Happy happy happy! trip story from Feb 2012

[bumbershoot]

I would say GRR but I know that is in rehab. So I am going to go with Indiana Jones!!

The GRR rehab thing is just so sad for us.

But Indy is a great idea! E's first time on it. Which means Robert will simply have to overcome his jetlag and join us.

 

[kaoden39]

The reason that is my pick is because of the cute pictures of E with his fedora on.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks for reminding me of his Indy hat! I might have forgotten to remind him of it. Eek!

 

[kaoden39]

I'm glad that I said something about it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Food.....


Disneyland

Definitely getting veggie chili. Robert will probably want a veggie gumbo.

I want to try those sweet potato fries that come with the green tomato sandwich at Hungry Bear.

French Market might be in the plans; I don't think Robert's actually been there yet.

Avoiding Cafe Orleans, as the service and food has been a disappointment too often.

Beignets and/or fritters...

I really want to try the veggie skewer at Bengal BBQ!

Breakfast at River Belle Terrace will be a MUST.

Must try out the new bakery place; hopefully they'll get their grilled cheese sandwiches worked out by then!

I wonder if Tomorrowland Terrace is open all the time now? I've loved their breakfasts.

Guess I should make a reservation for Carnation Cafe if we want that.

Ooh, corn on the cob at Edelweiss?

Salad and pasta at the Plaza?

There's talk of a character meal, but I'd really rather not.

We've got one table service meal planned.


California Adventure

Cove Bar!

I still want to try a Portobello doohickey at Award Weiners.

Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta, perhaps...

Paradise Garden Grill was tasty and I bet Robert would like it.




OK that's too many restaurants for our trip! Especially since Robert urged me to book concierge.

 

[kaoden39]

I believe that the Carnation Cafe is closed because of the remodel.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

All caught up on this one now off to read Laurie's

 

[DizNee Luver]

Yup, Carnation Cafe is closed. The fried green tomato sandwich at the Hungry Bear is DELICIOUS!!!!! The new Jolly Holiday Bakery has a tomato & mozzerella sandwich which is now on my radar for my Feb. trip......yummo!!!!

By the way, I read you WDW trip report (the one with lots of family).......cause..........we're GOING in December!!!!!! We've never been, so I'm super duper excited!! Hopefully when you have time you'll be able to take a look at my PTR & give me advice, tips, etc. (the link is below).

 

[bumbershoot]

I believe that the Carnation Cafe is closed because of the remodel.

Good to know!

By the way, I read you WDW trip report (the one with lots of family).......cause..........we're GOING in December!!!!!! We've never been, so I'm super duper excited!! Hopefully when you have time you'll be able to take a look at my PTR & give me advice, tips, etc. (the link is below).

Woohoo!




I'm going to wait until hubby's off and we're settled into the kid/mom time again (Robert's been home so long I've almost forgotten what it's like to have him gone) to start reading anything of substance, but I'll be there Laurie.

 

[DizNee Luver]

I'm going to wait until hubby's off and we're settled into the kid/mom time again (Robert's been home so long I've almost forgotten what it's like to have him gone) to start reading anything of substance, but I'll be there Laurie.

Sounds great Molly......no rush....I mean, we don't leave for a few days (321 of them).......

 

[bumbershoot]

Ay ay ay....this is DH's first trip in what feels like a long time, and I'm exhausted! Every big trip he takes gives me even more empathy for my single-parent friends.

I'm also on a campaign around the condo to get it nicer and more organized! Each day we're trying to do something tangible. Of course, with E, he tends to clean/clear up the same things from the same spaces each day. Nature of being a kid, I suppose.


First day of the trip....it's all dependent on Robert's exhaustion level! If he's sleepy when we get to Anabella, he will sleep and Eamon and I will either go swimming (if it's nice and we're feeling like it), or we will go over to a park. If we do that option, though, Robert *has to* wake up later and come meet us, because E only has a day pass, and I want to use the DVC card to get a tiny bit off E's AP that we're upgrading to. Since Robert's the owner and has the membership card, he has to be there to save that little bit of money. So either we all get a no-Disneyland Park day, or we all have to show up there eventually.


And the second day of the trip will see us up bright and early, dragging our rolly bags behind us, along half of the "hidden" Mickey between Anabella and PPH. Maybe we'll split up for the walk, so as a family we'll have covered the whole Mickey? That morning is a Magic one, and, oh ugh, the park opens at 8am. Blah-o-rama! But we only have the 2 MMs, so ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

 

[kaoden39]

Poor R being on the road so long right now. Poor you. Don't you just love kids? The way they see things is so different than the way we see things?


Hopefully R will get that second breath that people tend to get when they see Disneyland.

 

[Brady's Mom]

Oooohhhh....you're going so soon. I love the idea of E wearing his fedora - especially for Indiana Jones. Is he ready for the ride, yet? My Nathan - who is a little younger than E - is feeling ready to take it on. BUT, he has an almost 10 year old brother who is encouraging him to do it. I think that "brother" pressure will make it easier for him to ride it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi, you two!


This *is* a big trip, especially since he'd been home for a couple months. Poor guy. Poor us!


Last night E and I watched videos of Indy and of California Screamin'. Indy still spooks him, but he really really wants to ride it. He said "I want to ride, but I still think it's sort of real." And asked questions about if the people shown in the video were scared out of their minds, or if they knew it was just a ride like I was telling him. Talked about how it was ALL built by people, created by people, most of whom were probably still alive (he's big on if people are still alive or not), and so on and so forth. But at the end, he knows it's a ride, but still thinks it's real, sort of.

Not all that unlike me swearing absolutely positively (I still swear it!) that I saw Dracula outside my window one night, while staying at the house of my dad's then-girlfriend, in the woods of Santa Cruz. I knew it wasn't real, but I knew it was real. At the same time.

 

[Brady's Mom]

Our minds are amazing things. Jeff (DS 15) rode ToT when he was 10, the first time we went to DLR. He loved the ride, but was scared out of his mind with the theming and the movies where the people disappear. In all the times we've been since, he hasn't been able to bring himself to ride it. He's tried, he's been through the queue and waited at the elevator doors and then just can't do it. His imagination has just been too strong. And the images he saw when he was 10 have been too real.

He is going to DLR with his High School Band in March and is determined to ride it. He actually really likes the ride. I think in this case peer pressure will win out and he'll conquer any butterflies he has in front of his friends. I know he'll discover it's better than his 10 yr old mind imagined it to be.

I wish we'd been the ones to ride it again with him - but I guess it will have to be his friends who reap the benefits.

 

[kaoden39]

Our minds are amazing things. Kody is scared of Haunted Mansion. She rode it in 2010 because her sister made her. The electricity went out when they were in there. Someone in line behind them tried to get into Kacy's backpack and Kody will not go back on it again. Unless of course it has the NBC overlay.

 

[bumbershoot]

I hadn't realized how similar the minds of our kids were! As you guys might recall, it's exactly the disappearance of the people that gets to E on TOT. And the NBC overlay makes HM "safe" for him! Interesting!



E and I have been watching the trilogy of Lord of the Rings. We have the awesome extended DVD set with the scenes-that-weren't-in-the-theater seemlessly blended in...I just love it. It's such a good series of movies. Almost every scene with Aragorn I'm crying.

I'm so so so so glad that Peter Jackson was, ultimately, put in charge of The Hobbit. I cannot even imagine wanting to see it if he hadn't been The One to make it.



I'll be starting to pack soon! Alas today we have to go out to buy a new printer...stinkin' printer... Ours has become completely unreliable, and I really need to have it right now (more for the copy function than printing, but printing is good too). Rotten time for it to go!

 

[kaoden39]

I love Tolkien. I was introduced to The Hobbit when I was in middle school. I resisted watching the movies for a long time because I was afraid that it wouldn't be right. I finally watched the first movie in December. I have now seen them all. I must admit they are great and that I wish i had seen them in the theater. I will see The Hobbit in the theaters.


We have two extra printers in our house because Kody and Loren both got one from their school.

 

[Brady's Mom]

I'm such an anomaly. I hate Tolkien. My older brother tried to get me to read them when we were in Jr. High. I tried them - couldn't stand them.....so, I haven't seen the movies and probably never will.

I don't think my kids have been on HM with the overlay. We might have to try that later this year.

 

[bumbershoot]

I love Tolkien. I was introduced to The Hobbit when I was in middle school. I resisted watching the movies for a long time because I was afraid that it wouldn't be right. I finally watched the first movie in December. I have now seen them all. I must admit they are great and that I wish i had seen them in the theater. I will see The Hobbit in the theaters.

I saw Two Towers and Return of the King in the theater. In the scene when Gandalf appears during the battle at Helms Deep I just started sobbing... It wasn't totally because of the movie, but because it just felt like it went along with the things going on in the world at the time (not that long after 9/11 and the wars and the president then and all) and it all felt so hopeless and I wanted Gandalf to appear...

Not to mention, gimme some of that Eomer! I don't like Karl Urban in ANY other way...he was a total weanie as Caesar in Xena, he looks weird in normal clothes, but throw that blond hair on him and put him on a horse and ooooh yeahhhhhhh. (which is WEIRD b/c in that getup he has the Viking look of my ex, and I normally hate the "look" that exes have after they are exes)

I'm such an anomaly. I hate Tolkien. My older brother tried to get me to read them when we were in Jr. High. I tried them - couldn't stand them.....so, I haven't seen the movies and probably never will.

I don't actually remember the books, so I'm normally just watching the movies for the story in the movies. If you can deal with the idea of the fantasy type of world at all, you might want to try them, and just forget they are written by someone you officially do not care for.

Pretend that they are simply written by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.

I do recommend watching the Extended versions, with all the good scenes added back in, though.




Robert made it through his 11 hour flight, and is about to board his 2 hour flight to his second work destination. Poor dude.


Got the new printer. I've never set up a printer before, so later on this evening I guess I'll see if I can!