Going to Winnipeg....Um, I mean Disneyland!!

[davidsprincess]

So here goes my first trip report. I first of all want to thank everyone on the DIS who helped make this trip a huge success.


List of Characters:

Michelle: Me. Loves all things Disney and realized that I am a true Commando at heart, and not just when preparing for the trips, but while there as well.

David: Husband. Loves Disney, but not quite as obsessed as moi.

Jerrin: Daughter. Loves Princesses and all things Disney.

Mom: my mother. Found a love for wearing crowns while at the parks

Dad: my dad. Said that if it weren't for Jerrin, he would never have come on trip. But had lots of fun.

Leann: oldest of us girls. Likes to plan (cough, be in control, cough) but took a back seat (or tried to) to let me organize this trip.

Annalee: middle child. Finally had a reason to let her inner child loose.

Trevor: Brother-in-law. Never been to anything Disney. Had this irrational fear of being accosted by Mickey or any other character.


So there you have it. The 8 of us. My other brother-in-law stayed home as he has no interest in Disney.

November 3 - The Taxi:

We left our house here in Calgary to stay at a hotel closer to the airport as we needed to be there by 4:30 am. We had the taxi booked to pick us up at 3:30 pm. Jerrin was standing on top of the couch looking outside and said at 3:10, "The taxi's here!" Well, I was just getting changed into the clothes I wanted to wear on the plane and no one was ready and waiting. It was a mad dash to get every one's shoes and jackets on and get the luggage out the door. I had this awful feeling that I was forgetting something, and there were a few things, but for the life of me I now can't remember what they were. Obviously not that important as the trip went on without them.

The Hotel:

Anyways, traffic was light and we got to the Holiday Inn Express within a half an hour. Oh yeah, the taxi driver admitted that he was early and was going to nap, there was no need for us to rush out. My thought on that was, then why park in front of our house? Park down the street. Check in was no problem and we got to our room - 420. We faced the entrance, but that was okay. The only problem that I had about that was what if mom and dad looked out and saw Leann, Annalee and Trevor arrive? The whole surprise of them coming would be ruined! For months we had all kept quiet about those 3 coming on the trip with us. Annalee and Trevor were booked on the same flights as us, so we had hoped to surprise mom and dad at the airport. Leann didn't book until the middle of October and although she would be on the same airline, she would be boarding just as we were taking off. She would be a surprise once we got to Anaheim.
It took a lot of planning to try and pull off this surprise. So once we got into our room, I phoned Leann to just let her know that we got to the hotel and that we would be going swimming, have an early supper (6pm) that would be ordered in, what our view was like and that I would e-mail her at about 8pm with our itinerary while down at the business center. So now she knew what was up with us and that they shouldn't show up at the hotel until closer to 8. Yes, they stayed at the same hotel as us. And mom and dad had no idea. I phoned Swiss Chalet and order 4 Festive Specials (Jerrin would share with all of us) and to please have it delivered by 6 pm.

The Pool:

Jerrin, mom, David and myself went down to the pool while dad showered and shaved so that he did not have to do that in the morning. We had to be up by 3:15 am . We were excited to get into the hot tub and relax. I dipped my toe in the pool and found it to be little too chilly for my taste (even though it was heated) and headed right over to the hot tub. Walked in and realized...........IT WAS A DEGREE WARMER THAN THE POOL!! It was freezing!!!!! So David phoned down to the front desk and told them that there was a slight problem and could they come and fix it? No problem. We waited. And waited. And waited. David had enough and hopped out and walked down to the front desk and brought people back with him.

The problem:

The hot tub got filled and someone forgot to turn the water off. It was over filled and that is why it couldn't heat up properly. So they adjusted the temperature to reflect the extra volume of water. It warmed up, slightly. It still wasn't "hot tub" hot, but it was better than what it had been as long as you had no body parts stuck up out of the water. We didn't last long in the tub and after a few minutes of being in the pool Jerrin had had enough. So after standing in the pool shower (it was hot tub hot) for 10-15 minutes to warm up, we headed back to the room to wait for supper and get ready for bed.

Back at room 420:

So, we changed into jammies as it would be an early night and waited for supper. It was to be delivered by six, but it was closer to 6:30 by the time it arrived. It was soo good. Chicken, cranberry sauce, stuffing and choice of side, YUM! Gave Jerrin a bath and did her hair. Then put her to bed. It was almost 8 pm!! Time to go down to the business center and meet up with my co-conspirators and check our flights. Told mom that I would be back as soon as possible and off I went.

Meeting up with the others:

I had no idea what room the others were staying in, so I got the front desk to phone them. They came down and we had to wait to use the business centre as someone was in there on the only computer. It was great seeing everyone again! I had seen Leann that day as she had to drop off some stuff for mom that she had forgotten. (Mom and dad had spent a couple of nights at her house out in the county) Side note - Leann had almost blown it when we were talking about what shoes we were going to wear on the plane and what we were going to walk around in. She said, " this is what I am going to do when I go". I just looked at her and gave a slight shake of my head and she added, "When we go to Hawaii in February". Close call, but mom and dad didn't catch on.
Back to the report.
So after hugs I found out that they were staying in room 220, just 2 floors beneath us. We finally got into the business center and took a look at our flights. Yep, they were still the same. No change. We also quickly showed Annalee what the HOJO looked like. I had to get back to the room or else mom would be suspicious. We said good night in the elevator and went our separate ways. It was hard to keep the smile off of my face as I got back to the room, but I was able to. Mom wondered what took me so long and I told her that there was a wait to use the computer. It was the truth! Mom went to bed, I showered and watched a little TV and crawled into bed at 10. I turned the air conditioning back on to cool off the room and a while later dad got up and turned it off thinking it was the heat! (I didn't find that out till later) Jerrin got hot and needed to take off her jammies and I didn't want to turn the air conditioning back on as I thought maybe mom and dad were too cold and that was why dad turned off the air. So we just slept with the blankets off of us.

Next up: November 4th and close calls

 

[bumbershoot]

Wow, this sounds like fun! I'm not normally a big one on surprise trips, but this one is surprising parents with grown children, and that sounds good!

 

[davidsprincess]

November 4th

Wakey, Wakey!:

Our wake up call goes off at 3:15 am and it takes me a few seconds to find the phone. I guess it would have helped if I would have opened my eyes Jerrin is excited and is wide awake for the first time in her life. We quickly get ready, have coffee and a bagel-ful. They are not too bad. They did the job. After loading up 5 checked bags and 7 carryons onto the luggage cart we are off to the lobby to check out and load up the shuttl van.
Unbeknowenst to us, the other 3 are watching dad, Jerrin and David load the shuttle van from their hotel window. They decide that it would probably be a good idea to move away from the window before dad or Jerrin saw them.

The Airport:

Excited we arrive at the airport to find that US Airways has yet to open. I was too tired to check in the night before and I would have to imput everyone's passport numbers. So we waited for them to open.

 

[davidsprincess]

US Airways finally opens and we are on our way to getting checked in. They are very nice and arrange for the 5 of us to be seated near each other. In the same row in fact! Then we get a bit of a surprise. They want to charge us for a piece of luggage.

What?? I booked David, Jerrin's and my flight back in December of '07. Wayyyyyyy before the checked bag policy. And, mom and dad whom I booked in May don't have to pay for their bags. This doesn't make sense to any of us. US Airways staff included. So they kindly put 1 piece of our luggage on with my parents and all is right with the world.

I am getting kind of anxious that my siblings will get to the airport while we are still checking in. I keep looking behind us towards the door (not obvious in any way what so ever ), but we manage to get checked in and on our way to Customs without any mishap. Well, almost no mishap.

Customs:

We are in line at Customs and waiting for our turn to be told "yes, you can come into the States" when I look back behind us and see Leann. She is a little ways behind, but not so far back that you wouldn't see her. My hoodie that I was wearing is a little to big on me so I raise my arm and shake it so that the sleeve is not dragging past my hand. Leann sees my "wave" and slows up. Of course she doesn't want to slow up too much and cause the Customs People to get suspicious, but enough that she isn't in the line up right away. Leann also keeps her boarding pass and passport up by her face ( I am so amazed she was allowed into the country ) in case mom and dad happen to look over at her.
We were so worried about mom and dad finding out that we never even thought about keeping Jerrin occupied. She sees her beloved aunty. "There's aunty Leann!" She points and tries to crawl out of her stroller. Mom and Dad do not hear her. Whew! I get the bad guy job of telling her that she can't go see her aunty and that she can't say anything. Jerrin starts to cry and I am whispering that it is a surprise for Grandma and Grandpa and that she needs to stop crying. I carry Jerrin at this point and David tries to keep mom and dad from looking behind them. I spot Annalee and Trevor by now and I really, really hope that we can pull this off.

Through Security:

We get through customs and security with no problem and we start to head for the gate. Note to all: when trying to surprise someone at the airport, make sure you read the signs and head towards the right area.
We go the wrong way. Instead of turning right, I lead us to the left. After realizing my mistake we back track and go PAST security (and no, my siblings were not there) in the right direction.
The interesting thing about the Calgary Airport is that there are a lot of windows. A lot. And not just facing the runways. While walking down a hallway towards the gate, I happen to look through a window and see Leann. She is heading towards Security. How mom and dad do not notice all of this is beyond me. I think that they were just so excited and had Jerrin to occupy them that they were oblivious to everything.
I quickly try to get a head of our group and get the video camera going. I am videoing them heading towards gate C31 and am ready in case Annalee and Trevor happened to beat us there and want to get mom and dad's reaction. Not there. We are still safe. Our hopes were to surprise mom and dad at the gate while waiting for the plane.
I maneuver mom and dad to sit in seats that would have their back to the doors and yes, windows that would allow them to see people walking towards us.

Surprise!!:

Mom and Dad were talking to me and telling me that they were really excited about the trip when Annalee and Trevor come up behind them. Trevor puts his arm around mom and leans in. The look on mom and dad's face was priceless. (I wish I could share it with you, but I was in charge of the video and I found out today that I had the video camera on pause the whole time, not record )
What was funny was that mom and dad had been at Annalee and Trevor's house on Thursday to see them, and not one word was said. It was great! Mom and dad had no clue!! Mom then asked if Jim and Leann were going to be flying down with us too. I said "NO". Wasn't a lie. Jim wasn't coming down and Leann was not flying with us, but rather, on her own.
We boarded the plane and headed off on the first leg of our trip.

On the plane to Vegas:

Up next: SNA.

 

[davidsprincess]

John Wayne Airport:

Very, very easy to get around. Picked up our luggage and walked out the door and crossed the street to the Disneyland Express. $103 for the 7 of us. This was a good deal and we could all be together.

On the bus:

Annalee, Trevor and Jerrin

Mom, Dad and David:

As you can see it was not busy at all. We were the only ones for this ride. Leann took the Disnelyland Express as well and she was the only one on that bus. It was like having our own private limo!!

HOJO:

Our room wasn't ready so we left our luggage in storage and headed off to Mimi's cafe for lunch. While there Annalee received a text message from Leann saying she had landed and was on her way.

At Mimi's:

Jerrin and me in the background

I had my back to the door, so I missed getting a picture of Leann coming to the table and asking mom and dad if she could join us. Here are some pictures that I did get:

Probably the only ones at the table that did not have tears was David and Trevor. They were too busy eating.

The surprise worked out really well. Mom said she almost had a heartattack when she saw Leann. It was the best!! We haven't pulled anything over like this since their 25th anniversary. I felt a huge stress leave.

After lunch we went back to the hotel to change shoes and see if at least one room was ready. They had both rooms!!

 

[davidsprincess]

Rooms 2406 & 2407:

We were in 2407 and had a beautiful view of the Garden Pool and a balcony. Once again, no pictures of the room. I apologize. We could see the Tower of Terror and Space Mountain from our balcony. It was cool.

We left mom and dad in the room to rest while we ran over to trade in our vouchers for the actual tickets. This is the only picture I have of this portion:

We took the advice of the DIS board and walked on the Disney side of Harbour. I don't know if it was any quicker, but we avoided the crowds at night. In the morning after breakfast we would just walk on the hotel side of Harbour.

It was so hard to not go into Disneyland when we were picking up our tickets. I heard the music and I started to skip! I felt so giddy and happy. Jerrin was dancing and twirling.
While David and Trevor took Jerrin back to the room, us girls went and got groceries at Vons. The taxi on the way to Vons was $10.10 with no tip and on the way back it was $8 and change with no tip. Oh yeah, and us GIRLS had to load and unload all of the groceries from the taxi. Not that we are incapable, it just would have been courteous to have the driver hop out and at least offer to help. We had to load the luggage cart to carry all of the stuff back to building 2.

For supper we ordered from Round Table Pizza. Good. Must have: Maui Zaui!! so good. $53.84 for 3 mediums with taxes and delivery. Tip not included.

After supper Annalee and Trevor and David and I went for a walk around the grounds of the HOJO. It is so pretty there. We loved all of the Birds of Paradise. The grounds are kept so clean and neat. The only thing that we had to be careful of was the snails. And that we learnt the hard way. (Trevor) CRUNCH!! and they are HUGE!!

It was time to head back to the room, unpack and head for bed. It was by now after 9 and we had been up since 3:15 am. I had convinced everyone that we needed to leave by 8:15 for breakfast. The park opened at 10. 7 am would come soon enough. Time for bed for this tired chickie!

 

[bumbershoot]

Aw, the pictures of your mom crying are so sweet.


"I heard the music and I started to skip! I felt so giddy and happy. Jerrin was dancing and twirling. "

Ayep, I know that feeling. It's so embarrassing, but absolutely nothing can be done to stop it when I get that feeling!


Did you do that to your room doors? Are those magnets or some sort of cling?


Looking forward to more!

 

[davidsprincess]

Hey Molly! Thanks for joining in. Yes, I did that to our doors. They are just clings. Very easy to take on and off. I was just going to do our door, but did my siblings' as well. That is why there isn't as many on as I had planned. When they left on the 8th I added theirs to our door, but I didn't get any pictures of that.

My mom will probably not be too happy about the pictures of her crying out on the Internet for everyone to see, but oh well .......It shows the truth of the emotions from the surprise.

You know, it is only at Disney that I would/could start skipping down the street because I am so happy. That and wear crowns and mouse ears. It just doesn't seem the same when back home and in real life!!

 

[blue donkey]

Wow, my goodness! So happy to hear that your surprise went so well. I'm sure the trip will be one your whole family remembers for a lifetime.

 

[davidsprincess]

Day One: Disneyland!!:

We left the hotel at 8:15 to head to Mimi's for breakfast. The food there is so good! Sorry, no food porn. Mom and I split an order of Eggs Benedict - $8.99. After breakfast we headed to Disneyland!!

Waiting for the train to take us around the Magic Kingdom:

After a full cuircut, we head towards the castle and into Fantasyland:

 

[davidsprincess]

Our first ride is the Carousel. We have Magic Morning on Thursday, so we leave Peter Pan for then. After the Carousel we head towards Princess Fantasy Faire.

Stopped for a picture along the way:

Waiting in line for Princess Fantasy Faire to open:

Jerrin demonstrating her bow for royalty:

First Up - Ariel

Next - Belle

And finaly - Mulan

 

[davidsprincess]

At everyone of the princesses Jerrin asked if they knew where Aurora was. They all told her that Aurora was still sleeping and waiting for Prince Phillip to kiss her and wake her up. This will be important for later.
After PFF, Jerrin asked to go on rides. So we went to the tea cups and Alice. After that David, Annalee and Trevor decided that they wanted some more "grown-up" rides. So while they went to ride the Matterhorn, we went to ride Dumbo. David took the camera with him, so I have no shots for this.
Trevor and David didn't mind the Matterhorn and Annalee laughed all the way through. She couldn't understand why people were screaming. This was not a ride that they repeated. We snacked on some of the stuff we brought from the hotel. I saw these signs for the bathroom and thought of everyone here on the DIS. Sadly, these are the only signs I got pictures of, although these were not the only washrooms I used.

I liked how the washrooms looked on the inside with the red hearts, but I didn't take any pictures as I think it is illegal. Pixie Hollow had a 20 minute wait, but I didn't want to wait that long. Sad to say that is probably the least amount of time we would have had to wait there on the whole trip. We never did get to Pixie Hollow to see Tink

Next we went on the Mark Twain. I asked about piloting the boat, but someone else had beaten me to it.

After Mark we went and saw Jack!! Jerrin closed her eyes for most of it, but everyone else thought it was cool. Mom even liked it.

David, Annalee and Trevor then went on Splash - walk on!!- and we went on Pooh. While waiting in line for pictures with Tigger and Eeyore, we met up with our 3 more daring adventurers. Pics with Tigger and Eeyore:

The closest Jerrin got to Pooh the whole time we were there

Before leaving Critter Country, we tried a Tigger Tail. All 8 of us tried 1. It was plenty for each of us to have 1 -2 bites each. The general consensus was that it was too sweet to have more than 1-2 bites.

Next: Adventureland

 

[TiggerNZ]

Hi there, wanted to say I love your trip report....so pleased the surprise went well, and looks like you are having a wonderful time. Can't wait to read more.

 

[davidsprincess]

Welcome Blue Donkey and TiggerNZ!!

So after having a Tigger Tail we left for Adventureland. First stop, the Jungle Cruise. The guide that we had was funny - really, really funny. The best one out of all 3 that we had, or maybe because it was the first time hearing their shtick that I thought it was good. The next 2 times - just okay. So after Jungle Cruise Dad, Jerrin and I sat out while everyone else did Indianna Jones. This would be the one and only 'wild' ride that my mom would do. It was good! After Indianna, we saw Jasmine and Aladdin and Jerrin had to stop for pictures:

After pictures we went to the Golden Horseshoe for a show!! Billy Hill and the Hillbillies!!! I had heard how good this show was, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would like it that much. Even Jerrin was up dancing! The guy that puts the teeth in is great!! And the teeth just change his whole face!
After Golden Horseshoe we were all hungry. So we went to Refreshment Corner for hot-dogs. - $20.20- for David and I plus a drink for Jerrin (she just ate off of everyone else's). Good hot-dogs.

Annalee then took mom and dad to stake out a place for us for the parade. I told them to go near the train station. The rest of us took off into Fantasyland to check out Peter Pan. No one wanted to wait 20 minutes, so David, Jerrin and Leann rode the Carousel. We then made our way back to the others and looked in shops along the way.
Jerrin then spotted Minnie and then Mickey. She got her picture taken with them. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures. David was off who knows where. The girls got pictures on their cameras, but I don't have any copies yet.

Parade Time:

Now, David Jerrin and I saw this parade last year, but during the day. It is so different to see it at night!! We all loved it!! Ariel was the Ariel from this morning and she recognized Jerrin!! Blew her a kiss too.

After the parade we left and went to McDonald's for a snack. Went back to the hotel and got water and snacks ready for day 2.

Interesting Tidbits:

-While waiting for the parade we saw our friends from here at home. It wasn't pre-planned.
-Flustered a CM, who loves women,(his words not mine) so much that he overcharged me for a pair of earrings for Jerrin. Glad I caught that. Got invited back to see him again for the rest of the week
-All day Jerrin walked around the park. The only time she rode in her stroller was on the way back to the hotel.
-Tried a Churro!! Yum, yum. Rave reviews all around.
-Park was empty. Maybe a 5 minute wait at most for any of the rides that we actually went on.

End of Day 1!


Day two: I accost a vacationer in line at Peter Pan!

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh your mom's outfit is adorable. I seem to be taken with her.

Can't wait to find out about Aurora and sleeping, and whatever happens next with that!

Good call on the tigger tail..I've never had one b/c of the marshmallows vs being veggie, but it just LOOKS insanely sweet. With the exception of cookies, we've found that the desserts we've had there are best when shared amongst the three of us, though.