How Many Ways Can I Explain This? TR July 2016 -7/24, DCA Pt 1

[amalone1013]

So to be completely honest with you guys, I was planning on updating my Wedding TR (I'm almost done with the actual day ) but due to updating my name in the system, I can't access the stuff in My Documents anymore - which is where the pictures are. Hopefully I can get that moved to my new username next week... I do have some actual work stuff in there too! But I don't think this counts as an emergency for the on-call IT guy...

Anyways...

The Queen Mary 2018
A Two Day Mini TR
Part Two​

After checking out all the little things in the room, we headed off to explore. Wyndham has an office on the ship, and while they were mainly trying to rope people in for a timeshare presentation... they did have a nice girl in the lobby who gave us a map and marked the easiest ways to get to the different areas/exhibits.

First we headed up to the front of the ship, to the only place you can get out on the bow. On the way was the Fire Station - it was not here originally, but they brought a lot of the stuff up from the original location in the lower decks and put it on display. We took a few photos to send to Zack's friend, who is a volunteer firefighter.

Asbestos suit for firefighters

Smoke helmet with bellows, to supply fresh air to the firefighter

A few photos off the bow...

Then we headed up to the Promenade Deck. That is where the main tour desk is located, and we wanted to book a couple of them. We ended up doing the Glory Days historical tour, and the Haunted Encounters ghost tour. Tours are $10 per person. We really enjoyed the historical tour to learn more about the ship. The Haunted Encounters one was also fun; they told stories about paranormal encounters from employees and guests on the ship. If we had planned ahead more, I would have liked to do one of the Paranormal Tours they do at night that are longer. You get to see more parts of the ship on those that are not open to the public. Those tours fill up in advance though, so if you're ever in the area and thinking to do one definitely book ahead! They also offer a package that includes the paranormal tour plus a 3 course meal at the nicest restaurant on board... We said maybe one day if we go back, we'd do that package.

I'm just going to do a photo dump with comments here.

We had some time to kill before our tours so we did some exploring - we were at the desk about 12:30pm on a Saturday and the earliest we could get was 4:15pm.

Replica of Cabin Class Children's playroom. Classes were not called first, second, and third, they were Cabin, Tourist, and Third class. The Queen Mary did not have a steerage class. This exhibit is where the Cabin class playroom was, but the artwork is from the other classes' playrooms.

This lifesize doll was a gift to a little girl when her family travelled to America via the Queen Mary. I think they said she is in her 90s now and had recently donated the doll to the ship.

Original Cabin class playroom.

First Class Drawing Room original furniture. Winston Churchill used this room as his office when he travelled on the Queen Mary, and the next photo is of him in front of that artwork. This is now a store.

Lego Model!

For size reference:

Lego Mosaic of a Cunard poster, the company that owned the Queen Mary.

And who wouldn't love Lego Winston Churchill? They had a special Churchill exhibit for an extra charge.

There is also a model gallery with many ship models. Some are full scale models, and some are cut in half so you can see the layout of the inside. I didn't take many photos because they didn't come out very well.

This staircase may look familiar...

And we walked around the decks for a bit. It was nice, but a bit windy.

There's a gazebo on the back of the ship now for weddings.

This is the Carnival Cruise Terminal. I was considering posting this and saying they were working on the Wonders of Life Pavillion

I'll leave off here for now!

​

 

[amalone1013]

The Queen Mary 2018
A Two Day Mini TR
Part Three


I'm so behind here! I'm ashamed!

When I left off, we were doing some more exploring on our own before our tours. We visited the isolation ward/sick area, which was down a super creepy set of stairs... Seriously, they looked abandoned!

It was getting close to tour time, so we headed back to the model gallery, as that's where the meeting place was. First we had the Glory Days historical tour, which I would highly recommend as a way to learn about the ship.

We learned that on one of the first crossings, the Queen Mary had a terribly rough trip, to the point they had medics waiting when she docked in New York, because people were being thrown across the hallways and breaking limbs! Even a nice crossing was obviously much rougher than what you experience on a modern cruise trip. So they added hand rails. Plastic hand rails. On a ship that had the best of everything in her time... because plastic was so new, it was terribly expensive and people were extremely impressed with all of the plastic hand rails they added!

This room isn't open to the public, but it was originally the Men's smoking lounge I believe.

And here we have the Travel Bureau, where you could book your next trip!

We had a little more time before our next tour, so we headed back down below and I got my very own creepy ghostly propeller photo.

From when she was in military service.

They were repainting and doing a lot of work, which is good!

On the history tour we learned that this mosaic is made up of all of the woods throughout the ship. It contains a type of wood from each country in the British commonwealth, and the design had something to do with the saying that the sun never sets on the British empire, because they had territories around the world.

We had our next tour, the Haunted Encounters tour. It was fun, but we both agreed we enjoyed the historical one more.

No photos so we'll skip to dinner. We ate at the Chelsea Chowder House, which is where we had eaten last time.

Zack's pasta, some sort of tortellini... They've 100% changed the menu since March!

I got the Mac and Cheese again, but can't find my photo. It wasn't as good as I remembered it being.

Still delicious. I had to get my own because Zack wouldn't share. Oh, the tragedy!

After dinner, we had a few drinks in the observation bar and people watched. There were some interesting folk there and almost every table was taken! I didn't quite expect that. They also had a dj in the corner, though there's not really dancing room because the area is tiered It's a pretty bar with the Art Deco styling.

I had the Passionate Affair ~ grey goose l’orange, cranberry juice, passion fruit syrup, lime; and I think Zack just had a Rum and Coke.

We took a stroll along the deck (and through the halls looking for ghosts) before heading to bed.

​

 

[amalone1013]

The Queen Mary 2018
A Two Day Mini TR
Part Four

The next morning, we had breakfast in the Promenade Cafe on board. There's a Sunday Champagne Brunch I debated doing, but it was something like $70 a person so we passed this time. Maybe some day!

If you've Disney cruised, this probably looks familiar!

BUILD YOUR OWN THREE EGG OMELET $15 choice of four | ham, double smoked bacon, tomatoes, onions, sweet bell peppers, mushrooms, avocado, cheddar cheese, jack cheese, yukon gold breakfast potatoes, choice of toast ~ I don't remember what Zack got in his omelet.

QUEEN MARY CRUNCHY FRENCH TOAST $12 egg battered cornflake brioche, butter, warm maple syrup, powdered sugar

Delicious. I had a side of eggs to balance it out a bit.

After breakfast we gathered our bags and checked them at the bell desk, then took the free shuttle around to the other side of... Long Beach? We wandered along checking things out.

This was a Mystery Dinner Cruise!

This Pirate-y looking vessel...

Was impounded!

Did I mention I forgot my mascara this weekend?
#nomascaradontcare

We spontaneously signed up for a whale watching cruise. It was grey whale migration season!

Passing the Queen Mary on the way out of the harbor. There was another Carnival ship in today. I wish I'd gotten a photo like this with the one from the day before, because it was bigger than that ship. It was pretty interesting to see today's cruise ships next to the Queen Mary! I think that's something I really like about Disney Cruise Line, I love that the ship are styled like the old ocean liners.

I won't torture you with all of my attempts to take photos and videos of the whales. But we saw quite a few! A group of 5 or 6, and another group of 3 or so. It was a two and a half hour cruise and we spent over an hour seeing whales. In the background of this photo is Catalina Island, which is where we'll go next when we time warp back to 2016. Catalina is about 22miles off the coast, and Zack and I were debating if that was it... it seemed crazy to be able to see the island, but there's nothing else between that and the coast. Then we overheard a crew member telling someone that was Catalina, and when you can see it on clear days, that means the water will be very rough.

There were tons of shipping barges waiting outside the harbor to unload. Those things are just massive, and there's so many shipping crates stacked up. Kind of unbelievable.

It got chilly really fast out on the water! My sweatshirt did not cut it, and I ended up freezing. Plus I got sunburned. I didn't even think about it until we were out on the water, and I could feel my face burning

Whale watching boat!

Disney is everywhere.

We stopped at a place called Tequila Jack's for a late lunch. Spicy Mexican food sounded like just the thing to warm us up!

ROJA o VERDE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS $12.95 - stuffed with shredded chicken and topped with Monterey Jack cheese and your CHOICE OF: Red Chile Guajillo or Green Tomatillo cream sauce

COMBINATIONS $14.50 - SERVED WITH MEXICAN RICE, CHOICE OF BLACK OR REFRIED BEANS PLUS MEXICAN CORN PUDDING; Zack had enchiladas and a taco

Everything came with a scoop of corn pudding, which I was interested to try because I'd never even heard of it before @Raeven mentioning her dad making it for the holidays (though obviously this might be different). After a few bites, I still wasn't sure what I thought of it. Zack wouldn't even try it

We skipped dessert because I had my eye on something else I'd spotted earlier...
The Funnel House!

They had funnel cakes, cookies, brownies, ice cream, all sorts of delicious things. There was a line out the door every time we went by, so it had to be good, right?
I had an ice cream cookie sandwich with peanut butter cookies and chocolate ice cream. It was AMAZING.

Zack had a Fresh Made Churro. Which I didn't think much of when reading it on the menu, but when we got to the end I saw they were pulling and twisting the dough by hand through a... churro maker? and frying them to order.

Oh. My. Gosh. Soooooo good. I almost stole the whole thing.

I'm sorry to say, this knocks a Disney churro out of the park in my book
Disney's are good, but's hard to beat fresh made in front of you!

Finally we headed back to the Queen Mary to pick up our bags, and ubered to John Wayne airport. I headed through security to go home while Zack picked up his rental car to head off and do some work. Though he ended up not having as much to do and spending 3/4 of a day at Disneyland, before coming home a day early. I, on the other hand, almost got stuck another night, oh darn! My flight got delayed, and apparently there is a curfew at that airport for planes taking off. I didn't know this until they finally got us on our plane at about 9:45pm (for an 8:30pm flight) and were like, everyone settle in quickly so we can try to make it out of here before 10pm curfew! Thank goodness we made it with about 5 minutes to spare! Just cause if my flight had just been cancelled outright earlier, I could have gone with Zack and at least done Downtown Disney. If we'd been grounded at 10pm, it would have been close to midnight by the time Zack came to get me and we got to his hotel for the night, not to mention the headache of calling work and getting a new flight.



Thanks everyone for indulging my mini TR here!

Soon we will be back to your regularly scheduled programming!

​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We had a little more time before our next tour, so we headed back down below and I got my very own creepy ghostly propeller photo.

Very Titanic Like!

We took a stroll along the deck (and through the halls looking for ghosts) before heading to bed.

Sounded like a great visit!

 

[Jaina]

So many interesting things to do in the CA area that we miss, I think, because we're usually short on time (and funds) and want to do Disney! I think my husband would enjoy if we switched it up a little bit more often... enjoying your trip report, even if it was delayed! And yes, the family drama is fascinating and a little too much how I could see it going if we tried to do a vacation with extended family. We haven't attempted that since we started having our own children. Just way too complicated!

 

[Raeven]

Everything came with a scoop of corn pudding, which I was interested to try because I'd never even heard of it before @Raeven mentioning her dad making it for the holidays (though obviously this might be different). After a few bites, I still wasn't sure what I thought of it. Zack wouldn't even try it

Yeah, that looks really different usually corn dishes that come with mexican food have spices and stuff in them. The one he makes is more like breading/cream cheese etc all baked together.

 

[amalone1013]

Very Titanic Like!

Sounded like a great visit!

It was great for a weekend trip, and not feeling like we needed to rush around and see other things in SoCal!

So many interesting things to do in the CA area that we miss, I think, because we're usually short on time (and funds) and want to do Disney! I think my husband would enjoy if we switched it up a little bit more often... enjoying your trip report, even if it was delayed! And yes, the family drama is fascinating and a little too much how I could see it going if we tried to do a vacation with extended family. We haven't attempted that since we started having our own children. Just way too complicated!

I think when we have children that will be where I draw the line! Unless it's something super simple, like maybe a cruise. So I don't have to find anyone a hotel or a restaurant or activities We also get really focused on Disney! We went just this past April for my brother-in-law's wedding, and spent half a day in San Diego at Balboa Park - I had no idea that park was so large or had so many things going on besides the zoo! I think it'd make an excellent weekend adventure in itself!

Yeah, that looks really different usually corn dishes that come with mexican food have spices and stuff in them. The one he makes is more like breading/cream cheese etc all baked together.

I was telling Zack about yours that day, and I was like this is probably nothing like this at all!

 

[amalone1013]

Catalina Island
Part One

Back to our regularly scheduled programming! We left off on a very late night before an early morning, which some were claiming they didn’t know about. But we all made it up and over to the ferry terminal on time. And saved our $100 from our Costco gift card run at the beginning of the trip.

​

Wow, I didn’t realize how bad the Queen Mary was really looking at that time!

Little did I know that someday I’d be exploring here!

It took just over an hour to reach Catalina. For a bit you couldn’t see anything in front or behind us.

One of the best parts about Catalina might have been that everyone felt okay to split up : We picked out a little cafe and had breakfast with Zack’s parents. I remember nothing really except that it was very busy and I got this chili omelet. Beyond that for food, I don’t know. Did we eat anywhere else on the island? I have no recollection and no photos. We didn’t leave until 5:30pm!

ETA: I'm remembering now there was a cruise ship here this day, it's not in my photos because they had to tender in. But some lines stop at Catalina on their West Coast itineraries. I believe it'd be a lot less busy on a non-port day.

​

After that we strolled the main street and checked out a few shops. Tile work is a big part of the history here, from what I recall. I remember there was a thing where you could go make your own tile and learn about the history, and they mailed your finished tile to you. I didn’t get that reserved ahead of time… it’s not really Zack’s thing, but I’d look into it if we went back! There were also golf cart rentals, and you could take them around the island to some scenic overlooks. I remember there were some streets that are golf cart traffic only. As we ended up, we just chilled and took everything in, which wasn’t a bad thing!

I creepily took a photo of this kid measuring the fish he caught off the pier…

We did decide to take a ride…

We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine…

It looked pretty technical inside.

Is anyone having flashbacks to the Submarine Voyage in Disneyland?


We got settled and headed out into the mysterious fathoms below…

I’m on a roll here, guys. I apologize!


As we got farther out, the fish obviously recognize the boat...

​

I’m looking for my son, Nemo...

And the reason the fish were so interested in our vessel… is because they loaded up everyone’s seat with so many shots of fish food. Yeah, we’re not really that interesting. Everyone’s always there for the food! A feeding frenzy ensued!

Until we ran out.

But why is the rum gone?

I’ll admit I was weirdly fascinated with this guy, who was missing a chunk out of his back. I’m a horrible person!

Eventually we made it back from our harrowing journey. And we didn’t run out of air :

Either before or after our trip, Little J and Big J went parasailing… which means that until they got in the boat, Little J called Zack a "cat" repeatedly for not going parasailing (the Dis does not approve either!). Yeah, parasailing was only like $200 or so, no big deal when your parents are covering it, kid.


Plus I always think of Jurassic Park 3.

At some point, we made our way towards the casino.

I think I can translate this for you…

This way to lose all of your money!

Oh, not that type of casino? Well, is there illicit gambling going on in celebraton of the Tuna Clubhouse’s centennial?

No, just a statue of The Leaping Tuna...

More tile work...

​

 

[amalone1013]

Catalina Island
Part Two

On to the Casino!

There are tours of the Casino, which I would highly recommend. It was $10 or $12 a person in 2016, I believe. I would head over here early, earlier than we did, as the tours do book up. We went over with Zack’s parents and aunt, and we got the last two tickets! I felt a bit bad that we went without them, but apparently not bad enough to not go… I’m a bad daughter in law, I guess. Though it lends to how much I recommend a tour!

Time for some island history. For most of the 1900s, the island was owned by the Wrigleys, yes, of the chewing gum and baseball field. They built Catalina Casino, casino as in italian for gathering place. The main floor housed a large theatre, the first built for movies with sound, and the upper floor is the world’s largest circular ballroom. At one time, it was very popular to take the ferry across for a night of dancing. It’s also an architectural feat because it is cantilevered out over the water. One feature I found amusing is that it has large ramps up to the dance floor level, just like at Wrigley field, because the Wrigleys had figured out that was a much more efficient way to move a large group of people vs stairs. Today it is a tourist attraction, movies are still shown in the theatre, and events take place in the dance hall. It also is a shelter for the island’s population, and stores two weeks of supplies for the year-round island population.

Now you’ve learned something for the day

This is from the hall outside the theatre

Theatre:

​

Another fun fact: a lot of the gold paint on the ceiling is actually 24k gold, if I remember correctly.

Dance Hall:

Coat Check!


The views off the upper deck were amazing.

More tile!

Up on the hill is the former Wrigley Mansion, now a bed and breakfast.

I had a new camera on this trip, where you could use your phone as a remote for photos. Sometimes it’s handy, sometimes it’s hard to position, and it’s always hard to not awkwardly hold your phone in the photo.

As we headed back to the ferry, Zack’s mom decided she needed my camera so she could take some pictures of us.

I don’t know what’s going on here.

Then she had me sit on Zack’s knee.

Which just goes to show you that no matter how old you get, your parents like to make you do weird/awkward poses for photos.

And then this guy was hanging out while people waited for the ferry.

Eventually we boarded…

Goodbye Catalina! Til next time!

Catalina would make a great weekend getaway, I think... *gears start turning* I do remember most hotels on the island had a two night minimum.

Zack had thought we should sit up on the very top deck of the ferry on the way back for the view. And his dad and I followed… what were we thinking? It was so cold and we got covered in salt from the spray! And really, after the last photo, the next thing I remember is…

Yeah, I fell asleep on the way back…

That’s the end of my photos for the day. What happened next was, we got the cars and drove to our hotel in Anaheim. We got checked in at the hotel, did the after hours drop off at Alamo, and walked to Downtown Disney for dinner. And everyone was grumpy. But really, it was a farther walk than we were remembering, and getting late, and people were hungry. And we ended up at Rainforest Cafe, which has now been removed from my list of places to eat on vacation. I’m over it, I’ve had it plenty! So I was not terribly excited for that, but we were overall not the most fun table for our server, I’m sure. But we survived dinner and the walk back, and I think Little J was too tired to even be much of a pain!

We drug ourselves into bed, and were probably out before our heads hit the pillows.




Next up Disneyland!
Like everyone has actually been waiting for!
​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

All of your photos look beautiful!

 

[Jaina]

Balboa Park is awesome! We checked it out a couple years ago too and I really liked it!

But yes, we're excited for Disneyland!! ;-)

 

[amalone1013]

All of your photos look beautiful!

Thanks!

Balboa Park is awesome! We checked it out a couple years ago too and I really liked it!

But yes, we're excited for Disneyland!! ;-)

I had no idea there were so many little museums and things to see around Balboa Park! And they were advertising a pass to get you into everything at a reasonable price! I'm keeping it in my mind for a weekend getaway, maybe this winter when we're tired of CO snow...

On to Disney! I'm trying to get ahead and get it all typed up so my updates aren't so spaced out!

 

[amalone1013]

Sooooo... I started a PTR. For our next two trips.

Because when you're already juggling two trip reports, why not?

And who knows, it could grow to include more...



So if you'd like, join me in...

Let's Do That Again! plus a Dreamy Surprise Cruise​

 

[pepperandchips]

Next up Disneyland!

Yay! Well, maybe we've all been waiting for Disneyland but seeing some of the other sights has been fun! Catalina looks beautiful. Thanks for taking us all along!

 

[amalone1013]

Disney's California Adventure
Part One

My phone is reminding me that On This Day in 2016, was the last day of this trip… so it seems like a good time for an update!

Ok, my Disneyland details are going to be a tad fuzzy, since this was almost two years ago to the date. The general feeling is we had a good time, of course, and some standout stories of how Little J was acting.

Everyone was doing the first two days with us, and then going off to do their own thing and head home earlier than us. Zack and I would have 3 days alone at Disney too! So with that in mind, I don’t tend to take as many park photos when we’re with a group, so the first two days will be lighter in photos.

We started with California Adventure. I really like the idea of always starting a trip with Disneyland/Magic Kingdom (depending on the coast), but this day was a Magic Morning day for Disneyland. For those not familiar, if you stay in a Disney hotel in California you get Magic Mornings, so basically 3 days a week Disneyland opens an hour early, and 3 other days California Adventure opens early. On top of hotel guests, anyone who buys a 3 day or longer ticket can get into a Disneyland Magic Morning once. Since everyone else just had two day tickets, we avoided the Magic Morning days.

It was about a 10-15 minute walk from our hotel to the plaza between the parks. I guess we were pretty on time for park open at 8am, since my first photo was at 8:01am.

Even California Adventure was in on the 60th decorations!

Carthay Circle Restaurant. We ate here in April and it was AMAZING.

The first thing we did was grab Radiator Springs Racers FPs. This was still old school FP machines, before MaxPass came along. I think Zack and I got them for everyone, then met them at the bathrooms in Grizzly Peak. I would shake my head at an immediate bathroom stop - that is about my least favorite use of time... but I had to go too.

Then I think we jumped in line for Soarin’ which said was a 30min wait 15min into park open, but I think we were back out in 25min total.

Then we headed for the no-longer California Screamin’ which wasn’t showing up on our apps with a wait time and had us a bit concerned… as it should because it was down

Since we were in the area, we headed for Toy Story MIDWAY Mania (I think it’s weird that they took out the Midway part in WDW ). This always seems like it has a really long line out at DLR, and I think it might have said 40min already at this point. Sz balked at this ride, asking what it was… um, the coolest interactive shooting ride ever?

Well, she was not impressed and she decided that they (Big J, Little J) didn’t want to do it. I believe they went off to do Tower of Terror standby while we jumped in line. Also a ride that was lower than the posted wait time, since I have a photo of Mr Potatohead at 8:45am and our scores at 9:18am.

Zack ALWAYS wins

I think we met everyone back over by Soarin’ to get a FP for it; since it was about time for our RSR FP window to open we wanted to pull our next one before going over to the ride. This is a good strategy for the paper FP system, which a lot of you probably remember if you were going to WDW before FP+... but if you’re going to Disneyland now, you should totally pay the extra $10pp per day for MaxPass, it is fantastic!

Grizzly River Run looks so mysterious with all of the mist!

Zack always argues that Grizzly Peak should be considered one of the mountains, because the Rapids go through it.

We headed to Cars Land, which I love. It’s just got every detail from the movie. I have a million more photos from the other days

Sorry Test Track, RSR beats you every time!

While we were there, we also rode Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters. This had been closed and was being reimagined when we were there in 2015. It’s a cute little ride. I think some in our party were less than impressed.

Definitely check this out if you're here. There's lots of little things in the office

Love the details!

So after this, Little J decided he was just starving and wasting away and needed to eat. I remember we were annoyed by this, so I’m thinking they must have also stopped for breakfast while we were on Midway Mania, and now Little J needed a second full breakfast platter… This probably makes us sound like terrible people, but you’ve already had a few stories of his behavior on this trip and I’ve got a few more to come!

Anyways, we stopped at Flo’s and since we were there, I grabbed a dessert I wanted to try:

Chocolate Mud Pie-O-Rama

I remember this being really sweet. So if you’re a fan of disgustingly chocolately sweet things, you’ll enjoy it

If I’m remembering correctly, the next thing we did was head back to Soarin’ to use our FP. I think we probably grabbed a ToT FP on the way. We got through the ride, but when we came out Zack had a voicemail from Alamo asking when we were going to return our rental. Ummm… we did after hours drop off the night before? And Alamo is literally next to Alpine Inn, where we were staying, so we had even seen the car in the lot as we walked by on our way to the parks that morning…

So this was just one of what had been many stressful situations on the trip, but this one was worse because of the whole rental car thing. Zack gets on the phone with them, and in the meantime Big J and Sz keep asking and asking and asking What are we going to do next? What should we do? Where do we go? Even though we kept trying to shuffle them off to go do something, like go ride something while we deal with this! But nope, they wouldn’t do that, so we finally hopped back into the standby line for Soarin’, which was 60min at that point… and every bit of 60min. Plus don’t you want to argue with a rental company while in an outdoor queue line at a theme park? Zack spent almost the whole hour on the phone with them, getting put on hold, getting called back after a few mins, etc. I don’t know where the signals got crossed because they just kept telling us it’s not here. Even though we kept telling them we’d seen it BOXED IN in the tiny lot that morning! Eventually it ended with a, we’ll call you back again… But I don’t think they ever did, we called later and they said it had been figured out and was fine, and we watched but never had any extra charges show up or anything.

This whole time in line, Little J is being AWFUL. Bugging people around us, they’re glaring at us, hanging on the queue line. He was way too old for this, even 2 years ago. And especially to old to keep it up after being told to stop. You know, when he was told to stop by Big J/Sz, so aka not often. At one point he was going on and on about being thirsty, so Sz gives him money to go to the drink cart outside the line for 2 bottles of water.


What does he come back with?



A Monster drink.



And just that, because of course you can only get one of those for the price of 2 bottles of water.


Now if my future children pull a stunt like that, the drink is going in the trash unopened. I just think that’s pretty ridiculous… And Sz’s reaction was to go on and on about how dare he do that, she told him not to get that, and he was in so much trouble! While he ignored her and drank the energy drink. And that’s not even getting into anything with kids having energy drinks… Personally I’m just not a fan of them period and I even bug Zack when he has them occasionally, but that’s just my feelings so I won’t get into that.

This is a bad behavior story we still talk about with Zack’s parents. Maybe I sound really harsh and obviously don’t have children of my own yet, so hopefully I’m not offending anyone here. But now, 2 years later, this kid is turning 14 and completely out of control and they just don’t know why or what to do… and I would fall into the camp of never having any repsonsibility or consequences IN HIS LIFE being a part of that! And it would be different if this was a one-off thing, but even now when we see the kid, you’ll probably see at least 6 wrong things he’s doing in less than a couple hours. Things like 14 and sticking his fingers in someone’s birthday cake… sorry, but give me a break!

This last weekend I was home and my cousin’s wife was showing me some funny videos about teaching done by a school principal… one of them he kept saying, “Parent! It’s a verb”

So finally we got on the ride, thank goodness, because after everything Little J was doing in line we were getting death glares from everyone around us...

To be continued...
*dramatic music*​

 

[Lesley Wake]

I think we met everyone back over by Soarin’ to get a FP for it; since it was about time for our RSR FP window to open we wanted to pull our next one before going over to the ride. This is a good strategy for the paper FP system, which a lot of you probably remember if you were going to WDW before FP+... but if you’re going to Disneyland now, you should totally pay the extra $10pp per day for MaxPass, it is fantastic!

Oh I remember those days... so much ping-ponging across the parks to get the FPs!

Zack always argues that Grizzly Peak should be considered one of the mountains, because the Rapids go through it.

I could get on board with that.

This whole time in line, Little J is being AWFUL. Bugging people around us, they’re glaring at us, hanging on the queue line. He was way too old for this, even 2 years ago. And especially to old to keep it up after being told to stop. You know, when he was told to stop by Big J/Sz, so aka not often. At one point he was going on and on about being thirsty, so Sz gives him money to go to the drink cart outside the line for 2 bottles of water.


What does he come back with?



A Monster drink.



And just that, because of course you can only get one of those for the price of 2 bottles of water.


Now if my future children pull a stunt like that, the drink is going in the trash unopened. I just think that’s pretty ridiculous… And Sz’s reaction was to go on and on about how dare he do that, she told him not to get that, and he was in so much trouble! While he ignored her and drank the energy drink. And that’s not even getting into anything with kids having energy drinks… Personally I’m just not a fan of them period and I even bug Zack when he has them occasionally, but that’s just my feelings so I won’t get into that.

Yeah, that just sounds horrible!

 

[Raeven]

If I’m remembering correctly, the next thing we did was head back to Soarin’ to use our FP. I think we probably grabbed a ToT FP on the way. We got through the ride, but when we came out Zack had a voicemail from Alamo asking when we were going to return our rental. Ummm… we did after hours drop off the night before? And Alamo is literally next to Alpine Inn, where we were staying, so we had even seen the car in the lot as we walked by on our way to the parks that morning…

Ugh that sounds frustrating.

This is a bad behavior story we still talk about with Zack’s parents. Maybe I sound really harsh and obviously don’t have children of my own yet, so hopefully I’m not offending anyone here. But now, 2 years later, this kid is turning 14 and completely out of control and they just don’t know why or what to do…

This sounds a lot like my brother. He never had consequences for his actions as a kid, so as an teenager/adult he's been a bit of a nightmare. He's calmed down a bit recently, and I can only hope he's finally growing up a little.

 

[pepperandchips]

I would shake my head at an immediate bathroom stop - that is about my least favorite use of time... but I had to go too

This is why our families give us die-hard disney people crap so guilty of this too. R and I had a fight once on a trip early on when we first started dating because I told him not to use the potties by SSE in Epcot. I mean, I think they're the grossest, most often-used ones ever, AND it was backtracking, but of course I'm sure I was being an insufferable know it all so now I try to keep my mouth shut when nature calls to any of my family

I think we met everyone back over by Soarin’ to get a FP for it; since it was about time for our RSR FP window to open we wanted to pull our next one before going over to the ride. This is a good strategy for the paper FP system, which a lot of you probably remember if you were going to WDW before FP+... but if you’re going to Disneyland now, you should totally pay the extra $10pp per day for MaxPass, it is fantastic

Sooooo jealous. This made me start scheming ways to get back to Disneyland...

Love the details!

I do too, and am so jealous of your gorgeous blue skies!!!

Chocolate Mud Pie-O-Rama

I remember this being really sweet. So if you’re a fan of disgustingly chocolately sweet things, you’ll enjoy it

Who's got two thumbs and would probably like the mud pie??? THIS GAL!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I would shake my head at an immediate bathroom stop - that is about my least favorite use of time... but I had to go too.

So, I quoted this thinking I would say, Don't have kids then, cause Gwen has to go to the bathroom ALL the time!!! ALL the Time!!! But maybe Lil J is deterring you all by himself!

While we were there, we also rode Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters. This had been closed and was being reimagined when we were there in 2015. It’s a cute little ride. I think some in our party were less than impressed.

We loved this ride. So cute. I mean it's not a thrill ride, but so fun!

Sorry Test Track, RSR beats you every time!

Totally Agree!!! I feel the same when comparing Grizzly Bear Run with Kali River Rapids.

While he ignored her and drank the energy drink. And that’s not even getting into anything with kids having energy drinks… Personally I’m just not a fan of them period and I even bug Zack when he has them occasionally, but that’s just my feelings so I won’t get into that.

Energy Drinks are not good for anyone, let alone kids! I mean we all eat and drink crap but energy drinks can be dangerous to drink!

 

[amalone1013]

Oh I remember those days... so much ping-ponging across the parks to get the FPs!

I felt like I didn't know what to do with myself in April! So much extra time too when you're not running for FPs!

Yeah, that just sounds horrible!

I really like kids, and I have trouble being around him.

This sounds a lot like my brother. He never had consequences for his actions as a kid, so as an teenager/adult he's been a bit of a nightmare. He's calmed down a bit recently, and I can only hope he's finally growing up a little.

Ugh. I hope he gets better, but at the last family get together Sz started randomly dumping on Zacks dad about how they think he's doing drugs with his friends...

Who's got two thumbs and would probably like the mud pie??? THIS GAL!

This is why our families give us die-hard disney people crap so guilty of this too. R and I had a fight once on a trip early on when we first started dating because I told him not to use the potties by SSE in Epcot. I mean, I think they're the grossest, most often-used ones ever, AND it was backtracking, but of course I'm sure I was being an insufferable know it all so now I try to keep my mouth shut when nature calls to any of my family

I was trying to be really good on this trip and the wedding trip with everyone. Really, Zacks parents and aunt are good sports and easy to drag around the parks. The only thing I do hate is that his mom and aunt both smoke, so we spend a good bit of time backtracking to the smoking areas

So, I quoted this thinking I would say, Don't have kids then, cause Gwen has to go to the bathroom ALL the time!!! ALL the Time!!! But maybe Lil J is deterring you all by himself!

Kids are different though! Maybe I should just clarify, those in control over their bladders... since everyone other than us and Lil J were over 40 on this trip... but also not too far on the other end of the spectrum! It does drive me a little batty when you must stop every 100 ft somewhere for a bathroom with a group of adults.
Lil J is deterring in a completely different way...

Energy Drinks are not good for anyone, let alone kids! I mean we all eat and drink crap but energy drinks can be dangerous to drink!

Agreed!! They are terrible. I nag Zack when he has them.