ohmaigawd, STOP stepping on me: a July DL trip

[wingedjojo]

Hello there and welcome to my first Disneyland trip report.



I was lucky enough this wonderful year of twenty-eleven to visit not only Disney World but Disneyland as well. All within a month of each other (that's crazy)! While my trip report for Disney World is still in progress, I wanted to start on the Disneyland one too before I forgot everything. So without further ado, I shall begin with the basics.

Who:
First up there's me, the narrator. Most people call me Jo and I'm at the ripe old age of 22 (sometimes I forget and think I'm still 21). I come from San Francisco but am currently located in Davis for school/work. If I have nothing better to do, I can usually be found sleeping. I tend to ask for puppies a lot even though I know I can't physically or mentally raise one and my catchphrase is "Good Morning" (whether or not it's morning).

The other member of this traveling party is Kevin, my boyfriend. Even riper old age of 23, he graduated as a biomedical engineer in June from the same school as I. He's also staying around campus for at least another year for research work. He plays a lot of video games on his spare time and loves (and I mean LOVES) Perry the Platypus and Phineas and Ferb.

Here's some pictures of us from back in June:

What:
A trip down to SoCal.

Where:
We started off in Davis, went down to Riverside, with a final destination in Anaheim.

When:
July 8 - July 13.

Why:
Our friend was getting married in Riverside (Kevin was a groomsman and I was an invited guest) so we were already heading down to SoCal. Since we were going down there anyway, we decided we should go visit Disneyland for a couple of days afterwards.

How:
By car. A glorious 7 hour drive to and from Davis.

So there are the basic facts about this little mini trip and I hope I get some readers out there to stick around and follow along for the rest of this story.

TTFN

 

[blabbermouth]

Ok, I'm in. Just read your whole WDW report, and you're so funny! Can't wait to read your take on DL (since that's the one I'm off to next).

Also, I love your dress in the pic above.

I will go comment on your other TR too, cuz I'm nice like that

 

[JH87]

Looking forward to your TR!
I am looking at you WDW one now and I love it!

 

[skiingfast]

Does Kevin go home with a Perry the Platypus hat? I might have to wait to find out.

 

[disneylovin24]

Came over from your WDW TR, can't wait to read this one

 

[wingedjojo]

Ok, I'm in. Just read your whole WDW report, and you're so funny! Can't wait to read your take on DL (since that's the one I'm off to next).

Also, I love your dress in the pic above.

I will go comment on your other TR too, cuz I'm nice like that

Thanks for following along on my trip reports!

As much as I love that dress, I'm not blessed enough to hold it up (if you get what I mean) and that's the only downfall of a strapless dress.

Looking forward to your TR!
I am looking at you WDW one now and I love it!

Thanks for following along! I'll try and be consistent with my updates.

Does Kevin go home with a Perry the Platypus hat? I might have to wait to find out.

THEY HAVE A PERRY THE PLATYPUS HAT!!!???? If I had know I would've totally gotten him one.

Came over from your WDW TR, can't wait to read this one

Thanks for reading about my trips. I'll try to keep them as entertaining as possible.

 

[wingedjojo]

First and foremost, this trip report is brought to you by the letter 'R'. 'R' as in roommate. As in Kevin's roommate who decided to get married in SoCal thus giving us all the reason we needed to plan a Disneyland trip.

In other news, I am completely addicted to Tiny Tower on the iPhone and it has been making me the most unproductive person in the world. Good thing it’s summer and all I need to worry about is work.

~*~*~*~

Friday, July 8

Getting packed and having things squared away was fine and dandy but it was leaving the apartments part that was difficult. I originally had work scheduled for Friday from 8am until 4pm (4 hour shifts with an hour break). I knew we had to get down to SoCal in time for the bachelor party and driving took about 7 hours so I had to at least miss my afternoon shift. Kevin was originally not even going to go to work so that he could get ready at his apartment and be ready to leave the moment I finished at 12pm. He kept stressing that he wanted to leave right away so we can make it there in time. What happened in reality?

Opposite world happened.

Not only did I end up not having to work (an unfortunate incident happened where my trainer for the day broke her arm and couldn’t train me for work) but Kevin ended up going in for work…until 1pm. So Mr.GetBackFromWorkEarlyToLeaveAsSoonAsPossible suddenly became Mr.EverybodyHasToWaitForMeNow. We ended up not leaving until about 2pm.

While I was at Kevin’s apartment, waiting for him to get back, I packed up the rest of our luggage and our cooler with food, water, and energy drinks.

Once we got on the road, the adrenaline of going on a new trip started to rise. As a result, I took random pictures.

The grand open road:

Some of chauffeur Kevin:

One can notice that a bottle of Nos has already been opened and consumed. What is Nos, you say? Well, it is the single most delicious but effective energy drink that has proven true many a late night in college. And it tastes like orange soda.

One can also notice that Kevin’s shorts are a wee, tad bit hiked up. It was hot.

I forgot where we were but we suddenly came across a flying saucer!!!

Still have no idea what it really was; perhaps a water tower?

Let me paint a picture for you: a young couple driving along late afternoon. It’s sunny and bright and the air is dry. While some cars are flying by, the young couple cruises along going speed limit, minding their own business.

THEN OUT OF THE BLUE A GIANT SEMI TRUCK CUTS THEM OFF AND GOES INTO THEIR LANE!!!!

*BEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEP*

Stupid truck.

“How’s your driving?” Well, it sucked.

Once the cursing dwindled down, we went about our merry way once again. Even though it was only late afternoon, the moon was already out and about.

As we were approaching Bakersfield, we noticed they were doing a lot of road construction and had blocked off an entire lane. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a slow car in front that would slow everybody else down.

By this point we needed some more gas so gas we got!

Just backing up a little, while we were exiting the freeway and waiting at the light to turn into the rows of gas stations and diners, the immature children in us started cracking up over a particular sign.

Heh heh…it sounds like poo poo. *Ahem*

Anyway…it was around 6 or 7pm by this point and it was as good a time as any to go grab some dinner. What’s on the menu? The all-American road trip food of choice:

When we got out of the car to go inside, a huge wave of what smelt like fecal matter hit us like a ton of bricks. Oh how we first scoffed at that sign at the freeway exit, now we can only hang our heads in shame at the irony.

We got our dinner to go to make the most of our time. Let’s see if I remember what was in that bag…

It should have been a double cheeseburger, two McChickens, and small fries if I remember correctly.

Back on the road again, we saw the culprit of the foul smell lingering in the air.

Cows. Or as I like to say it: CCCCCAAAA-WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSS~ I have a certain place in my heart for cows being an Animal Science major from cow-town Davis and all. But these just smelled bad. I mean our cows smell bad but these smelled BAD.

Finally we reach the Grapevine, otherwise known as “going through the mountain up and down a really steep incline.”

The last time we went on a road trip to SoCal was back in 2009 and going through the Grapevine then was TERRIBLE. It was in the winter so it was rainy and they’re mountains so there’s fog and it was such a terrible ordeal. This time was just millions times better because at least this time we can SEE where we were going.

It was sunset time so the sky was super colorful and super pretty.

Not too long after getting out of the Grapevine, we see signs of Magic Mountain!!! I’ve only been to this place once and I only wish it wasn’t so crowded and hot that day I went. There were so many amazing rides I wanted to go on but I felt miserable and it was insanely full of people and their lines are super boring (not like Disney’s). I’ll go again one day.

Finally around 9pm we arrived at the Comfort Inn in Riverside. The groom’s father had graciously reserved rooms for all the groomsmen (all 4 of them plus me) to stay at. When we got there, I didn’t think to take any pictures because it was time to get ready and go to the bachelor party. I got to go with the boys because I was closer to the groom than the bride not to mention if Kevin went as a groomsman, I would be stuck alone at the hotel. So Jo was one of the guys!

The rest of the night was spent in bachelorhood debauchery and a drunken haze. There were no pictures taken i.e. there are no photographic evidence i.e. it didn’t happen.

I’m pretty sure by 2am everybody had passed out either back at the hotel or at the best man’s house.

The boys had fun. That’s all you need to know.

 

[kylie71]

First and foremost, this trip report is brought to you by the letter 'R'. 'R' as in roommate. As in Kevin's roommate who decided to get married in SoCal thus giving us all the reason we needed to plan a Disneyland trip.

In other news, I am completely addicted to Tiny Tower on the iPhone and it has been making me the most unproductive person in the world. Good thing it’s summer and all I need to worry about is work.

~*~*~*~

Friday, July 8

Getting packed and having things squared away was fine and dandy but it was leaving the apartments part that was difficult. I originally had work scheduled for Friday from 8am until 4pm (4 hour shifts with an hour break). I knew we had to get down to SoCal in time for the bachelor party and driving took about 7 hours so I had to at least miss my afternoon shift. Kevin was originally not even going to go to work so that he could get ready at his apartment and be ready to leave the moment I finished at 12pm. He kept stressing that he wanted to leave right away so we can make it there in time. What happened in reality?

Opposite world happened.

Not only did I end up not having to work (an unfortunate incident happened where my trainer for the day broke her arm and couldn’t train me for work) but Kevin ended up going in for work…until 1pm. So Mr.GetBackFromWorkEarlyToLeaveAsSoonAsPossible suddenly became Mr.EverybodyHasToWaitForMeNow. We ended up not leaving until about 2pm.

While I was at Kevin’s apartment, waiting for him to get back, I packed up the rest of our luggage and our cooler with food, water, and energy drinks.

Once we got on the road, the adrenaline of going on a new trip started to rise. As a result, I took random pictures.

The grand open road:

Some of chauffeur Kevin:

One can notice that a bottle of Nos has already been opened and consumed. What is Nos, you say? Well, it is the single most delicious but effective energy drink that has proven true many a late night in college. And it tastes like orange soda.

One can also notice that Kevin’s shorts are a wee, tad bit hiked up. It was hot.

I forgot where we were but we suddenly came across a flying saucer!!!

Still have no idea what it really was; perhaps a water tower?

Let me paint a picture for you: a young couple driving along late afternoon. It’s sunny and bright and the air is dry. While some cars are flying by, the young couple cruises along going speed limit, minding their own business.

THEN OUT OF THE BLUE A GIANT SEMI TRUCK CUTS THEM OFF AND GOES INTO THEIR LANE!!!!

*BEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEP*

Stupid truck.

“How’s your driving?” Well, it sucked.

Once the cursing dwindled down, we went about our merry way once again. Even though it was only late afternoon, the moon was already out and about.

As we were approaching Bakersfield, we noticed they were doing a lot of road construction and had blocked off an entire lane. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a slow car in front that would slow everybody else down.

By this point we needed some more gas so gas we got!

Just backing up a little, while we were exiting the freeway and waiting at the light to turn into the rows of gas stations and diners, the immature children in us started cracking up over a particular sign.

Heh heh…it sounds like poo poo. *Ahem*

Anyway…it was around 6 or 7pm by this point and it was as good a time as any to go grab some dinner. What’s on the menu? The all-American road trip food of choice:

When we got out of the car to go inside, a huge wave of what smelt like fecal matter hit us like a ton of bricks. Oh how we first scoffed at that sign at the freeway exit, now we can only hang our heads in shame at the irony.

We got our dinner to go to make the most of our time. Let’s see if I remember what was in that bag…

It should have been a double cheeseburger, two McChickens, and small fries if I remember correctly.

Back on the road again, we saw the culprit of the foul smell lingering in the air.

Cows. Or as I like to say it: CCCCCAAAA-WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSS~ I have a certain place in my heart for cows being an Animal Science major from cow-town Davis and all. But these just smelled bad. I mean our cows smell bad but these smelled BAD.

Finally we reach the Grapevine, otherwise known as “going through the mountain up and down a really steep incline.”

The last time we went on a road trip to SoCal was back in 2009 and going through the Grapevine then was TERRIBLE. It was in the winter so it was rainy and they’re mountains so there’s fog and it was such a terrible ordeal. This time was just millions times better because at least this time we can SEE where we were going.

It was sunset time so the sky was super colorful and super pretty.

Not too long after getting out of the Grapevine, we see signs of Magic Mountain!!! I’ve only been to this place once and I only wish it wasn’t so crowded and hot that day I went. There were so many amazing rides I wanted to go on but I felt miserable and it was insanely full of people and their lines are super boring (not like Disney’s). I’ll go again one day.

Finally around 9pm we arrived at the Comfort Inn in Riverside. The groom’s father had graciously reserved rooms for all the groomsmen (all 4 of them plus me) to stay at. When we got there, I didn’t think to take any pictures because it was time to get ready and go to the bachelor party. I got to go with the boys because I was closer to the groom than the bride not to mention if Kevin went as a groomsman, I would be stuck alone at the hotel. So Jo was one of the guys!

The rest of the night was spent in bachelorhood debauchery and a drunken haze. There were no pictures taken i.e. there are no photographic evidence i.e. it didn’t happen.

I’m pretty sure by 2am everybody had passed out either back at the hotel or at the best man’s house.

The boys had fun. That’s all you need to know.

I'm enjoying the trip report very much! I'm from Reno, and drive the 5 to Disneyland often enough to recognize the water tower photo..... it's in Stockton, Ca. Very close to the jail/hospital, that is a weird combo...
Looking forward to more of your report.

 

[blabbermouth]

Hahaha, this is a photo I have from our drive down in 2009:

I'm 98% sure it's the same water tower! But I think it's in Sacremento? My photo angle shows a few letters on it.

I'm glad you guys made it time for the bachelor party, and how fun for you, being one of the guys

And does Kevin know his thighs are posted on the internet for the world to see?

 

[JH87]

your TR is making me laugh (which I needed, so thank you!)
I live about 2 hours from Davis, so I recognize that water tower thing....I know I see it on the way to Sacramento....
Anyways, the non-existent bachelor party sounded like it was fun

 

[DizNee Luver]

Your report is cracking me up!!!! Keep it up!!!

 

[Guatemommy]

Enjoying and waiting for the next installment!

 

[wingedjojo]

I love how everyone is helping to solve "The Mystery of the Flying Saucer."

I'm enjoying the trip report very much! I'm from Reno, and drive the 5 to Disneyland often enough to recognize the water tower photo..... it's in Stockton, Ca. Very close to the jail/hospital, that is a weird combo...
Looking forward to more of your report.

Jail/hospital...that is weird. I'm guessing it's so when people do dumb things that injure themselves they can get patched up and then thrown in jail? Perhaps they were going for efficiency here.

Hahaha, this is a photo I have from our drive down in 2009:

I'm 98% sure it's the same water tower! But I think it's in Sacremento? My photo angle shows a few letters on it.

I'm glad you guys made it time for the bachelor party, and how fun for you, being one of the guys

And does Kevin know his thighs are posted on the internet for the world to see?

I'm PRETTY sure he knows...if he didn't before, when he eventually reads this, he'll know then.

your TR is making me laugh (which I needed, so thank you!)
I live about 2 hours from Davis, so I recognize that water tower thing....I know I see it on the way to Sacramento....
Anyways, the non-existent bachelor party sounded like it was fun

Great fun with painful regrets. Like most college weekends. Hahaha.

Your report is cracking me up!!!! Keep it up!!!

Thanks!

Enjoying and waiting for the next installment!

Coming right up!

 

[wingedjojo]

This update is gonna be low on pictures and full of words. It’ll get better later, I promise.

~*~*~*~
Saturday, July 9

After the non-existent shenanigans of last night, nobody wanted to wake up before noon. Too bad there was a wedding rehearsal to go to at 11am.

While I was waiting for everybody else to finish getting ready, I went around taking pictures. So once again, we stayed at the Comfort Inn.

The two rooms the father of the groom rented out was on the second floor, right next to each other and behind that white pillar.

Kevin and I got to share a glorious king sized bed. I just LOVE big beds. You get to roll around, spread out and have all the room you want. It’s a wonderful feeling. Unfortunately, one of the groomsmen had to take the sofa bed although he said he didn’t mind.

We made it to the rehearsal with literally 3 minutes until 11am. It didn’t last very long, about 30 minutes.

Here we have the bridal party without the fancy clothes.

Afterwards, all the groomsmen (plus Jo) went out for the first meal of the day: Red Robins. Can I just say that this was the saddest looking group in the world? Everybody was hung-over and miserable. I only took a couple of shots so I wasn’t in too bad a shape but everyone else looked like death. Too much fun.

Lots of caffeine was consumed and after food, people started to feel better. In better shape, we took a trip to Men’s Warehouse to pick up the tuxes. Because this is the real world and not a movie, something had to mess up.

1. The groomsmen were supposed to have bow ties; every one of them had straight ties.
2. The shoes were too small for one of them.
3. Some of the jackets/pants were either too short by a little bit or too big by a little bit.

Thank goodness the bride didn’t freak out when the groom called her.

To compensate for their oversight over the ties, the nice lady at the Men’s Warehouse gave everybody free pocket squares. Woohoo! They luckily had a pair of shoes onsite that fit and could replace the smaller ones and everyone just dealt with the jackets/pants.

Having picked up the tuxes, the next item on the agenda was to pick up decorations to deck out the getaway car with. So over to Party City we went. We were in and out rather quickly because everybody just wanted to go back to our rooms and take a nap. The rehearsal dinner was at 6pm meaning if we hurried back, we could fit in a 3 hour nap.

And nap we did.

Woke up about 5pm, refreshed/showered and went off to dinner. Again, I don’t know why I don’t have any pictures. Just didn’t think to take any for some reason.

There were speeches.

And Chinese food.

And the groomsmen got fancy cufflinks to wear.

Everybody turned in for an early night to wake up bright and bushy tailed for tomorrow’s events.

And that was the day.

 

[jlindley9]

I forgot where we were but we suddenly came across a flying saucer!!!

Still have no idea what it really was; perhaps a water tower?

It is a water tower along 5 between Sacramento and Elk Grove. I live in Elk Grove and pass it on the way to work every day!

Really enjoying the TR!

 

[skiingfast]

One can notice that a bottle of Nos has already been opened and consumed. What is Nos, you say? Well, it is the single most delicious but effective energy drink that has proven true many a late night in college. And it tastes like orange soda. .

Hmm and I remember using Mountain Dew in college, which probably saved me from becoming a coffee drinker as that was the alternative.

The boys had fun. That’s all you need to know

Got it.

1. The groomsmen were supposed to have bow ties; every one of them had straight ties.
2. The shoes were too small for one of them.
3. Some of the jackets/pants were either too short by a little bit or too big by a little bit.

IME, this happens at every wedding.


Might need to look at the disneystore.com for that Perry the Platypus hat. They do exist.

 

[blabbermouth]

Quite the long line of wedding events! Hope the guys can make it to the wedding without being too sick, haha.

Apparently the water tower is becoming the mascot of your TR!

 

[wingedjojo]

Sunday, July 10

Finally the BIG day arrived. Ceremony was going to start at 11:00am so that means we all got up super early to prepare.

Something pretty funny happened while we were getting ready. The other groomsman that was in the room with us had realized the moment he woke up that he didn’t have his suit. He had picked it up separately from everybody else, had gone to the groom’s house afterwards and forgot his suit there. So after he showered he had to get over to the groom’s house before everybody started arriving at the ceremony site.

Being the woman that he is, of course Kevin took way long to get ready. So I just kind of sat around waiting for him and I guess I took a picture of the tv/microwave/fridge for some reason.

The ceremony took place on a golf course that had a wedding section called Wedgewood Wedding and Banquet Center. I borrowed these pictures from their website:

The groomsmen had to decorate the getaway car and I got to help too. It was fun but I wish we had more stuff to put on it. The best man had wanted to get confetti and put it in the AC system but we were all pretty sure the bride was gonna get mad.

While we were finishing up the car, the photographers just happened to walk by and wanted an impromptu photo shoot.

Then it was inside for some flower pinning.

I think once it got closer to 10am, it was time for the groom and the groomsmen to do their professional pictures. Some of the poses those ladies had them do were really formulaic but I guess that’s what most weddings are like and it’s probably nice to have those pictures in the long run.

They did this weird picture where the groomsmen had to stand an arm’s length apart and then walk behind the groom while the photographer took pictures.

Thank GOODNESS the groom and groomsmen are super funny together and they provided some entertaining poses/moments. I’m serious when I say the groomsmen were the life of the party. The videographer that they had literally followed the groomsmen around and I’m sure 80% of the stuff they recorded was of the guys. Although it is a wedding and it sucks to have so much attention not on the bride/groom.

At one point, one of them came up with the brilliant idea to do a superhero pose.

My picture of it isn’t as good as the professional one but it’s still pretty funny.

While they were doing that, I took a paparazzi-like picture of the ceremony area.

The groom then did his solo pictures.

And the groomsmen stood around and played Tiny Towers (that game is so freaking addicting!!!).

Ooohhh…shiny shoes.

As the ceremony got closer, they had one last beer in honor of the groom’s last moments as a bachelor. The groom had water though.

Around 10 minutes until the ceremony, I left the group to grab a seat on the groom’s side.

You can sort of see their sand ceremony instruments set up in the little gazebo.

 

[wingedjojo]

Here’s their program and the only picture I have of me.

Then the ceremony started with the best man walking the groom down the aisle, the bridesmaids/groomsmen, the maid of honor, then finally the bride and the father of the bride.

Ceremony pictures:

After the ceremony, I made my way to the reception room. First I picked up my seating card thing (they turned out to be a packet of seeds).

Then went and found my table and picked a seat. The tables were named after Disney characters and each had a little stuffed animal of the table name (it was super cute but we were strictly forbidden from taking the center pieces i.e. the stuffed animals). The groomsmen (plus Jo) sat at the Flower table…because we smelled?

The wedding party wasn’t coming in yet and out of curiosity, I went up to the windows to see if they were still outside. They were just taking more pictures.

The groomsmen seemed bored out of their minds and most of them were playing on their cell phones (damn that Tiny Towers).

There was some formal announcement of the wedding party as they all came into the reception room.

I ordered a Fuzzy Navel to go along with my lunch. It was delicious but oh-so-expensive.

My last picture of the wedding was of the wedding party doing their wedding party dance. They had danced the merengue to “I’m a Believer” by Smash Mouth.

All in all, it was a nice wedding. The food was delicious and people had fun. It was way hot having an outdoor wedding in July but it was very pretty. So two thumbs up.

 

[wingedjojo]

Quite the long line of wedding events! Hope the guys can make it to the wedding without being too sick, haha.

Apparently the water tower is becoming the mascot of your TR!

Nobody was too bad during the day of the ceremony. Unfortunately, the groom had a little too much to drink and during the night of shenanigans, threw up too hard and burst a couple of blood vessels in his eyes. He had somewhat bloodshot eyes up until well after the day of the wedding. It turned out okay though and nobody made a big deal about it.

Hmm and I remember using Mountain Dew in college, which probably saved me from becoming a coffee drinker as that was the alternative.


Got it.


IME, this happens at every wedding.


Might need to look at the disneystore.com for that Perry the Platypus hat. They do exist.

I love Mountain Dew Code Red. I never thought I would be a coffee drinker either but college has changed that.

It's not a wedding if something doesn't get screwed up, right?

I know what I"m getting him for Christmas now.

It is a water tower along 5 between Sacramento and Elk Grove. I live in Elk Grove and pass it on the way to work every day!

Really enjoying the TR!

Thanks! Everybody seems to know about that water tower except me.