FlameGirl and family's PHOTO HEAVY 2010 Christmas marathon TR ~*FINALLY COMPLETE!!!*~

[FlameGirl]

So when flying back to SEA TAC from Bham I mean, did you see your house as you flew in? That would really be the icing on the cake. It all reminds me why I'm so picky about flying, how, where and when.

Ha, no...but that would have been something else. Luckily our house isn't directly under the flight path.

It sucked, to be sure, but there is always a silver lining. In this case, it's that I cashed in the voucher Allegiant sent me for return tickets from LGB > Seattle and I had enough miles on Alaska for a free one-way from Sea > SNA. Long story short, out of pocket, airfare for my daughter and I to take another trip in February cost me $95 out of pocket.

I thought about flying out of Bellingham again but when I considered that it was in February, I didn't want to take my chances.

 

[Belle Ella]

You are on a roll Kathy! I'm trying to catch myself up. But I'm still on Day 2 I swear I had to reread and reread all about your travel debacle. I could hardly believe it! It's a good thing you can stand up for yourself and take charge. I don't know what I would have done in that situation, but I don't think I would have made it to Disneyland on time! Good job, momma bear!

 

[FlameGirl]

You are on a roll Kathy! I'm trying to catch myself up. But I'm still on Day 2 I swear I had to reread and reread all about your travel debacle. I could hardly believe it! It's a good thing you can stand up for yourself and take charge. I don't know what I would have done in that situation, but I don't think I would have made it to Disneyland on time! Good job, momma bear!

Thanks Jazz. And yeah, I definitely hit a breaking point and went into super commando mode. What I didn't mention was that I was right on the very edge of a complete hysterical-sobbing-sit-on-the-floor-clutching-myself-rocking-back-and-forth-blubbering breakdown. So it was one or the other and super commando Kathy won. Also in part due to my wonderful, supportive husband who could see that I was RIGHT THERE and would give me a reassuring hug and whisper "it's going to be OK" from time to time.

Overly dramatic? Yeah maybe. But I swear, watching your kid suffer that huge of a shift in emotion - from giddy excitement at knowing we are on our way, to the crushing news that we aren't going for another 3 days and vacation is cut short - I swear there is a switch in us moms that when it's on...beware. Haha. It all worked out in the end.

Glad you're still along for the ride!

 

[FlameGirl]

I've really dropped the ball with my TR. And I'm not even 1/2 way through it! I will have to get on that...

 

[FlameGirl]

Next we headed on over to New Orleans Square and decided to kill a little time before dinner just shopping and taking in the sights. John had to make a trip back to the room (or locker) to grab something, so Natalie and I wandered around for a while. We caught up with Tiana and her band and watched for a bit.

At the risk of repeating myself, NOS is so beautiful during the holidays.

We caught up with John after a bit, and pulled up a few chairs to watch the Jazz band inside the French Market, while we waited until it was time to head on over to the Blue Bayou for our dinner reservation.

On the way to BB, I caught the Mark Twain lit up like a Christmas tree, coming 'round the bend.
​

And then we checked in at the Blue Bayou. We asked if we could possibly get a waterside table, and we were told it would be an hour to an hour and 1/2, so we said forget it. We were then seated almost immediately...nowhere near the water. In fact, we were the second table from the back, all the way to the left. I never really have good luck getting a good table here. Oh well.

After we took a look at the menus, Natalie decided she had her heart set on the braised short ribs. I tried telling her that these were not the ribs she thought they were, so then she asked the waiter if she could have a kid's menu. I have to say, I love Disneyland, but I think it's total BS that an 11 year old kid can't order off the kid's menu...of course we were told they could make her an adult's sized portion of mac and cheese...I just think it's dumb. Would some people take advantage of the kid's menu if their policy weren't so stringent? Sure, probably. But I highly doubt they'd lose money in the process. But I digress. She turned her nose up at the mac and cheese option, so John threw out there that he wasn't starving, so he'd be happy to split the short ribs with her, which she was agreeable to.

We all ordered the Gumbo. Natalie ended up giving hers to John.

I ordered the surf and turf...and ended up giving 1/3 of the filet to John, and 1/3 to Natalie.

1/2 portion of braised short ribs​

All in all, the meal was fine, but I'm inclined to skip the Blue Bayou in the future. This was my third time dining there and it's fine, but not great.

Day 4 continued...

 

[amamax2]

Yay, you're back! Awesome report and awesome pictures! I am loving watching Natalie grow up through all the reports.

 

[FlameGirl]

Yay, you're back! Awesome report and awesome pictures! I am loving watching Natalie grow up through all the reports.

I'm back!

That's very sweet of you to say...thank you. I'm enjoying writing the report....if for no other reason than to just document it for us, so we don't forget all the little details.

Thanks for posting!

 

[deejdigsdis]

Oh I'm so glad you came back! I absolutely love your pictures.

 

[FlameGirl]

Oh I'm so glad you came back! I absolutely love your pictures.

Thank you so much!

 

[FlameGirl]

After our meal at Blue Bayou, we had just time enough to go on Haunted Mantion before it was time to get in line for our Fantasmic! seats.

I told John and Natalie that I'd wait in line if they wanted to go off for a bit, which they did. I was third in line.

As I was waiting, I started talking to a mom who had a daughter Natalie's age a little bit. After a bit, Natalie and John returned to check in with me, and she and the girl started talking. They were INSTANT BFF's. Natalie then mentioned that she'd like to go on Haunted Mantion while I continued to wait in line, and I told the mom that her daughter was welcome to go with Natalie and John. She seemed kind of hesitant but then the daughter totally put her on the spot by doing the ohpleseohpleaseohplease bit, so she let her go. I told them the line looked short and that I promised John would bring her right back. About 25 minutes later, still no sign of our peeps and she started to look pretty nervous. I told her it was probably kind of unsettling to allow her child to go off with complete strangers, but that John was as harmless as they come. Right about then they returned, and she was visibly relieved.

FINALLY, they began checking us in for the show. Everyone in front of me was seeing the earlier show, and we were seeing the later show, so I got first pick of the seats. We chose seats 1, 2, and 3 in the front so we were happy. We said our goodbyes to our new friends, and headed on over to Space Mountain, BTMRR, then Pooh.

After Pooh, we decided to poke around a little bit inside Pooh Corner as everyone in the world was watching Fantasmic! so it was empty, which was very nice. Natalie mentioned that she would like to find a restroom so we headed on over to the Hungry Bear which was also completely empty and it was a little bit weird, to be honest. When we came back out, we sat down and waited for John who had wandered off, and caught the Mark Twain rounding the bend with all of the Fantasmic! characters dancing around. Well, because we were the only people in that area, they all saw us and sprang to life waving and carrying on. Natalie thought that was pretty neat that they were all waving to her, personally.

Next it was time for us to grab our seats and watch the show. As we were sitting and sipping our hot chocolate, I saw something that to this day, I can't wrap my head around. We watched the people who were all in front of us, jockying for position to see the show...and suddenly we noticed that right before the show started, a woman was getting very upset with one of the security guys, but we couldn't understand what was happening. UNTIL...she grabbed her Cadillac sized stroller and parked it back behind where people were sitting, roughly 25 feet from where she was sitting. She hissed "There....are you HAPPY NOW?!" at the security guy and everyone sitting around us sort of muttered that geez, she should take it easy, this IS Disneyland, for Pete's sake. Then she went back over and sat down with her husband and kids. Well, THEN the security guy tried saying something else to her but she gave him "the hand" and wouldn't acknowledge whatever it was he was trying to say to her. I could see people sitting around her cringing. The security guy walks away and comes back with a female supervisor. The supervisor says "Ma'am??" quite loudly and she whips her head around, at which point the supervisor says "You have to remain WITH YOUR CHILD, or I'm going to have to escort you out."

We all sat in stunned silence. This nut had actually parked her stroller, WITH HER INFANT IN IT, 20 or so feet away to watch the show (with her back turned to her baby). Seriously. She stormed over and yanked her baby out of the stroller which confirmed what none of us could actually believe. My god.

Fantasmic! was cool....literally. We were already quite cold, and when the mist would hit us, oh my. Freezing. We all liked the show a lot, but all agreed that the dessert seating package would be a once in a lifetime thing...we didn't need to do it again.

We all really liked it when Murphy the dragon shot out flames at Mickey, because it meant we felt some heat.

After the show, we waited for the crowds to clear out a bit, and then started back for the room...it had been a long day and we were exhausted. Right near the Xmas tree, we spotted Mickey with no waiting, so Natalie ran over and Mickey pretended to warm her up. I guess everyone was feeling it that night!

Once we were back inside our warm hotel room, I fired off a few shots of the dessert boxes, which we nibbled on for DAYS. We were all so full from dinner at the Blue Bayou that we didn't even touch our dessert boxes during the show.

​

And so concludes (FINALLY!) the end of day 4. I'll be in the old folk's home by the time I get this TR finished, at this rate.

 

[FlameGirl]

We had to wake up at the crack of dawn, because we had 8:00 reservations at Goofy's Kitchen, compliments of Costco Travel. During the previous year, we had experienced our first character breakfast ever at the PPH, and it seriously left something to be desired. But, people rave about Goofy's so we thought we'd give it a shot.

Man, it was a long walk, too. It's fun to walk through DTD when there is no one in it, though.

Once we got to GK's, I made a TOTAL rookie mistake. I wanted to get a shot of Natalie with Pluto and I could see there was nobody in line, so I told Natalie to get on in there, which she was happy to do, and I got her photo.

After I got the photo, the photographer behind me asked if they had called our names yet. Um, no? I still didn't get it. Then she explained that you're only supposed to get a photo with Pluto AFTER you've been called. Oh. Whoopsie.

Natalie's odd breakfast choices. She got the yogurt because she thought it would make me happy. ​

I had the banana fosters crepes which were good but VERY sweet. After I had one of those babies, I had to have something NOT sweet, so I had a little macaroni and cheese. And then I was stuffed.

We sat and watched as character after character passed us by on their way out, without even a wave. Goofy, the White Rabbit, Balou, and many others....no love. We had a brief interaction with Jasmine (Natalie couldn't give a fig about face characters) and that was it. So, we are 0 for 2 when it comes to the character meals. We all agreed that unless we get vouchers with our travel package, we won't ever pay for one out of pocket. If I'd have paid $97 for the little amount of food that we did eat with no characters, I'd have been really, really upset.

John was still exhausted from having to get up so early after our late night the night before, so he decided to head on back to the room for a nap, while Natalie and I headed over to Fantasyland, where we rode Snow White (it still irks Natalie that the ride goes from death and destruction to "And they lived happily ever after"), Pinocchio (she was shocked by the usage of the word "jacka**") and then Alice before heading over to grab FP's for Space Mountain. When we got to Space, we saw that the line was pretty reasonable, so we grabbed the FP's and then got in the standby line.

After Space, we headed over to Frontierland and rode BTMRR, and then we got something to drink in Rancho Del Zocalo.

Naturally, Natalie decided it was time to ride Pirates again, and after POTC, we discussed the fact that we still hadn't done the Tiki Room. Since she had chickened out of a few rides, she realized she owed me three visits to the Tiki Room, so she thought now might be a good time to get one of them out of the way.

Once inside the Tiki Room, we were sitting next to a girl who thought it might be a good idea to talk on her cellphone, in a normal speaking voice, the entire time. We got up and moved away from her.

.

After our Tiki experience, we poked around a little bit in the fruit stand outside of the Jungle Cruise.

Right about then, Natalie asked if she could get an ice cream cone, so we headed for Gibson Girl's on Main Street. She wanted chocolate ice cream, in a cone, and came unhinged when they served her this:

She didn't want it in a CUP in a cone, she wanted it in a cone. I told her to pick it up and do the best she could, but it was a disaster. And I heard about every single person who got theirs in a cone, sans cup, too. If I'd been on my game, I would have told them it wasn't what she'd asked for, and in retrospect, I feel bad. Oh well.

Next on my to-do list was to visit the Lost and Found...I had lost an earring the night before that was very sentimental, and while it was a long shot, I at least wanted to see if it had turned up. No such luck.

I was really starting to wonder about John at this point...he had gone back to the room hours ago for a nap, and wasn't returning texts or answering his blackberry or the room phone. I texted him that I was getting hungry and would he like to join us, with no answer. Natalie was full from her ice cream debacle, so I just wanted something quick and easy. I opted for the Spicy Korean Beef bowl at the Lucky Fortune Cookery, which was not bad!

Day 5 continued...

 

[FlameGirl]

After my quick lunch, we took a stroll through the Mission Tortilla Factory, which was fun because again, it was completely empty. I was stuffed from lunch, so I handed Natalie my tortilla, and then we went across the way to the Boudin Bread place, which we've never done.

I couldn't get over how enormous the Mickey Sourdough loaves were!​

Aaaaand...still no word from John. So, we headed over to a Bug's Land, and did It's Tough To Be A Bug, which was also a first for us. Once we were down there, waiting for the doors to open, Natalie tells me she has to use the restroom. I told her to ask the CM handing out glasses where the closest restroom was, and said it was a hike. I asked her if she could hold it and she said she was desperate. Then, he said he could let her use a secret bathroom but had to check with his supervisor first. Sure enough, they whisked her back to what I gathered was an employee restroom, which was so nice of them to do. He didn't want us to miss the show.

We both enjoyed the show...I think I enjoyed it more than Natalie did though. Neither of us was expecting the bug to run under our butts at the end and I squealed like a little girl.

After the show, Natalie wanted to go on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train and there was no line, so why not. Kind of silly, but whatever. Next we went on Flik's Flyers, and while we were waiting in line, we both agreed that we would try to get the Chinese takeout container for our ride vehicle. Once we got in and the door was closed....right before it was time to take off....my Minnie ears flew off my head and landed on the ground...outside the ride vehicle. Natalie was DYING laughing, and every time we flew by my ears, she would start with another fit of hysterical laughter. Luckily, we landed right where we started, and I was able to retrieve my poor, forsaken ears with no trouble. Poor ears.

Once we were done with Flik's Flyers, I told Natalie that the Silly Symphony Swings were really not much different, and she was surprised by that. I told her she might like them, maybe we could give them another shot? And she agreed. So, off to Paradise Pier we went.

I stopped along the way to take a shot or two...​

When it was time to find our swings, she decided that she would ride on the inside, and I would ride on the outside. And up we went! It was funny to watch her face, because I could tell she was very nervous. When the music started, her eyes were clenched tight, and when we started "flying", I saw her slowly open her eyes and look around and then cutest look came across her face...I could tell she was surprised that she liked it so much, and then she was beaming. Adorable. Anyway, when we landed, she proclaimed the ride to be "AWESOME" and of course, wanted to do it again immediately. Only this time, she wanted to ride it by herself, so I had to get a swing on the other side. When we went up, I gave her the "thumb's up" signal and she thumb's upped back at me so I knew she was good.

After Silly Swings, we thought we'd mosey on over and get in line for Toy Story, and it was then that I finally heard from John who had been on a wild goose chase all over DTD and Disneyland, because he'd left his phone charger back in Bellingham. His phone was dead, which is why he wasn't answering me, and he bought a new one in DTD...only he couldn't find anyone who would let him plug in his phone so he could charge it. I told him to meet us at Toy Story as by now, we were already in line. He ended up being not too far behind us, but we didn't want to do the line cutting nonsense so he would ride by himself.

After we got off Toy Story and FINALLY hooked back up with John, Natalie spotted Woody so we went and got in line for yet another photo op.

I've said it before, but I just love the green army men. They are hysterical.​

Now that we'd reconnected with John, he was hungry so we hit up the Cove Bar again for a snack and a drink.

Messy hair

Pear Martini (I didn't care for this at all. Way too boozy.)

BBQ Chicken Pizza. Natalie loved this, and I didn't like it at all, but that's because I don't like BBQ sauce.

Goofballs

After the Cove Bar, John and I wanted to grab a couple of Screamin' FP's, and Natalie still wanted nothing to do with it. While we waited for our FP's to become valid, we did the Silly Swings again, then Midway Games again and then finally Screamin' before we ran smack into the Pixar Parade. We were trying to get out of DCA and over to Disneyland for our reservations at Cafe Orleans and were having a tough time. Finally we made it to CO, and by the time we were seated, we realized that we really weren't terribly hungry, after our visit to the Cove Bar. We opted for a cup of Gumbo each and split the Pommes Frites.

And then it was time to head back to the room, we were all spent.

Next up...Day 6!

 

[FlameGirl]

When we rolled out of bed and as I was getting ready in the bathroom, Natalie says to me:

"I'm still debating going on Screamin'. I haven't made up my mind."

This is huge. That she is even considering it is amazing. Then she tells me she wants to do it, but that she wanted to ride some other stuff first.

I tell her that if she's nervous about it, we should go straight away and ride it FIRST, otherwise she is just going to build up the anxiety until we do it and it'll make it that much worse. Really? She asks? Dad agrees. She agrees. Off we go.

Now, my memory fails me for a bit here, because I know that Natalie and I set off by ourselves. The whole way there, I just knew she would chicken out, but we kept getting closer and closer. When we actually got to Screamin, we got right in line. John texted me and asked where we were and I told him in line...and he said he was crossing the bridge. I told him to hustle if he wanted to watch us take off from the rail.

The whole way through the line, she kept asking me to compare it to other rides so she would know what to expect. I told her I thought Space Mountain was probably scarier and woman ahead of us in line turned and asked if it was her first time. Natalie nodded, nervously. She assured her Space was scarier and she had nothing to worry about. When we got our seat assignments, we were in row 2. There were two guys beside us in row 1 and they noticed that Natalie was quite nervous, as well. One guy told her she had nothing to worry about and that the ride was awesome. The other guy said something like "You'll be fine....if you survive" and I told her not to listen to him and I told him he was awful. I know he meant it in a joking way but what a thing to say!

Once we got in and pulled the safety bars down over us, Natalie says to me "MommyIdon'twanttodoitIwanttogetoff" and is borderline tears. I knew that we were just about to start moving, so if I could stall her for just a few seconds, we would be committed. And that's just what happened. I told her it was too late and she would be fine.

I saw John at the rail when we came around the bend, waiting to take off. 5...4...3...2...1...SCA-REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM! WHOOSH! We were off! Natalie was screaming her little lungs out and as soon as we hit the first drop, I hear her scream "OH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!" and I knew all was well. And I also knew that the thing she was the most afraid of was the loop. She was loving the ride, but she always keeps her eyes closed the first time she rides anything scary, so I waited until after the loop to tell her "Natalie! That was the loop! You did it!" and she chirps back "REALLY? OH MY GOD THAT WAS NOTHING!" Haha. What a kid.

When we got off the ride, the guys next to us caught up to us and gave her the ?Well? Thumbs....up? Sign and she beamed and gave them both a big double thumbs up. They gave her high fives. I think the one guy felt a bit bad.

We caught back up with John and he showed the photo he took of us at takeoff. I wish I had it. We hastily grabbed three FP's for Screamin', and then we were off to Build-A-Bear, while John took off to procure a locker for us. And let me tell you, she chirped on and on about how awesome the ride was and how proud of herself she was the entire way through DTD. And I was so proud of her, too. And I told her that she had now conquered every single scary ride at Disneyland and DCA! There was nothing left to fear!

Once we got to Build-A-Bear, I was relieved to see that it was empty. She picked out a Boxer that she named Buddy, as well as some sunglasses for Buddy and a shirt. That kid has more stuffed animals...

Once we hooked back up with John, we headed over and grabbed ToT FP's and then walked on to ToT twice, then headed over to Natalie's new favorite ride of all time, ever, California Screamin', and used our FP's.

After Screamin', we were all feeling a bit hungry so we meandered on over to Whitewater Snacks, where John and I split the beef nachos and the chicken sandwich. I think the nachos have been significantly downgraded...they were much smaller than I remember and there was barely any beef, where there used to be a ton.

Man, that chicken sandwich was messy. Anyway...after our lunch, we headed over to Grizzly River Run and got a bit wet, but nothing like that time on Splash. We rode with another dad and his three kids that were making him go over and over and over...they were cute. He told them to get it completely out of their system so that he could change clothes once they were done with that ride. Smart.

After Grizzly, we wanted to do Soarin' but Natalie was still not up for it. I don't think she'll ever get on it again. We asked her if it would be OK for us to go on it and to wait for us...and she didn't seem to mind.

After Soarin', we did ToT once more, and then headed across the Esplanade for Disneyland.

Had to get a shot of her with the giant N since it would be the last time, ever.

*sniff*​

Once back in Disneyland, our mission was BTMRR.

John left something back at the room, again, and told us he'd catch up with us later, so Natalie and I decided to do the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough, since we'd never done that before.

Stopped at the hub for a photo or two...

Got a few of the castle...

The walkthrough was pretty neat. I was sorry that John had to miss it.

Spooky!​

Then we poked around for a bit in Fantasyland. She rode the carousel, but couldn't find the elusive horse with the gold tooth which was Walt's wife's favorite horse.

We stopped for a bit to watch the teacups in motion...

...and then we headed over towards the Matterhorn and Tomorrowland Terrace where we pulled up a seat and waited for John to catch up with us. Once we were finally together again, we headed on over to Space Mountain.

Once we'd ridden Space for the nine-thousandth time, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for our dinner at the Napa Rose which we were REALLY looking forward to. We caught the monorail back to DTD (we didn't want to fight with the parade crowd) and then headed to the hotel.

Once ready for dinner, we thought it would make sense to walk through DCA and enter the hotel from there, so I snapped a few photos of Paradise Pier all lit up along the way.

To be continued...

 

[FlameGirl]

Napa Rose gets its own post.


All I can say is, wow...what a meal. We were seated at the chef's counter, and they treated us like royalty. And I really appreciated that they allowed Natalie to order off of the kid's menu without any hesitation.

Our server / sommelier was a guy who goes by "Saucy" but that's not his real name. After we told them we would like to try the tasting menu, and I would like the wine flights, the chef approached us and asked about our likes and dislikes. I told them I don't like mushrooms, or mollusks. I also don't like lamb, but I didn't want to come off as being too picky. And then the food started rolling in...oh my.

Our chef

Goat cheese panna cotta amuse bouche

Natalie's salad

This was my Ahi tuna carpaccio with blue crab, beluga caviar and truffled lentils

John's "Smiling Tiger" Salad

My pan seared diver scallop in a lobster sauce

Natalie's butternut squash bisque

My winter squash risotto

John's rabbit "meatloaf"

Natalie's filet mignon

My braised beef shortrib

John's lamb chop

Natalie's creme brulee tartlet

My apple tart with green apple sorbet (inside the sugar apple)

John's chocolate hazelnut somethingorother​

And that was our fabulous meal at the Napa Rose! John loved it so much, he's considering flying down to Anaheim next month when Natalie and I take our girls trip, just for dinner, and then flying back home. That says a lot!

Next up: Day 7

 

[FlameGirl]

The day after our food and wine extravaganza, we decided it was a good day to sleep in. We had 1:00 PS at Carnation Cafe (oof...can we really be eating again?) so we skipped breakfast and stayed in bed watching the tube until it was time to head out for lunch.

John had the 1/2 Turkey sandwich and cup of baked potato soup

Natalie had the PB&J Painters Palette. She put all those marshmallows on her sandwich which promptly came right back off once she took a bite.

I had the 1/2 veggie sandwich and baked potato soup...sans bacon.

Chef Oscar came to our table and asked us if everything was OK. It's so cool to see him still working the crowd in there.


Next we decided to head on over to the Main Street Cinema and check out Steamboat Willie. True confession the "Look how dumb I am" edition: I always thought Steamboat Willie was driving...

...wait for it...

...a train. Yes, I am that stupid. When I watched the whole cartoon it dawned on me that heeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy.....that's a boat he's driving! A....STEAM BOAT. Duuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

After my deep epiphany, we thought we'd go check out the Tiki Room since John was back at the hotel when Natalie and I went before. Because she had manned up in a huge way and went on Screamin', I absolved her of all Tiki Room visits that she owed me. She asked if she could go on Indy single rider while we did the Tiki Room...we handed her John's phone and told her precisely where to meet us the second she was done. And she did...she's such a good kid.

Next we headed off to Splash, then POTC, grabbed Indy FP's and then headed on over to BTMRR. After we rode, we headed to the Roundup Ranch and I snapped a few photos of BTMRR along the way.

​

After we left Frontierland, we headed over to Tomorrowland and grabbed some Space Mountain FP's, rode Buzz Lightyear, then Space.

The Astro Orbiter was down the entire time we were there.​

We told Disneyland goodbye for the evening and headed over to DCA to ride a few rides before our dinner reservation at ESPN Zone. We were able to get on Screamin', Toy Story, and the Silly Swings before it was time to head to DTD for dinner.

Spinach Dip

Kid's Mac & Cheese

We split the Buffalo Chicken Burger​

After dinner, we headed upstairs to play some games for a bit. Natalie found a horseracing game that she really liked, and John tried his hand at boxing.

I told him he reminded me of the Kangaroo on Bugs Bunny cartoons​

This was a short day after getting such a late start. After we used up our game credits, it was time to head back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep so we could get up the next day and do it all over again.

Next up...Day 8

 

[FlameGirl]

We missed breakfast at the hotel because we slept in too late, so we thought we'd give Jazz Kitchen Express a shot. Which was a mistake. It wasn't awful but it was not great by any means.

Natalie had the kid's cheeseburger and fries

We split an order of hushpuppies, but I think I ate most of them because I really didn't care for what I ordered which was...

...popcorn shrimp

John had the Gumbo Ya-Ya​

After brunch, we headed to Disneyland and got Indy FP's, rode Splash, BTMRR, grabbed Space FP's, rode Indy, and then Natalie wanted to ride Indy single rider while John sat and waited and I put some more money on our gift card.

As per usual, John had left something behind in the room, so Natalie and I headed over to Innoventions to kill some time. She liked it...I wasn't thrilled. When we caught back up with John, we all rode Matterhorn, then Space, and then headed over to DCA to grab Screamin' FP's. We decided to take a load off at the Cove Bar while we waited for our FP's to become valid, and then we all rode Screamin'. After Screamin' we headed over to the Silly Swings where John and Natalie rode, and I hung back to snap some photos.

John and Natalie wanted to ride Screamin', and Natalie was acting super bratty, so I told them I'd meet them at Naples for our dinner reservation. By the time we reconnected, she had straightened out her attitude and apologized to me. Sweet girl.

I love the ceiling at Naples.

Naples takes a lot of heat on the DIS...many people don't like it, but we've always had good luck. When our pizza came out this night, however, it was awful....the crust was mushy and completely soggy and inedible. We flagged down our server and he whisked it away and brought us a new pizza that was perfect. It happens...I just wonder if people don't like to complain and don't really give the place a chance. Oh well.

During dinner, the balloon lady came around, and Natalie decided she wanted a turtle.

And after dinner we headed back to the room.

Up next...day 9.

 

[deejdigsdis]

OK, I didn't take the time to go back and "quote" properly, but...

My family and I had that same experience with being the only ones sitting by an empty Hungry Bear and having the characters sail by and wave to us and us alone. That was clear back in 1993! A magical memory for sure.

That lady who deserted her baby...wow. My husband works in a prison and runs a treatment program for s** offenders, so sometimes it seems like it takes a lot to shock me -- as far as the awful things people do goes -- since I hear a lot. But I have to admit that this was extremely shocking to me. Who DOES that? That poor child.

Natalie and Screamin'... that totally reminded me of my son's first time to ride it. He was 9. We were all latched in and slowly pulling away from the loading area when he very calmly stated, "Mom, I changed my mind." "What?!?" "I changed my mind. I don't want to go on this anymore..." Well of course it was a little too late to do anything about it. And just like Natalie, it became his new favorite ride.

Really enjoying your report...your pictures are beyond stunning!

 

[FlameGirl]

OK, I didn't take the time to go back and "quote" properly, but...

My family and I had that same experience with being the only ones sitting by an empty Hungry Bear and having the characters sail by and wave to us and us alone. That was clear back in 1993! A magical memory for sure.

That lady who deserted her baby...wow. My husband works in a prison and runs a treatment program for s** offenders, so sometimes it seems like it takes a lot to shock me -- as far as the awful things people do goes -- since I hear a lot. But I have to admit that this was extremely shocking to me. Who DOES that? That poor child.

Natalie and Screamin'... that totally reminded me of my son's first time to ride it. He was 9. We were all latched in and slowly pulling away from the loading area when he very calmly stated, "Mom, I changed my mind." "What?!?" "I changed my mind. I don't want to go on this anymore..." Well of course it was a little too late to do anything about it. And just like Natalie, it became his new favorite ride.

Really enjoying your report...your pictures are beyond stunning!

Oh, I'm so glad you posted...I was beginning to feel like I'm completely talking to myself like a crazy person!

We were really surprised by the Fantasmic! boat floating by and wave, and what a great memory. I will also always remember it, because I'm pretty sure it was either there, or the restroom, that I lost my earring.

And yes, nobody around us could BELIEVE that woman left her baby in the stroller. The freakin' show is 1/2 hour long...I wouldn't have even been comfortable leaving Natalie during that show for that long. Everyone was gasping and saying "OMG she left her BABY in the STROLLER!?!?" It was nuts. Wretched woman.

That's so funny you had the same experience on Screamin' as well! I kind of come off sounding like a bad mom "forcing" her on the ride, but I knew she's love it. And she LOVED it.

Thank you so much for the lovely compliment!

 

[FlameGirl]

I sure hope that woman isn't a DISer. That would be...uncomfortable.

 

[Sherry E]

I'm here too, Kathy - but I know all too well that 'talking to yourself' feeling in TR's. I have experienced that in the past. It's frustrating.

My friends and I were horrified at a stupid woman who left her baby in a stroller next to the line for tables at Carnation Cafe a couple of years back. She must have assumed it was safe to leave this child in the stroller next to a line full of strangers - who only had the best intentions, I'm sure. Meanwhile, the stupid woman in question was off, yapping on her cell phone on Main Street, but no one knew that the yappy woman on Main Street was connected to the abandoned stroller baby until she finally stopped yapping and came back to the line. She wasn't even looking back to be sure the baby was okay. She had her back to where the line was as she stood on Main Street, so anyone could have run off with this child.