Trip of a lifetime.....Disney Christmas, Birthday, Food * BIG & final update!

[LizfromOz]

I've really enjoyed your trip report and was wondering where you'd gotten to!
Your pictures bring back all of my happy memories from my trip in 2009. We are planning a holiday next year too, once you've been to Disneyland you're hooked

looking forward to reading more about your trip

Liz

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Seems like the posting gods are against me.........................just had to buy a new laptop

Now, I don't think we will have any more interuptions......... think positive people!!!!

I came across some pics that should have been included in the Knottsberry Farm section, so thought I best add them in!

These were some my fave pics as hubby and I didn't get too many together and it's always a pleasure to have a pic taken with the DD too!!!

This Christmas tree was made completely from potted Pointsettias.

The Christmas decorations were good ( but were no where as good as our favourite park!!! )

And of course there was a parade.......

They also have a favourite eating place of mine.......

So, this brought us to our next fun filled day at Disneyland.

Stay tuned!

Gotta love "THAT" hat!!!

 

[scrappinbear78]

I have so enjoyed reading your trip report. We are planning our trip for this December and getting down to the final planning stages. With going through your trip report and it has really been a joy going through and looking at the pictures as well as narrowing down the places that we absolutely MUST go to and ones that we can forgo. We will be in DL for 6 days staying across the street at the Best Western Park Place. I have to narrow down the final plans for meals and what we are going to do on each particular day. Right now the way my kids are acting, don't know if they even deserve this trip!!! AAAGGGHHH I think I am going to pull my hair out. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, as I too have been faced with a lot of medical issues this year. I have been in the hospital more times then I have been home. We have a running joke in our house right now that I just need to change my address to the hospital address since I spend so much time there. It has been bad. Despite that, I am still going to DL this year. Have told all my doctors that I don't care what it takes, I will be going even if I have to crawl there. Well, look forward to reading more about your trip. Just one question....what would you recommend as the best character meal? Since you did so many of them and some a couple times, which one gives you the best of everything (interaction and food)? Thanks so much!!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

I have so enjoyed reading your trip report. . Well, look forward to reading more about your trip. Just one question....what would you recommend as the best character meal? Since you did so many of them and some a couple times, which one gives you the best of everything (interaction and food)? Thanks so much!!!

Hi and thanks for joining in!

To answer your question in reagrds to the character breakfasts, it really depends on which charaters you would like to meet! We found the best one for characters was Minnie's at DL as you got loads of characters........Minnie, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Fairy Godmother, Captain Hook, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Rafiki. The food here was good and typical of what you get at most of them.
Goofy's kithcen had a few other characters including Aladdin, Goofy and Cinderella.
Critter breakfast at hte Grand California was our least favourite although it did have different charcters like Meeko and Kenai and Koda from Brother Bear
But, our favourite was Mickey and Friends at the Disneyland Hotel! The food was fresh and the interaction here with the characters was amazing! Mickey actually got me to surf with him and Daisy Duck was just teriffic! Stitch and my DD had a wonderful time as Stitch kept tking off ith her Chip hat that she had and was doing all kinds of things with it! Not too many characters in total, but we loved it and I we didn't see Stitch or Daisy at any of the others!

Hope this help!

More to come real soon

Sue

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Love the pictures!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi Sue! I just found your TR - just looking for DLR pics as we are West Coasters, and will be living closer soon so plan to have AP's! I have loved every minute of your TR! We cruised DCL this past Spring and stopped in SF - loved it!!! So cool you got to spend a couple of days there!

I'm hoping your health issues and troubles are behind you - it will make your return trip that much sweeter!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Love the pictures!!

Well thank you very much and I am glad you enjoyed the ride so far! More to come!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi Sue! I just found your TR - just looking for DLR pics as we are West Coasters, and will be living closer soon so plan to have AP's! I have loved every minute of your TR! We cruised DCL this past Spring and stopped in SF - loved it!!! So cool you got to spend a couple of days there!

I'm hoping your health issues and troubles are behind you - it will make your return trip that much sweeter!

Hi there and thanks so much for joining in!
You have certainly made me quite envious of your move closer to the happiest place on earth! I am sure you will put annual passes to good use........................I know we did and we live in Australia

Have lots more to come and thanks so much for the well wishes..........the next trip can't come fast enough!!!

Take care
Sue

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi everyone!

Back to it and I have even found the date so we are right on track!

Day 16 of our trip saw us back at Disneyland.........what a shame!!!

I was in a different mind set today and decided to get some "round the park" shots of different parts of outside the rides and other bits and pieces!


Snow White's Scary Adventures

Peter Pans Flight

These little guys are outside Snow Whites Scary Adventures.

Outside Mr Toads Wild Ride

We love the "dark" rides and would have to say that Winnie the Pooh is the favourite of DD's and mine of tht type of ride!

Timothy mouse sits atop Dumbo the flying elephant ride. I love the way the cast members provide you with a feather when you are about to board the ride so you know you will definitely be able to "fly"...........another great touch from Disney!

A view of Thunder Mountain

Sailing ship Columbia

We also rode around the Rivers of America on the Mark Twain paddle steamer and took in all the sights on the way round. There are all sorts of animals and scenes to look at along the way.

The top of the paddle steamer with it's American flags.

And the smoke stack at the very tip.

On board.

The Mark Twain

We spent today catching up on any rides we may have missed and riding the ones we love again! Oh look, it's the Haunted Mansion again!!!!

DD and I rode the Matterhorn and I must admit I do like this ride. Unfortunately we only went on it once in the entire time we were there. It was just so busy, especially Christmas week, and as it does not have the Fastpass system the line was always just tooooo long!

Matterhorn mountain ( love the way the very tip of the castle is visible in this pic!!! )

We also stood in line for over an hour for Finding Nemo. Now I do remember the first time I went on this back in 1998, it was not one I was too fond of, and you know what, nothong's changed! Even with the re vamp with Nemo and friends, I still am not a fan. I think the confined space is just too much for this Disney fan, even though it is narrated in Australian!!!

The sub

And those guys are there too...............mine, mine, mine!!!

And of course our collective favourite, Indiana Jones......we must have rode Indy over 20 times! Gotta love the fastpass!!! AND it is DH's favourite!!!

Inside on the way to the ride itself

Waiting inside

Coming up..........San Diego zoo in the rain and of course MORE Disneyland!

Take care

Sue

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Love it!! How old is your DD?

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Love it!! How old is your DD?

Hi! She is 14.........will be 15 by the time we go on the next trip and she is just as obsessed with Disney as her Mum!!! Poor DH had to endure 3 weeks of non stop mouse, so next holiday is a mother daughter trip! We can't wait!!!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Hi! She is 14.........will be 15 by the time we go on the next trip and she is just as obsessed with Disney as her Mum!!! Poor DH had to endure 3 weeks of non stop mouse, so next holiday is a mother daughter trip! We can't wait!!!

That's nice. I'm 16, will be 17 in May. When is her birthday?

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Nice theme - outdoor shots of the rides! your DD looks so cute on the Mr Toad's car! I didn't know about the feather - it took me years to get on Dumbo, and then no feather. Oh well, we still flew so I guess all is well!

Rain? It never rains in Sunny Southern California - haven't you heard the song?

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Today saw us having breakfast at the Paradise Pier hotel for the Mickey and Friends Surf's Up breaky! There are less characters that appear here than at some of the others, however, this was THE best character interaction we had across all the breakfasts we did!
So we started out by having a pic taken with the star of the show, Mickey Mouse himself!

Myself and the mouse!

DD and the mouse!

It wasn't long and he was joined by the lovely Miss Minnie Mouse. I was quite excited to see Minnie ( as usual) and they both looked so cute in their life guard outfits!

]

So after a few more pics, we went to get something to eat and I must say, the food here was quite good! The ususal breakfast fare including Mickey pancakes and waffles.

They also have these cute little stands on the tables and DD and I though we could use them for a bit of fun!!!

We were also joined by this Goofy character!!!

Now if you have been following along with our journey so far, you may have noticed that DD is sometimes seen in her rather cute Dale hat! Well, she had it on this particular morning, and boy did it create some fun!
First we had a visit from Daisy who was firstly shocked then promptly turned up her nose at it, took it off DD's head and dropped it on the floor!!!

She then hung around for a pic! This was actually the only time we saw Daisy throughout the whole trip so were quite happy DD got a photo and her autograph book signed.

Minnie and Daisy

Then Stitch appeared and spotted THAT hat!!! He actually ran away with it after he first tried to eat it!!! He then came slinking back to the table to give it back to Laura. He placed it back on her head only to return moments later and run away with it again! He stood far enough way from us so we couldn't reach him and then used it like he was in the shower and washed himself with it! It was just sooooo funny and everyone near us was in stitches

He then posed for some pics with us!

Pluto also appeared and had his pic taken!

And of course, Miss Minnie!!

We got our customary buttons to add to our now growing collection!

Some of the decor!

There was then an announcement that some surf lesons with Mickey and Pals was about to take place. The Hawaii five o music started playing and Mickey encouraged the kids to get up and surf with him! They actually had surfboard mats that you can stand on. Now because we had spent so much time having fun with the characters, Mickey and Minnie actually came over to our table, grabbed DD and I by the hand, and took us out to surf and dance with them. I gotta tell you, it was a hoot!!!

This really was a great morning was just one of those special Disney moments that will stay with us forever!

We said goodbye and headed off for a day at DCA............

More to come!

Take care and thanks for coming along!

Sue

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

After our fabulous fun at breakfast, it was off to spend the day at DCA. I really didn't seem to take a whole lot of pics and I think it was because it was the first time we had visited the park and each day we were there I was just too busy taking it all in!

So we had not been there for long and we ran into this guy!

He was only out for a very short time and we did not see him again so were thankful to get the pic. He was one of the few characters that could not sign the autograph book. He was great though and was one of the few characters that was actually taller than us

This was a sign in the Hollywood area

We headed on over to check out the Tower of Terror. We have a ride here in Australia at our biggest theme park, Dreamworld which is in Queensland that is called The Giant Drop. Now altough it is somewhat taller than TOT, it just droops you straight to the bottom. So, we thought we had this ride pretty well summed up.......NOT............it goes up AND down! We just lovedi t and we did ride quite a few times!

So after we had finished riding TOT we headed off to Monsters Inc. We loved this one too and just thought it was too funny when Roz invited DH out on a date at the end of ride

We wandered around for a while and went to the animation studio where we all drew our own versions of Tigger! DD's was the best of the 3!

We were then fortunate enough to run into the duck!!! This was also another character that we only saw the once so felt lucky to have had the pic and he signed DD's autograph book too!

It was then time to head over towards Toy Story. We had been on it before and loved it even though we had to stand in line for an hour, but DD and I wanted to see if we could beat DH!!! Caught up with a couple of stars of the show on the way there! ( And no, no such luck beating DH!!! )

I remember the green army man chatting away to DD and when she asked him for his autograph he was quite humbled. He explained that most people just think he is there as a prop and don't ask for his autograph, so she had officialy made his day!

Then our attention turned to the big Mickey wheel............pretty hard to miss really!!! Now, this is a bit of an interesting scenario for me. You see, I looooove fast rides, roller coasters, big drops etc. BUT, this thing really freaked me out! After riding the first time, I opted out this time and waved to DD and DH as they went off to go around again. It was actually good because I got to check out the shops on my own for a bit ( now that can be dangerous!!! )

This one of my favourite shots from the whole trip!

It was then off to Screamin'........now this is one ride I love!!!

DH then headed back to the Ho Jo and left DD and I to explore on our own. We did Flik's Flyers and it was so funny as we were both a little when we got off this one! It's strange how some of the "tamer" rides can bring you undone!!!

On Flik's Flyers

I took this just before we left as we needed to get back as we had a very big day the next day as we were off to LA!

Up next..................LA.......and guess what........we met a real live movie star........who is she..................stay tuned and find out!!! ***Pic heavy!!!***

I hope I still have some of you out there following along with our journey! And if you are one of the quiet ones, why not say hi!

Take care

Sue

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Great trip! (and TR!) I just came upon your TR today and read the whole thing! I'm looking forward to hearing about LA. We want to spend a day there in February. It's been 17 years since we've done that and now we have kids so it will be much different.

 

[Goofy_Mom]

I love your report so far!!! Are you going to get APs for upcoming trip? We're getting our 1st AP's for Christmas this year but our 1st trip with them isn't until Jan 5. We'll be there during Halloween, too. (and summer and a couple birthdays, and. . .)

I don't live very far away from San Fransico, and I've only been about 3 times. I have some of the same pics from Bubba Gumps

Looking foward to seeing who your celebrety siteing is!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Great trip! (and TR!) I just came upon your TR today and read the whole thing! I'm looking forward to hearing about LA. We want to spend a day there in February. It's been 17 years since we've done that and now we have kids so it will be much different.

Hi and thanks so much for comimg along!

LA was an interesting place and unfortunately we did not just get enough time to explore. I did take loads of photos though and will be updating this evening!

Stay tuned!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

I love your report so far!!! Are you going to get APs for upcoming trip? We're getting our 1st AP's for Christmas this year but our 1st trip with them isn't until Jan 5. We'll be there during Halloween, too. (and summer and a couple birthdays, and. . .)

I don't live very far away from San Fransico, and I've only been about 3 times. I have some of the same pics from Bubba Gumps

Looking foward to seeing who your celebrety siteing is!!

Hi there!

I am so glad you are enjying the report!

We will more than likely buy one annual pass just to take advantae of the great discounts it comes with. We had them last time as we were there for 3 weeks, but this time we will be there for just 2 It was well worth it though as we had the premium ones with no block out dates and it entitled us to 20% off all the merchandise we bought, the holiday tour we did and all the charcter meals were discounted too!!!

The DD was not too impressed with Bubba Gumps as she is not too keen on seafood, but DH and I thought it was good and I must say the service as great! I think I would like to go back on the next trip though. We have lots of places we want to try like Dennys and the Cheesecake factory that we didn't get to last time.

And wow, wouldn't it be great if we there for Halloween at the same time! We met with a fellow Aussie Diser last year and we had breakfast in the park which was just wonderful!!

And yes, the movie star pic will be coming up soon and she is just lovely!!!

Thanks agin and take care

Sue

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Love the update!! When is DD's birthday? I can't wait to see the LA pictures even though I'm from the area.