Somebody's Gonna Pee in a Cup, West Coast - Link to new TR 1/21

[eandesmom]

hope you were able to get out of there ok this morning. Major ruh-row about the phone. Serious bummer about closed rides, it does amaze me how often it happens.

 

[afwdwfan]

Good evening! We've made it home and are about half unpacked. The kids are sound asleep and I'm getting ready to join them. We definitely had our share of misfortune on our first visit to Disneyland, and I have to admit, I spent about a day or 2 regretting ever scheduling the trip. It just seemed like 1 disappointment after another...

but...


it all worked out, and we ended up having a great time. We were able to work in all of our must do's, compare some rides to the sister version we know and love from Florida and it was altogether a great experience. I'll try to get caught up on replies here in the next few days and hopefully finish the next update from our Disney World trip that I actually started working on before I left.

 

[pkondz]

Welcome back! Glad to hear that it all worked out, but...
Wouldn't it have been nice to maybe skip the misfortunate parts???

 

[Steppesister]

PHew! Glad you made it back safe and sound! Get some good sleep, de-stress from the vacation (funny, how we always feel like we need a vacation after our vacations ), and we'll look forward to your update!

 

[franandaj]

Welcome home! I bet it's a welcome one this time!

Looking forward to hearing about all your adventures and I hope that the DL part turned out better in hindsight than you're thinking right now.

 

[MEK]

Welcome back. How is your back? Looking forward to reading about not one, but two trips now!!!!!

 

[afwdwfan]

We all have a job to do around here. Oh, and don't worry too much about stealing each others' ideas. I do it all the time.

Well, that's always a good sign.

It is always a good way to start things off...

All the other photos I've seen don't seem to capture as much of the detailing.
The pix on other forums make it look kinda barren. I like what I see; thanks for giving me "more".

It is far from barren. There is a whole lot going on there!

Back injuries are the worst! And it always happens when doing something innocuous. I could be moving bags of cement or cutting firewood and I'm fine. Then I got o tie my shoe and it feels like I was stabbed!

Awesome! Upgrades are super terrific but like you said, it's often the little tings that CMs do that make a big difference!

Absolutely! We loved the upgrade, but she was a phenomenal CM, regardless.

Glad you arrived safe and sound and have nicer weather. Sorry about the fact that the flight with kids wasn't so great. We never flew with the kids until they were 13 and 11.

That was probably wise...

Enjoy your trip.

Thanks! We absolutely did.

I'm glad to hear that it's nice and sunny down there, just a few miles north up here, it's been cold, rainy and wet all day.

Well... the first day was nice.

I see where you ended up!

and I think we made the right choice.

IMO, Lion King doesn't have as much to see as the other sections ... but I may just be saying that because most of our exploring was walking through on our way to Little Mermaid. But I think Cars is probably the most incredible part ... so while I think you should take time on a future trip to see LK & LM, at least you already saw the best part!

Truthfully, I think LK might be my second favorite section. It doesn't have as much "stuff" in it as the others, but I think for what is there, they really did a fantastic job of theming that area.

Totally get that one ... I'm the same way (and with us it's just 2 adults, so we really don't need a suite, but I wish we could stay in Cars!)

I've never actually gotten the dining plan, so I kinda forgot mugs were included ... but still, I see them and it makes no sense. It's a not so big mug that you can only refill in the food court? How is that supposed to make sense?
Maybe they should put drink stations near the vending machines in each building ...

That would be great... but it wouldn't make them money.

Now you have to go back to take more pictures!

Sounds good to me!

Showering and freshening up is so overrated ... just go to the parks all gross! (Then again, what do I know, the last time I took a long car trip hours was over 15 years ago, and that was what was supposed to be a 7-8 hour trip that took 10 hours ... and I was like 12).

You know... a day in the parks can make you even more gross than a long car ride, so I guess I'm not too worried about showing up at a park at 3pm after a long drive. But a shower is a good way to refresh and recharge, and that was what was needed at the time.

Definitely check it out when the neon lights are on ... it's amazing! We never did it in the morning (so we ended up waiting 1.5-2 hours twice), but we did see it late afternoon and evening/night, and while I was impressed both times, I thought it was really special with all the neon lights on.

It is spectacular at all times of day... but yeah, absolutely phenomenal at night.

Someone looks like he's having fun!
Enjoy sunny San Diego ... and think of those of us who are left behind in the cold!

He loved the planes.

I was thrilled to be there when we were. It was single digit temps and ice at home.

We flew for the first time when we were 11, 12, and 13 (not all at the same time - my sister flew for the first time with my grandparents 4 years before the other two of us flew) and it wasn't too bad. I have friends who flew a lot as kids who were okay with it, but some kids are not, especially very young ones. I think the more they fly the easier it gets ... but I think it takes a while to get to that point. Hopefully they'll have a better time on the plane after spending a few days with Mickey Mouse.

DS was great on all the flights, but DD just didn't do very well with it. She is just in the appropriately named terrible 2's. She would do ok for a while but after a couple of hours she just wanted whatever it was that she wanted and she wanted it now. If we had pretzels, she'd want goldfish. If we had goldfish, she'd want pretzels. If we turned Mickey on the iPad, she'd want Frozen.

Yay for warmer temps! That sounds pretty sweet right now to this freezing Minnesotan!

It was great to walk around in short sleeves for a week. I was glad to miss out on the ice storm we had here.

Sorry the flight was rough! Hope the way home goes better, after they've been exhausted by Disney.

The trip home was better. Not perfect... but better.

 

[afwdwfan]

Loving your report!

I hope you're really enjoying Disneyland---it's my favorite!

We really did enjoy it. I'm kind of excited to jump into that TR and share some of my likes/dislikes in comparison to WDW while it is fresh in my memory, but I really need to do my WDW TR first!

Great TR so far. Your family is beautiful. Wow, that's a great upgrade. From the photos I've seen, it seems that Disney did an INCREDIBLE job with the Cars section. I hope to stay there ourselves someday!

When they first built it, we knew we just wanted to stay there sometime. I figured we'd do the standard room this time and maybe look at the suites in a few years if we'd have another kid or just needed more room, but it was exciting to be able to stay there!

I hope your trip to DLR turns out wonderful and that your back doesn't act up too much!

My back was actually better by about Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. Just in time for Disneyland!

That's a SWEET upgrade!!! I really have my heart set on staying in a Cars suite with Paxton at some point before he is "over" Cars. They just look so cool! Nice way to start off the trip with some major pixie dust!

They are phenomenal rooms. Having just stayed at GCH in Disneyland... if I had my choice between the 2, I'd take the Cars suite without hesitation.

Sorry to hear about your back, but I'm glad it was better before you left for your trip. I hope you have a good week while you're there. I'd be interested to hear how the umbrella stroller holds up as we were thinking of getting one for our DL trip instead of bringing our big stroller. Does it have a basket underneath? That's one of the things I was looking for but it seemed to drive the price up.

http://www.amazon.com/Kolcraft-Cloud-Umbrella-Stroller-Scarlett/dp/B00JG5X4SA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1421675356&sr=8-4&keywords=kolcraft+stroller

This is the model of stroller we got. Only ours was black and grey... and about $7 cheaper than this one.

It held up very well, DS rode in it a lot and he exceeds the weight limit for the stroller. There is a small pouch underneath the seat. It isn't huge, but we were able to stuff a small fleece blanket and the kids' jackets underneath it as well as a couple of other smaller things from time to time. The handles are higher than other umbrella strollers I've been around, so it isn't too uncomfortable to push, but I did notice that they don't angle back very far, so I'd kick the wheels or accidentally kick the brake on from time to time, but it really wasn't a big deal. When it wasn't too crowded, I could walk next to the stroller and it pushed easy enough that I could control it with one hand on one of the handles.

Joining in. Loving your trip report!

Welcome, and thanks!

So cool that you got an upgrade. But yeah, it's the service by the CMs that can make all the difference. The Cars area is fantastic. I love the traffic cone lights.

The CM's definitely make the experience... or in some cases put a damper on it.

I wouldn't mind having one of those cone lights at home!

What an awesome thing to happen. I'm really happy for your family. I can only imagine how cool that would have been to find out that you've been upgraded like that.

It really was! I was absolutely blown away!

I hope the rain today doesn't get you guys down. At least it's back to clear skies and weather in the 70's. I swear when ever we have someone come visit the weather always take a turn. My mom gets so frustrated that we live in such a mild climate and then every time she makes it down here it's the couple days out of the year we actually get rain.

It wasn't too bad. At least it didn't rain hard and it wasn't too cold. We were able to get to the convention center and get to some food without getting soaked. I was just kind of disappointed in fact that a hotel that was hosting a few thousand people for a conference at the convention center didn't have any kind of shuttle or anything in place as an alternative. Regardless of the weather, there were some elderly people attending this conference, and it was probably a little bit of a haul for some of them to get to the convention center.

Enjoy your time at the DLR! We are headed up there in just a couple of weeks.

It ended up being a very nice week. We enjoyed it.

Great picture!

Thanks. He loved the planes there. I think we definitely made the right call going to the aircraft carrier instead of the zoo.

Sorry the flight was so rough. I think it's just luck of the draw as to whether they'll have a bad day or not. I always dread being That Guy With The Screaming Baby on the plane. But then again, everybody else on the plane was once that age as well.

Good point. And many still act like they're that age.

Literally laughed out loud on this one....Common sense is not so common. They're lucky their car didn't get hit.

Well said.

LOL! My dh and/or I would have done the same thing....

It was just so fitting for that situation.

Just was thinking about you today and hoping you're having a really great time! I'll be anxious to see what choices you made for plans!

It was a good week... with overall mild weather. While I can complain (and will) about some things, it was an overall good time.

Hope your back is doing ok! Glad to see that y'all made it to CA safely. Can't wait to hear all about this trip.

It started feeling about 100% by Tuesday or Wednesday, so it really worked out just in time for Disneyland. I didn't end up needing the pain pills I got, but I'm glad I had them in case.

That's an amazing upgrade that y'all got @ AoA! The Cars section there is incredibly themed.

It is incredible! I was so excited to have been able to stay in a Cars suite!

I'm worried that y'all didn't make it to DHS in time for the Frozen FP.....

 

[afwdwfan]

Hope your back is continuing to improve.
Just threw mine out (again!) around the same time you did, so I literally feel your pain!

If only we could be in our 20's forever.

Ha! Just did the same thing, earlier today.

There's that evil side of you, again.

Kind of... but I figured with 2 different strategies, there might be a chance that at least one of us could get placed in a room when we got there if we made it before check-in time.

I really doubt I'll have time, but I wouldn't mind strolling through there, just to look around.

I always wish I had more time to just visit some of the resorts... but yeah, there's just too much to do.

So.... was it faster?

We got done at pretty much the same time. I think Sharon basically ended up doing the leg work on both rooms.

Nice.

You'd think that Disney had experience with families with kids or something.

Somehow they just seem to know what makes them tick...

Score!!



That's really great! I'm happy for you guys!

It really got everything off to an incredible start. We were excited about it!

Oh, if I had to guess.... hmmm..... 40 bajillion times?
I'm being conservative, of course.

Yeah, that's right, you do have a daughter.

By the way, I've been trying to read through your dance trip border crossing TR. I haven't made it very far yet, but I've enjoyed what I've read.

Awwww....

Moments like this are what is helping me get her hooked.

Pixie dust! Right out of the gate.

It can only go downhill from here!

Nope. Not buying it.
I don't consider it a waste of money if it made your DD happy.
In the grand scheme of things, the $20 you spent on a mug isn't really going to matter, right?

When you put it that way...

Now if it was a $200,000 Lamborghini... that's a whole other story.

Unless of course she lets you drive it...

Ummm.... still no.

See? Wouldn't it have been more cool to say, "I'd go get the Lambo"?

It would. But where would we put the luggage?

Well, why not?

Again... gotta keep the 2 year old happy.

Oh, you could've sold it as a solar eclipse.

Good for you guys. Glad you enjoyed it so much.

We loved it. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Why do I have the feeling that things did not go swimmingly from this point on???

Well next time, don't take a fighter jet, take a commercial air liner.

Lack of inflight entertainment will bore anyone.

Yeah, but when you have buttons that launch missiles, you've got all the in flight entertainment you want!!!

Seriously, sorry to hear about that, but it's over now and hopefully you're all having a blast!

It was great to finally get there... and then to finally get back home.

Oh my word, I didn't even think about the Star Wars half. Yikes!!!!!! Most folks won't arrive till weds at the earliest, a lot on Thursday and then the rest Friday. One good thing is that a lot of locals do the races so parks may not be quite as bad as you would think but since it's the first one, the expo will be insane, especially when it first opens which is maybe Thursday? I don't know if you'll overlap race traffic or not but Sunday will be a mess for sure until probably 11.

I just feel like an idiot... I mean, I didn't research this trip as thoroughly as I should have. I had a general game plan and ideas in place, but at the same time, I wanted to just kind of go with the flow and take my time and explore and enjoy the resort. I kind of wanted to find some things out when I got there. Walk around the corner and see something new that I maybe didn't know about. But seeing that there was going to be a half marathon screwing up traffic wasn't what I had in mind!!!!

I appreciate the information you provided. Frankly, it was as good or better than the information I got from most CM's.

When I checked in, I was told that I should be able to take my car over to Disneyland Hotel and park it there and I could get out.

When I moved my car over there, I stopped at the guard booth and specifically asked about it. The guard there didn't know anything about it, but said if they told me that at GCH, there would probably be a way out...

I then went inside Disneyland Hotel and went to guest services to inquire about it... I basically got the same story the guard told me.

Long story short, I ended up walking to Disneyland Hotel at 5 am on Friday, the day of the 5K, just to see first of all, if we will easily be able to get through DTD at that time of morning on Saturday before the 10K with our luggage, and also to verify what exactly the traffic pattern was at the Disneyland Hotel and ensure that I'd be able to get out. I was concerned about this, because the entrance into the lot they told me to park in appeared to be on one of the roads shown as closed on the map... fortunately, it turned out that they closed it just at that entrance and sent traffic out of that lot toward Walnut Street.

I know it seems like I was being a little anal about it, but I did not want to miss our flight, due to lack of planning on my part. And due to the lack of help I got from most CM's I asked, I didn't know what else to do. I just wanted someone who actually knew and could point blank tell me "this is how it works and this is what you need to do" and I could never find that. From a Disney customer service perspective, I was extremely disappointed. Every CM I talked to about it kind of looked at me funny and I got a lot of probably.... or should... or they don't tell us about that part of it so I don't really know.

Mousekeeping did end up putting a paper on our bed Thursday that showed the maps... basically what you posted here, and all it said was to park at Disneyland hotel if you needed out during the road closure hours. So once I saw that, I just had to assume that since it was in writing, it would work, even though it didn't exactly have a map showing you exactly which lot to park in and how you'd actually get out. That would have been nice...

Sorry for the long drawn out post, but I was just really frustrated with the way they handled the whole thing for the non-running guests. I just felt like CM's would look at me like I had 2 heads when I'd ask about it, when all I wanted to do was make sure I could get out of the resort with plenty of time to make a flight.

Havent you heard the song? "It never rains in California..."

It just doesn't happen here. You were lucky enough to be here in one of the three times that it has rained in the last year. It happens so rarely here that it literally catches us off guard. Life comes to a halt. Folks dont know how to drive. People just stay home. Im surprised that the convention went on I bet the so cal attendees stayed home!

On Monday, somebody told me they saw on one of the local news stations that there was a winter weather advisory on Sunday when it rained. I was walking around in a polo shirt... and never really got all that wet. Or cold. It didn't do much more than mist.

First, i'm SO sorry about the back pain. It's crazy what the simplest wrong move can do to you. Hopefully that Vicodin is working for you.

Getting older sucks.

I think you got your answers about MM, so no comment here.

I did... and I love it there!!! Nothing like hitting 2 rope drops in one morning!!!!

What an incredible upgrade and perfect start to the trip!

It was a great way to get things started. But it sets the bar high for the rest of the trip!

Glad you made it to CA safe. Hopefully the kids won't be too bad for you on your return trip home. Can't wait to hear the update about Disneyland!

We had a good time. And I'll just say we survived the flights. DS did just fine on all the flights, but DD just kind of lost her patience after an hour or 2 on the plane. I'm attributing it to the fact that she's 2.

 

[afwdwfan]

What, no upgrade this time?

Sorry to let everyone down! I told you that is the only time anything like that has ever happened to me!

Sad to hear that the little guy is sick ... I hope he's feeling better soon so that you guys can make the most of your Disney time!

Thankfully, it was only some kind of 24 hour thing. But I really felt like things were unraveling at the seams there in the moment.

Awesome upgrade. Can't wait to hear more. Have fun in DL!

We were excited about that upgrade! We enjoyed DL and I look forward to sharing more about that trip after I finish the WDW portion.

Awwww....so sorry the little guy is sick again.

Talk about a stressful day... but thankfully he improved quickly.

And even sorrier that the bar was closed for you since you obviously needed it.

You have no idea. I'd just moved our car over to the Disneyland Hotel. I figured if I had to move it anyway, I might as well do it when I couldn't do anything else instead of wasting park time on another day. And I'd just finished asking several CM's about how the traffic situation would work Saturday morning and got no real answers. So when I was walking through DLH property towards DTD and I saw that arrow pointing towards Trader Sams it kind of brightened my mood. When I saw it closed... well, it just seemed fitting.

Hope DS gets better quick! And that things start getting better while y'all are at DLR.

Thankfully, he did, and the trip turned out well.

Moving to the DLH lot sounds like it would work if it exits where I think it does. But ugh on getting your stuff to the car. Just walking over there may be a bit of a challenge. Race starts at 5:30 but it will probably take till 6 or so before all the runners are actually released and on the course.

I am so so so sorry to read about DS, I hope by now the tummy has settled and things are better.

He got over it quickly... thankfully!

Noooooo to Trader Sam's not working out. I hope you were able to salvage some of the day and that tomorrow is dramatically better!

We did end up getting out of the room and walking around DTD and keeping an ADR we had that evening. DS didn't eat anything, but by then, it had been 8 hours since he had any stomach issues, and he'd been eating some peanut butter crackers during the afternoon in the room.

Not good!
That must have been one exceptionally long drive.
May this be something that goes away quickly... very quickly.

Thankfully, it did go away quickly.

But yeah, when you're in southern California traffic, and your kid starts puking in the back seat... well, it isn't like you have many options other than keep driving and hope he can get the trash bag to his mouth.

I wonder if the CM's where y'all are staying can help out some with getting the luggage and gear and even y'all on over there that morning? It is a mess of their own creation. It may also be wise to pack as much into the car as possible just before you move it over there.

I did leave a couple of bags we wouldn't need in the car and moved a couple over to it later... but no. They offered no help. One of the CM's at Guest Relations started to mention a golf cart, before he was cut off by one of his co-workers basically saying no... but we could load most of our luggage before we moved our car.

The airport shuttles were also leaving from DLH and we weren't the only ones hauling luggage from GCH to DLH.

I really wasn't impressed by the customer service at all. It seemed as if non-running guests were second rate to them. They just made no effort to make things easier, and I'm definitely not used to that from Disney. For what we paid to stay in Disneyland's flag ship resort, I definitely expected better.

One way or another, you're about due a break of some type or other here.
Even I wouldn't wish this much misfortune on ya'.

Hey... things worked out eventually. They had to, I guess.

Now that just ain't right!

That was like being kicked while I was down.

Geez, what a rough start to your vacation. I'm REALLY hoping it picks up for you guys and you're having a magical day today!

Thankfully it did! I couldn't have taken another day like Tuesday!

Glad to hear it. Things could only go up after yesterday.

It felt great to be standing in the park that morning!!!

yay!

We needed something good at that point!

Hello! I'm following along! Hope your day has been better today!

Welcome and thanks! Things improved once we got into the parks. Funny how that works.

 

[afwdwfan]

Great family shot!!!!

Thanks!

Beautiful picture!

I'm glad to hear you had a good day despite the rocky start.

Thank you! It was a much needed turn of our fortune.

Great picture! Glad things went better today!

Thanks! We needed to have a good day. And thankfully, it was.

Hope everyone is feeling better for the rest of your trip- sending some pixie dust.

Your pixie dust must have worked, because we survived!

Great picture of your family with Lightning!

Thanks!

Did you intentionally choose the name for your current TR (which is awesome BTW) so that you could tie in a title involving Piston Cup for this one?

The title is actually a paraphrase of something that was said one evening on our trip... but I like the way you think..

The Fantasmic picture is awesome. We missed the show in July, and now I am kicking myself. OW!!!

Oh, man... we debated on whether or not to watch it. When we saw it at Disney World, DS wasn't too crazy about it and DD slept through it. We were kind of leaning towards not watching it, but I'm so glad we did. I loved the DL version!

Glad DS is better. No fun when they are sick especially on vacay

Yeah... it was awful.

Thanks for the updates. Good luck getting out of there Sat morning. If you can't figure out how to make it work, you can always just sleep in the car at the airport.

I considered that at one point.

I'm glad that your days have improved. That sucks about the rides being down, but it happens.

It does... and apparently at RSR, it happens a lot!

I'm glad to hear your opinion on F! I've always known that DL's is waaaaay better than DHS, but nice to hear another person say it.

I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but to me it isn't even close. I have to say I like the fact that DHS is in a theater with seats and pre show entertainment of sorts... I mean keeping kids entertained while standing for an hour waiting for the show to start isn't any fun. But aside from that, the show itself is incredible. Much better than DHS. I'm not a big Pocahontas fan to begin with, so losing that part and gaining a pirate ship with rope swinging and sword fighting was a huge upgrade to me!

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmmm.... That doesn't sound good

And I still don't have a phone...

 

[afwdwfan]

ruh roh...

Yikes! This can't be good!

Not good... some stupidity on my part. You know, typical stuff.

Uh-oh. I hope you can still function okay without the phone (these days, many people can't) and enjoy the rest of the trip.
I guess us readers will just have to wait until you get home for updates.

Well, I still don't have my phone, and I still have my sanity. Or what was left of it anyway. Not having a phone for a few days is minor compared to some of the stress I was going through about DS being sick and getting out of the resort Saturday morning.

Hi Andy! We are back from our trip, and I’m 50% recovered from The Plague I have had this week, so I am here to get caught up with your TR!

Oooh... yuck. Sorry to hear that. Illness seems to be going around everywhere.

What an amazing check-in experience at AoA - wonderful pixie-dust moment for your family!

It was phenomenal. That kind of thing never happens to us!

I am DYING over your DD’s picture-posing! I think you are going to have a LOT of pictures similar to the ones I have in the years to come!

Oh, come on. What would ever give you an idea like that???

Ugh - sorry about the Star Wars Half Marathon - this is reminding me of one of the several reasons that we ended up going weirdly early in January this year. I hope it didn’t impact your trip too much….

And you didn't tell me? Thanks...

It really didn't impact us too much. I worried quite a bit about it and I felt like Disney's customer service really let the non-running guests down in a big way. But as far as our enjoyment of the parks... total non-factor.

Oh no! Puking??? That’s not good. Oh man - I am really worried about your trip!

Tuesday afternoon, I was sitting in the room at one point regretting the fact that we'd even planned that trip. I just wasn't in a good frame of mind about any of it.

Oh man, Trader Sam’s - don’t fail him now!!!! GAH!!!!

And that one didn't help things any.

Okay - you’re at rope drop, that’s a good sign…..

when he woke up and asked for Froot Loops, I got the kid some Froot Loops and kicked things into gear. We were going to make rope drop!!!

Seriously, RSR and TSMM closed in the morning? What in the world??? Glad the day improved. I’m crying on the inside though - this is NOT how I wanted your DLR visit to go.

It was a frustrating morning. The park was scheduled to open at 9. They finally dropped the rope at 9:20. We headed straight to RSR, only to be told that it was closed, AFTER we got all the way in to Radiator Springs past Ramones. So we backtracked and decided to d go to TSMM, only to be told it was closed. It was like, really??? Does anything work around here???

It worked out that we were right there by TSMM when it opened, and I was able to snag RSR FP a little while later, but when I looked at the time and realized we had been in the park for all of EMH and all we had done was California Screamin' and King Triton's Carousel...

So GLAD you saw the DL version of Fantasmic!

Oh wow. I've heard the DL version is better, but I had no idea.

Loss of phone too? Yikes - the disasters on this trip sound like too much. I’m so sorry! I hope it was better than it sounds.

I have a history of phones not surviving vacations. Seriously. I walked into the Gulf of Mexico with a phone in my pocket a couple of years ago. This is just a minor bump in the road.

Sounds like y'all's DLR trip ended up getting better! Can't wait to hear all about it. Especially about what happened to your phone.

It was a problem that started in San Diego. And my stupidity finished it off.

Safe travels home!

Thanks! We made it and are glad to be home!

hope you were able to get out of there ok this morning. Major ruh-row about the phone. Serious bummer about closed rides, it does amaze me how often it happens.

We made it out, with really no problems. I just wished that they had been able to explain and answer questions about it ahead of time to save me some worry.
I still don't have a phone. Hopefully tomorrow. I really don't miss it.
The closed rides were a bummer, but at least it worked out that we were able to come back to them later. We really didn't miss out on doing anything that we wanted to with the exception of attractions being refurbed.

Welcome back! Glad to hear that it all worked out, but...
Wouldn't it have been nice to maybe skip the misfortunate parts???

Yes. It really would have. When you figure out how to make that work, let me know!

PHew! Glad you made it back safe and sound! Get some good sleep, de-stress from the vacation (funny, how we always feel like we need a vacation after our vacations ), and we'll look forward to your update!

Thank you!! And yes, I know what you mean. You need some time just to relax at home and catch up on everyday life before you get back to everyday life!!

Welcome home! I bet it's a welcome one this time!

Absolutely! Glad to be home!

Looking forward to hearing about all your adventures and I hope that the DL part turned out better in hindsight than you're thinking right now.

It did turn out well. I'm glad we made the trip, and the good outweighs the bad. But I'm not going to sugarcoat it... there definitely was some bad. And that's just part of it.

By the way, were you or Fran in the park last week? I swear I thought I saw her in Fantasyland... would have been Thursday or Friday but I don't even remember which day it was.

Welcome back. How is your back? Looking forward to reading about not one, but two trips now!!!!!

Thanks!
The back is fine. I was feeling 100% by about Tuesday or Wednesday last week. Although, to be quite honest, I'm at work sitting in my chair and after only a few hours, I'm a little stiff. I think I might have an idea of what part of the cause might be...

I'm really excited about the DL portion of the TR. I almost want to skip WDW and jump into it while some of the comparisons between the 2 are fresh in my mind. I guess this just means I need to get to work!

 

[vamassey1]

I'm a little late but I've enjoyed everything so far.

We usually drive and packing the car is the hardest part. Everything has to fit just so. We're driving down for Easter and I really hope we don't hit any road work to slow us down. I hate wasted time.

I can't believe your pixie dust on your room upgrade. You're so lucky. It must have been great to spread out and have 2 bathrooms.

I'm glad you back is feeling better. I hope sitting at work doesn't make it come back full force. I really think a chiropractor would help too. I hurt my back in 2001 and to this day I still have problems. The exercises the chiropractor gave me still help.

Someday I want to make it to DLR. My youngest is the only one in the family with the same desire to go as me. She really wants to see their Fantasmic too. She has always loved DHS since the first time she saw it when she was 3. She still watches the Disney channel at times so she has seen bits and pieces of DLR's Fantasmic.

Looking forward to more WDW and DLR.

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm a little late but I've enjoyed everything so far.

Welcome. Better late than never.

We usually drive and packing the car is the hardest part. Everything has to fit just so. We're driving down for Easter and I really hope we don't hit any road work to slow us down. I hate wasted time.

I hate running into traffic, but quite honestly, when you think about how many miles it is (over 900), one traffic backup really isn't all that bad.

I can't believe your pixie dust on your room upgrade. You're so lucky. It must have been great to spread out and have 2 bathrooms.

It was fantastic. The kids could be taking baths in one while one of us was getting ready in the other.

I'm glad you back is feeling better. I hope sitting at work doesn't make it come back full force. I really think a chiropractor would help too. I hurt my back in 2001 and to this day I still have problems. The exercises the chiropractor gave me still help.

I hope it doesn't come back. I keep getting up as much as I can to keep things limber. I didn't even get stiff sitting on a plane for 3 or 4 hours, but if I sit in my chair here at work for a few hours, I have to stretch a little bit when I stand up.

Someday I want to make it to DLR. My youngest is the only one in the family with the same desire to go as me. She really wants to see their Fantasmic too. She has always loved DHS since the first time she saw it when she was 3. She still watches the Disney channel at times so she has seen bits and pieces of DLR's Fantasmic.

I hope you can make it! I've always wanted to get out there and see the original park, and I'm glad I got to do it!

The Fantasmic there is incredible. I'm completely serious when I say I don't care if I see it in DHS again. That show is just a disappointment after seeing the DL version.

Looking forward to more WDW and DLR.

Thanks!

 

[afwdwfan]

Stroller Wars

Promptly at 3:30 there was a knock on our door. It was FiL and MiL, ready to go to DHS. DW… well, she was still getting ready. We finally got out of the building and were driving to the parks by about 3:50. Close… but we should be ok.

We got to the Studios entrance, and traffic was backed up from the parking booth to the stoplight.


The line took forever to work through.


We finally got into the parking lot, and having booked through AAA, we had a Diamond Parking pass. Which as it turns out, despite the deal with AAA and Disney not ending until 2015, Disney had already phased out the Diamond parking. So the one main reason I booked with AAA, became completely irrelevant on our trip. We ended up parking in, I believe Film? In any case, it is the one behind the CM parking lot and about as far away as you can get. By the time we finally got there, we were going to have to hoof it to make the tail end of our FP+ window as it took us the better part of half an hour just to get into the parking lot and park.

We decided to skip the tram and just took off walking towards the entrance. We went through the side bag check, which probably shaved some time off. We got to the wristband scanner and everyone made it in with no problems. At this point, we’re just a few minutes away from the tail end of our FP+ window. And the Studios was packed. Touringplans had predicted a crowd level of 5 for that day. I just looked back in their crowd history and they’re calling it a 4 now.



I’m calling it a bunch of BS.



To this day, I have never seen DHS as crowded as it was that night. It was shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall people. I’ve been in the summer, I’ve been over the 4th of July… and never have I seen a crowd like this. Now granted… it was a Saturday night, the Osborne Lights were up, and the park had morning EMH. I know that is a recipe for disaster, but we just wanted to do a couple of things, for which we had FP+. But I never, in my wildest dreams, expected the crowds we encountered.

It was hard to maneuver with the stroller. I ended up leading the way and when I got to Muppets courtyard area, I pulled DD out of the stroller and handed her to DW and told them to keep going. I parked the stroller in the stroller parking there, threw DS on my shoulders and FiL and I took off to catch up with them. We’d already lost them in the crowd by that point and it had just been a matter of seconds.

We ended up finding them at the FP+ entrance for the Frozen Sing Along. The CM had already pulled the chain, but they were inside. A group was turned away from the FP+ entrance as I approached, but since DW was already there, the CM let FiL and I into the line. The show was a full house too. I saw the Standby line, and I’m pretty sure that if we’d not made it into the FP+ line, there’s no way we’d have seen that show.



Whew… that was close. I hope we aren’t going to be pulling this crap all week.



The show turned out to be a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed it and were singing along with it. And FiL… who didn’t really want to go to Disney World and didn’t think he’d like it.

Well, I might have seen him wipe a tear away as he was watching the kids singing and dancing along with the show.


That Disney magic. It has it’s ways of turning anyone.

DD was pretty upset after it ended though. The whole time she was asking where Awful (Olaf) was. She saw him on the video, but couldn’t understand why he wasn’t out on the stage at the end with Kristoff, Anna and Elsa.



I’m telling you, this girl loves that snowman.



After we got out of the show, we decided that we’d just stop by the restrooms and grab the stroller and head into the Streets of America. We wanted to be in the intersection so we could see the lights in all directions, and we knew as crowded as it was, we’d need to get there early. By the time we got into the Streets of America, it was only about 15 - 20 minutes until the lights would come on, but we still managed to snag a fantastic spot. We were enjoying the music, the snow and the festive atmosphere as we waited for the lights to come on.

When the lights came on, the kids were in awe as they have been in the past. MiL and FiL both seemed to really enjoy them too. I was holding DD and just soaking it in.

Ok… I won’t lie… we’ve seen the Osborne Lights a few times now. And usually we’re taking pictures and video as we watch. This time we just soaked it in. This will become a trend over the course of this trip, so aside from character meets, I apologize for the low picture count. You're getting to see 75% of the pictures DW and I took at the Osborne Lights.

Our only real goal for the rest of the night was to use our FP+ for TSMM and grab some food so we figured we’d take our time and just hang out and enjoy the lights for a few songs.




But after the first song ended… holy crap.




People were scattering everywhere. The ones who had camped out early were apparently trying to leave, and everyone on the outer fringes was trying to fill their spots.



Side Story: Back in 2008, I ruptured my left achilles tendon playing basketball. I now have an 8” scar on the back of my leg, and I don’t know how much of it is mental and how much is physical, but when I have even light contact there it hurts like heck.



Well, I’m just standing behind the stroller watching the lights dancing when I feel something hit the back of my right leg. I turn to look, and a lady who just hit me with her stroller is just looking up at the lights above her as she pulls the stroller backwards about a foot, only to ram it back forward again without looking. Apparently she thought she’d just jackhammer her way through the crowd until she made a hole large enough to fit through. Well, that second impact fell right on the back of my left leg. I saw it coming, but there was nothing I could do to avoid it. I almost ended up sitting on top of her kid, and he got to learn a few new words.

As this is happening, I felt our stroller rock back into me and turned to look back that direction to find DW laid out across our stroller. Someone pushed her and completely knocked her down. Thankfully, I was holding DD and FiL had DS so she didn’t land on the kids.



But yeah. The festive mood was ruined and we were done. We decided to find our way out of that chaos and head over to TSMM for our FP+.



We walked out the back side of the light show towards LMA. At the time, I didn’t realize that they were directing traffic to the Osborne Lights through the animation courtyard and past TSMM. And it makes no sense. Why drive the crowd through an area that is always crowded and narrow anyway?????

By the time we made it out of the Streets of America, we pretty much had no choice but to keep fighting upstream. Had I known they were directing the crowds into the Osborne Lights from that direction, we’d have probably headed up past Star Tours and cut across the front of the park. If I recall correctly, I’m thinking in past years, that was the direction they’d sent people headed to the lights which is partially why I didn’t go that way to begin with.

There were CM’s with lights trying to keep people to the right side of the walkways. They were basically keeping a right of way for those of us headed in the direction of TSMM. The flow moving that direction was just wide enough to fit our stroller through. We were in the middle of a huge crowd, when all of a sudden we traded a little paint with a stroller headed the opposite direction…

I was already rubbing the concrete wall at the Studio Catering Company on the right side when the contact came.

DD was on the side of the stroller closest to the oncoming traffic and she just started screaming. She’d had her hand on the bar on the side of the stroller and got a finger pinched between the 2 strollers when they hit. It was too crowded to be able to stop and do anything to help her. I just took her out of the stroller and handed her to DW so she could comfort her as we continued to walk. We finally got near the Coke misters where the pathway widens and stopped to take a look at it. It was already swollen and the skin was broken, but she was going to be ok.

By this point… I’m working on close to 24 hours of no sleep. And I’ve been deliberately bashed in the leg with a stroller. DW has been knocked off her feet in a crowd. DD has been injured getting through a crowd. I was about at my limit.

We got over to TSMM and I parked the stroller in the parking area next to the Buzz and Woody M&G and we headed over to the TSMM FP+ entrance hoping to have some fun and get back in the right mindset.

Thankfully, TSMM was fun as always. We were on the ride within a few minutes and having a great time. DD rode with me. She could pull the string, but had trouble aiming. I helped her hit a few targets, but she really didn’t care. She was just having fun pulling the string and getting whipped around.

We exited the ride and I headed back to get the stroller. I had pushed our stroller into the parking area and parked it in a corner against the wall. And by the time I got back, the stroller parking area was filled. To the brim. As in all available space was filled. There are no aisles to walk between strollers. Full. I ended up reaching as far as I could to grab the handle on our stroller and I just picked it up and pulled it out over the top of the others. Next thing you know I’m walking through this shoulder to shoulder crowd, holding a double stroller over my head trying to get to my family. I’m sure it looked like I was getting ready to throw it at somebody, and at that point in the evening if someone said the wrong thing to me, I probably would have been tempted to.



You’d think if there was something that I’d hurt my back doing, it would be this…



Once I got reunited with the rest of the family, we got the kids situated in the stroller and decided that we’d head over to the Backlot Express to grab a bite to eat.

Backlot Express has kind of become our go to QS place in DHS. It is nothing special, but we’re always happy with the food, there is a drink station for refills, and they have buffalo chicken nuggets. I’m a big buffalo wings fan, and this is a nice change of pace QS meal that I always enjoy.

As we were waiting for our food though, the fun continued. I had just ordered and was standing at the counter waiting for our food. And I was wearing the backpack.

Because that’s what Dad does.

Yes, it is big and awkward, but I try to be mindful of it. I was just standing there facing forward toward the counter. In fact I was leaning on the counter, because I was spent.

A lady in the lane next to us had just been handed her tray. She picked it up and turned and knocked her drink and dessert onto the floor when she bumped into the side of my backpack.



I started to turn to help her and apologize… when she starts going on this rant about people and their bags and yada, yada, yada.



At that point, I didn’t say a word to her. I think someone else helped her, but I just turned around and continued to wait for my food. I knew at that point if I opened my mouth it wouldn’t be good for anyone there. I was just on edge and I was done. 24 hours without sleep will do that to you.

Aside from that encounter, we enjoyed our meal. It was good and we had a chance to sit down and relax and review the game plan for the next morning. We finished our meals and DW asked me if I wanted to try to ride Star Tours while we were there. She hates that ride, and I knew she wouldn’t ride anyway, so I just said no.



I never say no to “one more ride.”


I just wanted to get the heck out of that park at that point.



We went to the parking lot and got in the Suburban just a few minutes prior to the park’s closing time at 8pm.


It was 8:40 by the time we got out of the parking lot. It was ridiculous. Really.


Like I said, the worst crowd I have ever experienced in that park.


We finally got out of there and made a quick stop at the Hess station across the street for some milk and orange juice for breakfast. After that, it was smooth sailing back to AoA.

DD was asleep when we got back, so we laid her in bed. DW still had a few things to unpack, and DS was begging to go swimming. He and I headed down to the Cozy Cone. We had our pick of any of the cabanas we wanted at 9pm.



I won’t lie. It was cold. In the 50’s. There was steam coming off the water.



But to be quite honest, it didn’t feel bad. The water was warmer than the air temps. DS had fun swimming and we stayed out there for maybe 15 minutes before heading inside and going to bed.

Now that I think about it, that little swim probably helped me immensely with winding down and regaining my composure after all the stress from our time in DHS. I was probably too amped up by the time we got back to even be able to get to sleep, no matter how tired I was.

But the whole time I was out there, I couldn’t help but wonder what the lifeguards who were decked out head to toe in cold weather gear, thought of the idiot who brought his kid out to get hypothermia.


Ok, the rest of the updates shouldn't be quite as wordy... and there are more pictures for most than we had on this night. I promise.

 

[jedijill]

Holy cow! Those crowds sound crazy!!! Glad you guys survived, wounded, but alive.

Jill in CO

 

[KatMark]

Ouch! This doesn't sound like a great way to start the trip at all.

I'm glad the kids enjoyed the Sing Along and that it perhaps brought a tear to FIL watching his grandkids have such a good time.

That crowd sounds like the crowd Andy and Des encountered at Epcot on New Year's Eve. Let's just say that I'm not sure a return trip around the New Year is in the cards for Des.

And no apology from the woman who rammed you with her stroller twice? Seriously, what happened to common courtesey.

I'm glad you at least enjoyed Toy Story and had a decent meal (despite the rude woman with her nasty comments).

I still can't get over how long it took you to get in and out of the parking lot.

That little swim break was probably the best thing for you to wind down before heading off to bed.

I sure hope the next day is better.

 

[eandesmom]

Holy Cannoli.

My stress level went through the roof just reading all of that. I am actually seriously impressed you made it till 8 AND kept your composure (or at least seethed inside). OW OW and OW multiple times.

Swimming was a good call, cold or not. I do imagine it did a lot to calm you down, it would have for Jeff or I.

Not that we'd have been smart enough to go in the water. We maybe would have taken a kid but going into anything other than the hot tub at that temp...yeah, probably not.

Oh I hope sleep brings a lovely new day for you.

 

[SarahDisney]

Only 20 got out minutes late ... not bad. But that parking situation kinda sucks.

I'm glad you got in for the FP+ line ... good thing you sent DW ahead! So great that the kids (and FiL) enjoyed the show. And I'm with DD - more Olaf please! I was also sad that he wasn't there at the end.

Holy crap ... people are nuts. Sometimes it seems like people are using their strollers as weapons ... that thing is supposed to be for easily transporting your kid, not beating up other park goers. I'm glad you at least got out of there alive, even if you couldn't make it out uninjured.

I'm glad DD had fun on TSMM ... hopefully that made up a little bit for her injury.

Okay. I usually carry a backpack with me in the parks (although next trip we're going with 2 smaller bags) and I also have a tendency to bump into things (most often walls, but occasionally also people), so I think I can weigh in on this one.
Yes, sometimes people with backpacks don't take into account other people. That's why when I'm on a train or bus or a line with limited space, I take off my backpack and hold it by my feet - I know from personal experience that it's not fun to have people bumping into your backpack all the time. But when you're in a line where at the end you have to carry more things (aka food), you can't expect someone to carry the food with one hand and the backpack with the other. And if you're holding food, you need to be very aware of where you're going, because while most people will try to stay out of your way, it's not anyone else's responsibility to make sure that your food doesn't bump into a person. You're responsible for your own food, and if that means you need to walk a little out of your way to avoid people with backpacks, do it.
Okay. Unsolicited opinion over now.

Swimming ... that's a nice way to end a messy day. I'm glad it helped you destress a little. I'm hoping the rest of the trip was a little less insane.

 

[Dugette]

Yikes! That sounds like a really rough visit to DHS! It sounds like the sort of things that non-Disney-fans say to explain why they don't like the parks. I was hoping they were just making up those things, I guess. I wonder why it was so packed and crazy that night?

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I showed up at our Frozen Sing-Along after it started. So, you did good and glad everyone enjoyed the show, despite the lack of Olaf.