The birthday girl and 1st timer- My trip report (edited w/ photopass pix)

[kingshockey04]

We just returned from a 4 day / 3 night trip to Disneyland and I want to share a little bit of the highlights from the trip.

The cast-

Me (21) I’ve been to DL a bunch of times. My favorite Disney character is Ariel.
DSis (9) Her third time at DL. We’re celebrating her birthday at DL. Favorite character is Belle
DNep (10) First time to DL and on an airplane. Favorite character Mickey and Jack Sparrow.

Saturday March 1st-

We leave for the airport at 10:30ish in the morning. Our flight was at 12:55pm to Orange County airport. The flight was alright, just a little bit of turbulence due to a cold front. I was worried my DNep would get scared since this was his first flight but he was fine. So 51 minutes later we arrive at John Wayne Airport. After a quick bathroom break, we walked over to the Super Shuttle and were on our way. Unfortunately, due to budget restraints I had to change my reservation at the Desert Inn and Suites to the Motel 6. However though I was surprised that the motel was okay, not the best but it was okay for us. Anyways after we checked in and dropped our luggage off in the room we were off to start our Disney vacation.

Since we had a PS at Ariel’s Grotto at 5:50pm I decided that we would start off at DCA. The first thing we did was watched the “It’s Tough to be Bug” show. My DSis and DNep loved the show so much we had to watch it again before we left that night. We went on the Chew Chew train and then headed over to watch the High School Musical show.

I thought the show was pretty cool, the kids got to dance along side with the performers. My sister knew the dance as she’s a huge High School Musical fan, my nephew was just confused. Before we knew it, it was time for our dinner with the princesses. The food was so-so but as others have said you don’t pay for the food, you’re really paying for the experience of being up close with the characters.

The highlight of the night was when we were chosen to be the Royal Family of the hour and introduce the first Princess – Cinderella. I thought the interaction with the princesses was awesome. My sister got to meet her favorite Belle, that was great to see.

After dinner we did a couple of rides before watching the Electrical Parade. We survived the Hollywood Tower of Terror, it was something I never want to ride again but the kids loved it. I’m just not a big ride person; I’ll stick to the Chew Chew train lmao. We hurried up and went to DL to see the fireworks, which was a good thing we did because they were canceled the next day. One thing I had to do was buy the kids mouse ears especially my nephew. Because he has a unique name he can never find personalized stuff so I wanted to make sure he had these. He picked out the Pirate ears and my sister got the Princess pirate ears. We decided to head back to the hotel around 11pm because I was worried about missing the ART.


As we were walking down Main Street guess who we see – Mickey and Minnie, so of course the kids go running over to them.

That capped off our first day. Up next Day 2, I'll try to get that up soon. As soon as I got back last night I've been feeling sick, might be a cold.

 

[mt mommy]

could you please tell me how the crowd levels were???

I am thinking of going the first part of March next year.....

How long did you wait for most popular rides??

Thanks in advance!

 

[kingshockey04]

could you please tell me how the crowd levels were???

I am thinking of going the first part of March next year.....

How long did you wait for most popular rides??

Thanks in advance!

The waits were probably 30-45 minutes at the most. The crowds weren't bad at all, Saturday and Sunday it was crowded but that's expected as it's a weekend.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Cute pictures! Great start!

 

[mt mommy]

The waits were probably 30-45 minutes at the most. The crowds weren't bad at all, Saturday and Sunday it was crowded but that's expected as it's a weekend.

THanks so much!! I love the pictures!!!

 

[WA Kay]

Thanks for the great trip report and pictures. Can't wait for the rest. I sure hope you feel better soon.

 

[kingshockey04]

Day Two
Sunday, March 2nd

Sorry it took so long to get this up. This cold has been miserable; I’m feeling a little better now.

We had a chance to do Magic Mornings that morning but we were all still tired from staying up so late the previous night….Well actually I was still tired. If we were to do MM, we would had to wake up at 6 am. I decided that we would just wake up at 8:00am and get there an hour after the official opening. So we get to the park around 9:00am and made a stop at City Hall to get my DSis a “Happy Birthday” button and DNep a “1st timer” button. Then we quickly had to find something to eat for breakfast. I had brought instant oatmeal that I planned on having the kids eat in the morning, but I had one spoon of it and it was disgusting. I threw it away and we ate at River Belle Terrance. This was around the time my little sister started to feel sick to her stomach and had a major headache. I had no idea what to do….this was my first time taking her on a trip by myself. The first thing I did was called my mom but what would that do…she was 200 plus miles away, she couldn’t come save the day. While my nephew and I ate our breakfast, she just sat with her head down. I felt so bad for the both of them, I thought our trip was ruined.

After we ate our breakfast, which I thought was pretty good, we took the raft to Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. We just hung out there for about 30 minutes hoping that having her rest a little would make her feel better. My DNep had fun exploring the different things the island had to offer. He loved walking on the bridge through the water. He's such a little pirate

My DSis sickness ended after awhile but I won’t say why because you might be eating and it’s kind of gross. My mom suspected it was food poisoning because she had the symptoms. I was just glad she was feeling better. We did a couple of rides but of course I forget now. I have such a bad memory sometimes.

The next thing I remember is we headed back to the hotel room so she could change clothes. The kids didn’t want to rest a little bit while we were in the room, they just wanted to get back as fast as they could. Before we went back into the park, we headed to Downtown Disney for lunch. We finally decided on Tortilla Jo’s Taqueria and shared the nachos. I thought it was a pretty good deal for the price. It kept them pretty full until we had dinner which was late that night.

One thing I wanted my nephew to do was the Jedi Training Academy in Tomorrowland so we headed over there around 20 minutes before the show started to ensure he got picked. Not only did he get picked but my little sister did too. I was so proud of them.

They both fought Darth Vader which was so cool.

Next stop was in my favorite place – Toon Town.

I had them take the normal pictures, the Jail picture, the dumb bell picture….the same pictures that I took when I was around their age. We did the Roger Rabbit ride and toured both Mickey and Minnie’s house. Mickey was home but we didn’t bother to get in line because we had already met him the night before. I took them on the Gadget Go Coaster, probably the only roller coaster I can tolerate to be on. After spending a while in Toon Town, we headed back to Tomorrowland and did Autopia which was not the best idea. The reason? Even though my sister is tall enough to go on the ride, she couldn’t really press the pedal good enough causing her to drive and stop all the time. That caused my nephew to stop which caused me to stop making a big Disneyland traffic jam. Overall the day was pretty good, not everything I had planned went the way I wanted to go but we were in Disneyland so it didn’t matter.

However though, the following day was the day that almost made me cry……why you ask? You’ll just have to sit tight and wait for Day Three of The Birthday Girl and 1st Timer Trip Report. I’ll try to have it all done this weekend since I’m off of work.

 

[kingshockey04]

Thanks for the great trip report and pictures. Can't wait for the rest. I sure hope you feel better soon.

I'm feeling better now, thanks!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

UGH, it's so hard to deal with illness on vacation! Sounds like you did well in dealing with everything... I'm glad the illness dissipated fairly quickly and you wound up having a good day.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[kingshockey04]

UGH, it's so hard to deal with illness on vacation! Sounds like you did well in dealing with everything... I'm glad the illness dissipated fairly quickly and you wound up having a good day.

Can't wait to hear more!

The hardest thing was not knowing what to do. She needed her mommy but of course that wasn't happening, I'm just glad she was able to enjoy the day.

 

[WA Kay]

I'm feeling better now, thanks!

I am so glad and can't wait for more of your trip report.

 

[kingshockey04]

Day Three

Monday, March 3rd

Monday morning started off not so great. It wasn’t the worst but it wasn’t the best either. First we arrived at DL a little after 9am, we had a PS for Minnie and Friends breakfast at 9:30am. When I first booked the PS I wondered how this would work because DL didn’t open until 10am that morning but the Cast Member reassured me that indeed it would be alright. But as I was standing behind the rope with no cast member in sight I was wondering if I was told the right thing. Finally I had seen a group of people wearing buttons with Minnie on them led by a cast member, I asked one of the nice guests what this group was for. It was the Minnie and Friends breakfast group. We followed the group until we reached the Plaza Inn and checked in for breakfast. I was a little upset that nobody told me that there was a line-up spot in front of the gate but oh well we had made it and both kids were happy and healthy.

We met Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pooh, Tigger, Captain Hook and the Fairy Godmother. The one the kids were happiest to see was Tigger. He was going around hitting kids with balloons in a fun and playful matter. It was so cute. Breakfast was alright, both me and my nephew enjoyed the Mickey waffles.

After breakfast we headed over to our favorite lands – Adventureland and New Orleans Square. The reason those were our favorites? Because of Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean, our new favorite rides. We went on those rides a few times in those four days.
When we got off the Pirates ride we wandered off into the gift shop and met some pirate.

I’m not too familiar with the whole Pirates of the Caribbean craze (I’ve never seen any of the movies), so I wasn’t sure if he was someone or not. My nephew bought a sword and eye patch while my sister purchased a eye patch and ear ring. I had to tell the kids though that they couldn’t wear their eye patches, the last thing we need was one of them to some how get hurt by not seeing properly. I felt like the mean sister/aunt but oh well.

Here’s the part that almost made me cry . As I think about it now it’s not that big of a deal but that day it was. We were walking towards the castle and I see a photo pass cast member. I made sure to join a photo pass share before I left and made sure we took tons of pictures using photo pass. So I go through my pockets and discover I can’t find the card ; I’m thinking maybe I left it in the room again but then no I distinctly remember my nephew telling me to grab the card before we left that morning and we had used it to take a picture in front of the DL train station. Oh no there goes all our pictures down the drain….all the ones that I was actually in were gone. I made the mistake of not taking a picture of the card or even writing the card number down. After a talk with my mom, I decided to just shrug my shoulders and move on. I learned from that mistake and with my new card I took a picture of it .So from that moment on we were on a picture taking frenzy. I wanted to atleast have a couple pictures of all of us, plus I paid to be in a share and didn’t want that money down the drain. I suppose I would have been more upset if I paid the $99 dollars for the cd.

Once our quick retake “photo shoot” was over, we headed over to DCA to catch the Aladdin Musical. On our way out we saw Cruella De Vil who was great. She asked us if we had seen any dalmations around. My sister said “no but I have two Chow Chows at home if you want them”. Of course she was joking, she would never give her my Chow Chows.

We almost didn’t make it in time for the Aladdin show and almost passed out from climbing all those stairs to enter the theater. The show was hilarious in my opinion, the genie really made it great. As we exited the theater we see Goofy and Max posing for pictures.

Of course we get in line for that but it was a little sad because my nephew ran out of pages in his autograph book. My sister was sweet and tore him out a page of hers so he could have them sign it. That was the best moment of the trip for me…..well that and eating that wonderful Mickey Mouse bread at DCA, I loved that stuff.

We wrapped the night up with heading back to DL and eating dinner at Rancho del Zocalo. I didn’t really care for the food there. My sister and I shared the enchilada platter while my nephew had the kid’s burrito. We quickly munched our food down to make sure we had a great spot for the parade. The tradition in our family is to see the parade the last night of the trip. Seeing the parade brought a tear to my eye because I knew that our trip would soon be over; it was bittersweet. We all agree that the best part was watching the “cards” do the flipping tricks on the trampoline. My camera really takes bad pictures at night so I’ll only post one.

After the parade wrapped up we fought our way out of the park. I was kind of glad it was an early closing night because it gave me time to get everything packed for our trip home the next day. But since we had two Magic Mornings left on our tickets, I planned on us spending a couple hours at DL the next morning before we left.

Since the last part is so short, I should have it for you tonight. Thanks for reading so far! It makes me happy being able to relieve my trip to you guys!

And if you look at my signature, I just booked my next trip! Writing this trip report made me miss DL already.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Too many things I want to comment on! I have to multi-quote them.

I had seen a group of people wearing buttons with Minnie on them led by a cast member, I asked one of the nice guests what this group was for. It was the Minnie and Friends breakfast group. We followed the group until we reached the Plaza Inn and checked in for breakfast. I was a little upset that nobody told me that there was a line-up spot in front of the gate but oh well we had made it and both kids were happy and healthy.

That's news to me, too. I thought they didn't have PS times before the park opened. I would have been upset, too! It's lucky you noticed those buttons!

Here’s the part that almost made me cry . I made sure to join a photo pass share before I left and made sure we took tons of pictures using photo pass. So I go through my pockets and discover I can’t find the card ; I’m thinking maybe I left it in the room again but then no I distinctly remember my nephew telling me to grab the card before we left that morning and we had used it to take a picture in front of the DL train station. Oh no there goes all our pictures down the drain….all the ones that I was actually in were gone. I made the mistake of not taking a picture of the card or even writing the card number down.

Oh, no! That's a total bummer! Glad you were able to get another one and do re-takes.

We almost didn’t make it in time for the Aladdin show and almost passed out from climbing all those stairs to enter the theater.

I remember thinking the same thing when we went to see that show!
And you're right, the genie is fabulous!

We wrapped the night up with heading back to DL and eating dinner at Rancho del Zocalo. I didn’t really care for the food there.

I agree with that, too. But DH likes it there.

And if you look at my signature, I just booked my next trip!

Yay! We're going again soon, too, in late April. Isn't it FUN?!

 

[daisy_77]

I really enjoyed your TR! I am looking forward to your next installment.

You are lucky to be heading back so soon!

 

[kingshockey04]

Yay! We're going again soon, too, in late April. Isn't it FUN?!

I think I'm going to pick up an AP this time, I'm so hooked and since I live in Vegas it's not that far. Come on two months, hurry up!

 

[kingshockey04]

I really enjoyed your TR! I am looking forward to your next installment.

You are lucky to be heading back so soon!

Thanks for reading! I'll try to get it up tonight, if not first thing tomorrow morning.

 

[kingshockey04]

Day Four - Sorry for the lack of pics, I was sad the trip was over

March 4th

Well all good things must come to an end. For us the end was near, we had to go back to reality. We woke up that morning not to excited to go back to school and work. Of course we were happy to see our mom and family again but didn’t want to leave that awesome place. I had the kids wake up around 8:00am, I wanted to do two more rides before we left. Checkout wasn’t until Noon so I knew we had enough time. We actually walked this time because our shuttle passes had expired and I didn’t have the cash on me to purchase new ones. The walk wasn’t that bad and if I knew the walk was that short I probably would of only taken the shuttle at night. Oh well, live and learn. On the walk to the park for our breakfast we finished the rest of the Mickey Mouse bread I purchased at DCA the night before. We made it to the line around 8:50 and the lines were so bad they reached to DCA’s gate. The biggest problem in the lines was some people didn’t realize that it was a Magic Morning…there were tons of people without MM tickets and they were being turned away of course.

But we made it into the park around 9:05 and we really just took our time as we walked. The kids were amazed out how the park looked with barely any people in it. We only did three rides during the Magic Morning – Tea Cups, Alice in Wonderland and Buzz Lightyear (my favorite).

Once it got close to the official opening time we walked over to Adventureland so we could hit Indiana Jones one more time. I had never been to the park right at the opening so I thought it was cool seeing the official rope drop.

When it hit 10:00am and the rope to Adventureland opened up we walked fast to Indiana Jones. No matter how many times we went on that ride it always seemed new to the kids. That was the most talked about ride. As soon as we got off of Indy we paced over to New Orleans Square so we could climb aboard Pirates of the Caribbean for our final voyage. With their pirate earhats on, both my sister and nephew were singing along to the song all through the ride. The next thing I remember was heading over to Main Street to pick up some souvenirs. The kids wanted to spend the rest of their gift card money and I had to pick something up for my siblings back home. That shopping trip ate up the rest of our time because it was around 11:20am when we walked out of the gates. I was worried that if we weren’t in our rooms by noon we’d be locked out. So we tried our best to run back but after our 4 day trip our legs were exhausted so we once again walked fast. We made it in time and just spend time in the room until 12:20pm. That was the part I hated the most; our airport shuttle didn’t come until 1:50pm. So we waited and waited then it finally came. But once we got to the airport we had more waiting to do, around two hours worth. Long Beach Airport is where we flew out of and let me tell you it’s so boring there. Anyways, eventually our flight took off and we made it home to Las Vegas. It’s always good to come back home after a vacation; I missed my puppies.

But 2 days later, I realized how much I missed DL and booked another trip. So back to work I must go, all my vacation money is spent. Though if I work a lot these next two months, it’ll make the wait go by quicker and I’ll have more money.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Thanks to all who took the time to look at my trip report. A big thanks to those who commented back. All the good advice everyone gave me on this board truly helped make our trip great. The DISboard rocks!

Look out for my pre-trip report for my May trip, coming sometime this April. New cast, same storyline.

 

[Yakety76]

I am so glad you had a fun trip with your sister and nephew. What a great sister and Auntie you must be!!
Sorry Sis got sick. That is a bummer, but it sounds like you all handled it well.

I love the picture of the kids in the tea cups. Cute!!

 

[daisy_77]

Great ending! It sounds like you all had a great time.

You are a brave girl to take two kids alone....although, they sound like they are very good kids.

Looking forward to your next trip report!

 

[kingshockey04]

Great ending! It sounds like you all had a great time.

You are a brave girl to take two kids alone....although, they sound like they are very good kids.

Looking forward to your next trip report!

Thanks for reading!

Yes they are good kids, my sister acted up a little but overall perfect behavior.