The Birthday Trip That Almost Wasn't (Nov 5-6, 2021)

[Jaina]

I'm not quite done with my trip report from September, but I need to get this one started too, because I'm headed back in 4 days for my solo Christmas day on Friday. I know, poor me, but it's a little intense keeping up with all these trips as I try to get my money's worth out of my pass and still keep up on my very busy life and family! I don't think I will have a pass next year. I won't be working doing the same thing (probably just subbing at the local elementary as it works for us) so I won't have much expendable income. I'm sure I'll still be out there 1-2 times during the year, but not trying to keep up this crazy schedule!

So this trip! My daughter, DD11 was supposed to get to go for her 10th birthday (just a day or two before) in June of 2020 when I originally had my first pass. And then Disneyland closed, of course. We were optimistic (2 week quarantine, remember?) and took advantage of the current deal on a child's 3-day ticket in April, because for SURE Disneyland would be open in June.

Obviously, it wasn't. So I had her (much less useful, since she had since turned 10) ticket sitting around forever, until I was finally able to go back and exchange its value for an adult 2-day ticket. That hurt, since I had to pay like $30 and it was now a 2-day instead of a 3-day! But she wanted to go this fall, rather than waiting for her -12th- birthday, so we set the date for Nov 5th and 6th, hoping some holiday decor would be up, but that it wouldn't be crazy busy since it was technically between either holiday season.

DD11 is a child that we struggle a lot with, which made it even more important to make sure this trip happened. She is the middle child of 5, and is at that crazy age when you're not sure if you're a big kid or a child still, and everyone has expectations of you. She does love all Disney stuff, including Star Wars, princesses, and everything in between. As a small child, she was a daredevil, and her favorite rides on her first Disney trip (at 2.75) were Gadget's Go Coaster and the Golden Zephyr. She likes most rides, but did have a rough experience on Incredicoaster on our last trip (2019) when she was tall enough that hurt her neck, so she was a bit concerned this time. After that happened last time, she wasn't even willing to try Splash Mountain the next day. So I was hoping this would be a better experience for her!

On her first trip at 2.75 in 2013:

Her next trip at 6.5 in 2016:

Her most recent trip at 8.5 in 2019:

We had gotten an amazing rate at the Grand Legacy ($375 total for 3 nights that I booked sometime during covid) that I also didn't want to lose, so we really wanted to make our dates work out. We were planning to do the first day at Disneyland and the second day at California Adventure.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

I love birthday trips! Middle child situation is definitely a real struggle for parents and kids alike - so special that you get to do the birthday makeup during holiday time

 

[noodle73]

Such a bummer that she aged out of the child ticket, but I'm glad you made the trip happen anyway!

 

[Jaina]

I love birthday trips! Middle child situation is definitely a real struggle for parents and kids alike - so special that you get to do the birthday makeup during holiday time

I think she had a great time! It's so novel for any of them to get to call the shots for several days at a time!

Such a bummer that she aged out of the child ticket, but I'm glad you made the trip happen anyway!

Me too. Who could have known it would be closed FOR-E-VER?

 

[Jaina]

Wow. I have really not kept up. After I had the flu (covid? The first test was negative, but I heard more that omicron doesn't always show up right away... one of those two! No one - like 5 pharmacies - had any at-home tests after that first one, and I didn't feel up to/want to go anywhere and get tested after that, because I figured it would have showed up already if it was covid.) it took me a little while to bounce back, and I've taken TWO more trips to Disneyland in the meantime (since my solo Christmas trip -after- this one) so I have so much catch up to do. But I'm going to make it! Because they're all worth documenting!! I just kind of forgot that I was supposed to be doing that in the meantime... But when my pass expires in September, my trips will decrease dramatically, so it will be easier (sad face) to keep up!

So. Without further ado:

We left Thursday afternoon about 1 PM, trying to make the drive from the Phoenix metro area (6 hours with normal non-rush traffic and no stops, which never happens) as quickly as we could, so we could maybe go over to downtown Disney when we got in, and still get some sleep. Unfortunately we didn't get in until 9:10 local time (there's a one hour time difference) and decided to just get ready for the next day and get to sleep. The drive went well, and we got checked into our room at the Grand Legacy (a bit underwhelming, but totally fine, and a great location, and an amazing price this time!) Parking was super tight, which was a bit stressful for me, because my spatial awareness is not above average, even in my husband's CR-V. (I usually drive a Honda Odyssey, and I'm not great at parking the 2016 version, though I never had trouble with our old 2006 version. What the heck?)

The next morning (Friday, Nov 5th) we were out of the room by 6:59 local time, and unfortunately I hesitated because something looked different in the app and did NOT get a boarding group for ROTR. You guys, this was the first time I failed, ever! I was so sad, but determined to get it during the noon drop. :-/ We were in line for security by 7:07 AM (gotta love being across the street) and it opened about 7:15/7:20. We were into (a beautiful, hazy) Disneyland right at 7:30 AM. ❤

Being from Arizona, I love no weather more than a cool, cloudy day, especially if it includes a slightly foggy morning. (except maybe light snow, haha) This morning did not disappoint! Also, we kind of did a very small amount of Disneybounding for the first time, since we had gotten our hands on some Peter Pan and Carousel ears. We ordered her a cute dress from Wal-mart actually, which totally matched hear ears, and got a cute little pastel backpack that matched the colors nicely, and added a white Mickey head to it. She wore a carousel necklace, I think. And I had a cute shirt from Etsy about faith, trust and pixie dust, and paired it with a dark blue maxi skirt, which is the first time I've worn a skirt to the parks, but it wasn't a big deal.

Since there were just two of us, and since we were at the front of the rope, and we were ready to walk with purpose, we decided to rope drop Peter Pan. We made it on at 8:06 AM, and were in line behind the cutest little miss Peter Pan you've ever seen!

 

[Jaina]

We were on Alice in Wonderland by 8:14, and then on the Matterhorn by 8:30 after waiting about 10 minutes.

We rode Dumbo at 8:40 with no wait, and then Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at 8:47 AM with about a 5 minutes wait, and then the Carousel at 8:50.

I was excited for her to see the redo of Snow White, and she definitely liked it (we rode at 9:10 AM). It's so cute now! We headed over to Frontierland to meet up with some people and ride Big Thunder, and took a few pictures on our way.

It so happened that my brother and his family were also at Disney for the first time since covid too, and we were excited to let the kids hang out a little, since we've never been there at the same time. (Though we live less than half a mile apart, actually). Their oldest daughter and my middle daughter were actually born the same night, (in different states) so that's kind of fun! We met up with my brother and my niece (11) and nephew (almost 9) to ride Big Thunder Mountain (at 9:30, after about 10 minutes), and that was a lot of fun. I hadn't been at Disney with my little brother (I have 3, but this one is the closest in age to me) since 2005, I don't think.

After that my brother went to meet up with my SIL and their two youngest kids, and my niece and nephew hung out with DD11 and me for a few hours. We decided to do the Jungle Cruise (at 9:47, less than 10 min wait). They liked the new scenes. Our skipper, Jimmy, was hilarious!

Of course after that, they were all ready for Dole Whips! And it was finally after 10 (none of the snack carts seemed to open until then) so we refilled my Magic Key popcorn bucket for the first time, much to DD11's happiness. Look at all those leftover Halloween popcorn buckets!

We decided we were up for Space Mountain, and though the line was building (we waited just over 25 minutes, and rode at 11:43 - man I am missing the non-Lightning-Lane wait times!). It was a lot of fun! We didn't buy Photopass that day, because I have a harder time finding photographers in Disneyland, and I don't get excited about saving the masked ride photos forever...

Also, while in line, I got an e-mail with some of our newest family pictures we just took. Awwww.... DH and I with DS15, DD13, DD11, DS7, and DD5.

 

[Jaina]

It was time for my niece and nephew to go meet up with their family for their ROTR boarding pass, and I wanted to try to get our own boarding pass (fingers crossed!) so we waited out in the Tomorrowland area over by what was the Star Wars meet and greet place. (Why can't I remember what it was called? Launch bay? The old Circle Vision building, haha!) Stitch came out, which was fun, since I had never seen him in DLR, I don't think. However, even though I know what I'm doing, and was totally ready, we got a back up boarding group, which was NOT going to get us on that day. I was so sad! Sure, I had been on it several times already, but this was DD's only chance in a while, since she won't probably be back until we do a family trip, maybe in 2023. :-/ She tried to stay upbeat, though I could tell she was disappointed, and we headed over to Star Tours.

We rode Star Tours at 12:23 after about a 15 minutes wait, and then rode Buzz Lightyear at 12:38 after less than a 5 minute wait.

We were ready for a little bit of lunch, and had mobile ordered at the Stage Door Cafe, because I was in the mood for a corn dog. We stopped on the way to get this awkward picture with Tigger. The sun was super in-her-eyes. I don't deal well with that, and I passed it on to all of my blue-eyed kids. (The two youngest have brown and hazel, and do better)

DD11's chicken was actually pretty good. They have changed their chicken tenders since we were there in 2019? and got them, and it's a positive thing. We went into the Golden Horseshoe to eat, and went upstairs. I don't know if I've been up there before, and we enjoyed the ambiance, and the entertainer that came out while we were there. I wasn't aware they still did anything on the stage, so that was a fun surprise.

DD wanted to check out Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. I'm not sure if she had ever been there before. I was fine with that, since I'm fairly fond of some of the shady benches that I can chill on while kids run around and explore. We got some more popcorn on our way over.

While in line for Star Tours I had posted on the DIS asking some questions about the likelihood of maybe being allowed into line if we hung out towards the end of ROTR's operating day (I thought I had read somewhere about someone who got lucky with that recently). While resting at Tom Sawyer Island, I checked for replies, but you all thought it was pretty unlikely. (which is what I figured) However, @DLRExpert saw my post and said that he had two boarding passes he'd gotten that he may not even make it to the park in time to use, and offered to switch me for my yeah-right boarding groups. !!!! This is why I love this group. This was the sweetest little Pixie Dust miracle ever, and I was so excited. We didn't know if his boarding groups would scan if he hadn't come into the park, so I didn't mention it to DD yet. I figured we'd try it and see, at least!

I talked DD into doing the Davy Crockett canoes with me (my 2nd time) while waiting to see if we could connect and get the passes. I forgot how much of a one-armed workout it is!

He sent me the passes, and we had zero trouble using them, even though they hadn't made it to the park yet. I had one very excited little girl! Thank you, thank you, so much! (Again) We scanned in about 2:50 and were riding 20 minutes later.

We explored Galaxy's Edge a little, and then rode Millennium Falcon single rider about 3:45 after a 7-8 minute wait. Unfortunately, my ride piece? vehicle? part? got stuck, and we were in there for 20 minutes after the ride ended. Thankfully the a/c was blowing the whole time, and there were funny little extra videos playing about our technical details. The other engineer was a lady who was struggling with the enclosed space, and kept making halfway-serious-sounding jokes about how they'd better get us out soon, or she was going to lose it. Thankfully DD11 had one of our old phone which was on wifi so she could message me, and I told her she could do single rider one more time while she waited for me, since her ride hadn't had any delays. The eventually walked up down some stairs into the backstage area, and we exited around backside of Galaxy's Edge. I saw the Trolley from Toontown back there! I think I took some video before they said not to. I had to wait for DD for just a few minutes, but then we were good. What's next?

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

What amazing pixie dust for rotr! so glad it worked out for DD to experience that . sounds like a pretty magical day so far!

 

[CandyMouse]

Looks like a fun trip, great pictures! That was great you got to meet up with your brother and his family. Very cool you were able to go on ROTR!!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Very nice to get to go with just one kid! Glad you got on rotr.

 

[Jaina]

What amazing pixie dust for rotr! so glad it worked out for DD to experience that . sounds like a pretty magical day so far!

It was the coolest thing ever! She was so excited, and I was so excited for her!

Looks like a fun trip, great pictures! That was great you got to meet up with your brother and his family. Very cool you were able to go on ROTR!!!

We have been very lucky, and all of our trips the last few years have been awesome in different ways!

Very nice to get to go with just one kid! Glad you got on rotr.

It is so nice to go with just one! They get to call the shots, and touring with 2 is infinitely easier than touring with 7...

 

[Araminta18]

Aw, that's awesome! I love that about the disboards - those pixie dust moments we can make happen for each other. Yay!

 

[Jaina]

Trying to catch up on this TR too, because I have three trips completed since this, and three planned. Eek! Oh well, it will give me something to do in the fall when my pass expires. I did just finish editing the video from this trip.

We had just enjoyed our amazing DISboards pixie dust, and it was time for some Critter Country fun. We did Winnie the Pooh (it said 15 min; we waited 7 and rode at 4:55 PM). Then it was time to brave Splash Mountain, so we switched our tennis shoes for flip flops, pulled out our ponchos (don't judge, it was SO not warm, haha!) and... well, where was my poncho? Missing. And where were DD's flip flops? She forgot them. Cool. Cool, cool, cool. I took two for the team (I let her wear my flip flops, since I had an extra pair of socks too, if needed) and we rode twice anyway! Splash Mountain always looks so rustic and festive when they start to put up Christmas decor! We rode at 5:15 and at 5:31, with a walkthrough line each time. I didn't purchase Photopass that day, since I never see many photographers in Disneyland (vs CA) and since the two ride pictures would need to be masked. We asked to sit in back anyway (since I had no interest in being drenched sans my poncho) so they pics wouldn't have been that exciting.

It was that pretty time of night, so we made sure to get some pictures of DD in her cute Carousel outfit, including a stop for Mickey beignets. (Not as good as DTD, but still good, and cute.) I'm not sure why she's still wearing my shoes, haha.

She had never ridden the Storybook Canal Boats, so we got in line for that. For some reason the line was only about 12 minutes (maybe it had just reopened?) and we rode it at 6:25 PM. We walked onto the teacups at 6:50 and it took about 10 minutes to ride the Matterhorn "single rider" (but we got put in the same car!) at 7:07 PM. Love those pre-Genie+ lines so much!

We hadn't really eaten dinner, and I was kinda feeling some Plaza Inn fried chicken, which I hadn't had in years. But the line was sooo long. Was it worth it?