Our Disneyland Trip May 11-16

[kellymom]

We just got back from a family and Disneyland visit. A little background first. We are originially from Huntington Beach but moved to the burbs of Dallas 2 years ago. My daughter, who turned 4 on the 16th at Disney, was practically born at Disneyland and we went at least twice a week for the first 2 years of her life. We had not been back since our move.

Cast: Me, I love Disney and could go everyday
Husband, does not love it but does not hate it. Goes to make us happy and really likes it when it is not crowded (unlike this trip)
Kelly, who as I said turned 4 on our trip, a Princess lover with a special fondness for Ariel and Cinderella

We were supposed to go to Disneyland on Monday the 14th but since I left my phone in our truck at the airport back in Dallas, I didn't have the numbers of people we were supposed to meet up with Friday night. We decided on an impromptu trip that Friday night to buy our passes and see the fireworks.

Got in the ticket line at 7:45 and waited an hour just to buy our passes. We just bought season passes as we are hoping to go back at Christmas and again next year around the same time so it was smarter money wise for us. Once we got our passes we headed to get my daughter's picture taken for her pass, they just used dh and my old picture for ours. Off to City Hall to get her a birthday button and they loaded her up with buttons and stickers. Princess buttons, birthday button, honorary citizen and so on. I also got a pass since I cannot climb stairs. Then we were off and headed towards Pirate's. MISTAKE!

Once we got close to Pirate's everything was packed and blocked off. Fireworks started and no music or sound to go with them at this area. They had all the bleachers up for the premeire of the new movie coming out. So we watched the fireworks and then went on Pirate's. Now I am not a fan of the movie so I did not like the changes one bit. Some things you just don't mess with and Pirate's should be one of those Disney sacred things and not changed for a movie fad. Just my .02 cents on it. My daughter loved the ride and loved the slides (drops) as she called them. Then off to Winnie the Pooh. Splash Mountain was open but since it was cool we decided to put it off for the daytime next week.

After Winnie the Pooh we stopped at the hat place and Kelly got the Princess Mickey ears. The cast member saw her birthday button and asked if she got her birthday call yet. We said no so she picked up the phone and called Goofy. Goofy then sang Happy Birthday and Kelly was just in awe over the whole thing. What a special little touch of magic. Of course, I cried. It becomes a common occurance this trip.

We then made our way to the secret bathroom and then through the castle to the Merry Go Round and then Casey Jr. It was soooooo busy and we were just done with the crowds so we decided to just leave for the night.

We did try to get the silhouette done but it was late and Kelly was tired and she thought the lady was trying to cut her hair so she was having nothing to do with it. It was alright, we would do it another day when we were all not so tired. Off to the tram and to our car we went. We would be checking into the Howard Johnson's on Monday for a 2 night stay, but that night was back to the in-laws.

It was so nice to just be there for the short time we were there. Some things just never change and it was nice to see all of our old favorite things.

Monday May 14th
We went to the Long Beach Aquarium in the morning and once we were done with that and lunch with Great Grandma we were on our way to Howard Johnson's to check in. They did not ask for my Entertainment Card however I still got the $54 a night rate. We were in building 6 which faces Harbor and on the bottom floor. Room was clean and quite large. We dropped our stuff off, got our things together and made the walk over. The walk was not bad at all. But at the end of a long day, it may be a different story. But it was just fine.

We went to California Adventure first, arrived about 3:30 I guess. We went straight to the cotton candy vendor and got the highly anticipated cotton candy. All we have heard for the past couple of months was that she was going to Disneyland to get cotton candy. It was Kelly's first time having it and one bite and she said "it tastes like sugar" and took a couple more bites and then was done.

We decided to go over to Monster's since we had not been on it before, it opened right after we moved. After that we did Turtle Talk. This was pretty cute, another first for us. Then we did the rest of the animation room. It brought back so many memories. This is where my sister in law and I would take our girls when they were first learning to walk and they would toddle around and dance. Then down to Belle's Library to see which characters we were, I was Tinkerbell, Kelly was Ariel and Dh was Jiminy Cricket.

We then went to Bug's Land and we rode the Lady Bug tea cups, Flik's Flying ride and the Chew Chew Train. On our way we saw the High School Musical thing going on. We have no clue what it is all about and just passed on it.

After Bug's Land we went to the baby station and dd used the little potty. Again more memories as we used to go there to nurse the girls and then change them. Then to the tortilla place and Kelly got a sack of tortillas for her birthday. At that point she gave up the cotton candy and just wanted the tortillas.

It was getting close to closing so we decided to beat that DCA rush over to Disneyland so we left DCA and headed over to the other park. Disneyland was much more crowded than DCA of course. Kelly wanted to go over to Pirate's again for the slides so we did that. Next was Winnie the Pooh and then the store for a treat. I got the rice krispie treat dipped in peanut butter and chocolate, dh got a pretzel dipped in all kinds of stuff and Kelly got jelly beans. We were going back to Jungle Cruise but everything was so crowded we opted to leave and go to Build A Bear and then get some dinner.

Build A Bear was crowded and we waited about 45 minutes to get to the front of the line. Kelly chose the pink bear with magnets in the hands and cheeks. This was so sweet and she really enjoys the whole process of it all. We did the personal message for her bear, whom she named Faith the Fourth for her 4th birthday. They took her and another little boy halfway up the stairs and everyone sang Happy Birthday to them. I sobbed just watching her up there glowing while making Faith's hands clap away.

Now it was time for the long walk back to the hotel. Once we got back we got in the car and drove to get some Mexican food (Texas does not have good Mexican food, it is all Tex-Mex, blech) and went to Target to get some water and snacks for the hotel. After dinner we went swimming and although it was cool outside the pools were heated and just perfect. The little kiddie pool was a great hit with Kelly and the other little toddlers that were there. Back to the room for The Bachelor and bed. Tuesday we are meeting SIL and BIL with our 2 neices and 1 nephew. It was a big day! More to come later. I need to get this little in bed now.

 

[eargal]

Wow what a wonderful start to your trip. I loved hearing about your daughter since I have an almost 4 year old princess of my own. I'm such a sap that each time I read about you tearing up over your daughter, I did a little misting up of my own.

I'm eager for the rest.

 

[kellymom]

Tuesday May 15th

We got up early and we were on our way at 8. We decided to just get McDonald's since it was on the way. We are supposed to meet my SIL/BIL and crew at 9 at the gates. Get to the gates at 8:40 to find a nice long line but once they opened the gates it went fast. Got through the gates and went to visit Goofy and Pluto who were out by the fire station. Kelly loves the characters and goes right up to them to hug them and chit chat.

We made our way up to the rope with about 5 minutes to spare. SIL called and said they would be late so we were on our own for a while. We went to Buzz first thing since there was a swarm of people heading towards Peter Pan. This was our first time for Buzz and we really liked it. Kelly and I had more fun just making the car spin around, we didn't even bother trying to shoot at things. DH in the car in front of us had fun shooting at everything, but seriously it was more fun spinning for us. The guy behind us told us that there were guns to shoot with but we did not care.

Next stop was the race cars, aka Autopia. The cast member there was horribly rude and told me that Autopia did not allow special assistance passes and that if I wanted to ride I would have to use the stairs (knee surgery and I can't use stairs). I knew better as I asked at City Hall but she was insistent and Kelly saw the subs and wanted to go see them instead so we did that. Still makes me mad though at how terribly rude she was.

After gawking at the subs we went to the Matterhorn. Kelly just hit 40 inches, she had a major growth spurt in the last 3 months. We knew Matterhorn was 36" so we had been prepping her for it. I told her there was a Yetti inside that was white and raised his arms and said "Raaarrrgh" and what that meant in Yetti was "Happy Birthday Kelly, thanks for coming to see me". She could hardly wait to see the Yetti. She was not thrilled with the ride but did not cry either. She said it was bumpy on her bunnies (bottom). When asked if she wanted to do it again, she said no she would see the Yetti later.

We made our way to Small World. She loved this before and loved it even more now. She sang and sang and danced in her little seat. She had this look of pure bless on her face the entire time. After it was over she said she wanted to move in there to live. ME TOO!!!!

Through the little shop we went and bought her a princess doll. Looked at the grossly long line for the Princess Faire and went into Toon Town instead. It was just opening so perfect timing. We went on Roger Rabbit and then played with Pluto for a while.

At this point my SIL called and they were in the park. My 3 year old niece and Kelly wanted to do the Merry Go Round. Then to Dumbo and the Tea Cups. The girls, dh and myself got in one cup and made that thing spin. The girls just squealed and laughed. They were so sweet. Next was Small World. After Small World we got in line for the girls to get their hair done and their faces painted. My .02 cents, they should have kept the Princesses in front of the castle where they belong, but hey, that's just me. We should have sent the guys to wait in the line to meet the Princess but we didn't. As it was, we waited for an hour just to get their hair done. During the wait we put the girls in their princess gowns. My niece has nice long hair, Kelly on the other hand has short curly hair. I don't think the girl doing Kelly's hair was used to working with little girls that had little hair and even though it was cute and Kelly loved it, she could have done better. The roses were just barley hanging on so I ended up fixing them myself for her. Kelly just thought this was the best thing ever and was dancing all around and looking at herself in the long mirrors they have. She was going up and introducing herself and Princess Kelly of Texas. Of course my eyes were tearing up just watching how proud she was. $60 for both the girls!

After this we went to the Princess line, 2 hour wait. I don't think so!!!! So we took the girls down to decorate a crown and they danced and played down where they used to have the show. This was pure genius on our part. There was 1 other little girl down there playing. Well this is the route the Princesses take when changing shifts so we saw Sleeping Beauty and Snow White leaving and the girls got hugs and pictures and then coming out was Cinderella and a different Snow White, again pictures and hugs and NO WAIT!!!!

It was lunch time about now so we went over to Pizza Port. I was not really to thrilled about it because the last time we ate there it was pretty bad but I was out voted. It actually was not too bad. We got a chicken pasta, side salad and a piece of pizza and drink. Total was about $20 with our pass, not bad for lunch for 3 people. The $6 for pizza was nuts to me however. The guys decided to go on Space Mountain since standby was 10 minutes. Then they used the fast passes we had got before lunch and did it again. Then my 12 year old nephew and I went on together. 3 trips under 30 minutes, not bad.

We made our way over to Pirates and we all went on that. Indy was 15 minutes so we did shifts with that again, first the moms and my nephew and then the guys and my nephew. Kelly really wanted to ride this one but way to little still. While the guys were on Indy we took the girls over to Jungle Cruise. 45 minute wait but since they were going up the stairs and I had my pass, we got right on through the exit. The guide was great and had some new jokes I had not heard before. He saw Kelly's button and had everyone on the boat sing to her as she stood and clapped (yep, I was crying again!).

Off to Winnie the Pooh. Rode that a couple times until Kelly saw Tigger. The rest of the crew sat down with snacks from the store while Kelly and I got in line to meet Pooh and Tigger. She has a thing for the characters truly and just loves seeing them. She had an autograph book this time and had the best time with that thing.

Gathered the rest of the gang and we were going to go on Splash but they just closed the doors so no Splash today again. Bummer! We were all looking forward to going on together in one boat, all but SIL of course, she would stay with the baby.

Kelly wanted to do Dumbo again while my niece wanted to do Buzz, neither was going to give in so we went our own ways for this ride. We knew we would loose against 2 head strong little girls and it was not worth the fight. We rode Dumbo and then we headed out of the park for dinner. We decided on Rain Forest. MISTAKE! They told us a 15 minute wait, sounds good. Well that 15 minutes turned into an hour and 20 minutes but everyone was so beat we just waited it out. Service sucked, food was just alright. At this point Kelly has caught on that her little button gets her things and said to the server "it's my birthday, do you have ice cream for me please?". So out came the servers and ice cream and all was well in her little world. And all I kept thinking about was the loooong walk back through DD, through the gates and to the hotel on my bad knee that was swollen.

But we made it back, it was now 10 and the main pool did not close until midnight so we went in the pool. Helped with my knee so that was nice! There were quite a few little ones splashing around so we had fun down there for about an hour and then called it a night. It was late, we were exhausted and we had reservations for Goofy's Kitchen in the morning. Plus tomorrow was her actual big birthday day!!!