Hooray for Hollywood!....Literally!

[jenseib]

Mickey’s Mix Magic



My video

And YES!!!!! Fireworks went off!



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We were a little familiar with the soundtrack as we heard it the other night while we were going through Fantasyland doing all the rides there and we had been doing a little bobbing and dancing to it.



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THAT! WAS! AWESOME!



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I am so glad we came over to see it tonight. We loved it!



I later heard they doing it with fireworks as much as possible as they are trying to figure out how to do the fireworks once Galaxy’s Edge opens…as they may have to close it down during nights they do the fireworks and they don’t want to do that.



And with that we slowly made our way out, stopping to get drinks and look in some shops and then headed back to the hotel. Now I stated we were pretty close…just as close as the walk to Disneyland Hotel would be, but at night, when you are tired and sore it sure feels a lot further away.



We made it back and told Skip what an awesome show he missed and then we crashed for the night. What a great day this had been.

Hooray for Hollywood! Literally!!!!!

 

[Timon]

So glad you all had a really great day!

That MMM, boy! We sure loved it! Glad you got to see it with Fireworks!

I hear you about getting old and sore! I have other issues too but yeah, theme parking is tough on a body! I make sure I ice my feet and ankles every night and I also make sure I stretch every time I get back to my hotel, it works wonders! If I don't stretch, I totally feel it the next day.

 

[bcwife76]

Oh wow, I think you made the right choice going back that night, some amazing shots you got of the fireworks!!!

 

[jenseib]

So glad you all had a really great day!

It really was a great day. It was a great tour to see bits of LA and Skip was happy with that and Claire and I still had a bit of Disney too.

That MMM, boy! We sure loved it! Glad you got to see it with Fireworks!

Yes! We did too. That music really had our toes tapping!

I hear you about getting old and sore! I have other issues too but yeah, theme parking is tough on a body! I make sure I ice my feet and ankles every night and I also make sure I stretch every time I get back to my hotel, it works wonders! If I don't stretch, I totally feel it the next day.

I should have iced and I even brought my old fashion ice bag but I never did it as I was too lazy to actually go get ice. I really wish we had a few more days there to just take it a little slower but I won't complain since it was an extra trip that I hadn't planned on when the year started.

Oh wow, I think you made the right choice going back that night, some amazing shots you got of the fireworks!!!

Yes. I am so glad we headed over. It was a really fun show.

 

[jenseib]

Thursday, March 21, 2019, Moving to Disneyland Hotel



Today we are switching hotels! Now Skip knew this from day 1 of booking…but somehow forgot, even when we mentioned it a few times during our vacation. He was surprised when I had started throwing things in the suitcase last night and today he again acted surprised. Sorry dude…I know you like it here but we are not paid to stay here another night.



In my original plans, Claire and I were going to go to Disneyland Magic Morning hours on Tuesday, our Universal day, and then head off to Universal. But we were tired and decided to skip it. Today was another early entry day at Disneyland and in the original plans I figured we would get up early and head over to Disneyland Hotel and get checked in and then use our entitlement from staying there to do early entry.

It sounded good in theory…but that is really early.



Since we still had an entitlement for Magic Morning hours with our package that had not been use, Claire and I decided to head over this morning and left Skip back at the room. We would spend a few hours and then come back and pack up the rest and take an Uber over to Disneyland Hotel. Of course he wanted to know why we couldn’t just walk there…Because it’s about a mile and we would be rolling our suitcases across the Esplanade and through Downtown Disney. ….OH. Probably not allowed either.....what a pain to get suitcases through security that would be.



This actually worked out great for us in the end. We still got up early, but not quite as early and we didn’t have to rush quite as much.



We still left a little later than I wanted to and arrived at the park just about 7 and were in the park by 7:05. Of course when trying to get in through the turn styles they only have a few open for early entry and several sets of people ahead of us did not have an entitlement to go in and one set needed their pictures taken, another set had tickets that didn’t work and they called a supervisor and stopped the line.. UGH! We did end up moving to the other turn style which ended up being faster even though the line was longer.



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We did the fast walk back to Fantasyland, but we saw people running. Ugh! I hate that.



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We went to Fantasyland a different route than what we had taken so far this week.



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I pointed this out to Claire and she had not seen it before and thought it was neat.



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Sadly I never got a decent picture of that area.



We got in line for Peter Pan….which was LONG already, but it always is long, so let’s get that one done. Claire asked if it was the same as in WDW and I said I assume so, but it was another ride I didn’t ride last time.



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She laughed as she kept thinking I didn’t ride anything last time. Hahaha



This is the scrim on the back of the castle.



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And pictures I took while in line….



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And soon we were sailing away. It was a little different than WDW and I am glad we rode it….but I would never wait a long time for it.



We checked Alice and it already had over a 30 minute wait. UGH! Nope, we are not waiting that long. And we have no desire for the TeaCups…I won’t ride them.



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We stopped off at my favorite bathrooms as I wanted to show them to Claire and we also used them.



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The doors are different playing cards.



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We then decided on the Nemo Subs. This is a slow loading ride, so we might as well go while the wait isn’t too long. The line said 5 minutes so we got in and waited.



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And waited.



I think we actually waited about 15 minutes or so before we finally boarded. We were the last 2 in our sub.



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Now I want to say the ride is cute and I am very glad we did it, but it is cramped and small and no leg room. I actually lucked out as since I was the last one in I had an extra seat next to me and I had a little more room for my legs. To see out though, you have to hunch.



My current view before we took off.



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This was another new ride for me as it was down when I was here last, so I took pictures along the way. Some came out, some did not.



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Being the last one in means the first one out!



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It was a neat ride and I am glad we did it but it is not something we would need to repeat very often. It’s a slow loader, so the line would have to be short for me to do it again.



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[jenseib]

Each day of our trip the temperature would drop a little more. Today was kind of chilly and I was wearing a sweatshirt. We went in search of Hot Chocolate and ran into this guy.



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We found some, but Claire said she would just share with me.



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It was some of the best hot chocolate ever! But I am glad we shared as it was almost too chocolatey to drink the whole thing by myself.



We went back to check out Alice’s ride one more time and the line was still really long. Well forget that.



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We had a fastpass over at CA anyways, so we headed to the front of the park.



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And it started raining then. I believe I brought my poncho with me since I knew it was going to rain, but I can’t remember if Claire was too cool to wear one or not.



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We were going to take our first ride on Guardians of the Galaxy.



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We scanned in and waited in line.



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And waited…..



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And waited….



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Wait! No one went in there!



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It was broke down. Well we found out later only 2 of the Elevators were working so they weren’t letting anyone else back till the line went down back there.



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We could pretty much recite the dialog by the time we were let in.



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But finally we did go back. It really wasn’t a huge long wait, but much longer than I had anticipated.



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And wow! I remember Tower of Terror here and I remember it feeling more intense that WDW’s version…at least to me.



Yep! Still is! Hahaha

Now sadly we never rode this again this trip, but I really didn’t get to take it all in because we went up and down and up and down and up and down….and were flying out of our seats and I couldn’t catch it all. We were laughing so hard.



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And after that it was time to head back to the Fairfield to get our belongings and change hotels.



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We got back to the room and it was time to pack the rest of the stuff up. I can never count on anyone helping me…EVER!

I gave Claire some jobs to do and she acted like I was cutting her leg off….she wanted to play on her phone. Too bad, too sad!



One job I gave her was to collect all the loose change we had been throwing here and there and put it all in a baggy. She then looks at the baggy and says “I could feed a poor child in another country with all this change!” And we just all started laughing.



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And then I told that that was enough for a month of food! Hahahaha.



I know we are so bad, but it was just so funny. We then were saying things like…”For just pennies a day….”



We were now all packed up and Skip had stolen a luggage cart while we were gone in the morning. He was so proud of himself, but I told him he probably wasn’t really supposed to just take one as they had seem to be guarding them earlier. Hahaha.



Plus we have luggage with 4 wheels, so it’s not really that hard to tote it down.



Once down, we hailed an Uber, but once again Skip’s card was saying it wouldn’t work, so I went on my app.

Skip was giddy to get transferred as he planned to go to a Race Museum after we got settled.



It was a short ride over and we had ordered XL, so we had a van. Skip and the driver were chatting away and the driver said he would take Skip to his museum. All he had to do put the info in once we arrived and he would try and grab it….except he was XL. And that would cost about $10+ more to Skip’s destination. In the end, we decide to just wait till I was actually checked in and had the luggage secured somewhere.



We hopped out and the luggage guys whipped our bags from us. I told them we were checking in first and they assured us the room would not be ready so they would just take them now.



We went in and checked in and Skip gave me his other credit card for incidentals. This card had not been used yet in California.

He is famous for interjecting and talking to me when I check in….AHHH! Just wait!



Our room was ready…so back out to get our bags. Then Skip was going to take the cart and I told him once again they don’t allow that. Then there was some discussing about whether to take them up ourselves or let the guy do it. I was getting frustrated and told him to do what he wanted and then I walked away. Skip and Claire went up with the guy and I waited downstairs for them.



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I will let you know now that I failed at getting many pictures here this time around.



As I was waiting for them I texted Skip (who doesn’t do much with texting) and reminded him that he would need to tip the guy. Then I texted Claire and told her to tell Skip to tip the guy. Otherwise, I don’t know if he would have done it on his own. Not something he would normally think of.



After a bit they came down and we added Skip’s other card to his Uber app so he could go to the Race Museum. Then we went to order it…and again failure! We just USED it to check in! I told him I think his cards are getting flagged for being used in California and he should call his credit card company.

To make things hassle free I connected his account to my paypal. I went over how to do the app for his return and though he had watched me do it each time before, I wanted to be sure he understood and would make it back to us safely. He said if all else failed he would get a taxi.



And off he went! We hoped we would see him again!

 

[Lesley Wake]

This bathroom made the one in the Latino area look clean. Mostly the smell though. Claire walked in and walked out and said no thank you. I held my breath and went. Why oh why are the bathrooms so gross?????

All the beach bathrooms are soooo gross!

Skip was very impressed with the tour. We all were actually, but this was his favorite day by far. I had to laugh as when I had first suggested doing a tour of LA he wasn’t sure he wanted to be included. And then of course that is his favorite thing.

Haha - he needs to listen to you more!

I later heard they doing it with fireworks as much as possible as they are trying to figure out how to do the fireworks once Galaxy’s Edge opens…as they may have to close it down during nights they do the fireworks and they don’t want to do that.

I got to see the fireworks from Galaxy's Edge and it's amazing! Maybe they have different criteria now for wind speed and direction to prevent from falling toward GE!

Now sadly we never rode this again this trip, but I really didn’t get to take it all in because we went up and down and up and down and up and down….and were flying out of our seats and I couldn’t catch it all. We were laughing so hard.

That's too bad! I love the ride and I love having all the different music!

 

[jenseib]

All the beach bathrooms are soooo gross!

That's such a shame.

Haha - he needs to listen to you more!

I tell him that all the time.

I got to see the fireworks from Galaxy's Edge and it's amazing! Maybe they have different criteria now for wind speed and direction to prevent from falling toward GE!

Good to hear. They must have gotten it all worked out then....and how awesome! How did you like it?

That's too bad! I love the ride and I love having all the different music!

We do want to go back. Claire really had a good time and she thinks Maxpass is superior to how WDW does it.

 

[jenseib]

Claire and I headed through the hotel and out back to go back to the parks.



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You now go through security before heading into Downtown Disney, so that is kind of nice.



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And back over to California Adventure. We were getting hungry so we decided to stop at Flo’s for some grub.



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I sent Claire out and about to find a table. Of course it was still raining and she could only find one that wasn’t covered…nothing inside either. So she took a napkin to wipe it down and then a CM told her she was clearing off a table with some cover and led Claire over to that one.



I got a club and a shake. Very good, but very filling. I really could have shared this with someone. Claire doesn’t eat clubs (or much of anything else for that matter) so that option wasn’t even doable.



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She got chicken tenders, the kids portion…..look at all those fries!



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At some point Skip had called me to ask how to use the camera on his phone. Wow! This is so not him! Hahaha.



We later saw he posted pictures of the race museum on Facebook. He has NEVER posted anything original in his life. Now the pictures were pretty bad, but we gave him an A for effort!



Claire and I had a date with a roller coaster soon, so we headed the back way.



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I think this was the first time Claire had walked this route.



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Luxo was so cool. He would move around.



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We stopped to watch the Incredicoaster take off.



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We actually had some time to kill so we walked around and found the Toy Story Soldiers coming out for a show.



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It was pretty cute and I video’d most of it.

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Somewhere along the line I think Claire got a frozen lemonade…one of the few things she likes. We sat for a bit while she ate it.



We walked past these guys playing, but didn’t stop.



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Toy Story had a long line, so we didn’t bother to stop.



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[jenseib]

Then it was time for the Incredicoaster!



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This time I decided to try and take pictures while on the ride. Not an easy feat when you are getting whipped around.



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Here we gooooooo!!!!!



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Once again…we LOVED it!



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We got a text then. Skip is back and is in front of the parks…which one are we in? Wow! It seemed like he just left, but really several hours had gone by. We told him and that we were making a pitstop and then would meet with him.



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We were so proud he made it back on his own and made it into the park on his own. He still had his physical ticket! Yay!!!



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Since we were now all together, we decided to head up to Monsters Inc and ride all together.



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They were getting ready for a cooking show and Skip stopped….nope! Keep going buddy. You can watch that on your own, but we have no desire.



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Skip thinks he is a master chef because he watches cooking shows all the time….however by master chef….I mean he tells me what he heard and how to do it and expects me to cook like that. I HATE cooking….just hate it! I only do it to survive. If you want some fancy this or that…then you cook it! Don’t tell the person who despises cooking on how you want your meal prepared.

 

[Lesley Wake]

We were so proud he made it back on his own and made it into the park on his own. He still had his physical ticket! Yay!!!

Yay! It's the little things in life that make you excited! Also glad he had fun at the Racing Museum

 

[Timon]

Looks like you got some great park time that day!

Skip made it there and back and back to you in one piece, wooo hooo!!

Great pics on Incredicoaster, that sucker goes fast so it's not an easy feat! I am too paranoid that I will lose my phone

 

[bcwife76]

Wow, what a PITA his cards were becoming on this trip! Jeez!!
But yay for him making to the Race Museum AND back! And posting photos!! You're dragging him into this decade and I love it Glad the rain didn't really interfere with your day, looks like it didn't last too long.

Wow....ummmmm....4 fries? 5? Hope you're full, Claire

 

[jenseib]

Yay! It's the little things in life that make you excited! Also glad he had fun at the Racing Museum

He really ended up liking Uber. My Aunt was talking recently how her husband discovered Uber on his last trip to Orlando and Skip was telling how much he loved it. He acted like a pro, though in reality I actually inputted the info all times but that one. hahaha.

Looks like you got some great park time that day!

Claire now loves Disneyland. She loves Maxpass 100 times more than WDW's version.

Skip made it there and back and back to you in one piece, wooo hooo!!

We were so proud!

Great pics on Incredicoaster, that sucker goes fast so it's not an easy feat! I am too paranoid that I will lose my phone

Yeah, I used my camera with my strap on my wrist. No way would I chance the phone.

Wow, what a PITA his cards were becoming on this trip! Jeez!!

It really was. He even called then and asked and they said they were fine, but he came home and tried them again and they didn't work and he called again and then they realized they had been flagged.

But yay for him making to the Race Museum AND back! And posting photos!! You're dragging him into this decade and I love it Glad the rain didn't really interfere with your day, looks like it didn't last too long.

We were impressed he did it on his own. He's growing up! hahaha

Wow....ummmmm....4 fries? 5? Hope you're full, Claire

We were totally laughing.

 

[jenseib]

We arrived at Monsters Inc now.



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I think the line was about 40 minutes, but we waited as we knew this was probably our best chance and time to ride and include Skip in it.



We had a good time and all enjoyed it. I have to admit, the first time I rode this with Cass, I knew NOTHING about Monsters Inc. Since then, my family has seen the 2nd one and really enjoyed it. I have only seen parts of the first one, but Claire has seen it a few times. Since this ride is based on the first movie, I am still not 100% sure on everything, but it made a lot more sense this time around.



While in the park, I had a friend keep messaging me to get some caramel toffee thing. I thought she was saying churro and though I am not big on those flavors, I thought it might be good with a churro. She was directing me where it was and I kept telling her I don’t see a churro place.



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Then I finally realized it wasn’t a churro, but a candy that she said was divine! Nope! I am not much of a toffee fan at all. I can eat a few things, but for the most part….gag! And I do eat caramel but for the most part only on apples or on its own. I am super picky on which candies have caramel in them that I will eat.



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My friend was disappointed I didn’t try it, but I just had no desire to spend money on something I probably wouldn’t like.



We ran into Clarabelle.



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We were all tired now and decided to walk Skip back to the hotel and take a break. I think he had been dropped off at the Esplanade so he wasn’t 100% sure on how to get to Disneyland Hotel.



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We pointed out things as we walked through and told him there were a lot of food choices here.



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I told him this is where I planned to get food for dinner for me.



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And back to our home.



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And then we headed to our room. They both had been in there, but this was my first time seeing our room. I took pics quickly…and I have no clue what Claire is doing. Hahahaha.



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I took a really bad video of the lighted headboard piece.

I actually took several over the course of our short stay because every time I would take one, Skip would talk really loudly in the background. I swear he was doing it on purpose.



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Claire just graduated 8th grade a few weeks ago. I got her a new set of her own matching luggage and now she can’t wait to go on vacation to use it. Hahaha. She keeps telling me to plan one….well we have one planned for a year from now….and you sort of need money to plan a trip. She has been spoiled by taking a cruise the last 2 summers and as much as I want to, I don’t think it is going to work out for this summer.



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And the view out the window…which I got terrible pictures of.



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[jenseib]

We had planned to go to the parade tonight. It was our last chance….but I think this was the afternoon that Claire fell asleep. I kept trying to wake her and she wouldn’t. I just gave up on making it over in time and when she did wake up, we all headed down to get some dinner. Skip had me look on the app for any sit down places, but nothing available sounded good.



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I had gone to Earl of Sandwich and picked up what I wanted. Skip and Claire went on and found pizza.



I promised Claire beignets, so I stopped off for some of them. Sadly, they weren’t as good as WDW or on the Wonder.



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I found them at Naples and sat with them.



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Their pizza looked really good and they decided to get another because they were kind of small, so I had some of the next one Skip got. It was good, but the crust bottom was kind of soft and I expected to be kind of crispy. So I would say though it was good, the crust was less than fabulous for me.



We headed back to the room to get on our sweatshirts for the fireworks again tonight. Skip said he wanted to see it, but would come later. I gave him directions on how to take the monorail so he would have less walking.



early120 by Jenseib, on Flickr



early121 by Jenseib, on Flickr



And then Claire and I headed out. We wanted to do some shopping and then ride Soarin’. We headed into Disneyland and looked at some shops and debated over a couple of shirts she liked. She loves the spirit jersey style and she was torn between 2. I told her to just get both as she had been given spending money by family members. I figured they were $35-40 each…thinking of Disney pricing and what we normally pay for these type of shirts.



Nope! They were like $65 each!!!!! EEK!!!! She had to think it over and I said we still had tomorrow.



We bought some pops….expensive pops. I kept saying they wanted a body part each time we bought a bottle. Then headed to the bathroom and out over to California Adventure……where I realized I left my pop sitting on the toilet paper holder as I had no spot to put it. UGH! And I am not going to go back and look for it…who knows what someone might have done to it and….it was in a bathroom!



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So we stopped off and I handed over another body part for some more pop.



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We had not been back to Cars Land yet at night and I wanted to show Claire what it looked like.



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It’s so pretty there at night.



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Flo’s at night is just stunning.



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We then headed off to ride Soarin’ with our fastpass. It still was a little slow going, but we had a nice couple in front of us who we talked to the whole time, so that made the time go fast.



This was another one I didn’t ride last time because it was down for refurb, so I am glad we had a chance to do it this time around.



But now we had a date with some fireworks and we headed out the front to walk over to Disneyland.



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[jenseib]

We entered Disneyland and took a final pic of Walt’s apartment at night.



early221 by Jenseib, on Flickr



We found our spot and plopped down. Basically the same spot as last night. We talked to Skip and he said he was by the monorail, and he had a view not far from there and he was just going to stay there instead of fighting crowds. I later found out he really didn’t see the projection, just the fireworks.



And once again, it was up in the air on whether the fireworks would go off tonight because of wind and weather….and they did!



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That was a lot of fun once again! I’m so glad we saw it a 2nd time.





We waited for the crowds to clear a bit and decided to head in the shops again.

I think we ended up getting Claire a shirt and one for myself then too.



We debated on walking back to the monorail, but we didn’t want to fight the crowds and just walked out the front and then back to the hotel through Downtown Disney.



early12 by Jenseib, on Flickr



early13 by Jenseib, on Flickr



We stopped in the gift shop and made a few purchases and then headed back to the room.



We were so tired and tomorrow we would be heading home….but Claire and I planned to hit the parks one last time yet!

 

[jenseib]

Friday, March 22, 2019, Time to say Good Bye



All good things must come to an end and today was that day for us. Luckily our flight wasn’t till later. I did that on purpose. Last time I had an early flight and had to leave at some horrible hour, like 5 AM. Nope…I will not do that going home again. We would be losing 3 hours of our day today flying home, but I didn’t care and I didn’t care what time we got home.



We still had 1 day left on our tickets and Claire and I were going to take advantage of early entry into California Adventure!



I got up early and I asked if she planned to come. I was going no matter what, but I knew she was tired and wasn’t sure if she wanted to make the effort. She did and she got right up and ready.



Off we went!



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We were a little late, but not bad and we headed over to Pixar Pier.



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We had not rode Toy Story at all this trip and we do love this ride, so we headed over there.



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We rode it and had a blast and I won. The line was still non-existant so we got right back in the queue and rode again. This time Claire won!



Ok, now we needed a tie-breaker! The line had more people now, but we only had to wait for a few sets of people in front of us before getting on.



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And I was the Grand Champion!



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That was a lot of fun!



We then did our fast walk over to the Incredicoaster. We must have one more ride on that! We rode it twice since the line was nonexistent. I actually think I posted the pictures from today on another day. I didn’t always get our codes and I can’t remember what I wore each day too.



But here is what I think was from this day. Sorry if I posted them before.



43556ff0-cbac-4e41-8632-bb57bd0f0e06 by Jenseib, on Flickr



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And then we wanted one last ride on Radiator Springs so we rushed over to the single rider line.



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We got right on. I think Claire was in the car in front of me and I think she had some jokesters as I could see her doing a lot of laughing.



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And then we sat and waited after we got to the seatbelt check. An announcement came on, but honestly, the teacher from the Peanuts would have been more understandable than what we heard. All we could figure is that the ride broke down.

Shoot! We had a fastpass for Space Mountain and we had it timed that if we got on 5 minutes before it started and all went well we could then zoom back to the hotel and have time to finish up packing the rest and have time to spare.



We got a few more Peanut’s Teacher talking announcements and then we took off finally. It was clear that not everything was working. Many of the animatronics were either totally off or just didn’t work. But the best part is the racing and that worked!



When we got off they were scanning everyone’s ticket to give them an anytime fastpass. You have got to be kidding me! We can’t use it! We waited a bit behind the line to get out as they went and scanned everyone, but then we just said excuse me and worked our way out. Sadly, the ride took too long and I figured we shouldn’t chance it going over to Disneyland for Space Mountain.

Claire did want a churro before we left though, so we made a stop and each got one.



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It was now time to go. We still had plenty of time, but I knew I had to finish weighing our bags and throwing the toiletries back in. And Skip would panic if he felt we were too late and not out waiting for our transfer in plenty of time.



We made our way back to our hotel.



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I was getting things ready and we were taking turns in the bathroom and my phone rang. It was a CA number but I didn’t answer. I never answer my phone if I don’t know who it is. It rang again, same number. Hmmm. Odd.



Then I checked my email and one came through from the transfer company stating that our pick up location didn’t exist. UGH!



I knew it! When I made the reservation I put in Disneyland Hotel, but the confirmation showed something like Downtown Disney drop off area. I went in and modified it twice, thinking I made a mistake and each time the conf would show that as our pick up location. I even emailed them to be sure it was right.



I called the number that had called me and sure enough, it was our driver. He said that the pickup location listed wasn’t valid and I let him know that I had put in Disneyland Hotel, but it kept putting that on my Conf. He said no worries and he would be on his way to get us now that he knew where we were.



I also had a link that tracked where he was and his approximate arrival time. Wow he was going to be early.

We loaded up and headed down. Skip was worried we would miss him. You give a pick up time but it could basically be 15 minutes or so late and they say to arrive early in case the driver is early.



We plopped down on a bench and then I could see the driver go to another hotel. Ok, he is picking up other guests first. We got time.



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last25 by Jenseib, on Flickr



We waited and waited and saw the driver move again, slowly…and then to another hotel. Ok, he’s not going to be early. Actually he was late.



When he arrived he confirmed who we were and what airline and loaded our bags and then we got in. We were the last to get in before heading off, but he had the front bench seat saved for us…because he said we would be the first out. Awesome! I am so glad I didn’t have to climb to the back or be separated.



Off we went! Good Bye Disneyland!



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Skip talked to the driver, telling him about our trip. Hahaha. I am sure he really wanted to hear about our vacation.



We finally arrived and unloaded our bags and headed off. I had prepaid the tip when I booked the transfer, so that was nice not to have to find some money.



We got checked in and I forgot to mention that we lucked out again and Skip got TSA precheck again so he could go through with Claire and I.



Last time I flew out of LAX the line to drop off bags was just painfully long, but this time it was super short and we breezed right through.



Since Skip has had both hips replaced, he does have to go through the body scanners, so Claire and I get through faster and we grabbed his bag and moved out of the area and waited.



We found some seats and then they went off to find lunch. I was surprised how sucky the selection in our area was. They were gone quite a while and came back with chic – fil - a. We are not fans of it, but it was the best they could find. I was hoping for some McDonald’s but sadly there wasn’t one. Dang it.



I went off and found a pizza place. I have no idea where they went as I never saw Chic – fil- a anywhere. I must have gone a different direction. The pizza was crazy expensive. I think it was like $20 and not that big. And the line was crazy and then it took like 15 minutes to make.



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It was good, but not $20 good. We still had time to wait, so we just chilled out.



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When it was time to board, I called the window seat. Skip mentioned he only had it from Detroit to Chicago and I told him that I had had it zero times so far, but he could have it from Chicago to Detroit.



We settled in, watched movies on our devices and the flight wasn’t too bad.



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Good Bye LA!



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Claire and I were sad to be leaving. Skip did have a good time, but he always is happy to be going home too.



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He did admit that he should have gone on a cruise. He had a good time, but he just can’t hang like he used to with his health issues and having both hips replaced and he realized that a cruise would have been much easier for him to get around and still do a lot more things. I gave him a told you so and he smiled!



A few hours later we were coming into Chicago.



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We had a bit of a layover, so we were going to get some food again. The selection here totally sucks! I know in the past they had a McDonald’s but it is gone now. The small food court area we had gone to when coming to LA was about our only options and most were either closing up or just about to close. Claire got nothing and I got a panini. I could only choose from the ones they had made and left out. It was not great. I think Skip got that too. I heard several people in the area complain at the lack of choices and that they all closed so early. What about people who fly late…like us?



We waited for our next flight and then boarded. We let Skip go first so he could pick the row for his window seat. This is what he picked.



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No actual window next to him. Hahahaha! By the time he noticed it was too late to change. The flight was full and it would be too much of a hassle to go looking for another row since we were all settled in.

He would peek out that crack of window in front of him most of the ride.



This flight was short, less than an hour. They served snacks, but it was really fast as it was also a little bumpy. I think in the end, they had to stop and just let it go since it was a little bumpy and we were already coming in for a landing.



And back to Detroit we were! As soon as we landed Skip said, “Call the parking place for the car”. I told him no, they said wait till we have our luggage before we call and we don’t call, it’s through a link they texted me.



We got down to the luggage and he said “Call for the car” and I said no, the luggage hasn’t even started coming out yet. And Claire and I headed to the bathroom. We came out to no luggage, but he said, “Call for the car”. No! Just wait. I went outside and it was cold… UGH!



I came back in and finally the luggage started spitting out. We had to laugh as Skip kept trying to grab other people’s bags as we told him the last one was maroon. Evidently pink is Maroon. Hahaha.



With the bags in hand, he said “call for the car”. I pull my phone out and get the link and start putting in the info needed. He wants to know why I am not calling. LOL. Because I am doing it from the link they texted me to do it from. All set, let’s go. So he heads outside. No!!!!! We have to take that bridge to go to where they dropped us off. Hunh? I wish they picked us up right there, but that’s not how it works.



We had to take an elevator up and then cross and come back down. We were in it with like 8 other people and their bags. The one guy said something like getting all close and personal, but we’ve already shared our germs on the plane. Skip didn’t understand that and I told him how a plane has no ventilation so all the germs just circulate while we are flying. EWWWW!



We headed down and couldn’t tell where our particular pickup spot was. We waited a bit and then I went looking and set my phone on my suitcase and ran down to see if our bus was way at the end. Another guy said yes that’s it and Skip grabbed bags and just started pulling them. He left others. I grabbed what was left when I got back and my phone was gone. UGH! I started looking all over and finally we realized he took the bag with the phone on top and luckily it didn’t fall off.

This drives me crazy! I could have handled my own bags. I do it the whole trip but when we are going home, he gets all antsy and just starts grabbing stuff to hurry it along. He’s never helpful with bags any other time.

At this point it’s after midnight and who cares if we are the first on the shuttle or last. It’s not leaving till it has everyone.



We load up, and then take off and had a couple drop offs and then we were back at the garage with our car waiting for us.



I loaded the trunk….because I have a system on how they all lay correctly in there. He would just throw them in and wonder why nothing fits. Hahaha.



And then he gets in the passenger side. Seriously???? I haven’t mentioned it, but my ankle has swollen up a lot and the plane ride made it worse. I was limping now and my body just knew it was done with vacation and no longer needed to be strong.

It was late, I was suffering from major lack of sleep, my body hurt, I was kind of tired being the one to take care of everything, feeling like the only adult, and I was getting super annoyed and grumpy.



I told them both to be sure to be lively on the way home as I am so tired I will start dozing off. Yes, I was that tired.



We took off and we had passed a McDonalds on the way to the garage and I told Claire I would stop there for her since she hadn’t eaten. Of course the drive through line had like 10 cars and it was super slow. But we were patient and Skip and I got a snack since the food at Chicago had not been satisfying.



And off we went. My ankle hurt, but I was making it work. Then Skip started complaining about my driving. He does this all the time. Now if you don’t like my driving, then drive yourself. He makes me drive all the time, but then squawks the whole time…You are going too fast, you are going too slow, I don’t like the music on the radio, you are not stopping in time, why are you slowing down now when the stop sign is still far away, why are you taking this route?



When he complains about my driving on a good day I am not nice. Tonight, I yelled at him to shut his mouth as my ankle was hurting and I didn’t want to drive in the first place and if he has a problem he should be driving.

Yep, we ended the vacation on that note!



He had another moment of how we are so mean to him and now that we are home we no longer have to be nice to him…blah blah blah. Again, I said, my ankle is swollen and I can barely move it and it is my driving foot…so just deal with it and then we spent the drive in silence. I think Claire fell asleep and he wasn’t talking, so I had to roll down the window for air to keep awake.

I was never so happy to be home! I always carry the suitcases in (and yeah, he never helps with that either), but I left them in the car. Claire did bring one in because she needed something out of it.



And of course once we got some sleep we were back to our pleasant selves.



We did truly have a good time and Skip has said he really enjoyed it but if he ever goes back he will skip Disneyland completely. He loved both Universal and our LA tour and if we go back, he would like to do another one like that.





I will be back with final thoughts.

 

[Timon]

Boo hooo, it's over already??

Glad you and Claire got some park time that morning! I love that shirt you were wearing. I saw it on the ships but I didn't care for the colour but loved it still.

Sounded like a rough journey home but you made it, you didn't kill Skip and you're safe and sound.

Tell Skip, next time you go back, it will be with a friend.


Hope you're feeling a little better by now and your ankle is healing.

 

[bcwife76]

Oh gosh, that sounds like an exhausting trip home and then Skips' comments.....grrrrrr.....I bet your own bed felt wonderful that night!!!