birthday trip report...now finished!

[bumbershoot]

You people know me so well.

You know that I'm not going to drag out the story just to drag it out and get good responses; you know I'm just going to keep on going as time and brain and Eamon allow. you are soooo right.


It's chilly today, we're quarantined until we find out if E has strep, I'm so tired I could nap but E won't so that's not OK and I need to keep myself awake...might as well continue.



After POTC and the canoes, we went for a ride on Pooh, and then it was Splash time! Robert was VERY impressed by what the FPs got us...we literally did not stop moving until we got right up to the loading area. E and I sat together in the very back, and Robert sat right in front of us. I poncho'd up and put my (actually Robert's) big fleece jacket over my backpack, and off we went!

Our picture was hilarious, b/c Robert put his arms up (as did E) and you could NOT see either of us behind him. Big broad chest, big strong arms...I think there was a peek of E's leg which was up on the seat, and a peek of my hair...and that's it. Might as well have been last in the boat for all that the picture told.

It was really fun to have all of us on that ride!

For the first time, I noticed that the train goes through the ride. Now...I've been on the train. And I just didn't notice that we went through Splash...or maybe I didn't remember that we'd been through it...who knows? Either way, it wasn't held in my brain, and at first I thought it was an animatronic sort of thing...then I realized it was lifesize with people on it...people who were waving...we waved back at that point.




Where are Brer Bear's eyes?

As it was almost E's turn for the Bear, Brer Fox ran up and startled the heck out of a little girl posing with BBear. E wondered why Fox had scared her...but now he talks about how HE was scared by BFox as well.


We decided we were tired. E was tired. We needed a break. As we walked back, we saw Jack and Sally near HMH. Alas, their line was closed, but I had a nice conversation with the CM, and found out their basic schedule. However, we never did see them again, but I think that was OK with E...he thought they were kind of freaky-looking...(I personally think their costumes are pretty bad...) and didn't ask about them for the rest of the trip.


We cut through DCA to get a FP for Soarin'. OK fine, we stopped to get snacks at the bakery as well...after all, E had passed out COLD in the stroller on the way, and it had only been, what, an hour or so since breakfast.

Robert is SO lucky...being at Disneyland helps his blood sugar SO much. Even after the carb-heavy character b'fast and the cookie he got at the bakery, his blood sugar the next morning was under 90 (remember, he doesn't take medicine for it). He LOVES being at Disney...


This was our first 3-bottles-of-water purchase. Along with an iced latte for me, cookies for the guys, and a macaroon for me. You can imagine the cost. But it was made up for by our CM, Brian, who was there on their College program, which I didn't know DisneyLAND had! He was so nice, and he was from western WA, and took time to talk with us (b/c that's what Baker's Field Bakery needs...chatty CMs to make the lines longer, LOL) and joke around. (I'll be honest and say there was no line otherwise we wouldn't have talked so long with him)

Walked back to our room, got E out of the stroller and into bed. I went to soak my feet in the tub, and when I rejoined the room, gave in to the soporific effects of the early morning, and took a wee nap.

I'm sure the room sounded just like outside Brer Bear's cave in Splash, as all three of us snore...

 

[BillyFan]

So what did the boys think of the canoes? They are not my favorite, since I don't like to "work" on my vacay!

 

[bumbershoot]

E liked the canoes, and he did when he and I went on them in June. Robert liked them, too.

But yeah, they kind of hurt!


In that pic with Brer Bear you can see E's snap pockets bulging with Skellington gloves.



What's funny about this trip and going back to rest is...our room was seriously just as far as HoJo. With more twists and turns. And yet we went back for a rest, while we would almost NEVER do that with HoJo. It's all in the mindset... But, I mean, I realized this WHILE we were doing it...


Unrelated...I was just looking in an email account, where I get updates about Eddie Izzard (comedian), and I realized that this one picture in a recent email 99.99999% shows me and Robert in the audience. Same theater, same stuff on the stage, we were in the front row and it looks like us...but just a tiny bit unsure, because I don't remember Eddie wearing the outfit shown on the tour, the man looks just a bit heavier than Robert did (it was on our honeymoon and we were both almost as thin as we've been since we've known each other), and the female looks just a tad bit "off" of how I think I look. But really, the odds of it NOT being us seem higher than the odds of it actually being us. Either way, cool!

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, I hate napping. Actually I like it, or I did when I was in college or on break from college. Ever since then, however, hate it! I always feel that there is something I could/should be doing, and unless I'm drastically tired I will fight it.

Even though I was last to sleep, I was first up. I hadn't touched my macaroon yet, but I was hungry so I finished up the leftover angel hair marinara from PCH Grill. Yum!

Eventually the guys woke up and we got ready to get going. I'm sure we all felt better for the break, but mentally I just hate the breaks!

It was after 5 by now, or at least, approaching 5, so after we snagged a FP for GRR, we went on over for food.

Kid's burrito meal for Eamon, Dos Equis for me, and Robert ran over to the Lucky Fortune where he was supposed to get the Korean sauce, but he actually got the Thai Coconut Curry. E inhaled his burrito. He loves those things. And he had another chocolate milk (we'd left the liberated-from-Minnie's one in the fridge). Robert's Thai tofu smelled SO good I had some, yum! The rice was great, the tofu inoffensive (how else can you positively describe tofu, since all it does is absorb flavors from other things?), and the sauce delicious. Ahhhhh. Oh, and we bought another water.

Picture's not the best, and perhaps not appetizing, but here it is anyway.

He also got the edamame, thinking that because I had mentioned that they had it meant I wanted it. I've never had them and didn't really want to try. They looked kinda scary.

But for 3 bucks, you too can have this.

They were barely eaten. Robert said they were pretty good. But too many. Especially after the huge amount of rice and tofu and nummy sauce.


I have in my notes that we then rode Soarin' and Grizzly, and then went over to Disneyland again.

I have NO idea what we did in Disneyland, other than be slightly snarky with each other about Fantasmic seating. I was surprised that E wanted to see it, but willing to go along with it. I'm always worried about "getting in trouble", and didn't want to stand in what felt like a walkway along the "light tower trick" spot.

We ended up sitting on the shallow steps slightly off to the side of it, and back from the walkway. Ended up being perfect...if they'd chop down one tree.

We waited a good 1.5 hours, if not more. Cannot tell you how UNenjoyable that was, even though we had lovely waiting companions, even though Robert brought coffee and fritters (sadly, undercooked, really eggy, and cold by the time I got to them) from the stand thing behind the French Market, and even though we got to give away glowsticks.

E was impressed, though a bit nervous because of all the villians. He did really like the SS Columbia and Peter Pan etc. But honestly, I think we all could have done without it just fine. Total heresy. Oh well! We leave 3 spots open for others.

Only thing I have next is "Jungle Cruise at night".

I do remember that we had a female skipper that we could barely hear, even though it was a nearly empty boat. We liked her line at the spot where the guys are up the pole with the rhino at the bottom. Most skippers talk about "getting the point" etc, but she exclaimed in a vague way, being all amazed at the scene in front of us...then said...."there must be a MILLION rocks on that beach".

And moved on.

 

[bumbershoot]

When we got back to the room, something was missing. Something...chocolatey. Something...involving beds being turned down. Hey, they hadn't done the turndown service!

As usual, I started making excuses for them...maybe it's only for the first night, maybe they came by while we were napping, maybe maybe maybe...

And as usual Robert picked up the phone, was kind but stern (he's kind but stern unless I am on the phone complaining, then he walks by every few minutes and snipes a comment at the CS rep...ugh...this is why HE deals with the problems, because I don't bug him while he's working on the situation...and speaking of that, there's another story from the day before I'll tell in a minute). Got an apology, a "turndown service is definitely supposed to be every night", and at some point inside the hour someone came by with a nice little baggie filled with chocolates for us (E was already asleep so no need for actual turndown).


********
Quick story from the day before; one of the reasons we left the room for dinner later than we expected. After getting the Rewards Dollars card, everything indicated I could just call a number and have the money transferred. Well...half an hour and 4 different calls later...nope, not yet, not with the Disney DEBIT card. Not yet live. Shouldn't have been on the website. But it had been, and I had the printed PDFs to prove it.

The last guy was super-apologetic, but there was nothing he could do. Robert kept making snipey comments, but that didn't help me at all.

Sigh. There went a whole $28 from my budget. Bummer!

On the other hand, there's an extra $28 for when we go to WDW, whenever that is! Woo!

And that was my frustration from our first day.

*************

Back to Sunday.

The chocolates were delivered, I had some foot-soaking going on, Robert set up another Mickey call...all was peaceful. I do believe a certain 5 year old went bed-hopping in the middle of the night...I woke up to use the restroom and he was snuggled in between the grownups. When I got back from the restroom, I just went to the empty bed b/c it was easier than scootching people around.

Gooodnighhhhhtttttt....snore....snore....snore.....

 

[RiverLou]

I am enjoyin' the heck out of your TR.

*Love* Eddie Izzard.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well thank you!


I got to thinking about EI and had to go find his official facebook page and join it.

We found out about him when we had HBO one hundred million years ago (OK, more like, in late '00 early '01) and saw one of his specials. Then we started finding more and more of him... He's just brilliant. Funny, oh absolutely, but also really really smart.

 

[bumbershoot]

Mickey woke up Eamon again, yay for Mickey! Great motivator that dude is.

Today was our DCA-opening day as well as our WWS breakfast day.

On our way out, I made sure to take a pic of the hallway. At some point during the night, they put baskets filled with bedding outside each door (even though their info states that they don't change bedding each day...they do seem to do so! same with towels...even the towels we hung back up, in compliance with the card saying "hung up towels won't be replaced, towels in basket will", were replaced with new...sigh) so that housekeeping doesn't have to have mine-train style carts with the bedding for alllll of those rooms down each lonnnnnng hallway.

So today was my birthday, and yet, despite a few heavy hints, Robert had yet to go snag me a birthday button. It's hard enough for me to celebrate my b'day with my family, let alone go ask someone to give me a button AND give my family buttons saying they are celebrating.

We got to WWS, ordered, and had food. Robert had the burrito as usual; DS and I had the french toast sticks (all without meat, and DS and I didn't have the syrup, of course, nasty HFCS filled stuff). (OK. I opened it and tried some...EW! last time I had it I kinda liked it. guess I've lost my taste for fake syrup, which is also evidenced by my recent and sudden not-minding-all-that-much of the real syrup we keep on hand for Eamon...life long maple syrup hater here...very very strange change)

Eamon had more Nesquik. Except...he spilled a quarter or so of it on the table, whoops! Didn't hit anything but the table, which was amazing. As the day went on, however, and his mouth started having big red reactions, we realized that it was probably time to stop it with the Nesquik. E has traditionally had skin reactions, on his face, to cow's milk (just the milk...not cheese...though one time raitta did it to him), and we figured we'd just pushed him beyond his limits. The redness bothered him so much he *agreed*. I tell you, he is SUCH a good kid when it comes to the things he can't have!

At some point after Robert was done eating, he excused himself for the restroom, then came back with the buttons. YAY!!!!!

I had heard rumors that sometimes GCH guests are allowed in even earlier than normal-early. But when we walked up (again with a confused knowledge of time), the gates were closed closed closed, and the dude said that he might open it at 9:45, but definitely at 10.

OK, we'll just sit here. Wait, what time is it? What? Not even 9???? What is going on here with our timing?????

So we sat there, as there was already one family waiting...I asked Robert to take my fleece back to the room (mistake, it was cold that day!) and something else, and sent him off with his AP just in case the gates opened so we could go on in and he could meet us later. Um...however...I did NOT send him with his room key.

Yeah...going into a room and rummaging through a woman's purse, while housekeeping is out of the room (but the door is left open)...and not having your room key on you...and having a different last name from the wife who made the reservation...well....that'll get Security called on ya!

 

[disneynerd420]

Yeah...going into a room and rummaging through a woman's purse, while housekeeping is out of the room (but the door is left open)...and not having your room key on you...and having a different last name from the wife who made the reservation...well....that'll get Security called on ya!

NO... did they really?!?!

 

[bumbershoot]

Takin' a little break! All the sitting and finding notes and such seem to be doing something really negative to my spine. So I'm going to rest (which I thought I was doing by writing this out, but it turns out my lumbars don't agree) and watch some TV with the hubster.

 

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Molly! Really enjoying your TR. I am in the hotel for my conference and heading back to DL for one more day on Thursday. I was so glad we got to see you and your fam too! I liked you online and then the first time I met you too. You can just tell sometime! Maybe I'll see you in Washington wone day

 

[JustAKid]

Well thank you!


I got to thinking about EI and had to go find his official facebook page and join it.

We found out about him when we had HBO one hundred million years ago (OK, more like, in late '00 early '01) and saw one of his specials. Then we started finding more and more of him... He's just brilliant. Funny, oh absolutely, but also really really smart.

Holy cannoli! I'm caught up! I am LOVIN' your trip report. I love that you drag it out. I love that you use an acronym for a bunch of random stuff. I love that you go off topic, and then just keep trucking with the topic as if you never left. I love that you have conversations with everyone. You have a conversational writing style, so it's like you're talking to us on the phone. It's wonderful. You're awesome!

I ALSO love that you like Eddie Izzard. I am so glad that you emphasized him being "really really smart." When I tell people that Eddie is "an intelligent comedian" they look at me funny. No one seems to get it. I've tried and tried and tried to re-create my favorite part of my favorite HBO special of his (the India/Britiain "Do you have a flag?" bit), but people usually end up poking fun at my terrible British accent. He just doesn't tell jokes about the obvious things, you know? I don't like him AS much as an actor, though...

Anyway, the moral of the story? E is cute as can be!

 

[Brady's Mom]

Molly,

It definitely sounds like early mornings are NOT for your family! We love the early morning flights - but for some unexplainable reason I have VERY early birds. The only time my kids ever sleep in a little bit is right about now when mornings are very dark. Once the time change hits they will be back up bright and early. The would sleep all the way to about 7:15 or 7:30 now that it is so dark in the mornings, but that will go back to 6:30 or 6:45 easily when we switch. I have no idea how this will mess them up since we are leaving for DLR on Nov. 1 and that is when we change times! Maybe they will be up at 4 am???

I almost don't know what to do with them when we are at HoJo and DLR doesn't open til 10 am. We do a lot of walking around the hotel and checking out the grounds and watching the maintenance guys clean the pool.

I love reading your report and hearing how things went for your family. I love that you got to meet a fellow DISer and do a couple of things together. Maybe I will have to check out who is going when I am and arrange a meet! You've inspired me!

 

[jobo]

Enjoying you trip report!

Eddie Izzard is a brilliant comedian! He is also a great humanitarian. He ran 1,105-miles in 51 days, around the UK and raised £200,000 for Sport Relief.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hello to all! Thank you so much for reading and writing!

disneynerd420, didn't see ya there. The answer to your question is...well, just read on.

QueenDoOver, I'm so jealous of you getting to be there again! I've started looking under cushions for the few hundred to get me back.... My brother is talking about us visiting in mid-Nov, and watching kids cats while they either visit Duke (their alma mater) or SIL's sister (also in NC) and having our "required days in Disneyland"...but my AP would be EXPIRED by then...waaaaaahhhhhhhhh. And we have vowed to not spend more on disneyland until our car is paid off. Augh. Jealous.

I ALSO love that you like Eddie Izzard. I am so glad that you emphasized him being "really really smart." When I tell people that Eddie is "an intelligent comedian" they look at me funny. No one seems to get it. I've tried and tried and tried to re-create my favorite part of my favorite HBO special of his (the India/Britiain "Do you have a flag?" bit), but people usually end up poking fun at my terrible British accent. He just doesn't tell jokes about the obvious things, you know? I don't like him AS much as an actor, though...

Yeah, the actor part is weird. Seeing him in, oh, what was that silly superhero movie with Hank Azaria and Ben Stiller???...anyway, he's so campy in that you can't pay attention to him. Then again, there was a movie with him and Matt LeBlanc about WW2, and I remember that being pretty good. But, ya know, to be honest...I have a crush on him whether he's dressed as a man OR woman (just as long as he doesn't wear his "chicken patties" in his bra...I need him *flat* in the chest for the crush to work...which is what made me sad when we saw him in Vancouver...he looked SO awesome, but he'd filled his bra)...so as long as he isn't just being a silly bad guy "foil" like in the Stiller movie, I like *watching* him.

England, what's that behind your back.....

Brady's Mom, that's going to be so difficult! I was thinking you could walk to DLH and wander the grounds, but we noticed in May that they don't open the RC boats for quite awhile in the mornings...what time does HoJo open their pool? Maybe just schedule sit-down breakfasts and make them get ready slllloooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyy for them?

Eddie Izzard is a brilliant comedian! He is also a great humanitarian. He ran 1,105-miles in 51 days, around the UK and raised £200,000 for Sport Relief.

I know, I saw that! It's incredible. I'm sure he exercises to some extent regularly (when we saw him in Vancouver he'd just done the Atkins diet and had dumped quite a bit of weight, and I'm sure he's kept up with keeping that off to some extent, though Atkins for 6 years I can't even imagine), but to just say "yep, a marathon a day"...is just astonishing.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's my birthday, I have my button, I've sent back my fleece jacket in what turned out to be a shortsighted decision, and we're well ahead of time for DCA's secret-not-secret opening time, waiting, waiting, waiting....

I kept myself amused by chatting with E and by watching the pretty family across from us. They had 3 or 4 kids, and E's fascinated by that (let's face it, we ALL want some siblings in his life...not that we want them FOR him, we wanted them before he showed up...but that's what they would be; siblings to him), and the bitty one was adorable. Eamon said "I didn't know toddlers could walk"...and I got to explain what "toddler" and "toddling" meant...

I was just amazed at how many gorgeous families we had seen during that trip. When I say that I don't mean to denigrate us...I mean, right now we're squishy and it's harder to see any cuteness in the adults here, but our reality is that our souls are quite smaller and we're kinda cute when we're like that (wedding picture soon). But what I"m talking about is...it felt like we saw *model* families. Just gorgeous, with style and the "it" factor. It was just kinda weird. And that's the kind of family that was across from us.

Wedding picture:

See? I'm vaguely cute, and hubby's so handsome and that's a great haircut (he got his hair cut in Federal Way WA, but it was horrible, so he went off to pay $30 to have it RE-cut in Beaverton when he got down to OR before the wedding) and I'm so smiley...

Goodness, I have a whole Queen Elizabeth bust thing goin' on...I'm about her height and I seem to be built like her up there, which I never realized before (strange, really, as I had books with her wedding pictures in it while planning!).

Also, I do have the rights to the pictures, for any photographers out there. Paid extra, have the ONLY CDs in existence of the pictures, etc etc (really need to copy them as the photog's wife urged).

As another "aside"...that pic is from our recessional, which was done while our Irish band played the Indiana Jones theme!!!! (I'd walked down the aisle to a bodhran (Irish drum) solo and felt like I was in Braveheart which of course wasn't in Ireland but they have the drums in the movie in parts) We thought ourselves quite fun, to have that theme song as our recessional.




Ok so anyway, surrounded by models, waiting for Robert...waiting, waiting, waiting....


Finally he showed up. He didn't appear flustered or anything, but he was kind of laughing..."yeah, they had to call Security...turns out I didn't have my room key..."

What????

He got to our room and it was open, because housekeeping was working on it. OK, after that stay, seeing how open they keep those rooms, I'm hiding our stuff in the closet. We just sort of left things out in a lump, but that feels really stupid now. Just a little warning.

So the door was open, it was his room, he walked in. First he put my fleece down, which was fine, but then I'd wanted him to get my bracelet, which I'd left in a jewelry box in my purse, and THAT was not appreciated by the housekeeper. She only had my name on the list, and neither of us changed our last names after the wedding, so even his ID didn't help. She called Security.

When they got there they had access to more than what the housekeeper had; his name was on the reservation...just not first on it. And of course it's funny, because legally HE is the DVC owner, and we were using DVC points for the stay, but I made it in my name, so he was the afterthought.

They had his name, he showed his ID, it was all good. He didn't even seem to be embarrassed! But I felt like a prize idiot, for not thinking to give him the room key. (I am generally keeper of all cards especially after the whole "losing R and E's APs" incident Robert had on Screamin')

But all was well, he was back with us instead of in Disney Jail, and it still wasn't yet 9:30.

 

[bumbershoot]

I meant to write more, but I'm caught up in a WDW trip report "Did Pluto Just Give You A Lap Dance".


Plus, I need to do a little research about how, and how soon, the HCG is going to impact Robert in side-effect ways...he finally got his instruction in how to use the needle this morning...I asked him if he was turning into the Hulk yet, LOL. He's pretty happy that soon he should feel like himself, instead of, as we call him in his sappier moments...prolactin-boy.


So I'll be back to my own TR soon, just need to be "elsewhere" online and on the dis right now.

 

[Brady's Mom]

I just had to tell you your wedding picture is gorgeous! But, I'm a sucker for Asian men! So much so, I married one! LOL

And about the HoJo pool - I don't think they open til 10 ish - won't help with my early risers. Oh well, it will be fine.

 

[bumbershoot]

I just had to tell you your wedding picture is gorgeous! But, I'm a sucker for Asian men! So much so, I married one! LOL

Thanks about the pic.

Until Robert I never realized I had a thing for Asian guys...well except for Bruce Lee when I was a kid. Liked him. A few Asian guys in high school liked me, but I had my mind set on one of two people...a white guy or a Mexican-American guy...no room for the guys that actually showed *interest* in me! But the last dude I dated pre-Robert was called the Viking by my friends...tall and just big looking (though actually he was fairly scrawny) with long blonde hair...I was all over the place.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just read this...it amused me...

Might not be a surprise that when someone in my household is going to take a drug, I research it. OK, that means western medicine drugs...I often do NOT want to research homeopathic remedies b/c they come from really really disgusting things (though there's no "findable" amount of the thing in it by the time it's prepared)....but anyway, from the age of 18 when I read the package insert of an eye dilation drug in the waiting area of the optometrist's office (he was angry with me for asking about it, and sent me out there, where I, you know, read it out loud to people along with the risks of cardiac involvement in the drops...he made a mistake...BIG mistake) through now, I read inserts, I go to drugs.com, I look into it.

So the article on MSN today about how drug labels are made by the maker, not the FDA, and how they hedge the truth and hide unpleasantness as much as possible, didn't surprise me. But for some reason, this did:

Only by wading through the FDA’s 403-page internal review of Lunesta do the details emerge: patients fell asleep 15 minutes faster and slept 37 minutes longer, on average.

“Lunesta patients still met criteria for insomnia and reported no clinically meaningful improvement in next-day alertness,” the authors state.

Despite that lackluster finding, the drug has grown into a $600 million-a-year drug for Sepracor, helped by the company’s advertisements featuring a green Lunesta moth.

So users *still* fit into the definition of insomnia, eh?

I remember hearing this GREAT skit by Steve Martin, where he's describing this amazing drug, it does all these crazy things (note: he's talking about an illegal drug, so the effects aren't things like "gets rid of stuffiness" etc)...then he goes to read the name....plaaaaaa ceeeeee booooooo.....

Heard that skit in chiropractic college, loved it then, love it now! Placebo effect is possibly the most powerful and *wonderful* effect there is, IMO! All the positives, absolutely no side effects. What's not to love????