Step Right Up, Step Right Up

[MommaoffherRocker]

Ladies and Gentleman,
Children of all ages




to the greatest trip report on earth!

If you will now direct your attention to the center ring you will see the star of our show,
Melanie

Attempt to take on the Dumbo Double Dare!​

Will she make it? Will she get a new PR?
Stay tuned to find out...




​

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Hi folks, my name is Melanie, I am a stay at home mom of 5 and live in Florida. For those of you not familiar with my story I have been running for almost a year and a half and LOVE everything runDisney! So when I got an email that a TA was having a sale on Disneyland Half Marathon bibs I jumped on it. The only problem was my running buddy(DH) would have to stay home this time because apparently it is illegal for a 9 year to be left in charge of his younger siblings for a weekend. So a solo trip it would be! I debated for sometime about doing the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge or just the half and ultimately the challenge won out. I mean who can pass up a Dumbo medal! It was decided that I would go out Thursday 9/1 and come back on a red eye Sunday night 9/4. But I was still feeling kinda blue about going alone so I got my fellow 5 kids club member @wehrengrizz to join me!! I was so excited! Two moms on the loose at Disneyland with no kids!

Up next the stage has been set and it's time to start the show!

 

[Ariel484]

Yay! Excited for your report!

 

[wehrengrizz]

it was amazing! I can't wait to read the TR too This was definitely us: but maybe with sweeter moves lol

 

[ZellyB]

Yay. Can't wait to read all about it!

 

[cavepig]

Oh boy! I was hoping someone would do a trip report for the weekend! Excited to hear about your running Disneyland adventure!

 

[Jaina]

Following!

 

[Mickey Momma]

Following!!

 

[avalon451]

Following!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Yay! Excited for your report!

it was amazing! I can't wait to read the TR too This was definitely us: but maybe with sweeter moves lol

Yay. Can't wait to read all about it!

Oh boy! I was hoping someone would do a trip report for the weekend! Excited to hear about your running Disneyland adventure!

Following!

Following!!

Following!

Thanks for following along guys!!!

 

[CherieFran]

Following! The best kind of trip reports are race trip reports!

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Get Your Stinky Feet off of Me!

It was finally the day! I was leaving for Disneyland! I wasn't going to let anything get me down. Not the hurricane that threatened to cancel my flight Or the lady on my Denver to Orange County flight that decided to take off her shoes and cross her legs constantly touching me with her feet I was going to the most magical place on earth!

Here is a random picture of the gianormous moth on the window at the airport, I thought he was neat and watching him helped keep my mind off flying. I DO NOT like flying!





After landing at SNA I took an Uber to Disney's Paradise Pier. Meanwhile @wehrengrizz had already checked in and was texting me pictures of the room. When I called earlier in the week to add her on, the cast member informed me I had a premium view room when I had only paid for a standard. So that made me even more excited!! Here are the pictures I got





If you look at the left side of the picture of the view you can see ToT. And on the right side you can see the track for California Screamin'. So I guess technically it was an upgrade but because it was such a low floor the view was good but not amazing. But hey any view at Disney is better than not being there so I am not complaining!


Now might be a good time to tell you about how I met @wehrengrizz (Becky). We actually met right here on the Disboards almost a year ago. We were both running Tinker Bell Weekend 2016. She noticed that we both were moms of 5 kids and they were similar ages. So we did a meet up in May and became fast friends. Our kids are even pen pals.


Anyways back to the report, when I got to PP I found Becky with the DVC representative. I have done the tour 5 times now and the last time I was like I am never doing that again. Once they know you're just a serial gift card getter they kind of get annoyed and rude. But they were offering a $100 Disney gift card and 3 fast passes. So I caved, I guess one more time wouldn't hurt We got signed up and they even gave us a pin! (I really am a sucker for free stuff)



From there they whisked Becky away for her presentation. I went back to the room to put my stuff down and then headed to the expo.


How much damage did I do at the expo? That's up next...


​

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Following! The best kind of trip reports are race trip reports!

Thanks for joining in!

 

[wehrengrizz]

the lady on my Denver to Orange County flight that decided to take off her shoes and cross her legs constantly touching me with her feet

Bahaha I almost forgot about this! Not that you ever will, sadly. Groooosssss! Who DOES that?!

they were offering a $100 Disney gift card and 3 fast passes. So I caved, I guess one more time wouldn't hurt We got signed up and they even gave us a pin!

Seriously, the pin was exciting enough, but the fact that we got $100 and it paid for a second day at the parks (that I wasn't planning on!) AND FPs...uhhh worth my time! ahhh, Joseph / "Bob"...

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

The Expo


Ah the expo, arguably the best part of racing. I wandered over to DLH and decided I would get my bib first. Things seemed pretty calm and I didn't feel like I needed to rush to the official merchandise. I picked up my bib, took my picture (see first post) and then headed over to the Dooney booth. I had been eyeing the Dooneys for the last couple of weeks and thought I was going to end up with one. DH was even pressuring me to get one so he could feel less guilty about a big purchase he recently made. But it wasn't to be. They seemed smaller in person, I have 5 kids I really need a bigger bag. They also didn't seem as bright as they were in the pictures. Or maybe it was just that we were in an underground parking garage?

When I got upstairs I picked up my shirts first and then went to the official merchandise area. The first time through I ended up with



I have never bought an "I Did It!" shirt before but I was in love with this one.

Then I made my way to the sparkle skirts. When I got there I just stood in awe of the selection. There were just so many colors and designs and styles. The girls working had to ask if I was ok. I just didn't know where to begin. I try to be practical so I finally just picked out a black skirt and slipped into a dressing room. When I tried it on I got a surprise, this was the skirt when I picked it up


this is what I discovered



I just had to take them home with me! The best part was I had to get a smaller size than what I was currently wearing, looks like running is paying off.

I also grabbed my kids their own medal holder



I wandering around for a few more minutes but my leg was killing me so I decided I need to go back to the room to rest. I took some advil, put on my compression sleeves and propped my leg up.

By the time Becky got back my leg was feeling much better. Then we headed back to the expo so I could exchange my shirt for a smaller size (woohoo!) That is when I ran across this bad boy



I had no idea they sold past race banners! They had a handful of them from Tink weekend and it was so hard choosing which one I liked best. This was the only one with the course. It would look perfect in our Disney room so I scooped it up.

On the way out of the expo they were advertising screenings for some of the new ABC shows for the fall. It said free gift and we didn't have anything else to do so we went up to the ballroom. The screening we saw was for Speechless. It had it's funny moments but I don't know if it is something I would watch. And definitely not with the kids. We got a free water holder and drawstring backpack for our feedback.

continued in next post

​

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Before leaving the expo we took our picture in front of the castle

I don't understand why they have photo ops in this area the lighting is terrible.

Then it was time for what was probably the thing we both were looking forward to the most.

TRADER SAM'S!!!

In May we met up and then ate there the day we got to DL too so I guess it's our arrival day tradition But this time we couldn't get seats at the bar so we had to settle for a table.


The view from our table

At this point I realized that the only thing I had eaten all day was a Kashi Bar for breakfast and a Snickers bar at the Denver airport in between flights. So I really needed food. We both ended up ordering the Hawaiian Cheeseburger. For libations I tried the Ka-blue-ie! and then Piranha Pool. Everything tasted pretty good. Becky ordered the Kona Longboard Island Lager but the jury is still out on what she actually ended up with.


Here we are leaving Trader Sam's

Since we were staying at PPH we had read that you could see the fireworks on the pool deck. So when we got back to the hotel we went straight there. We found the spot for viewing and made ourselves comfortable on the railing. A couple minutes went by and we noticed that the fireworks should have started already. And then the cast member walked up and informed everyone that due to wind there would be no show that evening By that time it was getting late and if you factored in we were still on east coast/central time it was feeling super late so we went back to our room. In the room we tried to go online to buy our tickets for the next day but had some hiccups so we had to go down to the front desk to purchase them. After that we were finally ready for bed.







​

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

Who needs sleep?!

At 4:30 am on Friday morning I just couldn't sleep any longer. My one day to sleep in and it just wouldn't happen. I tried to think about what I could do so I wasn't disturbing Becky and I realized the 5k was getting ready to start. So I snuck down to DTD and had a great time people watching. I loved all the costumes.

Here is a picture of the mile 3 marker across from where I was standing



After watching the finishers for a little while I thought it was a good time to get back to the room to get ready for the day. Since we were staying on property we could take advantage of EMH at DCA. The goal was to get to DCA at 7:15am. On our way to DCA we got side tracked and stopped to watch the end of the 5k. I really enjoyed watching the end of the race. In MHO the end was better than the start. Loved the bear group, I should have taken a picture!

Getting back on track we made our way to the security line outside of the esplanade. While we were waiting I texted the word of day to the Disney 60th contest but unfortunately didn't win anything After they opened security we were through in a couple minutes and hurried along to stand in line in front of DCA. Once we were finally in DCA we ran straight to Cars Land. They had the streets lined with characters and at first I was a little hesitant to stop. I didn't want to get stuck in the Racer line BUT I am so glad we did because after we got off the ride the characters had already left!



The last shot cracks me up, it's like a model shot. I don't get why I would want just a picture of me without Red?!


love the lady behind Becky she looks like she is having a blast! I feel like we kept seeing these ladies through out our trip or am I crazy @wehrengrizz ?


After Cars we went to TSMM. We we able to ride it twice before heading to the best rollercoaster ever!




Funny story, the kid behind us was screaming "I'm going to die" the whole time. The mom in me was concerned and then I saw the picture, I think it speaks for itself...

As we got off there was no line so we jumped backed in to go again. When we approached the stairs that goes over the track they announced it was being shut down womp womp womp. At that point we felt like we had already gotten so much done in the first hour of the park opening and left for DL. I didn't go to DL last time I was at DLR so I was pumped up. But we had forgotten about Soarin'! It happened to be on our way out and didn't have a long wait so we got in the queue. I had forgotten that it was no longer Soarin' Over California. It was now Soarin' over the World. I still enjoyed the ride but I felt like the California one was better. Especially the smells. I had to google the smells after we left because we couldn't figure them all out.

continued in next post...



​

 

[wehrengrizz]

I still don't know all of the smells! I do laugh at your modeling shot. Those were an odd choice. nothing says "Disneyland" like nothing that looks like...Disneyland. lol
Those ladies were all over! It almost got old "seeing" each other after a few times saying "heyyy we saw you earlier, right?"

 

[ZellyB]

Yay for your SparkleSkirt. That's an adorable one!! I love my SparkleSkirts.

Your modeling shot is lovely.

I can't believe how many rides you got done in such a short amount of time.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

On to Disneyland!

Did I mention how much I love how close the parks are! It is seriously awesome to walk out of one and then right into another!

When we go into DL the first thing we noticed was Cinderella walking around taking pictures with people. That was seriously amazing and never happens at WDW! And we would come to find out that this was normal at DL. We saw Alice, the Mad Hatter, Gaston, Mary Poppins and Bert all just wandering around the park.
Unfortunately we couldn't get a picture with Cindy because they had cut the line off. But we did stop in front of the train station with a billion other people to have pictures taken.
Here is a magic shot

If my eyes look funny it was because I was looking directly into the sun, I mean who needs retinas when you have a shot like this

After goofing off with the Photopass photographer for a while we headed to Main Street. I had to get a picture of the sign on the way in

When we were running past the sign at Tink I said when I come back I am getting a picture of that sign!


As we were walking past the set of shops on the right Becky started to tell me about the bench that Walt had been sitting on when he first dreamed up Disneyland. I had no idea that they had the bench at DL. So we set out to find it but unfortunately in it was inside an area that was being refurbished so we couldn't see it. Becky was so disappointed since her son had given her a high five so he could touch the bench through her. She stopped to ask a cast member just to make sure there wasn't another way to see it and she couldn't have found a better cast member to ask. While he couldn't show us the bench he told us he had the next best thing. He led us a couple store fronts over and into the Disney Gallery. Inside he showed us a huge safe. Then he tells us that we were standing in the very first building that was built at Disneyland. The safe was put in place before the building and they had to build around it. Walt, himself actually hand picked that safe.


That shop use to be a Bank of America branch when DL first opened and you could even do your banking there. I had no idea! I learned so much about DL from Lucais that morning. Inside that shop they also had a check with Walt's signature for sale. Funny enough his signature doesn't look like the Walt Disney that you see on movies etc. Lucais told us another artist came up with that and Walt practiced many times to get it right.

After the awesome history lesson we headed down main street to the hub, where we stopped for even more pictures. I had decided before getting to DLR I was going to buy the week long photopass option so we took full advantage of it!

Here is my personal favorite

SURPRISE...

....nothing




oh wait there she is lol




and then a classic castle picture

By this time we forgot we hadn't eaten anything yet so we grabbed a corn dog from the cart I have heard so much about and I got a Honey Lemon Cupcake from the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe.




Both were yummy!

and a picture of the stain glass window from the bakery because it was so pretty


Continued next post





​