sam'smominco
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2004
- Messages
- 26
Hello...I recently sent out an email to my friends and family about our trip a few weeks ago. We are WDW vets but this was our first trip to DLR. I just posted part of my email in the thread about the Sun Wheel and then had the idea that I should just post my recap in its entirety, as some of you might find it amusing.
As a background, it is me, DH, DS4, DS2 and our family friends with boys the same age. There might be a few references you might not get since you don't know us, but you can just ignore those and focus on the Disney specific info....
Attached is a recap from our latest vacation adventure. Thankfully this vacation didnt involve projectile vomiting on a Disney bus, getting kicked off of a college campus for nursing (oh the shame!), violating TSA rules by chasing down a stolen purple duck through airport security, or an ambulance ride. An uneventful vacation (i.e. one without an emergency room co-pay) is a successful one in our book!
A few observations:
*Since we didnt arrive in California until almost midnight, we stayed at a less expensive non-Disney hotel the first night of our stay. The problem with this is that we had to move ourselves and our belongings to the Disney hotel the next day. Knowing that we are not light travelers, I ask the concierge to call us a cab even though the Disney hotel is only two blocks away. The concierge tells me it would be much quicker to just walk to the Disney hotel than it would be to call a cab all the while looking at me like I am some lazy swine for not even considering just walking. I put on my, Dont give me any attitude mister, I run marathons and nurse my children until they enter kindergarten look and agree. He assures me, Dont worry, it is just across the street! What ensues is me and Scott dragging two huge suitcases (and when I say huge, this is no exaggeration we always hold our breath as these babies are weighed at the airport b/c it is rare that they pass the 50lb. limit), two car seats, one stroller, two backpacks, and our small children across 8 LANES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TRAFFIC DURING MORNING RUSH HOUR! And so it was that the Griswolds began their Disney vacation .
*We loved the Grand Californian Hotel. However, the thought did occur to me that this deluxe hotel (that was actually INSIDE the theme park and had a spa, nightly turn-down service, three restaurants, etc.) cost the exact same as the Travelodge at the Final Four in San Antonio a few weeks ago. But it didnt offer free pizza .or warm soda .or broken down limos to add to the ambience (those of you not in San Antonio can ignore these references they are only for the chosen few lucky enough to experience the greatness of the Travelodge Riverwalk).
*Joining on us on this trip were our dear friends from Colorado, the Eddys. Disneyland is truly the only place in the world where we can walk into a nice restaurant with four young boys under the age of 5 and not feel as out of place as FEMA at a natural disaster. God Bless the Mouse.
*Sam is teetering on the edge of wanting to be a big kid and still wanting to believe in little kid fantasies. We were so proud that he rode Space Mountain, yet disappointed with a conversation that I had with him upon arrival at our hotel. As per our tradition, we always hit the hotel gift shop for character autograph books before heading into the parks. I am bouncing off the walls with excitement waiting for Scott to get out of the bathroom so we can get going (seriously, who takes an entire minute to go potty?!?!). As we were waiting that eternity for Daddy to finish his business (tick tock!), Sam and I are ripping into the autograph books fantasizing about what rare character signature we might score this trip. Then we have THE CONVERSATION. The one that goes .
Sam: Mommy, its Ok, I know the characters arent real.
Me: WHAT?!?!?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!
Sam: Well, I know they are pretend because Mickey Mouse talks on TV but doesnt in real life. It is just a person in a costume.
Me: (grasping for anything yet barely breathing) But Sam, we are at DISNEYLAND!!! Everyone knows the characters are real at Disneyland and Disney World. Even God says so.
Sam: (grabbing me by the arm and leading me to a chair) Mom, it is time you face the facts. I am sorry I have to break it to you. Dont worry, I wont tell Daddy the truth.
The kid is just four and I know without a doubt that he is going to crack the Santa secret this Christmas. He has already voiced his suspicions the last two years so I am bracing myself for the inevitable. I just hope he doesnt ruin it for his brother (or his Daddy .shhhh!).
*Even with the second child, nothing in the world can compare to watching the parades and fireworks through the eyes of a two-year-old. The joy of watching your child watch the wonderment never gets old. In fact, now that I think about, we should probably go for baby number 3....and 4...and 5...and 6...and 7....JUST KIDDING, HONEY!
*We officially became THOSE parents. This realization took place after rousing Ben from his blissful sleep at 6:30am so that we could be the very first people in line when Disneyland opened. Scott was trying to dress Ben as he was crying uncontrollably. Being the super sensitive mother that I am, I was trying to make it better for him
Me: Sweet dear child of mine, dont you want to go see Mickey Mouse? Dont you want to ride the tea cups? Dont you want to play with Blake?
Ben: No, No, No!
Me: Well, sweet baby, what do you want to do?
Ben: (Pointing angrily to the Pack n Play and giving me the stink eye) I want you to put me back in that crib RIGHT NOW!!!
Me: Youre kidding, right?!?! You are waking your lazy butt up and going to ride the tea cups until you throw up, do you understand me??? Sleeping is for wienies! We paid a lot of money for this vacation and we arent going to spend it waiting in line! The Bowens do NOT wait in line! Kid, you know that! For crying out loud, you just turned two. Quit acting like this is your first trip to Disney! Now on with the show!!
*The best moments are those you cannot possibly plan. The scene was late Saturday night at California Adventure. After the Electrical Light Parade, the crowds call it a day and head out (amateurs!). Knowing there is a full hour before the park closes at 10pm, we knock out rides like only the Bowens can (this generally involves pushing, shoving, cutting in line, and lying to get handicapped passes). Sarah and I decide that a spin on the giant ferris wheel might be a good way to wind the boys down from the excitement of the day. We are one of the last groups to board the ride before closing. From the ground, it appears that some of the gondolas might rock gently with the blowing breeze I believe they call them the sliding gondolas. What Disney should really say is, WARNING! These gondolas will sending you hurtling through the darkness and nearly flip you and your very small children completely upside down! You think Space Mountain is rough? Take a spin on this bad boy! All 8 of us are able to squeeze into one sliding gondola for our supposed make the kids sleepy ride. Uh, think again. As the four adults are laughing hysterically and screaming our guts out as we ORBIT THE SUN, the four kids have looks of complete terror on their faces. Keep in mind that these children include four-year-olds who rode Space Mountain earlier in the day and barely two-year-olds who were dragged onto the Matterhorn. I am just thankful we didnt discover the margarita stand until the next day. Had we found it before that ride, it could have been a disaster of epic proportions.
*Crème brulee French toast might be the greatest breakfast food invention since chocolate chip pancakes.
*Listening to Sam and Tyler discuss important issues made us realize what fine young men we were raising. An example:
(While playing with light sabers .but not ones that we actually bought b/c we are far too cheap for that. We just hang out at the souvenir stands .or toy museums as we like to call them until they got bored and then move on).
Sam: You know, Tyler, we cant REALLY kill each other with these swords.
Tyler: I know. Because you arent supposed to kill friends.
I think we all can agree that their grasp of right vs. wrong is clearly a testament to our excellence in parenting.
*One of the greatest amusements of the trip was watching Ben catapult himself into the ground (at the speed of the sliding gondolas, for example) and then watching the collective gasps of everyone around us. It is quite hysterical to witness the look of horror on the faces of strangers (especially those who have only parented little girls) when our little Ben does one of his patented, hey, I know, how about if I launch myself over the top of this metal railing and go head first into the cement moves and comes up with a goose egg the size of the aforementioned ferris wheel on crack yet is still giggling. Like I said earlier, we can all laugh since this particular Disney trip involved no CT scans for bleeders on the brain. Phew!
*Still high on a national championship, I was thrilled to see people wandering the parks sporting Jayhawk gear. Anytime I would glimpse even a hint of that lovable mythical bird, I would literally drop what I was doing (or who I was holding .poor Ben) and sprint after the fellow Jayhawk yelling, Rock Chalk! Rock Chalk! Come back here!!! Come back! Can you believe it?!?! We are the best team EVER! Lets go grab a beer and spend the rest of the afternoon gushing over our team! And for the record, everyone was equally excited as me.
*Small World was closed for renovations. Daddy is still recovering from the grief of his favorite ride being down. Try as I might, I just cant get him out of the fetal position he has assumed since hearing the devastating news. (But, honey, GREAT NEWS! I just used our economic stimulus check to buy four plane tickets to Orlando this weekend so we can hit it there! Its a world of laughter, a world of tears; its a world of hope and a world of fears .)
p.s. What song is going through YOUR head now??? You can thank me later.
p.p.s. And before you all think we are insane, I want the record to state that the Eddys have requested that we accompany them on their next trip to Disney World. So we cant be that bad .unless they are too.
As a background, it is me, DH, DS4, DS2 and our family friends with boys the same age. There might be a few references you might not get since you don't know us, but you can just ignore those and focus on the Disney specific info....
Attached is a recap from our latest vacation adventure. Thankfully this vacation didnt involve projectile vomiting on a Disney bus, getting kicked off of a college campus for nursing (oh the shame!), violating TSA rules by chasing down a stolen purple duck through airport security, or an ambulance ride. An uneventful vacation (i.e. one without an emergency room co-pay) is a successful one in our book!
A few observations:
*Since we didnt arrive in California until almost midnight, we stayed at a less expensive non-Disney hotel the first night of our stay. The problem with this is that we had to move ourselves and our belongings to the Disney hotel the next day. Knowing that we are not light travelers, I ask the concierge to call us a cab even though the Disney hotel is only two blocks away. The concierge tells me it would be much quicker to just walk to the Disney hotel than it would be to call a cab all the while looking at me like I am some lazy swine for not even considering just walking. I put on my, Dont give me any attitude mister, I run marathons and nurse my children until they enter kindergarten look and agree. He assures me, Dont worry, it is just across the street! What ensues is me and Scott dragging two huge suitcases (and when I say huge, this is no exaggeration we always hold our breath as these babies are weighed at the airport b/c it is rare that they pass the 50lb. limit), two car seats, one stroller, two backpacks, and our small children across 8 LANES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TRAFFIC DURING MORNING RUSH HOUR! And so it was that the Griswolds began their Disney vacation .
*We loved the Grand Californian Hotel. However, the thought did occur to me that this deluxe hotel (that was actually INSIDE the theme park and had a spa, nightly turn-down service, three restaurants, etc.) cost the exact same as the Travelodge at the Final Four in San Antonio a few weeks ago. But it didnt offer free pizza .or warm soda .or broken down limos to add to the ambience (those of you not in San Antonio can ignore these references they are only for the chosen few lucky enough to experience the greatness of the Travelodge Riverwalk).
*Joining on us on this trip were our dear friends from Colorado, the Eddys. Disneyland is truly the only place in the world where we can walk into a nice restaurant with four young boys under the age of 5 and not feel as out of place as FEMA at a natural disaster. God Bless the Mouse.
*Sam is teetering on the edge of wanting to be a big kid and still wanting to believe in little kid fantasies. We were so proud that he rode Space Mountain, yet disappointed with a conversation that I had with him upon arrival at our hotel. As per our tradition, we always hit the hotel gift shop for character autograph books before heading into the parks. I am bouncing off the walls with excitement waiting for Scott to get out of the bathroom so we can get going (seriously, who takes an entire minute to go potty?!?!). As we were waiting that eternity for Daddy to finish his business (tick tock!), Sam and I are ripping into the autograph books fantasizing about what rare character signature we might score this trip. Then we have THE CONVERSATION. The one that goes .
Sam: Mommy, its Ok, I know the characters arent real.
Me: WHAT?!?!?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!
Sam: Well, I know they are pretend because Mickey Mouse talks on TV but doesnt in real life. It is just a person in a costume.
Me: (grasping for anything yet barely breathing) But Sam, we are at DISNEYLAND!!! Everyone knows the characters are real at Disneyland and Disney World. Even God says so.
Sam: (grabbing me by the arm and leading me to a chair) Mom, it is time you face the facts. I am sorry I have to break it to you. Dont worry, I wont tell Daddy the truth.
The kid is just four and I know without a doubt that he is going to crack the Santa secret this Christmas. He has already voiced his suspicions the last two years so I am bracing myself for the inevitable. I just hope he doesnt ruin it for his brother (or his Daddy .shhhh!).
*Even with the second child, nothing in the world can compare to watching the parades and fireworks through the eyes of a two-year-old. The joy of watching your child watch the wonderment never gets old. In fact, now that I think about, we should probably go for baby number 3....and 4...and 5...and 6...and 7....JUST KIDDING, HONEY!
*We officially became THOSE parents. This realization took place after rousing Ben from his blissful sleep at 6:30am so that we could be the very first people in line when Disneyland opened. Scott was trying to dress Ben as he was crying uncontrollably. Being the super sensitive mother that I am, I was trying to make it better for him
Me: Sweet dear child of mine, dont you want to go see Mickey Mouse? Dont you want to ride the tea cups? Dont you want to play with Blake?
Ben: No, No, No!
Me: Well, sweet baby, what do you want to do?
Ben: (Pointing angrily to the Pack n Play and giving me the stink eye) I want you to put me back in that crib RIGHT NOW!!!
Me: Youre kidding, right?!?! You are waking your lazy butt up and going to ride the tea cups until you throw up, do you understand me??? Sleeping is for wienies! We paid a lot of money for this vacation and we arent going to spend it waiting in line! The Bowens do NOT wait in line! Kid, you know that! For crying out loud, you just turned two. Quit acting like this is your first trip to Disney! Now on with the show!!
*The best moments are those you cannot possibly plan. The scene was late Saturday night at California Adventure. After the Electrical Light Parade, the crowds call it a day and head out (amateurs!). Knowing there is a full hour before the park closes at 10pm, we knock out rides like only the Bowens can (this generally involves pushing, shoving, cutting in line, and lying to get handicapped passes). Sarah and I decide that a spin on the giant ferris wheel might be a good way to wind the boys down from the excitement of the day. We are one of the last groups to board the ride before closing. From the ground, it appears that some of the gondolas might rock gently with the blowing breeze I believe they call them the sliding gondolas. What Disney should really say is, WARNING! These gondolas will sending you hurtling through the darkness and nearly flip you and your very small children completely upside down! You think Space Mountain is rough? Take a spin on this bad boy! All 8 of us are able to squeeze into one sliding gondola for our supposed make the kids sleepy ride. Uh, think again. As the four adults are laughing hysterically and screaming our guts out as we ORBIT THE SUN, the four kids have looks of complete terror on their faces. Keep in mind that these children include four-year-olds who rode Space Mountain earlier in the day and barely two-year-olds who were dragged onto the Matterhorn. I am just thankful we didnt discover the margarita stand until the next day. Had we found it before that ride, it could have been a disaster of epic proportions.
*Crème brulee French toast might be the greatest breakfast food invention since chocolate chip pancakes.
*Listening to Sam and Tyler discuss important issues made us realize what fine young men we were raising. An example:
(While playing with light sabers .but not ones that we actually bought b/c we are far too cheap for that. We just hang out at the souvenir stands .or toy museums as we like to call them until they got bored and then move on).
Sam: You know, Tyler, we cant REALLY kill each other with these swords.
Tyler: I know. Because you arent supposed to kill friends.
I think we all can agree that their grasp of right vs. wrong is clearly a testament to our excellence in parenting.
*One of the greatest amusements of the trip was watching Ben catapult himself into the ground (at the speed of the sliding gondolas, for example) and then watching the collective gasps of everyone around us. It is quite hysterical to witness the look of horror on the faces of strangers (especially those who have only parented little girls) when our little Ben does one of his patented, hey, I know, how about if I launch myself over the top of this metal railing and go head first into the cement moves and comes up with a goose egg the size of the aforementioned ferris wheel on crack yet is still giggling. Like I said earlier, we can all laugh since this particular Disney trip involved no CT scans for bleeders on the brain. Phew!
*Still high on a national championship, I was thrilled to see people wandering the parks sporting Jayhawk gear. Anytime I would glimpse even a hint of that lovable mythical bird, I would literally drop what I was doing (or who I was holding .poor Ben) and sprint after the fellow Jayhawk yelling, Rock Chalk! Rock Chalk! Come back here!!! Come back! Can you believe it?!?! We are the best team EVER! Lets go grab a beer and spend the rest of the afternoon gushing over our team! And for the record, everyone was equally excited as me.
*Small World was closed for renovations. Daddy is still recovering from the grief of his favorite ride being down. Try as I might, I just cant get him out of the fetal position he has assumed since hearing the devastating news. (But, honey, GREAT NEWS! I just used our economic stimulus check to buy four plane tickets to Orlando this weekend so we can hit it there! Its a world of laughter, a world of tears; its a world of hope and a world of fears .)
p.s. What song is going through YOUR head now??? You can thank me later.
p.p.s. And before you all think we are insane, I want the record to state that the Eddys have requested that we accompany them on their next trip to Disney World. So we cant be that bad .unless they are too.
