Racing to Radiator Springs – Oct 8-10 (Day One update 10/13)

[BlueBayou]

We just made it back from another trip to Disneyland. Our last trip was the same time last year. We have been going in October pretty much since our daughters have been in school. We use to go in December when the crowds were low, but from 2001 on, the crowds steadily increased so we started going in October instead. I will say the crowds were worse this October than we have ever experienced this time of year. Still manageable, but not ideal. If we were not DL vets and this was a once in a lifetime trip – it would have been disappointing.

Cast of Characters
Me, Mom in my mid 40s. Belle is my favorite princess. Loves the Disney magic. Hates rides that spin and afraid of heights and being trapped.

DH – three weeks older than me. A child at heart and a wonderful dad. Has ideas for getting rid of innoventions and putting an iron man virtual reality ride in it’s place. Also thinks am Incredibles car ride would be a fine replacement for Autopia.

DD12 – Rapidly approaching the teen years. Oh please help me. But still into Disney fun. Totally embarrassed when mom dances or talks to characters.

DD9 – Is a Tow Matter fan. She tells me I have Tow Matter eyes (I am the only one with green eyes in our family). Total fashionista. She brought 5 pairs of shoes for a 4 day trip. You have to have the right footwear and accessories. At Disney, is totally into mouse ear headgear. She brought some of her mouse ears from previous trips.

Mom70 – This is the second trip with my mother. Loves POTC. Last year it was closed, so a main goal is to get her on it this year. Not sure if she will be able to get into a boat. Her health is failing. She has breathing and mobility issues. We rent a scooter from Deckart Rentals when she is with us. They are great.

Sunday, October 7
We drove out in two cars. With all of the medical equipment for my mom, it would have been a very tight fit for 5 people, even in the van. So we were a caravan of a Volt and an 11-year-old Mini van. When I stopped by mom’s house to load her up – I was very glad we were taking two cars. She had packed the largest suitcase I have ever seen. It was almost twice as big as the one my DH and I packed for the two of us. Seriously, it looked like she was ready for a 14 day European holiday. The back of the van could only hold her suitcase, her O2 machine, a couple spare O2 tanks, a case of water, plus of few little items.

We did not get driving until 1pm – a couple of hours later than I had hoped. This would mean driving into the sun at some point.

We stopped at an in-and-out burger for dinner. The dinner tasted fine to all of us except my mom. She said it tasted like her burger was made with the hoof on a grill that had not been cleaned in years. Great. Mom’s tummy seems to be off. She loves burgers and In-and-Out are some of her favorite.

We finally checked into the Anaheim Clarion on Harbor near the convention center. This is further away than we have ever stayed before. We got the room free with credit card points – so our choices were limited. Check in was very easy and they did not charge us for parking the two vehicles. I did not think parking was included, so this was a pleasant surprise.

My mom’s scooter from Deckart’s was waiting for us upon arrival.

The room was a “studio” so it had 30 percent more room than a regular room. It was spacious and had a sofa bed in addition to the two beds.

We planned to get three day passes on the ART. I needed to pick up the tickets that I had ordered from Getaway Today. I decided to try walking across to the Toy Story lot to use the shuttle to the park. It was very easy – and it was so late that I was the only person on the bus to the park. I went to pick up the tickets and the CM was not overtly cheerful Disney, but he was quite nice. He asked me a bunch of questions (Like how many days, were the tickets park hoppers etc. He indicated that this was fraud, security related). I asked him if I would be better buying my mom’s ticket online that night and picking it up in the morning. I explained that we did not buy a park hopper for mom back in June because we did not know she was going for sure. He went in the back for a moment and came back and said he could sell me the ticket for the get-away today pre price increase rate. Very cool. It saved us about $40.

The trip back to the Toy Story lot was on a full bus, but ran smoothly. The walk to the hotel from the lot was a little too far for tired kids at night. But it could be an option if the ART did not work out.

After unpacking we tucked in for the night. Disneyland was waiting for us in the morning!

 

[DisneytheKid]

Great review so far! I'm looking forward to reading more!

 

[BlueBayou]

Great review so far! I'm looking forward to reading more!

Thanks for following along!

 

[BlueBayou]

As much I am a DISer and know that it is best to get to the park early – in all of our years we have made early entry maybe 2 and ½ times – and that includes staying on property 3 times. We just are not early folks.

On this day we knew we were going to sleep in a little. It was a late night and long drive. And my mom moves very slowly. Here is an example of how slow. At one point we were thinking about leaving for California on Saturday. On Tuesday she said that was rushing things and she was not sure she could be ready to leave before Sunday. I pointed out that she had THREE COMPLETE DAYS to pack one suitcase. The point was moot and we did not end up leaving until Sunday.

Back to Monday. Mom was trying to get ready but moving very slowly even for her. Most normal days I would say she spends about 16-18 hours in bed. It really surprised us on last year’s trip she went to the parks every single day with us, for the whole day. She seemed more alive than she has in years. Very Disney magical. The only things she did not do were “World of Color” one night and the Halloween party the other. Her circulation is very poor and she gets chilled easily. So being out in the chilly night air is not something she should do.

After delaying about 20 minutes, mom decided she did not feel like going to the parks with us this morning.

We rushed downstairs, bought ART tickets in the Kiosk and ran to the waiting bus. We had heard reports of the ART being inconsistent. We found it running like clockwork, every 20 minutes the whole trip (with the exception of the last night – will explain later).

Here is where it is hard to believe I am a DISer. We get though security at the esplanade and look at each other and say “Which park should we go to first?” Yes, truly. We are there for three days and go there often enough that we don’t really have a defined schedule. We know there are things we want to do. But traveling with my mom really can cause issues with a schedule – so we find it best to be a little unscheduled. Otherwise I would spend my day stressing about what we were missing.

Decision Disneyland. We entered the park and they IDed me. I think this is the only time I have ever had to show picture ID to get into the park. I think with is part of the cracking down on shared passes and other fraud.

We headed under the train tracks on the left. I have to fight to keep my kids out of stores. We get past the hub and decide to try the Matterhorn. My DD9 was excited to go. She has not ridden this ride in a few years. In the old seating she banged her head pretty good breaking at the end as we moved up to unload. It was after the ride was over and when our sled was waiting it’s turn to unload. It made her very angry and she refused to go on it for at least two trips. The posted wait was 45 minutes so we got in line.

We had not had breakfast or anything so my DH went in search of coffee. We are not usually the type of people that have one or more of us join a link in progress, but the way that you line up around the Matterhorn it is not disruptive to do. There was a family behind us and a couple of the boys started fighting a little. They were not crazy misbehaved or anything but it was comforting to see other kids picking on their siblings. Our girls fight a little more than I would like.

I have heard not so great things about the new seating. We are not tall people, so it was fine for us. Our DD9 enjoyed the ride.

We headed toward IASM, my DD12’s choice. My DH and DD9 stopped to get churros. It was practically walk on and my DD12 and I got in line. We were stopping in line to take photos and letting people go in front of us. Soon my DH and DD9 joined us and we all rode together. The kids were competing to see who could find the modern additions first.

Up next – Toontown. My DD12 was not wanting to wait too long in lines she felt were “not worth it.” It was 20 or 25 minute posted wait for “Gadget’s Go Coaster.” DD12 did not want to wait. DD9 LOVES the ride and was fine with the wait. This was the longest I have ever waited for GGC. When we were done we went in search of DH and DD12. They took a little longer to get of Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin. This is when the crowds really started to annoy me. My kids started running around near the post office. I couldn’t keep my eyes on both of them at the same time. We had the first of many conversations about always remaining is eye shot of a parent.

On the way out of ToonTown we bought pink cotton candy mainly for DD9.

We decided it was about time for some real food. DH suggested Royal Street Veranda for Gumbo and Chowder. We headed to NO square via Fantasyland Land and Big Thunder Ranch. As we rounded the corner by BTMRR my DD9 said she needed to go to the bathroom at this point we could turn around and go to the one near the Village Haus or head on to the one between Frontierland and Adventureland. I find the Village Haus restroom usually to be the dirtiest and narrowest in DL – so we headed to Frontierland. I had an ulterior motive for the choice Once we were done there my DD9 mentioned that we were near the kabob place (Bengal BBQ – which was what I wanted anyway). The line is very short and we got a spicy beef, asparagus and bacon, Mickey Pretzel with cheese, and a jalapeño filled pretzel. We headed to NOS where my DH and DD12 were already eating at a table by POTC. We were able to have a relaxing meal.

Still to come – will my DD12 and I be able to get DD9 and DH on Splash Mountain?