UtahMama
Wakey, wakey, Eggs and Bakey<br><img src=http://ww
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2006
- Messages
- 9,743
Our Big Fat Budget Board Quickie Trip! February 9th and 10th
We just got back from what we're calling our "Budget Board" day trip to Disneyland and thought you might enjoy taking a VERY spontaneous trip to Disneyland with us.
I did zero planning and only decided to do this quickie trip last Friday (the 8th). See, we bought Annual Passes on Feb. 25th 2007 and they were about to expire. A savvy AP holder uses them at least twice to break even...which we did. This would be our third trip so this time admission would be free. We like FREE!
Like I said, this is quite the budget trip so we made the decision to take my DH's 5 speed Toyota Corolla instead of our super comfy and roomy Suburban. The Toyota makes great gas mileage and the Suburban makes about 12 miles per gallon (going down hill with a tail wind). Plus our "eldest" son couldn't get off work so he stayed home to House sit and Dog sit. This stresses me out a little because he recently caught his bedroom on fire by lighting a candle. Then there was the microwave fire just before we went to Disneyland last year. I went over the rules with him till his eyes glazed over. No fire, no visitors, no nothing...and most of all, NO FUN.
We loaded up with snacks and cereal from Walmart to the tune of $40.00. I used my own ice. We charged up all our electronics.
I packed two outfits for each of us plus our pillows. What normally takes weeks of list making and planning, I accomplished in less than one day.
Here's a view of the necessities:
Feeling triumphant, I kept having a nagging feeling I was forgetting something. Meh, whatever it was we could do without for such a short visit. We did remember the AP's and I watched my DH put them in his wallet.
We left the most sucky grey, slushy, snowy, cold, yucky, day and were looking forward to sunny Southern California.
A pretty view of the mountains as we drove by on the freeway:
The fighting was at a minimum in the cramped back seat. The kids put up pillow walls for territory.
I was expecting wayyyy more bickering. There WAS plenty but not right away. They tattletale a lot. I think my kids are passive aggressive tattle-talers. All of a sudden I'd hear, "EWWWW, Norah! Don't pick your nose!" instead of "Mom, Norah's picking her nose!" Passive Aggressive Tattletalers.
Here's a Sign that I thought would make a killer triple word score with the aid of some blanks in Scrabble. Too bad you can't use city names! This is for my Scrabble peeps:
I didn't take any pictures but that night at 1 AM we made it to Buffalo Bills Hotel and Casino on the Stateline of Nevada and California. I had planned on playing a little Texas Holdem but was quickly intimidated by the pros playing. I didn't want to ask them what beats what. I DO have a great "bluff". No matter what crappy hand I'm dealt, my eyes grow a smidge bigger for a second and I sit up a little straighter and I bite my lower lip. However, my bluff would have been spotted by these guys I think. So we all just went to sleep.
For 4 hours. At 5:30 we loaded up and took off. We ended up 4 hours later at this FANCY 2 full star no-tell motel called the Islander Hotel and Suites. It was clean, I'll have to admit. Our room was nearly ready too.
We unloaded all our stuff and packed our snacks for the day. This would be a long day so we were ready to stave off any hunger that might befall us.
Plus my pink back pack was loaded with my semi-frozen caffeine source of bliss.
Dallen snapped this of me and Ry as we waited for the tram.
Here's the "crowds" for the Disneyland entrace. Not too shabby for a Saturday. Someone said there'd be crowds of cheerleaders next weekend...so I was thankful. Perky teen girls are just about as "fabulous" as Pop Warner in my humble opinion.
Our first ride was the Matterhorn. I love when it takes the track on the right. You get to see the teeny scary white furred monster with the glowing red eyes twice. I can't spell Umbominable Snowman. This is always so much fun.
Next was the Alice ride. Gads, it's fun:
We were quoted a 90 minute wait for Nemo, which does NOT have a fast pass to, but we didn't ride this last year because it wasn't open yet. It turned out to be a grand total of 60 minutes from the time we got in line till we got off the ride. It's really cool! I remember it as the Submarine Voyage and it brought back memories. I love the bubble illusion to make you feel like you're going down deep into the ocean. The entire ride is on You Tube if you want to see it, but I won't be the one to spoil it for you.
Here's another thing we'd never experienced,The Garbage Man group. NO IDEA what their real group name really is but they're so fun to watch! Like a Tomorrowland version of Stomp:
We ate lunch at The French Market restaurant.The kids all had mac'n'cheese and Ron had the fried chicken and I had the clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl and a side salad. They were out of their BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches though. I love New Orleans Square the best of all the lands of DL. Me and Norah posed in our picture taking spot:
Next up was the Haunted Mansion. I was a little taken back by how sweet Dallen was carrying his little sister or holding her hand. Awwwww.....
I see London, I see France:
The front of the Haunted Mansion kinda looks like the Mansions at Port Orleans Resort, yes?
The chandelier in the lobby before the stretching room:
We went on POC before heading over to Space Mtn. Yay! Norah was tall enough this time!
I asked her to show me her "scared face" and this is what she did:
My fam-dam-a-lama on the side by side seating on Space Mountain:
Been on both and declare DL's to be darker and smoother. I really like it better. Back in 1977, on opening day, when I was 10, I stood in a line for SM that went clear out of Tomorrowland. Yup.
After SM, in the blink of an eye we lost Riley. ACK! I was busy getting the stroller and he must have gotten lost in a crowd. Luckily he knows to tell a cast member with a name badge that he's lost. We found him being spoiled by a nice Mary Poppinsish CM in the Baby Care Center which is where they take lost kids. NOT It's a Small World to become a singing doll for all eternity as is the Urban Legend.
He was hyperventilating and sobbing by the time we made it to the Baby Care Center. Poor little lamb. Naturally I reamed him a good one about staying with your mommy and daddy and not wandering off. But I hugged him and was truly glad we found him! I HATE that panicky feeling!
After that trauma, we watched a little fireworks and went back to our dee-luxe hotel for a much needed sleep.
I shot this of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Much smaller than Cindy's but just as special to me. Just as beautiful!
We just got back from what we're calling our "Budget Board" day trip to Disneyland and thought you might enjoy taking a VERY spontaneous trip to Disneyland with us.
I did zero planning and only decided to do this quickie trip last Friday (the 8th). See, we bought Annual Passes on Feb. 25th 2007 and they were about to expire. A savvy AP holder uses them at least twice to break even...which we did. This would be our third trip so this time admission would be free. We like FREE!
Like I said, this is quite the budget trip so we made the decision to take my DH's 5 speed Toyota Corolla instead of our super comfy and roomy Suburban. The Toyota makes great gas mileage and the Suburban makes about 12 miles per gallon (going down hill with a tail wind). Plus our "eldest" son couldn't get off work so he stayed home to House sit and Dog sit. This stresses me out a little because he recently caught his bedroom on fire by lighting a candle. Then there was the microwave fire just before we went to Disneyland last year. I went over the rules with him till his eyes glazed over. No fire, no visitors, no nothing...and most of all, NO FUN.
We loaded up with snacks and cereal from Walmart to the tune of $40.00. I used my own ice. We charged up all our electronics.
I packed two outfits for each of us plus our pillows. What normally takes weeks of list making and planning, I accomplished in less than one day.
Here's a view of the necessities:
Feeling triumphant, I kept having a nagging feeling I was forgetting something. Meh, whatever it was we could do without for such a short visit. We did remember the AP's and I watched my DH put them in his wallet.
We left the most sucky grey, slushy, snowy, cold, yucky, day and were looking forward to sunny Southern California.
A pretty view of the mountains as we drove by on the freeway:
The fighting was at a minimum in the cramped back seat. The kids put up pillow walls for territory.
I was expecting wayyyy more bickering. There WAS plenty but not right away. They tattletale a lot. I think my kids are passive aggressive tattle-talers. All of a sudden I'd hear, "EWWWW, Norah! Don't pick your nose!" instead of "Mom, Norah's picking her nose!" Passive Aggressive Tattletalers.
Here's a Sign that I thought would make a killer triple word score with the aid of some blanks in Scrabble. Too bad you can't use city names! This is for my Scrabble peeps:
I didn't take any pictures but that night at 1 AM we made it to Buffalo Bills Hotel and Casino on the Stateline of Nevada and California. I had planned on playing a little Texas Holdem but was quickly intimidated by the pros playing. I didn't want to ask them what beats what. I DO have a great "bluff". No matter what crappy hand I'm dealt, my eyes grow a smidge bigger for a second and I sit up a little straighter and I bite my lower lip. However, my bluff would have been spotted by these guys I think. So we all just went to sleep.
For 4 hours. At 5:30 we loaded up and took off. We ended up 4 hours later at this FANCY 2 full star no-tell motel called the Islander Hotel and Suites. It was clean, I'll have to admit. Our room was nearly ready too.
We unloaded all our stuff and packed our snacks for the day. This would be a long day so we were ready to stave off any hunger that might befall us.
Plus my pink back pack was loaded with my semi-frozen caffeine source of bliss.
Dallen snapped this of me and Ry as we waited for the tram.
Here's the "crowds" for the Disneyland entrace. Not too shabby for a Saturday. Someone said there'd be crowds of cheerleaders next weekend...so I was thankful. Perky teen girls are just about as "fabulous" as Pop Warner in my humble opinion.
Our first ride was the Matterhorn. I love when it takes the track on the right. You get to see the teeny scary white furred monster with the glowing red eyes twice. I can't spell Umbominable Snowman. This is always so much fun.
Next was the Alice ride. Gads, it's fun:
We were quoted a 90 minute wait for Nemo, which does NOT have a fast pass to, but we didn't ride this last year because it wasn't open yet. It turned out to be a grand total of 60 minutes from the time we got in line till we got off the ride. It's really cool! I remember it as the Submarine Voyage and it brought back memories. I love the bubble illusion to make you feel like you're going down deep into the ocean. The entire ride is on You Tube if you want to see it, but I won't be the one to spoil it for you.
Here's another thing we'd never experienced,The Garbage Man group. NO IDEA what their real group name really is but they're so fun to watch! Like a Tomorrowland version of Stomp:
We ate lunch at The French Market restaurant.The kids all had mac'n'cheese and Ron had the fried chicken and I had the clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl and a side salad. They were out of their BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches though. I love New Orleans Square the best of all the lands of DL. Me and Norah posed in our picture taking spot:
Next up was the Haunted Mansion. I was a little taken back by how sweet Dallen was carrying his little sister or holding her hand. Awwwww.....
I see London, I see France:
The front of the Haunted Mansion kinda looks like the Mansions at Port Orleans Resort, yes?
The chandelier in the lobby before the stretching room:
We went on POC before heading over to Space Mtn. Yay! Norah was tall enough this time!
I asked her to show me her "scared face" and this is what she did:
My fam-dam-a-lama on the side by side seating on Space Mountain:
Been on both and declare DL's to be darker and smoother. I really like it better. Back in 1977, on opening day, when I was 10, I stood in a line for SM that went clear out of Tomorrowland. Yup.
After SM, in the blink of an eye we lost Riley. ACK! I was busy getting the stroller and he must have gotten lost in a crowd. Luckily he knows to tell a cast member with a name badge that he's lost. We found him being spoiled by a nice Mary Poppinsish CM in the Baby Care Center which is where they take lost kids. NOT It's a Small World to become a singing doll for all eternity as is the Urban Legend.
He was hyperventilating and sobbing by the time we made it to the Baby Care Center. Poor little lamb. Naturally I reamed him a good one about staying with your mommy and daddy and not wandering off. But I hugged him and was truly glad we found him! I HATE that panicky feeling!
After that trauma, we watched a little fireworks and went back to our dee-luxe hotel for a much needed sleep.
I shot this of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Much smaller than Cindy's but just as special to me. Just as beautiful!
Anyway, I just know we are going to whip around one of those bends and his head is going to knock back and crack me in the nose! So I spend the entire ride worrying and craning my neck as far back as possible....yeah, I'm hurtin' by the time we fall out of the bobsled. But, I keep going back....good times! 
. Stay at a notel (that's funny!). SOME day I'll stay at GCH...but the price tag sticks in my throat a little. Maybe for a daddy/mommy only trip? 
Even for a shorty short visit. 
i see the necessities the cooler full of DP 
, but we're scheduled...aug. 17~
...& i couldn't think..of any more "prefect" guide..than you!
..riding 
