The players: Myself (femme, age 40), dh, and dd age 3. She's been to Disneyland twice before and knows all the characters, movies, etc.
Saturday, February 18th: We fly from San Jose to SNA. It's an easy, lovely flight. Catch SuperShuttle to the Plaza Inn & Suites. (I set this all up through Expedia and we have vouchers for everything.) We were warned that it would be cold, rainy and miserable. It's actually chilly, cloudy, but very tolerable. Some parts of the day (later) are positively warm.
Plaza Inn & Suites is indeed right across from Disneyland. We get there at 10:30am. We had to have a 2-room suite because dd goes to bed at 6:30pm! After our early check-in and stowing of our luggage, we ask about getting into the room early. DD's naptime is at 1pm, but normal room check in is at 3pm. They are not so cooperative, but say we can call periodically to check availability. We notice that they do not give us a luggage tag or anything when we stow the luggage. Hmm.
We head over to Rainforest Cafe in DD for lunch. The nachos are yummy. All else is so-so. DD gets a bad tummy from the macaroni kids meal.
We call the hotel. They are noncommital. We give up on calling the hotel every hour and decide to skip her nap.
I go to Guest Services to trade our Expedia vouchers for 4-day hopper passes. The line is long and slooow. The guy in front of me has flaking scabs all over his neck and face. I imagine trying on hats in Disneyland, knowing this guy is out there. He and his ladyfriend decide the line is too slow and they go to the normal ticket line. I overhear someone else saying that they were in the park yesterday and it rained A LOT and they were told to talk to Guest Services to get an extension (or something) on their ticket. I make a mental note in case of rain....
After securing the 3 hopper passes and several Disney Dollars (takes forever to get them from Guest Services!), we're ready to go in!
We generally wander around and then decide that since it's about 2pm we should wait for the parade. We stake out our spot. The parade is so great! DD is a little nervous about it -- she doesn't want characters coming up to her -- but we all love it. My best friend calls during the parade and I tell him that he would really enjoy it if only he were here.
We head out of the park to get into our hotel. Turns out that even though they told me on the phone that I was all set to have a top floor room (to see the fireworks), they actually put us on the second floor. I get very ugly with them about this. They have been uncooperative about everything so far. DH gets the luggage. They just let him go in there and grab anything. They don't check our ID or anything. Hmmm.
We stomp off toward the room and hear someone yell, "Hold that elevator!" It's my best friend and his girlfriend, shown up to surprise us! They drove all the way from San Francisco. I had been bugging them for months to come along, but they said they just couldn't. Changed their minds at the last minute and drove. We're so happy!!
The room is a 2-room suite, but it's got 2 queen beds instead of 1 king!
We go out to dinner at Tony Roma's on Harbor, but I have to get dd back soon because she's so tired.
9:25pm: We hear BOOM BOOM -- the fireworks start. Guess what? We can see them just fine from our room! Suddenly things are looking better and better.
Saturday, February 18th: We fly from San Jose to SNA. It's an easy, lovely flight. Catch SuperShuttle to the Plaza Inn & Suites. (I set this all up through Expedia and we have vouchers for everything.) We were warned that it would be cold, rainy and miserable. It's actually chilly, cloudy, but very tolerable. Some parts of the day (later) are positively warm.
Plaza Inn & Suites is indeed right across from Disneyland. We get there at 10:30am. We had to have a 2-room suite because dd goes to bed at 6:30pm! After our early check-in and stowing of our luggage, we ask about getting into the room early. DD's naptime is at 1pm, but normal room check in is at 3pm. They are not so cooperative, but say we can call periodically to check availability. We notice that they do not give us a luggage tag or anything when we stow the luggage. Hmm.
We head over to Rainforest Cafe in DD for lunch. The nachos are yummy. All else is so-so. DD gets a bad tummy from the macaroni kids meal.
We call the hotel. They are noncommital. We give up on calling the hotel every hour and decide to skip her nap.
I go to Guest Services to trade our Expedia vouchers for 4-day hopper passes. The line is long and slooow. The guy in front of me has flaking scabs all over his neck and face. I imagine trying on hats in Disneyland, knowing this guy is out there. He and his ladyfriend decide the line is too slow and they go to the normal ticket line. I overhear someone else saying that they were in the park yesterday and it rained A LOT and they were told to talk to Guest Services to get an extension (or something) on their ticket. I make a mental note in case of rain....
After securing the 3 hopper passes and several Disney Dollars (takes forever to get them from Guest Services!), we're ready to go in!
We generally wander around and then decide that since it's about 2pm we should wait for the parade. We stake out our spot. The parade is so great! DD is a little nervous about it -- she doesn't want characters coming up to her -- but we all love it. My best friend calls during the parade and I tell him that he would really enjoy it if only he were here.
We head out of the park to get into our hotel. Turns out that even though they told me on the phone that I was all set to have a top floor room (to see the fireworks), they actually put us on the second floor. I get very ugly with them about this. They have been uncooperative about everything so far. DH gets the luggage. They just let him go in there and grab anything. They don't check our ID or anything. Hmmm.
We stomp off toward the room and hear someone yell, "Hold that elevator!" It's my best friend and his girlfriend, shown up to surprise us! They drove all the way from San Francisco. I had been bugging them for months to come along, but they said they just couldn't. Changed their minds at the last minute and drove. We're so happy!!
The room is a 2-room suite, but it's got 2 queen beds instead of 1 king!
We go out to dinner at Tony Roma's on Harbor, but I have to get dd back soon because she's so tired.
9:25pm: We hear BOOM BOOM -- the fireworks start. Guess what? We can see them just fine from our room! Suddenly things are looking better and better.
