basketballmom
Living in the Happiest Place in Texas!
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2007
- Messages
- 318
I always intend to do a trip report. It never happens. I do have some thoughts to share about our trip two weeks ago. Hopefully, something I write will benefit someone. 
My oldest daughter turned 25 on September 10th. We planned this mother/daughter trip back in March. We booked our first ever stay at the Grand Californian. We flew from Lubbock, Texas, where my daughter lives. I live about 90 miles from her.
Our annual summer trip was cancelled because I had some emergency health issues that required surgery. Without grossing anyone out, my surgery was August 1. It turned from a laproscopy procedure into a full on c-section type incision. Of course, I was worried about how it would affect our September trip. I got the all clear from my doctor to travel. (it was right at the 6 weeks post-op mark) I chose not to ride any rides except fantasyland dark rides, jungle cruise, pirates and winnie the pooh. We also decided to rent a wheelchair. I felt EXTREMELY bad for doing this, because there are people with real needs for wheelchairs. I didn't want people to see me getting out of a wheelchair and think I was some sort of imposter. The truth is, I still got so fatigued from walking short distances...like the length of main street... that I had to rest a lot. Plus, a wheelchair gave me a softer place to sit than a bench.
Our flight landed at 8:10 a.m. on Friday, September 9 at SNA. (the airport with many names... Orange County, John Wayne, Santa Ana...) We got our checked bag. I was still under heavy lifting restrictions, so we packed accordingly. We rented a car from Hertz. We drove to the Grand with no problems. We came out of the airport on Mac Arthur Blvd. Instead of going to the 405 to 55 like the map said, we stayed on Mac Arthur and hit 55. One less freeway exchange... Then we got on 5 and exited Katella. We left our car with valet, (another splurge) got checked in, (two very nice CMs helped us) grabbed some breakfast at Whitewater Snacks, picked up my wheelchair from Bell services and headed to Disneyland! We were walking under the left tunnel at 10:10. Not bad!
Our usual first ride is big thunder. Jessica wouldn't ride her first ride without me, so we did jungle cruise. (no wait) Then, I parked next to bengal barbeque while she rode indy with a 15 minute wait. We then made our way to winnie the pooh. Our family loves this ride. We ride it multiple times each trip. There was actually a line. This was an exciting ride because I finally found the honey pot where HONEY is spelled correctly! Yay! Yes, we are nerds. We visited pooh corner, then Jessica rode big thunder, (15 min) then we shopped in the frontierland and adventureland shops. We like to shop. A lot. The shop in adventureland is our favorite. My daughters and I have each have a soapstone animal collection from this shop. We had a lunch reservation for 1:00, so we headed there.
Carnation Cafe for breakfast is a tradition, but this was our first time eating there for lunch. Our waitress wasn't the greatest, but the food was good! Jessica had chicken fried chicken and I had the turkey sandwich. Oscar came around and said hello. I just love him! They also brought Jessica a birthday cupcake and sang to her.
We were both super exhausted by this time. As we were finishing lunch, we got a text saying our room was ready. YAY! It was 1:40... earlier than I expected, but SO glad. It took us some time to find our room. We were in a standard view, room 2338. In fact, I had to look up the first page of the Grand Californian Super Thread here on Dis to look at the map! Our room was accessed by the coveted Napa Rose elevators. lol. Since we had been awake since 12:45 a.m. California time, after we got into our room and got our bags delivered, we took a 4 hour nap.
We got up and around a little after 6 and made our way back to disneyland. Food was first on the agenda, and Jessica picked hungry bear. I sat parked while Jessica got our cheeseburgers and fries. It was very good. It was also weirdly fascinating to see the SWL construction. After we ate, Jessica rode splash while I enjoyed the ambiance that is critter country at dusk. I don't remember what else we did besides hitting all the shops in new orleans square. We left the parks and headed to World of Disney to do our main shopping. I had lots of people on my list to buy for, including my husband and 2 daughters I left at home. I also wanted to get some christmas presents. $230 later, we headed to the room. Pretty sure we were showered and in bed by 11:30, which never happens on disney trips!
It was a great first day!
My oldest daughter turned 25 on September 10th. We planned this mother/daughter trip back in March. We booked our first ever stay at the Grand Californian. We flew from Lubbock, Texas, where my daughter lives. I live about 90 miles from her.
Our annual summer trip was cancelled because I had some emergency health issues that required surgery. Without grossing anyone out, my surgery was August 1. It turned from a laproscopy procedure into a full on c-section type incision. Of course, I was worried about how it would affect our September trip. I got the all clear from my doctor to travel. (it was right at the 6 weeks post-op mark) I chose not to ride any rides except fantasyland dark rides, jungle cruise, pirates and winnie the pooh. We also decided to rent a wheelchair. I felt EXTREMELY bad for doing this, because there are people with real needs for wheelchairs. I didn't want people to see me getting out of a wheelchair and think I was some sort of imposter. The truth is, I still got so fatigued from walking short distances...like the length of main street... that I had to rest a lot. Plus, a wheelchair gave me a softer place to sit than a bench.
Our flight landed at 8:10 a.m. on Friday, September 9 at SNA. (the airport with many names... Orange County, John Wayne, Santa Ana...) We got our checked bag. I was still under heavy lifting restrictions, so we packed accordingly. We rented a car from Hertz. We drove to the Grand with no problems. We came out of the airport on Mac Arthur Blvd. Instead of going to the 405 to 55 like the map said, we stayed on Mac Arthur and hit 55. One less freeway exchange... Then we got on 5 and exited Katella. We left our car with valet, (another splurge) got checked in, (two very nice CMs helped us) grabbed some breakfast at Whitewater Snacks, picked up my wheelchair from Bell services and headed to Disneyland! We were walking under the left tunnel at 10:10. Not bad!
Our usual first ride is big thunder. Jessica wouldn't ride her first ride without me, so we did jungle cruise. (no wait) Then, I parked next to bengal barbeque while she rode indy with a 15 minute wait. We then made our way to winnie the pooh. Our family loves this ride. We ride it multiple times each trip. There was actually a line. This was an exciting ride because I finally found the honey pot where HONEY is spelled correctly! Yay! Yes, we are nerds. We visited pooh corner, then Jessica rode big thunder, (15 min) then we shopped in the frontierland and adventureland shops. We like to shop. A lot. The shop in adventureland is our favorite. My daughters and I have each have a soapstone animal collection from this shop. We had a lunch reservation for 1:00, so we headed there.
Carnation Cafe for breakfast is a tradition, but this was our first time eating there for lunch. Our waitress wasn't the greatest, but the food was good! Jessica had chicken fried chicken and I had the turkey sandwich. Oscar came around and said hello. I just love him! They also brought Jessica a birthday cupcake and sang to her.
We were both super exhausted by this time. As we were finishing lunch, we got a text saying our room was ready. YAY! It was 1:40... earlier than I expected, but SO glad. It took us some time to find our room. We were in a standard view, room 2338. In fact, I had to look up the first page of the Grand Californian Super Thread here on Dis to look at the map! Our room was accessed by the coveted Napa Rose elevators. lol. Since we had been awake since 12:45 a.m. California time, after we got into our room and got our bags delivered, we took a 4 hour nap.
We got up and around a little after 6 and made our way back to disneyland. Food was first on the agenda, and Jessica picked hungry bear. I sat parked while Jessica got our cheeseburgers and fries. It was very good. It was also weirdly fascinating to see the SWL construction. After we ate, Jessica rode splash while I enjoyed the ambiance that is critter country at dusk.
I don't remember what else we did besides hitting all the shops in new orleans square. We left the parks and headed to World of Disney to do our main shopping. I had lots of people on my list to buy for, including my husband and 2 daughters I left at home. I also wanted to get some christmas presents. $230 later, we headed to the room. Pretty sure we were showered and in bed by 11:30, which never happens on disney trips! It was a great first day!
