Boozin’ It Up 12/5-12/7 coming ASAP

[merrrydeath]

I'm home!

I have a sprained ankle and am raaaather tired but in very good spirits. It was a great trip! I have tomorrow to recover so I will try and post again tomorrow!

 

[kaoden39]

I'm home!

I have a sprained ankle and am raaaather tired but in very good spirits. It was a great trip! I have tomorrow to recover so I will try and post again tomorrow!

Oh my good golly whompers! Sounds like it's going to be quite a story I can hardly wait to hear it.

 

[merrrydeath]

Are you ready? Here we gooooo…..!

So last I left you it was Thursday the 5th and I was waiting for my mom to get home from work so that we could pack up the car and go. She got home around 4pm, bringing delicious cupcakes with her(drool), and then it felt like hours before we left. It took us three trips out to the car to get everything loaded…woops. We had a lot of food.

My dad insisted on taking pictures of us before we got in the car. Also you can see how gross and wet it was at my house when we left. We luckily had a good 30minute break from the downpour so that we could load the car.

[/IMG]
We’re waving And we didn’t plan out the gray tops thing. Weird.

At 4:50pm we pulled out of the driveway. I was driving. We started out on 85 S to 101 S. When we pulled onto 152 E we stopped at Sonic Drive-in for some dinner. This was around 5:30pm. My mom and I took a trip to Indiana about… 8 years ago and we had Sonic then, so this was mostly for nostalgia but it was still very good.
Here is the menu incase you’ve never been:

Their limeades are delicious:

Once pleasantly full, we were back on the road at 6pm.

It rained on Pacheco Pass which was a bit scary. There were a LOT of trucks out going very slowly. The rain stopped when we got onto I-5 though and it was smooth driving from there. All in the dark though. We started trying to guess what lights in the distance were(Alien watchtowers, rocket launching pads, late-night playgrounds, etc.) After one stop near Harris Ranch for a bathroom break at a McDonald’s(where their coffee was TERRIBLE), we were back on the road until after the Grapevine where we filled up on gas.

Um…she is crazy.

It was about 10pm now and we had been driving for 4 ½ hours. My dad called me to tell me that the hotel had called the house phone to see if we were still coming. YIKES. This made me nervous so I had to call them.

 

[kaoden39]

Oh my goodness. Coalinga. Isn't that about one of the smelliest places you have ever been? Recently my husband had a bicycle race there, we stayed over night and in the morning with the wind blowing the wrong way and wow. You don't need the caffeine.

 

[merrrydeath]

Oh my goodness. Coalinga. Isn't that about one of the smelliest places you have ever been? Recently my husband had a bicycle race there, we stayed over night and in the morning with the wind blowing the wrong way and wow. You don't need the caffeine.

Oh it was SO BAD! My mom made the mistake of spraying perfume in the car and then it just smelled like a gross public bathroom. BLECH.

 

[kaoden39]

Oh it was SO BAD! My mom made the mistake of spraying perfume in the car and then it just smelled like a gross public bathroom. BLECH.

Oh I know. We stayed over night there. And then the bicycle race was also across the freeway and around the cattle holding area. Imagine my delight to be standing on the side of the road and then in my van whi,e he was in the race. I am going to sound awful but I was actually kind of glad when he didn't finish the race. I was so glad that the race is in Febuary and not during the Summer.

 

[KrazyKat4DIS]

I am enjoying your TR so far! There aren't very many Sonics in SoCal so we always stop to get one on the way to Vegas. I don't even know if there is anything on the menu besides that addicting Cherry Limeade drink

Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[Sherry E]

Well, I don't know if I am the only one, but I am chomping at the bit to see your DLR pictures and hear a review of how the new camera worked for you (partly because I want to get a new camera myself and if it is a GOOD point and shoot that takes fairly GOOD nighttime photos, I may get it too!). Also, I want to know what you guys did at DLR and if you liked your Rainforest Cafe experience (including the BOOZE)!! And did you guys use PhotoPass? Don't leave us hanging, Meredith!!

 

[merrrydeath]

SORRY!! Ever since getting back I feel like I've been spending all my time at work. Actually have to be there soon so I'll quickly add to the report!





I called the Desert Inn, thinking they were going to say they gave away our room, but the guy said there was absolutely no problem and just wanted to check in with us. I gave him an estimated time of arrival and he said they will see us soon. Very polite and friendly.

From then on it felt like sooooo long before we got to Harbor, but as I turned onto Harbor I spotted the Matterhorn and then The Tower of Terror. My mom didn’t believe that we were really THAT close to the park. We made a u-turn at Disney Way and then there was the Desert Inn was on the right. We got the very last parking spot on the ground level. It was halfway between the lobby and our room. We checked in around 11pm and that went quickly. We were given our parking pass, key, and map and were on our way. Our room was 226. We walked down to the far end elevator and our room was on the 2nd floor right outside the elevator. I was worried this would be a loud spot but it wasn’t at all. Especially with how early we woke up, there weren’t a lot of people making noise in that spot.

Here are some pictures of our room.

The beds are not bad at all. They feel great at the end of the day.

Fridge and Microwave and our…giant stash of food. The fridge was huge! I stupidly turned it up too high though, so on Friday we came back to bottles of ice…woops.

I was unloading my stuff, and my mom started unloading surprises!

A bottle of delicious Riesling from Monterey and coconut cupcakes from Icing On The Cake in Los Gatos. So good!

At Midnight I blew out the candle.

First drink.

After that, we crawled into bed and attempted to sleep. We were scheduled to be awake at 7am the next day…

 

[Sherry E]

Yay! More Trip Report! I have had that same "bottles of ice" issue at the PPH in DLR too! I didn't even tinker with the setting in the fridge - that was how it was when I got there. So I ended up taking the bottles of ice with me into DLR and they ended up defrosting to a drinkable state soon enough.

I tell you - I don't even like coconut AT ALL, nor am I much of a drinker (though I like frothy, fruity concoctions that taste like they have no booze in them). But that Riesling and coconut cupcake look GOOD!! What a nice treat for you from your mom!

 

[kaoden39]

Yay! More trip report. I was thinking about you the other day. You know the hotel doesn't look half bad. I think I need to add it to my list of possibilitie. How sweet of your Mom. Actually the ice instead of water isn't a bad idea to me because then the chance of your water staying cold at the park are better.

 

[Belle Ella]

Loving everything so far! I can't wait to hear how the park actually want! And more pics! More pics!

 

[prncssmel]

Wow, that is such a nice surprise from your mom. And that cupcake looks so delish!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I have to agree with you & Michele about Coalinga......GROSS!! We came thru during the afternoon, both up & back. We've stayed at the Desert Inn & they are quite roomy & the fridge is a decent size. It was very sweet of your mom to bring the drink & cupcake!! (I'm with Sherry on coconut...I'm actually allergic to it, but it still looked very good)
Can't wait to see more, I'll be checking in between posting my TR.

 

[blabbermouth]

Your Mom is soooooo adorable! (and you too of course!) I love that she not only brought cupcakes and wine, but also real plates and glasses. It looks like you guys have had so much fun already and you haven't even been to disneyland yet!

 

[merrrydeath]

Okay let’s finally go to Disneyland! If y’all haven’t ditched me because I’m so slooow.


Friday March 6th.

Wake up time: 7am. Yikes. I have tried to avoid waking up that early for a while now. We ate breakfast in the room. It was stuff we brought from home; milk, croissants, muffins, peanut butter and crackers, etc.

My delightful shirt!

We walked out of our door at 8am. Through the parking lot to Harbor, turn right, pass by the Cold Stone Creamery, and there is the crosswalk on the left. This is what welcomed us!

We were practically hopping up and down waiting for the walk sign, because it felt like the light was red for so long! Not as long as we thought though. It was only about 8:07am when we got through bag check and into line for the one ticket booth that was open. We were at the front of the line so it was a short wait to buy our tickets. We upgraded my free day to a 2 day park hopper and got mom a 2 day park hopper as well. Easy. Then we scurried over to stand in line at the entrance.

Look at that empty esplanade.

We have our tickets, now let us in!

They picked two families to open the park, we all counted down, and the gates opened at 8:30am. Everything going according to plan so far. I guided us over to City Hall to get my birthday button.

I loved the way the CM wrote my name. I got a few comments on how “Disneyish” his penmanship was. As we exited the building, Goofy was right next door in front of the Firehouse, and his line only had 2 children in it! So I hopped in. As soon as he was available, I went right for a hug:

What a perfect start to my birthday, and it hadn’t even been 30 minutes yet! Goofy gives the best hugs, fyi. After my visit with Goofy, we wandered down to rope drop. Have I mentioned yet how perfect the weather was?! It was sunny, not a cloud in sight above Disneyland. There was a light breeze, and we felt perfectly comfortable in our zip-up sweatshirts. (Just so you know, the word “perfect” is going to slip out QUITE often.) We were about two families deep waiting for the rope to drop. We chit chatted, people watched, and I managed to get a few random pictures that I liked.

I lifted the camera up and zoomed in to get my first picture of the castle.

I loved the flowers on the lampposts.

While waiting, I got many text messages from my coworkers/friends who wanted to wish me happy birthday and tell me how jealous they were that I was in Disneyland and not at work

Finally at 9am, we had another countdown and the rope was pulled away…

 

[kaoden39]

Woo hooty!

I think the flowers on the lamposts are beautiful. I am still here.

 

[merrrydeath]

Yay! More Trip Report! I have had that same "bottles of ice" issue at the PPH in DLR too! I didn't even tinker with the setting in the fridge - that was how it was when I got there. So I ended up taking the bottles of ice with me into DLR and they ended up defrosting to a drinkable state soon enough.

I tell you - I don't even like coconut AT ALL, nor am I much of a drinker (though I like frothy, fruity concoctions that taste like they have no booze in them). But that Riesling and coconut cupcake look GOOD!! What a nice treat for you from your mom!

I definitely tinkered because it was barely cool in there and I was afraid our milk would spoil...whoops. Mmm Icing On The Cake in Los Gatos makes the best cakes and cookies. The Riesling was delicious and was soothing before bed

Yay! More trip report. I was thinking about you the other day. You know the hotel doesn't look half bad. I think I need to add it to my list of possibilities. How sweet of your Mom. Actually the ice instead of water isn't a bad idea to me because then the chance of your water staying cold at the park are better.

The hotel was great! The staff was so very nice and our room was comfortable and clean. Plus, the location was just ideal. So good to know it was close at the end of the day when our feet HURT.

Loving everything so far! I can't wait to hear how the park actually want! And more pics! More pics!

I have 7 photobucket pages of pictures to share and some photopass as weel. No worries there!

Wow, that is such a nice surprise from your mom. And that cupcake looks so delish!

I know! I didn't even know she packed that stuff! She's so sweet. Not to mention my dad called me at midnight and he got to wish my happy birthday and he was so cute talking about his little girl being so old.

I have to agree with you & Michele about Coalinga......GROSS!! We came thru during the afternoon, both up & back. We've stayed at the Desert Inn & they are quite roomy & the fridge is a decent size. It was very sweet of your mom to bring the drink & cupcake!! (I'm with Sherry on coconut...I'm actually allergic to it, but it still looked very good)
Can't wait to see more, I'll be checking in between posting my TR.

Driving down when it had just been wet, the smell wasn't THAT horrible, but on the way home when it was sunny and warm...grroossss.

I really thought the fridge would be one of the tiny ones that holds 6 bottles, but it was a VERY good size.

Your Mom is soooooo adorable! (and you too of course!) I love that she not only brought cupcakes and wine, but also real plates and glasses. It looks like you guys have had so much fun already and you haven't even been to disneyland yet!

She really is precious. Oh man, I almost died when she pulled at the glasses and plates and started setting the table! Love her so much. She really wanted to make it the best experience.

 

[Michelle2]

What a great birthday! Can't wait to hear and see more!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Loving the pics.... I really had to look at your castle picture, because it looks like Walt walking thru it (look real, real close at it). Sweeeeeettttt!!