April/May 2019: Seven Kinds of Crazy

[Jaina]

After Finishing up with Anna and Guardians (haha, that sounds like a new book or movie), we had a FP for Soarin'. DH said I could take the kids first, and he took DD2 (still barely 36 inches) over for a spin on the Little Mermaid. We didn't have to wait too long in Soarin's FP line, and it just so happened that we were almost the first set of people directed to the left when we went down. They directed us to A, but of course I asked if we could ride in B! I was super excited that we got top middle seats, and I was hoping DS5 would like this one. I really thought he would. He said it was fine, but didn't want to ride again He said it was "too fast." Where is my eyeroll emoji? Haha, at least he was still willing to try stuff, I guess. He can't help if he doesn't enjoy them.

At the end of our ride we used our rider switch to send DH, DD8 and DD11 back on again, while I ordered food for everyone at the Smokejumpers Grill. It was a little exciting finding a table big enough for us on a busy day like that just after noon, but I sent DS12 outside to watch for a table that was almost done while I ordered food. We got the Mickey ear burger, which seemed cute, and was a good match for a family full of hungry kids, as well as a gluten friendly burger and fries for DH, and some fries and chicken tenders to share along with the burgers for kids. The Mickey ears burgers were a little boring in their presentation, but still fun. I think everyone got enough to eat.

While we were waiting, we ran into some good friends from home who we knew were going to be there, and they took our first family picture of the day for us!

As we left the area, I was impressed to see that the FP return line for Soarin' had grown to way over in front of the restaurant. That was a little intense! I hoped it was more from people who didn't know how to operate the scanner than from actually that many people trying to return at once.

We walked over by Carthay and enjoyed all the beautiful views as we headed to Carsland for the first time this trip to redeem our RSR Fastpasses! DH rode first with the four older kids. DS5 was really excited about this one, so I was disappointed that he also found it too fast! (Plus, it's really hard to even see stuff when you're that short on that ride.)

I took DD2 in the stroller, gave her a pacifier and blanket, and covered the stroller with jackets, and headed out for a good walk around the park, expecting her to be worn out and fall asleep. Nope! We tried for about 20 minutes (and especially hung out behind GRR by the nice loud waterfall, which is one of my favorite spots!) but no luck! We finally went over and saw Mickey meeting, so we got in line. They said he had to leave in a few minutes though, but that he'd come through the line and say hi if we were waiting. So we did that. It was fun for her to get to see him and interact just a little bit. I have a video of it, but no pictures.

Now they were done with RSR and it was my turn! DD5 did not want to go again, so DH took him and DD2 on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. They loved that one, thankfully.

We had a good ride on RSR, though the FP line took some time. We ran into Cruz on our way out, and we also asked another Photopass photogapher for a few shots of us on our way through Carsland to meet up with the rest of our family.

 

[RedHotMama]

While we were waiting, we ran into some good friends from home who we knew were going to be there, and they took our first family picture of the day for us!

Fantastic family pics!

Too bad the little one wouldn't nap. I hope it doesn't end up becoming a problem.

I've got a little guy who wants to ride some of the bigger rides, but also says they are too fast. I think they'll get used to the idea and start to really enjoy the fast feeling.

 

[Jaina]

Fantastic family pics!

Too bad the little one wouldn't nap. I hope it doesn't end up becoming a problem.

I've got a little guy who wants to ride some of the bigger rides, but also says they are too fast. I think they'll get used to the idea and start to really enjoy the fast feeling.

Eh, it wasn't ideal, but we worked it out. She is almost 3, and some of mine stopped napping at her age. It's hard when you're used to a solid 2-3 hour nap every day though!
And I'm hoping he enjoys them more next time! Whenever that is!

 

[Jaina]

Sorry if anyone's trying to follow along with this. It has been the craziest few weeks, and the house hunt is about to kill me off. Ugh. The kids are done with school Thursday, which will bring a different kind of busy. As for Disney-related things, I'm watching the upcoming opening to Star Wars land, the new Flex pass, and wondering how similar/different our next trip (not scheduled) might be. Trying not to be anxious about the changes that are happening/will happen, and hoping Disneyland will still be the place I know and love.

Back to the report!

We met up with the rest of the tribe just finishing Mater's, and I dragged them back over to the Photopass photographer and asked for some group pictures. I really like how they turned out and I'm so glad that I made more efforts this time to get them! We walked over through the Carsland arch, and there was a photographer there, too, so we got a few more pictures. (Some of those are already in the first post I made post-trip)

After our pictures, it was time to cash in on our GRR fast pass. But on the way over, we decided it was a good time to hit Ariel with the whole family. The wait wasn't short, but not overly excessive either. I think 15 minutes. That's another nice "resting" ride, and everyone enjoys it. This is how DD2 rode most of the dark rides, even though she really liked them. I think it was just a lot of sensory input, haha!

I was nervous about GRR, even with ponchos, because it was still around 70º even at almost 3 pm. Beautiful but I knew it was going to get cooler and didn't want anyone to be miserable. And our time was too short to want to make a trip back to our hotel. Thankfully though, this time our ponchos were from Amazon, not eBay/China, and they did great. (Of course we had already tried most of them out that morning, haha.) I love GRR, and if we had 5 days, I'd enjoy spending the last hour or two just riding it over and over with short waits on a cooler day. The three older kids and I went on it first, (DS5 really didn't want to, so we didn't push him) and then DH decided he would use the rider switch and the two girls rode with him. He even traded me shoes and squeezed into my Croc sandals so he didn't risk getting his shoes and socks soaking wet. (They're fabric-like Nikes) It was awesome, haha.

While they rode, I sent DS12 to buy two churros for all the kids (and me, yum!) to split, and then he also ran DS5 to an emergency restroom break over by Soarin'. Did I mention that it's great having older kids along to help? DD2 enjoyed sitting and watching the rafts all come down over the falls for probably 10-15 minutes. It was a nice little break for her, I think.

We had grabbed another FP for TSMM because that was something everyone enjoyed and could ride together, so we went on that again at 4:45. They loved it again. I think that was DH's score.

Incredicoaster had opened up several hours before, and we had fastpasses for it now. DD11 had tried it on our last trip and had not enjoyed it. I think she might have liked it now, but again, I didn't feel the need to make/guilt her into trying it (no promises next time). It was a little bit nice, because we strapped DD2 into the stroller, and she waited off with the two youngest while DH, DS12, DD8 and I rode. DD8 actually really liked it, but her head got pushed forward and down by the forces during the loop, and it hurt her back. Even though DH adjusted her that night or the next morning at the room, it was pretty sore, and she commented on it a lot the next two days. (Whether because it hurt a little, or because she was nervous about hurting it again.) She didn't want to ride again, and neither did DH, but DS12 really did, so we rode it once more with the extra two fastpasses. (We didn't do rider switch for that, since an over-14 wasn't staying off.)

DH had done mobile ordering to get something from the Lucky Fortune Cookie for himself, and the kids all had their packed meal (gogurts, crackers, uncrustables, apples, etc.) for dinner. He said the mobile ordering was super fast, so I ordered myself a yummy rice/chicken bowl from the same place, and we enjoyed eating dinner on the Wharf.

But now what to do, in this very busy evening that was quickly drawing to a close? (At least for the younger kids!)

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I'm not sure what you think, but does the rider swap sometimes work out nicely so the kids can have more almost one on one time with each parent? I'm sure it's nice to ride all together but splitting up doesn't seem like it's all bad.

Ugh, grr. The first she only time w weight on it we were stuck under the geyser, not moving, for a few minutes. Up until that point the ride was fun.

I like the carsland photo pass pics alot!

 

[Jaina]

I'm not sure what you think, but does the rider swap sometimes work out nicely so the kids can have more almost one on one time with each parent? I'm sure it's nice to ride all together but splitting up doesn't seem like it's all bad.

Ugh, grr. The first she only time w weight on it we were stuck under the geyser, not moving, for a few minutes. Up until that point the ride was fun.

I like the carsland photo pass pics alot!

Oh my goodness on the stuck-under-a-geyser!! That would be awful! The rider switch allows up to three people to ride again. So if you had 3 kids and one was too short, the other two would get to ride everything twice in a row, switching off with the other parent. It's just more complicated now than it used to be, because it's all digital and you have a one-hour return window for the rider switch too.

 

[Jaina]

Got to do some wrap up on that 1st day! After dinner we wanted to hit a couple more rides before DH took the youngest two back to the room for bed (DS5 usually goes to bed at 7, and DD2 hadn't napped). I love Carsland in the evenings, and we wanted to ride Luigi's, so we decided to brave the "40 min" wait. :-/ It was moving along okay, but they had some kind of full stop for 5-10 minutes, so it did end up being a few minutes shy of 40 minutes. The kids really enjoyed it though, and, again, the weather was really nice. People were just getting tired.

After that we wanted to hit Monsters, Inc, since this was our only day, and that wait also said 40 minutes. It is so hard to wait that long for rides that we've often walked onto in the past! It ended up being just over 25 minutes, but at that point in the night, it seemed really long. DD2 was a little done, and we ended up putting her up in the toddler Tula for most of the ride, for several reasons. She did thoroughly enjoy enjoy the ride, despite the covered ears again.

DS12 was struggling with a headache (unusual for him) and just not feeling well, so he made the hard decision to go home with Dad and the little kids and go to bed early. Sometimes he is a wise little soul. So I was left with just the two older girls. I had forgotten I really wanted to get pictures with Captain Marvel, and she was done meeting for the day, but we took some pictures with her backdrop. The lines for characters had been long all day, and we had to many littles with us. We also watched Loki interact for a few minutes, but his line was cut off. (this first pic DH took on their way out of the parks)

Mickey's Philharmonic had just opened a few days before, and there was no wait, so we watched that. I think my little kids would have really enjoyed it, but it will probably be there next time too. We had a last MP for Goofy's Sky School, so we used that. Not my favorite, but the kids love it.

They really wanted to ride Guardians again, and that had been our plan, but the line never dropped below 150 minutes that evening. We got in it once, and within 5 minutes they made an announcement (that we couldn't really understand) that sounded like the ride had stopped. All I heard was people leaving the FP line would not be given more FP's I think... So I talked the girls into skipping it. Thankfully.

We decided to end the night with RSR and entered the single rider line about 8:40 (with a 9 PM closing). You guys, it took 45 minutes to get through the single rider line! I told you it was busy! It was a fun ride though, and as we were walking out, we got to see some of the fireworks from Mickey's Mix Magic. (you can't see DD8 in her picture)

However. Everyone else was also leaving the parks, and the buses were swamped. The line for them looked longer than Guardians. So we just walked back to our hotel. The girlies were pretty tired, but tried to hang in there! What a busy, long, but great day!

 

[Jaina]

Video compiled of our first day in the parks:

 

[Jaina]

Real life story time with Disney tie in (and explanation for why this trip report is taking me so long):

So, the inspection period was rough on “our” house and with additional inspections what we figured was the roof (original, 30 years old) would need to be redone, the electrical needed 4K of work, and the a/c (also original, and the don’t make parts for it anymore) was leaking and really needed to be replaced. Along with a hundred other much smaller things. The sellers didn’t want to do pretty much anything to fix it (in a house they bought for 100k less just 3 years ago) so we made the nerve wracking decision to walk away. This was all going down Saturday, and when another house in the same community popped up for sale, we walked through it, just as a back up option. There were a few things I didn’t like about it, but for the most part it’s been better maintained, and has updated bathrooms, kitchen, floors, and new a/c. It’s a little smaller 2018 ft vs 2273 sq feet, but still has a back porch (the other one had the back porch converted into an Arizona room with poor ventilation), and the lot size is much nicer. (8194 ft vs 6154 sq ft) Four bedrooms, all upstairs. Plus the yard is already landscaped and very nice. The other yard would have taken some work. (the trees and grassy area to the left of the driveway there are HOA area, which we don't have to personally maintain, but get to enjoy. Definitely not common to have green space like that in the Phoenix area, and I love it!)

Yesterday we officially backed out of the first offer (after they offered to do a very small part of the electric is all) and then put an offer on this house. They already had an asking-price offer that was in the counter-offer stage, but their agent said we could put an offer in if we were fast. What we offered was only $500 over the other contract, but I also saw a bunch of Mickey ears in one of the closets, and the family picture I included was from our recent Disney trip. Our realtor said the picture is what put it over the top for them, and they passed on the other offer and accepted ours! The pool is a bit of a downside for us, but our kids are thrilled. So here we go on another inspection process. Prayers and good vibes that it all goes more smoothly this time! if we do get the house, that picture has to go on a wall somewhere!

 

[StarlitNight05]

Real life story time with Disney tie in (and explanation for why this trip report is taking me so long):

So, the inspection period was rough on “our” house and with additional inspections what we figured was the roof (original, 30 years old) would need to be redone, the electrical needed 4K of work, and the a/c (also original, and the don’t make parts for it anymore) was leaking and really needed to be replaced. Along with a hundred other much smaller things. The sellers didn’t want to do pretty much anything to fix it (in a house they bought for 100k less just 3 years ago) so we made the nerve wracking decision to walk away. This was all going down Saturday, and when another house in the same community popped up for sale, we walked through it, just as a back up option. There were a few things I didn’t like about it, but for the most part it’s been better maintained, and has updated bathrooms, kitchen, floors, and new a/c. It’s a little smaller 2018 ft vs 2273 sq feet, but still has a back porch (the other one had the back porch converted into an Arizona room with poor ventilation), and the lot size is much nicer. (8194 ft vs 6154 sq ft) Four bedrooms, all upstairs. Plus the yard is already landscaped and very nice. The other yard would have taken some work. (the trees and grassy area to the left of the driveway there are HOA area, which we don't have to personally maintain, but get to enjoy. Definitely not common to have green space like that in the Phoenix area, and I love it!)

Yesterday we officially backed out of the first offer (after they offered to do a very small part of the electric is all) and then put an offer on this house. They already had an asking-price offer that was in the counter-offer stage, but their agent said we could put an offer in if we were fast. What we offered was only $500 over the other contract, but I also saw a bunch of Mickey ears in one of the closets, and the family picture I included was from our recent Disney trip. Our realtor said the picture is what put it over the top for them, and they passed on the other offer and accepted ours! The pool is a bit of a downside for us, but our kids are thrilled. So here we go on another inspection process. Prayers and good vibes that it all goes more smoothly this time! if we do get the house, that picture has to go on a wall somewhere!

Wow that house is gorgeous! Congratulations! The pool will be amazing for the kids. Very good idea to play on their love of Disney. Smart thinking!

 

[RedHotMama]

So exciting!!! I love that your Disney photo helped you out! Good luck!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Love the Disney tie in! Seeing the Mickey ears in the closet is what I call "listening with your eyes"! Smart move to include your Disney photo. Pixie dust that everything works out and goes smoothly!

 

[DLfan4]

The house, yard and pool are gorgeous. Hope it all works out and you get the house.

 

[Jaina]

Wow that house is gorgeous! Congratulations! The pool will be amazing for the kids. Very good idea to play on their love of Disney. Smart thinking!

So exciting!!! I love that your Disney photo helped you out! Good luck!

Love the Disney tie in! Seeing the Mickey ears in the closet is what I call "listening with your eyes"! Smart move to include your Disney photo. Pixie dust that everything works out and goes smoothly!

The house, yard and pool are gorgeous. Hope it all works out and you get the house.

Thanks, we are excited and hopeful! The inspection was great, and the appraisal is Monday! We are supposed to close in a few weeks! We chatted with the owner briefly before we went in to hear the inspection, and she was super friendly. They're moving back to Alaska. The end of June is a great time to move pretty much anywhere else from the Phoenix area.

 

[Jaina]

Tuesday morning was our Magic Morning (at 8 am for a 9 am opening), and our first day at Disneyland! We got up bright and early, grabbed breakfast, and headed over to the Parks around 7:15 am and were through security by 7:45. Security was already starting to get busy already.

They let us in just a few minutes before 8, and we walked down Main Street (DISNEYLAND!) to wait for a couple minutes. I honestly can't remember for sure if there was a rope drop at that point or not. We hit Alice in Wonderland for our first ride of the day! That one's always a hit! The little kids especially loved it.

After that we sent the oldest 3 to do the Matterhorn, which they had been really excited about (DD8 was a little nervous) while we took DS5 and DD2 on Dumbo. I do really like the new queue, but at 8:15 on a Magic Morning it already had a 15+ wait, which was a little crazy to me. DD2 was already a little tired (Oh, did I mention she would not go to sleep on the floor on the blanket bed I made for her the night before, and I had to go request a crib at like 9 PM. Fun times, haha) and not excited about a line first thing in the day. They had a good time though, and it was a beautiful morning.

We had sent our "house" phone with the older kids, which was great for this trip! No real worrying about losing them (i.e. precious time trying to find them, not actually worried about anything happening to them at Disneyland). They weren't responding yet, so DH went to meet them and I took the younger two on King Arthur's Carousel, which was walk-on, and one of my favorites! We were among the first on for our turn, and Bridget and I sat together on Jingles, which always makes my day! (Riding Jingles, not perching awkwardly behind a child on the carousel horse, haha. There wasn't a good spot for me to ride otherwise though, and I like to ride!)

The rest of the family arrived to watch us ride, and then we all decided to go on the Teacups together, which is always a favorite. For the kids, at least. My getting-older body gets a touch dizzy on it... I really love how these yellow shirts/ears turned out in the pictures! I so wish we had been able to get some Photopass pictures as a family that day, but it was a little insane, and the littles were tired, and just didn't happen. This was our only full family photo that day, and of course DD8 has a weird face in them all that she liked to bring out to mess up my pictures. (just kidding. kind of.)

It was 9:10 when we finished, and the park was officially open, so we headed over to use our Space Mountain fastpass I had grabbed with MaxPass. DS5 had no interest in trying it, and after his reaction to several "big" rides the day before, I wasn't going to push that one. So I'm pretty sure they rode Buzz standby while we did Space Mountain, and then they were going on it one more time (maybe?) when we got out, so we used the rider switch and the extra fastpass and all rode again. DD8 was a brave little soul and tried her hardest to play along with the picture we wanted to take for the second one, even though the ride is a little intense for her with all the darkness.

We finished up there at 10 AM and went to regroup with Dad and the Littles to see what we were up for next! But first, a bathroom break, haha!

 

[Zarina_Stardust]

Aww that Mickey burger is adorable! Also, I love all the matching/coordinating shirts. I'm working on some ideas for our cruise next year. I figured I can get the kids to wear what I plan most days.

 

[Jaina]

Aww that Mickey burger is adorable! Also, I love all the matching/coordinating shirts. I'm working on some ideas for our cruise next year. I figured I can get the kids to wear what I plan most days.

That would be super fun! I think kids should totally humor you on shirt choices when you're taking them on a cruise/trip!

I am still around, we just moved into our new house Monday, so all my extra time has been spoken for for the last few weeks!

 

[RedHotMama]

Yay! New house! I'm so excited for you!!

 

[Jaina]

Yay! New house! I'm so excited for you!!

Thank you! It's been a really crazy week (we closed Monday and moved in Monday night) but we are getting settled in, and are loving it! I am currently trying to figure out what the heck to do to get my pool back how it was when we moved in Monday, haha. Such a learning curve!

 

[momtohms]

Woohoo! Congrats on the new house!