PHXscuba
Mouseketeer since birth!
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Glad you're having fun! Did the kids adjust to the time difference? Was everyone wowed when you pulled up to the PPH?
PHXscuba
"Santa must have heard that we love balloons!" TR *8/27 Update*
- Thread starter lsulindy
- Start date
Glad you're having fun! Did the kids adjust to the time difference? Was everyone wowed when you pulled up to the PPH?
PHXscuba
lsulindy
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We're back. Trip was great. The 2 year old did not adjust well to the time change, and got spoiled bed hopping all night, so we're having sleep issues now. Disney is exhausting enough, but not sleeping well during the trip and now that we've returned has been rough. Plus trying to catch up on laundry and work. But, I'm sorting pics and I'll be starting the trip report soon.!
lsulindy
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The crowds were less than 2011 when we went to WDW for Mardi Gras. That was a late Mardi Gras and we hit the early spring break crowds. I've heard that this year at WDW was even worse. At some points the DLR parks got congested for walking, but with the exception of RSR and Friday evening, our lines were definitely shorter than we've ever experienced at WDW. Next year will be another late Mardi Gras, early March like 2011. You may want to see how the crowds in DL are right now to get a better idea.
Thanks. It was fun!
I'm working on it.Can't wait to see your pics!
Sorry. I should have the first part up soon! Takes so long to sort the pics when you take 10 shots just to get one good one with all kids looking! Have a great trip!
lsulindy
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We had a noon flight and woke up at our regular times, which for my children is about 6:30 am.
When I got out of bed, my daughter had already drawn a picture of "M Wacke", and "the baby" is helping by coloring him green. It was sweet, and a great welcome to the day. (The baby's 2, but will be called the baby in this recap, because I'm the momma and he's my baby! I'll also take this time to mention that I haven't called my kids by name, and won't in this recap, because I don't want them to be "googleable" but their names are on their shirts and I know you can see them. I'm weird, but just go along with me. ha)
I had finished most of the packing the night before, and although I was a little stressed and frazzled, the morning was pretty easy.
I had packed backpacks for each kid with the activity book, a zipper case with new Crayon twistables and some pencils, a blanket, jacket, headphones, Kindle Fires, and snacks. The kids were thrilled with their books and ran outside to show the neighbors before I could take a pic!
And here are some pages:
That's a lot of pics of the book. Didn't realize I had so many.
Continued here.
When I got out of bed, my daughter had already drawn a picture of "M Wacke", and "the baby" is helping by coloring him green. It was sweet, and a great welcome to the day. (The baby's 2, but will be called the baby in this recap, because I'm the momma and he's my baby! I'll also take this time to mention that I haven't called my kids by name, and won't in this recap, because I don't want them to be "googleable" but their names are on their shirts and I know you can see them. I'm weird, but just go along with me. ha)
I had finished most of the packing the night before, and although I was a little stressed and frazzled, the morning was pretty easy.
I had packed backpacks for each kid with the activity book, a zipper case with new Crayon twistables and some pencils, a blanket, jacket, headphones, Kindle Fires, and snacks. The kids were thrilled with their books and ran outside to show the neighbors before I could take a pic!
And here are some pages:
That's a lot of pics of the book. Didn't realize I had so many.
Continued here.
lsulindy
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Can someone let me know if they see 3 Mike Wazowski photos? Those are on shutterfly, I was swapping over to using them b/c I found it to be easier, but now it seems there are display issues... Sometimes I see 3, sometimes I just see one?
And, the workbook pics are all oriented correctly on photobucket. But, here some are sideways. grrr...
ETA: Just changed the urls for the Mike Wazowski/Shutterfly pics. Seems to be showing up now, but with white borders.
And, the workbook pics are all oriented correctly on photobucket. But, here some are sideways. grrr...
ETA: Just changed the urls for the Mike Wazowski/Shutterfly pics. Seems to be showing up now, but with white borders.
lsulindy
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The "Birthday Girl" was very excited to get dressed and put on her special shirt.
At 10:00, my parents (coming on the trip with us) and the in-laws (driving us to the airport) arrived. We loaded up and headed to the airport right on time. Much to the surprise of everyone.
Grabbed a quick lunch at the airport.
Sitting in the baby's carseat. He thought that was pretty funny.
And, in no time at all, it's time to board.
Enjoying a few snuggles before he has to get buckled into his seat for the 4 hour flight.
The kids did so great on the flight. Better than I ever could have imagined. At one point, the man in front of dd complained that she was kicking his seat. But, it was really her taking her activity book in and out of the pouch behind the seat.
We didn't get to see too much of the country. It was almost solid clouds the entire way.
During the flight, the lady sitting next to dd and my mom mentioned that she was bringing shrimp and crawfish for her friends in California. Our flight lands, and we head to baggage claim. I was worried about LAX, but I didn't find the airport to be bad at all. We didn't have to walk far to get our luggage. As we're waiting for our bags, we see 3 ice chests come down the conveyor belt onto the carousel. We joke about the lucky people in California who are getting some good Louisiana seafood. We get all of our bags and head out to find the shuttle to Enterprise. It was very close to the baggage claim exit. We all comment on how easy LAX turned out to be.
There's a shuttle there, but they don't have room for all 7 of us, so we wait about 10 minutes for the next one and head to get our rental car. While waiting, someone comments that it smells fishy. Someone else notes that it's odd and says, "Well, we are by the coast, I guess" Can you see where this is going? Cause, in hindsight, I'm shocked that none of us did!!
After a short shuttle ride, we're at the rental car lot. We load the luggage onto a cart and head in. My mom and I sit on a bench by the luggage with the kids while DH goes to stand in line to get the keys. A man from the VIP/Rewards counter comes over and tells dh that he can help with with no line since he doesn't have a customer. DH heads over there. Just then my mom and I are realizing that it smells here too. All of a sudden, I screech "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"
My mom doesn't understand what's going on, but then it hits her too. 
I lower my nose to our bags and our fears are confirmed. Our biggest suitcase has been soaked in crawfish juice. 
DH quickly comes back to get the luggage and bring it outside, and we break the bad luggage news to the menfolk. We go outside, install the car seats and boosters (we'd packed boosters into our luggage) into the mini-van, load up the luggage, and head to DL.
The kids got a kick out of the "giant donut"
Continued here
At 10:00, my parents (coming on the trip with us) and the in-laws (driving us to the airport) arrived. We loaded up and headed to the airport right on time. Much to the surprise of everyone.
Grabbed a quick lunch at the airport.
Sitting in the baby's carseat. He thought that was pretty funny.
And, in no time at all, it's time to board.
Enjoying a few snuggles before he has to get buckled into his seat for the 4 hour flight.
The kids did so great on the flight. Better than I ever could have imagined. At one point, the man in front of dd complained that she was kicking his seat. But, it was really her taking her activity book in and out of the pouch behind the seat.
We didn't get to see too much of the country. It was almost solid clouds the entire way.
During the flight, the lady sitting next to dd and my mom mentioned that she was bringing shrimp and crawfish for her friends in California. Our flight lands, and we head to baggage claim. I was worried about LAX, but I didn't find the airport to be bad at all. We didn't have to walk far to get our luggage. As we're waiting for our bags, we see 3 ice chests come down the conveyor belt onto the carousel. We joke about the lucky people in California who are getting some good Louisiana seafood. We get all of our bags and head out to find the shuttle to Enterprise. It was very close to the baggage claim exit. We all comment on how easy LAX turned out to be.
There's a shuttle there, but they don't have room for all 7 of us, so we wait about 10 minutes for the next one and head to get our rental car. While waiting, someone comments that it smells fishy. Someone else notes that it's odd and says, "Well, we are by the coast, I guess" Can you see where this is going? Cause, in hindsight, I'm shocked that none of us did!!
After a short shuttle ride, we're at the rental car lot. We load the luggage onto a cart and head in. My mom and I sit on a bench by the luggage with the kids while DH goes to stand in line to get the keys. A man from the VIP/Rewards counter comes over and tells dh that he can help with with no line since he doesn't have a customer. DH heads over there. Just then my mom and I are realizing that it smells here too. All of a sudden, I screech "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"
My mom doesn't understand what's going on, but then it hits her too. I lower my nose to our bags and our fears are confirmed. Our biggest suitcase has been soaked in crawfish juice. DH quickly comes back to get the luggage and bring it outside, and we break the bad luggage news to the menfolk. We go outside, install the car seats and boosters (we'd packed boosters into our luggage) into the mini-van, load up the luggage, and head to DL.
The kids got a kick out of the "giant donut"
Continued here
lsulindy
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On Harbor Blvd
About 45 minutes later (about 4:30), we arrive at the Desert Inn & Suites, our home for the next week. Enjoying the view of Disneyland while dad checks in.
Sign across from pedestrian entrance on Harbor Blvd.
using the zoom
My mom had arranged a week-long ECV rental from Deckert's, and it was waiting for us in the lobby. The front desk clerk gave my mom the keys and instructed her on its use. Everything went well with the rental, and the price was much cheaper than renting from Disneyland. Plus, my mom would have had a hard time on the walk to the parks, so this was a great option for her.
We have a "B" Family Suite. Which is 2 adjoining rooms priced as one. We had 4 queen beds, 2 TVs, 2 full bathrooms, 2 microwaves, and 2 small refrigerators.
Here's our half:
Looking at the room layout, I assumed that the rooms had previously been adjoining rooms, but had been remodeled into a Suite. I was expecting a single room number and a regular door between the rooms. Not because anyone had led me to believe that, it was just an assumption on my part. But, that wasn't the case. It's just adjoining rooms. Both rooms had a separate room number, each had it's own key cards, and the door between the rooms was the typical adjoining room doors where there are two doors and each can be locked from the inside, so both parties must unlock their doors to allow entry between the two sides. This didn't bother me, but since we'd paid one price for both rooms, I was a bit surprised.
The rooms were large, well-lit and clean. I really liked that there was a large light over the entire vanity area and a large bright light in the bathroom. I usually find that bathrooms in hotels can be very dark and that was not the case here. Two minor annoyances were that the adjoining doors were right behind the entry doors. We kept the adjoining doors open for most of the trip, but if someone came in through the exterior door, it would bang into the adjoining door. Not a big deal, but annoying. There was also only 3 small drawers on each side, my parents had no issue unpacking, but we couldn't unpack all of our clothes, so we partially had to live out of the suitcases. For the price, I was very, very happy with the rooms, but those were two minor negatives.
We quickly remove all the clothes from the noxious suitcase and are thrilled to discover that the smell did not permeate onto the contents. DH throws the suitcase into the bathroom, turns on the vent, and closes the door. It's 5:15 pm, and we head out ready to conquer Disneyland and thrilled that we'll be able to catch the 6:30 parade as I'd hoped!
Continued
About 45 minutes later (about 4:30), we arrive at the Desert Inn & Suites, our home for the next week. Enjoying the view of Disneyland while dad checks in.
Sign across from pedestrian entrance on Harbor Blvd.
using the zoom
My mom had arranged a week-long ECV rental from Deckert's, and it was waiting for us in the lobby. The front desk clerk gave my mom the keys and instructed her on its use. Everything went well with the rental, and the price was much cheaper than renting from Disneyland. Plus, my mom would have had a hard time on the walk to the parks, so this was a great option for her.
We have a "B" Family Suite. Which is 2 adjoining rooms priced as one. We had 4 queen beds, 2 TVs, 2 full bathrooms, 2 microwaves, and 2 small refrigerators.
Here's our half:
Looking at the room layout, I assumed that the rooms had previously been adjoining rooms, but had been remodeled into a Suite. I was expecting a single room number and a regular door between the rooms. Not because anyone had led me to believe that, it was just an assumption on my part. But, that wasn't the case. It's just adjoining rooms. Both rooms had a separate room number, each had it's own key cards, and the door between the rooms was the typical adjoining room doors where there are two doors and each can be locked from the inside, so both parties must unlock their doors to allow entry between the two sides. This didn't bother me, but since we'd paid one price for both rooms, I was a bit surprised.
The rooms were large, well-lit and clean. I really liked that there was a large light over the entire vanity area and a large bright light in the bathroom. I usually find that bathrooms in hotels can be very dark and that was not the case here. Two minor annoyances were that the adjoining doors were right behind the entry doors. We kept the adjoining doors open for most of the trip, but if someone came in through the exterior door, it would bang into the adjoining door. Not a big deal, but annoying. There was also only 3 small drawers on each side, my parents had no issue unpacking, but we couldn't unpack all of our clothes, so we partially had to live out of the suitcases. For the price, I was very, very happy with the rooms, but those were two minor negatives.
We quickly remove all the clothes from the noxious suitcase and are thrilled to discover that the smell did not permeate onto the contents. DH throws the suitcase into the bathroom, turns on the vent, and closes the door. It's 5:15 pm, and we head out ready to conquer Disneyland and thrilled that we'll be able to catch the 6:30 parade as I'd hoped!
Continued
lsulindy
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So, when I left off, we were heading over to Disneyland for the first time!! We loved the quick walk from the Desert Inn and Suites.
I didn't want to deal with 3 kids and the DSLR in Disneyland, but my point n shoot had been dying on me. DH was very sweet and surprised me with a new point n shoot for Christmas. It's a Canon just like my previous 2, but it just didn't handle harsh sunlight, glare, or dark pics well at all. For a point n shoot, my previous camera handled these situations rather well. I was pretty bummed.
We're going to Disneyland!
Had to take a quick break on the walk in to pose with the Mickey head benches.
It's 5:30 on a Saturday evening and we get in a not too long line for entry. We have our at home printed tickets in hand. There's a CM working the gate, and another CM with the camera phone in front of the gate. We're a few people back in line, and I motion to the camera CM that we had new, print-at-home tickets. Thinking he could come do our pics while the people ahead of us went through. He said that the CM working the gate will check to see if we need pics. I'm thinking "I'm holding printed 5 day tickets. It's obvious we need pics." So, we get up to the gate CM and she scans the first ticket and then looks at the front CM and says "Oooh, they're going to need pics!" He says "They do? Really?" She says "Yes" He says "Oh ok, I guess you do need pictures." I'm like "Yes, we sure do"
So, I had purchased the 4 tickets for my family with my credit card. My name was on the order and my name automatically printed on the first ticket. I go through the gate (I went through the swing open gate rather than the turnstile b/c I'm pushing ds in his stroller) and stand on the inside of the swing open gate while the photo CM stands on the outside and takes my pic and scans the ticket. Then, he gives the ticket back to the gate CM and she scans it for entry. Then they ask DH for his license. He shows his license, and they ask him to spell his name out loud. He spells it twice, she repeats. Finally they print his ticket. He goes through the turnstile, then around the turnstile to stand behind the swing open gate where the camera CM takes his pic from the outside of the gate, then the camera CM gives his ticket back to the main CM who scans it. He then stands there and spells my daughter's name twice, CM repeats, once they have her name, they print her ticket, she goes through the turnstile, around by the gate and takes her picture, gives ticket back to be scanned, and again for my son.
Here's a pic I snapped when DH is spelling DD's name. Seems like it would be very simple to allow you to input everyone's name at home when you order the tickets. Would save a lot of time.
So our crew is through, and DH is complaining to me about what a ridiculous system they have. We move away so as not to clog the walkway while we wait for my parents and go take this pic by the Mickey head.
After a while, we realize that something is not right. My mom was on her scooter, so my dad handed the CM their tickets. I have a credit card of my parents issued to me in my name. I was supposed to use this card to buy their tickets for them. However, I'd read here that the credit card name is printed on one ticket. So, I called my mom to find out exactly how her name read on her card and put her name on the order instead of mine. I thought I had it all figured out and taken care of. Well, since my dad handed them the tickets, they gave him the ticket printed with my mom's name and took his pic for it. So, he had to wait for a manager to come over and reissue his ticket with his name.
I wanted to get a Birthday Button for dd, so I headed over to City Hall with dd and ds2, while dh and ds7 waited to straighten out the ticket situation with my parents.
Taken from City Hall line at 5:45 pm on Saturday.
Checking out the map. I was going for a candid shot, but she caught me.
Birthday button!
balloons
The crew arrives and the ticket situation has been taken care of. We're starving at this point because we haven't eaten a meal since breakfast Louisiana-time, so we decided to get corn dogs, grab a spot for the parade, sit and eat while we wait. DH doesn't like corn dogs and for some reason dd doesn't want one, so DH heads across the street to get something (turns out to be hot dogs) from Coke Corner, while my dad gets corn dogs from the Red Wagon corn dog cart. The rest of us grab a spot on the curb. The street is very congested but there are still lots of spaces available to sit and wait for the parade. Most people are just walking through. I tried to take a number of pics at this point, but my camera was not agreeing with the darkness.
I tried a few main street shots, but most are fuzzy.
I thought the Astro Orbitor looked great lit up, but none of my pics came out...
After a bit, the guys return with dinner. We were so happy to finally eat!
The corn dogs were huge and delicious!
After our dogs, DH grabs us some popcorn and I decided to go redeem our Photopass+ voucher. By the time we're both back, it's almost parade time.
I had ds2 in my lap for the parade, and I videoed it, so I didn't get any pics. I was sad that I couldn't see ds's face. He was SO excited to see all of his favorite characters, and I loved seeing him wave his chubby little fingers and yell out their names. When Simba's float comes, the girl next to us (maybe 8?) yells "Lion" and ds2 yells "Simba!" That cracked me up.
The video isn't the greatest, but I love all the sweet 2 year old excitement!
Soundsational video
After the parade, we head into Fantasyland from the Tomorrowland side. The crowd is thick, and it seems much darker than WDW. But, maybe it just seemed that way to me because I know the WDW layout. But it seemed really dark, we had a hard time figuring out where everything was and got ourselves a little turned around. We come up on side of the Alice ride.
It's a 20 minute wait, and we decide to make that our first ride. My mom parks her scooter and decides to get in the regular line, because it's dark and the crowds are thick and she doesn't want to have to wander in the dark to figure out where she needs to go. I didn't want to argue with her at the time, but this wound up being a mistake b/c she was in a lot of pain after waiting in the line.
I quickly realize that any concerns I had about ds2 being scared on dark rides is completely unfounded. He had NO FEAR and loved every second of the trip.
Continued here
Sherry E
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Soaked in crawfish juice!
That just sounds...well, horrible is the word that comes to mind. Eek.
I'm glad to see some pictures inside the suites at DI&S. I've heard a lot about that place but I've either never seen pictures of the rooms or I don't remember them.
You know, when I was with my friends from out of state in December 2011, they rented an ECV for my friend's dad with Parkinson's but I am thinking they didn't rent it from Deckert's. I think they must have gotten it through Disney, at the Disneyland Hotel. Was it a good daily rate?
I was also glad (relieved) to read your previous update about having a good experience at Goofy's Kitchen. Fellow DIS'er Bret/mvf-m11c just ate there recently too, and he also had a positive experience. As I was telling him, sometimes I read the negative reviews of Goofy's from people on the DIS and they sound so extreme that it's hard for me to even envision that this is the same restaurant I have faithfully patronized for the past 2 decades. I begin to wonder if I just have really awful taste in character meals, or if the restaurant just has extreme 'off' days that I seem to miss. I always feel much better when I read some positive reviews of Goofy's so I don't feel like I have the worst taste in the world!
I can't wait to read the Mardi Gras-done-Disney-style recap from a true Mardi Gras-done-New-Orleans-style veteran!!
That just sounds...well, horrible is the word that comes to mind. Eek.I'm glad to see some pictures inside the suites at DI&S. I've heard a lot about that place but I've either never seen pictures of the rooms or I don't remember them.
You know, when I was with my friends from out of state in December 2011, they rented an ECV for my friend's dad with Parkinson's but I am thinking they didn't rent it from Deckert's. I think they must have gotten it through Disney, at the Disneyland Hotel. Was it a good daily rate?
I was also glad (relieved) to read your previous update about having a good experience at Goofy's Kitchen. Fellow DIS'er Bret/mvf-m11c just ate there recently too, and he also had a positive experience. As I was telling him, sometimes I read the negative reviews of Goofy's from people on the DIS and they sound so extreme that it's hard for me to even envision that this is the same restaurant I have faithfully patronized for the past 2 decades. I begin to wonder if I just have really awful taste in character meals, or if the restaurant just has extreme 'off' days that I seem to miss. I always feel much better when I read some positive reviews of Goofy's so I don't feel like I have the worst taste in the world!
I can't wait to read the Mardi Gras-done-Disney-style recap from a true Mardi Gras-done-New-Orleans-style veteran!!
lsulindy
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Soaked in crawfish juice!
I'm glad to see some pictures inside the suites at DI&S. I've heard a lot about that place but I've either never seen pictures of the rooms or I don't remember them.
You know, when I was with my friends from out of state in December 2011, they rented an ECV for my friend's dad with Parkinson's but I am thinking they didn't rent it from Deckert's. I think they must have gotten it through Disney, at the Disneyland Hotel. Was it a good daily rate?
I was also glad (relieved) to read your previous update about having a good experience at Goofy's Kitchen. Fellow DIS'er Bret/mvf-m11c just ate there recently too, and he also had a positive experience. As I was telling him, sometimes I read the negative reviews of Goofy's from people on the DIS and they sound so extreme that it's hard for me to even envision that this is the same restaurant I have faithfully patronized for the past 2 decades. I begin to wonder if I just have really awful taste in character meals, or if the restaurant just has extreme 'off' days that I seem to miss. I always feel much better when I read some positive reviews of Goofy's so I don't feel like I have the worst taste in the world!
I can't wait to read the Mardi Gras-done-Disney-style recap from a true Mardi Gras-done-New-Orleans-style veteran!!
Crawfish juice... It was BAD!
So very bad.I want to say the scooter was $150 for the whole week. I thought that was pretty good and like I said it was so nice to have it for the walk to and from the parks. With one exception... (I'll leave you wondering and wanting more. bwahahahaha)
I was worried about Goofy's after some of the reviews I read, but we were very very happy with it. Up there in my mind as one of the best character meals we've had at WDW or DLR. That recap is coming up next.
lsulindy
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Leaving Alice's ride, we check out the White Rabbit's house.
DD would NOT touch the doorknob because she was scared the rabbit was home and would come out.
Next, we hit Dumbo with about a 30 minute wait. Mom decides to sit this one out b/c she's really hurting at this point. Dh rides with Ds2. I ride with ds7, and dad rides with dd.
After Dumbo, my parents decide that they want to head back to the room. But, it's only 20 minutes away from the 8:40 fireworks, so they decide to stay for that. It was super thick walking from Fantasyland to the hub, but we're able to pretty easily get a decent spot in the hub.
Remember... Dreams Come True fireworks video
Ds2 was thrilled to see Tinkerbell and was so excited about the fireworks. But, somehow he managed to fall asleep in the middle of the show with all the loud explosions. It WAS almost 11pm back home!!
DH was holding him, and managed to put him in the stroller in the middle of the fireworks without him so much as fluttering an eyelash. Poor baby was exhausted!
Dd has always been terrified of fireworks, but she had told me that morning that she was going to be brave like Merida this trip, and she did great! Not only did she not have a panic attack, but she actually enjoyed the show. I really loved it. I think Remember...Dreams Come True blows Wishes out the water. As you can tell by the exclamations in the video, ds7 really enjoyed it as well! (Although I have no idea why he yells "Peter Pan" during the Star Tours part...) Watching it from the hub is really neat because at some points, you're in the middle of the show with things going off all around you. By the end of the show, ds2 is asleep and dd has made her way onto my mom's lap on the scooter and is looking very droopy. My parents decide they'll take the 2 younger kids back to the room so that dh and I can stay and enjoy some "big kid" rides with ds7. But, with my mom on the scooter and dad with Parkinson's, I was very worried about them navigating the crowds with ds2 in the stroller and also having a very tired dd. I knew she'd probably be complaining about being tired and not wanting to walk, and I didn't want to task my parents with that. So I decide to go back to the room with them even though I'd love to have some big kid time with ds.
We head back to the room. Plaza on our way out
DH and DS wound up staying in the park till after 11pm and then ate Denny's before coming back to the room. They rode the Matterhorn, Buzz's Astro Blasters, Star Tours, Astro Orbiter, and the Nemo subs. I was long asleep and dreaming of breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen by the time they got home after midnight (2am our time)! I did hear when dh put the suitcase in the shower though and scrubbed it down with soap and water. Even though we'd left the vent on the whole time, it had stunk up the entire bathroom while we were gone.
The one pic DH took during their night out. DH said DS kept posing in front of every ride and decoration, and "I kept having to tell him, Dude, you know I don't do all that picture stuff"
Continued here
lsulindy
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The next morning, the two youngest awake at 5:30am. (7:30 Louisiana time) Dad and ds7 (who stayed at DL much later than us) are crashed out. We head to my parents' side of the room and I bathe the kids and get them ready over there. Definitely glad I went with the C1 suite so that both sides would have a full bathroom. I felt that would be important, and I was right!
We had 7:40am reservations at Goofy's, and I called dining right at 7 to see if I could move it to later in the morning b/c dh and ds hadn't budged, but I was told they were fully booked.
So, I tiptoed back into our room and gently asked ds if he wanted to come with us to eat at Goofy's or if he'd rather sleep. He shot out of bed and yelled "Goofy's!" Possibly the fastest I've ever seen him move. He quickly gets dressed, and we're ready to roll.
I quietly tell hubby that we're leaving, and he can sleep in. Just then the whole crew that had managed to stay quietly in my parent's room all morning comes in, sirens blazing. Dh says now that's he's up, he may meet us there late.
We pile into the mini-van and head to the Disneyland Hotel. We valet park and excitedly walk over to the restaurant.
There was no line to check in, and we walked straight up to the cashier. I informed her that we were missing one and he may or may not be joining us later. She said that was not a problem, and she could charge him if/when he arrived. I had every intention of pre-ordering a birthday cake for dd, but somehow forgot. I don't know how I managed to do that with my uber-planning, but it happened. I realized at the airport the day before. So, I added one of the princess birthday sets for her right there. I think it was $16.99. It included a treasure chest, personal cake, toy mirror, and flag.
No one was meeting with Goofy, so he was playing with the kids from his photo spot while I took care of the bill. DS2 was so excited to meet Goofy. His first character meet of the trip. We then went and did our picture. I handed my Photopass+ card, and they scanned it.
The hostess is waiting when we leave Goofy to show us to our seats. As she's walking us back, Dale grabs my daughter by the hand and walks with her to the table. I'm holding the baby, my camera is in my purse, and still on the settings I'd applied the night before for low light. So, unfortunately, this is the best pic I got.
My daughter explains to Dale that he has the same name as her PePaw.
Pluto immediately comes to the table.
The youngest gets very timid and waves from across the table, but doesn't wish to get any closer.
I head out to get the first couple of plates of food and get back in time to see that the youngest is very attached to Chip! Any character apprehension is gone, never to be seen again (at least on this trip!)
He is immediately followed by Perla.
While my daughter was meeting with Perla, Chip tied the ears on my sons hat into a knot. They all thought this was hilarious!
We're 10 minutes in, we've met 5 characters, and only half of us have food! It was a whirlwind! I was surprised to see that they had some "regular" (non-breakfast) food out in addition to the breakfast spread. I meant to go back and get pics, but never did.
We get a 10 minute break to get the rest of our food and eat a bit. Then Mulan arrives and is followed seconds later by Rafiki. Pluto is a few tables over and comes to grab Mulan and bring her to his table, but Mulan lets him know that she hasn't had time for pictures or visiting yet and can't leave us. I think Pluto was trying to un-bunch them, but instead Mulan convinces him to do a group pic!
Mulan asks me if I'm a princess too, and I reply that I'm really more warrior than princess. She squeezes my arm and says "You and me both!" Then she gestures at her clothes and shrugs. I loved it!
Around this time, the photo package of our picture with Goofy is brought to the table with a simple "Enjoy!" I know we technically paid for it since we paid for the Photopass+, but it was nice to just be handed the photo package. It's normally $29.95. It included a cardboard folio with 3 recipe cards, a 4x6 of Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, 4 4x6s of our picture and an 8x10 our our shot.
front:
back:
Breakfast at Goofy's Continued here
We had 7:40am reservations at Goofy's, and I called dining right at 7 to see if I could move it to later in the morning b/c dh and ds hadn't budged, but I was told they were fully booked.
So, I tiptoed back into our room and gently asked ds if he wanted to come with us to eat at Goofy's or if he'd rather sleep. He shot out of bed and yelled "Goofy's!" Possibly the fastest I've ever seen him move. He quickly gets dressed, and we're ready to roll.
I quietly tell hubby that we're leaving, and he can sleep in. Just then the whole crew that had managed to stay quietly in my parent's room all morning comes in, sirens blazing. Dh says now that's he's up, he may meet us there late.
We pile into the mini-van and head to the Disneyland Hotel. We valet park and excitedly walk over to the restaurant.
There was no line to check in, and we walked straight up to the cashier. I informed her that we were missing one and he may or may not be joining us later. She said that was not a problem, and she could charge him if/when he arrived. I had every intention of pre-ordering a birthday cake for dd, but somehow forgot. I don't know how I managed to do that with my uber-planning, but it happened. I realized at the airport the day before. So, I added one of the princess birthday sets for her right there. I think it was $16.99. It included a treasure chest, personal cake, toy mirror, and flag.
No one was meeting with Goofy, so he was playing with the kids from his photo spot while I took care of the bill. DS2 was so excited to meet Goofy. His first character meet of the trip. We then went and did our picture. I handed my Photopass+ card, and they scanned it.
The hostess is waiting when we leave Goofy to show us to our seats. As she's walking us back, Dale grabs my daughter by the hand and walks with her to the table. I'm holding the baby, my camera is in my purse, and still on the settings I'd applied the night before for low light. So, unfortunately, this is the best pic I got.
My daughter explains to Dale that he has the same name as her PePaw.
Pluto immediately comes to the table.
The youngest gets very timid and waves from across the table, but doesn't wish to get any closer.
I head out to get the first couple of plates of food and get back in time to see that the youngest is very attached to Chip! Any character apprehension is gone, never to be seen again (at least on this trip!)
He is immediately followed by Perla.
While my daughter was meeting with Perla, Chip tied the ears on my sons hat into a knot. They all thought this was hilarious!
We're 10 minutes in, we've met 5 characters, and only half of us have food! It was a whirlwind! I was surprised to see that they had some "regular" (non-breakfast) food out in addition to the breakfast spread. I meant to go back and get pics, but never did.
We get a 10 minute break to get the rest of our food and eat a bit. Then Mulan arrives and is followed seconds later by Rafiki. Pluto is a few tables over and comes to grab Mulan and bring her to his table, but Mulan lets him know that she hasn't had time for pictures or visiting yet and can't leave us. I think Pluto was trying to un-bunch them, but instead Mulan convinces him to do a group pic!
Mulan asks me if I'm a princess too, and I reply that I'm really more warrior than princess. She squeezes my arm and says "You and me both!" Then she gestures at her clothes and shrugs. I loved it!
Around this time, the photo package of our picture with Goofy is brought to the table with a simple "Enjoy!" I know we technically paid for it since we paid for the Photopass+, but it was nice to just be handed the photo package. It's normally $29.95. It included a cardboard folio with 3 recipe cards, a 4x6 of Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, 4 4x6s of our picture and an 8x10 our our shot.
front:
back:
Breakfast at Goofy's Continued here
lsulindy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2011
- Messages
- 1,020
I decide to move ds2's high chair to the other side of me, b/c the sun coming in through the window is pretty harsh, and everyone keeps posing around the high chair. As I'm moving the chair, my husband arrives to join us. It's about 8:10, 30 minutes after our ADR. He grabs a plate of food, and has a chance to eat a bit before Aurora arrives.
After Aurora, we went get dessert. The dessert bar is HUGE. We could have eaten dessert for the entire meal and not tried it all.
DD's desert plate:
All of the kids loved the "dirt and worms." I didn't get to taste, but the chocolate covered rice crispie treats looked beautiful. There were a few different varieties.
Pluto came by for the third time:
Pluto and ds had the absolute cutest interaction. They were playing peek-a-boo and joking and having a grand ole time. I thought I was videoing. I wound up with a 1 second clip of the beginning and a 1 second clip of the end. #videofail
Pluto played around the room for a while. He went over to the door and pawed it like he needed to go out. Everyone in the room thought that was pretty funny. He also licked dd, making a long dream of hers come true. She used to love when he licked the little girl at the end of the Disneyland Sing-a-long DVD!
The waiters then came out with dd's birthday cake and sang to her. I was glad I had forgotten to order the birthday cake. We were all stuffed, and it would have been a waste. They also brought her a new birthday button.
We had seen Baloo walking around earlier, but he never made it to our area, and we hadn't seen him for a while. We were just about done eating, and I told our waiter that we hadn't seen Baloo and was he still meeting. He went to check for us and came back and said that Baloo had been to our section right before we were seated, was currently on break, and would be by our table in about 20 minutes. We had missed Baloo by seconds 3 times on our WDW trip, so we all joked that he was trying to avoid us. We decided that we weren't going to wait that long though.
But, then everyone needs to go to the bathroom. Only not at the same time. One kid gets back, then another decides they need to go, then when they get back, the first one needs to go again. I think they were attempting to go with every possible combination of adults. Heading to the bathroom, I see that there is now a long line to check-in, a line to meet Goofy, and a lot of people loitering waiting to get seated. All of the tables are now full (there were many, many empty tables for most of the time we were there, but now it's packed). I remember that I didn't get my parking validated, and am able to find a hostess who goes behind the counter to do it without me having to stand in the long check-in line. I was glad we had gotten there so early.
At one point, I get up to take pics of the buffet, but I only got as far as some of the decorations before a kid came get me to say they needed to go back to the bathroom. The kids all loved these Goofy hands, so I was doing them first.
Perla and Dale both stopped by the table again while the boys were in the restroom. DD was enjoying covering the treasure chest with her napkin, putting the flag on top, and then "digging" for the buried treasure. I thought I'd taken pics, but I guess not. You can kind of see it in the pic with Perla that the chest is covered. She had a fun little game going with it.
We finally get everyone to the table ready to go, and we see Baloo come out! Our waiter comes to tell us that he has a few tables to hit before us. I'm sure he was itching for us to leave because the restaurant was packed and we'd been there so long, but he was as sweet as could be. He didn't want us to miss Baloo!
And then, finally, Baloo!!
He pulled the Goofy hat down over my son's face.
We finally head out and I really want to do a pic by the big plate and utensils. I'd meant to get it on the way in, but I didn't realize that we'd be seated immediately. Everyone humors me, even though it's gotten very misty and cold. I'd wanted to explore some, but the weather is not cooperating.
Waiting to get the car, the kids pose like the statues.
I was concerned after reading mixed reviews, but we really enjoyed breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. We saw 9 characters, and there's a very large food selection. It's a buffet, so it's not the best food ever. But, most was good and with the big selection, seems like there would be something for everyone. I really enjoyed my spinach, cheese and tomato omelet and since we got there early, there wasn't a line to get omelets. We also had great character interaction. I think it helped that we were there so early because the characters could spend much more time with us. I would highly recommend an early seating.
Continued Here
After Aurora, we went get dessert. The dessert bar is HUGE. We could have eaten dessert for the entire meal and not tried it all.
DD's desert plate:
All of the kids loved the "dirt and worms." I didn't get to taste, but the chocolate covered rice crispie treats looked beautiful. There were a few different varieties.
Pluto came by for the third time:
Pluto and ds had the absolute cutest interaction. They were playing peek-a-boo and joking and having a grand ole time. I thought I was videoing. I wound up with a 1 second clip of the beginning and a 1 second clip of the end. #videofail
Pluto played around the room for a while. He went over to the door and pawed it like he needed to go out. Everyone in the room thought that was pretty funny. He also licked dd, making a long dream of hers come true. She used to love when he licked the little girl at the end of the Disneyland Sing-a-long DVD!
The waiters then came out with dd's birthday cake and sang to her. I was glad I had forgotten to order the birthday cake. We were all stuffed, and it would have been a waste. They also brought her a new birthday button.
We had seen Baloo walking around earlier, but he never made it to our area, and we hadn't seen him for a while. We were just about done eating, and I told our waiter that we hadn't seen Baloo and was he still meeting. He went to check for us and came back and said that Baloo had been to our section right before we were seated, was currently on break, and would be by our table in about 20 minutes. We had missed Baloo by seconds 3 times on our WDW trip, so we all joked that he was trying to avoid us. We decided that we weren't going to wait that long though.
But, then everyone needs to go to the bathroom. Only not at the same time. One kid gets back, then another decides they need to go, then when they get back, the first one needs to go again. I think they were attempting to go with every possible combination of adults. Heading to the bathroom, I see that there is now a long line to check-in, a line to meet Goofy, and a lot of people loitering waiting to get seated. All of the tables are now full (there were many, many empty tables for most of the time we were there, but now it's packed). I remember that I didn't get my parking validated, and am able to find a hostess who goes behind the counter to do it without me having to stand in the long check-in line. I was glad we had gotten there so early.
At one point, I get up to take pics of the buffet, but I only got as far as some of the decorations before a kid came get me to say they needed to go back to the bathroom. The kids all loved these Goofy hands, so I was doing them first.
Perla and Dale both stopped by the table again while the boys were in the restroom. DD was enjoying covering the treasure chest with her napkin, putting the flag on top, and then "digging" for the buried treasure. I thought I'd taken pics, but I guess not. You can kind of see it in the pic with Perla that the chest is covered. She had a fun little game going with it.
We finally get everyone to the table ready to go, and we see Baloo come out! Our waiter comes to tell us that he has a few tables to hit before us. I'm sure he was itching for us to leave because the restaurant was packed and we'd been there so long, but he was as sweet as could be. He didn't want us to miss Baloo!
And then, finally, Baloo!!
He pulled the Goofy hat down over my son's face.
We finally head out and I really want to do a pic by the big plate and utensils. I'd meant to get it on the way in, but I didn't realize that we'd be seated immediately. Everyone humors me, even though it's gotten very misty and cold. I'd wanted to explore some, but the weather is not cooperating.
Waiting to get the car, the kids pose like the statues.
I was concerned after reading mixed reviews, but we really enjoyed breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. We saw 9 characters, and there's a very large food selection. It's a buffet, so it's not the best food ever. But, most was good and with the big selection, seems like there would be something for everyone. I really enjoyed my spinach, cheese and tomato omelet and since we got there early, there wasn't a line to get omelets. We also had great character interaction. I think it helped that we were there so early because the characters could spend much more time with us. I would highly recommend an early seating.
Continued Here
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