Surprise! 3/11-15/07 {Yr of a Million Dreams Win w/pics}

[snoodledoo]

I'll start with a little background...

Most recent DL trips: 9/01 (DD was 3), 10/05 (DD was 7, DS was 3)
We are surprising the kids on Sunday morning with what they will be told is a long drive for the day. DD8 will probably suspect we are going to DL since DH has slipped up a couple times and I've had to scramble to cover for him. So, she is a little suspicious to begin with. DS4 has no clue. We are staying at HoJos for the 1st time, and hope DL is not too crowded. I've never been to WDW.

Itinerary includes driving on Sunday, DCA on Monday and DL on Tues & Weds, then a little detour on the drive home Thursday am. (More about that later.)

We're not off to a good start. I went to the Disney Store tonight and stood there for over an hour while the manager tried to ring up my AP's. It did not work for some reason. As it turns out, she managed to deduct $303 from my Disney gift cards and I have nothing purchased to show for it. (At least I'm dealing with the manager, because this was so ridiculous I'd spend an hour explaining it to someone else). Anyhoo, after about 30 minutes, I decide I'm really in trouble for next week, because my feet are already aching. (On carpet, with my tennies on!) She calls around and it seems no one can help her, and I'm sick of standing (and Heroes will be starting soon!), so I tell her to work on it tomorrow and I'll come back. Sounded like some networking issue was preventing her registers from connecting to someplace that authorizes AP's and Gift Cards. Whatever. She mentions she might be able to get me a gift card for all the hassle. I'd certainly hope so. So, I leave with her name and number and she has all my info. I was pretty calm, since it wasn't that she wouldn't help me, I could see that she really couldn't do anything. She turned another guy away who wanted to buy a 3-day pass because the person she spoke to on the phone indicated a computer problem.

To be continued...

 

[Goofster57]

Denise,
Looking forward to hearing more about your trip, hope the AP thing works out, I guess worse case you can get them when you arrive.

I don’t think you will encounter big crowds on the days you are going, there might be some spring break families from out of state, but most of the schools around here are in session I think.

Enjoy your trip and waiting to find out about the “Detour” on Thursday, can we get some hints so we can try and guess?

 

[snoodledoo]

Enjoy your trip and waiting to find out about the “Detour” on Thursday, can we get some hints so we can try and guess?

The detour involves driving into LA for a particular shop - of which there are only 3 in the world. I also suspect this detour may be a slight disappointment for you, so I hope you don't get too excited about it. But, I could be wrong.
Thanks!

 

[honest_to_goodness]

I think you are going to American Girl Place! Am I right? That is exactly what we are doing in May... Well, there is a wedding all mixed in, too. Brother's wedding May 5 in Bakersfield, then on to AGP on May 6 for the afternoon, hotel check-in that evening and then DLR May 7,8,9,10 and head home to Washington State on the 11th. I think that American Girl Place will not disappoint!

 

[snoodledoo]

I think you are going to American Girl Place! Am I right?

If only I had a prize for you! Yep - DD & I will be visiting AGPLA while DH tries to entertain DS. Hopefully they can ride that trolley thing I've heard about.

Quick update: After the fiasco at the Disney Store, I went back last night and everything worked like a charm. 4 AP's ready to go (along with a Minnie shirt for me, Mickey for DH, Lady & the Tramp for DD, and Buzz & Woody for DS).

 

[honest_to_goodness]

Yay! I was right!

Does your DD have an American Girl doll already? If so, who? My DD7 is madly racking up chore $ so she can get the things on her list. She has Felicity & Elizabeth, then we ~totally~ lucked out on a deal on Kit (the waitress at a restaraunt we were eating at overheard us and was delighted to sell us her long forgotten doll for a song!). I would love to get Kit's bed, we'll see...

It will be such an exciting trip for my DD7 especially. She is the Flower Girl for my brother's wedding, my DS5 is the Ring Bearer. Then to AGP, then Disneyland...WOW...

I will keep watching for your updates...we decided not to do a lunch/brunch at AGP due to the time factor as DH & DS will already need to be occupied while we are shopping much less lounging over lunch, and my DD said she would rather buy another outfit... It looks like there is a park right across the street according to Google Earth, may be a spot for the guys to hang out...

Have a great trip!! Can't wait to hear about it!!

 

[Disney owl]

looking forward to reading more

 

[snoodledoo]

Departure Day (Sunday 3/11)
DH & I got up early and got ready for the trip before the kids were awake. Once DS woke up, we all went in to DD’s room for the usual “NO, I don’t want to get up” whine-fest. We asked her if we were going to Disneyland, “would you get up?” Silence. DS says “Yeah, Yeah!” I say, “well, let’s go then!” DD pulls the blanket off her face and sees DH and I all dressed and ready. We convince them that we’re serious (by the fact that we’re all packed) and they excitedly get dressed and ready to go.

The drive was mostly uneventful – until we were surprised/annoyed to get into a traffic jam on a Sunday afternoon. Maybe that’s normal for the area, but we did see this over the hills and heard lots about it on the news.

We arrived and checked into the HoJo. It was a decent hotel, but I guess after reading all the great reviews on it, I was expecting something spectacular. The location was awesome and we were not bothered by the walk to Disneyland (even after a long day at the park). DS came down with a fever and I had to buy him some children’s motrin at the gift shop. (Highway robbery, I tell you.) He had the fever all day Monday, but he was fine in the stroller after taking Motrin. Then the awful-sounding cough came...he still has it, but there’s no way a little cough (or a big one) would keep us from Disneyland!

After unpacking, we headed over to Knott’s for our Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner. We stood in line for 45-60 minutes before being seated. Once we were seated, we noticed that the section of the restaurant we were in, was half empty. That was sooo annoying. Here we stood in line all that time and there were so many empty tables. The food itself was an incredible disappointment. We’ve loved the food there on our last several trips, so this was surprising. The chicken was very dry. (Friends of ours went there, on our recommendation, a few weeks ago and said the same thing.) We won’t go back.

Back to HoJo to leave the vehicle and walk to Disneyland. We got in, and went to the bank to get our Annual Passes. The cast member helping us was surprisingly not-friendly. She didn’t smile or say much. As a matter of fact, she didn’t tell us anything about the AP…including important details such as the AP will get you dining discounts. It wasn’t until the second full day in the park that we happened to learn that handy little detail. After that was taken care of, we were off to get a prime viewing spot for the Fireworks. We got the left back side of the Partners statue. Our view was only slightly obstructed by a tree. DH & DS did Buzz Astro Blasters while DD & I held the seats. This concludes Sunday’s events.

Monday (3/12): Arrived at DL for opening and rode Star Tours. I regretted this, as I got a little motion sickness and DD cried because she was scared. Did the Buzz AstroBlasters then headed over to DCA for opening. Went immediately to Monsters Inc, as we’ve never been on it and it doesn’t have a FP. I hated it. Thought it was absolutely lame. (I should add that I’ve never seen Monsters Inc, and have never desired to). Headed to Soarin’ Over CA, went stand-by (short line) and grabbed FPs for later. Then we went to Ariel’s for our Disney Visa Photo shoot. Tried to get Dale, but he’d just left, so we just got Mickey. Nothing wrong with Mickey of course, but our last one was with Mickey as well, so I was hoping for a different character. Took pictures with Lightning McQueen & Mater, then went to other rides before lunch. Had ribs for lunch at Taste Pilot’s and LOVED them. Got FP for Grizzly & went on SOC again. Then DD & DH cooled off on a very hot afternoon by using the GRR FP (DS didn’t want to go) and I did a little shopping. (I must confess that I have an absolute weakness for Disneyland souvenirs. I lose my budget-conscious mind when I’m at DL.) We met up for It’s Tough to be a Bug. The kids weren’t afraid last time, so I was surprised that DS was so scared. It’s a great show – I loved it again. We spent a little time in Bug’s Land, but it was so hot that DH/DD went back to GRR with DS & my FPs and I went shopping again. Then we headed over to DL for the rest of the day. Went on a few rides (I don’t remember which ones now but the lines weren’t too bad). Had dinner at Village Haus (DH says to avoid the pizza at all costs). Then got a great spot near Small World for the Parade of Dreams. Enjoyed churros during the parade. By the way, why is it that just before the parade begins, someone has to come and stand in front of you? While everyone else is sitting…they just stand. DH asked them to sit or move. They opted to move and continue standing. {I noticed the Grand Marshal (her name was Ruth) and wondered how she got to be Grand Marshal…little did I know, I would find out on Weds.} Then we went on Small World (one of my faves).

Tuesday (3/13): Got to Disneyland for opening and went right to POC, rode it twice then headed to Haunted Mansion and Winnie the Pooh. (Splash Mtn is closed). Got FP for Indiana Jones and the rest of the am is a blur. We ate lunch at Stage Door Cafe (good food). Honestly, I chose the restaurant for the funnel cakes. This is where the secret about AP getting dining discounts was revealed by a most helpful CM. At some point DH rode Indiana Jones (DD refused and DS is not tall enough, so I never went). We did the Tiki Room in the hot afternoon and I discovered Dole Whips. Where have these been all my life? (I got another one before we left the park at night!). We rode Snow White, Pinocchio and Mr. Toad since the lines were 20 min max. Peter Pan was like 60 minutes, which is way too long, especially when it's hot and much of the line is in the sun. We took some pictures at my favorite photo spot.

.
We found the line for Autopia surprisingly short and rode it (I think the fumes gave me a headache). This night we didn't watch the parade, and went back to POC and since there was NO line, we rode it two more times. The kids were intrigued by the Blue Bayou, which we had no plans to visit. Got my second Dole Whip and fought the after-parade crowds. Keep in mind that I've been shopping every day, I just don't remember when. I was trying to decide between the small Dreams Minnie and big Dreams Minnie when I was shocked to hear DH say, "just get the big one if you want it." Ok then - the big one it is! That night, I mention to DH that this is the year of a million dreams and if thousands are given away each day, why haven't we seen anything about it?

Wednesday (3/14): Here's our strategy for today - since no EE today, we'll get the long line rides that we've missed so far. 1. Matterhorn 2. Alice in Wonderland 3. Storybook Canal Boats 4. Dumbo (I don't ride this one) 5. Peter Pan 6. Tea Cups (I don't ride this one). We first head to Matterhorn where we are among the first to arrive. After we exit, we see no lines at Alice or Canal Boats, so I suggest Dumbo because the lines are always so awful. DH takes the kids and I wait. This next decision was among the best of my life! Instead of waiting for them at Dumbo, I look over at Peter Pan and see a medium sized line. According to the sign, the wait is 20 min. I tell DH to meet me there and I get in line. After about 10 minutes, the family joins me in the PP line. We ride with DH/DS in the first ship and DD/me following them. Upon exiting the ride, we are filmed and greeted by CMs. Interesting. One of them introduces herself and starts talking to DD. After getting our names, they then ask DD if she works there. Now I start thinking perhaps she won something - since that is common eligibility criteria - you can't be an employee. They tell us she is a potential winner for a prize in the Year of a Million Dreams. DH and I think maybe she is entered into a drawing for something (so we're a little concerned that this 'drawing' is going to interfere with our short lines on the rides we have planned for the am). As it turns out, the "potential" verbiage just meant she had to pass eligibility criteria. So she actually did win! We were escorted to a little room near City Hall and were shown a DVD explaining her prize. She/we won a one night stay at the Mickey Mouse Penthouse, Honorary Grand Marshal of the Parade of Dreams, Dream Fastpasses, Meet & Greet with Mickey, dinner at the Blue Bayou and VIP viewing of the Parade!!!!!! How's that for a little Pixie Dust?

We fill out paperwork - now I should mention that I wanted DD's name on everything as the GM, which I told them, but somehow, that didn't happen I think because we used my SSN for all the paperwork (taxes, etc). Now we are escorted to Toon Town to meet Mickey and take pictures. We had told them our next ride was going to be Alice (which by now had a long line), so she takes us thru the exit and presto, we are next in line! Then our personal CM leaves, and we are left to stand in a long line at the Canal Boats. (We never made it to the Tea Cups, but that's ok with me.) We get lunch at Village Haus (no pizza), grab a Dole Whip on the way out and go back to the hotel to pack up our stuff and check out a day early.

We get the the DLRH at 2:35 for a 3:00 check in and since the room isn't quite ready, we are taken to the Concierge Lounge where snacks are available and we enjoy the view of Downtown Disney, Disneyland and DCA. Once the room is ready, we are taken to Mickey's Penthouse.

To be continued...

 

[momto2nenas]

What?! Where is the next installment! I am on the edge of my seat, lol! Congratulations on such a DREAM win! How exciting for your family! I can't wait to see pics and hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[twinmama1999]

Very exciting indeed, I can't wait to hear the rest of your trip report!! Congrats on the awesome prize!

 

[Pooh0200]

More more I want more. I am so jealous that is awesome that you got to stay in that room that is just way to cool. Can't wait to see more pictures.

 

[ozbrooke]

Wow, how exciting

Can't wait to read some more (and see the pics!!!)

Brooke

 

[Goofster57]

The detour involves driving into LA for a particular shop - of which there are only 3 in the world. I also suspect this detour may be a slight disappointment for you, so I hope you don't get too excited about it. But, I could be wrong.

I think you are going to American Girl Place!

Wow, I wouldn’t have even been close,

 

[Goofster57]

The food itself was an incredible disappointment.

We have found this to be the case for the last 3-4 years now, we have just quite going anymore.

Went immediately to Monsters Inc, as we’ve never been on it and it doesn’t have a FP. I hated it.

For me it was a “Do Once” attraction, it wasn’t as bad as it’s predecessor “Super Star Limo”

Had ribs for lunch at Taste Pilot’s and LOVED them.

We think Taste Pilots is the best counter service in DCA

She/we won a one night stay at the Mickey Mouse Penthouse, Honorary Grand Marshal of the Parade of Dreams, Dream Fastpasses, Meet & Greet with Mickey, dinner at the Blue Bayou and VIP viewing of the Parade!!!!!!

How great is that, can’t wait to hear about your stay and Grand Marshall experience. Hope you got lots of pictures.

 

[momlady]

How COOL is this?!?!?!?! I was reading your trip report, thinking "hey, me too!!" after every 2nd sentence (we stayed at HoJo and found it just ok, we thought Monsters Inc was very lame-o as well, and it seems from your fireworks photo that we were quite close to you on Sunday night -- although your pic is way better than mine...!!) but wow, when you got to the part about being chosen as the Marshall.......awesome!!!! Can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[snoodledoo]

So we get to the penthouse and are given the tour. It was amazing. (Glad it was our last night there and we didn't have to go back to HoJo!) There were 2.5 bathrooms, a master suite, a kid's suite, a living room, dining room, and kitchen/bar area.
The master bath was huge. It had a walk-in shower with jets from the walls, a huge jacuzzi tub and the best feature...a tv in the mirror so I could watch tv while in the tub.

It had hardwood floors in the living areas and carpet in the bedrooms.

There were 5 plasma tvs (3 in the living room and 1 in each bedroom). The back 'wall' was all window (floor to ceiling). It is on the 11th floor, and you can see DCA, DL & Downtown Disney. There is a private elevator to that floor.

The kids room had a dvd player & PS2 and several games & dvd's to choose from. There was a huge beanbag that DS chose as his bed. The kids bath had a walk-in shower.

Oh, and there's a 'magic mirror' that Mickey appears in and talks with you. He played a 'guess what number I'm thinking of' game with DS, but it didn't work very well.

We had only been there an hour when we remembered that for our Blue Bayou reservation at 4:30, we were supposed to get there at 4:15! Time to put on the running shoes! We made it at 4:25. (It was a long walk all the way thru DTD & DL!) They had given us some sample menus of items we could order to stay within our $40/person limit. The kids & I got the Prime Rib and DH got the salmon. For some reason, DS chose to be very ornery and it made for an unpleasant dinner. (I had thoughts of throwing him to the gators in the Bayou but then I might not get to go back to Mickey's penthouse!) I won't comment much on the food because it was a generous gift and I don't want to speak badly of it. Dessert was decent. I don't remember the name but it was a chocolate chip cookie with ice cream and had a pirate theme. Our waitress was very nice.

We had a little time before we had to meet our CM at the Partners statue (6:30). We used our dream fastpass for Buzz. So we headed over to Partners and there was another group there as well. A little girl had won one of 2 "Quest for the West" vacation packages, which was a bigger prize than ours, but did not include the grand marshal duties. So they got a separate car and rode behind us.

{Side note: The winning of prizes is very interesting. I asked a Dream Squad member about how people are chosen. She said that a computer program tells them the exact time, place and prize. For example, for us, the program told them that the winner of our prize would be the one who gets off the Peter Pan ride at the exact time we did and that the winner would be the one sitting on the inside seat. With all our paperwork, we got a list of all the possible prizes and their value. I've skimmed thru a little bit of it since being home and I find it interesting. There was a guest book in the penthouse that we were encouaged to sign about our experience. I read thru some of the previous winners' entries (I was also encourage to do this), and some mentioned how they had won, and it was very similar to our experience. Some were just sitting on a bench, but it was the exact bench at the exact time. Anyhow, if you have any questions about it, just post them in this thread and I'll post the answer if I know it.}

So we walk back to the parade starting point (to the side of It's a Small World) and go "backstage". We met some characters, dd got some autographs, we took some pics and then we got into our firetruck.

My name was on the signs (even though it should've been dd). We gave our camera to the CM and he took photos for us. And off we go to start the parade. At the end of Main St we get out of the fire truck and are taken to our private viewing area (above the Main St @ the railroad station).

We stayed and watched the rest of the parade then DH took the kids back to the penthouse and I went and got a double-dole whip for the walk back. (Did you know that they will not sell you a double? They will sell you 2 and you have to combine them yourself. Whatever.) So I put them into the 'float' cup and I left DL for the final time on this trip. I browsed WoD on the way back.

Back at the penthouse, they had delivered milk & cookies to the room; the kids each took a bath, I took a bath (and watched tv!) then DH took a shower. Also, in the concierge lounge there were bedtime snacks - I got a rice krispie treat (darn - I should've gotten a picture) it was so cute - a mickey head with the ears dipped in chocolate - like mouse ears.

We got a great night sleep - but the next morning as we packed, we didn't want to leave. Oh, we were done with DL/DCA, but we wanted to stay longer at the mouse-pad!

Well, off we go into LA to visit the American Girl Place.

DD got a few things, I got a few things, but most of all, I wanted dd to see the dolls in person. She will be asking for one for her bday and I wanted her to be able to see them in person to know which one was her favorite. (She had brought Kit with her). While that was fun, it completely screwed up our trip home. We got there around lunch time, shopped then had lunch and left around 2:30. Let me just say I HATE LA TRAFFIC!!!!!!! How does anyone live there? We were at a snail's pace until we were nearly at Palm Springs! It's all a blur. I was nearly in tears. Didn't hit AZ until after 8 pm, and we didn't get home until 10:30! Even though we had stopped at American Girl, it felt like we'd been driving for 12 hours!

Items I forgot to mention:
1) I never saw anyone else with a lime green mickey head!
2) We went to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience for the first time . The kids didn't do well...

That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading!

 

[chanchiluv]

WOW! What a cool Dream you guys received! My kids would be in heaven to win something like that! LOL My dh would be in heaven using that shower.

Thanks for the great trip report! and Congratulations!!

 

[KimAshton]

What a great dream you got. So thrilled for the family.

Love the pics.

 

[momto2nenas]

Great pics, and what a chance of a lifetime experience!

 

[DizLushLvr]

I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm kind of confused...

So at DL its ok for one member of a family to get online, then have the rest of the family join 15-30 mins later? And this isn't consider cutting, or annoying anyone else in line waiting? All I could think when i read your report was how the people behind you must of been really mad considering if your family didn't cut in the line they would have won. Unless Im wrong in how I understand this went down.