D
Disney Donna
Guest
(Martin Luther King Day Weekend)
Hi everyone... I've been wanting my Mother and I to have some "girl" time together and the opportunity presented itself to go to Disneyland, so we took it... Let me introduce the "cast" of characters... my Mom, age 76 and cute as a button... me, the daughter, age 51... We decided that this trip will be very slow and relaxed... we've been coming to Disneyland since 1956 and so we've been on everything and know we won't get to ride alot, but we just want to spend time together and make more memories. Oh yeah, a little background why it'll be a slow and relaxed trip... my Mother has had 2 knee replacements, arthritis in all joints, tendonitis, bursitis and fibermyalgia... and just started having some vertigo a couple of months prior to this trip... I have one slipped knee cap, some arthritis in my other knee and feet and planters facitis in both of my heals... so when I say slow, I mean
s-l-o-w...
You'll understand why I mentioned this later in the trip report. It's kinda detailed because I want to keep this report in my scrap book, so I hope it won't be too boring for you... I hope you enjoy... now on with the report...Day 1 - Saturday, Jan. 13, 2007 -
California, here we come... I left my house around 4:15 am with Hubby, son and dogs sleeping and filled the car up and was on my way to my Mom's house to pick her up. We threw the suitcases in and buckled up and were on our way at 5:00 am.
I wanted to leave early since we bought a 3-day park hopper pass and our travel day, Saturday, was going to be our first day. It was pretty cold in Arizona with all the crazy weather around the globe, but we were comfortable inside the CRV. We made our first stop at a rest area with bathrooms... the bathroom was so cold and cold wind was blowing in from the windows. The water was really cold when washing our hands and the dryer on the wall to dry them gave out cold to cool air. We quickly went back to the car and turned the heater on... the outside temp read 26 degrees... burrr... while driving a little further, the outside temp read 29, wow, it was warming up, but then a little while later, it read 23 degrees... it was freezing outside and we were glad to be in a warm car.We made another stop or two and finally reached the turn off for the "Flying J" to gas up the car and get a bite to eat. I made a left off the "off ramp" and then noticed waving of
hands in another car to let me know that I was going the wrong way... I had turned on the "off ramp" for the cars in the opposite direction to get off the freeway... guess I was chatting too much and not paying attention... thankfully, no other cars were coming so I did a quick U-Turn and when I finally got to the right turn off for the "Flying J", I saw the man and thanked him very much. I gased up and then we went in had sat down in the restaurant and I had some much needed coffee 
We had toast and then after paying, we went to the little store and bought some corn nuts to share and a chocolate milk for me and then we were on our way... 4 miles and we crossed the California State Line... 
AND, we gained an hour, 
which means more "Disney" time for us 
After some miles of driving and another rest stop, we found ourselves around Indio with the "windmills" really turning... alot of wind was blowing and I felt the car pull a couple of times. We really enjoyed our drive though because Mom and me got to talking about all kinds of things and also started talking about English and Spanish. Now, when I was really young, I thought that I might want to be an English Teacher... that was before I went into Junior High and started learning that there was much more learning to do then just speaking it... that changed my mind fast. Anyways, Mom and I were talking about different rules of English and all of a sudden, a light bulb went off in my head... I finally understood a couple of things that I should have learned in school... boy, did my IQ go down a few points. My Mom loves the Spanish language and took a Spanish class while in College with a wonderful Teacher... she was trying to enlighten me of some of the rules for Spanish... it was really interesting and I enjoyed learning a little about it... it was fun. We had a lot of laughs and before we knew it, we were looking for our 215 to 91 exit when what to our wondering eyes should appear, the 215 going West was closed due to construction. We got off after a mile or two to ask for directions. We had to make 3 stops to finally find someone who knew how to get to a part of the 215 that connects to the 91. It was just down the road, catch the 215 from there and it turned into 91. We thanked them very much and was on our way again. It was really easy. Soon we saw the Harbour Blvd. exit and with a left turn off the exit and on to Harbour we drove and found the Matterhorn on the right at Disneyland (it's tradition to see who can see the Matterhorn first... I did 
). We turned into the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites Hotel, across the street from the main entrance to Disneyland. We only paid $59.00 a night (not including tax). I thought that was a pretty good deal that I got on their website. We checked in about 12:30-1:00 pm but it was too early for a room, so we parked the car and went to Disneyland. Since we planned to be in a slow/relaxed vacation mode, we were already planning on shopping, eating, shopping, people watching, shopping, watching shows, shopping and whatever else we decided at the time. (Do ya think we like to shop, especially at Disneyland)? Just being together was what was awesome. We walked across the street to Disneyland and found our way to the "Will Call" Ticket Booth to pick up our on-line ticket purchase of $129.00 per person for a 3-day park hopper pass... (special was that adults pay the childs price). There was a little line but it went pretty fast. We found that we could do Early Morning Entry" on the Monday that we were there. The hours for Disneyland were from 9 am-11 pm on Saturday & Sunday and from 9 am-10 pm on Monday, so "Early Entry" would be at 8:00 am on Monday... 
Once inside Disneyland, ahhh, we were home... it felt good... I love Disneyland. We wanted to find something to eat for lunch because we were pretty hungry by now. While strolling down Main Street, we came across the Dapper Dans. They were just starting to perform, so we stopped and enjoyed them. Of course there was a couple of jokes that my Mom explained to me... more IQ points going down...
After the show was over, we went and found food at the Tomorrowland Terrace. We split a Bacon Cheese Burger with fries and a cookie. We were full so we walked around a little bit and found that it was really crowded. We decided to walk over to the Pirates of the Caribbean
to see how crowded the line was. We stopped in the Christmas shop (can't remember the name) that is now located inside Frontierland to the right of the Shooting Gallery. They had some wonderful things to look at. We enjoyed that a lot. When we reached the Pirates of the Caribbean, the line was too long to stand in and we didn't feel like going through the back way (Mom uses a cane and it's very hard on her to stand in one place too long), so we decided to skip it for the day and try again tomorrow. We saw that the "Columbia" was out as well as the "Mark Twain" ::cop: I always like to ride the "Mark Twain" in honor of my precious Father who passed away a little over two and a half years ago, because it was his favorite. We decided that we would ride it the next day because it was crowded and on Monday the Disney website said that it would be closed. So we walked toward Main Street and shopped a little in the Frontierland shop. Then we walked over and sat at the Coca Cola Corner on main Street and people watched a little while resting our feet and listening to "Michael" play ragtime on the piano. (We know that Ragtime Rod has retired now, and we sure do miss him. We've known him since the year he started working at Disneyland and I was only 13 years old. My kids call him "Uncle Rod" and he's like family to us, and I think he is the best Ragtime Piano Player that I have ever heard)... oops, back on topic... We did enjoy listening to Michael and he was fun.After a while, the 3 hours sleep that we both had was wearing off... boy, I am getting older...
We decided that we should go back to the Hotel and get some rest, but, we should mosey out through the shops. We watched them make some candy in the "Candy Palace" and walked through the "Watch Shop" and the "Emporium" where I bought some "Disney" playing cards to play with while at the Hotel. We slowly walked back tot he Hotel and checked in. Since there wasn't a luggage rack available, we had to carry as much as we could (I'm glad we packed light) and our room as located wayyy in the back, on the second floor... we locate our room after getting off the elevator, room #226. Once we got in the room and put things away, we started to relax. It was a nice room, pretty much the basic hotel room, but it was clean, decent size, nicely decorated, had a microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker, hair dryer, TV with cable & two queen beds that were so comfy. I really liked the "night-light" that was on the hair dryer, it came in handy throughout the night. We were watching TV and thought maybe we wouldn't go to Denny's, which was located right next door to the Hotel for dinner and that the microwave popcorn that my Mom had brought with her would be enough for dinner as our lunch was huge. Mom "passed" out after feeling how tired she was with getting up so early and traveling. I stayed up a little longer playing a game with my "Disney" cards and watching TV. Mom woke up after a little while and we just chatted and chatted for a while and then we finally both fell asleep and I slept all night... the beds were really comfortable. Night, Night...Day 2 - Jan. 14, 2007 -
Up and at em'... another cold day ahead of us... but we put on our jackets and went for our free continental breakfast that the Hotel provides consisting of danish, toast, fruit, coffee, milk and juice. I had heard that there wasn't any fireworks the night before due to the winds (and that went for tonight as well). Anyway, we got to Disneyland around 9-9:30 am and went to the "Guest Relations" booth to have our Disney Rewards transferred to a card so we could spend some more money. It was very easy. Guest Relations gave each of us a card with a phone number we could call. We called using my cell phone, gave them our Disney Visa Card numbers and the number on the cards the money was to be transferred to. They transferred the money in a matter of seconds to our cards and we were all set for more spending.
We decided that the first thing we wanted to do was to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean
We wanted to see the new additions. When we got there, we found that the line wasn't long at all so we walked right up to the ride and got in the front seat of our boat. I thought the ride was pretty awesome. We noticed that the sound system was updated as we could hear all the songs and dialogue very clearly and the new additions were very nicely done in my opinion. They didn't ruin the ride at all, just added a few touches from the movie that fit in very nicely. Once we got off the ride, we went into the "Pieces of Eight" store. Looked around to check out all the pirates stuff. A lot of neat costumes and some pretty nice looking souvenirs were there. We walked over to the bathroom located by the Railroad Station in New Orleans Square and then went on the train. I love being with my Mother, she's so much fun and makes friends where ever she goes. Once we got on the train (we were slow, so the Cast Member held the gate for us) my Mother noticed a Cast Member wearing a nice neck scarf. My Mother asked her about it and asked her if she could see it. The Cast Member came over to her and let her look at ther scarf while she was still wearing it and even though the train was starting to move, and my mother had not let loose of the scarf yet, the Cast Membr walked along the train until my Mother let go. People on the train got a kick out of that as it looked like Mom might "drag" the Cast Member along with the train while she was looking at the scarf. It was pretty funny 
Just to let you know, the reason my Mom was interested in the "knitted" scarf and anything knitted for that matter throughout the trip (we had so much fun looing at all the knitted stuff in the stores and on people) is because, my Mom loves to knit and crchet and is very, very talented and artistic. She is the one who actually got Disney to make the knits with Disney characters on them... here's the story 
When my oldest son was just under 3 months old, we moved from Texas to Arizona where my parents lived. We decided to go to Disneyland and take our son. My Mom had been looking for infant wear at Disneyland and never could find any. So, for this trip, she designed and made the "cutest" little, most adorable knitted sweater and cap for my son. On the back of the sweater was a Mickey Mouse that she had designed and knitted into the sweater and on the front of the cap has my son's name and on the top of the cap where black knitted Mickey Mouse Ears. He was adorable. There were so many people commenting on his outfit and he seemed to grab" the attention of many, even the characters in the parade made a "fuss" over him
Needless to say, he is in a lot of pictures that other guests at Disneyland took of him. Anyways, she would make him a new sweater with different characters on it like Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, etc. There were guests always asking us where they could buy a sweater like his and for that matter, ours, since she would make us sweaters too. So, she wrote a letter to the Disney Company along with pictures and her "graph paper" and explained how she worked the "graph paper" an that she thought that they should have infant and children wear. They called her back and said that those were the "cutiest things that they had ever seen". However, they had their own design company and with "mass control" restrictions on all Disney products that had to be made to specific standards and with knitting, they couldn't gaurantee that the product would come out correctly each time, that individual knitting would be hard for mass producing, etc. and that she could make them, but not sell them... she wasn't selling them, only making them for family and as gifts. Shortly after that, they started coming out with sweaters with "Disney" characters on them for infants, children and adults to wear. Also, in a magazine, they had her "graph paper" with patterns for knitting "Disney" sweaters. My Mom is just "tickled pink" that they have these for others to enjoy. So, as we shop and look at all the clothing items and knowing that she had a part in it is very satisfying.Okay, back on track... (literally)
So we rode the train and while we were stopped at the Toon Town Station, I noticed that "It's a Small World" was still decorated for the Holidays. Since we haven't ridden it for years with the Holiday overlay, we thought we would ride the train all the way around the park until we came to the Toon Town Station again to get off near "It's a Small World". When it was time to get off the train, Mom had a hard time getting up with her knees and decided that she probably wouldn't ride "It's a Small World" after all... because the boats are pretty low and it's hard to get down that low. I had already seen it so I decided to take pictures of it with the decorations and with the clock that was starting to chime with the music.
Since we were right by Toon Town and it just had opend, we wanted to go and check out the "Gag Factory" store. We spent quite a bit of time in there and my Mom bought her a magnet and I bought Mickey Mouse Dice because I thought they were really cute. After we shopped, we needed to get something to eat as the continental breakfast we had earlier didn't hold us. We walked back to Main Street because we both thought a corn dog sounded really good. We each got one, too hungry to share, and went to the Coca Cola Corner to sit, relax and eat. The corn dogs were huge and very tasty. Mom saw the Cotton Candy cart earlier and as she "loves" cotton candy, just had to have one. She usually shares this with my youngest son as he loves Cotton Candy too, but this time, it was all hers... I loved watching her enjoy it so much. While we were eating, we heard Eric play ragtime piano. After we ate, we wanted to go to the "Golden Horseshoe" to watch the "Billy Hill and the Hillbillies" show. There was a line to get in, but there was a show going on outside the "Golden Horseshoe" that kept us occupied. Once we were allowed to go in, I couldn't keep up with my Mom as she was on a mission to get us a good seat and table. We had rested, so she had some energy...
We got in the second row in the front and had a good time people watching and reminiscing of how we enjoyed the original "Golden Horseshoe Review" show that started when Disneyland opened and how the waitresses would take your order of chips and drinks and how they would show "slides/pictures" on a roll down screen before the show began. We always watched it whenever we would go to Disneyland... so much fun... and I've always loved the "Golden Horseshoe" building. The show started and we enjoyed it very much... I don't know how many times I've seen it, but it "cracks" me up every time.After the show, we decided that we should ride the "Mark Twain", but as we got there it was just getting ready to leave. The "Columbia" would be there in about 15 minutes and even though that's my Mom's favorite, she didn't really want to ride it. It was getting pretty crowded again and we thought we could wait for the "Mark Twain", but when I asked the Cast Member at the "dock" if the "Mark Twain" was going to be closed on Monday (tomorrow), he said no, that the "Columbia" would be closed and the "Mark Twain" would be open... I told him what I had read on the website, but he said it would be open... so, we decided to ride it the next day. We limped along to Main Street as we both were pretty much in pain and got on the "Horseless Carriage" for a ride down Main Street. The Cast Member was really nice and knew a lot about the car. He even knew how many feet we would travel... very cute. Once we got off and I took a picture of him, we headed for the store that is connected to the "Emporium" and across from the "Fire House Station"... I can't remember the name, but anyway, we shopped and "oh'd and ah'd" at all the cute things, but, it was time for a restroom break NOW, so we went to the one by City Hall. Now, my Mom is kinda short, 5'1" and I tease her all the time even though I'm only 2 inches taller then she is, but I'm still taller...
When we went into the restroom, there was a Cast Member there who keeps the restrooms clean. We each took a stall across from each other and I guess the Cast Member started mopping. My Mom must have seen her and my Mom told her that she could mop in her stall as she would pick up her feet. I started laughing and told her that she doesn't have to pick up her feet as they are probably not touching the floor anyways. The Cast Member kinda laughed a little and here I was, sitting by myself laughing... sometimes, I "crack" myself up... After our restroom break, we went to the "Emporium" to look around some more. We decided that next, we would go to California Adventure to Check out the "Tower of Terror". I wanted to ride it and shop in the attraction's store. My youngest son wanted a souvenir from there. Mom decided not to ride in case her vertigo would start up again. She sat on a bench, made some friends while I went on the ride. I love this ride. In the last year and a half, I've ridden it quite a few times. After the ride, I shopped and bought the "Tower of Terror" DVD movie that my Husband and I have been looking for, and a "Tower of Terror" beach towel for my youngest son. I found my Mom on the bench and we went to the "Farmer's Market" on "Hollywood" street (?) so she could purchase a bottled water. While she was in line, I heard some entertainment coming from back behind the Market. I went through the little open area and found a bench and watched the rest of the "Animators" show. They sang a lot of songs from animated movies. Mom joined me after getting her water. After the show, Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and Buzz Lightyear came out for the kids to line up for pictures and autographs. Mom and I left to go and check out the turkey leg "cart". The cart was located across the street from the "Animation Building", so we thought we would go there before we go get the turkey legs for dinner. We first went to the "Off The Page" store. Wow, some really neat things in there. I love to collect and have been doing so since I was 5 years old, and that' a long time, but even though there were beautiful things in there, I didn't find anything that I wanted to purchase yet. After looking around, we went inside the "Animation Builiding" and found out that "Talking with Crush" was about to start in a few minutes. Our feet and body were really hurting, but we waited and upon entering the theater, found a seat in the back row. It was really cute and we enjoyed it.
We went out to the lobby and sat for awhile enjoying the movie clips and music. What a nice place to relax. I could take a nap in there...
We wanted to do the "Animation Workshop", but it was too long of a wait standing in line and we were pretty tired. We decided to go and get 2 turkey legs to take with us to the Hotel for dinner. I wanted something that was "sweet" to eat, so I bought a double chocolate, chocolate chip brownie. We s-l-o-w-l-y walked back to the Hotel and got in our room around 5:30 pm. I had told Mom earlier that if I got more energy and she didn't want too, that I might go to Downtown Disney during our trip... needless to say, I didn't go to Downtown Disney this trip... 
We ate our turkey legs. Wow, were they good, but I could only eat about 1/4 of mine, so I wrapped it up and put it in the refrigerator, and Mom did the same. Mom fell asleep with a lot of pain and even groaning in her sleep. I stayed up with achy feet and watched TV and ate my brownie... I was stuffed. I finally fell asleep but decided before I did, that Mom and I would be renting scooters for the next day. There was no need for her to be in so much pain, and my heals were giving out. I slept very good again... did I mention, those beds are so compfy? Night, Night...Next installment - Day 3, Jan. 15, 2007 Scooter Time...
