A Very Disney Christmas!!!

[staley7580]

DATES!!! December 20th-27th

My first TR.. How should I start? Major Players? Okey Dokey!

Me-26 (27 today!!) Mom, and Disneyland trip planner
Dh-32, works his butt off to pay for my addiction
DS-5, Loves Disney, Power Rangers, Transformers, and Hannah Montana. I know!!
DD-2, OMG. Need I say more? She is 40 inches tall, and weighs 43lbs.. She will go on about 5 rides at DL, and hates the characters. DL is NOT the most magical place on earth for her!

My mom... She is 50 something, and a real handful. Why she wanted to come? We still havent figured that out yet.

Next.. My sisters family.
Dsis-33, Lives in SoCal, but has only been to dl 2 other times. I know!!
Dbil-55, Recovering from a fairly recent heart attack, also pretty much hates DL.
Neice-12, might only be 12, but thinks she is 20... Looks like it too.
Nephew-16, Video game junkie. And like most 16yo boys, thinks DL is LAME!!

We started planning this trip in May. My dad passed away on the first of May, and my family had never spent a Christmas without him before. We didnt want to go to Reno, and visit my mom over Christmas, because it would have been to depressing for us.. We would have just sat around and cried, and thats not how we wanted Christmas to be. Dh and i were thinking, what could be more therapeutic then Disney at Christmas? So we start planning our trip!

It was just going to be the 4 of us... Then we told people! First i called my sister, NOT intending to disrupt their Christmas, since they had never spent Christmas with my dad... Long story, boring and not much fun. I offered to take their kids for a few days while they were on break, so they werent just sitting at home trying to kill each other. She thought, hey!! Sounds like fun!! We will join you! Ooooookkkkaaaayyyy... Sure, why not! We love them, they are fun peeps.

Then I had to buck up and call my mom and tell her. Ugh. my mom thinks that DL is stupid. We are stupid for going, and basically I am a 10 yo who still needs her guidance in every aspect of my life. yeah... FUN. So I told her that we were all meeting up at DL, thinking that NO WAY would she want any part of that. SURPRISE!!! Can i come too? WHAT??? Ummm... Okay.

Sooo... There we are. 9 of us going to Dl for Christmas. Yay. Since I have the most knowledge, and I am a SAHM, I got to plan EVERYTHING. Not big deal really, because I got to plan it all my way. First, choosing a hotel. My sister and i decided we wanted to stay onsite. My mom said it was to expensive. Now, if anyone could afford to stay onsite, its her... So I over ruled and we stayed at the PP. I got everyone an AP discount, and we were booked for 7 nights, and my mom for 4, and my sis for 2. Perfect.

If you have hung in for the planning, I promise it will get better!

 

[staley7580]

Okay, on to departure day. We have gone through a lot of crap getting here. My Bil had a heart attack in November, so we thought that was the end of our trip... But we prevailed, and here we go! Early morning flight from SeaTac to Long Beach. I got 1 hour of sleep the night before. I was tired!!! But we got there, on the plane, my kids fell asleep and soon we were there. At first I got a little confused when they told us not to walk under the plane when we got off. Under the plane? OMG. No freaking way. We got off the plan and literally walked onto the tarmac. We wait FOREVER and get our luggage, and then get our rental van.

We get to the Hotel, gorgeous!! We have stayed here before, and we just love it. We stayed at the GCH in October, and DH said he felt out of place there. Like an aerospace machinist and his equally grubby family have no right there? The beds sure were comfy though!! Anyways, we checked in and our room was ready!! At noon!

Honestly, I dont remember much of what we did that day. We ate lunch at the Jazz Kitchen, YUM. We rode our special first ride of the trip ride. Astro Orbiters. ALWAYS Astro Orbiters!! One of the few rides my baby likes.. Not likes, LOVES! Crowds were light, lines were short. We went to bed early. nothing to exciting.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

WOOHOO!!! And the fun begins!

The beginning is sounding oddly reminiscent of Spongie's TR. Hopefully you will have no smoking/gaseous-emission/belching/quasi-hurling Grandma portions on yours.

Great start, keep going!!!

 

[staley7580]

Day 2, not much more excitement. We got up early, went on a bunch of rides, bought a bunch of stuff. The real fun doesnt really start til grandma rolls into town. THEN the fun starts! We went back to the hotel for a nap... It was starting to get a little busy, and we fell asleep around 1 or 2, and didnt wake up til 6! We spent the night at CA. OMG. My baby went on Almost every ride there!! Fan-freaking-tastic!!

We cruised over to DL and went on IASW. Very cute!! My dd just loved the singing dollies! And yet still, ds just cant not grow fast enough to ride on Indy! Every trip we run over there and measure him... NOTHING! Mikalah will be tall enough before he is!

Okay... Day 3- Grandma is coming in today!! Okay, this is where it gets good, and I even have some Pics!

 

[arielchickenofthesea]

We were there from the 20th -27th as well. Crowded wasn't it? Christmas at Disney is very special. We go every year, but I think we won't go again at Christmas. The past two years I have gotten very ill. This year both DH and I caught that crud that everyone had in the Park. We spent more time in bed in the DL Hotel than we did in the Parks, because we were so sick. I highly recommend the Holiday time tour for anyone thinking of going during the holidays! It is wonderful!

Can't wait to hear the rest of your tale...thankfully my mom LOVES Disneyland and would go in a heartbeat with us, but my dad does not like it one bit. I can only imagine a trip with someone (esp. a parent who did not care for Disney! )
ariel

 

[tinkermell]

On board here and waiting patiently................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 

[disneegrl4eva]

what??? thats it??? you stop there???are you freakin crazy??? hurry up and get to reporting dang it

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I see you have mastered the art of the cliffhanger. Tsk, tsk!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

I'm here I'm here!

Good Grief Staley wake up and get back to your TR woman!!! Start the New Year RIGHT lady!

Great so far can't wait to hear about your mom!

 

[daisy_77]

I am onboard for your trippie!

 

[staley7580]

Im Baaa-aackkkk!!! Now, where was I? Oh yeah! I have to say, it was beautiful!! All of our jaws dropped when we saw the castle lit up for the first time, and everything was so pretty. All of our CM's were super nice, and IASMH was sooo cute!! We rode on it the most!

Day 3- Grandmas coming in to town!

We had planned on getting up early and hitting the park for early entry, but we stayed at the park so late the night before that we were just too tired to get up that early! Instead we ordered room service, and browsed DTD for a while, and set up the Christmas tree. We went to the Lego store, and my little klepto dd stole a book from there... Not the first time she did that on this trip, and not the last! Everyone got new toys, and we went back to the room to let them play with their toys til time to go to the airport.

We got to the airport with about 3 minutes to spare, and Grandma come walking up... The kids were SUPER excited, and I have to admit, I was excited to show my mom "our" Disneyland. I really wanted to show her why we loved it so much. We hug, and kiss, and then get the luggage. Alex INSISTED on carrying her bags... Well..... The little one anyways. We get her checked into the hotel, and she decides to take a nap. Who naps at DL? We had 5pm dining ressies at Storytellers, so we all rested until then. We met up, and went to eat.. We walked into the GCH, and her jaw hit the floor!! Alex had to take her to the grandfather clock and show her the hidden mickey, then we signed in for dinner. Dinner was fantastic, as always! We love it there, the food is crazy good. I think for our next trip, we are going to hit the Character breakfast.

Then we took her to DTD, and she took us shopping. I knew there was a reason we brought her! She dropped a big ole chunk of change at the lego store, World of Disney, and Basin. Now... I am a big ole cheapo. When I buy bath stuff for myself, I get the cheap stuff from walmart. SO I am NOT accustomed to spending like $12 on a little tiny bottle of bubble bath. I tried to talk her out of it... I swear I did. THEN... OMG. She sent my kids loose in the World of Disney store, and told them to get WHATEVER. She clearly had NO idea what she was saying. Thankfully they were so shocked, that neither of them got anything over $20. PHEW!! She also wanted to buy the baby a princess dress. WELL... On a normal kid, MAYBE. But my daughter grows with super human speed. REALLY. She is 2, and wears a sz 5. And they JUST FIT. So I am not going to let her spend $80. on a dress she will wear for 2 months. After all this eating and shopping, we were TIRED. We decided to call it an early night and head back to the hotel.. after all, Sunday we were taking Grandma sightseeing in Hollywood, right? Well... that was the plan.

Overall, we had a nice evening with Grandma. She got to spoil he grandkids, and me and dh. I must say... it was quite unlike her to be so generous and agreeable. I was a little concerned with what was going to happen next, I had high hopes after what a great evening we had.

 

[funnygarcia]

And thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn..
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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT????!!!!!!!!


arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!


sigh, ok ok ok... waiting ... impatiently mind you .... for the next installment.

 

[staley7580]

I will finish after the brats, I mean devil children, oopppss... My lovely booger babies go to bed. A little over half an hour. I PROMISE!!

 

[funnygarcia]

One hour later..........

 

[Alex2kMommy]

What?! No snoring, farting, belching, urping, hacking up hairballs? What kind of self-respecting Grandma...

Oooohhhhh, right. Sorry, Staley, I'm getting my TRs mixed up...

Carry on! Please?

 

[staley7580]

What?! No snoring, farting, belching, urping, hacking up hairballs? What kind of self-respecting Grandma...

Oooohhhhh, right. Sorry, Staley, I'm getting my TRs mixed up...

Carry on! Please?

Trust me, Im sure Grandma does all of those things, but she can darn well do them in her own room. ACROSS the hall!

 

[staley7580]

What is this? Day 4? Ohhhhhh Yeahhhhh.. So, the plan for today was to wake up nice and early, get breakfast and take my mom sight seeing. She wanted to see the Hollywood sign, and the walk of fame. SO. We get up, and get dressed, and I send the boy across the hall to check on Grandma. "Im not dressed!" Okay, get dressed and lets get a move on! 20 minutes later. "Im not dressed!" WHAT??? Okay, maybe I should clarify. I have NO PATIENCE. If I say be up and ready to go by 9, I freaking mean 9. Not 10!! She is finally ready, and we go to Mimis for breakfast. Yum, yum. We eat, we leave.

On to Hollywood. I knew we were going to have trouble, because about 15 minutes into the car ride, she starts in on the kids being to loud. DUH!! They are 2 and 5. Not to mention we are just a loud family! We sing loud, we talk loud, and we yell loud. Its what we do. She says she has to go to the bathroom. And when she has to go, she has to go! By then we were close to the Tar Pits. We have been there before, so I suggested it. We went, she pottied, and we looked around. Not very exciting, but the kids liked it. Then we drive over to Rodeo Dr. OMG. How cool was that? VERY COOL!! Then we drive over to the Walk of Fame... My mom is getting hungry, she is diabetic, so she really needed to eat. We pull on to the Walk of fame, and first thing my mom sees some guy throwing up on the side of the road! She screams-"KEEP DRIVING!!!" SO we decide to get a map of the stars homes and drive through the hills.

DH left his chew at the hotel. So by the time we get the map he is screaming at everyone, and my mom is having some sort of diabetic/asthma attack. He pulls over at a 7-11, and I ask my mom what she wants to eat. "I dont care.. " By then I was frustrated, because dh was being a jerk, my mom was being a total drama queen, and the kids were starting to fuss. Im not being cold hearted towards my mom... She REALLY throws things out of proportion. I fully believe nothing was wrong with her except she was pissed because we hadnt stopped for her food fast enough. They had been snacking in the car all morning, so its not like she was having sugar issues. So we stop at Carls Junior, and get them food. Finally, fed and happy, we hop on the 101 and go up a big hill. Whats up there? Universal! We decided to stop and do Universal City walk, which was fun, and ate up the rest of the day. Thank Goodness!

We head back to the hotel, and drop off our goods and go searching for dinner. We went to the Jazz Kitchen. I love that place!! We ate just about everything on their menu too! OMG. I ordered the Turkey, and I get to my last piece, and its RAW! Holy crap!! Thankfully I dont have a weak stomach, I just sent it back to the kitchen, and got it taken off our tab. Since I didnt eat that last piece, I had room for desert! The creme brulee was YUMMY!!

Another fairly good day for us, no major breakdowns... Got more stuff... and we found out where universal was!

 

[funnygarcia]

whew.. I was nervous there for a minute..

thinking..


oh no..


another "mom from heck" episode.

I haven't been to Universal yet or Walk of Fame -- will have to check those out .. minus the puking guy of course.

 

[staley7580]

whew.. I was nervous there for a minute..

thinking..


oh no..


another "mom from heck" episode.

I haven't been to Universal yet or Walk of Fame -- will have to check those out .. minus the puking guy of course.

I would definitely skip the guy barfing on the corner. he was not much fun! I think you guys would like CIty Walk, they had a really cool store that DH loved!!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

On board here and waiting patiently................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Peer Pressure woman is back!!!