Disney for a bit of a wander as it was Sunday and we knew the parks would be busy. Decided then to catch the Monorail into Disneyland so lined up for about 5 minutes and got into the park around midday. It was staright to Buzz today and we only waited about 10 minutes which was good because as we predicted, it was quite busy.

We both quite enjoy this ride and got quite competitive!!!

It was then over to Star Tours to grab a fast pass. We were getting a bit peckish as we really did not have much at breakfast, so headed over to the Harbor Galley for a, you guessed it, a baked potato!!!!

I as quite fascinated with the wether vanes on this trip so here is the one on top of the Harbor galley!

So, after filling up we were off to use our Fastpasses for Star Tours and to see if DD would be lucky to be the Rebel Spy this time! On the way over we noticed Snoberella ( erm Cinderella.................side note here! On our trip in 2010, we tried so hard to find Cinderell as she was being quite elusive and DD wanted her pic taken with her. So we lined up for the Princess fantasy Fair twice for an hour each time...........no Cinderella. We did the Princess lunch at Ariels Grotto...............no Cinderella. I mean, where was this woman!!!! In the end, we gave up and so from then on she was known as Snoberella)

Well, on this trip, she was EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!! it seemed every time we turned a corner, there she was............again!!!! So you can imgine our reaction when here she was just standing about in Snow White's grotto and not a soul was any where near her! It was an opportunity too good to miss!!!

And then she was joined by the fairy godmother..........

After a chat with them both who were quite lovely by the way, we headed off to Star Tours. Rebel Spy this time...................negative!!!!
We did some shopping and DD got a cute R2D2 who spins around and makes cute noises! We then were off to the main street shops as there was a special we wanted to make. On our last trip, DD had seen the most wonderful Alice In Wonderland teapot and cup and saucer. We left without buying them and she regretted it ever since. So, we were not leaving without them this time! We were lucky too as they only had a few left! After our purchase, we made our way through and I bought a couple of Disneyland books I didn't have.

It was quite busy by this time so we decided to head back to the Ho Jo to write on some postcards, do some washing and have a quick rest!
At 6pm we were back out and off to Downtown Disney again to do some wandering around and some more shopping! We actually got a vinylmation and looked into the tradind side of things, but we both decided that pins are more our thing. We have been collecting pins for some years now, so don't really need the expense of something new!!!
It was then back into Disneyland and again we caught the monorail. We had to wait around 20 minutes or so as they were having some sort of technical difficulties. The voise over cast member said we had to wait as there were "cows" on the track! Now to most people this would have seemed a bit odd, but as we live in a rural area it seemed perfectly normal to us and we still have a giggle about it now!

We had picked up Fastpasses earlier for Space Mountain so we used those first. this was the only time on the whole trip we used a Fastpass outside the return window. I really think the enforcing of the FP times they have in place now is a good thing as it puts less stress on the FP line and you do actually get to move a whole lot quicker than if everyone used their FP at any old time and all got there together.........................well, what a line that would be. We didn't find it inconvenient or difficult at all and actually found it to structure our day a bit better!

We wandered around a bit more and had dinner at the Village Haus.

Pizza for DD

And buger and fries for me!

I love the theming in here, so quaint!!!

It was then time to grab a good spot for the fireworks and we were so glad we did! Love every minute of Disney fireworks and these did not disappoint! Dreams do come true.................!!!

After a quick ride on Pirates, it was back to the Ho Jo as we were both a bit tuckered out today and got back at 11pm! Goodnight Disneyland................see you tomorrow!!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

DAY 6 - Monday 29th october 2012 - HALLOWEEN PARTY Number1!

Oh boy, I was excited today as it was the first of our 2 halloween parties plus we were doing the Halloween guided tour which was a surprise for DD!

So it was up at 8.30 after a bit of a sleep in which was ok as we knew it was going to be a very busy day. No costumes today as we wanted to save them for Halloween night and we wanted to concentrate on trick or treating! Ooh, I still love saying that...............trick or treating!!! We don't celebrate Halloween in Australia, so it was a first for me!!!!!!

Right, it was straight over to Mimi's for a leisurely breakfast and DD had been wanting choc chip pancakes ever since we arriced! We loved Mimi's and it didn't disappoint!

Poached eggs and some bacon for me. I don't care for the breakfast potatoes, so I didn't eat those!

And, those very much wanted pancakes for DD!

And here she is with some good reading material whilst we waited!!!

After we were well and truly full, it was off to to the parks for a fun filled day! First stop, picking up the tickets for tonight's party. It was then over to DCA for a ride on Monsters Inc first! Gotta love this ride and Roz told me she like my glasses and asked could we trade!

We then grabbed FP's for Toer of Terror and then joined the priority seating line for the 12.40pm showing of Aladdin. Some special people had given us some tickets for this and we sat in the front row! Amazing!!!

We adore this show and I got some wondeful shots from up the front! As always, the Genie stole the show and was even dancing Gangham style!!!

It was off then to use of FP's for TOT but we did not need them as it was a walk on! Our tour was to start at 3pm, so we had a bit of time to spare so wandered over to Bugsland. I have said previously in this report, we made a pact that would ride every ride at least once. So, on to Heimlich's Chew Chew Train we went! It was also a walk on and I think it has to be the shortest ride ever!!! But we did it so we could now cross it off the list! Loved the watermelon smell though, quite cute!

DD was hungry so where do you think we ended up? That's right, another hot dog from Award Weiners! I really think we should have shares in the place by now....................there and the Harbor Galley

Time was now 2.25 so I suggested we wander over to Disneyland to ride Star Tours ( I had to think of something that I knew would get her over there!!! ) I went to check in at the guided tour stand nd then explained what we were doing to DD! She was very excited, as was I!

Ok, so we all got a nifty badge with our name on it that we had to wear! We were then introduced to our tour guide, Betsy! Man was she good! She was so over the top and stayed like that for the whole 3 hours!
She started off by explaining to us that as it was Halloween, the villians in the park had stolen Aladdin's magic lamo and by doing so, was going to take all the "happily ever afters" away from all the Disney stories! It was up to us to find the lamp and restore goodness again!

First stop on our search was the Haunted mansion where we had a "ghost" join us! her name was Gracey and she was the keeper of the lamp from the Mansion and had to accompany us to enure we did not find the lamp so she and all her villianous friends could scare people forever. Now the young lady was absolutely brilliant. She too stayed in character the entire time and took pleasure in correcting Betsy whenever we stopped to learn facts about Halloween itself!

This is Gracey...........

So we all searched inside the mansion.....................no lamp! It was then off to Big Thunder...................no lamp! Next up was the Matterhorn to see if harold had it...................no lamp! It was then off to see if it had ended up in outer space somewhere, so off to Space Mountain we went..................no lamp!!!

One of the carriages actually got stuck with some of the tour group in it so while we were waiting out the fron for them to rejoin us, Betsy had us all doing the "Space Extraction Dance" Talk about funny!!!! She got everyone to join in and boy did we get some funny looks from passers by! It was hilarious and to think she just made it up as we were standing there made it even more so!!!

As there was no lamp here either, it was over to DCA we went. Let me tell you, I don't know how we didn't lose anyone on the way over there. It was soooooooooooo bust as people had started to arrive for the party and there was a parade going down main street as well! But we did and our frist stop was the candy store where we all got a piece of candy corn marshmallow. It was time to then to resume our search so off to the Tower we went!

And wouldn't you know it, the lamp fell into Betsy's lap while we on the ride.................fell out of the sky apparently! We all ended up outside and were given a trick or treat bag for the Halloween party ( the tour we did included botht the tour and the party ) we also got a pumpkin shaped rice crispie treat and a pin.

Here is our group on TOT with Betsy looking rather scared at the front!!!

We exchanged email addresses with some of the group and said our farewells. We also thanked Gracey and Betsy for doing such a wonderful job! It really was so much fun and I would not hesitate to do it again!

Ok, it was almost time for the party to start so we got our wristbands on the way back into DL and were ready to trick or treat all night! We knew we had another party to go to, so we concentrated on just running around and getting lots of candy so we could get loads of pics taken on Halloween night and get a great spot for the Halloween Scream fireworks.

We did stop for a few pics though.................

It was a full moon too..........................

Jafar was just so funny! He kept callin me over to be in the photo as I was standing off to the side as I really do not like to have my picture that much and thought DD could have the charcters all to herself! Well, he would not take no for an answer..................and this is the result......LOL!!!

Too funny!!!!!!!!

I really didn't take all that many pics as we wanted a night without having to stop and get the camera out all the time. Believe me, I more than made up for it at the next one!!!!!!!!!

Here are a few though that I did take about the place.............

And I just loved the Cadaver Dans!!! They were actually floating on a pontoon on the Rivers of America.

And a couple more characters

We had our dinner at Tomorrowland Terrace and sat and watched Buzz and the green army dancing! We caught the train over to New Orleans Square and rode Pirates which was the only ride we did all night! Did I mention we did some trick or treating?????!!!!!

After a very busy fun filled day, we called it a night and headed home around 11pm. Skyped home to share all our excitement and finally go to bed at 1am!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

DAY 7 -Tuesday 30th October 2012

After such a busy day yesterday and knowing that we would be having another huge day the next day also, we decided to have a rest day today and this would be the only day we did not step foot into either park

So, I was up around 8.30am but DD must have needed her sleep as she didn't arise until 10.30
She had some Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast that we had purchased at the Ho Jo shop. She wasn't too keen but was hungry so ate them any way! After she was ready, we wandered down to the front desk to ask about getting a bus to Main Place shopping centre at Santa Ana. We had been there a couple of times before but had always caught a cab. We thought we would see if there was a bus out there. We asked and were pointed in the direction of the bus stop on the same side as Disneyland which I though was odd as the mall is in the opposite direction! We waited, and waited and waited some more and in the end we walked up to the cab rank near Disneyland and got a cab! In hindsight, we just should have caught one in the first place! Not to worry, we arrived just after lunch time and I needed to find a pharmacy. We asked the nice ladies inside Macy's and were directed down the street for a couple of blocks! Found it, got what I needed and spotted a Carls Junior on our way out! We had never eaten here before but I am glad we did as we both thoroughly enjoyed it! Yummy!

We finished our meal and walked outside and hopped on a bus back up to the mall! Our first stop..................

I relieved them of a new shirt and a pair of jeans and DD got herself a plush talking duck! Yes, because we always need more stuffed animlas!!!!

Loved these huge Halloween cookies............

We basically then hit the stores we don't have here at home. Hot Topic is one of DD's favourites and I am guessing we were their best customers ALL day!!! 2 pairs of jeans, a shirt, badges, Nightmare Before Christmas socks, a Tardis keyring amongst other stuff!!!!
Got myself 2 pairs of shoes for cheap at a store that was having a good sale on summer items and then we hit one of our favourites, the Hallmark store. The decorations were no cheaper than what we pay here, but the Jim Shore figurines on the other hand...............! We were good though and only bought 2!
We cruised around going into other stores and bought DH a San Francisco baseball shirt and DD got a cool pair of Converse shoes for a third of the price we would pay for them here! We did go into the Disney Store, but they had nothing we had not already got that we wanted so we left empty handed!
So, loaded up with all our parcels, we caught a cab to another place we had been wanting to try but had never been before, The Cheesecake Factory!

We actually were seated straight away and were given a menu! WOW! I knew it was huge, but WOW!!! I think we must have taken at least 15 minuted to decide what we were going to have. We finally made our choices............

Some bread to start

DD just enjoying herself while we waited

The decor

Shepherds pie for DD

Shrimp platter for me

Both were yummy and DD only ate about a third of hers as it was so filling! And you just can't go to the The Cheesecake Factory without having, well, cheesecake!!!

Traditional for DD

And triple choc for me

Oh my word, it was soooooo good! So, after paying our bill we decided it would good to walk off some of that dinner and walked back to the motel and arrived around 7:45pm so it was an early night for a change! We had a huge day coming up as tomorrow was Halloween!!!

 

[Minniemum]

You're on a roll! Great photo of you with Jafar!

 

[zanzibar138]

Another great few days! The halloween tour sounds like fun!

 

[mumoftriplets]

Loving the TR. And how lucky to be going back in Sept !

 

[sophies*mom]

Great report so far! My dream is to go during Halloween time, but my kids are little and my daughter would probably be too scared. Maybe when she's a lot older!

I'm still dying to know what all those huge boxes from the Disney Store had inside of them!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Loving the TR and all the great pics. Going to DL or WDW (I've no favourites!) for Halloween is up there on the wish list.

 

[AussieDisneyNut]

Loving the Halloween pics! That Jafar is just a charmer! We all loved Aladdin when we were there and your pictures really capture it

Halloween looks like so much fun ... I hope we can enjoy this magical time at Disneyland sometime in the future.

Keep up the entertaining TR!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

You're on a roll! Great photo of you with Jafar!

Well, I was on a roll but I have stalled for a bit! Will get it rolling again real soon!

Another great few days! The halloween tour sounds like fun!

The Halloween tour was a blast and I would definitely recommend it to everyone!

Loving the TR. And how lucky to be going back in Sept !

I am so glad you are enjoying the report as it makes it so much more fun to write when there are people reading! And we do feel very blessed to be visiting Disneyland again in September...........................we can't wait!

Great report so far! My dream is to go during Halloween time, but my kids are little and my daughter would probably be too scared. Maybe when she's a lot older!

I'm still dying to know what all those huge boxes from the Disney Store had inside of them!

Thanks so much for your kind words and I am very happy you are enjoying the TR! Halloween really is loads of fun for all! I will post pics so you can see what was in the boxes!

Loving the TR and all the great pics. Going to DL or WDW (I've no favourites!) for Halloween is up there on the wish list.

Thanks so much Aussie Wendy and I am glad you are enjoying the pics! Some of the best ones are coming up soon! Halloween is a must do..................at least once!

Loving the Halloween pics! That Jafar is just a charmer! We all loved Aladdin when we were there and your pictures really capture it

Halloween looks like so much fun ... I hope we can enjoy this magical time at Disneyland sometime in the future.

Keep up the entertaining TR!

Yep, Jafar was a real "character'!!! We had great time enjoying Aladdin from the front row and I did get some great pics from there! And fingers crossed for a Halloween trip for you some time in the future..................you will love it!

More entertaining soon!!!!

 

[monkey30]

I finally got through it all! I am caught up!
When in Sept are you going back?? DH and I are looking at a adult only trip for a week. Maybe we can meet up if there at the same time, since we keep 'missing' each other!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

I finally got through it all! I am caught up!
When in Sept are you going back?? DH and I are looking at a adult only trip for a week. Maybe we can meet up if there at the same time, since we keep 'missing' each other!

Hi there Erin

We will be back on the 5th of September through to the 17th! We can't wait and we never ever expected to get back so soon so we are feeling extremely lucky! It will be just the 2 of us again so we can get some more use out of our annual passes.

I am not to ssure where we are staying yet. I am hoping the Ho Jo will drop their rates a little before we arrive as at the moment they are not what I am willing to pay. I am even thinking of staying somewhere dirt cheap for the first 9 nights and styaing on property for the last 3. I will have to wait and see what the AP rates are a bit closer to our dates!

It would be fantastic to meet up if we are there at the same time! I can bring the boys some Aussie treats for you take home for them!!!

 

[monkey30]

YAHOOOOOO we are there Sept10-14! As long as things stay the way they are! We are looking at Delsol across the street again, it is super cheap, and when we stayed last sept it was clean and decent. W are also looking at possibly staying onsite, we will see. We have our flights paid for with points, so really we are only paying for the hotel and DH pass, since he did not want a AP when I got mine last year!

 

[burly]

I'm so behind....
but now i'm caught up.
read your last TR and loved it.
Love this one so far.....


KIM

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Minnie Sue! I was in the middle of moving when you updated last and missed it! I just loved your CL pics at night! You went at such a great time - not really so busy most of the time, it sounds like. I had to laugh about your ressie comment. I think most of the time at regular restaurants, you get seated at the time of your reservation. At Disney, and some of the restaurants, it's more of a "place holder" in line. (Just didn't want you to think it was really customary ) Looks like the party is gearing up to be a blast!

 

[shellie may]

Yay for updates I'm all caught up now.

Love the party pictures I've been wanting to take a trip to DLR for Halloween or Christmas but dates never work out well with my college schedule. I will get to do it eventually maybe after graduation I really want to see the Haunted Mansion Holiday with Jack Skellington.

How exciting that you guys have another trip planned.

Looking forward to more!

 

[PHXscuba]

OK, I finally caught up on your TR. I really want to go during Halloween time this year, and my birthday is conveniently in the season. Thanks for whetting my appetite and giving me something to look forward to. Fall seems like a long time away when you have a blazing hot six-month summer in between!

PHXscuba

 

[awdsmama]

Loving your TR!! Especially the Halloween party pics as DS (will be 9 then) and I are doing that this year~!