Ultimate Disneyland Birthday Trip!-The Trip Report w/Pictures

[AURORA73]

great pic! we have one like that too!

Great picture! Thanks for reading!

 

[AURORA73]

Everything is booked and official. I am so excited! I found a great deal on Delta flying into John Wayne airport in Orange County. I would much rather fly into that airport than LAX which was originally what we were going to have to do. I am more familiar with the John Wayne airport and it is closer to Disneyland.

 

[travelmel]

Small airports ROCK! But.. I did enjoy my time at LAX (I know, weird) because I was facinated with their new architectural elements. I felt they had taken their cues from George Lucas and Walt Disney!

Also, CONGRATS!

 

[capncassy]

hi! I hope you don't mind a brief intrusion... this is actually travelmel but I'm trying to get 10 posts done on my DDC's new account so that she can begin her own TR that she's been dying to do!

Thank you so much and I'll post from my own account soon!

Melissa

 

[AURORA73]

hi! I hope you don't mind a brief intrusion... this is actually travelmel but I'm trying to get 10 posts done on my DDC's new account so that she can begin her own TR that she's been dying to do!

Thank you so much and I'll post from my own account soon!

Melissa

Not a problem. I would love to read her TR. Let me know what the link is when she starts.

 

[travelmel]

Not a problem. I would love to read her TR. Let me know what the link is when she starts.

I'll post it in my TR when she's got some work done on it and if nobody shows up I'll post it individually with you all.

 

[AURORA73]

52 days to go! It's not soon enough.

 

[AURORA73]

What am I going to do to celebrate a month left before my trip? I am going to California, what else! I am going for a quick weekend trip to visit my cousin who just moved to Newport Beach. I leave this Friday night November 7th and come back Sunday night the 9th. We have so much planned that I probably won't make it in to Disneyland. I know, I am so close and I am not going to Disneyland. Crazy! We are going shopping in Downtown Disney for some surprises for my sister for our December trip. My cousin is also going to join us for one of our days in Disneyland when we are there in December. I am going to upgrade my tickets to an annual pass because now that my cousin lives 12 minutes away I know I will be visiting more often.

We are getting excited about the trip. We made our priority seating reservations. Blue Bayou Friday night, Carnation Cafe for breakfast on Saturday and Goofy's Kitchen on Sunday night.

I can't believe how close we are to the trip. Time is going by so fast. This mini-trip is going to help a lot too. Then we have Thanksgiving and the trip is the following weekend. I am so excited.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

I'm in for your TR!

You're arriving the day after we leave!!

 

[travelmel]

of course the Blue Bayou ROCKS but I'm really looking forward to hearing about your Goofy's Kitchen experience.

I.... have.....never..... (say it slowly) been to a character meal.

 

[travelmel]

great pic! we have one like that too!

Can you link your trippies in your siggie?

 

[wendylady36]

Your trip is so soon, how exciting!!! It sounds like you're going to have a blasty blast, and it makes me jealous 'cause I wanna go too!!!

 

[AURORA73]

Can you link your trippies in your siggie?

I am not sure what you mean. Do you mean, do I know how? Or do you mean will I link my trip in my signature?

 

[travelmel]

I am not sure what you mean. Do you mean, do I know how? Or do you mean will I link my trip in my signature?

Actually, I was asking the person who posted the matching glasses pic. Maybe I'm confused. Sorry. I had been following their TR but lost it somewhere. lol It's ok, nevermind.

I'm subscribed to this TR so I'm ok on that

 

[AURORA73]

Actually, I was asking the person who posted the matching glasses pic. Maybe I'm confused. Sorry. I had been following their TR but lost it somewhere. lol It's ok, nevermind.

I'm subscribed to this TR so I'm ok on that

That is too funny. As soon as I posted my response I went back and looked and that thought came to my mind that maybe you meant Mr. Bungle who posted the matching pic.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

In reading through your dates, I'll be down there with my parents and family two of your same days. If you see a tall guy with a lanyard full of Star Wars and Sleeping Beauty pins, that's me.

And thanks for your compliments about my art collection. I actually only have two pictures of Aurora in pink. Otherwise, she's in blue or that effective Briar Rose disguise.

 

[AURORA73]

In reading through your dates, I'll be down there with my parents and family two of your same days. If you see a tall guy with a lanyard full of Star Wars and Sleeping Beauty pins, that's me.

And thanks for your compliments about my art collection. I actually only have two pictures of Aurora in pink. Otherwise, she's in blue or that effective Briar Rose disguise.

I will look for you and say Hi!

The Briar Rose disguise is actually my favorite.

 

[AURORA73]

On Thursday I received a very unexpected and strange phone call. It was a number I didn't recognize so I didn't bother to answer it I just let it go to my voice mail. Later when I checked my voice mail it was a message from UPS telling me that a package would be delivered the following day and that someone needed to be home to sign for the package. I had not ordered anything recently so I thought maybe they had the wrong phone number. I decided to look up the tracking number and saw that the package was coming from Anaheim California. I began to wonder if maybe I had ordered something when I was there last week and had forgotten. It didn't dawn on me until later that night that it could be my vacation package. I got so excited. Unfortunately I had to work so I wasn't home when the package came. My sister was home though and signed for the package thank goodness. I ripped it open when I got home and found this wonderful envelope inside.

 

[AURORA73]

Last weekend I went to Newport Beach California to visit my cousin who just moved there. On the flight from Utah I sat next to a family from Calgary Canada who were going on their very first trip to Disneyland. I had a great time sharing tips with them about Disneyland. It made the flight much easier for me. Have I mentioned I have a fear of flying! Well I do, but I love to travel so I deal with my fear and fly anyway. I have learned several different techniques that are beginning to help on my flights so it is getting easier. Apparently the best technique is to sit next to a seven year old who is super excited about going to Disneyland. I wasn’t anxious at all on the flight over. The flight back was another story which I will talk about later. I arrived at 10:00pm and after dropping off my luggage at my cousin’s house we drove to the beach. I have never been to the beach at night so this was a new experience. It was a bit eerie but also fascinating. The moonlight glowed on the ocean. It was so beautiful. Saturday we went back to beach and then shopping in Balboa and Fashion Island.

Saturday night we were planning to go to a bonfire party on the beach but those plans changed. One of my other cousin’s lives in Riverside and when he found out I was in town he and his wife and 1 ½ year old daughter wanted to meet up with us at Downtown Disney for dinner.How could I be that close to Disneyland and not go in? How could I resist the temptation of the rides just calling out to me? How could I resist walking down Main Street towards Sleeping Beauty castle? How could pass up the chance to go to the park with my cousins who I haven’t seen for quite some time? I couldn’t. Yes, I ended up in Disneyland. They all have Annual Passes and had no problem going into the park. I had to pay but it was so worth it. We had 5 fabulous hours in the park. I was surprised with how much I could do in 5 hours. We rode several rides. I chose mostly the ones we could ride with a 1 ½ year old which is actually quite a lot. We had a great time. I discovered a new place to watch the fireworks and I rode Dumbo. It has been years since I have been on Dumbo. I always feel so silly ride without a small child. We had a small child with us but I rode by myself. I had a great time. I tried to take a photo of all us on Dumbo but I had a little trouble with my camera settings so this was the best I could do. I have figured out how to take night pictures now so the next trip will have better photos. New camera and I am still learning.

We also rode the carousel which is my cousin's daughter's favorite ride. It was a must for her. We had no problem going on the carousel with her. I quite enjoy that ride myself.

We also managed to ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Alice in Wonderland, Teacups, Matterhorn (I got to ride twice in a row thanks to the parent swap pass), Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and we even managed to ride Space Mountain while mom and daughter went to look for a blanket. We also caught part of the fireworks and I staked out a great place to watch the show when we come back in December. I was most excited when I saw the California letters all dressed up in their candy cane costumes. It got me very excited to come back and see all the Christmas decorations. Only 19 more days and I will be back.

On Sunday we went back to the beach and watched a surf competition at the Pier. I was not looking forward to going home. I was so relaxed from this trip and the weather had been wonderful. I knew I was going back to snow and cold. The plane ride home was a nightmare for me. It was very bumpy which makes me extra nervous. I was also very uncomfortable. I survived though and I know the next flight will be better because I will be going back to California and I will have my sister with me to distract me.

 

[travelmel]

Nice! Lucky you