That's it! My trip is NOT Jinxed! [Added: Mini TR]

[DangerMouse]

Well, we had a wonderful first day! We got there for rope drop and ended up being the first family on Peter Pan! YEA! After hitting Dumbo, Toad, Alice and Teacups, we were ready for Buzz. I decided to ask the CM standing by Ariel's shell what time she appeared. Sooo glad I did. My dh spotted the dream team giving out Dream Fastpasses! SCORE!

Of course, the lines were so short today, we only used three of them (BTMRR, Autopia and RRCS). Other highlights of our day were:

All three kids getting picked for Jedi Training Academy. Our ds got to fight both Vader and Maul. We made signs. Dd(10)'s said "Why Oh Why Oh Why Can't I Be A Jedi??" and dd(5)'s said, "Padewan Princess". Ds had a homemade headband that looked like Yoda ears with a thought bubble that said "Young Jedi, I AM". The signs for sure got them picked.

Dd(5) had her first rides on BTMRR and Space Mountain. She has declared Space as her new favorite ride. I am sooooo happy that I have three kids who love roller coasters! Woo hoo!

Saw my beloved Kirk Wall perform. The Billies are definitely doing their Christmas show and I just their Christmas tree and the holiday version of Puddle Prance.

Fireworks were canceled tonight, but we did hop in the Nemo line right at closing. It was the longest line we waited in all day, and we waited a whopping 20 minutes!

I did experience the same feeling that I have heard others describing recently. The parks felt full. Walkways were crowded. Lots of people were there, yet there were no long lines for rides. All in all an extraordinary Disney day for us.

Tomorrow morning is Storytellers if I can get the kids out of bed in time for our 8 am PS ressie.

TTFN!

 

[Laurabearz]

glad to hear things are going well!!

Remember to steer clear of Vommiting Aussies...

 

[disney-super-mom]

That sounds like an AWESOME first day!

What fun.....you're the first family to ride Peter Pan.....you won Dream Fastpasses.....all your kids were picked for Jedi.....all your kids love coasters.....20 min wait for Nemo.....short lines everywhere!

WOW - that IS an AWESOME DAY!!!

(My boys, DS8 and DS4, love coasters too. But they won't do the Jedi Training Academy.....they're BIG CHICKENS when it comes to fighting Darth Vader and Darth Maul.....the force is NOT strong with them!)

Hope you made it to Storytellers and had a great time there. We went there in October, and it was FUN! Koda, Chip, and Dale were all a riot, especially Koda, who tried to eat my napkin and a few other things on our table!

Have a great day!

 

[ctamama]

Yeah!!!!! So glad to see your title change to: (NOT) jinxed! Sounds like your trip is almost perfect!! I am so happy for you!!

 

[Kailua's Belle]

Hooray! It was all meant to be after all! So glad to hear you got dreamed and all your kids are dare devils!!

Enjoy the rest of your trip. Can't wait to hear a full report when you get back.

 

[pixiewings71]

I'm so glad you got there and hope you have the BEST time!!!! I'm jealous...I really want to be there too! LOL

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

So GLAD you made it & are having a great time!! My dd, Kelly, & I will be there this evening just to take it in. Hopefully, we'll "run" into each other!

 

[BillyFan]

Well, we had a wonderful first day! We got there for rope drop and ended up being the first family on Peter Pan! YEA! After hitting Dumbo, Toad, Alice and Teacups, we were ready for Buzz. I decided to ask the CM standing by Ariel's shell what time she appeared. Sooo glad I did. My dh spotted the dream team giving out Dream Fastpasses! SCORE!

Of course, the lines were so short today, we only used three of them (BTMRR, Autopia and RRCS). Other highlights of our day were:

All three kids getting picked for Jedi Training Academy. Our ds got to fight both Vader and Maul. We made signs. Dd(10)'s said "Why Oh Why Oh Why Can't I Be A Jedi??" and dd(5)'s said, "Padewan Princess". Ds had a homemade headband that looked like Yoda ears with a thought bubble that said "Young Jedi, I AM". The signs for sure got them picked.

Dd(5) had her first rides on BTMRR and Space Mountain. She has declared Space as her new favorite ride. I am sooooo happy that I have three kids who love roller coasters! Woo hoo!

Saw my beloved Kirk Wall perform. The Billies are definitely doing their Christmas show and I just their Christmas tree and the holiday version of Puddle Prance.

Fireworks were canceled tonight, but we did hop in the Nemo line right at closing. It was the longest line we waited in all day, and we waited a whopping 20 minutes!

I did experience the same feeling that I have heard others describing recently. The parks felt full. Walkways were crowded. Lots of people were there, yet there were no long lines for rides. All in all an extraordinary Disney day for us.

Tomorrow morning is Storytellers if I can get the kids out of bed in time for our 8 am PS ressie.

TTFN!

Alright, you saw Kirk Wall and you're going to Storyteller's for Breakfast? My two very favorite things in DLR Sound like you're having a great trip!!!!

 

[Leofoenget]

Lets see the wonderful things that have happened to ME on my Quest (total PUN intended read forward....) trips TO and FROM DL:

Right after 911, I decide to go to LA (in my Nissan Quest van, ahh now the pun makes sense) I totally BLOW the engine in Thousand Oaks, takes 6 weeks to get replaced

Fast forward to last year, I get cut off and my van (the imfamous Quest) gets destroyed.

I swear our cars KNOW when we are trying to have fun and sabotage us!!

good luck

 

[DangerMouse]

Hi everyone! Don't have a lot of time to post, because I gotta get to bed. We have to be at the esplanade at 7:15 am tomorrow for 8 am entry. Ugh!

Highlights from today:

We had breakfast at Storyteller's. Banana stuffed french toast -- YUMMY!

Got into DCA through GCH entrance at 9:30 and rode Soarin first thing.

WE WON DREAM FASTPASSES FOR A SECOND DAY!!!!! Used just about all of the tabs today!

Did the Disney Visa Meet & Greet with Mickey and Goofy. YEA!

Got DOPEY'S pic and signature in front of Animation Studio.

Bribed dd(5) onto TOT with promise of cotton candy. . . and SHE LOVED IT!

Saw Believe fireworks from IASW and it was gorgeous and we got seats 15 minutes prior to showtime.

Tomorrow they are predicting rain. I honestly don't care. I feel like our trip could end tonight and I would still be very very happy. It's been just AWESOME so far. Tomorrow is just icing on the cake.

Night all!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Hi everyone! Don't have a lot of time to post, because I gotta get to bed. We have to be at the esplanade at 7:15 am tomorrow for 8 am entry. Ugh!

Highlights from today:

We had breakfast at Storyteller's. Banana stuffed french toast -- YUMMY!

Got into DCA through GCH entrance at 9:30 and rode Soarin first thing.

WE WON DREAM FASTPASSES FOR A SECOND DAY!!!!! Used just about all of the tabs today!

Did the Disney Visa Meet & Greet with Mickey and Goofy. YEA!

Got DOPEY'S pic and signature in front of Animation Studio.

Bribed dd(5) onto TOT with promise of cotton candy. . . and SHE LOVED IT!

Saw Believe fireworks from IASW and it was gorgeous and we got seats 15 minutes prior to showtime.

Tomorrow they are predicting rain. I honestly don't care. I feel like our trip could end tonight and I would still be very very happy. It's been just AWESOME so far. Tomorrow is just icing on the cake.

Night all!

Seriously girl, you are having the greatest of luck and fun! Well, you deserve it after all the crud you went through! I'll bet your DH is glad you guys went to DL afterall. He must be having a great time too!

Hope you have another super great day at the parks today!!! That would be a hoot if you got Dream Fastpasses for a third day!

 

[Hofmanns4]

I am so happy that you guys are having fun! I got goosebumps reading how much fun you guys are having.

I can't wait for DS2 to be a little older for the coasters. he is my dare-devil!

It is raining here in Gilbert today. Have a safe trip back here to AZ.

 

[DangerMouse]

Hey everyone! Well, we got rained out today. We were there for park opening at 8 when it was a light drizzle. We hit Peter Pan, Matterhorn and then it was really starting to come down. I took my dd(5) to buy a couple umbrellas at IASW and then we camped out to wait for PFFT to open at 9. We were first in line and saw Snow White, Aurora and Cinderella. My dd loved it, even though she was soaked to the skin.

My dh and other two hit Indy twice and Space before my dd and I took the train around to meet them and do Space for a second time. We hit Buzz and Pirates and as we were getting off Pirates we noticed HUGE amounts of water leaking in through the light fixutres in the ceiling. They closed the ride as we got off.

We got Alladin and Jasmine's signature at their Oasis, did Tiki Room and then the puddles were just turning into LARGE lakes. We all were wet and freezing so we decided to head back to the HoJo for some soup. So here we all sit in our jammies and we're just happy to be warm and dry.

If it stops raining we may head back for Fantasmic tonight, but if not, then we may go see Enchanted in DTD.

BTW, I sold my extra hopper! Thanks FanofTink! Hope your trip is just as magical as ours has been!

 

[DangerMouse]

Well, we finished up our trip and I am up at 4 am because I am jacked up on ephedra drugs nursing a BAD cold.

Disneyland: The Germiest Place on Earth.

I thought I'd finish up my mini trip report here becuase I'm horrible about posting complete reports in the reports section of the Disboards. I'll pick up where I left off on Friday.

We went to MiMi's Cafe for dinner. Ate lots of corn chowder. YUM! Came back to the hotel room. It had stopped raining for a few hours now, and I kept checking weather.com radar for green. It looked like the next wave might break apart over Anaheim, so we decided to risk walking back to the parks for the evening at about 6 pm.

We headed straight for DCA and went on Soarin, ToT (twice) and did Muppets. We knew it would probably be the last time we saw the Muppets before they retire them permanently next year so we blew kisses to Sweetums and Benny the Bunny. I'll miss that show and theater.

We picked up our free Disney Visa photo from Greetings. It turned out pretty good. Almost as good as the ones we took with our new camera. Overall, I wasn't that impressed with the photo quality of the pics taken for photopass. Honestly, I got much better shots with our new digital.

Grabbed our two free strollers from DCA (there was NEVER a line there!) and headed back to DL. We went on Buzz and walked on Space twice. Walked over to FL and went on Storybook and had an AWESOME captain. Captain Quinten! This was my first time with a male narrator, and I was pleasantly surprised. He gave such awesome information about the ride that I had never heard before. Then we were off to see Toad, Pinocchio and Snow White. We hit BTMRR one last time. The fireworks started while we were on the ride. We finished watching them at the exit que. Very nice vantage point from here!

I was wanting to stick it out for the second showing of F!, but the rest of my family was wet and exhausted. So we made our way out of the park with the rest of the crowds at about 10 pm. Ds cried most the way back. He gets really upset when we leave DL for the last time. I can't blame him. It's hard for me, too. It was drizzling rain again at this point so we had a long, wet walk back to the HoJo. On the way back ds found a mylar Pirates balloon on the ground. It was wet and weighted down. So of course he had to give it a home. We dried it off and it is currently residing in his room. He was THRILLED.

That was the last Disney day for the rest of my family. I, however, had a date with a friend of mine who is staying at the DLH for EE at 7 am. Saturday morning would come WAY too early for me.

 

[DangerMouse]

I got the call at 6:15 that EE was on! Yea! The sun was out, the air was crisp and clean, and I met my friend, Ellen, at gate 13 at 6:40 am. We were second in line. She had never done EE and has a family back at the DLH who are scared of MOST rides in DLR. This poor lady never gets to go on any rides! So, I'm here to teach her a thing or two about how to do DL the right way and of course to do what mothers never get to do at DLR, SHOP!

Gates open promptly at 7 am. We're off to Peter Pan first while the rest of the crowd heads to Nemo. We are second on PP and then hit Toad, Teacups, Matterhorn (left side, then right side), then Space twice with no waits at all! Then we walk over to Adventureland for rope drop at park opening. We walk on Indy and BTMRR. The park is already starting to fill up, and we decide to do what we really came for . . . SHOP!

We head to Main Street and we buy ourselves matching watches (not intentional, we both just have great taste!) Then I buy the souveniers my kids' picked out the day before. Dd(5) gets an Ariel polly-sized playset; ds(7) a Woody pull-string doll (can I just say that I love that he is still young and innocent enough to want a doll! ); and dd(10) wants pins. Then I head to Disneyana to find an Alice mini attraction poster. I remember as I walk in that Jim Shore is at DLR that morning signing his work. Ellen insists on buying me a Jim Shore snowman (sooo cute, and I collect snowmen) and wants me to stand in line for the artist's signature. So I head down to the China shop and see the line is stretched all the way to the Plaza Inn. Ummm, no thanks. I haven't waited in a line over 20 minutes the last 3 days, and I'm NOT starting now!! Is that awful? I guess I'm not a true "collector" or I would have waited. But gawrsh, it's a signature. Is it really worth it? I won't be selling the thing on ebay anytime soon, so I just didn't see the point.

Our last item of business was grabbing a Dole Whip and sitting on a bench in the hub and people watching for a spell. This is another luxury I never get to have, and it was soooooo nice. Just sitting there with a dole whip all to myself with no kids begging for more bites and asking "What are we going on next, Mom??" I think I was in Disney heaven.

All in all, one of our best Disney trips ever! Even dh said it was. He loved the lack of crowds and line-ups for rides. It was a great week to go and I would definitely choose it again.

Now I get to start planning my dd(5) birthday trip in March!

I'll post later and perhaps separately to show my pics of the HoJo queen suite. It was an AWESOME room.

 

[redheaded mama]

We were also at Disneyland last week. The park was crowded, but the lines were not. I think everyone was in line for Nemo and that made all the other lines seem small. We got soaked in the rain, but still had a great day. I couldn't convince my kids to stay for Fantasmic.

I saw lots of families with dream fast passes. I was so jealous (even though most days we didn't even use fast pass because the lines were minimal). We had a great week at Disneyland. I'm so glad that you trip worked out. Now its back to reality. It was awful waking up this morning and getting the kids off to school. I need more time at Disneyland.