Serving up some perspective and Pixie dust

[AJA55]

I debated on doing this trip report. I used to write them up all them time. Not just Disney. That was before the whole attaching pictures thingy. I just used words. So, this might be a bit wordy.

I love reading TR’s and never see reports that will have this……perspective. (Ratatouille rolling around in your head? Say it …I know you want to…like Anton Ego)

You might have guessed from the first sentence, I am old… long in tooth… ancient a senior. And mom…well of course she is older still. So, our goals don’t follow the average pattern when visiting Disney parks. i.e., to get on as many rides as possible. But Disney has magic for everyone. Our trips are a mixture of eating, people watching, have some adult beverages, looking for pressed penny machines, people watching, admiring the theme of an area, pin trading, have adult beverages, hunting Hidden Mickeys, character meets and people watching. Oh yes, and a few rides.

Looks like a lot of TR’s do the “w’s”. Who, what, when, where, why. And sometime a “how” or two pop in.

Who: me, Amy, daughter of the other traveler, Annie. Or the Warden and the Momster if you prefer.

The following picture is of us in WDW. We found the shirts in 2003 (not at Disney). The Momster held them up and proclaimed, “Look Amy, Minnie shirts”. Which I responded with; “No, no way are we wearing those.” Well, we have worn them on every Disney trip since. Disney Bounding before it was a thing. haha The first few trips we got a lot of people asking us to point them to the restrooms.

 

[AJA55]

What: Grand Californian. Downtown Disney view. Don’t ask what we paid for this room! We had a long talk about this….but….well…..see the “Why” below. Listen Disney, your pricing us out of your property. I had my TA put in for a specific location for our room. And she called one week before to reiterate the request. Same area as last trip. We still have a quote that we use, from an afternoon of wine and people watching on our balcony.

Where: Disneyland and California Adventure. Duh…. Our last visit was Fourth of July week in 2007. Ya..ya…I know it’s been awhile. But we have visited WDW a few times and been on some Disney ships since.

When: March 30-April 6, 2019. Saturday to Saturday, with a five-day hopper.

Why: Who knows the Mickey Mouse show song? “Y? Because we love you.” Just replace “you” with “Disney”. OK, seriously, we travel every six months. Spring for the Momster’s birthday and Fall for mine. This will be mom’s 87th.

How: And now a bit of perspective. Just last year we purchased a transfer chair. This is a wheelchair that does not have the large wheels in the back. Momma is all of 4‘ 9” give or take and around 90 pounds. No way is she pushing herself. She has tried a scooter on a few trips and is just not comfortable with driving those things. Well, we could hang a sign on the scooter that says, “shins beware!” She is good about recognizing her limits.

We have used the transfer chair around town and on a cruise last year. It works out pretty darn good. And I make for an OK engine. So far, I have not run out of gas on any of our adventures.

I will now take the opportunity to apologize to one and all if I don’t finish the report. Wish me good luck! I’m slow. Oh and this is the first time that I have added pictures and all. So messy it might be.

 

[LovesBelle]

That picture of you two is awesome! Looking forward to reading about your adventures. My family is going to Disneyland for the very first time in June. We are Disney World experts, but Disneyland will be new to us so I am studiously reading trip reports to get ready.

 

[momtohms]

Excited to follow along! Love that pic of you and your Mom, the shirts are great

 

[AJA55]

That picture of you two is awesome! Looking forward to reading about your adventures. My family is going to Disneyland for the very first time in June. We are Disney World experts, but Disneyland will be new to us so I am studiously reading trip reports to get ready.

We like both Land and World. Apples and Oranges we say.

 

[AJA55]

Excited to follow along! Love that pic of you and your Mom, the shirts are great

Thanks. We do have fun in them.

 

[AJA55]

View attachment 395223 Saturday March 31st

We had a 11AM short flight that landed around 2PM.

Here is a tip for seniors. We have been requesting a wheelchair for the last few years at every airport. All it costs is a tip to the attendant. Yes, it is an added expense but well worth it. And now with our own chair? Yes, we still have an escort. It’s just less that I have keep tract of. And again, the only cost is a tip.

With me having TSA Precheck and mom being her age (no taking off the shoes, we can keep on a light jacket or sweater), getting through security at the airport is easy peazy.




I really debated on what company we should go with for transportation to the hotel. Man, there are a lot of companies driving around out there! Having a wheelchair, I didn’t want to rely on Uber or Lyft. Although the chair fits nicely in my compact automobile’s trunk. I settled for “Business Express” by SuperShuttle. Not as cheap as a ride share van. But not as expensive as a premium sedan/town car . And it’s a straight shot from LAX to the hotel. I received a text before we even landed, the car was clean and got us to the hotel in just under an hour.

Grand Californian…wow…just wow. It has changed a bit in twelve years. When checking-in we ask for special disability maps to both parks. The cast member gave mother a birthday button and we of course told her that we would love a good people watching room. Boy did we get it. Two queen beds, a wonderful balcony with solid walls on both sides, a bathroom with tub and we could see the top of the fireworks every night.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

Following! So excited to hear about your trip! The shirts are awesome, and I'm also more of a word person than a picture person, so I love the descriptive text

 

[Jaina]

I am loving this already. I hope I get to do something like this some day. Either as the mom or as the daughter!! You guys are awesome, and I can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[AJA55]

Following! So excited to hear about your trip! The shirts are awesome, and I'm also more of a word person than a picture person, so I love the descriptive text

I'm stepping out of my "Old Person" box to post the picture. And yep, I'm like you. Tell me what happened.

 

[AJA55]

I am loving this already. I hope I get to do something like this some day. Either as the mom or as the daughter!! You guys are awesome, and I can't wait to hear all about it!

Well you know this is all your fault!

And yes we do have a lot of fun together. I'm very lucky.

 

[AJA55]

After unpacking we relaxed in the lobby listening to the piano player putting out various Disney tunes, happy birthday for mom and a spattering of other well-known songs. We were waiting on our Amazon delivery. Worked great. We had to be there to receive the items as we had an adult beverage or two for our week stay. Nothing like a glass of wine on the balcony in the afternoon.

During this time, I got a text from our pet sitter asking us where we had placed her check. Humm, forgot to do that. So, I told her that we would mail it when we got back. Oh, can she please take the flat iron out of the freezer? Guess the idea to put it there to cool down while I finished packing didn’t work too well. Haha…..

All settled in we head for Earl of Sandwich to pick up dinner of a turkey, bacon, onion, Swiss sandwich and mac and cheese to split. We also grabbed a fruit cup that looked good for breakfast tomorrow. The rest of the evening was spent on the balcony people watching.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

What a perfect view! Sounds like the perfect spot and relaxing way to start your stay.

 

[momtohms]

What a great start to your trip! Earl of Sandwich and watching fireworks from the room sounds perfect I am staying there this summer, and can’t wait!

 

[AJA55]

Sunday

First day in a park and we started in Disneyland. Nope, no rope drop for us. Vacation for some is to have a bit of a sleep-in. Remember people? Perspective. Got there around 9:30. No one at the Grand C entrance to DTD. First thing once we scan into the park is purchase a Max Pass for me only. Mainly to get pictures and maybe go on a thrill ride or two for myself. Well, where are all the photographers? Only ones I saw were with characters. None even on Main Street. Yes, I know the castle is in scrim. But what about at the Partners statue? And when I tried to get a MaxPass just for me, (tried for a few hours off and on) never worked. It’s OK, I made lemonade.




We got a return pass for Peter Pan. Then…oh…you know those disability maps that we got yesterday? Guess I should have remembered to use them instead of wondering around trying to find the proper entrance. After hitting a few rides in Fantasyland, the Canal boats were next on my list. But I gave the Momster a choice of boats or lunch. Lunch won. So, we head out for the Food and Wine Fest at DCA. We always take about an hour to leave a park. Perspective! We admire the horses that pull the trolley (HUGE), pay a visit to Esmeralda for a couple of fortunes and listen to a bit of music by the Disneyland Band.

 

[AJA55]

Not a lot of people going into DCA this time of day, but inside the park it was a bit crowded. Especially near the Festival booths. They were handing out Food and Wine chef hats, so of course we had to stop and grab one. Then a bit later we snagged a passport/guide to the fest. First booth we ran into was “Nuts about Cheese”. We didn’t order anything from here, but we decided to preorder a couple of items from other booths. What did end up in our hands was a glass of Simi chardonnay and a mimosa flight. We just missed a standing table, but the nice ladies that snagged it right in front of us (we were both heading for it at the same time) gave it to us. I parked mom in the shade at the table and we proceeded to sip and watch. The people next to us were a lot of fun. I left the Momster in their care with a warning about her and hoofed it to get our food. Grilled asparagus chicken Caesar salad and a petite Impossible burger with guac.



We have a blast talking to strangers and new friends and just generally hanging out. Desert was the best of the day. A lemon macaroon with raspberry jam filling. Almost a good as the entertainment that we bumped into on our way back to our hotel. A cartoon water drawer. Love these kind of things.



Dinner is at the Uva Bar. Nope, not going to try that again.....on this trip at least. Prime people watching but the food was meh. OK, so the garlic fries were great. We wandered the hotel and found some hidden Mickey’s, had a lobby man sing happy birthday to mom, sipped a night cap and sauntered off to bed.

 

[AJA55]

Monday

Again, we start the day in Disneyland around 9:30 with a first stop at the Jungle Cruise for a wheelchair pass, but they told us there wasn’t much of a wait, “just step up in line”. And there wasn’t much of a wait. The steps into the boat were too large (i.e. tall) for mom, so they got out their “boxes”. Makes the steps half the size and it was easy for her to get in and out of the boat. Ask for them if you need them!

Mom, me and Ellie.


After seeing the back side of water, we continue to Haunted Mansion where we played twenty questions with the disability access person, can you transfer, can you walk upstairs, can you walk on a moving walkway, etc. We are now the temporary owners of a red ticket. Sorta like a golden ticket. You get instructions on when to return to the fastpass line with said ticket. Basically, the same wait time as the standby line. I can see where people would cheat with this pass, as they have no printed return time. Please don’t.

We have thirty minutes, so we head to Pooh looking for Disney cats along the way. Wait time is ten minutes. But our wait is around twenty, because they had to place the wheelchair car on line. Bonus is that we got to ride twice. This is where we learned that mom does NOT like to ride in the wheelchair cars. You are by yourself. She wants to enjoy a ride with someone. No problem, we can do that. Our thirty-minute red Haunted Mansion ticket wait has more then passed by, so we head back to see if we can pick up some hitchhiking ghosts. And take a picture of a haunted Roastie Toastie.

 

[Jaina]

The DAS pass is a blessing, but definitely complicates things! We had to use about a day and a half last year, and I was so unprepared!!

 

[AJA55]

The DAS pass is a blessing, but definitely complicates things! We had to use about a day and a half last year, and I was so unprepared!!

Have to agree there. It takes more preparation then I did. haha....

It's one of the reasons that I wanted to do this report. Not much info out there about seniors in wheelchairs.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

What a great start to the trip! I do love the perspective - I tend to get wrapped up in the 'run run run' moment, while DH is much more of a go with the flow, relax kinda guy.

And I also was really disappointed in the lack of photographers, especially at partners statue. I thought for sure there would be someone there!

Good tip on jungle cruise steps, and great pictures