Over the River and through the woods...part 2 added, and pics**

[trodrigue]

Trip Report 12/18-12/23

Some of you may have seen my pre trip planning questions and proposed itineraries, so you already know that I am a self professed over-planner, control freak sort of person. I will warn you in advance, that the best of plans, even mine, do indeed go awry, so you will see a lot of deviations from the plan. But I have to say, I see these deviations as guidance towards planning my next trip better!

So, here is the cast: Me, the Mom, a bit of Mary Poppins and Tinker Bell too.
Dad: A bit of Grumpy and Eyore too, and probably a bit of Donald Duck
The Big One: Eleven Year Old Son, Prince Charming, Christopher Robin & a bit of Peter Pan
The Little One: Five Year Old Boy, Pinocchio before he became a real boy.

Mom worked from home on Friday, so the Rodrigue family was all packed up and ready to go before anyone else ever got home. I had ordered special books and surprises to help entertain the little one on the long drive, and everything was neatly stacked in an open flexi-bin next to the car seat. (Yes, this 5 year old, 55 pound boy is in a Britax 5-point harness, despite the fact that most of his peers are happily ensconced in booster seats, primarily because he seldom sits still enough in the correct position to be properly restrained in the event of a crash; and yes, this is the child we signed on for an 18 hour drive). We had borrowed an extra DVD player, so each child had there own, with two separate pouches of at least 20 movies each. Each child had a game system. Both boys had books to read, water to drink, snacks to eat. I had my Dramamine, and Dad had his brand new GPS. We were set!


We were all sound asleep by 9 PM, planning to get up at 3:30 and load the boys and head out of town, taking advantage of a good 3 hours with them sleeping soundly. And this is where the plan first went astray. The big one complied with his guided walk to the car and snuggled in and fell asleep immedietly. The little one however, being part farmer like he is, was wide awake and climbed in the car seat, and excitedly started exploring the box of goods. We were not even out of the neighborhood before the inside of the car looked like a tornado had hit, and we had already heard the first, “Are we there yet?” sort of questions. After exchanging knowing looks of exasperation, Dad worked on driving and I worked on explaining again what the plan was. Luckily for me, who is not a farmer by nature, the little one settled in, and I under influence of my Dramamine was not at all feeling car sick, but was rather drowsy, and settled in for a nice long nap.

This is the boy, surrounded by the stuff.

The Big one after I gave over the front seat to keep the peace with the little one.

I have to say, we were exceptionally lucky in our trip from Seattle, Washington to Anaheim, CA. The weather was exceptional, and we saw a lot of really beautiful scenery. In particular, I enjoyed the stretch through the Siskous and Mt. Shasta.

Mt. Shasta

We pulled into Redding, CA after about 11 hours of driving (okay we stopped for gas and potty breaks but not much else). We stayed at the Best Western Hilltop and were pleasantly surprised by how nice our room was. We even ventured out to take the kids swimming in the outdoor pool, or rather Dad got that job. I ventured to the adjoining hot tub where I refused to leave. This seemed a bit unfair to Dad, but I reminded him that I had given birth and also nursed our two children. Boy, I thought I had the upper hand and I smugly enjoyed my time in the hot tub, but little did I know then that I would pay the price later for making my husband take the boys for a rollicking swim in freezing temps. We all got ourselves dressed up and headed on over to the local Denny’s for some family feeding, which provided us with exactly the type of meal we had been expecting, and our wiggly 5 year old that had been in a car all day was well tolerated. The big one set precedence with refusing to order off the child’s menu, which is no big thing at Denny’s but can seriously damage a food budget at Disneyland! I warned him that if he did not eat all his dinner I was going to take it out of his allowance but to no avail, he still ordered from the regular menu, and ate it all too!

We all crashed at 7:30! It is amazing how sitting on your bum for 11 hours in a car, eating, watching movies and napping can really wear you out! We actually slept in until 5:45 the next day, did a quick washing up and headed to the free breakfast. This is where we really got lucky and found a wonderful spread with great coffee, scrambled eggs, biscuit and gravy stuff, bacon, real cooked oatmeal, and lots of other standard fair. So, our trip was delayed as hubby and I enjoyed too much good food, and our children ate their coco and cold cereal. What is the matter with those kids? They were disappointed not to get to make their own waffles though! So, after one last potty break, we loaded into the car and were on the road by about 6:45. I had strategically planned out next stop in 3.5 hours at the Tracy Premium Outlets. I had convinced my husband that if we could just make a brief stop, it would save us a ton of money. He always falls for that one!

Tracy Premium Outlet Mall, Disney Character Outlet Store: This is a temporary location, that comes back seasonally. Right now it is scheduled from Nov. 2007 to Feb. 2008. It is very difficult to find information about this place, but if you google it you probably can. I had seen a notice about it on the Dis, and had printed that out, so that I could get an additional 10% off of my purchases, which worked like a charm. I do actually think it saved us some money. I did have a few souvenirs to buy, and was able to pick up a slew of really great character and also Disneyland shirts for $5-$10 each. I thought that was pretty good. They had some sweatshirts and nicer thinks that were like 10%-20% off? Not enough to get me excited about buying them. They did have some really nice things that were marked way down, but with either really big sizing or tiny sizing. I was looking of pins, so my little one would have some starters to do some trading. The pins were not discounted very much, (but they are not discounted at all at DL), but we did find some darling little medal frames with what looked like medal pictures of the characters in them. They were like $2.75 to $7.75 each. Turns out that the medal pictures were actually pins. So, I stocked up on some of those. Use some for gifts, took pins out of some, and ended up keeping some of them too. One other thing that I had to buy was two pairs of mickey ears with reindeer horns. They were darling and only $1.50. (Never could get my boys to wear those!) That was about all I saw worth bothering with. Well, they did have some great costumes that were pretty reasonable too.

The best part of that outlet mall was the bathroom. Huge and sparkling clean. The very best we saw the entire trip. So, we loaded up my goods (which it had taken me 22 minutes to gather), and headed back on the freeway according to the GPS directions. It wasn’t long before we realized the darn thing had sent us the wrong way! LOL Apparently, we were off on some side freeway and it got the darn computer all confused. This was not the last time this would happen.

This is all I can do for now, but next installment will mark our arrival at Paradise Pier and the beginning of our great Disneyland adventure.

 

[missstcroix]

subscribing...love it so far!

 

[lulubelle]

Can't wait for the next installment!
We bought DD21 a GPS for her birthday next week, are we going to regret it? Does it confuse the already confused drivers?

 

[trodrigue]

After leaving the Disney Outlet Store in Tracy and redirecting the GPS so it would take us in the right direction, we eventually hit the dreaded Grapevine. Our luck held and we sailed over with no unfortunate happenings. Not much further and we had arrived! Or so my youngest thought when we pulled over for gas, right next to Magic Mountain. Talk about torture! All those lovely roller coasters that we were not going to ride! We satisfied his need for speed by paying to go through the car wash, which actually was a small room that we parked in that sent a car wash machine back and forth over our car. A first for all of us!

It was not long after leaving Magic Mountain that we started to see a huge increase in the traffic, as well as the aggression of the drivers. We quickly learned the rules of the road (do or die, move it or lose it, etc) and headed south on 405, which was the insider tip that the guy at AAA had given me to avoid the LA traffic on I-5. The GPS did not like this at all, and continued to tell us to make a u-turn and get over to I-5. I told my husband to just ignore it, as it would eventually reroute us via 405. Well, that darn GPS tried to get us to take absolutely every single freeway east that would take us over to I-5 until we got within a few miles of Anaheim, where it finally rerouted us. It made no sense at all mileage wise, and of course did not take into account the traffic. Honestly, the traffic on 405 was horrendous, even on a Sunday late afternoon. I can’t imagine what I-5 must have been like. Maybe the GPS was really right? I guess we will never know…

At about 5:00 we pulled into Paradise Pier’s Front Drive. There was a line to pull in, and when we finally nudged into a spot, I told my husband that I would send someone over to help with the unloading, and to make sure that they brought everything up to the room. I then went to check in. Before I was even half way through the process, both the boys show up at the desk and say that Dad is parking the car. Shocked, I asked my oldest if Dad had gotten everything out of the car. My son shrugged his shoulders very helpfully. I already knew the answer though, and determined not to let my annoyance effect our magical arrival.

I love setting foot on Disney property. The magic is truly apparent immediately, with all the gorgeous Christmas decorations. When I walked into the lobby of PP, there was a group of Dickens carolers, singing happy birthday to a family with a little boy holding a bunch of balloons.

Carolers

It was a great reminder to me to be sure to get my 5 year old his b-day button, as he had his 5th birthday just 20 days before and I had told him we were celebrating this momentous occasion at DL. With absolutely no wait, I stepped up to the counter to check in. The gal was very friendly and took my hotel voucher and credit card and started to check us in. She asked if we were still celebrating a b-day and I assured her we were and told her how excited my son was to get his button. She agreed that it was wonderful and that he should be excited with just a quiet smile. That was the moment that my two boys walked in, and told me that Dad was parking. The CM commented, “I hope he got everything out of the car, because there is no elevator in the parking garage.” I just smiled and gritted my teeth, because I already knew the answer to that. I don’t really know what all the CM does on the computer, but it seems to take a while. During that time, she was very engaging with my two boys and found out that we had stayed at PP before and they loved Disneyland and love the slide, and bummer that it had just closed for the day, etc. etc. She handed us the key, and I asked her, “Any chance we are near the pool? As you can see, my boys love to swim.” She very nicely took back the key and said, “Let me see what I can do.” She then did some work on the computer, excused herself for a minute, and then came back with the b-day button, a huge bouquet of balloons, a kid kit full of coloring sheets, sticker, post cards, puzzles etc for each boy (it was a little young for my oldest, but he enjoyed being thought of) and handed me our new keys. As she did so, she says, “I upgraded you to a park view and you are as close to the pool as I can get you today.” Wow! She must have seen my huge smile, because she gave me one right back and said, “Happy Holidays!” With much excitement and waves and thank yours, we left the front desk and headed down the hall way where we waited in the castle TV room for Dad.

B-day boy with balloons in Cartoon Room

It was not even a full cartoon later and Dad showed up and we all headed for our room. Even though the kids and I were dying to ride the glass elevator, Dad was not willing to wait the extra moments, so I acquiesced to practicality and we all took the first elevator to show up. Upon arriving in our room, we immediately threw open the curtains. Wow! There it was, DCA, with all the rides that my little one had been reading about and was dying to go on. His passion was renewed to ride the giant orange (the one ride that he is too short to ride, but that he would not believe me about until we went to the line and measured up, just one inch too short!) And again, we had to disappoint. Sorry boys, no rides tonight, we have three days in the park and we can’t start one of them at 6PM! (wish we had AP’s!)

Everyone is hungry, and we need to get our lanyards, and get my oldest a pair of crocs for his trip. I had ordered my husband and the little one crocs from disneyshopping.com but they did not have any in my oldest son’s size. He had been having complete slip on shoe envy the entire trip, so this was important to accomplish as soon as possible. We put away a few things and then headed out the front of the hotel, and down the sidewalk, before my husband reminded me that we should have gone out the back. We ended up crossing the parking lot to get to the walkway over to Downtown Disney, but we arrived in one piece. It was there that I realized two things. My family was very tired and cranky and hungry, and there were a lot of people at Downtown Disney. Not a good mix. We ended up weaving through the crowds, found the pin trading store, got our lanyard packages, and purchased the special Disney Visa Tink pin, which I loved. We then headed down to World of Disney, which was packed. Eventually found the Crocs, and bought those and the something else for about $45. Did not remember the $50 minimum purchase to get a 10% discount with Disney Visa, or would have picked out another souvenir. Food was now the priority, but everywhere we look there are lines, or nothing that we think our kids would eat. (Why didn’t we go through a drive in on the way into town?? Too excited to arrive, I guess!) Anyhow, we finally decide to just go back to the hotel and eat there. We were not excited at all, as we knew that it would be expensive and not that great. But we were tired and figured we could live with this solution. So off we went. And there was no one in the restaurant. It was amazing. How could Downtown Disney be so packed and no one was at this restaurant? We were quickly seated and ordered for the kids right away. Little one had the macaroni and cheese, which was as described by previous Dis’ers, nuclear orange, and rubbery, with fruit, fries, and soda with crazy straw. What the heck they invented those straws for, I have no idea. A super long flexi straw that arrive tied in a knot that must immediately be untied, stretched out, dumping the contents of the knot onto the shirt, table , purse or what ever else is under it. I’m sorry, but hold the crazy straw please! Little one ate nothing. Oldest ordered the individual pizza for adults and ate most of it, but said it was not that great. Husband had a chicken sandwich which he said was okay. I had a small salad, which was a bit strange, but okay. $50 later and we were indoctrinated into the DL way of opening your wallet and letting it flow, reasonably satiated and off to our room, in the ordinary elevator once again. I thought I might stay up and watch the fireworks from the pool level, which I have done before and loved it. But after finishing unpacking, getting the kids in bed, setting up our tickets and lanyards for the next day, finding and reviewing our plan for the following day, I was all done in, and while resting for a few minutes, fell asleep only to be awakened by the first boom of the fireworks. (I don’t know how the locals stand it!) I glanced at the clock, and tried to get up, but then decided what the heck; we would be here to see the fireworks all week long. Better to sleep now, and allowed my eyes to close again, dreaming of the wonders of our first day back at Disneyland. Would we be dreamed? Would we be selected for anything special? You never know…

 

[trodrigue]

Can't wait for the next installment!
We bought DD21 a GPS for her birthday next week, are we going to regret it? Does it confuse the already confused drivers?

I don't think it confuses them further but rather just leads them to believe they are no longer confused, while those of us that are riding with them that have a sense of direction will sometimes wonder at the chosen route. But the route will always lead them to the right spot. Not a bad trade off!


Your daughter is lovely. What the heck is the Disney college program??

 

[Golfing Goofy]

subscribing... I love your TR, I can truly relate to everything so far. Thanks for sharing.

 

[momshadow]

Subscribing..... Wow great report so far stayed at the PPH twice this year. Cant wait to hear more.

 

[trodrigue]

I love to read the trip reports, and sort of feel like this is a right of passage of some sort. Glad you are enjoying it. I will get back to the tale soon, but now need to figure out this picture thing. Off I go...

 

[trodrigue]

Monday, Dec. 17th- Magic day #1

As usual, no alarm was needed, and the little one woke us up bright and early. I had jumped in the shower and walked out to world war 3, as the little one had decided to jump on the still sleeping big one, who is not on the same bio schedule as the little one. This was a big deal. At home, when it is time to wake up Andy, I leave all the lights out, enter his room to very gently place my hand on his shoulder. Never knowing what response I am going to get, I very quietly tell him it is time to wake up. If I am lucky, it will only be mild moaning and groaning. Sometimes it is tears and hysteria. In 11 years, I have learned not to take it personally, get through the first 10 minutes of the day, and usually he will be his normal cheerful self by the time he comes downstairs.
A quick intervention and the timely arrival of breakfast got everyone back on track. This is my favorite trick. We order room service, the Americana, which comes with eggs, bacon, potatoes, pastries, juice or milk, cocoa or coffee. We order it with OJ, and Cocoa. Then for $$5.99 extra order a giant carafe of coffee with extra cream to take care of my coffee addiction (I am from Seattle and the room coffee just does not do it for me). Speaking of addictions, for my youngest it is is a cocoa. At home, he has two cups in the morning (actually ovaltine and ½ cups), but the ritual is important and comforting to him. So getting some cocoa in the hotel is important to his equilibrium. They send an entire carafe that ends up being enough for each kiddo in the morning and then allows us to save a cup in the fridge for later emergencies. It ends up being about $25, after taxes, delivery and tip, but is more than enough for our family of 4, and I get my coffee fix, which is the most important thing. Also, we do not have to endure another meal in a restaurant. The quality is much better than what we have actually gotten served to us in the PCC Grill. Did I mention that if we had left over coffee, we would set the carafe aside and keep it for later, then put the cream in the fridge, and upon returning to the room could get ice and have a lovely iced coffee refresher.

So, we were dressed and fed and out the door by 7, which was 15 minutes ahead of schedule. As we strolled through DTD on our way to the security gate, my family decides to go all Disney on me and pause and enjoy the ambience, taking pictures at the big tree and looky looing about.

I can certainly appreciate how lovely it is to enjoy when there are no crowds, but we did have a schedule to keep. I never knew how big DTD can seem until I was trying to get those folks to the gates. Absolutely everyone was passing us by! This was when my husband gave me the first inkling that he was not really interested in adhering to my schedule, and began asking me “Why I couldn’t just relax and go with the flow a bit”. Well, because we had a lot to see and do, of course! Did he want to spend the entire day standing in line? The average Disney Day results in viewing just 8 attractions. With our plan we should be able to see at least 25, plus parades, and fireworks etc. What sounded better to him??? “I know”, he says, but just doesn’t want the entire focus to be the plan. Well, duh! The plan is just the vehicle to get more of the magic. Geesh!

Eventually, we made it to the security line. Whew! Just 4 people in front of us. The security person had just finished checking their bags, and then returned to stand in front of the line. What? If we would have arrived sooner, she would have checked our bags, and we would not have had to wait once they opened the gate. Ugh! We assumed our positions and I checked the time. 7:15 am After about 30 seconds, the questions began. Sort of like the in line version of “ are we there yet?”. My husband started to take the kids off to tour DTD a bit more, but I put the kibosh on that. I had no idea when they would open the check points up and start sending us to the gates and did not want to lose them. So we all stood there and the kids were freezing because my oldest was wearing shorts and no coat, and the little one did not have a coat, because I had forgotten it. I ended up giving him my sweatshirt, so then it was just me and the big one that were freezing. The big one had to go without a jacket because we are trying to get him to think ahead a little bit and suffer the consequences if he does not. After about 15 long minutes, they finally let us through. Since we didn’t actually have any bags, we got through pretty quickly and headed to the gates ahead of the pack. We were passed by a Mom that was speed walking with her baby in arms. Someone sort of heckled her, but she did not pause in her pace, and yelled over her shoulder, “I have a reason, you’ll see.”

Well, I have to tell you, I was concerned that there was something I had not found out in my research, and it turned out I was right. Not too long after we had formed our lines, the CM announced her and her 15 family members as the family that got to open the park for the day. Well paint me green with envy! As I looked on, I swore to my husband that the next trip I was going to find out how to make that happen for us. He quickly assured me that he had absolutely no desire to “open the park”, and to please not plan on that! I am thinking that I missed a major interview question when I was getting engaged. How could I have married such a Disney Scrooge! Anyhow, if anyone knows the secret of how to get to be the family that opens the park, please do share. I might sneak it in one trip anyhow!

The good news was that we were first in line at the ticket gate, number 7. I can’t tell you how victorious I felt, as the long, long lines formed behind us.

There they are, FRONT of the line!
Another 30 minute wait, and watching the family of the day open the park. The kids and I really enjoyed looking through the bars, at the giant flower planted Mickey head, and at the mainstreet train station, and the tunnels that lead to our magical adventure. We were scheduled to do fantasy land first thing on this morning. I had it all planned, as I had never done many of those rides because the lines were always so long. But darn if my 5 year old did not dig in his heals and insist with tears in his eyes that he had to do Nemo first thing. That was actually Tuesday’s plan, and so with my husband urging me to be flexible, I agreed that Nemo would be first. My husband just really did not seem to be getting into the anticipation like the kids and I, but he was excited about Nemo. Finally we got to insert our tickets and hear that little magical sound. I love that sound! And we were off! Us, and the 50 other people that were first in line, oh and the family of 15 that got to open the park…and all of us were headed to Nemo as fast as we could! We had only made through the tunnel when my oldest started complaining of stomache pains. Bear with it, I yelled, we have to hurry, or we will be in line all day!!! I had my 5 year olds hand, and we were making good time, but still being passed up by crazed mothers pushing 5 kids in their double strollers (Those ladies must train for months!) Sadly, we continued to lag, as my oldest’s stomache cramps worsened. Finally, my husband released us. Go to Nemo, I’ll get a soda for the big one, and then we will join you when we can. So, we raced ahead, and this Mom, who had not done any training, had aching legs and a raising heart. But we got into the chained off controlled area, and at last, I could breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, we could set our own pace, and nobody could pass us!! As some of you might know, this is a really long area. To get into it, you had to go around the Matterhorn the long way, but it really was much closer if you cut through tomorrow land. So I pulled out my cell phone and called my husband. He had obtained a soda for my son, and was on his way. (My husband thinks drinking a soda quickly and then burping will cure almost any illness. Is this a Midwest thing or what? My 11 year old is always happy to drink a soda, so he went right along with the program. He likes burping too!) I directed him how to cut through tomorrow land, and then to find us in line, jump the chain and join us. I guess everyone around us had heard me asking if he was feeling better, etc, because when they joined us no one said a word. So, we were in the 2nd sub of the day.

Waiting to disembark.

Climbing out.
It was a great start to our day. My family really loved the ride, each for different reasons. My little one was entranced, and really thought he was in a sub. My husband was fascinated with the technology of the interactive Nemo characters. My 11 year old was just amazed by it all, and how smart he was figuring it all out, but was still fascinated by the underwater displays and urging me to take pictures.

Giant Clam anyone?
He grinned when he got dripped on, as he thought that was a clever bit of planning to make the attraction seem more authentic. I was just happy to see the entire family in a “Disney” moment all together, at last.

Upon exiting Nemo, we decided it was time for Nathan, our little one, to experience Space Mountain for the very first time. There was no wait, so we were blasting off in no time at all. The picture was actually quite good, but I looked so hideous that I refused to buy it. I did take a picture of the picture, and it does a great job of documenting the horror and the wonder that Nathan experienced.

When we exited, he said he “loved it” but did not want to go again just yet. So, off my husband and oldest went, to ride again. Andy was still experiencing cramps when he was walking, but they did not hurt when he was sitting down on a ride. While they did Space Mountain, Nathan and I snuck over to Buzz Astro Blasters and tried our hand. I love that ride, but I can’t get my score over about 3000. At WDW, I was able to break 500,000. Nathan, however, has no interest in the Buzz ride at all, and would not take me back on for a second try at raising my score. His focus was all on getting onto the Astro Rockets, which I do not care for at all!

We met back up with Dad on Andy, and traded off. I took Andy to go to the first aid station to see if they could help with these stomache cramps. Dad took Nathan to the Rockets. Before heading all the way to first aid, I decide to ask at the store in tomorrow land. Sure enough, they had Rolaids, and they were only $1.08. I was shocked, and commented that surely that had to be the lowest price merchandise in DL. We took our treatment and headed off to a nearby bench to have a rolaid and a rest. After a few minutes, the Rocket riders joinded us and Andy was feeling better too. Just then there was a massive wave of people entering tomorrow land and fantasy land, so I realized that early entry was over. I convince my family that it was time to head East, (after grabbing FP at Space Mountain for later)so off to Frontierland and Big Thunder Mountain, we went.

When we arrived, there was a line, and the ride was not open yet. The CM assured us that she did not know how long it would take to get it going. A lot of people just stayed in line. We passed one Dad that was casing the park and reporting to his family what the status was via a two way radio. Now that is commando mode! We headed off to NOS, discussing our new deviation, as I studied my Ridemax printouts trying to modify, but stay on track. When we were at BTMRR, we had heard that Pirates was not yet open either. But as we strolled that way, they had just opened the gates, so we viered into the ride and were on the second boat of the day. I had to pick up my 5 year old and carry him in, as he was protesting. Once we were seated, he buried his head in my sweater and refused to look. I did see him peaking a few times, when the noise was less scary sounding. I love that ride, and it was so exciting to look at the Blue Bayou tables and know that for the first time we would be eating there for lunch today! My husband and son really liked the new Jack Sparrow additions, and as always, my favorite was the dog with the keys in his mouth. Upon exiting, we needed to get Nathan off of the being scared mode. So we headed over to Splash Mountain. He had been dying to ride this, and we again, walked right on. We enjoyed the music and the criters, had a few laughs, and then woosh, down the big drop we went. Everyone got a little wet, but not too bad. Nathan absolutely loved it and declared it his favorite. So we went again right away.

After our second round, the guys were ready to hit Indiana Jones. Nathan and I got fast passes to Splash, for later, and then we went on Winnie the Pooh. We both love that ride, as we have spent many hours reading the pooh books and know all about purple rain and heffalumps and whatnot.

After Winnie the Pooh, we headed over to Indiana Jones, but did not see the big boys, so we decided to jump onto the Jungle Cruise as it only had a 5 minute wait. It turned out that the Haunted Mansion had called out to the men, as they were passing by, so they had taken a detour, survived to tell aobut it and then made it to Indiana Jones. When we exited the Jungle Cruise, were we had had a really great CM (I always mean to bring a note pad with me, so I can remember their names and give them good reports, but I never do!), they were sitting on a bench eating a giant pickle, which my oldest declared to really be a cucumber. My little one wanted to explore Tarzan’s treehouse, inspite of my warnings that the last time we went in it, he had gotten terrified and I had to carry him out crying hysterically. So, off he went with Dad to conquer his fear. The big one still was not feeling well, and thought some real food would make him feel better. I am sad to say that in all of the East side of DL, there is no “real” food to be found before 11. Being the good caring Mom that I am, I gathered up a bag of Cheetos. This did not do the trick, and by the time the treehouse excursion was done, the Big One was in tears. Things were not looking good for my 11:30 Blue Bayou reservation!

My husband then decided to be my prince charming (or else he was very glad to get out of the commitment), and suggested that he take Andrew back to the hotel, get him something to eat and let him rest up while I took Nathan for his special birthday lunch at Blue Bayou. So that’s what we did. I took Nathan for a ride around Tom Sawyer Island on the big steamship. Oops, I meant to say Pirate’s Lair. We were hoping for the opportunity to drive the ship, but no such luck. We had a great time anyhow, and went up and down the stairs so that we could see every bit of the ship. As we neared the landing, we positioned ourselves for the exit, so we could run off to our reservations. Upon arrival, we waited in line to check in. At least 5 people in front of us got turned down. They were full. I was so happy to have my reservation! We were seated at our waterside table in no time at all! After our previous meal, where Nathan would not actually eat anything, I decided that I would just get him a beverage and then desert. I ordered the infamous Monte Cristo sandwich, and then we sat back and watched the boats and waited. As each boat went by, Nathan leaned over the rail, with is pirate hat(kids menu) on and said,” argh, beware of pirates!” He thought he was so clever! (Did I mention that he hid his face the entire time in my shirt when we were on the Pirates ride, so don’t know where he learned about pirates). My wedge salad was delivered, and it was quite yummy. We had waited a few minutes, eating our dinner roles and warning the travelers, when all of a sudden, Nathan had to go to the bathroom. It never fails. His timing is impeccable! Well, at least my worst fear did not come true and we did not have to leave the restaurant and go across the park to find the bathroom. It was right there, just of the dining room. We made our way through the tables, were first in the rest room, and it was sparkling clean. We settled into one of the stalls and Nathan made himself comfortable and began discussing any number of topics, none of which I was interested in. Are you finished yet? Not yet. Okay...Are you finished yet? Not yet. And so on, and so on. At one point a Mom came in and had a chat with her daughter. She was telling her that she was going to have to go out to the car for the rest of the day if she didn't straighten up. It would be sad, but they come often enough that she would do it if necessary. I was really jealous! I can't tell you how much bad behavior I put up with because we won't be back for a long time, and the time is too precious to waste! Eventually Nathan got finished, and the girl straightened up, and we all got to leave the restroom. After weaving back to my table, I found my Monte Cristo had been delivered and was under a dome lid, staying warm. I have to say, it was an okay experience, but I would not order it again. I have to agree that it is way to heavy and rich. I ate half of it, and packaged the rest up to take back to my hubby, but he never did eat it. The server came by and gave Nathan a cup of chocolate mouse and told him happy birthday. There was no joy or magic or anything at all in the presentation. I must say, I was very dissapointed in how impersonal the servers really were. They could have made it magical. But we loved the environment and sitting by the water. It was worth it to me, for the memory.

When we finished lunch we headed out and decided to try Big Thunder Mountain. There was very little wait, and as we got into the line, the CM saw us coming, and he saw Nathan's b-day button and he opened up a new line, allowing us to bypass about 30 people. It was really cool!

We had so much fun, that we went on it two times in a row. Nathan was really struggling with which one was his favorite now. On exiting, we were able to get more fast passes, so we grabbed those for later with Daddy. As it was getting late, we headed towards the exit, stopping off to get a picture taken by the first photopass photographer that we had seen since our arrival.

Then we exited and entered DCA. We headed pass Soarin' and grabbed fast passes, and then over to Grizzly River. This was another one that Nathan had been dying to ride on, and since we were going back to the room, what the heck, may as well go for it. So we did! Nathan loved it so much that we jumped back on and rode it again! Then, good and soaked, we headed to the DGC entry and cut through the side door and over to Paradise Pier to check in with the big guys and have our afternoon rest.

I guess that is only 1/2 of day one, and the rest will have to wait for another energy burst.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I am really enjoyed your report and look forward to more!

Oh, and thanks for reminding me that I need to be faithful to my pre-Disneyland fitness schedule. Now if I can just get DH on board...