Firefox2's Birthday - Trip Report

[firefox2]

Day 1 - First day in Anaheim

I have been back since late night September 17th, but had so much catching up to do when we got back.
Our trip went smoothly, We had to get up at 2am on September 10th, enough time to have a quick "wake me up" shower and a coffee before the taxi showed up to take us to the airport. Good thing we woke when we did, the taxi was 10 minutes earlier than we had booked, maybe the driver was as excited as we were

Everything was uneventful from victoria to Vancouver, then we get to the nasty Vancouver airport (anyone who has been to O'Hare airport.....well, that is nothing compared to Vancouver). We had to literally run to our connecting flight, as the airport information originally gave us the wrong directions, and sent us in the totally opposite direction for a couple of miles, and absolutely NOTHING in that airport is clearly marked. We get through customs, no problem, get to airport security, and they call a random check on me. I have an artificial c-spine, so I beeped, short of doing a cavity search, I eventually got through. I asked them 3 times if I could show them the surgeons note, but they wanted nothing to do with it. As I am getting searched, they tore apart my camera bag, had everything strewn all over, and in the process, lost my lens filters (x2). I asked them where they were, but they just shrugged and told us to move on. I was so angry. Needless to say, they got a letter written to them.

We had no problems from that point on, and off to L.A. we go. LAX is such a breeze, especially compared to Vancouver. On the bus we go, and arrive at HoJo, YAY!

I LOVED the Castaway Cove water park, which we had a great view of from our room. The kids all seemed to be having a blast:

First order of business, lunch at Mimi's. I had the french quarter burger, and I have to say, it was the most delicious burger I have ever had.

From there we headed off to Honda Center to the Anaheim Ducks store (I am a huge Ducks fan, so I was in my glory).

I loved this street sign:

Spent the rest of the day shopping at Target and the Disney Warehouse, and off to Red Lobster for dinner, before hitting Downtown Disney.

More to come later

 

[cannp123165]

A great start!

 

[disneynerd420]

I'm looking forward to more.

 

[firefox2]

Day 2 - My birthday and day 1 of in the park

We decided to get an early start on the day, so up at 6:30, but lo and behold, excitement must reign, for both my husband and I were up at 5:20, may have been the early night before, who knows. First point of business, using the coffee machine at Hojo (which by the way, the coffee is aweful unless bottled water is used, we figured that out pretty darn quick). Off to Mimi's for breakfast before heading off to the park.
We stopped at the ticket booth to exchange our voucher for the 6 day park hopper tickets, and to get my birthday button and my funcard, YAY!! I had 47 Happy Birthdays from cast members alone, not including the song that the skipper on the Jungle cruise had everyone sing to me, and not including guests, etc.
The first ride we hit was the Jungle Cruise, then Indiana Jones, and then off to Splash Mountain. It was so quiet at Splash Mountain that they asked us if we wanted to stay on and ride it again, but we had so much we wanted to do, so we opted out, just because we knew that we would ride it a few more times in the 6 days there.
This is my fave scene from Splash Mountain

Next, off to the Pirates Lair, hubby had never been over there, so now is the perfect time:

And just a shot of me with all of MY treasure that I found over there:

Next order of business......a churro, before heading over to DCA

I was getting antsy, and just wanted to get on California Screamin' soooo bad. I love roller coasters, so at this point it was just about killing me, being so close, yet so far. Hubby is not too keen on any roller coaster with loops, so he opted out, and I rode solo. But, one thing hubby said he wouldn't do, and did, was ride Mickey's Funwheel on the swinging gondola, so off we went to do that. Once was enough for him, so I wasn't going to push it. I did crack up however, when one of the 3 people we shared a gondola with, pulled out a motion sickness bag to show him where they were in case he needed one. Ya, he was a little green. We headed over to ride Mulholland Madness before heading back to Disneyland to meet Belle Ella and Riverlou at POTC. As we were walking past Caliornia Screamin', he stopped and looked at it, and said, oh, what the heck, I may as well ride it. Soooo, on we go, and ya, I bought the picture to prove it, although he does not look well in the picture LOL, and he bought the t-shirt, which he deserves IMO.
We headed back to DL to meet Belle Ella and Riverlou, very nice people btw, and onto POTC we went. That ride never gets boring, does it? (I hope you girls don't mind me adding this picture)

After that, we went our seperate ways as we had our PS for Blue Bayou for my birthday dinner, which I have to say was awesome. I have never had a bad meal there, and the service is great. For a birthday dessert, they brought me a chocolate mousse with a candle in it, very nice. We finished there at 5:50 and went to grab a spot for Fantasmic, I was sooo excited that the dragon was up and running.
We met some wonderful people from Utah, and since we were spending a few hours with them, we had great conversation the whole time, and saved each others spots so we could all stretch our legs.

After that, we headed to Downtown Disney for awhile before heading back to the hotel for the night.

 

[kaoden39]

Oh what fun. I have never been on Splash Mountain. I need to change that next time I go.

 

[vettegirl]

I love your pic of Brer Rabbit.

 

[firefox2]

Day 3 - 2nd day in the park and Magic Morning!

We decided to use our magic morning today, which meant being at the park for 7am. We decided to postpone breakfast and grab something later on, making time to hit a few rides before the crowds arrived. (Not that there were alot of people there in the entire week we were there, most rides were walk ons), but a ride is a ride, and I must go on them. Food can wait.

We headed straight for the Matterhorn, and was able to get on right away (thankfully, as that was one of the few rides that had a 30-40 minute wait while we were there.

From there, we went on Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters and Star Tours (just to remind myself how dated Star Tours really is).
Finally, off to the Carnation Cafe to grab some breakfast. From there, off to do Splash Mountain, this time, we were in the front and got tota
lly soaked from head to toe, so I figured that would keep us cool for a long time.

We left the park for awhile, as we wanted to go to a different Target, since the other one didn't have everything we wanted, so we did that, then back to the parks, heading to DCA this time, but had to stop and get my name taken on my initial. I told hubby it was "L" for Laurie, and he said it was "L" for California, but I set him straight, and told him that California starts with a "C", not an "L".

We headed straight for the Tower of Terror, then off to watch the Pixar parade:

Next we headed over to Soarin', the over to Grizzly River, put our stuff in a locker, and went and got totally drenched yet again today.

We headed to Downtown Disney for a bit, in search of some food, but it was sooo busy, so back to DL we went and grabbed a burger, then headed for It's a Small World. As we were exiting, the fireworks had started, so they stopped the ride so everyone could watch them (we had already watched them the night before, but it was nice to see them again.

We "shopped" our way out of the park, and headed back to the hotel for the night.

 

[kaoden39]

Oh my I bet you are glad you used the locker. I love your pictures and your trip report.

 

[firefox2]

Oh my I bet you are glad you used the locker. I love your pictures and your trip report.

Thanks, and yes, am very happy they have the lockers so handy, most of our stuff would not have survived the soaking we got

 

[kaoden39]

Thanks, and yes, am very happy they have the lockers so handy, most of our stuff would not have survived the soaking we got

No doubt about that one. But, it is so worth it.

 

[APX]

Enjoying your birthday over there? I'm very jealous of you right now.

Did you happen to take pictures of the fireworks/have any words to say about it?

I want to see how it is, i'm getting excited just reading your thread/looking at the pictures!

 

[firefox2]

Day 4 - Still soaking up the sights, sounds and fun in the parks!

Up at 6:30, and off to Mimi's for breakfast again, then back to the hotel to prepare for our day.

Starting in DL today, we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean, then Splash Mountain again (it's DH's favorite ride of all time), and the onto Big Thunder Mountain before scouting out where to have lunch. I had wanted to make it to the Celebration Roundup BBQ, but wasn't sure how busy it would be, so we decided to check it out, and we were in luck, still early enough that it was pretty quiet in there. The food was great, as well as the entertainment.

We were stuffed when we left there, but waddled our way over to Toontown to go on Roger Rabbits Cartoon Spin, Mickeys house, and some exploring.

All day long, we were running into quite a few Photopass Photographers, so I was happy with that. We headed for DCA, grabbing a fastpass for Indy before leaving DL park. Once in DCA, we rode Soarin' once again, then headed to Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream, DHwas dying for a sundae. I went with the Strawberry Sundae, and he had the Mocha Sundae.

From there we headed to Bug's Land to check out "It's Tough to Be a Bug", what a great show. We checked out Bug's land for a bit after the show.

Then we went to see Muppet Vision 3-D, and then onto Mike and Sulley To The Rescue, and another ride on the Tower of Terror before heading back to Disneyland to use our Indy Fastpass, and then on to Splash Mountain and Winnie the Pooh.

We hadn't eaten dinner yet, so headed to Mimis before going to the hotel for the night.

 

[firefox2]

Enjoying your birthday over there? I'm very jealous of you right now.

Did you happen to take pictures of the fireworks/have any words to say about it?

I want to see how it is, i'm getting excited just reading your thread/looking at the pictures!

I am back home now, just finally getting my trip report up though.

 

[firefox2]

September 14 - Day 5

The alarm was set for 5:50 am today, as we had a ps for Goofy's Kitchen at 7:50 am, and wanted to walk there to take in the details of Downtown Disney before everything opened, so a liesurely stroll is what we had.

Breakfast at Goofy's was amazing, and it had been many years since I had been there, and so much better than last time. The characters were fantastic, very entertaining.

After breakfast, we walked back to the hotel to let our food digest before heading over to the park. We started the day in California Adventure, riding Soarin' first, and grabbing a fastpass to use later. The headed to The Tower of Terror, and got a front row seat, which made me happy.

Headed over to Paradise Pier from there, as I was itching to get on Screamin' again. Hubby went on this time as well, but he felt so sick afterwards, so that would be the end of that ride for him, so if I decide to ride it again, I ride solo again. From there we went to the Midway so DH could play some games, and then we rode Toy Story Midway Mania.

We went over to Taste Pilots' Grill to grab some lunch, which we rather enjoyed. We both thought it wasn't too bad for park food. DH had the Wild Bleu Yonder Burger:

I had the Chilli Cheeseburger:

After lunch,we rode Soarin', using our fastpasses

Before heading over to Disneyland Park, we stopped and bought a few things that we wanted to get, checking them in at the News Stand for pick up before leaving the park that night, then headed over to finally get my much need Dole Whip Float:

Then off to Splash Mountain we went, getting soooo soaked, we had to dry our shoes in the dryer at the hotel that night.
Off we went from there, to ride Buzz Lightyear, taking pictures along the way, rode Buzz Lightyear, back to Splash Mountain (for DH's sake), and then went on the Jungle Cruise.

From there, we went to watch the "Celebrate A Street Party" parade. All I have to say is, What a waste of time, money and space that parade is. We weren't the only ones that felt that way, there was a family from Utah who also said that they felt that they had just wasted over an hour of their time. About 3/4 of the way through, we all (about 9 of us) got bored and left to do some shopping before DH and I headed back to the hotel for the night.

 

[kylieh]

Enjoying the trip report - great pics!

 

[firefox2]

Day 6 - 5th day in the park.

Our day started at 6:30 am again, we had alot of clothes that had gotten wet at the park, combined with sweat = ewwwww! So up early to do some laundry. It seems a few others had the same idea, the laundry room was a busy place at that hour LOL.

Starting the day at Mimi's again for breakfast, I had not finished one meal since I arrived in California, as the portions were all huge, so decided to order from the "Just enough" menu, and this is what I got, which, was still too huge to finish LOL. It made me wonder what I was doing wrong, as I watched some skinny little thing at the next table not only finish her huge plate of food, but then continued to dig into one of her kids meals as well

We headed over to the parks, and into California Adventure, as we had a Disboards meet at the Tower of Terror for 10:30 am. We went in and got a fastpass for Soarin' first, then headed off to the Tower, stopping for any photo ops along the way. As we stopped to pose with Sully, a girl who was meeting us (Tink91) saw my LGMH and came over to us, off we went to meet with escape2disney at the Tower. And this is the picture of the 4 of us. Tink91 and escape2disney are in the front right, and my DH and I are behind them (escuse my cheesy pose, DH was complaing that I never get scared on rides, so I posed scared LOL).

It was so great meeting 2 more people from the Disboards, and they were very nice people.

From there, we headed over to Paradise Pier, I was itching to get on California Screamin' again. DH got a picture, I am near the back on the right, as I said before, he was done with this ride:

The we went onto Toy Sory Midway Mania again before heading over to Soarin' to use our fastpasses.

We headed into Disneyland, grabbing a cream cheese pretzel once inside, as we still hadn't had any lunch, and I wanted to get to Pixie Hollow. Stood in line at pixie hollow, until I finally got to see Tink, YAY!
Grabbed this picture, as it looks like a Mickey Head on the toadstool.

When we left there, we went over to ride the Matterhorn, and wow, longest line I had seen there since we got there. Then one more go on Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters.

We browsed a few shops before scouting out a place to eat dinner. We decided to try Rancho Del Zocalo, both of us having the Fajita style beef Tacos, which were pretty good for park food, I was just happy to have some fresh veggies LOL

From there we headed to Splash Mountain before working our way out of the park.

Heading back to the hotel, we changed, and went and did some shopping.

Only one day left in the park after this day, at this point I was starting to feel sad

 

[firefox2]

Day 7 & 8 - The park, hockey and going home

We awoke at 7 am and decided to have breakfast a Millies for a change.
We headed to the park after grabbing our stuff from the hotel, and made it into the park for 9:45 am (opening was at 10 am), and went straight to the photo shop to check out our photopass pictures, curious as to how many we had on there (63 so far). By the time we were done in there, the park was opened, so we headed straight to Fantasyland to ride Mr. Toads Wild Ride and Pinnochio's Daring Journey.

From there, we headed over to the Starcade to play a few games before heading over to Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, yet again. This time, we e-mailed the picture to my parents hehe.

We left there, and headed for Pirates of the Caribbean, stopping to get a drink of water on the way. After Pirates, we went on Big Thunder Mountain again....one last time before we go home.

We headed over to Gibson Girl, as hubby was dying for another Mocha Sundae, so I decided to go the fun route, and got a cone with sprinkles on it, oh ya!

Off to DCA....one last time:
We headed straight for Soarin' over California, this time we were going to ask if we could have the front row, as we have never had that experience, but was told it was way better. Well, no need, we ended up front row anyways, like they could read my mind. I enjoyed it more, I guess the feeling of being up higher, but DH said he didn't even notice the difference, I guess the experience is good no matter where you sit.

From there, we headed over to Paradise Pier, so that I could ride Screamin' one last time. DH sat this one out again, his stomach can't handle loops very well. I absorbed every detail I could on the ride, knowing it would be awhile before I could come back:

We did a little bit of browsing/shopping, and one thing I have wanted for a long time, stupidest purchase I would make in a long time, I decided to do. I bought the big "Stitch" stuffie. Oh my, and he is soooo soft, I just love him to pieces. That's when DH looked at me and said, "If you get Stitch, then I want a Sully stuffie". I just about fell over, my DH was asking for a Disney Stuffie, never thought I would see the day. So, told him we would go to Engine Ears Toys and get him one before leaving LOL.

One last go for the Toy Story Mania ride, lineup was longer than most that day, what's new, such a great ride/game:

We had decided not to go on any wet rides today, as we were going to the hockey game tonight, and didn't want to freeze in the arena, so we went to Grizzly River Run, and decided to watch for a bit, even watching the people on the ride can be fun.

Left there to get something to eat before leaving the park, headed over to Pacific Wharf Cafe for some Clam Chowder in a bread bowl, YUMMY!!

And that's the end of my 6 day park hopper, which I will save with the collection of other Disney trips stuff:

Headed back to the hotel, changed for the hockey game, and went out to catch the Town Car picking us up. Now, I have been an Anaheim Ducks fan since back when they were owned by Disney, and in a town where they are shunned, and I am shunned for not being a Vancouver Canucks fan, I must say, showing up at Honda Center, dressed in my Duck's gear, I fit in, there's a first.
We arrived at the game, and did what Canadians do best, grabbed a beer before heading to our seats

Just before the game was to start, as they are flashing the camera on random people and showing them on the scoreboard, all of a sudden, my DH and I appear on the screen, and I could hear someone calling me from my right side, I turn around and 2 of the ducks managers (a merchandising manager, and can't remember what the other person was), wished me a Happy Birthday, and gave DH and I each a cloth season ticket holder bag just loaded with goodies (hats, towels, t-shirts, etc.), and thanked me for supporting the team in Canada, and said if there is ever anything I want/need, don't hesitate to contact them. The only difference with DH's bag and mine.....I got a mini hockey stick autographed by Scott Niedermayer.

And this was just my bag of goodies

As you can see, the game went well, Anaheim won in a shootout, so we sure got our money's worth from those tickets. Back to the hotel to finish packing,off to bed, and a lazy start for our trip home the next day, as we had lots of time to kill before heading to the airport. We just hung around the hotel, soaked up the atmosphere and nice weather before catching the bus to the airport:

I did my usual bawling my eyes out as we were pulling out of Anaheim, I really hate leaving here, the people, the parks, the nice weather.

 

[kaoden39]

I love the Ducks new colors. That red is so striking.

 

[firefox2]

I love the Ducks new colors. That red is so striking.

It's actually orange, it turned out darker as I had the flash turned off

 

[kaoden39]

It's actually orange, it turned out darker as I had the flash turned off

It actually looked more orange when I looked at it again. Just a deeper more red-orange. Yeah, yeah that's it.