TR - Final Trip as a Family of 4! May 4-8 2009 *Complete!* Lots of Pics!

[momto2nenas]

After a decent nights sleep we all woke up at 6:40am, a tad later than the previous morning, we may adjust to the time change before the week is out! I had the alarm set for 7:50 so we started out a good hour ahead of schedule.

The girls made their own breakfasts again and sat at their little table overlooking the pool, still a great way to start the morning! DH was all over ESPN trying to catch up on the Playoffs since he was missing the games thanks to no TNT at HoJo, lol

Today was our non-MM straight to Fantasyland day and we were excited! My little one wanted to ride Dumbo in a HUGE way and we promised her that we would ride it first thing that morning.

We left the HoJo at 9am and made it to the gates about 15 mins. later (trying to take it easy today ). We were the 5th family in line and only had 15 minutes until they did the big countdown and opened the gates! Yay! I told DH to "walk with purpose" down to the rope at the end of Main Street while the girls and I did some character greetings if they were out. Sure enough the Big Cheese himself was right there waiting for us when we came through the right tunnel!

Pluto and Goofy were also out and about but we'd met them yesterday and the girls were not interested in seeing them again. By now Main Street was about 1/2 full of people waiting for Rope Drop and I had NO idea where DH would be but took a good guess he'd be on the right side since it was in the shade and he is a "Shade Hugger" . So we made it as far as we could along the street, then moved to the sidewalk, then took to going through the stores. We came out as close to the rope as we could get and started looking. A nice lady along the sidewalk was trying to help (I told her we had the same color shirt on) and pretty soon I spotted him right in front of us, lol! I took a spot on the sidewalk (away from all children... never forgetting our first ever rope drop when it was super crowded and some poor little feller got sick and threw up all over the place including everyone around him...ick.) and waited the next 10 mins. or so for 10am!

The cool announcer dude came on and welcomed us to the park, the music started playing and we were OFF! We headed straight for the castle into Fantasyland! We made it to Dumbo straight away and were the first ride of the day!

We got back in line and after about 2 more flights we got to ride again! The girls go crazy with the up and down lever and I'm trying to video and snap pictures... makes me a little motion sick but I do LOVE the ride! Nothing like flying in a baby elephant!

Next we took a "wild ride" with Mr. Toad!

This ride seemed much faster than I remember but I'm sure that can't be a fact...? DH likes this one a lot and the "burning fire" at the end wasn't as hot as I remember. I still remember the shock of trying to explain that to DD1 when she was 3 years old, lol.

Alice was up next and we were crossing our fingers that it did not break down on us like the day before. When we got our car (caterpillar whatever it is) there was some confusion about who was sitting where. I wanted the girls in the front and DH and I in the back like we did the day before on Pinnochio and Snow White. Well DH didn't know and got in the front w/ DD2 and I got in the back w/ DD2 sitting on the outside. The CM told us we'd have to change places b/c DD2 was on the outside. Okay so we go to switch and then he makes everyone get out and sends our car on its way saying "we have to keep the cars moving" and after 2 more cars lets us load again this time I put both girls in the front and DH and I in the back and the CM doesn't say a word... but isn't that technically the same since DD1 is still on the outside?... Who knows, it was confusing but finally we got going and hopefully didn't hold up the line too much.

We saw this screaming mad lady inside:

And I snapped this one when we came back into daylight:

Now we had all of the main part of Fantasyland covered (we did Teacups, Pinnochio, and Snow White the day before and Peter Pan was under refurb...*sniff) and decided to head over to Its a Small World. (Last trip we rode the Storybook Land Canal Boats and the wait was 50 mins! We said never again b/c it is one of the most boring rides in Disneyland IMO if not *THEE most boring and no one seemed interested in Casey Jr.'s Train).

IASW was a walk on and the girls just LOVED this ride! They of course know all the words to the song, even trying to sing some of the foreign language parts they have learned off our CD, and just added to the whole experience. I was going back and forth between watching the cute little ride characters and my own cuties singing their hearts out. We found all the new additions with Ariel and Lilo being our favorites!

We decided to skip Toontown for now since we'd met the characters already and the girls were more interested in Pixie Hollow than exploring Toon Town. DH headed to Space Mountain and to get Fast Passes for Buzz if it was offering them. The posted wait time for Pixie Hollow was 45 mins. I wasn't looking forward to standing in line for 45 mins. but knew lunch time would be right after so we got in line.

The line moved quicker than PFF but the que is quite awful. Up hill, NO shade whatsoever, bees all over the place b/c of the flowers, and nothing to lean on b/c the barriers are just those cheap poles and chains. Knowing lunch was coming up and we WERE taking a hotel break that afternoon I pressed on for my own little Pixies and drank 2 bottles of water. Thankfully our wait was just over 30 mins. instead of the posted 45 and the girls got to meet Fawn and Tinkerbell! The details inside Pixie Hollow is very cute and finally some shade! The fairies were both so pretty and engaging! Fawn told my girls how much she liked their shirts and asked them what they liked to do for fun. DD1 said she liked to paint and Fawn told her she has an Art Talent. DD2 said she liked to take pictures and Fawn told her she should be w/ the PhotoPass guys, lol.

Fawn:

Tink:

I guess it was time for Fawn to take a fairy break, and she stopped to whisper a secret to Tink before disappearing into the Pixie house, the girls got a kick out of that!

DH was waiting for us at the Buzz ride (FP was not necessary) so we took a quick spin on that ride and DD2 (who is 3 1/2) blew me away w/ her score!

Now its... You guessed it, LUNCH TIME! I was so hungry! 2 granola bars and a Dr. Pepper was probably not the best breakfast I could have started the day with... We decided to try the Plaza Inn, it looks cute and has fried chicken so I was there! The fried chicken meal is huge! We ordered 1 adult meal and 1 kids meal and had more than enough chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and apple slices for me and the girls. DH tried the penne pasta and said it was pretty good. He is usually good to go if pasta is available at a restaurant. I really made a piggy of myself eating lunch and it was good for cafeteria style food. I don't know why I was thinking it was a sit-down and order place.

DH and the girls wanted to ride POTC again so after lunch we again headed to that side of the park. We ran into a cute little guy on our way over:

Aladdin!

He was very sweet and talked to the girls for several minutes. DD2 acted like she didn't need to meet him at first but when he found out she had Jasmine on her shirt he got her to loosen up and she gave him a hug.

POTC was a walk-on and oh, I just love the smell of that ride! The whole Adventure Land/ NOS / Critter Country side of the park has a great smell. It varies from the watery smell of POTC and Splash to the great food smells from Bengal BBQ, Cafe Orleans, and Pooh's Corner! We spent more time on this side of the park this trip it seemed than we ever have before and I really enjoyed it. I love the atmosphere.

DD2 wanted to take her Papi on the Pooh ride (who had never ridden it before?! He must always do *big rides while I take the kids). So Pooh it was. I couldn't believe there was a wait for Pooh! Granted it was around 5 minutes but in the past its always been walk right on. DH was surprised it was a dark ride, he was expecting something more like Heimlich's Chew Chew train I guess, but thought it was cute. DD2 was mad when we had to get off after only 1 ride, lol, she remembered riding twice in a row the previous morning.

We made a stop in Pooh's Corner and drooled over all the cute little treats they have in there. I still have not tried a Tigger Tale, I guess its the orange chocolate and marshmellow that turns me off but they sure are cute. I snapped this pic:

The Mickey candy apples have to be the CUTEST treat I've ever seen! DH chose a huge cookie, I got a rice krispy treat, and the girls picked some huge twirly lollipops. Everything was of course GOOD!

Coming out of the store we saw a VERY SCARY looking critter hanging around. I wasn't even sure if the girls would want their picture with it/him....but they did:

Look at the teeth on that thing! I am guessing that is Brer Fox? This dude could be Brer Bear?

If someone knows for sure let me know so I can get it right in the scrapbook.

We walked around some more and hung around NOS for a bit and then decided it would be a good time to head back to the hotel for a break. As we got closer to Main Street though I remembered that Alice and Mad Hatter often do a game at Coke Corner and stopped to ask a CM if he thought they'd be around that day. He couldn't say for sure but said they usually are. It was just about 2pm so I decided we would wait and see. DH got us some Vanilla Cokes and ice waters and we settled in on the patio there to wait.

 

[shishigirl]

I just started reading and love your trip report! Cute pics! I love the matching outfits! Your girls are so cute! We are headed down in 3 weeks and I wanted to see Alice and the Mad Hatter thing when we went, so I Can't wait to see how it went for you guys!

 

[kokotg]

I'm really enjoying your TR! Your girls are adorable! We're staying at the Hojo in September, so my boys were very interested in seeing the pool pictures

 

[TinyDancer]

I don't know but I'm sure they have something similar at WDW?...

Maybe? i hope so! I need to check over there & see..

 

[TinyDancer]

I want to work at Disney, do you think they would hire me?

 

[DizNee Luver]

Caught up on the TR!!

The HoJo Pool is awesome....I've seen it from the street, but not up close. My kids would love it & would make taking breaks mid-day much easier if they had that to go back to!!
Bummer that you got a dud server at ESPN Zone..... we've been lucky & had good service everytime (and good job missing the mobs of people coming in!!)

I loved the story of your DD after she got off Indy......eyes closed....been there, done that!!

The BBQ set-up is just asking for problems...they leave the thing wide open so kids see the characters in there, but then they won't let you in unless you're eating....pretty hard for the kiddos to understand that. The prices is what kept us from going!!

You got to see the same Fawn & Tink we did in March!!! I love seeing "familiar" faces in other's pics.

YES, that was Brer Fox & Brer Bear!! My kids love them (especially my 19 yr old).

Looks good so far, can't wait to see the rest!!!

 

[momto2nenas]

So its the 2nd 1/2 of Day 2 and as we were heading back to the HoJo for an afternoon rest, I remembered that Alice and Mad Hatter usually do a game w/ the kids at 2:30 at Coke Corner. We decided to stop and wait (and REST!) to see if they would show up. I did not mention this to the girls, I didn't want them disappointed if they did not show up.

I snapped this picture while we were waiting, the wait times are SO short for 2pm! The CM actually lowered the wait times on 2 rides right after I took the picture!

So 2:30 is fast approaching, I'm draining my Vanilla Coke and keeping an eye over towards the BabyCenter where I know the CM and Characters usually "magically appear" and sure enough, here they came! I grabbed up th camera and towed my little ones over to where they were gathering up children and setting up chairs. Most of the kids had no idea what was going on and didn't want to play even as Alice was literally dragging them to the chairs, it was funny.

My 2 jumped right into the fun (in the purple tshirts):

And were having a fun time when my youngest suddenly felt a little shy or nervous not sure which and wanted out of the game. Alice held her hand for several rounds and tried to keep her playing but it eventually went to this:

And she ran back to Mommy and we watched big sister play for several more rounds. Actually I was about to suggest she get out on purpose b/c this was going on 30 mins. when she became the next "Un-Winner" and they put her on stage to tell a joke.

She couldn't think of one fast enough and when I suggested one to her Mad Hatters suggested MOMMY tell the joke instead and I was put on the spot and quickly told the first Knock Knock joke that came to mind.. We said our goodbyes to our "new friends" and then headed up Main Street to get back to the hotel.

The bed in our room never looked so comfy and I quickly claimed a spot and every single pillow in the room under all body parts, and about 3 under my feet and legs. Once I was properly "cushioned" and DH brought me a literal bucket of ice water and a cup, he took the girls down to Pirates Cove to swim and play for about an hour. I relaxed as long as I could (watching I think Judge Judy or a similar court show) drank ALL the water DH had left for me, then put on my own swimsuit so I could go down and soak my legs and feet in the Garden Pool for a little while. It felt wonderful! I sat on the edge of the pool until DH and the girls came back from Pirates Cove.

We let them play a little bit longer in the Garden Pool and then had them take showers at the outdoor ones provided so we could just get dressed once we got back to our room. The girls wanted to wear their Disney costumes for the 2nd 1/2 of the day, especially since we were watching the parade so DD1 donned herself as Jasmine and DD2 became Minnie Mouse.

We walked back to Disneyland around 5:15 and decided on Cafe Orleans for dinner. I had not gotten enough of the Monte Cristo the previous day at Blue Bayou. We did not have Priority Seating and requested an outdoor table and the wait was still less than 10 minutes. I ordered the Monte Cristo, DH the Ceasar salad, and the girls again shared the mac-n-cheese w/ fruit and we all ate every single bite! DH was kinda surprised when he went to ask for a bite of my MC and realized I'd eated all 4 pieces already, lol. I'm eating for 2 remember!

After dinner it was time to get seats the Celebrate A Street Parade. We knew we wanted to watch from around IASW so we headed that way around 6:30 and grabbed a seat just as they were putting up the ropes in front of Storybook Land Canal Boats. DH and DD1 headed over to ToonTown to look around and see what they could ride while DD2 and I held our spot. I took this pic of DD2 in her Minnie dress while we waited:

DH and DD2 managed to ride Roger Rabbit's ToonSpin and came back about 5mins. 'til 7pm (when the parade was starting). DD2 of course declared she needed to go potty "really really bad" at that moment so we had to hightail it across Fantasyland to the bathrooms beside the Pinnochio restuarant, (I remembered from the day before they close the Alice bathrooms during the parade..?!). We made it back just in time fore the music to start and the girls were up and dancing right away!

With just a little prompting from the CMs DD1 was soon a part of the parade!

She danced around, then did the Conga line, and they both got to beat on some drums towards the end. It was a cute parade but NOTHING compared to Parade of Dreams and I really hope this is a temp. thing b/c of Year to Celebrate or whatever. Kids really get involved but most adults were just standing around watching or video-ing their own kids.

The floats were cute but not as nicely done as I think they could have been.

We were hoping the Woody and Jesse float would stop in front of us, but at our location we actually got the very 1st float in the parade and after they all jumped on after all the dancing they all flew by in a hurry so you really don't get to see much.

Next up was the Teacups! We can't get enough of this ride. I had the girls ride 1st w/ just DH so they could spin as much as they wanted since Mommy is kinda a party-pooper in that aspect, lol. Then I rode with the girls. It was about 7:30 at this point and we didn't want to leave but couldn't think of what else to do when DD1 suggested Autotopia, which is something we've never done before so DH and DD1 headed that way while DD2 and I stayed to watch the Teacups spin for a little while longer. I was waiting for them to turn the lanterns on b/c I've never seen the Teacups at night! Finally they did but it wasn't quite dark enough to get the full effect but they were still very pretty.

DD2 and I walked over to Autotopia where the sign said 30 min. wait. We found our other stroller and left a note for DH that we'd be in front of the castle waiting. We picked a bench and sat and looked at the castle which was now lit up and people watched.

This ended up being one of my favorite pictures of th trip, its actually dark but not using the flash on my camera made it seem like there was still daylight?...

DH and DD2 showed up around 8:20 and we made the walk back up Main Street and said goodbye to Disneyland for the night.

When we got back to the HoJo I again stopped in at the front desk to see if they had received the fax my mom was sending of her Entertainment Card that I needed for the Ent. rate remember?.... Well they had not received it. I was a *tad concerned but it was still only Wednesday and we had until Friday and a fax only taxes a few seconds right... right?! We'll see, in the meantime I called my mom to see if she'd sent it and she said yes, earlier that afternoon. I decided I'd wait and check again in the morning and she said she would send it again when she got to work the next day.

We got back to the room and the girls again were fast asleep by 9:15 and DH and I followed very soon after!

Another great day at Disneyland!

 

[onelilspark]

Your girls are adorable! The polka dot outfits on the first day are so cute!

 

[cinderella-princess]

I love your trip report! Your daughters are so cute and all of your pictures and descriptions are making me want to be in Disneyland right now! I can't wait to read more.

 

[momto2nenas]

Today will be our final day at the parks, We were able to go thanks to the Salute to the Troops promotion and for Disneyland that included 3 day Park Hoppers. While beggars can't be choosers (or discounters in our case, lol) I wish Disneyland offered the 5 day tickets like at WDW AND that the promotion was throughout the year instead of just through June 12th.

ANYWAY... we are SO thankful that we DID get to go and enjoy a trip just the 4 of us for the final time. Not that I am not already looking forward to our next trip w/ Baby #3 in tow, but its a different experience when you take a baby - still amazing - just different.

On this beautiful Thursday morning, we woke up at 7:30am, finally sleeping in a little. I figured we'd all get adjusted to Pacific time right about the time we head back to Central time, lol. I had the alarm set for 7:49am so again, the alarm never got the chance to go off. DH woke up feeling under the weather, as in pretty sick. He blames the A/C unit in our hotel room but the girls and I were not affected so I'm guessing it was probably allergies, there are TONS of beautiful flowers and plants all over the HoJo property as well as in/around the Disneyland resort and he is usually affected by allergies when we move (every 3 years, we're military remember) so I am guessing we were there just long enough for them to set in. I jokingly told him he had *Swine Flu* and he said definately not. I say jokingly but it didn't stop me from asking him his symptoms every hour the entire day... No fever so that was our best sign.

The girls enjoyed their breakfast at the little table by the balcony while I readied the outfits for the day and the cameras, etc. DH was definately moving slow so we tried to stay out of his way the best you can w/ 4 people in 1 room, lol. Our first stop was AGAIN to the front desk to see if the fax from my mom had came through... it had not. We check out TOMORROW and the fax is not coming through?! It made no sense to us or the front desk. I called my mom she said YES I sent it first thing this morning. She works at the courthouse and was using an "official" fax machine, getting the confirmation print out, etc. The dude at the HoJo gave me their back office fax number and said try again. He didn't remember getting any faxes to their regular machine so maybe there was a problem on their end. I asked what would happen if the fax does NOT arrive before 11am tomorrow morning when we check out and they told me we'd be charged the regular room rate of $129 a night vs. the Ent. rate of $69... No way! We could have stayed at Paradise Pier w/ the miltary discount for that price! A "most helpful" girl at the desk told me I could also take a taxi to any local grocery store and buy an Entertainment book b/c all I needed to do what show them the card. This is so frustrating but we were on our way to the parks so we'd worry about that later and have my mom fax it AGAIN to the new number.

At 9:20 we arrived at the gates of California Adventure, we were 2nd in line! The game plan was Soarin' right away, getting Fast Passes for later after, and then waiting for rope drop to head straight to Toy Story Midway Mania! We are big Toy Story fans so we were really looking forward to the new ride!

9:30 they open the gates and we are off to Soarin'! This is my FAVORITE ride in California Adventure, possibly in all of Disneyland as well and DD1 also loved it AND it would be DD2's first time! So exciting! We went staight through the que and were loaded onto the FIRST ROW, the FIRST RIDE of the day! Amazing! I could sit and "ride" on Soarin' for an hour straight if I had the chance, I love it that much. The breeze, the smells, the sights, I just love it all. We drove from San Francisco, CA to San Antonio, TX 2 summers ago so we got to see several of the "sights" on Soarin', it makes it that much better!

 

[jakoky]

Hey, my dh woke up "sick" on the friday(the 8th)...all day he sneezed and nose ran...i kept checking his symptoms too and the "u have swine flu" went around...we turned off the air conditioner and next day, he was totally fine...weird ..

As for you forgetting your entertainment card, i did the same thing..my dh and ds thought i was insane, i started throwing things out of my backpack and purse looking for it...i went down to the front dest at the HOJO, and i was calmly asked if i had the receipt for buying the book, and i did, saved on my computer...i printed it, and that was all they needed...If i didnt have it, i was told i could buy the book online ($15) and give them that receipt...they put my mind at ease so quickly and within minutes it was taken care of...they were great...

enjoying your report as you were there some of our dates...

 

[TinyDancer]

LOVE the pic of Alice hugging DD2!!!!!!

 

[TinyDancer]

I cannot wait to ride Soarin'!!!

 

[momto2nenas]

Hey, my dh woke up "sick" on the friday(the 8th)...all day he sneezed and nose ran...i kept checking his symptoms too and the "u have swine flu" went around...we turned off the air conditioner and next day, he was totally fine...weird ..

As for you forgetting your entertainment card, i did the same thing..my dh and ds thought i was insane, i started throwing things out of my backpack and purse looking for it...i went down to the front dest at the HOJO, and i was calmly asked if i had the receipt for buying the book, and i did, saved on my computer...i printed it, and that was all they needed...If i didnt have it, i was told i could buy the book online ($15) and give them that receipt...they put my mind at ease so quickly and within minutes it was taken care of...they were great...

enjoying your report as you were there some of our dates...

My DH swears it was the A/C, maybe it was moldy in there?

I'm glad I'm not alone in the Ent. card deal, lol. It worked out for us to in the end... I'll get to that one Day 4.

 

[momto2nenas]

DARN IT! I just erased my whole post! I spilled a whole glass of water across my desk and keyboard and while I'm trying to clean it up my post ended up in Never Never Land

I left off kinda in the middle of my last post b/c I wasn't watching the time, oops. So 2 strikes for today but the Trip Report must go on!

We had just ridden Soarin' and went to get Fast Passes to ride it again later in the day. 3 tickets worked just fine, but my ticket apparently had no been scanned properly (basically not at all) that morning and would not give me a FP. DH said not to worry about it b/e he didn't need to ride Soarin' again (what?!) so we were fine w/ the 3.

Now I've read on here that the CM will walk you to Toy Story Midway Mania after rope drop to keep folks in an orderly fashion. On this Thursday morning the CM said it was a low attendance day and that wouldn't be necessary. Even though at 10am when the roped dropped we quickly made our way to Paradise Pier for TSMM. There was no line yet but the que was so LONG, I mean looooong that it seemed like we were waiting. I bet it gets pretty toasty waiting in there during the heat of the day and can't imagine when its full of people on weekends and especially this summer!

The ride was cute, it was fun to see all the characters from the movies in their different roles in the game. I was disappointed in the way the cars are set up b/c I never got to see DH or DD1 since they were on the backside of our car. The ride is also really rough! I wasn't expecting that and was slammed against the side of the car several times, 1 time really smashing my shoulder so much it hurt for the next 2 days! I was worried about my DDs since they are so small but I guess it was just me who's balance was off b/c they did fine. DD2 blew me away again in this game (she's 3!). My accuracy rate was higher than her's but she must have been firing like crazy!

There was still no line when our ride was finished but none of us cared to ride it again. DH went to ride Screamin' and the girls and I started the walk around Paradise Pier to see what was next. I was surprised to see Mickey's Sunwheel running since it was on the schedule to still be under refurb. The CM said it reopened that Monday (May 4th). We picked a stationary car (I've heard horror stories about the swinging cars!) and went for a ride to the top! (Notice the girls' shirts! I made them the week before our trip and was so proud of myself! )

The view from the top is pretty cool, and I imagine on a clear day (do they have those in LA/Anaheim ?) you can see the mountains and off into the distance. We could see all of the park and the surrounding resort hotels and of course the big empty Paradise Bay. Man is there a lot of construction going on in there! I was impressed w/ the number of workers they had in there. Its hard to imagine what they are doing but they are definately working hard at it! We also saw this dude standing around:

Oh wait, that's DH! He had finished Screamin' and saw the stroller and was waiting for us. After the ferris wheel, I mean sun wheel, I mean FUN WHEEL DD2 and I needed a potty break (such a trend this trip!) and DH and DD1 went to ride Mulholland's Madness. The ride makes much more sense now that we know about Mulholland Drive, lol. We are still so California uneducated . We took a picture w/ this huge dino:

Not sure what the point is w/ him, but I read on here that he is on his way out or may already be gone from the parks so I guess that will be our picture for prosperity or whatever. I think I remember a huge dinosaur out in the desert from a movie or something... Anyway, next was Golden Zephyr (which in my notes I have written Silver Zephyr, lol). This ride was basically the same as Astro Orbitor, but DD2 really liked it and that's what's important! I got a good picture of her:

Everything was new to her this trip which really made it magical. She was barely 22 months old last trip so she doesn't remember anything. I loved seeing the excitement and the wonder on her face at so many things. There were times when I'd think she was overwhelmed b/c she'd just sit in her stroller and stare, not say anything, but then I'd realize she was just taking it all in and loving it! That's what I love about these trips, for the girls at these ages everything is MAGIC!

And what is the best thing in California Adventure for little children? A Bug's Land of course!

We watched the 3-D show "Its Tough to be a Bug" first. The girls are used to these types of shows b/c we've seen the ones at SeaWorld so many times. You still aren't prepared for the water and other effects, lol. The stink bug - GROSS!

We asked a CM if you can still meet Atta or Flik and unfortunately - no. You can only see them in the Pixar Play Parade. We were sad to hear that, A Bug's Life is one of our favorite Pixar movies. Bring back Flik and Atta! Maybe they'll do A Bug's Life 2 and revamp their popularity?!....

Heimlich's Chew Chew train was talked about A LOT during the planning of our trip. DD1 remembers everything and told little sister all about it. Even though its a super slow ride, its done so cute and the smells are amazing! I love the animal crackers (matter of fact, we just got one of those huge tubs of Disney animal crackers at Costco and they smell just like the ride!).

DH took the girls on the rest of the rides while I sat in the shade for a little while (even the shade is super cute, huge clovers!) - again determined to take things at a slower pace today so I didn't burn out before the end of the day. I did still manage to take plenty of pictures of them
Tuck and Roll's Drive Em Buggies:

Flik's Flyers:

They also rode Francis' Ladybug Boogie, which pretty much is the last ride in A Bug's Land. The water park areas looked tempting since it was getting warmer and warmer (maybe I should say hotter and hotter) but the shirts I made were iron-ons and I didn't want to risk them falling apart before lunch, lol

Speaking of lunch, it was lunchtime! We debated for several minutes where to eat. I really wanted to eat at Carnation Cafe this trip but the walk over there seemed too daunting at the time. Taste Pilots Grill wasn't that great last time we ate there, Storyteller's Cafe I think is always good but DH wasn't pleased w/ it our last trip so White Water Snacks it was! We had not eaten there before but it sounded quick and reasonably priced so it was settled. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and fries, pretty tasty but could have used some buffalo sauce, lol Not sure what DH had, and the girls shared the chicken nuggest and fruit. I did not do well w/ the picture taking of food this trip. Everytime I thought to take a picture I was already 1/2 way through my meal and didn't think anyone wanted to see pics of my 1/2 eaten plate! DH was not going to remind me either since last time I made him wait till I took pictures of everything before he could take a bite.

On our way back through the turnstiles, I explained to the CM that my card wasn't working for FP distro and he made sure to activate it this time. Next up was meeting the Cars characters and then on to Holllywood Pictures Backlot!

 

[KristiP]

I love the mickey shirts your girls have on!!!
Did you make them.
Your trip report is good

 

[momto2nenas]

The Cars characters now have "handlers" which I found quite annoying. I know its more for the sake of PhotoPass but they just seemed to make the line longer (when I've never noticed a line before!) and were confusing people.

We wanted to watch the 1:50pm showing of Aladdin and we still had plenty of time before we needed to line up for the show. DH and DD1 went to ride Tower of Terror. DD1 had ridden it last trip when she was only 4 and at the time said never again, but the exitement (or the promise of souveniers later) got the best of her and she went off w/ her Papi to ride. DD2 and I went into the Animation Building to look around and also soak up the air conditioning. The Turtle Talk with Crush show was just about to start so we went in there to pass the time. Its a cute show and I get the "turtle talk" and all but it was kinda annoying to me all the shaas and dudes so I was pleasantly surprised when DD2 turned to me and said "Lets leave, I only like the movie" At least I'd gotten to sit down for 5 or 10 minutes.

We strolled along Hollywood Blvd. checking for characters of course and were not disappointed! We were the last in line before the CM started turning people away to meet these INCREDIBLE characters!

DH and DD1 had just found us when it was our turn to meet Mr and Mrs - great timing! I asked DD1 how was ToT and she just said "Eh". I looked to DH and he said she kept her eyes closed the whole time, ha! Well at least she did it and wasn't traumatized right?

We got in the line for Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular and thankfully were just close enough to the building to get some shade. We had a good 20 minutes to wait so I took a seat on the ground and tried to keep the girls occupied. Once inside the theater we got decent seats on the far left side of the theater, I was worried we would miss the flying carpet scene b/c we were under the overhang but was more thankful for the space beside me where I could stretch our and even prop up my feet on my camera bag. The girls took off their shoes and socks too and we all rested and enjoyed the show.

If you have not seen the Aladdin show you MUST DO SO! It is so good, the special effects are so nicely done, the characters are all beautiful, and the Genie - well he is just hilarious I love how he stays up to date w/ his comments. At one point he stopped completely what he was doing and pretending to text - Aladdin stood there looking confused and Genie said "What? I'm Twittering" It was great. The show is just long enough to give the whole storyline but also keep the interest of the little viewers. Usually when we go to the movies my 3 yr. old loses interest about an hour into the movie, I think the Aladdin show is just about 50 minutes so perfect!

The flying carpet scene is my favorite and I LOVE the song "A Whole New World". We had to lean out and look up to see them flying but at least we got to see!

I didn't play with the settings on my camera at all, so these were taken on auto w/ the flash turned off:

Its now midday and while I am feeling pretty good for the most part, DH is not. The cold/allergies/*Swine Flu* he woke up with was really dragging him down today. I wanted to watch the Drawn to the Magic show that was starting soon and there was a fruit and drink stand right next to it so he loaded up on Vitamin C while the girls and I snuck as the previous show was just ending. I mainly wanted to go just b/c I know there are character meet and greets at the end and Woody is usually one of them. Well not anymore remember if you want to meet Woody you have to pay $100 per family for some BBQ first... HOWEVER on this particular day he was replaced with Peter Pan!

We have never met Peter Pan before and I was excited! He was pretty cute in a pixish sort of way and was true to character w/ his kinda bored attitude. Mickey from Fantasia was also there and Cinderella. We got in the line to meet Mickey wehn the CM caught on that some of us had not seen the show I guess and said the characters had to leave but would be back after the next show, yadda yadda yadda. DH was fine to sit and wait for the next show, so we left him there with his Powerade, fruit cup, and orange and went to use our FastPasses for Soarin'!

We had maybe a 5-10 minute wait in the FP line and were seated in the 3rd row this time. DD1 was upset b/c you could see feet hanging but I told her just focus right in front of you and don't let that ruin your experience! I did not want to get off when it was over and made a mental note to try and ride it 1 more time before we left.

When we got back to the Drawn to the Magic show it had already started but DH had a whole bench saved for us, they sing and draw and the characters come out to the surprise of most their watching:

When it was over I lined the girls up in the middle row - knowing that would be Mickey's line and he was all we needed to meet (we'd met Cinderella on Day 1 at PFF). The CM here was trying to keep everyone organized but was doing a poor job and ended up just yelling and waving her arms around and most did not pay attention. We got our picture and that was that.

 

[momto2nenas]

We decided we'd skip the midday break at the hotel since this was our last day in the parks, especially since we got to sit for the Aladdin show and recoup - so it was back to Disneyland! My girls had picked out the gifts they wanted on Day 1 and I told them we'd wait until the last day to make sure that was REALLY what they wanted. DD1 had talked about nothing else the whole trip but Baby Simba. She has a good eye and noticed the Emporium said TOYS in huge letters so that had to be our first stop.

It took them all of 20 seconds to spot all the plush "babies" and DD1 of course grabbed up baby Simba. They had lots of the characters as babies and they are all wrapped in their own special blanket, very cute! DD2 had baby Minnie from the last trip so it took her awhile to decide which one she wanted this time. She decided on baby Marie from Aristocats, so sweet but totally WHITE -yikes. They also each picked out a necklace from the jewelry shop, DD1 picked a Tickerbell locket and DD2 got her name on a chain w/ a Mickey head dotting the "i". (DD1 has the same necklace w/ her name from 6 years ago when a friend of MILs when to WDW and got it for her).

*Funny story about DD2's baby Marie. Like I said she was completely white and DD2 is not the neatest child on the planet. I was hoping she'd stay white for at least a week or two... Well later on DH took the girls through Tarzan's Treehouse again and when they got finished DD2 had a sad look on her face. I asked what happened and she showed me her WHITE cat was now mostly grey and brown on the underside with dirt! I said what happened to your white kitty?! She dropped her at some point and then stepped on her and well, she's 3, you know how these things go. DH just had to laugh and said "Your Aristocat is now an Alley Cat." Funniest thing I heard all day!*

I picked out a keychain and a new Minnie Mouse antennae topper. My last one was taken off when we had our car in the shop and it was never returned.. DH is not into souveniers he just supplied the Disney Visa so we could get 10% off our total purchase!

Another thing the girls had not stopped talking about was Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. I said AFTER we go to the castle and take some pictures, amazingly their white tshirts had stayed white all day! (although one of Minnie's black bows was sagging on my oldest's shirt..)

There weren't too many people crowding the castle and even though the sun was not in the best position for picture taking we made do and got some cute pics:

I finally found a PhotoPass photographer and he took this family picture w/ my camera as well as several for our PP card.

About PhotoPass: BEFORE it was made "illegal" to do a share her on the Dis, I joined a group going in May. I really was on the lookout for PhotoPass photographers during our trip and there just didn't seem to be too many. They were w/ most of the more popular characters and of course around the castle and the main entrances of both Disneyland and California Adventure but that was it. I can take all those pictures myself and do a better job! I really wanted the "custom" pictures where they put Tinkerbell in the girls' hands and fighting w/ Captain Hook or hitchhiking w/ the ghosts at HM....maybe this summer when the crowds pick up there will be more of them. We did manage to get pics of the girls w/ Tink in front of the castle, and sitting w/ Mickey and Minnie on a bench near the Partners statue but I had to specifically ask and tell the photographer what it was I wanted. The 2 pictures that turned out really cute will be worth the $$ I paid for the share but there is no way I'd order a $60 or more CD for the pictures they took. All this is just my opinion and like I said was all set up BEFORE the mods said no more photo shares. Okey-dokey?

So now that Mommy's got her pictures my little darlings can have their Mickey ice creams and another frozen banana for me sounds good too. We sat at a table near Coke Corner to relax and eat.

DH still not feeling too good went and got us a huge Vanilla Coke to share before I informed him I'm not getting *Swine Flu* and he'd have to drink it himself.. I still hadn't tried a Cherry Coke and have heard the cherry syrup is made special for Disneyland so I went to try one (it was good!) and guess who was hanging out there again?!

It was later in the day so I guess game time was over but them posing made for a better photo op anyway. We also saw this beautiful lady:

DD2 felt so special b/c Mary Poppins let her hold her UMBRELLA!

Cokes drank and ice creams devoured we headed over to the Tiki Tiki Room where the birds all sing and the flowers croon. The girls really like the show or else we'd probably skip it, once you've seen it - you've seen it, kwim? The song is quite catchy though and is also on our CD so the girls sang along word for word!

Finishing up the day we (or in some cases DH and DD1) again rode: Haunted Mansion, POTC, BTMRR, and climbed Tarzan's Treehouse all with no wait. A perfect way to round out our day and trip by repeating so many of our favorites. I took some pictures of NOS while the family was climbing Tarzan's Treehouse. Oh how I'd love to stay in the Dream Suite and get to stay in this part of the park ALL NIGHT!

I was sad knowing that our final day in Disneyland was coming to an end and while I probably could have eaten a Monte Cristo again for dinner we decided to find somewhere to eat along Harbor Blvd. on the way back to the HoJo.

We said our goodbyes to Disneyland and made the slow walk back up Main Street. I took these pictures on the way out:

As we walked back towards Harbor we talked about what was our favorites and just reminisced about the past 3 days. We decided on Mimi's again for dinner and the wait was just about 15 mins. The girls went w/ chocolate chip pancakes this time, DH had a salad (all he wanted to do at this point is go to bed poor guy), and I had the blackened chicken blue cheese quesadillas that I always get at Mimi's. They are SO much better at the Mimi's on Harbor than the one we have in Texas for some reason.

We got back to the hotel and AGAIN I stop in at the front desk to check on my fax. Fax? What Fax? You haven't received any fax..... Too tired to care, I said I'd check again in the morning and went to our room. I called my mom again who assured me YES she'd sent it again and to the new number they had told us to use. It was just more frustrating than you can imagine. WHY haven't any of the 4+ faxes come through? Was there some kind of conspiracy to make us have to pay the full room rate? Was someone throwing them away on accident? Where they getting lost in the great unknown between Ohio and California? I told DH we'd just take a taxi home from breakfast the next morning and buy a darn book at the grocery store. We all took showers and went straight to bed. Our Disneyland Parks adventure may have been over but the Disney magic was NOT! We were going to eat breakfast in the morning with Lilo and Stitch a much planned and waited for experience that we were all excited about!

 

[momto2nenas]

I love the mickey shirts your girls have on!!!
Did you make them.
Your trip report is good

Thank you! I'm trying to keep it interesting.

I did make the shirts both from Day 1 and Day 3!

 

[momto2nenas]

Our final day in California, I was totally exhausted from all the fun and walking but was not looking forward to leaving. We had 9am PS at PCH Grill with Lilo and Stitch and STILL needed to get the whole Entertainment card thing figured out. My mom was faxing it again as soon as she got to work that morning, so it should have came in Pacific Time around 6am.

We again woke up before the alarm but tried to let DH sleep as long as possible as he felt worse than the day before. Since we were going to eat breakfast the girls had more time on their hands than previous mornings when they ate in the room so that was also a challenge. I also needed to be completely packed so we could check out as soon as we got back and catch the shuttle back to LAX.

We were ready to go by 8:15 and stopped in at the front desk to see if the mysterious fax had arrived or what else were our options. I spoke w/ a very nice guy named Rick, explained the situation, told him my mom had faxed it almost twice a day since Tuesday morning and sent it to the "back office" that morning around 6am. He went to check and...... no fax. NO FAX! What the heck?! I guess he could tell my distress and said "Let me just put a note in your reservation that the Ent. card was confirmed... okay done! Now you shouldn't have a problem when you check out later today." WHAT?! I was so thankfully and relieved! He said, "You should have spoken with me first" and just smiled. Well I guess! That was a huge worry lifted off our shoulders and on that note we floated away to the Paradise Pier for breakfast.

We debated calling a cab vs. walking but didn't want the expense twice so we said we'd decided after breakfast if we needed one back or else just walk. The walk was nice and while it was a little sad to see all the crowds of people lining up for the park, I was glad we weren't waiting in that line or going to fight crowds all day b/c it was a Friday and those are usually busier days.

We followed Bumbershoot's directions (thank you, Molly!) through downtown Disney - left at Sephora, through GCH, across the street to Paradise Pier and checked in for our PS. We were seated right away and my first thought was what an icky table! We were in the very back corner next to the kitchen.... I do NOT like sitting next to the kitchen or bathrooms in any restaurant. As long as we still got interaction w/ the characters though I would not complain, and I'm not one to sit by and wait for characters, I am actually what you'd call a "Character Chaser" lol so I was going to make sure my girls got to meet ALL of them there that morning.

First up was Lilo herself! She was at the front entrance at the little picture spot they have set up:

Lilo was SO cute! We lived in Hawaii for 3 years before we moved to San Antonio so my girls are still really into Hawaii, Lilo, and anything island style.

Stitch was next, he came over to our table and was playing around w/ DD1 and she wasn't sure what to expect. Usually characters pose, you take a pic, and move on but this was an "interactive" character meal and I should have prepared them better, lol.

Now the MAIN reason we were doing the Lilo&Stitch breakfast was so my DH could meet Stitch. It was more of a joke between us than a true desire for him to meet Stitch but I was glad we got to do it! Last year around this time DH was studying for promotion testing w/ the Air Force. One day he was reading and the kids' Stitch toy was laying around and he picked it up and said "This is how I feel all this studying" lol I told him, you make promotion and we'll go to Disneyland to celebrate and take you to meet Stitch. From then on Stitch became his "Study Buddy" and the girls or I would make sure he had him at all times while studying and sure enough, he made promotion! So when I called and made PS for the breakfast they asked What were we celebrating and I said my husband's military promotion. I guess I didn't mention that to DH b/c when we got there and checked in they told him congratulations on the promotion and gave us all I'm Celebrating pins and he was kinda surprised. It was cute!

So we took "Study Buddy" along and I got a picture of DH w/ him and the *real Stitch!

The food at PCH Grill was pretty good, not *very good, but pretty good. There was as huge selection and I was just happy to see BACON! I love bacon! DH was so sick he didn't have much of an appetite so he ordered the fruit and yogurt plate of the menu instead of getting the buffet and saved us probably $20!

The girls ate a little bit of everything, even the cereal, lol. Like they hadn't had enough cereal this week in the hotel room! I took lots of pics of the food:

The banana french toast was really good, the bacon nice and crispy, the fruit all fresh and cold (I don't like room temp. fruit), the omlette station chef was very nice and made my girls "dippy" eggs (over-easy). There were lots of things we did not try as we only like traditional breakfast food, but my girls ate about 3 plates each and a bowl of cereal so I think we got our money's worth. FYI, you have to ask your server for toast and milk, the toast was really good. It was just wheat toast w/ butter but was so good!

Throughout the meal if a new character came in or when they called the kids over for the entertainment parts we would take a break from eating and then go back and eat some more.

Lilo came by our table and posed w/ each of my girls doing the Shaka:

and then they all went to do the hula together:

Daisy came out and was posing for pictures so we made sure to meet her since she was a character we have never gotten to meet before. She was very interactive w/ the girls and made a big fuss over their hairbows, she pretended to adjust her's just so before she'd let me take a picture, lol

Stitch was up next doing the Island Hop and a conga line:

He stuck around for a family picture:

And then Minnie came out in her tropical dress, we just though she was so cute!

We'd met all the characters that would be appearing that day and were STUFFED from so much food so it was time to head back to HoJo for the final time. We decided to walk mainly b/c we were so full and because we needed to pass a little bit of time before checkout.

We stopped by the front desk to get a luggage cart and at the mini-mart so DH could find some cold and allergy meds to take on the plane so he could sleep. Most everything was non-drowsy - I guess people on vacation want to be awake for their vacation, lol but for about $8 he did find some Benadryl and could not wait to take it! (He did wait until we were at the airport since he'd be doing all the loading, unloading, lifting, etc. of our bags.)

Everything was packed and ready to go in the room, we loaded up the cart for DH to bring down and the girls and I went to the lobby to use the internet until it was time for our shuttle which comes every 40 minutes after the hour. DH stayed in the room to rest until time to leave. I could not get a connection on the computer in the lobby - it must have been just that PC b/c the lady beside me had no problem. so we went outside to wait instead. DH came down around 20 after and a Disneyland Express bus pulled up almost at the same time. It was early so we asked was it the right but and the driver said normally no, but he was going staight to LAX and we could ride! While we loaded our bags the driver ran into the mini-mart I guess to grab some lunch, lol and then we were off.

It was so relaxing not having to drive, watch for the right exits, and especially not installing carseats and the unistall etc. We decided from now on we'll take the shuttle it was just that easy.

We made it to LAX w/ in the hour and got dropped right at the Southwest terminal. Backs checked, security walk through and all we had left to do was wait for our plane...we were 2 hours early!

The girls had plenty to keep them occupied in their backpacks, we ate lunch, I went to Starbucks, several trips to the potty, and then our plane came in. I had to get gate claims for the strollers and the guy behind the desk kinda off-handedly asked if I was pregnant.. well DUH, lol. He said sorry I had to ask but sometimes you can't tell and since you are you qualify as a temporary disability and you can pre-board the aircraft. Alrighty then! That works for us! I went and got DH and the kids and we got to board right away!

The flight home was much smoother than the flight out and about 3 hours later we were landing in San Antonio. Our Disneyland trip was officially over.

We had such a great time and the girls have not stopped talking about it. Every so often one of them will say I wish we were in Disneyland or I wish we could ride Pirates today. As of right now there are no trips in the works. It would be super awesome if Disney extended the Military Salute for next year and we would get to go again! If not we'll probably plan on 2011 which sounds so FAR AWAY!

In the meantime, I'll be hanging out here at the Dis, keeping the Disney spirit alive and living through other's trip reports. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed our report as Our Final Trip as a Family of Four.

Here's a brief recap of what we accomplished each day:

Day 1: 16 rides
9 characters
1 attraction
1 parade
Blue Bayou

Day 2: 13 rides
8 characters
1 parade
1 attraction
Cafe Orleans

Day 3: 16 rides
10 characters
3 shows (Aladdin, Tough to be a Bug, Drawn to the Magic)
2 attractions

Day 4: 4 characters
PCH Grill Aloha breakfast