Family Christmas Trip to Disneyland 12/15-12/19 (completed)

[stampinshauna]

Well, I've been back for over a week now and I'm still wishing that I was in Disneyland. I figured I'd better write up my trip report before I start to forget things. DH and I went with his family, so there were 16 people total. DH and I flew to CA on the 15th and stayed at the GCH, the rest of the family arrived late on the 16th and some on the 17th and stayed at the Islander.

Friday, December 15th

DH and I worked in the morning so we didn't have to use a vacation day. I had been so busy getting projects done for Christmas that it really didn't feel like we were going to DL. It wasn't until 2pm when we left for the airport that I got excited. DH and I took a 3:45pm flight out of SLC to Long Beach (LGB). This was our 4th flight to Long Beach this year, and we like the fact that the airfare is low and Long Beach is a small airport so it is quick to do security and such. It also doesn't take long to get to DL. We arrived in LGB just before 5pm and quickly grabbed our luggage, crossed the street, and got a cab to DL. I like that they have a flat rate, so we knew that we would be spending $36 for the cab ride. The ride took 30-45 minutes to get us to the hotel.

Once the driver pulled up to the entrance of the GCH I was beaming! I was so excited to be back (we stayed at the GCH in September for the first time). There was a little confusion at check in as we booked our hotel on Expedia (4th night free) and had originally booked at the PP but switched it once I talked DH into upgrading. They had both reservations in their system. I told her we were supposed to be here at the GCH (a little worried that maybe they didn't have our room). Hmmm, Expedia must have messed up because I did get a PP cancellation and refund, but the CM made a phone call to let the PP know. Apparently the PP would have charged a no show fee had we not done anything about it. Oh well, she took care of it and gave us our room assingment. It was supposed to be a standard view but when she showed us where it was she was puzzled because she said that isn't a standard room but I didn't mind. We went to our room on the 2nd floor (can't remember the number) but the room was just above the entrance to DCA and it faced the pool. We noticed that there was a plasma TV and a DVD player which wasn't in our standard room last trip. We checked out the view and realized why we were given this room. I'd say it was an obstructed view room, so it equates to a standard view. Looking out you could mostly see rooftop. The roof literally went right up to our balcony. We had a little view of the pool and a fine view looking up, but the roof wasn't much to look at. It didn't really matter because we were just happy to be at the GCH and we weren't expecting a spectacular view anyway.

We did a little unpacking and then went to check out the lobby of the hotel. They were taking pictures with Santa in front of the giant Christmas Tree, so we got a photopass from the photographer and had our first pictures of the trip taken. We wandered around for a few minutes until it was time for us to check in for our dinner ADR at Storyteller's Cafe. We had to wait about 15 minutes, so we relaxed on the loungers by the pool until our buzzer went off. The loungers were nice, they were replacing them the day we went home in September, so it was fun to try them out. I just wished it was a little warmer. Our buzzer went off and it was the first buzzer that I've ever had that says "your table is ready". I was a little startled when I heard that. We were seated at a table for two. It was the exact same table that we had last trip. We both went for the buffet which was yummy like last time. However, the chicken wasn't the same. Last time it was moist and flavorful and boneless, this time it was on the bone and the only flavor was on the skin. Not to worry, the meal was very enjoyable and it was a great start to our trip.

After dinner we relaxed for a bit as we were tired and stuffed. Around 10pm we decided to go into the parks (we have an AP so we didn't mind just going in for a couple hours). We walked around a bit, rode Buzz (I knew about the secret targets and DH did not so I wanted to cream him--unfortunately my aim was off and he did just as well as I did). We did a few more rides and then just before midnight we got in the line for Space Mountain. By the time we got off the ride is was close to 12:30 and the park was closed. We headed back for a good night's sleep (I love the mattresses at the GCH) so that we'd be ready for a big day Saturday.

 

[stampinshauna]

Saturday, December 16th

We woke up around 7am (early for me on vacation) and went down to hot tub. The thought of a morning hot tub can get me out of bed like no other. DH says we should get one at home (I think we will eventually) so that I will wake up early every day. The air was a bit chilly, but the hot tub was nice. We weren't in a big hurry to get into the parks because they were open until midnight and we knew we'd have plenty of time.

After hot tubbing, we got ready for the day and went to Whitewater Snacks for breakfast. I ordered the French Toast sticks (good size portion, not bad, but a few were overdone) which came with strawberries. DH had a cinnamon roll which was mediocre and we took the food up to the room because DH also wanted to eat some oatmeal that he brought along. Total at White Water snacks was just over $9.

We headed into DCA because we are Disney Visa cardholders and we wanted to get our free picture at Ariel's Grotto. I guess we were hopefull for good weather because I was in a t-shirt, capris, and sandals and DH was in a t-shirt and shorts. It wasn't long until I put my sweatshirt on. It was only 9:30 and DCA wasn't completely open yet, so we noticed that Soarin' was open and we only had to wait 5 minutes. Then we had the picture taken at Ariel's Grotto and got our vouchers to redeem for the free picture, but we didn't have a picture printed that day as we were saving up vouchers so that we could share free pictures with DH's family. We rode
a few more rides and took some pictures then went over to Disneyland.

We stopped by guest services to pick up our tickets for the Holiday Tour which was scheduled for 4:15. We found a few photopass photographers and had our picture taken went on a few rides, and checked out some shops. While we were on the Sailing Ship Columbia it started to pour. Then it happened--we started seeing floods of people in Mickey Mouse ponchos. Disney must love rainy days. I think ponchos are $7 well spent. We went into a shop in Frontierland and purchased a couple ponchos and some sweatshirts (not because we were cold, but because we found some that we really liked). We also got the small plush Mickey and Minnie dressed in the blue & silver to add to our collection. After shopping, we went back to the GCH to drop off our stuff and to change into warmer clothes.

Now back in Disneyland with dry and warmer clothes, we headed to the Blue Bayou for our 2:00 lunch reservation. It wasn't very crowded in the waiting area (which was a first for us) and it sounded like they weren't taking any walk-ins. We requested waterfront seating and were seated in less than 5 minutes at a table in the center of the waterfront tables. We both had the Monte Cristo which was wonderful as always. Last time at the Blue Bayou, we shared one, but DH said he wanted his own. It was just enough food. I could have done with 3/4 one, but 1/2 wouldn't have filled me up. After the Blue Bayou, we rode a couple more rides and then went to check in for our Holiday Tour.

The rain was a bit of a drizzle as we waited to start the tour. There were 14 people total in our tour group, and the tour was led by Brandon. Just before we started the tour, he informed us that due to the weather, we may not get to see the parade and that we could get a refund if we wanted to. Nobody seemed to care and we all went on the tour. We started down Main Street where we made a couple stops while Brandon told us about different Christmas traditions. He also had us sing Christmas Carols every once in a while as we went to the next stop. This attracted some attention from people in the park, and most of our tour buddies were shy and the singing didn't go over very well. We went up near Santa's Reindeer Roundup and then to Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was crowded, so luckily we were able to go in the fastpass line. Brandon told us that the Gingerbread House on the Dining Table in the Mansion was all edible (except for the snakes). He also told us to watch for Oogie Boogie playing the cymbals as it was a tribute to cymbal playing monkeys that first opened with the Haunted Mansion. He also said that at the end of the attic scene if you looked behind the train on the left, you could see a monkey bride with a beating heart. I didn't see it that time, but I did the next time I rode. Haunted Mansion Holiday made a lot more sense to me this trip as I just saw the movie. It was up for our January trip but I had no idea what Nightmare Before Christmas was about then. We boarded the train and took it to Toontown Station where we got off and boarded Small World Holiday. Every 15 minutes they do these cool projections on the facade, and they were fun to watch. All 15 of us (who were all adults) boarded one boat and set off on our happy cruise. Just inside the show building our boat got stuck. We were all laughing because it's not everyday that you get stuck on It's a Small World because you have a boat packed with adults. Some friendly CM's came after a few minutes and pulled 4 out of the boat. The rest of us sailed on and we loved seeing how this attraction changes for the holidays. Afterwards, we got our gingerbread cookie and hot chocolate in a souvineer mug. Since it was still raining, the hot chocolate was wonderful and helped warm us up. I was still wearing my Teva's because they are the most comfortable for me to wear in the parks, but my feet were wet and getting cold. We then went to the preferred seating area for the parade and waited to find out how much of the parade we'd actually get to see due to the rain. We were given a collectible pin for going on the tour and then saw a condensed form of the parade. I heard the skating snowflakes were neat, but they didn't participate due to the weather. We did see the main floats with characters on them, but that was it. Overall the tour was fun as it was something we'd never done before, but I'm not sure it was worth the $45 each.

After the tour we wandered around a little more, checked out the cinema on Main Street, and decided that we were cold and ready to call it quits for the day. It was a fun Saturday even though we didn't feel like we got very much done. I guess that is the nice thing about going multiple times in a year (only happened in 2006) because you don't feel like you have to do everything. We went to the hot tub back at the GCH to warm up, but the water didn't feel as hot as we would have like. It was still nice though, I love sitting out in the fresh air soaking in a hot tub. It was COLD getting out, but it was worth it. We went back to the room to finish Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (which we started on the airplane), but we were so tired we both slept through it.

 

[stampinshauna]

Sunday, December 17th

We didn't set an alarm as we were on vacation. When we looked to see what time it was we found that our PS for breakfast at Storyteller's was in 20 minutes. Luckily we were at the GCH and our room was pretty close to the restaurant. We got dressed and headed down for breakfast at 8am.

We were quickly seated at a booth and were suprised that we didn't have "our table" (the one we've had every time that we eat there) but I did prefer the booth. We both opted for the buffet so away we went to get food. I sampled just about everything on the buffet and enjoyed it. It was nice to have some fresh fruit and not have to pay a ton for it in the parks. DH ordered us each a Chocolate Milk and we had OJ as well. I had heard great things about the caramel french toast and have to admit that it was pretty good, but kind of different. I enjoyed the chocolate croissants (which I was introduced to on Disney Cruise Line). There wasn't a lot of character interaction but that was okay. We did have a visit from Meeko, Chip, Dale, and Koda. Kenai was around but never made it to our table. We got pictures with the characters who visited us, but I must admit that they aren't too flattering--there's something about pictures early in the morning, we look like we just woke up or something. Our server was great and made sure that we always had plenty to drink. She even offered to take a picture of the two of us with one of the characters which was nice because we rarely get pictures of the two of us together--her tip went up!

After breakfast we decided to go out for our morning hot tub. I sure love the cool morning air and the nice hot tub. The day looked like it was going to be a nice one, blue sky with just a few clouds. It was quite a difference from the night before. After a little soak we went up to the room to get ready for the day. We had about an hour and a half to kill before getting together with DH's family who had arrived the night before. So, since it was 9:30 we went into DCA (love that GCH entrance which was just below our room). We went to Soarin' since it was open with no line and the rest of the park wasn't open yet. After Soarin' we headed to Ariel's Grotto to get our free Disney Visa pictures again. We wandered around a bit and took some snapshots, then headed back towards the hotel. It was a cool morning so Grizzly River Run had no line at all. We decided to go on it since we didn't mind getting soaked as we were going right back to the room anyway. We asked for our own raft and enjoyed riding with just the two of us. We sat across from each other and took some great pictures of us looking scared and cold. I think having just two in the raft helped us not get as splashed. I've also heard that when it is cold they turn down the water so people don't get as soaked. We had fun screaming and getting wet. Once we got off we went back to the room and changed into Sunday clothes.

At 11:00 DH's family picked us up in front of the hotel to take us to Anaheim Hills to DH's cousin's church. We had a nice church service and got to visit for a few minutes with DH's cousin who lives in Anaheim Hills. Then we headed back to the motel where DH's family was staying. I found some Disney Logo shirts for $3.20 from disneyshopping.com a few months before the trip, so my MIL bought them for all 16 of us. We had orange, navy, turquoise, lime green, and white. I passed them out to the family and we decided to wear them on Monday to the parks. Most of the family was settling down at the hotel and the kids were getting ready for naps. DH and his sister and I left to go to the Disney Character Warehouse which is about 3 miles up Harbor. We didn't find anything great, I just bought an ornament for a fellow DISer and SIL bought a couple of ballcaps for her boys. Then we went to Food 4 Less across the street to get some milk & juice for the next couple mornings. I'm so glad that the GCH took out the mini bars so fridges are automatically in the rooms not just by request. SIL dropped us off back at our hotel and we decided to meet back up with the whole family for dinner later on.

We had some time before dinner, so we wandered around Downtown Disney and the Disneyland Hotel. We were really on a quest to find Disney Crocs which I had heard would be sold in the parks by Dec 15th, but I saw no sign of them. After strolling through DD, we went into DL and headed for Santa's Reindeer Roundup to see what it was all about. As soon as we got back there we got a call from DH's family saying that they were ready for dinner. Well, at least we got some exercise because the Reindeer Roundup is clear at the back of the park and we just got there and then had to leave. I did get a picture with Clarabelle Cow (I've never seen her in the park before) and we saw the reindeer and the happiest turkeys on earth. We also got someone to take a picture of us with Pluto wearing antlers (too bad I'm blinking, otherwise it would have been a great picture). We rushed out of the parks and to Harbor Blvd where the family was picking us up.

It was nice that they had a couple cars, but since we flew and BIL & family from Texas flew, we had to shuttle to dinner. We went to the Spaghetti Factory that is near Disney's Character Warehouse for dinner. It didn't turn out to be that great of an idea. We had to wait about an hour to be seated, and we were seated at two seperate tables in completely different areas of the restaurant (we asked for two tables of 8 as it's too hard to get a table for 16). There were some tables near the entrance that weren't even being used, so I don't know why it took so long. We had horrible service and had to constantly ask for things like to order or for water or a spoon, etc. The server took forever to come take our order and then we waited about 30 minutes for the food to come. Most people ordered spaghetti, I ordered fettucini. My portion of fettucini was smaller than the kids spaghetti, hmmm is something wrong with this picture? It didn't really matter as the alfredo sauce was lousy, pretty much milk & cream with no flavor. It was around $8.50 for my meal and not worth it at all, especially considering you have to tip. We ended up being at the restaurant for over 2 hours. I much prefer to just eat in the parks and save myself the 2 hours and I could have eaten cheaper and better in the parks.

We had DH's family drop us off by the Harbor entrance to the parks. We went back to our room to get some warm clothes on because we wanted to spend a few more hours in DL. I put on a second sweatshirt and my flannel pj pants under my pants since I didn't want to be cold like the previous night. As we went over to DL, I realized that I had on the perfect amount of layers. I was neither hot nor cold. DH's favorite ride is the Matterhorn and it was down last trip so we headed over to it. The line was only 5-10 minutes long. I think that the Matterhorn is more fun in the dark, it feels faster!!! We rode on the left track and then rode again on the right track. Which side do people say is better? I kind of thought left was better, it seemed to have more drops, but DH said he liked the right better. The line was still short so we rode the right side again. At one point you can look up and see the rafters above you--that was kind of cool! We then headed near IASW to watch the fireworks. The air was a little cool, but not too bad. The line for hot chocolate was long, so you could tell it was cool. The fireworks were fun and we had a great view. I would have liked to see them again from the front of the castle (they were shooting most off from Toontown, but a few from Fantasyland). Once the fireworks ended it started snowing. The snow was totally NOT what I had expected but it was fun. I had heard it was soap bubbles but didn't expect gobs of bubbles (think a handful of dishsoap bubble from your kitchen sink). We also made the mistake of being right under where the bubbles fell from so we were covered in soap bubbles. It was fun and made us laugh. We rode a few more rides and got some hot chocolate and headed down Main Street. We saw a few minutes of the Christmas Carolers and then sat on a bench on a porch for a bit and then headed back to the GCH for the night.

 

[shellyof4]

Hey Shauna, I'm enjoying your trip report! It's good to know about the weather. We leave in a couple weeks so I'm guessing I might even bring hats and gloves for my kiddos. Thanks again for the pins and maps too!! Also, would you say that the GCH is worth it for one night? We're currently booked to stay there for just our last night....any thoughts?

 

[stampinshauna]

If you are only going to be there one night, make sure you take some time to enjoy the resort. Wander through the lobby, eat at Storyteller's, swim or hot tub, and just take some time to relax. I wouldn't pay for one night just to spend all day in the parks and just use the room to sleep and shower. I do love the GCH, so if you can do just one night, do it (then next time you'll want to stay there again).

 

[shellyof4]

Ya, we will not be in the parks that day so I'm hoping we'll get enough out of it to make it worth the expense. I also wanted to try it for the very reason you said, which is to decide if we'd rather save up and stay there the next trip. Anyway, thanks again!

 

[stampinshauna]

Monday, December 18th

I bet by now you can guess what we did first thing in the morning--hot tub. I knew that I'd really miss my morning hot tub ritual once at home, so I'd better take advantage of it while I can. We never took advantage of Early Entry as we didn't want to go into the park at 7am--I'd rather hot tub. For breakfast we just ate stuff that we had in the room--we brought little boxes of cereal and packets of instant oatmeal from home, and picked up milk, juice, and some little powdered donuts at the store the previous day (thanks to the fact that DH's family had a car that we could use).

We headed to Disneyland first this day. Since CA wasn't open yet, we had to go through Downtown Disney to get there. On our September trip, DH and I found our "secret" exit from the hotel. Normally you have to go in and out near the Libby Lu shop which is actually backtracking from where our room was, so we took the stairs. We discovered that our set of stairs did not exist from the 2nd floor, so we'd take the elevator to the 3rd floor and head towards the North-East end of the hotel. It was fun walking through the third floor because that is where you can see the monorail track run through the hotel (although the monorail was down for our trip). The stairs at the North-East end take you down to the main level (no access on 2nd floor) and then you do some winding down long concrete hallways and finally find the exit, which is set back from the first doors to World of Disney. It isn't marked at all from the outside and unfortunately the door locks so you can't enter that way.

The weather was nicer than it had been, so we were able to be in t-shirts some of the time and DH was in shorts and I in my capris. It did get cold in the shade though so I was glad to have my sweatshirt with me. We went to the stroller rental area to get a stroller (free with our Disney Visa) for our 2-year old nephew. We took the (then empty) stroller to Fantasyland to meet up with the family (16 of us in all--10 adults and 6 kids ages 9, 5, 3, 2, 23 months and 5 months). FIL was in a wheelchair because he recently had foot surgery. The kids loved riding on Papa's lap. We were able to get onto most things in Fantasyland pretty quickly. The longest wait was, you guessed it, Peter Pan, which took about 20 or 30 minutes. We rode Peter Pan, Casey Jr, Dumbo, the Carousel, Snow White, and Pinocchio. I advised DH's brother that he may want to skip Mr. Toad's as his kids didn't like Snow White or Pinocchio and in September my three year old neice freaked out on it (but she liked Space Mountain ).

Once we finished up Fantasyland, we headed over to California Adventure so that we could get our pictures taken at Ariel's Grotto. DH and I had been saving up our vouchers so that we could share them with his family. The photographer was great and allowed all 16 of us to be in a picture (in our matching shirts) when they normally only allow 6. It was fun that we were able to have one big group photo. Chip and Dale were great with the kids and to my suprise, none of the kids were shy or scared of them. Once we were done with the photo, our 9 year old neice and some of the adults rode California Screamin' while DH took the little ones on the ferris wheel in a non-rocking gondola. As we traded off, some of the family rode King Triton's Carousel and the kids loved it. The theming is fun and they love the brightly colored fish. We didn't do anything else on the pier that day as a lot of it isn't kid-friendly. We broke up into two groups (much more manageable) and the little ones went to It's Tough to Be a Bug and a little of Flik's Fun Fair while the rest of us went on Tower of Terror. I got to sit by my 9 year old neice and it was fun to see her reaction. She is a daredevil and is willing to try anything, but since she wasn't sure what to expect she had a look of sheer terror on her face during the ride. The picture was worth a thousand words, but we didn't buy it. Afterwards she said she loved it and wanted to go again. It was around 1:00 now so we headed to get lunch. The family packed a picnic, so we went out of the park to the picnic area and got the food from the locker. It felt a little strange to me to be just outside of Disneyland eating as I normally eat in the park, but it was kind of nice to have a sandwich and not have to pay a lot for it. The younger kids were getting tired and needed naps, so some of the adults hung out at the picnic area for a bit and some rode the train around a few times so the kids could sleep.

DH and I took neice & nephew (9 & 5) to do some rides in Disneyland and BIL and his fiancee joined us. We rode Buzz (DH and I love to compete--and we wouldn't share our secrets with the family) and then took the kids to ride Space Mountain for the first time. I rode by my nephew and told him that he could scream but that it was more fun to say woohoo. He was constantly saying woohoo as was I, and I was hoping that this ride wouldn't traumatize him like it did me at that age. The kids both loved it, but as we were heading to the autopia I realized that we left my Disneyland hat (that I bought on our August trip) and my nephew's hat (that his mom bought the day before at the Character Warehouse) got left on the ride. BIL & his fiancee took the kids to the Autopia while DH and I went back for the hats. The CM's checked every rocket (I knew the hats were in row 5 right seat) but they couldn't find them. We checked back later and made a claim at lost and found but never found the hats. So, I hope whoever found them and kept them enjoys them, but I can't figure out why anyone would want to keep two used hats. It put a little damper in the afternoon and DH said not to worry about it, but I kept kicking myself for forgetting them. I know I'll never do that again.

We met up with the rest of the family and went to the Tiki Room. In the summer it is nice how cool they keep it in there, but it was too cold for December. I enjoyed watching the kids expressions as they watched the room come to life. DH and I also enjoyed singing along. When the show was over the family headed to the Jungle Cruise and DH and I decided it was time to go back to the hotel for warmer clothes (gotta love the proximity of the GCH). We changed and met back up with them and rode pirates and the Haunted Mansion. I had to explain the general idea of Nightmare Before Christmas to a few family members so that the ride overlay made more sense. I rode with SIL and her baby. The kids seemed to like this ride, maybe the overlay is less scary than the actual ride? As we were leaving the attic scene, I looked behind the train and did see the cymbal playing monkey that we learned about Saturday on our tour. We decided to have dinner all together, so I suggested Redd Rocket's Pizza Port since they have Pizza, Pasta, and Salads, so everyone could find something they'd like. I really wanted to go so I could try the Chicken Fusilli that I had read about on these boards. It was WONDERFUL (and only like $8, so cheaper and much better than what I had the previous night at the Spaghetti Factory). I wish I had some to eat right now. I love pasta, but I'm not a big fan of red sauce, so this was perfect. DH and I shared one and figured we'd get a snack later. SIL and BIL and their 3 kids headed back to their hotel after dinner as it was 8:00 and the kids were worn out. The rest of us went on Small World Holiday and enjoyed it. Those projections that they show on the facade every 15 minutes at night are cool! We had to wait about 30 minutes and FIL in the wheelchair line hadn't even gone yet. (They allow 5 people to go with FIL in the wheelchair line, so most of us waited in the regular line). After IASW MIL and FIL took our nephews (5&2) back to the hotel, BIL and his finacee went off on their own, so DH, SIL, BIL, and our 9 year old neice went to California Adventure to do some thrill rides. On the way, BIL, DH, and I stopped for some ice cream at the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor. I just love chocolate ice cream in their fresh made waffle bowls. It was just past 9:00 and the park closed at 10:00 so we didn't have a lot of time. We rode Soarin' and then went to Tower of Terror. This was SIL's first time and she loves thrill rides but she said she was petrified. She loved it but was just scared because she didn't know what to expect. We got off the ride a couple minutes before 10:00 so we rushed through the line and were some of the last ones they let on the ride.

Once we got off we called it quits for the night and DH and I left through the GCH entrance. We were both worn out, but wanted to do our shopping tonight so that we could pack in the morning (a very sad thought). We went up to the room so I could change shoes (my feet were very tired) and then used our "secret exit" to get to World of Disney. We didn't think we'd be doing this much shopping (since we had already bought items on Saturday and earlier in the year). I did want to buy a replacement ball cap and they still had the identical one so I picked it up. DH decided to get one that matched only his is navy and mine is tan. He found a t-shirt that he really liked (and I encourage t-shirts that he likes because it seems like most of his say University of Utah and I like something different every once in a while). We also got the Disney theme park edition of Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders and the Fantasyland game because we like to play games with our neices and nephews (and so that we have them for the future when we have kids). Luckily we had taken an extra suitcase to hold all of the t-shirts that we had for the family, so we had enough room to take all of these games home. We wandered through the store a little more and were exhausted from the day, so we made our purchases and went back to the room and quickly fell asleep.

 

[Castaway Kev]

Since my wife is posting false information about me here, I must correct one thing. I have more Disney shirts than University of Utah. (10 Utah and 13 Disney). My wife wants me to say 12 Utah because she has two that I'm getting for my birthday next month. But nobody is really going to care about this so I'll stop typing now.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Great trip report! Thank you for sharing, & Castaway Kev, thanks for clearing that up about your t-shirts.

Hmmmm....I'm gonna go find your secret stairs. Good to know.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Really enjoyed the trip report! Extended family trips are so fun, especially when you are staying at your own hotel ! That really stinks about the hats, same thing happened to us with my son's on Indiana Jones, some people have no class! At least you were able to get a replacement. Thanks for the great report!

 

[Disney owl]

Thanks for sharing

 

[stampinshauna]

Thanks for the comments so far. I have one more day to add to the report and will hopefully get to it this afternoon.

DH read my report and asked why I was telling lies about him (that he had more University of Utah t-shirts). Well, he went through his closet and counted and found that he had more Disney shirts than anything. The next day I came home to find that he had gone through his closet and pulled out clothes to donate to charity. Guess what, there were more U of U t-shirts that he hadn't counted so I was right!!! I just think it is funny that he made such a big deal about it. We've been married 4 years and it seems like every trip we go on he takes a few U of U t-shirts so I like him to add some Disney variety into his wardrobe.

 

[stampinshauna]

Tuesday, December 19th

We woke up and were sad because this was our last day. We went hot tubbing as usual and then had cereal and oatmeal in our room for breakfast. We got ready for the day and packed up all of our belongings. It's a good thing we had an extra suitcase to bring home the games and other souvineers that we purchased. I looked out the balcony and said goodbye to the view and the room and we headed down to the lobby to check out. We left our bags at the bell desk and used the GCH entrance to CA one last time. It was sad to realize that this would be the last day we'd use our Annual Pass.

I told DH that I wanted to spend a little time just the two of us so that we could do a few attractions and take some pictures that we wanted to before we had to leave that evening. We called his family and let them know that we'd meet up with them later on. We went to Ariel's Grotto and once again had our picture taken and got the Disney Visa vouchers for free pictures. However, this time I decided that I was sick of the backdrop they use so I asked Mickey and Goofy to sit on the blue sofa (with a plain wall behind) and we did some pictures there. They turned out great and after 4 trips this year it was nice to have a different backdrop. We went to Turtle Talk and DH got to talk to Crush about swimming. It was fun to see their interaction. We took a few pictures around CA and did a couple more attractions and then decided that we were done with CA for this trip.

We headed into Disneyland and went up by the castle for a few more pictures. We also had a picture taken by the snowglobe. I hadn't gone on the canoes yet this trip so I begged DH to go with me. I think he goes on them just to humor me. Don't ask me why, but I just love the canoes. There's just somethign about going around the Rivers of America and doing a little manual labor to get around them. We rode once and then there was no line so I told DH that we needed to go again and switch places so that we gave both arms an equal workout. We rode Splash Mountain (another of my favorites) and Thunder Mountain Railroad then called DH's family to find out if they wanted to get together. They were about ready for lunch so we told them just to call us after because I wanted to eat in the park that day.

DH and I went to the Plaza Inn on Main Street for lunch. Last trip we had the penne pasta and enjoyed it, but we wanted to try something different. Due to rave reviews of the fried chicken by fellow DISers, we decided to give it a try. We were happy that we shared as it was a huge portion (around $12, but worth it). We had 3 pieces of chicken, potatoes, veggies, and a roll. It was the perfect size for sharing. We called DH's family and found out that they decided to spend some time in CA, but we had done all we wanted to there so we stayed (just the two of us) in Disneyland. We rode Buzz a couple times, took a spin on Roger Rabbit, rode the Matterhorn, and just took it easy.

By about 3:00 we had gone on all that we really wanted to so we met up with DH's family in CA so that we could spend a little more time with them before we had to leave. We rode Monster's and the kids loved it. Our limo had 10 people in it (all 6 kids and 4 adults) it was a car full and I was suprised that they let us all ride together. After Monster's we decided to watch Muppet Vision 3-D as none of the kids (and a few of the adults) had seen it. It was fun watching the kids giggle and try to catch the 3-D characters who appeared to be right in front of them. Once we were done with Muppet Vision, DH and I decided that it was time to say goodbye and go get some dinner before we had to leave for the airport. It was sad saying goodbye and realizing that the rest of the family had another day or two in the parks but we had to go home and go back to work. It was fun to see the kids (some live in Texas and the others live 3 hours away from us) and we don't get to do things with them very often. It was nice that we could spend some time together, and that DH and I could spend some time just the two of us as well.

We left CA and went to Whitewater Snacks for dinner. I had the French Dip and DH had a burger. I asked about substituting something for the french fries and they gave me a huge serving of fresh cut fruit (melons and pineapple) instead of the fries. Our meals were both good but I was suprised how long it took to get the food and I was getting a little nervous about getting our bags and getting to the airport on time. I ate half of my sandwich and then went to claim our bags while DH finished his burger. His mom drove us to the airport and we were getting a little worried about traffic, but all turned out okay. Our flight was at 7:30 and thank goodness we were flying out of Long Beach because checking in and going through security there is super quick. We flew on Jet Blue for the first time and loved it. They have nice seats and have the TVs for each seat with a variety of programming. We chose Jet Blue because they had the latest flight home from Long Beach and we wanted to spend every minute we could at Disneyland.

We flew home and were happy about all of the fun time that we had spent in Disneyland during the year but were sad to leave as well. We definately got our use out of our Annual Passes and we will miss having them. We also had the opportunity over the past year to see and do and eat different things in Disneyland, it has been a great year! We really don't know when we will get back to Disneyland. It could be in a long time after we start having kids, but then we can see the magic that they see. The thing that makes leaving Disneyland a little easier is knowing that we get to go to WDW in a few weeks and get to go on DCL for 4 nights. I'm sure after that trip we will be even more sad to leave because we don't have anything else planned...yet!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

Great trip report.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

DH read my report and asked why I was telling lies about him (that he had more University of Utah t-shirts). Well, he went through his closet and counted and found that he had more Disney shirts than anything. The next day I came home to find that he had gone through his closet and pulled out clothes to donate to charity. Guess what, there were more U of U t-shirts that he hadn't counted so I was right!!! I just think it is funny that he made such a big deal about it. We've been married 4 years and it seems like every trip we go on he takes a few U of U t-shirts so I like him to add some Disney variety into his wardrobe.

You guys are too funny!

 

[momto2nenas]

Great trip report! Sounds like you guys had a great time and really got to see and do it all!