MISSION: Secret Keepers - DLR Trip Report

[pennyring]

We couldn't be more excited!! We're planning to surprise our nieces with their VERY FIRST Disneyland Trip later this month.

The who's who:

Me - pennyring -- You know it's me because I'm talking. Hieeee! My first DL trip was in 1987 with my parents and little Brother. The little ones call me Auntie Amber.

DH - He proposed in Cinderella's Castle in WDW. He's pretty much a keeper. Sometimes he's Erik, sometimes he's Blue Eyes. Just depends on my mood.

Serah - Niece, age 15. Lover of Jack Sparrow and Pirates of all sorts. She makes sure you know she's a Disney Princess too. That's "Princess Sparrow" to you!

Lindsay - Niece, age 8. Lover of Princesses, specifically Cinderella. Sometimes referred to as "Little Lu".


DH and I are from Seattle. We have friends who worked for Alaska Airlines, so we were APs for quite a few years. We know DL like the back of our hand. We've seen it all. But this trip is EXCITING because we get to introduce Our Park to our nieces!

They're from Portland. The little one has never been on a plane before. This promises to be exciting!

 

[pennyring]

I met Princess Lindsay the day she was adopted.

My brother and his family live 3 ½ hours away from us. And we work. A lot. Im a project manager and DH works for our local housing authority. Were lucky to see them a couple of times a year, only on special occasions.

My brother and SIL want a big family. They want bio kids and adopted kids. Just lots and lots of kids. SIL grew up in a home where her mom did daycare, so a big family with lots of kids around feels right to her.

When they met Miss Lindsay, it was love at first site and they wouldnt rest until she was a permanent part of their lives. She was 4 and had been in foster care for a couple of years. The first time they picked her up for a visit, she was locked in her bedroom. In a diaper. With only the television providing any kind of interaction in her day.

Her foster mom seemed unconcerned with the situation, but very interested in her growing collection of Coach purses and D&B bags that were spread across the dining room table.

They had to get her out and fast!

From the second I met her, Lindsay wanted nothing more than interaction. She wants to know you, and play with you. She wants hugs and playtime and has lots and lots of questions for the world around her. Shes wacky and silly. If there is a good time, she will find it. Shes a little beam of sunshine that brightens up the whole room.


I went to work for about 3 hours on the morning of her adoption, then drove down to Portland. I hadnt slept the night before, so I was practically falling asleep in their living room that evening. I never see Brother or SIL, so we stayed up late visiting. It was midnight when I finally collapsed on the bed in their guest room and passed out from sheer exhaustion.


*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*


AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! WHAT IN THE WORLD!!! I screamed as my body involuntarily leapt feet first from bed and landed hard on the plank beams of their upstairs floor.

I was jerked unceremoniously from sleep and had no processing time. What was happening?? Were we being invaded??? What was going on??

My head on a swivel, my eyes panned around the dark room.

*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*Care a lot! We care a lot! In Care-a-lot! *BAM*BAM*BAM*

Swivel, swivel

There in the doorway. Little Lindsay.

Whats going on!? (BAM*BAM*BAM*) What is that noise?

(BAM*BAM*Care a lot. We care a lot! In Care-a-lot!)

Its my music, she told me. I had a nightmare.

Huh. I cocked my head to the side. That awful noise, what was that awful noise?

(Care a lot, we care a lot, in Carealot!)

Is that the Care Bears singing? I asked her.

Its my music, for when I cant sleep.

Wow. Couldve fooled me. I thought we were under attack. Phew. Why cant you sleep?

I had a nightmare. Can I sleep here? she asked motioning to a blanket shed laid out on the floor beside my bed.

Hmm... I wasnt sure what to do. I know there are special rules with foster kids. You cant take them anyplace without permission. Youre not supposed to put your hands on them. You can't feed them after midnight. Wait, that's Gremlins...

I couldnt let this little princess sleep on the cold, hard floor after having a nightmare. But I couldnt let her crawl in bed with me either, could I? Could they take her away if I did that?

It was the middle of the night. I wasnt processing things very well. (Remember, I thought we were under some kind of attack seconds earlier.) And I was about to pass out or start crying from exhaustion myself any second.

Honey... did you try waking up your mom?

No...

Sweetheart, go wake up your mom and tell her you had a nightmare.

She turned and walked down the stairs. I found the offending CD player plugged into an outlet on the far wall of the bedroom. Jerked the cord from the wall, silencing the Care Bears, and tossed it back into her room, collapsing again on the bed.

Im not proud that I didnt figure out how to handle that better, but really, it was above my pay grade. I wanted to pull her into bed with me to cuddle and comfort her, but wasnt really sure if that was legal. I did the only thing that made sense in the moment. And dang, I was sleepy!

SIL, Brother, Lindsay, her sister Serah, and Judge McKnight on adoption day

 

[pennyring]

Lindsay and Serah are sisters. Biologically. They also have a brother between them in age.

Before Lindsay was born, Serah and Brother were taken into foster care. A family wanted to adopt them both. A sister and brother. The family kept them for awhile, then decided Serah was too much. They sent her back, and adopted Brother.

Serah spent from age 4 to age 12 in the Oregon foster care system. She was living in a group home when Lindsay was adopted.

The group home was not good times. Their punishments, I’ve since learned, are not legal. If she “misbehaved” they would take away her visitation privileges.

At that time, my Brother and SIL were desperately trying to get her out of the group home. The people in the home kept saying she wasn’t “ready” to live with a family because she couldn’t behave. Most of her misbehavior was brought on because she was told she couldn’t have visitation! So it was a vicious cycle. She would do something and be punished by having visitation revoked. Then they would taunt her with that until she misbehaved again. Ugh! I remember going down to visit Brother’s family more than once and say, “Where’s Serah?”

“She wasn’t allowed visitation this weekend.”

Finally, finally – they were allowed to have her overnight twice a week. Then they were allowed to keep her full time. Eventually, Brother and SIL were allowed to adopt Miss Serah too, and now she is LEGALLY part of our family. Forever. And no one can take that away.

On adoption day, we all gathered back in Judge McKnight’s courtroom. Serah was 13. It was a long road, but she finally had a family. Judge McKnight let Serah sit in the Judge Chair and give a little speech. She said, “I’m just happy… that I have a family who wants me.”

Tears… tears… tears… We all love you, Serah!! We couldn’t imagine life without you.

Here is Searh with her arms up in VICTORY as Judge McKnight signs the adoption certificate, making it legal.

 

[pennyring]

My first trip to Disneyland was in 1987 -- State Fair Days

Dad, Brother and Me at the entrance.

I had no idea there wasn't typically a ferris wheel in the center of The Hub. That's Dad and me in the blue car right above the yellow umbrella. I remember stopping at the top of the ferris wheel and looking out at Tomorrowland. Dad leaned forward to get his camera out, swinging the car. I was like, "Ahhhh!! We're going to fall!!" I still remember his playful smirk as he rocked the car again, getting me to scream. Haha. Nooooo Aaaaahhh!!

I remember the Lumberjack events on Tom Sawyer Island. They were sawing logs, rolling them in the river. It was all pretty dangerous and exciting.

I used to dream about the divers jumping from so high into the little pool below. Scary!

We stayed in Pasadena for a convention, but one morning we had breakfast at the Disneyland Hotel. All the "Misses" from around the country were there! Miss America... Miss Tennessee... all of them.

Later in the park, we saw them again in Fantasyland!

Miss Tennessee and me.

And here's Mickey with Miss America!! (Miss America is leaned over waving in the flowered dress.)

...and it's Disney's Mrs. Tomato!!! Or something. It was State Fair Days. : shrug :

Minnie baking up something tasty.

 

[aussie shaz]

I love all the old photos of Disneyland. My first visit was 1997.

Looking forward to your PTR and TR!

 

[pennyring]

For the last year or so, DH and I have been talking about HOW. MUCH. FUN. it would be to take the nieces to Disneyland.

First: We love them. They're amazing girls. They're so much fun to be around, we can't wait to share one of our favorite places in the world with them.

Second: It's doubtful their parents will be in the position to take them any time soon, and well...

Third: The big one missed out on her childhood. We really, really want to make up for some lost time. She's a wonderful young lady, and she deserves to make up for lost time!

Fourth: The little one is at the perfect age! SIL reports that she was watching a DL commercial the other day, put her hand on her head, swooned, collapsed on the couch and said, "I NEED to go to Disneyland!! So bad!"

Her mom asked, "Why? Why do you NEED to go so badly?"

"I need to meet EVERY. SINGLE. PRINCESS!"

Hehe, oh little girl, you WILL! Every single one!!


So like I said, we've been talking about taking them foreeeeever. At the first of the year, something clicked and we realized we could use our income tax return to pay for the trip. This seemed like the perfect time. So we went for it!




We booked our trip the second week of January and got a great package deal. Airfare from PDX was right around $200 a ticket. The hotel was "buy 3 nights, get the 4th free." So we were able to score a few deals and make it affordable.


The Grand Scheme Plan:

We'll leave Seattle and drive down to Portland, spending the night with the girls. The story is, Auntie and Uncle are going to Disneyland, but we're flying out of Portland, so we're spending the night at their house the night before.

I foresee a lot of, "We reeeeeally wish we could come with you!!"

"We wish you could come tooooooo!!! Maybe next time??"

Hehehehee... we're so mean.

The next morning, everyone's getting up bright and early to drop us off at the airport.

As we're piling out of the car, we plan to hug them goodbye, and then say something like, "Hey... guess what?! YOU GET TO COME TOO! YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND. TODAY!! RIGHT NOW!!! Let's go!!"



We've mentally planned for the following reactions:

* OMG HOORAY!! I'm so excited!! (cue tears of joy)

* What do you mean? This is confusing and impossible. I need more details to proceed.

* "We wanted to go to Dick's house." (This is a reference to that awful "surprise the kids with a WDW vacation video" where they were disappointed they weren't going to Dick's house. Haha. So horrible.)

Here's the link to the "Dick's House" kids if you haven't seen it. Ha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tm6t8TnuyU


So however they react, we're prepared. Ultimately, we know they're gonna freak! Can't wait!!

 

[disneykiwi]

Hi there

Your report title intrigued me so I had to have a nosey - what a beautiful story about the girls - just wonderful.

Your plans are so exciting - I have subbed and will be reading along all the way and so looking forward to seeing how the girls react.

It is a lovely thing you are doing.

 

[Pesky]

I love it! I can't wait to hear their reactions. BTW, very funny about State Fair days as I think we also went to DL around that time too! I remember that stuff! Can't wait to read the rest as oddly enough, I'm toying with the idea of taking our 2 nieces with us to our WDW trip in a few years as they also have never been. Ah, surprises are fun.

 

[pennyring]

We started planning our trip in January with a countdown every day. We started at 99 days, and finally the countdown was at 1 Day. It was time to head down to Portland for the big surprise.

We stopped at Popeye’s in Federal Way for two reasons:

1. It’s super YUM
2. It’s right off the highway.

We got our lunch to go and got back on I-5 South toward Portland. Lately, I’ve been getting the Naked Chicken. It’s on the low fat/low cal menu and so flippity good! They put a crazy-yum amount of flavoring on the unbreaded chicken tenders. Delicious!

The auto-sides are Green Beans and a Baguette. When I say, “Auto-side” I mean the sides you get automatically. Of course you can always swap out for something yummier (red beans and rice, mac ‘n cheese), but the auto-sides are the healthiest. Their green beans are nothing special, but the Baguette is pretty delightful. Yum!


We let the fam pick dinner in Portland. Their usual choices are Panda Express, Red Robin or Subway. On this night they picked Panda and off we went.

Sister-in-Law has done an amazing job of keeping this secret from her girls. They suspected nothing of our upcoming trip. She and I had spoken a few times and agreed to steer clear of all Disney-related topics. There was no chat about Auntie and Uncle going to Disneyland. We were simply going to California “to visit with family”.

If questioned, I had a back-story about Erik’s aunt and uncle who live in Sacramento.

While we were enjoying our Orange Chicken and Fried Rice, Princess Sparrow started talking about wedding rings and getting engaged. She was telling us all about how her future husband needed to make a grand, public gesture. She was envisioning herself being out to dinner and finding an engagement ring slipped onto her straw or something like that. She wants a surprise, and it better be a good one!

“How did Uncle Erik propose to you?” she asked.

I looked, wide-eyed at Sister-in-law. She just smiled at me. “Oh, you don’t want to hear about that…” I muttered weakly.

Sister-in-law had to know this story, right? Why wasn’t she helping me re-direct conversation? It was at WDW… it involved Cinderella… we weren’t talking about that stuff, remember?

Sister-in-law, apparently, didn’t remember because she urged me to share the story. I tried to give her the “Nix, No, Nein!” look with my eyes, but obvsiously wasn’t successful because she kept prodding me to tell the story.

Alright, fine. You asked for it…

“Uncle Erik and I were visiting Disney World…”

“You’ve been to Disney World?!” Both nieces started jumping in with Disney questions like mad.

“Yes, we were at Disney World, and we were having dinner in Cinderella’s Castle.”

“Was Cinderella there? Have you met her? Was she nice?”

“Back then, Cinderella was not normally there at dinner time. Our reservations were for dinner. When we checked in, I thought it was funny. All of the little hostess girls kept crossing back and forth in front of the spot where we were waiting. They kept whispering behind their hands and gesturing in our general direction. It was very suspicious.

Finally, we were led to our table and given menus. As I started reading the menu, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of poofy, blue dress.

It was Cinderella!! Everyone in the restaurant said, ‘Oooooooh! Cinderella is here!’ They were so excited to see her because she didn’t normally show up at dinner time.

I had no idea why she was there, but thought she was probably just passing through, so I went back to reading my menu.

There was as swirl of poofy skirt beside me, as it came to a stop beside our table. I still didn’t look up. I certainly had no reason to expect Cinderella would be looking for me. I was hungry. I was looking at the menu.

‘Ahem,’ said a sweet, feminine voice. ‘Excuse me, Princess, your Prince asked me to give this to you!’

With that, she set a fluffy blue pillow in front of me. Atop the pillow, balanced a real, glass slipper. Inside the slipper – my engagement ring. It was in the shape of Mickey’s head with two little gold mouse ears, and a diamond for the head.

Uncle Erik got down on one knee, said lots of nice things, and asked me to marry him.”

“I can’t believe Cinderella had your ring!” Little Lu exclaimed. I wish I could meet Cinderella! Was it the REAL Cinderella?

“Of course. It was her castle!” I replied.


On the car ride back to their place, a (mostly) good-natured argument broke out about where Uncle Erik and I would sleep. Little Lu thought we should sleep in her room. Princess Sparrow disagreed and felt we should sleep in her room.

Somehow, someone decided we should all sleep in Little Lu’s room. Slumber Party! Uncle Erik got the twin bed to himself. (Lucky!) My spot was staked out on the floor between Lu and Princess Sparrow.

Right before lights out, someone declared it “too hot” and flicked on a loud fan. Ahh… there would be no sleeping. Excellent. Sleeping is over-rated anyway.

I toughed it out on the floor for a little while. I think I dozed off for about an hour in there somewhere, but couldn’t go back to sleep. At midnight, I tiptoed over Lu and made Erik scootch over on the twin bed. “My back is killing me, I whispered in the dark. Scootch!”

He moved over for a couple of minutes. I stretched out and hung half my body over the side. “I’m going to sleep on the couch,” he whispered back and split.

Darn, why didn’t I think of that? I was still trapped, wide awake, in the too-hot room with the noisy fan.

It was 2:00 am when I decided to bail. I headed next door to the blissfully cool room of Princess Sparrow. Ahh… no fan, no heat, this was the life.

But still no sleep.

At 3:00 am I posted on Facebook about being too excited to sleep. Erik liked my post almost immediately. Aha! So someone else wasn’t sleeping either.

I tiptoed downstairs and found him sitting on the couch in the dark. We whispered quietly for the next hour until it was time for everyone else to get up.

 

[pennyring]

We were both up and getting ready before the alarm went off at 4:00 am. I came out of the bathroom wearing my new rhinestone Mickey t-shirt from the Disney Store. Sister-in-law passed me in the hallway. "Too obvious?" I asked, gesturing to the shirt.

"Just zip up your coat." I planned to zip it up to my neck.

Little Nephew is 2. He looked at me, cocked his head to the side and pointed at my shirt. "Ooh-ooh!" he said and scratched at his armpits.

"Ooh-ooh?" I asked, scratching back at him.

"Oh..." sister-in-law said, "I taught him the sign-language sign for MONKEY. Ooh-ooh!" she said, and did a bent-armed scratch of her armpits. "When we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, we see MICKEY. He thinks they're saying MONKEY. Oooh-ooh!"

LOL! "Ooh-ooh," indeed! We would be seeing the BIG MONKEY in just a few hours!

We made our way down the stairs, scratching our pits, "Ooh-ooh!"


At the bottom of the stairs, I counted up bags. Backpacks, 1, 2, check! Rolling bags, 1, 2... 3? Weren't there only two when we went to sleep? Sister-in-Law made a midnight run to Fred Meyer to pick up a new, rolling carry-on for the girls. She wanted to make EXTRA sure that they wouldn't suspect a thing! Talk about selling the story! She went all in!

The girls came downstairs and made a few comments on how Uncle Erik and I have an awful lot of luggage. Heh. Yes, yes we do. They helped roll everything out to the minivan, and we were off to the airport.


Whenever we travel, we always sing John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane. I played a YouTube video for the girls and made them sing-along on the chorus as we pulled into PDX. "Leavin' on a jet plane... don't know when I'll be back again... oh babe, I hate to goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"

"This looks old," Lu commented.

"It's so old, he's probably dead," Princess Sparrow chimed in.

"Is he dead?" Lu wanted to know.

"Yes, he died in a plane crash a few years ago," I told her.

"HE DIED IN A PLANE CRASH?!" Lu asked, terrified.

Thank you, thank you, Ill take my Award for Auntie of the Year. Hello, who tells little kids that someone died in a plane crash right before you're about to put them on a plane. Open mouth, insert foot. Nicely done.

I assured them that it wasn't a commercial jet. We were flying on a commercial jet and everything would be fine. Just fine. We've flown a thousand times and its just fine. Everything will be fine...

 

[aussie shaz]

Love it! Especially the part about dying in a plane crash!!!

 

[disneykiwi]

OMG!!! That's classic

Great timing there Aunty - love it

Anyway - how cool the surprise was kept for so long - i dont think I could do it - I would be so wanting to tell them.

Cant wait for the rest.

 

[TheChapman6]

That story made me cry seriously what a sad story with a happy ending for a sweet little girl. What a nice trip you have planned, I hope you have a magical time!

 

[pennyring]

Love it! Especially the part about dying in a plane crash!!!

OMG!!! That's classic

Great timing there Aunty - love it

I know, right? Ha! I was talking to DH last night about the Plane Crash thing and he's like, "OMG!!! I wanted to talk to you about that because it was so horrible, but we never had any time alone after it happened." Hahaha, sorry, hon. One of my many brilliant moves.

That story made me cry seriously what a sad story with a happy ending for a sweet little girl. What a nice trip you have planned, I hope you have a magical time!

This trip was all about the girls. Everyone on the DIS really helped me come up with ways to spoil the Big One, and she had a wonderful time!!

 

[mamaso]

I can't wait to read the rest of your report! Sounds super fun!