Lucky Kid visits the Happiest Place on Earth **COMPLETED**

[Lyn-CA]

Thanks for joining us in reliving our 10 magical days at the Happiest Place on Earth. This turned out to be our best trip to Disneyland yet for lots of reasons-33 to be exact-hint, hint

Who are we? Well, there’s me, Lyn, mommy to our 3 year old DS who shall henceforth be called Lucky Kid or L.K. for short.

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Why and how you ask is he so called lucky? Well, I'll tell you why. This little tyke went to WDW for his first ever vacation last January when he was 2.5 years old. Then his Disney-obsessed parental units (mainly me) decided we might as well visit Disneyland too. [Although, looking back now, it turns out that we have always followed up a WDW vacation with a Disneyland vacation in the same year.] So, at the ripe old age of 3, DS has been to Disney at both coasts so yeah, I would most definitely consider him lucky.

Lastly, there’s Daddy Rob who enjoys our Disney vacation immensely because I do all the work and planning and he just shows up. Ha!

As with all trips, we start with my least favorite part-flying down and all that comes with it: hurrying up and waiting at the airport; dealing with TSA; being totally grossed out walking shoeless through security; waiting to claim bags, etc. I shouldn't complain though because it sure beats driving. If you must know, I can only do 2-3 hours driving max or else I get car fever.

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I should also mention that while we were in line for security, L.K. uttered words that no parent wants to hear at that very moment "I gotta go pee." I told L.K. to hold it until we reach the bathroom and lo and behold L.K. grabs his winkie because I did tell him to "hold it." I rephrased and told him to wait to pee until we got to el bano.

We arrived at John Wayne airport and as soon as we exited, L.K. announces that he has to go potty. I had to run him to the nearest bathroom while carrying his car seat. I remind myself that it’s moments like this that make the trip more memorable. Right! We retrieved our bags and walked to the taxi stand. This is right about when we were struck by how hot and humid it was. We used the car seat during the cab ride to the Grand. No bell hops offered to help with our bags so we lugged them all in ourselves.

Checking in took some time as I used a bunch of Disney gift cards to pay off the balance so L.K. and Rob watched cartoons in the meantime.

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I asked for a first visit button for L.K. and a birthday button for myself. Not wanting Rob to feel left out, the CM asked him which button he would like. I jokingly asked her if they had one that says "I'm tired" since Rob works hard and gets little sleep. She laughed and said no and gave Rob the "I'm Celebrating" button. I said that'll work. Rob's celebrating that he's not at work.

Our room was ready so we go to check it out, however, we were given the wrong bed type. Back to reception we go where we were given a bunk bed room as we originally requested. L.K. got to climb up the top bunk but he slept in a crib that we rented.

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It was L.K.'s naptime but he was too wired for a nap so we then had a late lunch at Whitewater Snacks. We shared the nachos with chicken and beef and the carnitas burger which were delish.

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It was hard to concentrate on eating because we could hear sounds from the park just a few feet away.

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Finally, we entered DCA using our brand new APs. We stopped briefly to watch the end of Minnie’s Fly Girls and then we took a picture with Minnie.

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L.K. “needed” his Mickey bar for dessert so we bought one and hung out by the fountain.

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Here’s L.K. totally content with his Mickey bar with not a care in the world.

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Did I mention that it was hot? I mean, I wasn't moving and I was sweating. I much prefer to just glisten versus sweat but today I was way past the glistening stage. Yuck.

Five and Dime showed up so we watched their set.

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Dime picked out Rob from the crowd but Rob was too shy and declined. He used the excuse that he was videotaping.

To be continued...

 

[Lyn-CA]

We left DCA and stopped by the ticket booths to get our actual APs. I asked the CM about how long the wait is and he said under 10 minutes. There were 4 booths open, 3 in the shade and 1 in the sun. Guess which one we ended up in? Yup, the one in the blazing hot sun and just our luck, the transaction took a long time. The CM had to get a supervisor to help her finish the transaction. She told me the system changed over so they all had to learn the new system. All I cared about was to go and get cool somewhere. Finally, she handed us our APs and into Disneyland we went.

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We looked up and saw this.

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Rob got excited and unrealistically optimistic and headed up the train station to ask if we can ride the Lilly Belle. He was of course told no but at least they gave him good advice for future attempts.

On the agenda was to ride the attractions that were closing for refurbishment after today.

We were greeted with the Soundsational parade as we headed down Main Street. I jokingly told Rob that Disneyland was so happy to have us back that they threw a parade in our honor to welcome us. We claimed a piece of sidewalk real estate and parked our blessed assurances. We were on the sunny side of the street so it was hot but oh, here comes Mickey and Minnie-wave, wave.

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Aladdin came by and when we had eye contact, I blew him a kiss. He caught it and put it in his pocket. Swoon.

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L.K. was enjoying the parade but he was hot so Rob decided to pour water on his head to cool him off. L.K. thought it was fun to get wet that way.

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Once we saw the end of the parade, we high tailed it to the petting zoo. I must confess here and now that neither Rob nor myself even knew that there was a petting zoo at Disneyland. Since it was closing after today which is Labor Day, it became a “must do” for L.K.

On the way there, we stopped briefly so we could show L.K. these ancient artifacts also known as pay phones.

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When we turned the corner, we were pleasantly surprised to see our favorite Hillbillies.

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We were able to catch the last 2 songs and we were glad that we saw them even briefly. They did announce that they would be on vacation and returning the day after we leave.

We explored Miss Chris’ cabin first then L.K. got his fill of petting the goats.

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The whole time we were at Big Thunder Ranch, I would turn to Rob every so often and ask, "Did you know this was here?"

Next, we rode the carousel since it was slated for refurbishment as well.

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It was right around dinner time so we decided to take the monorail to Downtown Disney. We asked if we could ride up front but they said they weren't allowing rides up front as it was just too hot. I was looking forward to an air-conditioned monorail but they just had the windows open and that was it.

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We originally had reservations at Catals but since I didn’t receive my birthday coupon in time, we switched to Ralph Brennan’s.

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We usually prefer to dine up at the balcony but it was too dang hot to even consider anything but inside seating with A/C.

We enjoyed the risotto and appetizer sampler while L.K. had pasta.

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Here is the main deciding factor that led us here. Chocolate bread pudding souffle!!!

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I mean, c’mon, you’d be crazy not to order it, just look at it! Better yet, eat it!

Our server was so sweet she also brought out beignets for my birthday.

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L.K.'s post-dessert indulgence look.

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We headed back to the Grand and went from the sweltering heat outside to to the freezing cold lobby. I christened the lobby the "icebox" as it was icy cold each time I stepped into it but once we got to our stop on the 4th floor, it was fine.

Next came the moment that L.K. has been (not so) patiently waiting for…swim time!

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What a welcome relief to be in the water with this heat. If L.K. had his way, we would've spent every minute of this vacation in the pool. I promised him that he would have swim time each day. I do regret leaving his puddle jumper at home when he could’ve really enjoyed using it but he was able to make do with the life vests provided at the Grand.

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Skipping our nap earlier turned out to be a bad idea because we got overtired and discombobulated to where Rob accidentally threw out L.K.'s aqua football in the towel return bin and I left and lost L.K.'s flip flops somewhere in the pool area.

After swimming, we had our rented crib brought up to the room then we cleaned up and went to bed. Sometime after turning in, we heard and felt thumping bass but we had no idea where it was emanating from. We also discovered that the water had been turned off but we were too tired to do anything about it. Needless to say, we did not have a great first night. We later addressed these issues with Guest Services and they did right by us and gave us a credit.

 

[beckykarstetter]

DS will be 3 in October and we take our first trip in December. I am so enjoying your trip report. You like to eat a much a I do! We are staying at the DLH and am looking forward to seeing what you thought of that as well as how that lucky kid of yours did on all the different rides. (I had to look up what the "puddle jumpers" were because I'd never heard of them. I live in Alaska, what can I say?)

 

[Lyn-CA]

DS will be 3 in October and we take our first trip in December. I am so enjoying your trip report. You like to eat a much a I do! We are staying at the DLH and am looking forward to seeing what you thought of that as well as how that lucky kid of yours did on all the different rides. (I had to look up what the "puddle jumpers" were because I'd never heard of them. I live in Alaska, what can I say?)

Hello and welcome! Thanks for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Yes, I live to eat and I wouldn't have it any other way.

We liked the DLH but we kinda got spoiled with the convenience of the Grand to DCA. DH said we should have stayed at DLH first and then transferred to the Grand. Oh well.

I'll try to cover L.K.'s reaction to the different rides as much as I can remember.

I shall resume the rest of the report soon. I got detoured posting food pictures on the Disneyland food thread.

We are planning to go back in December as we're trying to make the most of our APs. Whereabouts in December is your trip going to be?

 

[lucysmom]

I caught your posts on the food thread. Had to come find your trip report. Loving it!

 

[teacherlisa1978]

I wanted to let you know I'm following along eagerly. We leave for DLR in just 26 days with our own 3 year old Lucky Kid. He did WDW at age 2.5 and now it will be off to Anaheim! We are staying at PPH. Your pictures are great and getting me very excited! I definitely had to laugh about getting discombobulated after skipping a nap-it really gets to everyone in the family doesn't it?

Looking forward to reading more!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[DisneytheKid]

Loving your trip report so far! Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[Lyn-CA]

I caught your posts on the food thread. Had to come find your trip report. Loving it!

Glad to hear it. More to come real soon.

 

[Lyn-CA]

I wanted to let you know I'm following along eagerly. We leave for DLR in just 26 days with our own 3 year old Lucky Kid. He did WDW at age 2.5 and now it will be off to Anaheim! We are staying at PPH. Your pictures are great and getting me very excited! I definitely had to laugh about getting discombobulated after skipping a nap-it really gets to everyone in the family doesn't it?

Looking forward to reading more!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Yay, more readers.

I shall post more very soon. I just had an unusually busy week. It was my birthday on Friday, then my sister's birthday on Saturday. Then, one of my dearest friends' husband passed away at 43! so I've been scrambling to tend to her needs and looking for pictures of us from back in the day, etc.

I should have the entire report finished before you leave for your trip. Now, you got me in a time crunch It's all good though. I want to finish it because I want to read it too

 

[Lyn-CA]

Loving your trip report so far! Looking forward to hearing more!

You shan't wait long. Day 2 is on its way. Thanks for reading along.

 

[Lyn-CA]

Our first order of business is to get breakfast at Earl of Sandwich. We love this early morning walk through an empty Downtown Disney. We took time to admire the Lego creations.

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We get there and we’re told that they had to delay opening on time as they had a large catering job. To make up for it, we were given free entrées and OJ and ended up paying under five bucks for everything.

After breakfast, we made it to pre-opening. It was already hot and humid.

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We passed the time waiting in line by taking random pics. Hey look, we’re the Keen family.

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We get to Main Street and sadly there was no parade for us today

We were held again at the hub then it was off to Fantasyland.

Our first ride of the day is Peter Pan. L.K. didn't like this ride because of the dark. Unlike when he was 2.5 years old at WDW, L.K. is now aware of the concepts of 'dark' and 'scary' so lo and behold, the rides he enjoyed at WDW are now “one and done.”

This brings to mind the parents on the DIS, particularly on the Disney with Families thread, who ask what a good age is to bring their kids to a Disney park, whether DL or WDW. My personal opinion is that anytime is a good time to go to Disney. Just be aware that around age 3, your toddler (if s/he is anything like ours) may not be into riding the dark/indoor rides which is what most of them are in Fantasyland. Come to think of it, most of the kiddie rides had parts that had you in complete darkness so I can see how it can be scary for the wee ones. It also helps if you are repeat visitors to the Disney Parks by the time you bring your toddlers. This way, you won’t feel like you are missing out when they happen to be at that age where they don’t like dark/indoor rides.

OK, now back to our story.

Our next ride was Pinocchio and again L.K. was scared because it was dark. He was a trooper though. We told him that we’ll do a ride once and if he didn’t like it, we won’t ride it again. He kept his end of the bargain and tried all the rides once and we kept our part and didn't repeat most of the indoor rides in Fantasyland.

L.K. was thankful that we rode Dumbo next. He loves Dumbo because, you guessed it, it wasn’t dark. We continued with the non-dark rides and did the Teacups and Alice in succession.

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I reminded Rob that now’s a good time to try and sign up for the Lilly Belle. L.K. and I stayed by the Partner’s statue while Rob headed to the train station.

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It was fun watching all the people take pictures in this iconic spot. When Rob came back, he had good news and bad news. The bad news was that it was another scorcher today so there were no rides on the Lilly Belle today. The good news is he picked up a huge blueberry muffin and waters for us to snack on. L.K. went to town on that muffin and he must’ve ate the whole thing and left a nibble for each of us.

We headed to Fantasy Faire and explored the new area. We ended up waiting for the Princesses’ meet and greet for 45 mins. It was a sloooow moving line and we debated throughout whether we should stay put or go do something else. We waited it out and when it was our turn, we breezed right through. L.K. got so excited talking with each princess and he instinctively knew how to turn on the charm.

When Ariel asked him who his favorite princess is, he quickly replied, “you.” Ariel was so tickled that she asked L.K. for a hug.

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I wasn’t about to reveal to Ariel that he said the same thing to Cindy next door when she asked him the same exact question.

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I loved our timing during this entire trip. We just seemed to catch the shows at just the right time. As we exited the meet and greet, the Tangled show was just about to start so we grabbed some seats. L.K. and I sat up front while Daddy Rob opted for the benches and he videotaped the show from there.

Next on our agenda was to see if L.K. can pilot the Mark Twain. We lucked out and ta-da!

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What a treat. L.K. took to it like he piloted paddlewheelers on a regular basis. He kept saying I have to turn so I don’t hit the trees. Daddy got to pull on the horn and bell as well so both my boys were happy happy happy.

Lunch today was at Big Thunder Ranch. We loved it here despite getting lost on the way here and ending up at Splash Mountain and having to backtrack. There were only a handful of diners so we received prompt service. We also got a lot attention from the entertainers, one of whom was Texas Tumbleweed aka Billy Banjo. Needless to say, we ate way too much of the yummy food.

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We decided that now’s a good time as any to get our pictures taken for our APs. We figured all the food we ate weighed us down that we really didn’t have the energy to do anything more strenuous than stand still for a picture.

We went to the camera shop where we encountered some nice and friendly CMs. We enjoyed chatting with a bunch of them. I especially appreciated how they had me stand in one particular spot where the fan was blowing cold air because did I mention it was hot?

The photopass gal told us that she would take our pictures but that they’ve been having issues and so the pictures may or may not come out. We took our chances and got our pictures taken. When it was L.K.’s turn, his 3-year old temperament would have none of it. He refused to cooperate and turned away from the camera. Rob resorted to bribing him with a lollipop if he got his picture taken and it worked. After we reviewed our photopass pictures, we headed to Candy Palace. I looked at the lollipop selections and said no way am I giving him that much sugar. I steered L.K. towards the cookies instead (not that they have any less sugar mind you).

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He remembered saying earlier that Ariel was his favorite princess, so he picked an Ariel cookie.

We walked down by the flag pole and sat on a bench while L.K. enjoyed the cookie. Thankfully, he only ate a bit and gave up on it.

We saw the fire engine parked there waiting for passengers so we hopped on.

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L.K. got to ring the bell. Between this and piloting the Mark Twain, L.K. was feeling like a CM and doing all this fun work at DL. He did bonk his head on the rail from too much excitement. When we got to our stop, I wanted to catch the Omnibus next but since there were no other passengers, we made a round trip on the fire engine. The CM joked and said we must love driving at the top speed of 5 mph that we just had to ride again.

We went to the fire station next. It must be said here and now that this is by far L.K.’s favorite attraction and if had his way, he would stay put right there and be totally content.

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So, fair warning to other parents whose toddlers are into fire trucks, you will get to know the fire station intimately. This had to be our most visited and photographed attraction on our entire trip.

L.K. explored every nook and cranny. He slid down the pole numerous times. He rang the bell. He rode in the front and back of the engine. He loved being there so much that every time we passed by the fire station, he insisted on paying a visit. We told him that we will make time when we could.

We managed to pry L.K. out of there with the help of the Hook and Ladder band. We were able to enjoy the show as we were front and center. I loved how they incorporated different characters in their show-Cruella, Chip and Dale, Goofy, etc.

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When the trombone player told the joke about the 105 year old celebrating her birthday, it tickled me something funny and I guffawed, yes guffawed. Later, he came by and said he appreciated the laugh. We got to talking with him a good while.

One of the things we loved doing on this trip is purposely seeking out the live entertainment and then talking with the talented performers after their set. Most of them are not only immensely talented but very personable as well.

Next on the itinerary was L.K.'s other most favorite activity-swimming. He’s like Superman in a phone booth when he changes into his swim gear. If only we can change his other clothes at that lightning speed, especially in the mornings when we’re aiming for rope drop.

It was the hottest part of the day and so the water temp in the pool was uncomfortably warm. And don’t even think about walking around barefoot on the pavement as it was burn-the-bottom-of-your-feet hot.

Did I mention it was hot?

Even though L.K. wanted to stay in the pool longer, we dragged him up to the room and we all took a nap, a glorious one at that.

L.K. awoke right around dinner time so we got ready and walked to Fiddler, Fifer and Practical aka Starbucks. We bought the pre-made sandwiches and salad that were just so-so.

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Good thing we made up for the lackluster dinner with yummy treats from Clarabelles just a few feet away.

Lucky me, I got to enjoy this beauty while father and son shared their beloved mint chip ice cream.

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We made a quick must-stop.

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Finally, we headed to Carsland.

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We took our time and just soaked in all the sights, smells, and sounds. We took loads of pictures and had one taken with Mater.

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We hung out by Flo’s because L.K. loved playing amongst the oil cans. He could’ve stayed there the rest of the night.

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Just then, Sh-Boom came on followed by the neon lights and Rob and I got Disney-giddy.

We had to retake all the pictures now that the neon lights were on.

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We did the Mater ride which L.K. didn’t like because when it spun fast, one of us ended up bumping into him.

We fit in a ride on Luigi’s before calling it a night.

This is our view on the way back "home". (Oh, how I wish the Grand was home).

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[beckykarstetter]

Yay! More fun reading! I can't wait to see Cars Land at Night. I had no idea that Sha-Boom comes on when the lights do. LK looks like he was having a blast. I'll be interested to see if my little guy gets scared with the dark rides. Right now, he thinks scared is fun, but we'll see how that is in practice. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Lyn-CA]

Weather: 90 degrees; Sunrise: 6:27 am; Sunset 7:14 pm

The above information was useful in helping me plan out my morning swim.

At 6 am, I was able to sneak out of the room early and head to the fountain pool. I ran across one lifeguard who was already opening up the umbrellas and one maintenance worker but I had the pool to myself as I swam laps. I didn’t bring my watch with me so I ended up swimming for an hour.

My guys were just stirring when I got back to the room. We all got ready for the day.

We allotted time before EMH to grab some grub at Rainforest Café since we heard good things about breakfast there.

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We thought the tsunami breakfast and oatmeal were yummy perhaps because we were hungry or that this breakfast was comped (birthday voucher) or both. I forgot my Landry’s card but the manager just asked for my ID and that sufficed.

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We made it to the front entrance of DCA a little after it opened. We had the extra step of showing our IDs since our AP pics weren’t showing up yet.

We planned to do “wide right” but when we saw the sizeable crowd already gathered, we opted to try it on yet another EMH day. We went to go do Soarin’ instead. I went through the single rider line but after waiting 10 minutes, there was no movement whatsoever so I left. All three of us headed to Paradise Pier.

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We rode Toy Story Mania and I took photographic evidence of how L.K. and I fared.

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Here again, L.K. enjoyed this ride at WDW and rode it several times but now he was done with this one time.

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He did like the gift shop as you exit as he was fascinated with Zurg.

Rob and I took turns watching L.K. while the other rode both Toy Story and Screamin.

L.K. and I rode the carousel.

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Rob took a lot longer on Screamin coz he waited for the front row. We waited to take his picture by the launch area even though it was hot.

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We got some waters at Pacific Wharf Cafe then it was off to the Racers. I went first and was on the ride in 5 minutes using the single rider line.

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Rob on the other hand, took a lot, lot, longer. I kept texting him and he said there was a line so I assumed him meant the single rider line got held up for some reason.

Meanwhile, L.K. and I went to get FPs for the Racers, rode rides in Bugsland, and waited for Rob some more at Ramone’s. L.K. loved everything in the shop but most especially the velvet fire helmets.

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I had a moment of panic when I turned my attention to the people exiting the ride and when I looked back, L.K. had disappeared. I searched and called out to him and found that he ran out the other door of the shop, carrying the helmet. I grabbed him and went back to shop and returned the helmet. The CMs were amused by it but I was still reeling.

Almost an hour later, Rob finally appears. It turns out that when he asked the CM for the single rider line, the CM directed him to the standby line instead which was a 35 minute wait. After the ride, he complained about being misdirected and he was given a rider switch pass.

We barely made it on time for lunch at Carthay Circle.

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At check in, I asked for a table in the main dining room.

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We had a nice, leisurely lunch and enjoyed our different selections from the World of Color dining package menu.

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The only miss was L.K.’s push-pop dessert that came out mushy and tasted like cough syrup. We had it replaced with ice cream. After, we explored this beautiful restaurant and took in all the details and lots of pictures.

We did the Monsters ride then did the Visa cardholder meet and greet with Stitch. I was leery at first since L.K. wasn't familiar with Stitch but L.K. ended up loving Stitch. He loved how Stitch kept trying to take his nose and then L.K. would sniff just to double check to make sure his nose was still there.

We headed back to the Grand for a swim and our beloved nap. My nap was cut short when a housekeeper knocked on the door. She was there for the turn-down service but I had to ask her to come back later when we're out to dinner.

My guys awoke and I rushed them in getting ready so we can catch the Pixar Parade. We ran down and found spots by Carthay Circle. We all enjoyed the parade even though it was quite short and it was hot.

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We needed to cool off so we headed to the Animation Academy. We spent a good amount of time being awed by the Toy Story Zoetrope.

Dinner time rolled around so we went to Flo’s.

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We shared the pork loin and chocolate pie.

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L.K. had a kids meal in the special Lighting McQueen car. We liked the food okay but we love, love, love the theming at Flo’s.

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After dinner, Rob and I made use of the rider switch pass and FP on the Racers. It was cool riding at night.

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We decided to secure our spots for World of Color. We went all the way down to the wet zone. I anticipated the long wait so I bought one of the red Racer cars for L.K to play with and surprised him with it. He passed the time playing with that and with our phones and digital camera. Somehow, we survived the wait.

There was a woman about my height and her 2 kids in front of us. The woman spent a lot of time calling her husband every so often to check on his whereabouts as she was anxious to direct him to their spot as he got closer. I thought to myself, we have a good unobstructed view of the show. The next thoughts that ran through my head in this exact order were: (1) something's wrong here (2) this is too good to be true (3) watch, when this woman's husband gets here, he'll be 8 feet tall. And wouldn't you know it, at the last minute, her husband shows up and let's just say, he could've easily been in the NBA. We had to shift over to the right so we can all see over the husband's towering frame.

The show was good. L.K. especially liked the fire jets and as a wannabe firefighter, he motioned that he was putting out the fire with his pretend hose, complete with sound effects. I'm not gonna sugar coat my World of Color experience. I personally wasn’t blown away by it and I didn’t think it was worth the wait and hassle of securing spots.

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The instant the show ended, we joined the huge mob and made the slow crawl back to the Grand. Right when I was about to step into the lobby, this woman rammed the back of my leg with her stroller and pinned me by the door. She backed up so I can free my leg and all she said was, “go ahead.” She didn’t apologize or anything. I stood there, mouth wide open, and watched her walk away. Her husband who saw what happened passed by me so I shot him the evil eye. Rob told me to let it go and put his hands on my shoulders to physically steer me towards the elevators and ultimately to our room. I did let the incident go as I was too involved in getting L.K. ready for bed as fast as we could for it was way past his usual bedtime.

 

[beckykarstetter]

Was LK not quite tall enough to hit 40 inches? I think that's exactly where we are going to be. Your trip report is so helpful. My husband and I were just talking about how to handle Little Man not being big enough and whether we wanted to try to ride "big kid" rides or not. I'm not sure I would have been able to have shown your restraint with stroller lady. Especially at the end of a very long day. Good for you for maintaining your "Disneytude".

 

[Lyn-CA]

Was LK not quite tall enough to hit 40 inches? I think that's exactly where we are going to be. Your trip report is so helpful. My husband and I were just talking about how to handle Little Man not being big enough and whether we wanted to try to ride "big kid" rides or not. I'm not sure I would have been able to have shown your restraint with stroller lady. Especially at the end of a very long day. Good for you for maintaining your "Disneytude".

Thanks for your comments and continuing to let me know that I have at least one reader

LK measured 38.5 inches right before we left on our trip so we knew right off the bat that we'd be doing rider switch a lot. I suggest you measure your Little Man right before the trip so you can prepare either way whether he'll be doing the "big kid" rides.

I surprised myself as well that I let stroller lady get away with it. I just simply didn't have the time to deal.

 

[Lyn-CA]

I got up at 6 am for my morning swim. I didn't mind at all waking this early. I love having the lobby all to myself this early in the morning. It's so serene and even more beautiful when it's this empty. I also love having the pool to myself. I had to keep good track of time as I had to be back in time for Rob to get his exercise in. I got back to the room, tagged Rob, and off he went for the power walk.

I got ready first then woke L.K. and got him dressed. Rob got back and told me all about the power walk as he got ready. He really enjoyed the private walk-through California Adventure. He sold me on it so I signed up for a power walk too.

Breakfast today was at Jazz Express.

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We shared the breakfast platter, beignets, and some guilt-reducing fresh fruit.

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We were at the front gates of Disneyland prior to opening. We decided to switch it up for this extra magic hour by heading to Tomorrowland. We got a rider switch pass for Space Mountain and Rob went ahead and rode it first.

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L.K. and I blasted into space. He liked this ride of course as it was out in the open so we were able to keep riding it.

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We all rode Buzz together.

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As expected, L.K. didn’t like this ride because it was dark. Then of course, right in the heart of the ride, stands none other than the gigantic, deep-voice-talking, ever so threatening Emperor Zurg himself, who pretty much sealed the deal that we were only going to ride Buzz this one time.

We left the stroller in Tomorrowland and headed to Fantasyland. We rode Toad after L.K. made a fuss about not wanting to ride at first.

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Funny thing is we did Snow White next and this ride, the one with the word SCARY in it, didn’t bother L.K. in the least! Three year olds-go figure.

Dad and L.K. rode Dumbo while I tried in vain to cool off with my makeshift fan comprised of my itinerary printout and park map.

L.K. was happy that we rode another non-dark ride.

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But, L.K. wasn't happy when Rob had us sit on the bench instead of inside the monkey cage that L.K. had his eye on. Rob had to promise another ride on Casey's train in nothing but the monkey cage.

We split up so Rob can go and see about riding the Lilly Belle while L.K. and I rode one of L.K.'s favorites--Small World.

Rob came back and said the Lilly Belle was still a no-go due to the heat. Now the quest to ride the Lilly Belle just got more serious than ever. We joked and said it seemed easier for us to get into Club 33 than it was to ride the Lilly Belle. We stayed determined nevertheless.

We waited by this popcorn machine while Rob went to retrieve the stroller from Tomorrowland.

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We waited until 11 am for Toontown to open.

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We rode Roger Rabbit first. Even though the ride is jerky, Rob and I would’ve ridden it over and over just for the A/C.

Rob showed L.K. all the different fun things to do around Toontown. L.K. liked the talking mailboxes and ringing the doorbell at the Electric company. But L.K. was mostly drawn to the fire truck and sat in it a good long while.

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We wanted to visit Mickey’s house but the line was too long and there was no way we were going to wait in the hot sun. We did a quick walk through Chip and Dale’s house, then L.K. spent a lot of time at Donald’s boat and also at Goofy’s house and yard.

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We left Toontown for Plaza Inn. I was so looking forward to this lunch because I was familiar with the yummy fried chicken.

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We were loading up a tray when L.K. announced that he had to go potty. Rob took him to the bathroom and left me to get all the food. I went to pay and discovered that Rob had my annual pass with him. Thankfully, the CM still gave me the discount using the DVC code.

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After lunch, I rode Star Tours and Space Mountain while Rob watched L.K. Rob had the good sense to go to the photo shop and check the status of our AP pictures. He too, was sick and tired of having to show his ID each time we entered a park. They ended up getting their pictures retaken. Rob reported that L.K. willingly gave up a smile for his AP mug shot.

When I met up with them, Rob also reported that L.K. ended up falling amongst some flowers in one of the planters but luckily, there were no sustained injuries.

Our next ride was Autopia. I let father and son have bonding time as they rode in one car while I drove my own car. I never did care for Autopia and riding it now under the hot, hot sun made me like it even less.

The heat drove us to go and get some dole whips right this instant so we ended up taking the train from Tomorrowland to New Orleans Square. I kept teasing Rob and telling him that he was cruel for making me wait 4 days into the trip for a dole whip. We walked past the looong line for dole whips snaking along the outside and went into the Tiki Room waiting area. Sure enough the line here was considerably shorter.

At long last, we had dole whips in hand. But, for some reason, we liked the dole whips at WDW a lot better. I don’t know if the ongoing surge in popularity of the dole whip turned me off to it, along with the fact that I now know the list of ingredients. I never should’ve googled the recipe. I should’ve kept on thinking that it was made from fresh pineapples, cream, and other real ingredients. Somehow, I found the dole whip a lot more appealing when I was blissfully unaware of all the artificial chemicals and preservatives actually contained in it.

If I’m being honest with myself, I think I converted into a citrus swirl fan during our WDW trip last January. Do they sell the citrus swirl at Disneyland?

Oh, uh, where was I? I can’t believe I went off on a dole whip tangent!

OK, back to the story. What happened next is that we missed the Tiki show. We begrudgingly finished our dole whips and went in search of a more gratifying dessert.

We looked up and behold, the Jolly Holiday bakery materialized right before us. I ended up getting a Matterhorn macaroon for myself. I must've really liked it because I ate it so fast that I forgot to take a picture of it first. I don't recall what treats my guys had as I was too busy stuffing my face.

We went across to the photo shop so I can get my AP picture retaken as well. We were told that it would take another 24 hours or so until our pictures finally show up in the system as the processing is done in Orlando?!?

We made it back via monorail to the Grand for our swim and nap.

Dinner was at Carnation Café. When I made the reservation, I pictured us eating outdoors but because we were in the middle of a heat wave, we opted to dine indoors.

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The A/C was kinda weak because they had the doors to the outside wide open. Rob and I shared the baked potato soup, fried pickles and salad.

L.K. had the kids burger meal all to himself.

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While waiting for our food, L.K. sprung it on me that he really needed to go potty so I ended up running him to the bathroom which was not easy as it was right in the middle of the parade and therefore we had to bob and weave our way through the crowded sidewalk.

We liked the food here so we’ll keep this on our restaurant repeat list, but next time, (barring another heat wave) we’d like to dine outdoors.

We went back to Tomorrowland so I can use the rider switch pass for Space Mountain. Rob also got his turn on Star Tours. I took L.K. to the gift shop and then over to the giant jawbreaker.

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We hardly took any pictures today. I’m not sure whether the heat had something to do with it or not.

{Off topic: stay tuned as I show and tell about Club 33 on Day 7}

 

[Lyn-CA]

We started the day with my morning swim at 6 am and Rob’s power walk at 7 am. After we all got dressed, we enjoyed breakfast out in the balcony. We had cereal from the care package that we had shipped to the hotel ahead of time. L.K. just loved dining al fresco.

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I loved that this was our view from the balcony.

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Today is “wide right” day. I was hoping we’d have better luck today since extra magic hour started at 8 am instead of 9 am (weekdays).

Here we are in position.

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We stuck to the right of the pavement all the way to Flo’s. When we were stopped, some gracious CM offered to take our stroller and park it for us. I rode the Racers first while Rob and L.K. met up with Red.

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Less than 10 minutes later, I met up with them. Red must’ve seen my birthday button and played or should I say honked “Happy Birthday.” I didn’t want a repeat of waiting for Rob a long time so L.K. and I escorted him to the Racers and I made sure he went through the single rider line. It took him less than 10 minutes to complete the ride as well. We felt such a sense of accomplishment that we successfully executed the wide right technique.

We rode Luigi’s next and then strolled around Carsland.

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L.K. wanted a snack so we decided on a cinnamon roll from Fiddler’s. On the way there, we passed by the Fast pass line for the Racers. It was 10 minutes to official opening time so I had Rob get in line while L.K. and I proceeded to Fiddlers. We bought the cinnamon roll and waited for Rob. The roll looked good but when you took a bite, all you tasted was sugar.

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After our disappointing snack, we went to Muppets.

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It was a weird experience as there were 5 other people in the entire theater.

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I went to ask the CM at the information board whether Jake was appearing today. She checked and said he should be out at 10:15 a.m. so we waited by Off the Page. L.K. even wore his Jake shirt for this very occasion.

At 10:15 am, Sophia the First appears. L.K. was excited nonetheless and was first in line to meet her.

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We were minutes away from the first Disney Junior show. We were able to sit right up front. L.K. was simply fascinated the entire time. He loved the show. It helped that he was familiar with all the characters. I loved watching his reactions throughout the show.

Sidenote: L.K. used to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates daily until he discovered Fireman Sam.

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L.K. declared Disney Junior his new favorite.

Since we were in the area, we decided to do another Visa cardholder meet and greet with Stitch. L.K. had fun with this Stitch as well.

We did a third meet and greet with Sully before leaving Hollywood Boulevard.

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Lunch time rolled around so we went to Storytellers Café.

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I love the detailing in this place.

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Unfortunately, we received poor service throughout the meal. We waited a long time to get menus, our drinks, and our food.

Here's Rob trying to entertain L.K. while we waited.

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After our server dropped off our food, she disappeared. We had to flag down another server because I had to send back my steak.

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I ordered it medium but what I got was well done and cold like it had been left sitting out waiting to be delivered to the table.

Our server never checked on us. We couldn't figure out why the service was lackluster since the restaurant was empty. There was a suit walking around, just not visiting guests at the tables.

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We had no other complaints over the food.

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We all enjoyed our meals but the poor service left a bad taste for sure.

We had to flag down yet another server to get our bill. Our server reappeared, dropped off the bill, and left. I looked at the total and discovered that she gave us the wrong bill! Rob had to get up and flag her down to let her know. I wanted to call the manager over to complain but Rob said we had spent way too much time here that he just wanted to leave already. To this day, I’m still wondering why we left a tip anyway.

 

[Lyn-CA]

We shook off the negative experience at Storytellers and returned to California Adventure.

We caught Minnie and the Fly Girls show at just the right time.

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We went to Ghirardelli's and shared a sundae.

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Over at Bugsland, L.K. couldn’t resist the call of the puddle park and went for it.

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When he had his fill, we headed back to the room via Hollywood Boulevard. We saw the trolley so I asked the CM if we could get on. He said no since L.K. was dripping wet so we trudged toward the hotel. I love seeing this sign.

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We got to the room and switched out L.K.’s wet clothes for his swim wear. Then we gathered up our dirty laundry and took them to the second floor laundry room before heading to the pool.

We tried out different pools. L.K. liked starting out in the kiddie pool then moving to the bigger pools where he can then dunk underwater again and again and again. I can’t recall if this was the day we couldn't use the Redwood pool because it closed due to a diaper accident or if this was when the water was too cold for us that we ended up in the Mariposa pool.

Rob took care of the laundry while I prepared L.K. for naptime. L.K. must've been really tired because he was out!

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After our much-needed nap, we rushed over to catch the last Aladdin show.

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L.K. liked it to where he stayed seated and was engaged throughout the 45 minute show.

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We consider this quite a victory that our 3 year old, who usually has the attention span of a gnat, was able to sit through and enjoy his first ever, high caliber, Broadway-quality show.

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I told Rob that L.K. is now ready for the shows on the Disney cruise or on Broadway or even both.

We went to Paradise Pier. We had an undersea adventure with Ariel before going to dinner at Paradise Garden Grill.

We loved both steak and chicken skewers and the sides that came with it.

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However, we were disappointed with this good looking dessert. The brownie was dry and overly sweet to our liking.

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After dinner, Rob and I took turns on the Racers.

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Rob took L.K. for a spin on the bumper cars in Bugsland before we called it a night.

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[Briarrose1306]

Loving your TR so far! Can't wait for more!

 

[teacherlisa1978]

14 days to my trip now and I'm getting so excited reading yours!

I had to laugh at all the inconvenient potty breaks because we are anticipating those big time. Our little guy was 3 in May and fully potty trained in July but he still thinks there's no point in going to the bathroom unless it's a dire emergency. Should make for some quick sprints.

And I truly despise Autopia too. My husband loves it for some reason. The boys can have it, I'll single rider something I want to do!!!

Keep the updates coming it sounds like an amazing time!

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