Halloween fun!- and we are heading back!!

[Yakety76]

The cast of characters:
Me, Trudy: 33 year old stay at home mom. I begged my husband to let us come on this trip. We just went to Disney in February and were supposed to wait until October 2009 for a big trip to WDW. I knew I wanted one more trip to DL before attempting WDW.
DH, Bob: 32 year old in the agriculture business. He just got a new job that involves a lot of over-seas travel. He is therefore spending more time away from home.
DMom, Carla: My parents used to take me and my brother to Disneyland every year when we were growing up. We would drive non-stop from Colorado to my grandparents’ house. We would stay with my grandparents for one week. These trips always included a one day trip to DL. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but my parents always saved up all year so that we could do this special vacation. My mom hasn’t been back to DL since I was a kid.
DD, Riley: almost 4 years old. Riley’s favorite holiday is Halloween and she discovered princesses right after our last trip to Disneyland. Riley is now 40 inches tall, so she was able to ride some of the “big kid” rides this trip.
DS, Kaleb: 2 years old. Kaleb loves Disney! He can be a little shy with the characters, but he just loves the sights and sounds that are Disney.


Thanks for reading along. Here is a picture from our February trip to intrduce you to our family.

 

[pixleyyy]

Can't wait to see pics and hear all the details. No one loves a good trip report like the Disers.

 

[Yakety76]

No one loves a good trip report like the Disers.

Not sure how Good the report will be, but we had a blast on our trip. I love reading everyone else's reports, but feel a little like I am boring everyone when I do my own.

Well, good or not. I will be writing a report. Everyone gets a bit of a reprieve though because the kids are up from their naps .

 

[Yakety76]

Our flight from Boise Airport was scheduled to leave at 8:30. This was wonderful for us because the kids were able to sleep until they woke up on their own. I was up and getting dressed at 4:00 am because I couldn’t sleep. Riley woke up at 6:00 and Kaleb woke up at 6:30. My mom arrived at our house with her bag at 6:30 and we were on the road. My dad is staying home to watch the dogs and take care of my grandma. My mom’s mom lives with my parents because she has some health issues. My dad volunteered to stay behind with my grandma so that my mom could accompany us on our trip.
We get to the airport and check in. My mom had purchased her plane tickets separately from us, so her seat was not near us. The lady at the check-in desk moved my mom’s seat so that she could sit next to us on the flight. The flight was uneventful. The kids kept busy reading books and playing with stickers.
We were scheduled to arrive at LAX at 10:00. We get there on time. Get our bags and head out to catch the 10:30 Disneyland Express Shuttle. I was a little disappointed in the shuttle this time. In February they showed movies during the drive which was fun for the kids. This time they didn’t show the movies. I had put our carry- on bag with the kids’ books in the storage compartment, so the kids kept busy looking out the window.

We arrive at the Disneyland Hotel at 11:30. We are right on schedule. We check in and leave our bags at the bell stand. Off we head into Disneyland.
I had warned everyone that it was supposed to be crazy, busy (as I learned from the fountains of knowledge on the DIS). Bob didn’t believe me when I told him how busy you all had said it would be. Well, walking into Disneyland Thursday right around noon showed him that you all were right. It was busy.
Riley is just over 40 inches and has been saying that Splash was going to be her first ride. We head that way and notice that it is a 45 minute wait for Splash. She doesn’t care. She wants to ride Splash. My mom, Kaleb and I leave Bob and Riley at Splash and head over to ride Pooh a couple of times. There is a 15 minute wait for Pooh. While in line, the ride goes down. We get out of line and head over to wait in line to meet Pooh. There are actually only a couple of people in front of us. Kaleb is very excited to see Pooh. He goes running right to him. Next in line is Eeyore. For some reason, Kaleb is not at all interested in getting a picture with him. Kaleb just waves to Eeyore as we pass on by.

We head back to see if the Pooh ride is up yet. It is still not running. I call Bob to see how Riley is doing. She was such a trooper about waiting in line this trip. My mom and I take Kaleb and grab some fruit to eat. It is around 12:30 (which is really 1:30 to us- Boise time). It is way past Kaleb’s nap time. We are waiting for our hotel room to be ready. Unfortunately, my kids do not sleep on the go. Kaleb is doing great, so we head on over to ride Pirates. I believe the sign said there was a 15 minute wait for this. It went by quickly and we are riding my favorite ride in Disneyland. My mom hasn’t been to Disney in about 20 years, so this is her first time seeing the Captain Jack changes. We all loved the ride despite the fact that the family in front of us kept discussing their day’s plans during the ride.

Bob and Riley are now finished with Splash. Riley had Bob cover her eyes throughout the entire ride until the very last scene where they are on the river boat. She didn’t like the fox being mean to the rabbit. However, she LOVED the last drop. She didn’t ride Splash again this trip, but I am glad she got the chance to do it once.

We met up with Bob and Riley in front of Bengal BBQ for a light lunch. Yummy!! After some chicken and beef skewers we head over to Jungle Cruise. This ride had been down when we went in February, so this is the kids first time on this ride. They really enjoyed it.

After Jungle Cruise, we all went on Pirates one more time. I then headed for the hotel with Kaleb and Riley to try to get them down for a late nap.

 

[travelmel]

 

[Yakety76]

Sorry for the long pause. It has been crazy busy here. The week we got back we hosted a Halloween party for my daughter and all her friends. My daughter LOVES Halloween, so she and I had a lot of fun planning that one. Then birthday season started. My daughter met all of her play group friends at Gymboree Play and Music (not Gymboree the clothing store) so they are all very close in age. This week alone we have had three birthday parties.

Tomorrow is my daughter's 4th birthday, so I have been busily planning her Jasmine party. It has been very difficult to find anything just Jasmine, so I thought outside the box a little. I found a Genie lamp and she is going to get three wishes for her birthday party. These are preplanned wishes- no spontaneity allowed . One of the wishes is to play a game. I purchased carpet squares and we are going to go on a magic carpet ride. She also decided she wanted to dress as Jasmine for her birthday so we went to the Disney store and got the Jasmine costume for 50% off. I have heard they are even cheaper now- figures. Still she is super excited.

Okay. I will try to finish up day one tonight since I think I am ready for Riley's party. Thanks for being patient.

 

[Yakety76]

I forgot to mention that we saw Aladdin and Jasmine doing a meet in greet at their little canopy area when we first arrived. Riley was super excited to see Jasmine -until she saw that Aladdin was there. She refused to go up to them, even though she adores Jasmine. It turned out to be okay, though. We saw Jasmine a couple of other times during our trip.

Okay, on with day 1.
Bob and my mom decide they are going to stay and ride some more rides while the kids and I go to our room. We get to DLH at around 3:15 and they tell us our room is still not ready. I am panicking a little because my kids REALLY need a nap about now. Luckily, Bob was worried about me checking in by myself. He had left my mom to ride the rides by herself and was already on his way to the rescue. He just asked the lady if there were any suites that were ready to be checked into and if we could switch rooms. They quickly went along with this and he had new room keys in a matter of minutes. We went to our new room on floor twelve of the Wonder tower. We had stayed in the Wonder tower in February and I really liked it. Last time we stayed on the 3rd floor. The view from the twelfth floor was amazing.

After Bob helped me get the kids to sleep, he went back to Disney to find my mom. They had a great time riding rides. My mom was able to do Splash, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion and the Tower of Terror. Bob joined her for Tower of Terror. My mom hasn't been to Disney in about 20 years, but some of her "memories" were kind of funny. She told me that the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay wasn't that different from the original. I had yet to ride HMH, so I didn't know any better. She also thought Downtown Disney was there last time she went and that Splash was a new ride. I was only about 14 last time I went with her, so my memories are fuzzy. I think after 20 years hers were a little fuzzy too and it is a good thing she came with us on this trip.

On their way to the room, the picked up chicken tacos and chicken nachos from Tortilla Jo's. I don't have pictures, but they were yummy. I think the chicken nachos at Tortilla Jo's are the best. My kids love black beans, so we also get a side of them for the kids to eat.

Now it is time for the Halloween Party. I knew it was crazy to do the Halloween party the night we arrived, but we really wanted to experience it. I had to wake the kids up from their naps at 5:30. They were not pleased. They usually go to bed at 7:00 Boise time, so they would have stayed asleep through the night if I hadn't woken them. Well we got everyone dressed and headed out. On the way through DTD we saw the best costume. A lady was wearing an amazing Mary Poppins costume. She had on the nanny dress with the umbrella, carpet bag and hat. It was really good.

The party started at 6:30 and we were running a little late. We got there around 6:45. There were no lines to get in, so we headed right in. Riley really wanted to see Wendy Darling, so that was our mission. We get in line and get busy waiting. Then there comes the announcement that Wendy and Peter will be leaving and another Captain will be joining us. Everyone else in line is happy because they all would rather meet Captain Jack. I am getting a little worried. We stay in line hoping that we will make it. Again comes the announcement and I realize there is no way we are going to meet Wendy. I tell Riley and she is trying her hardest not to cry. I feel so bad for her. I bring her up to the rope so that she can at least see Wendy hoping that this will salvage the night for her. Well, a truly magical thing happened. Peter looks up and spots Riley dressed as Wendy Darling. His face lights up. Peter and Wendy say their good-byes to the crowd and walk right over to Riley. She is still trying to hold back her tears because she doesn't think she is going to be able to meet Wendy. Peter comes over to here and says, "You look just like my friend." Up comes Wendy. Now Riley is glowing. She is so happy. Wendy tells Riley, “Your dress is just like mine only prettier.” They spent about 10 minutes with Riley. This is when they are supposed to be taking their break. I don’t know if they realize how much that meant to us. It truly made Riley’s night -and mine.

 

[Yakety76]

After meeting Wendy and Peter we wander around a little and stand in a couple of lines for candy. We made our way back to where the villains were and the Evil Queen was there. I didn’t think the kids would want to see her, but Riley surprised me and asked to stand in line to meet her. Kaleb wanted nothing to do with that, so Bob took him off to get more candy and wander around. We waited for a little while to meet the Queen. Riley is very shy with the face characters, but I was impressed that she got a picture with her at all.

While at the Halloween party, we saw some interesting characters. A lot of them were out dancing.

Clarabelle Cow

Daisy Duck

Riley and Kaleb didn’t want to dance. They were content to just ride around in the stroller looking at everything. We also went on Flik’s Flyers and Kaleb went on the carousel while Riley waited in line to meet the princesses.

Bob and I tried to go on Tower of Terror, but it was down. I still haven’t been on that ride. Our last stop was the Animation Building. In February, we saw Turtle Talk but we didn’t explore the building. What a mistake. There is so much to do and see in there. The treat station through the Animation Building was the best because you actually had to walk through and explore a little. My mom could have stayed in there for hours. The only way I could get her out was to promise that she could come back tomorrow.
All in all, I am glad we went to the party mainly because it was fun to all dress up. However, I think the kids would have more fun if the party were earlier or if they were older.

Kaleb as Hook and me as Tink

We left at around 9:00 and headed for the hotel. I got the kids ready for bed and then the fireworks started. Because of my kids earlier bedtime, they have never seen fireworks before. Our view from our room was amazing. My husband and mom had a fun time watching the fireworks with the kids. My kids were amazed by the fireworks. I am so glad we were able to experience them.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Aw! That story about your DD and Wendy and Peter is precious! Those CMs are special people, I swear it!

Great pictures!

 

[travelmel]

Fun!

Really cute pirate outfit on the little DS!

Your DD looks like a sweet little Wendy -with princess hands, to boot!

 

[Yakety76]

The kids slept well after their late night. Kaleb woke up at 5:30 (which is 6:30 Idaho time). Kaleb and I showered and got ready while Daddy and Riley slept in. Riley actually slept in until around 6:30. This was nice because we knew no matter how tired she became, she would not nap. Once everyone was up and ready, Bob went to the Coffee House in the DLH for pastries and coffee. In February we had tried the pastries at Le Brea. We found the pastries and coffee at the Coffee House to be much better.

We were not in much of a hurry to get to the gates because we had no intention of trying for Nemo on this trip. We rode Nemo in February and really enjoyed it. However, since this was just a short trip, we were focused on doing other things. We got to the gate by about 7:30. We ended up being about third in line at one of the gates. Disney opened at 8:00 today. They let us onto Main Street after the countdown. Bob positioned himself in front over on the right side because he was on a mission to get fast passes for us. My mom and I took the kids and stayed about center because our first ride was going to be, of course, Peter Pan. This is my favorite ride and I have been on the DIS boards enough to ride Peter Pan first.

The rope drops and Bob heads with our four tickets to get two fast passes for Space and Buzz Lightyear. He of course rides them since there isn’t a line. He gets back to us in Fantasyland right after we finish riding Peter Pan. We had watched the movie Peter Pan since our last trip, so the kids enjoyed the ride a lot on this trip. We had to ride Dumbo multiple times because…. Well, because it’s Dumbo.

We also rode the carrousel. I know that riding the carrousel at this time isn’t the best use of our morning time. However, it had been down for refurb in February, so the kids really wanted to ride it this time around. There is just something fun about a carrousel.

After hitting those must ride Fantasyland rides, Bob heads over to NOS to get some fast passes for Indy and Splash. He has instructions to meet up with us at 10:00. My mom and I go line up for Princess Fantasy Faire with the kids. The princesses are scheduled to arrive at 9:00, so we secure our place in line by about 8:45. There were about 10 families in front of us. We start talking to the other little “princesses” in line. Everyone was very excited and friendly in that line. There were some tweeners behind us and they were kind of fun to watch. They were just as giddy as the little girls.
We get to the front of the line after a bit of a wait and meet Aurora, Snow White and Cinderella. Kaleb had no interest in talking to the princesses, so Riley had them all to herself. I really like how they take the time to talk with the kids. Each time Riley moved on it was because she was finished. I am sure they would have moved her along if she had taken too much time, but it didn’t feel rushed at all. My favorite picture of her at the Faire was taken by the Photopass photographer. It is Riley pulling against me trying to reach Snow White.

After meeting the princesses, we head down and put some stickers on crowns. It is about 9:45 now and I didn’t want to wait for the other princess activities since today is our only full day in the park, so we head to Toon Town. My mom and Bob ride the Roger Rabbit ride. Riley and I rode this in February and neither of us really cared for it too much. I don’t like spinning rides and she thought it was rather scary. While waiting for Bob and my mom we notice Pluto hanging out. A nice lady took a picture of Riley and I with Pluto while Kaleb hung out trying not to be noticed. He was extremely shy this trip. Kaleb did like pushing all the buttons and opening the doors. He could have hung out in Toon Town all day- as long as he didn’t have to take pictures with those pesky characters.

Once Bob and my mom got off the ride, we decided to head onto the Gadget Go Coaster. We never made it on this ride in February because the line was always too long. The kids really enjoyed this. Kaleb put his hands in the air and was screaming with pleasure the whole ride. He wanted to go back on it right away. We opted to go see if we could get into see Mickey instead. While in line to see Mickey, the lady in front of us noticed she had lost her Photopass card. In fear that this would happen to us, we quickly took a picture of the back of our card just in case. I really hope that lady found her card. She was quite upset.
I think that Mickey took a break while we were waiting because the line came to a standstill for quite a while. We get in to see the Big Cheese. And Kaleb actually goes up to him for a picture. Yay!!

Now it is time to head to Big Thunder Ranch. The kids really wanted to decorate their own cookies. These turned out really cute and they had so much fun doing them. They didn’t eat much of their cookies, but they had a great time decorating them. When they finished with their cookies, the Woody’s Roundup Show started. We stuck around and watched that. It was a really cute show.

We are now feeling hungry, so we make our way over to Rancho del Zocalo. My mom and I split the tostado salad which was really tasty. Bob had burrito and my kids each got the kids’ burritos. I don’t like the fact that the kids’ meal comes with a fruit cup instead of fresh fruit and I didn’t think the burrito was that tasty. However, they both enjoyed their chocolate milk and ate about half a burrito each.

I bid the others good-bye and took Kaleb back to DLH for a much needed nap. It is really feeling hot by this time and the crowds are starting to be felt as well. Therefore, my mom and Bob decide to take Riley over to DCA. They rode Monsters. Then they spent a long time in the Animation Building. They also saw the Playhouse Disney show. I was bummed that Kaleb missed out on the Playhouse Disney show because he also missed seeing the touring show when it came here to Boise. Bob and I had taken Riley to the touring show, but it was too late in the evening for Kaleb to come. I guess there is my excuse for needing to go back to Disney soon!!

 

[travelmel]

Interesting about the pasties being better at DLH. I have never eaten at la brea but wanted to due to the high dis-marks. I will have to try both now! lol

All of the little kid things are mysterious to me as I have never stopped in to either the Princess area or the Woody's round up area. Fun to see what I missed.

 

[Yakety76]

Aw! That story about your DD and Wendy and Peter is precious! Those CMs are special people, I swear it!

Great pictures!

Peter and Wendy were great!! I hope they realize how much that meant to us!

Fun!

Really cute pirate outfit on the little DS!

Your DD looks like a sweet little Wendy -with princess hands, to boot!

Thanks. They had so much fun dressing up. Kaleb really likes to get into character when he is in his Hook costume. Riley is definitely my little princess.

Interesting about the pasties being better at DLH. I have never eaten at la brea but wanted to due to the high dis-marks. I will have to try both now! lol

All of the little kid things are mysterious to me as I have never stopped in to either the Princess area or the Woody's round up area. Fun to see what I missed.

We tried Le Brea in February because of what we read on the boards and in the Unofficial Guide, but we found the pasteries rather dry. The real breakfast looked tasty, but we don't generally eat large breakfasts. The latte was plain awful there. It was from a machine like you would find at a 7-11.

Big Thunder Ranch was a lot of fun. The CM there said it never gets busy and it was nice and shaded, so that would be a great place to take a little break.

 

[Yakety76]

I have added some of our Photopass pictures into the posts above. I will be back to update day 2 as soon as I get a chance.

Thanks to anyone who is taking the time to read about our Disney adventures.

 

[pixleyyy]

I LOVE the Winnie Photopass pic.

 

[Yakety76]

I LOVE the Winnie Photopass pic.

Thanks so much! That is one of my favorites, too.

 

[mommaU4]

I LOVE your pics!! They all turned out great. I especially love the ones of you all together in costume, and of Riley with Sleeping Beauty. So precious! Both of your kids are just too cute.
My kids love decorating those cookies too. It's a nice way to take a break.

Looking forward to more.

 

[Yakety76]

I LOVE your pics!! They all turned out great. I especially love the ones of you all together in costume, and of Riley with Sleeping Beauty. So precious! Both of your kids are just too cute.
My kids love decorating those cookies too. It's a nice way to take a break.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks! I think they are pretty darn cute, too.

Actually, the reason we decorated the cookies was because of your pre trip report. I saw the pictures of your girls doing it and knew that we had to do it. It was such a fun thing to do. We of course decorate cookies at home, but it was just extra special doing it at Disney.

 

[mommaU4]

We of course decorate cookies at home, but it was just extra special doing it at Disney.

I agree.

 

[travelmel]

The Winnie pic is SO adorable. Great cropping job on that one!

My favorites are the framed photopass shots. Those are SO much fun! Nice stuff.