The Gleesome Threesome and a purple toe go to Disneyland!

[rszdtrvl]

Cast : Me (33), DH (34), and DS (12)

I am not good at trip reports, so I did mine on word perfect and will just cut/paste it, with random photos thrown in.

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On Friday, 3/27, we left town and drove to the Portland Red Lion, where we had a 1 night hotel & 7 day parking package (only $109!!). When we arrived to the hotel, we checked in, and went to our room to watch tv. At 5pm, we went down to the restaurant to have dinner. And then went back up to the hotel to watch more tv and get ready for bed.

I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and slammed my foot right into a suitcase that I had left in the middle of the walkway. So not cool. My toe hit it full force, and I fell to the ground, said a few inappropriate words, and just knew that it was not going to be pretty.

We woke up 3/28 and went down to the lobby to check out and catch the hotel shuttle to the airport. This was wonderful! I was so glad I didn’t have to fight to find a parking spot at the long-term parking area.

Our flight was an hour late, so we spent a bit of time at the airport, excited and nervous at the same time. We were all sitting in chairs - I was doing word searches, my son was playing Pokemon Platinum on his Nintendo DS, and my husband was playing with his Sidekick.

We finally got on the plane, and were headed to Disneyland!!!

We landed in Anaheim, and grabbed our bags, and went to catch our Supershuttle. I could feel my toe throbbing, so since there was nobody else in our shuttle yet, I took off my shoe and sock and looked at my toe. It was BRIGHT purple. A nasty sprain. Nifty. DH looked at it and cracked up laughing, as he had done a similar thing, only crawling over a pet gate, a couple months ago.

The rest of the passengers got on the shuttle, and then we went to the hotel - Howard Johnson.

We were in building 3, 2nd floor. I absolutely LOVE the architecture of the pavillion rooms. They are so bright and airy! There is tons of natural sunlight that comes through, and the layout is amazing!!

We put our bags in our room, and headed to Disneyland to get out tickets.

The walk was a bit more than I thought it would be. Fine if you are not exhausted, which by Tuesday we were dragging.

We got our tickets and went to DCA. Just in time to watch the Pixar Parade! Then we headed for Disneyland to go on Splash Mountain. The wait was 90 minutes!! Eek!!! That was the only ride we did that day. The wait was too much for us, being tired from traveling, etc. But we had our Magic Morning on Sunday, so we knew that we would be able to go on lots of rides. We went back to the hotel, where we ordered pizza to be delivered from Round Table. SUPER GREAT DEAL! We devoured it, and it was delicious!

 

[rszdtrvl]

3/29 (Sunday) - Magic Morning ; or not......
We were all ready to do our Magic Morning on Sunday, but Saturday evening we were so wiped out, we said that we would do it on Tuesday instead. We hit the parks at around 8:15, and decided to do some rides. We were going to eat, but there were not many carts open, which was a bummer. They should have carts open at the same time the park opens.
Today was the day we ate at Carnation Café for lunch. The food was yummy, and the baked potato soup was very filling. This is also the day we had our Dole Floats and went to Bengal BBQ for snacks! We went on : Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, Mulholland Madness, Screamin’, Grizzly River Run, Pirates of the Caribbean, Roger Rabbit, Small World, and Thunder Mt Railroad. And saw the Tiki Room show. (Can I just say how much I LOVE the Fastpass system???!!!)
We went to Downtown Disney because my son wanted to go to the Lego store. At this time the temperature was dropping, and being Washingtonians, we could tell it was going to rain. And, of course, we left our jackets at the hotel. So we went to the Lego store and got legos, then went on the hunt for a jacket/blanket for my son.
We found a jacket for under $30 (clearance!) At World of Disney, and went in line to get our Caramel Kettle corn (which is still super fresh today!).
Then we went back to the park and got out seats to see the 80z All Stars.
The band started a bit late, and got through 1 set of songs, and 1 song in the second set before they had to stop due to the rain.
We said enough - we were cold, tired, and were not sure if the fireworks would be going on because of the wind (albeit not super windy) and the rain. So we headed back to the hotel to sleep.

 

[DizNee Luver]

So far, so Good!!!!!
Sorry to hear about the toe....ouch!!

gonna hang out for more!!

 

[rszdtrvl]

3/30 (Monday) : We got up, and had breakfast at Denny’s. Yummy Belgian waffles with fruit and whip cream!! And from Denny’s we headed to the park. On this day we went on : Matterhorn, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Jungle Cruise, Toy Story, Screamin’, Monsters Inc., Tower of Terror, Soarin’, Grizzly River Run, Splash Mountain, Autopia, and Space Mountain.
We got a big kick out of Roz on Monsters Inc. She told DH that he was a pretty good looking guy. We all joked around about how we know already, and DH thought it was hysterical. We took a quick lunch break at Taste Pilots Grill, and had burgers and fries. Yummy! Definitely one of the best bargains at the park! I love how they have the condiment bar so you can actually get lettuce/tomato, etc. on your burgers! After lunch, we went to the hotel so I could do a load of laundry. On the way back to the hotel, I think we were all half awake. And when we get half awake, we get a bit loopy..
DS said “Look - Captain Cruds” (Captain Kidds). DH responded “Our motto is “Dead Men Tell No Tales”. LOL. So, from that point on, Captain Kidds is known to us as Captain Cruds. We walked to the hotel in back of a lady wearing sandals, who turned off the sidewalk about halfway down the sidewalk to the Hojo. DH started laughing. I asked him what was so funny, and he said that all he could imagine is the sandals saying “Help Me. Help Me.” (He thought the sandals looked tired - just another clue that it was time to go back to the hotel and rest/swim for a while.)
While waiting for the gift shop to open so I can buy some laundry soap, I spotted a LGMH!! She probably thought I was crazy when I walked up to her and said “Who are you??”. Then I pointed to her LGMH. She flipped it over, and it was BellaElla! I introduced myself, and said that if you are going to see a LGMH, of course you would see on in the Hojo! I went and got my laundry soap, and headed up to the room to gather wet socks to wash (the next trip we will bring a gazillion pairs of socks - Splash Mountain loves to soak socks!!), while DH and DS went to the pool.
I barely got laundry done before we had to go back to the park for our dinner reservations at Blue Bayou.
Okay, I was somewhat disappointed with the food here. I got the chicken, and it was ok. The salad and rolls were amazing. DS just got a cookie boat, as he was not very hungry, plus he had our tomatoes from the salad, rolls, and some of my chicken. DH got the Surf & Turf, and thought the filet mignon was wonderful, but didn’t like the lobster. Our total after tip was $100. I am glad we got to experience it, but I don’t think it was worth the price. I did get to see the Club 33 sign, and take a photo of it (I didn’t see it last time).
We did some rides (listed above are the rides we did for the day) and watched the new parade. Which was super cool! Very perky, and fun. I am glad we got to see it. And at 8pm, I told DH that we needed to get our spot to see the fireworks. He looked at me as if I was crazy, lining up an hour or more in advance. But thanks to the DisBoards, I knew to line up early. We got an amazing spot in front of the castle, on the edge of the sidewalk in front of the benches. I would say we were about 10 people back. They were great seats, and we had a wonderful view.
The show was amazing!! I am so glad we didn’t miss it this time. After the fireworks, we followed the crowd out of the park (it closed at 10pm) and went back to the hotel, stopping at McDonalds first to get my son a snack and pick up parfaits for breakfast on Tuesday.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Tuesday 3/31 : We ate our parfaits in the hotel room, and headed to the park around 9pm. Yet, again, we didn’t do our Magic Morning. I think we were so wiped out at the end of the night that it was just not a possibility. We had made up our minds to just take it easy this trip, and have fun. If we were tired in the morning, we were going to sleep. Today was a planned mellow day with only a few rides, getting snacks and souvenirs to take home.
We went to Disneyland and went on Splash Mountain, and the Tea Cups. Then headed to DCA and got our Mickey Sourdough bread, Mickey cookie, chocolate chip cookie, and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies from Boudin Bakery. And went on Screamin’ and Toy Story.
We left DCA to go to Tony Roma’s for lunch (I wish we would have went here instead of Blue Bayou - you don’t get the atmosphere, but the price was half of the Blue Bayou price, and food was delicious!) and then went back to Disneyland. Where we went to Critter Country and Pooh corner to get Tigger Tails (I purchased 8 total to bring home for people). Then we made our way back down Main Street to get a couple of caramel apples and a pack of lollipops.
We went back to the hotel (this walk was the worst of all - I wanted to take the ART to the hotel, but DH laughed at me - my feet hurt!!!), where DS played with his gameboy and I got the room pre-cleaned for leaving on Wednesday and DH napped. We went to McDonalds for dinner, and then went back to the hotel.

Wednesday 4/1 : We got up, and I needed a strong jolt of coffee to wake me up. I knew there was a Starbucks somewhere so I asked at the front desk. Turns out is is all the way over the bridge, and goofy me actually walked that far to get 2 mocha’s and a hot chocolate and chocolate croissant. When I went back to the hotel, I realized that I was thinking of Seattles Best coffee, not Starbucks, and there is a Seattles Best right across the street. (Give the lady a gold star for figuring out that one, even if it was way late, LOL!!)
We caught our shuttle to go to the airport, and had brunch there. The plane was on time, but super noisy! We got to the Portland Airport, where we were picked up, brought to our car, and the shuttle driver checked us out of the hotel. We drove home, and once we got home, we crawled into bed, with sweet Disney dreams!!

(I was shocked at how good this photo turned out - we were in the line waiting for the railroad when I took it - I was playing with the zoom on our new camera!)

 

[Belle Ella]

While waiting for the gift shop to open so I can buy some laundry soap, I spotted a LGMH!! She probably thought I was crazy when I walked up to her and said “Who are you??”. Then I pointed to her LGMH. She flipped it over, and it was BellaElla! I introduced myself, and said that if you are going to see a LGMH, of course you would see on in the Hojo!

I only thought I was going crazy, I swear Other than a CM at the park you were the only person to mention it, and I honestly forgot all about it. Add in an exhausting afternoon of dealing with car troubles and I was a little out of tune if you know what I mean. It was great to see you there though!

Must go read the rest now

 

[Belle Ella]

It's too bad ya'll left on Sunday instead of staying for the fireworks. They did go happen, and viewing out in front of the castle they actually let us come up further into the area that they normally leave open as a walkway because of lighter traffic due to the weather.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Oh, and we did do some pin trading also. And we ran into our first "professional" pin traders.

DS found a Splash Mountain pin he wanted, and offered another pin for it. The "trader" said "I am not interested in that pin".

I stepped in and said in a slightly sarcastic tone "Are there ANY pins that we have that you ARE interested in??" (DH got a kick out of my attitude.)

She decided that my favorite pin, my Tinkerbell pin, was worthy of her Splash Mountain pin. I was ecstatic that my son got the pin he wanted.

The next day, DS traded with a CM, and I mentioned the "professionals". He apologized, but I said that I thought it was amusing. DS, being the sweetie that he is, traded a pin of his for a Disney Princess pin, and gave it to me, in exchange for me trading my Tinkerbell pin for his Splash Mountain pin. It all worked out perfectly (I want to collect the Princess pins, and like the new pin way more than the Tinkerbell pin anyway)!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

You didn't eat at Captain Cruds....I mean Kidd's.... ??? Because your nickname is soooooo fitting for it. It was by far the worst meal I had ever had at any restaurant...EVER!!!
Anywho....... Looks like a good trip & nice to see we're not the only ones that come home with goodies!!!! Those cookies look delicious!

Isn't it cool to run into a fellow DIS'er??? I made it a point to catch up to the Girls Only trip so I could put some faces to the names & then while on our Walk in Walt's Footsteps Tour, realized there was a DIS member on it with us!!!! Way cool....like an old friend.....

Glad you had a great trip!!

 

[charmama4]

Loving the TR so far. Just have to ask, "you saw 80z AllStars???" We miss seeing them when they do their gigs in SanDiego. Have to check to see if they will be there when we are. Oh, and how's the toe?

 

[rszdtrvl]

We ate at Captain "Kidds" last year in 2008. Thus, the nickname my son created for it this year, when we did not eat there. I agree that the name "Captain Cruds" fits much better.

The toe is fine. Just a bit purple where the cuticle is now, and only a bit swollen. It hurt for a few days. I am just glad I was the one to run into the suitcase and not DH or DS. I would have felt really bad if they would have gotten hurt instead of me, because when I went to bed I just knew that someone was going to end up walking into the side of the suitcase.

We did see one set of songs on Sunday from the 80z All Stars. They performed at 7pm (albeit a bit after 7pm) and sang about 4 or 5 songs. Then they went off stage to prepare for the second set of songs. At this time it was starting to lightly rain. As they sang the first (or was it 2nd) song, during the second set, they went under the covered area, and the stage disappeared with them in it. DH and I were bummed, as DH was really loving the music! I thought it was great too, and even our son was getting into the songs (he knows a lot of 80's as DH and I are that era). We ended up leaving before seeing if they would go back onstage or not because we were cold, and the weather was not appropriate for our shorts and t-shirts.

I saw the LGMH, and got excited!! I just knew that I would see someone during that time! And where else to see a LGMH than at the Hojo???

 

[50sjayne]

Ohmygosh I just read your first post. A. You are going to have to tell me how you got that deal with the hotel and parking. That's the airport Red Lion right it's up 205th and Stark-- something like that right? We've stayed there-- is the jacuzzi still 24 hours? B. Thank you so much for posting the pixar parade pictures-- it was something we missed...and awwwww I forgot to get a tigger tail. That does it-- going to have to go back!

 

[rszdtrvl]

Here is the link to the hotel :

http://redlion.rdln.com/HotelLocator/HotelOverview.aspx?metaID=79

It was a nice hotel. The shuttle service and parking is why we chose it. The $109 price we paid (before tax) was for 1 night hotel and up to 7 days onsite parking, with shuttle service to/from the airport. Our room had 2 queen size beds. It was so worth it, especially when we didn't need to worry about parking at the airport. When we arrived at the airport on the way home, we just called the hotel, and the shuttle was there to pick us up. The driver even checked us out of the hotel! We were from the airport to the car on the way home within 10 minutes (only because the driver was already on the way to the airport to drop someone up and picked us up within 2 minutes of the phone call).

It was a super deal, and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

 

[charmama4]

Here is the link to the hotel :

http://redlion.rdln.com/HotelLocator/HotelOverview.aspx?metaID=79

It was a nice hotel. The shuttle service and parking is why we chose it. The $109 price we paid (before tax) was for 1 night hotel and up to 7 days onsite parking, with shuttle service to/from the airport. Our room had 2 queen size beds. It was so worth it, especially when we didn't need to worry about parking at the airport. When we arrived at the airport on the way home, we just called the hotel, and the shuttle was there to pick us up. The driver even checked us out of the hotel! We were from the airport to the car on the way home within 10 minutes (only because the driver was already on the way to the airport to drop someone up and picked us up within 2 minutes of the phone call).

It was a super deal, and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

This is similiar to what we are doing in Denver. Our flight leaves around 9am and we already have to drive 2 hours just to get to the airport and then you add 2 more hours to check in and go through security, we were looking at getting up at 4AM. uh, no thank you!!!
I love the idea of not having to find parking when you get to the airport and have to lug all of your luggage a mile just to get to the terminal!!!! We also were able to find 1 room with 3 queens in it, so all 6 of us are in one room That's the way to go, hon.

 

[kokotg]

Enjoyed your TR--sounds like it was a fun trip (toe excepted--ouch!)