PTR - How About a Disneyfied Christmas?! - TR POSTED!!!

[mnmrmustard]

NOTE: Chapter links for the whole PTR are at the bottom of this post

Greetings and Salutations!

I'm Mike and I'm returning to the Boards after too long a hiatus. Our last family trip was waaaayyyy back in 2012 to WDW and Universal Orlando. We had an amazing time, but being west-coasters that time came with a pretty hefty price-tag. Add to that some unexpected medical expenses and we've spent the past 5 years getting ourselves back to a place where a Disney trip is workable.

Enough about those boring financial woes, let's get some magic rolling! As a family we haven't been to Disneyland in 8 years!!! Our kids have literally grown up in the interim and theyare chomping at the bit to have a more "grown up" Disney experience. With that, here is our Cast of Characters!

Mike AKA MnMrMustard

I'm an IT Director for an Oregon Community College. I have been married for over 20 years to an amazing woman. I volunteer for Make-A-Wish and am the Captain of the Oregon Chapter of an international beard club called the Bearded Villains, whose focus is on Family, Charity, Honor, and Loyalty. And I am the official Disney addict and trip planning fiend in the family.

Roxy

My wonderful wife is an Office Manager for a precision CAD/CAM shop. She is amazingly supportive woman who assists me in my charity and club endeavors. She is addicted to LuLaRoe and is excited to have been able to pick up two Disney-themed items for our upcoming trip!

PumpkinGirl

Our daughter is a college student who will be turning 21 later on in the year. She loves Anime and Cosplay and is a talented ceramic artist. She has a really cool fashion sense and gets compliments wherever she goes. And she was the catalyst for this trip (more to come on this).

Jinx

Our son has been referenced in past TRs as "Bean" and in them was referenced as our daughter. He came out as transgender at age 15 and now goes by Jinx. Here he is proudly showing off his International Thespian's Society Membership and is an avid actor whose biggest accomplishment to date was to play Johnny in The Outsiders. He just graduated High School and will be starting college in the fall.

So that's us! I hope you come along on our little adventure, I will endeavor to make it fun and entertaining for you all!

Here are some handy links to my PTR entries as we'll be in it for the long haul!

Part 1 - Why, Where and When

Part 2 - Family History at DLR

Part 3 - Family History at DLR Part 2!

PTR Interlude – An unexpected detour in our day

Part 4 - The Origin of the Disneytastic Imbibation Ambulation

Part 5 - The DisneyTastic Imbibation Ambulation!

Part 6 - Disney Maps

Part 7 - Custom Graphics

Part 8 - Family Disney Favorites

Part 9 - 10 Years on DISBoards!

Part 10 - Ground Transportation Tips

Part 11 - Park Hours and Crowd Levels

Part 12 - Eating "Kind Of" Keto In The Parks

Part 13 - 30 Days Out and Tasty Christmas Eats

Part 14 - Shirts, Shuttles, and Super 8 Slides!

Part 15 - One Week To Go/I need your Help DISBoarders!!!

Link to TR - Get Your Disneyfied Christmas B-Day Fix!

Next Up - Why, Where and When (click link above to continue)

 

[mnmrmustard]

Why, Where and When!

So WHY are we going to Disneyland? We are going to Disneyland because of Las Vegas.

Earlier in the year my DD PumpkinGirl started talking about wanting to take a trip to Vegas to celebrate her 21st Birthday at the end of August. My DW was excited about the thought as she hadn't been there since she was 16yrs old herself. They looked to me for information as I have been to several IT conferences there, along with going there to visit an Army buddy.

Sadly I am literally and figuratively burnt out on LV. And although PumpkinGirl is interested in drinking she does not want to get too drunk. Nor does she want to partake of any of the more adult-themed shows. Nor does she care about gambling. I warned both of them that they would be dealing with some staggering heat at the end of August and that they need to be aware of the level of drunk weirdos and distasteful flyers that would be handed to them as we tried to navigate from casino to casino. And that it would be a LOT of walking.

When it came down to it she really just wanted to have a couple of drinks and see the Blue Man Group. We went back and forth and I eventually convinced them to go in October when the temperature is a lot more manageable. And one of my wife’s friends had a voucher for a 3 night stay at one of the resorts so I would get to stay home with my DS Jinx while they did a girls adventure in LV.

After that I worked on gathering information about the best buffets, things to see and do, and what to avoid. Over this time period my DW cooled on the idea of LV, capped by a stop-in to an area Indian casino. Seeing the sad, smoke-filled establishment and watching our money disappear down the electronic maw of a couple of machines was enough for her.

She brought the subject back up to our DD and again asked what she really wanted to get out of the experience and during the conversation (I kept out of it) they meandered back to thoughts of Disney. As a family we have taken a total of 4 trips, two to DL and two to WDW/Universal Orlando (if you’re interested you can check out their TRs in my signature).

We haven’t been to DL since 2009 other than a solo experience I had last October in conjunction with yet another IT conference. I’ll talk about that in a separate installment of this PTR. So the last time we were all there they were still building World of Color and Cars Land. CA was a maze of construction walls. We had done that trip in mid-October and did Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, dressing as pirates!

After further conversation my DD started talking about how much she enjoyed WDW during the Christmas season. By the end of it all we had decided to do one last blowout Christmastime trip, this time to DLR. With that my planning bug kicked in and I started working numbers (I keep multi-tab spreadsheets for DLR and WDW trips among other planning tools). This leads us to…


WHERE!

When I went in October I stayed at the Desert Palms Hotel and Suites due to its convenient location in relation to the convention center and reasonable walk to the DLR entrance. I was very impressed with the comfort, cleanliness, and courtesy shown by the staff of the hotel. I spent about a month looking at different options for travel and accommodations thru direct book and travel sites. I ended up using my Expedia account and was concerned when I found that I could book airfare for just shy of $2,800, which seemed steep (it is never cheap to fly out of Southern Oregon). But then I discovered I could tie in the Desert Palms with a 5 day stay for just over $2,400 including the premium travel insurance! You got that right, it cost us $400 less to add in a 5-night stay than to just pay for the flight. BOOKED!

As far as the where we will visit, we are just sticking to DL/CA/DTD. Keeping everything within walking distance so we don’t have to rent a car or UBER it. Now on to…


WHEN!

On our big 2012 trip we had great success by traveling just after the Thanksgiving weekend so we went for it again. We will be flying in on the morning of Sunday, November 26th and flying out in the evening on Friday, December 1st. Both are direct flights with only about 2hrs 10min flight time, so that would have us arriving at LAX around 10:30am. I’m figuring we’ll be to the Desert Palms in time to drop our bags (they have a great baggage storage system) and stroll down Katella Ave to Disneyland Drive and grab lunch at the Earl of Sandwich.

So we’ll be there when all of the Christmas/Holiday decorations and events are going on with some of the lowest crowd time-frames available. No marathons, no holidays, no weekend crowds. The parks close a bit earlier but we’re okay with that. And we’re even okay with missing out on having as many fireworks opportunities due to scheduling or weather. The Desert Palms has a great fireworks viewing deck on the roof so we’re golden there if we don’t want to brave seeing them in the parks.

Speaking of weather, we have the benefit of being Oregonians! First, we have REAL PONCHOS! Second, the temp in our neck of the woods averages in the low to mid 40s this time of year. So California getting “cold” and being around 50-60 degrees would be comfortable and the average temp in the low 70s would be like spring break for us.

Our trip way back in January of 2005 happened during some of the worst rains SoCal had seen in decades. There were mudslides in the hills and on our last day the CA drainage system couldn’t keep up – there were literal lakes of water thru some of the paths and my bro-in-law and his older daughter got stranded on top of Grizzly Mountain!

But when it wasn’t raining we stripped off our ponchos and had shorts and t-shirts on underneath and very much enjoyed the average 10 minute or less wait times for even the “E-Ticket” attractions. We just had to have two pair of shoes so one set could be drying back at the hotel if they got wet while we wore the other. We didn’t get fireworks but rode every ride we wanted to as many times as we wanted because the snowbirds and locals all went home. So basically I’m totally fine with it getting “cold” or even wet while we are there.

So that’s our Why, Where, and When. I know I’m starting this PTR exactly 5 months before the actual trip. But I have been away from DISBoards for far too long and I promise I’ll keep things interesting along the journey and hope to get to meet some new DISBuds along the way and hopefully get to do a meetup or two while we are there!

Next Up - Family History at DLR (click link to continue)

 

[Leger13]

Hi there Mike!! I haven't been on the DIS in a very long time but I saw you post your link to your PTR in the FB group so I had to come over and check it out since your reports are always so fun and filled with amazing pictures. Also because I'm planning my own very first DLR trip for next December so this will help me a lot Can't wait to hear about all of the plans! I'm a terrible DISer these days so hopefully I will be able to keep up

 

[Leger13]

Also, haha on my signature....wow that's so off lol

 

[Leger13]

Ok signature all fixed. Yay Carry on lol

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hi there Mike!! I haven't been on the DIS in a very long time but I saw you post your link to your PTR in the FB group so I had to come over and check it out since your reports are always so fun and filled with amazing pictures. Also because I'm planning my own very first DLR trip for next December so this will help me a lot Can't wait to hear about all of the plans! I'm a terrible DISer these days so hopefully I will be able to keep up

I know! I hadn't been on here myself since our 2012 trip, thank you for joining in on the fun!!!

Also, haha on my signature....wow that's so off lol

Oh yes! I had to go in and fix mine too. It was so very off

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Hi Mike! Wow ..... thanks for the carrot, Carla! I've kind of missed this ... dancing bananas and all! I'm excited to follow along, old friend!

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Had to fix my signature too .... I think my ticker was from like 4 years ago!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Family History at DLR

Right off the bat I’m going to admin that I’m stealing this first section from my 2009 Disneyland TR. One of those “why reinvent the wheel” things. I hope y’all don’t mind!


PART 1

My first time at Disneyland was part of a one week whirlwind adventure in a rented Chevy Citation (now THAT was a stylin' ride!) in 1976. It was me (age 7), my big sister (age 11) and my mom and ex stepdad. We hit Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Lion Country Safari (now closed), Sea World, and the San Diego Zoo.

I have no pictures from the trip. It seems like there should have been some, but nobody seems to know about them. Due to this I did some fishing on the web and snagged a couple of images that other people took on trips there in '76 I even found this cool map from the Bicentennial!

Disney itself was a bit of a blur, us trying to cover everything in one hot summer day. I specifically remember all of the red-white-and-blue theming for the Bicentennial. I also remember how cramped the submarine was and how much walking we did. Some of the high points were PoTC, Peter Pan’s Flight, and the Matterhorn.

From a nostalgia point of view I am happy to have been one of those “older folks” who go to ride on the Skyway

I really liked the "America on Parade" uhhhh, parade

(photo credit yesterland.com)

Here's a sticker that I remember us putting on the Citation:

I was going to post more pictures of the parade, but found a site that does it a lot more justice than I ever could. If you're interested just click on the URL.

http://www.yesterland.com/americaparade.html

I remember REALLY wanting to ride up in the top bubble of the monorail. And no, it didn't happen.

And then there was the big letdown. I couldn't ride Space Mountain I sat outside the gleaming white facade while Menudo (or at least that year's incarnation of them) were performing in front of it. I remember looking forlornly at it while they danced and sang. To this day I still equate the name Menudo to tragic disappointment

But then there was the end of the day and my curbside seat for the Main Street Electrical Parade. That was the capper, that was the one bit that really got me. Without knowing it then, it is what really made me the Disney fan that I am today.

There was a feeling of total immersion in the experience. The lights, the theme song (which still gives me a bit of a charge when I hear it), and the pure Disney magic of it. It was a perfect way to end the evening and it washed away any tiredness I may have felt. I remember going to sleep in the hotel room humming the song (much to the consternation of my big sister, with whom I was sharing a bed - lol).


PART 2

Even though I had that Disney magic it lay dormant inside me for the next 29 years. It wasn't until my DDs were old enough to really enjoy Disney (ages 5 & 8 at the time) that we planned a trip. I planned it and it was a bit of a goof on my part as to when we went.

I found a website that showed crowd levels and apparently the week after new year’s was some of the lowest numbers in the park. What I neglected to cross-reference it with was the amount of rainfall that So Cal gets in early January. Soooo, we basically went there during the wettest month of the year

It was to be a 3 day visit to the parks. part of it would be just us, the other part with one of my bro-in-law's and his family. Granted, we had a lot of fun and the rides that were open had basically no lines. Unfortunately it rained for over half the time we were there, ending with an outright downpour that flooded parts of CA.

Here are some pics from that little adventure. They are a bit grainy as they are actually captures from video that I took there:

Any you may have wondered about Bean's haircut being kind of "boyish". The little imp had decided to give herself a haircut a week before we left. That was how short it had to go to even out the chunks she had taken out of it - lol

There are more pictures but not too many as it was too wet much of the time we were there to film stuff. And a lot of them were just the girls posed by all of the different themed Mickeys they had stationed around CA.

In hindsight it was a special kind of dad torture to make them stop and get their pic with each on. There were a LOT of them!

But as I said, no lines. Among the stuff we rode:

Matterhorn - 4 times
PoTC - 8 times
Splash Mountain - 4 times
All the fantasyland rides multiple times
Soarin' - 3 times
ToT - 7 times for Bean (I only rode it 3 times)
Haunted Mansion - closed to change back from the Nightmare Before Christmas theme

AAAAANNNNNDDDDD - SPACE MOUNTAIN - CLOSED FOR REFURB!!!!! Still hadn't rode that bugger. Also, no parades and no fireworks due to a mix of off season and bad weather.

So obviously there was some stuff we missed out on. It was part of the reason I started planning our January 2008 WDW trip back in 2006. I wanted to make sure we didn't miss out on anything ...or at least see as much as we could without going crazy or having our feet fall off. The 2008 trip was a huge extended family trip for 10 days hitting all the Disney parks, Typhoon Lagoon, SeaWorld and Discovery Cove. It was epic!


Part 3

In the spring of 2009 I started planning a return to Disneyland. It had been over a year since we had been to Disney and 4 years since we had been to Disneyland. This time we would go in October and enjoy warmer (and dryer) weather and enjoy the Halloween theming. We had a curveball thrown at us when it came to pass that we took in my wife’s nephew. He was having a pretty bad time at home and his father and my wife and I agreed that a change might do him some good. So luckily we found out before we booked the plane tickets and what was a 4 person family trip became 5!

We did a 3 day park-hopper and stayed on property at the Disneyland Hotel – w00t! We were there before the big facelift so we had the old pool and the rooms with the skinny balconies. We were two floors down from the top in the Frontier tower facing towards the pool. It gave is a pretty decent view of the fireworks at night.

The only real snag we ran into was that I got a bad case of the flu literally the morning of our flight. It was bad enough that the first full day (CA day) I literally stayed in bed and slept, only getting up to hydrate and eat here and there. Day two we were in Disneyland proper and I was feeling better and was able to come along. Unfortunately by day 3 my wife was down sick whit the same bug and slept all day while we park-hopped between both parks. She had just enough energy to get herself together to come out in the evening for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party in CA.

Here are some pics from that grand adventure – my TR is packed full of them but I spared you and only picked a few:

Nephew Kris being "swallowed" by the tree at the old Peter Pan-themed Disneyland Hotel Pool

Jinx meeting Stitch, who to this day is still his favorite

DD with Stitch

DW took this shot of me on our balcony (look for the green shirt) on the morning of the second day

Us heading into DL on the second day, Love the expression on Jinx's face!

Celebrity find in the PoTC ride in this shot with Reva and her hubby Mike from Merci Beaucoup Cakes as seen on Food Network’s “Amazing Wedding Cakes”, “Duff till Dawn” and “Cake Wars”. Roxy was pretty much gushing over meeting them as you can see! They were very nice.

Dale giving the kiddos hugs during our Character meal

World of Color (and Cars Land in the background) under construction

The kids walking into CA for Mickey's Trick or Treat Party

Slightly Blurry family pic taken after riding California Screaming - Huzzah for DW for being a trooper and coming out despite still being sick!

Shoot, I just realized I am about to hit the pic limit for DISBoards! Coming right back around with the last chunk of our Disneyland saga!

Next Up - Family History at DLR Part 2! (click link to continue)

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hi Mike! Wow ..... thanks for the carrot, Carla! I've kind of missed this ... dancing bananas and all! I'm excited to follow along, old friend!

I know, right! So happy to have you along!

Had to fix my signature too .... I think my ticker was from like 4 years ago!

We're such slackers!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Family History at DLR Part 2!

Okay, back to the fun - October 2009 trip! Just a few more pics to post.

Great Pirate Family pic with Snow White (best princess ever) and Dopey

We wrapped up our trick or treating and ended our trip with one last meal at the Rainforest Cafe (we started the trip with out first lunch after checking in there). If you look at the TR you can see how the smiles and energy have transformed the kiddos from the start of our adventure to the end of it!

Roxy and I were doing okay despite the flu and exhaustion

So that was it. One more night's sleep, early check-out, and the flight home.


Part 4

I am an IT Director for an Oregon Community College. Part of staying current means that I go to some sort of yearly training or conference. Most of the time they are not at cool places and certainly not Orlando or Anaheim. But last fall I got lucky and the Educause conference was being held at the Anaheim Convention Center.

It was scheduled for October 24th-28th so it would be another Halloween-themed trip. Sadly though My wife and my DD couldn’t get off of work and we were in a bit of a budget crunch due to medical expenses so even if we had the funds I couldn’t afford to bring them or my DS :-[ So it was to be a solo trip with roughly two days in the parks (counting my fly-in day – early flight). But at the last minute a wrench was thrown in to the mix in the form of an upper rib (above my right shoulder) going out My chiropractor tried to adjust it and couldn’t get it back in and I even went to another one in town and he couldn’t get it.

So I got on the plane with ibuprofen and a muscle relaxant on board. I spent the entire trip in differing levels of pain depending on the cycle of ibuprofen, flexeril, and bourbon (never enough to get drunk) I had in me. I would have been even more worse off if I hadn’t discovered a good chiropractor within a couple of miles of the parks.

I was able to meet up with a couple of my Brothers from the Bearded Villains (my beard club – charity and family-based, the name is a bit of a misnomer) which was cool. And I did a lot of walking around and taking in the parks, riding what I thought I could without causing more pain. I did the two Disney days and attended the conference, which was a good one but was hard to concentrate on given my shoulder situation. The last full day of the conference was Thursday and a vendor rented out the upper deck of the ESPN Zone, which was fun. More bourbon and games to play

On Friday I had a morning session for IT Directors and then went back to the hotel and checked out. My shuttle for my flight wasn’t until 5:30pm and I had one more chiro appointment. After returning from that I strolled around DTD and ended up at the Uva Bar. I spend the next three hours there and then walked back to the hotel for pick up and transportation. The rib finally got popped back in the following week.

Here are some random pics from my solo adventure (apologies that they are mostly selfies):

Entering Disneyland after getting checked in and taking 4 ibuprofen with a stiff drink

Quick stop at the Castle

Gaston giving Belle grief as usual

Quick stop by the door to Club 33 (some day I hope to find myself walking thru that door)

Darth and I are old pals

Best shot I came away with in the Haunted Mansion

Saying good night to the Partners before heading back to the hotel

Monday Morning and heading after heading into CA I made a beeline for Cars Land

Met up with a couple of my Brothers representing SoCal, NorCal, and Oregon Chapters!

Here comes Lightning!

Collage of Cars-related shots

On to Paradise Pier and one of the few rides that didn't give my shoulder grief!

Sunset at Paradise Pier (had to make it bigger, just sooo epic!)

World of Color from back in the cheap seats - next time fastpasses!

Four days of IT Conference stuff and then a stroll past the gates one more time before hitting DTD and then the trip home

So there ya go – 4 trips for me to Disneyland:

- 1st was boiling hot, wicked crowded, and I barely remembered it.

- 2nd was during one of the worst January rain cycles SoCal had ever seen.

- 3rd I had a nasty flu bug and was a walking zombie for a good chunk of the trip.

- 4th I didn’t get to come with family and had a rib out and was in pain the whole time I was there.

Am I crazy to go back? Does this deter me? Not at all. There were still magical moments during all of those trips and something inside me says that this trip will be the one. I can feel it. Disney magic is real, it comes into you every time you walk thru the arches onto Main Street USA. And even our last WDW/Universal Orlando trip had my DW and DD both coming down with a bad cold and DD even losing her voice for most of the trip. And you know what, it lead to one of the most magical experiences our family has been a part of (you gotta read this post):

PumpkinGirl's Magical Princess Encounter

I hope you enjoyed this brief interlude on what has brought me here now, planning for a trip that is still 5 months away ;D Tune in next time when I ........ummm, when I.....

....

....Hey Look - IT'S BIGFOOT!

Next Up - PTR Interlude – An unexpected detour in our day (click link to continue)

 

[buteraa]

I love this! Can't wait for more!

 

[mnmrmustard]

I love this! Can't wait for more!

Awesome, glad to have you aboard!

 

[Trentmom]

Hi!!! Long time no post!!!

Carla told me you were doing a Pre Trip/TR. Not on here that much, but will definitely pop in for updates and your pics!!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hi!!! Long time no post!!!

Carla told me you were doing a Pre Trip/TR. Not on here that much, but will definitely pop in for updates and your pics!!!

Whoohoo! It's Sharky Time!!!! Trust me, I wasn't around either - way too long without a trip to plan. So happy to have you aboard!

 

[GlitteryOtters]

Love the PTR so far & am signing on to make sure i catch future updates as you post them! Sounds like you guys know how to maximize Disney fun, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. Can't wait to see how you enjoy the trip! I'll be flying in for a trip the day after you guys leave & from my research that really sounds like such an awesome time to go.

~Meg

 

[mnmrmustard]

Love the PTR so far & am signing on to make sure i catch future updates as you post them! Sounds like you guys know how to maximize Disney fun, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. Can't wait to see how you enjoy the trip! I'll be flying in for a trip the day after you guys leave & from my research that really sounds like such an awesome time to go.

~Meg

Awesome Meg, Happy to have you on board! I hope to have an update on here today

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

I loved reliving your last family trip to DL. I remember that hat and how sick you were! I think 5th time's a charm for sure!

 

[mnmrmustard]

I loved reliving your last family trip to DL. I remember that hat and how sick you were! I think 5th time's a charm for sure!

Yeah, that was a crazy one for sure. And I'm sure this one will be "the one"!

 

[mnmrmustard]

PTR Interlude – An unexpected detour in our day

I have been working on a update off and on while time allowed while driving my mother-in-law to a series of appointments on Thursday and Friday. I was going to post the update early yesterday afternoon after doing a bit more work on it. Unfortunately our Saturday took a scary turn. The day started great with quiet time for me in the living room (everyone sleeps in except me) and then some breakfast, showers, and DW, DD and I went to the Growers Market

As I’ve said before our PumpkinGirl has a great sense of style and was enjoying the compliments on her hair and outfit

Jinx skipped the market but joined us downtown for lunch at this cool place that specialized in breakfast stuff (with mimosas and a do-it-yourself bloody mary bar if you are so inclined). Best crepes in town says the rest of the fam. I am doing a keto thing so I had the meet/cheese plate ...aaaannndddd a bloody mary

Unfortunately PumpkinGirl started feeling some pains in her belly/chest that kept getting worse. They eventually radiated to her back and down her left arm. We were fearing heart issues/heart attack but couldn’t figure out how as she has a healthy hearth and takes good care of herself. We took her to the ER and by the time we got there the chest pain was at an 8 out of 10

They took her straight back and DW went with her while I stayed in the waiting room updating family. Jinx went to my mother-in-law’s apartment to keep her company. Vitals were okay and they immediately did an EKG and it didn’t return anything going on with the heart thankfully. They gave her some Fentanyl for the pain which thankfully relieved it right away. Here is a shot after the pain meds kicked in.

From there it was chest/abdominal x-rays, blood tests, and a CAT scan. That turned up an abnormality in the gall bladder. By then the Fentanyl was wearing of and they had done an IV push of a full gram of Tylenol to see if that would act as a longer-lasting pain reliever. It did not and she ended up ramping up to a 9 out of 10 before another dose of Fentanyl was administered.

Once the pain was managed again she was off to a full abdominal ultrasound. That returned inflammation in the gall bladder, some fluid buildup around it, but no gall stones. A call was made to a specialist to come in and evaluate the gall bladder. They were moving towards admitting her at that point with the possibility of doing a surgery that evening.

The specialist finally made it in and said that surgery wasn’t necessary but that they needed to do a specialized scan on the gall bladder which was only available Monday thru Friday. He decided to discharge her with a prescription for pain meds and an anti-nausea medication. Unfortunately it was after 9pm on a Saturday by then and our pharmacy was closed. The only pharmacy open at that point was Walgreens, which is the only pharmacy in town that doesn’t take our insurance and was going to close in less than an hour. So I rushed the prescription down there and got it filled just before 10pm for $125. Oddly enough it was the anti-nausea med that cost so much

In between the prescription drop-off and picking it up we were able to get PumpkinGirl discharged and we came home with the meds, getting her in bed and them on board. She has been a trooper throughout all of this and is even taking the lead on keeping up on her meds with us checking in on her and making sure she is on track and has everything she needs. The pain is managed and we should get a call from the specialist’s office Monday morning to come in and get the next test done.

It is now 10am and I’m checking to make sure she is taking her next dose while sitting in a quiet living room. In the background plays “Music from Disneyland – Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar” from "MrThemeParkAdios" channel on YouTube

If you want some great Disney background music I highly recommend giving them a listen. I’ll see if I can get the actual PTR post up here today also. All the best to everyone out there – hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend

Next Up - The Origin of the Disneytastic Imbibation Ambulation (click link to continue)