TamiJean
04-10-2007, 10:51 AM
• Tami Olson
• rgardenantiques@cox.net
• 12/9/06-12/14/06
• Time of Year: Christmas
• Travel Method: Car
• Resort: Offsite
• Accommodations: Ages Represented in Group: Toddler, Preschool, Adult
• Disneyland Experience Represented in Group: Veterans
Cast:
Bobby Olson, My Husband – Disneyland Veteran
Tami Olson, Me – Disneyland Veteran
Brice Olson, Our Son – 4 years old – 11th Disneyland Trip
Megan Olson, Our Daughter – 2 ½ years old – 8th Disneyland Trip
Accommodations: Good Nite Redlands & Anaheim Camelot Inn
Places Visited: Disneyland & California Adventure
Pre Trip Planning:
It’s now the end of August and I just booked three different hotels for Dec 10-14. The Camelot Inn ($112), Park Vue Inn ($89) & Desert Suites & Inn ($69). The decision seems obvious with the price difference, but we really love the Camelot Inn & stayed there last trip for the first time…but it’s almost twice as much…so we are going to wait and see what kind of deals I can find and how much money we have saved up…we may stay at the cheap hotel and splurge on another Olszewski piece!!
We decided to cancel the Desert Suites reservation – it’s just too cheap (in every sense) and the parking can be a mess
Nov 7th –. Every few weeks I’ve been checking out prices at the three hotels above and a few right next door. Ramada came up with a good price. Before I discussed it with my husband, I checked Expedia again! I found Camelot for stay 3 nights, get 20% off…which brought it down to $98 a night!! So, we decided to cancel the others and go for this one. The difference is that the carpet actually felt clean last time!! And the continental breakfast is great & McDonalds is right next door too! I’m so excited, hopefully this month will go by fast with Thanksgiving and all the Christmas planning.
One other thing I’m planning…while I have been doing research for Christmas time @ DL…I read about the trees you can order at the DLR Hotels. So, I decided to go buy a tiny tree at Big Lots for $3. I also got a few tiny ornaments and a little string of shiny garland. We are going to decorate it and “Tinkerbell” is going to bring presents every morning! I even found Tinkerbell wrapping paper.
Saturday – December 9, 2006
Bobby had to work today…he was able to get off work a little early so we wouldn’t be driving as late. He got home @ 4:00 and we were on the road by 4:20. We stopped and got dinner @ Mc Donald’s somewhere in Phoenix ($15). The kids were watching movies on the DVD player…so it was a pretty uneventful drive. At 8:00 we stopped at a rest stop – everyone went to the bathroom, got diapers changed, got the kids in PJs and got the kids their medicine. (The night before we left both kids started getting sick!) We turned off the movies and gave them some milk & told them to go to sleep! In Quartzsite we stopped for gas & some drinks. We arrived at our hotel @ 11:00 AZ time – 10:00 CA time!! The kids woke up while we were getting settled in the hotel room, and didn’t want to go back to sleep!
Sunday – December 10, 2006
I was up, showered & headed out to find some breakfast for everyone @ 7:00…I found a McDonald’s just around the corner ($12). It took forever to go through the drive through. But, I felt bad for the guy once I got up there…he was the only person I could see…I’m guessing there was someone cooking at least!
We ate and packed up and were out of the hotel by 7:45…we arrived in Anaheim @ the hotel at 8:40. Our room wasn’t ready, so we got a parking pass and loaded up the strollers. First stop, as always, was Buzz. Brice wanted to go on Star Tours, but it was closed. So, we headed over to Pirates next. Last trip Brice got scared of this ride, but before that he’d always loved it. While we were in line, he got scared again! We talked him through it and told him we’d trade Pirates with going on the Tarzan Treehouse next. So, he went & loved it. When we got off Pirates, we headed to Tarzan, but it was closed – darn ;-). We headed over for a bathroom stop in Adventureland. While I was waiting outside, I noticed that the Aladdin show was seating. We’d never seen it, so we headed there next. It was almost show time, so we had to sit back a few rows & the kids didn’t want to sit up front…but they really couldn’t see. The show was pretty good – but since the kids were restless we didn’t enjoy it much.
Next we headed over to see Haunted Mansion with the Holiday overlay. By then we were hungry and decided on Stage Door Café. We got a few orders of chicken strips & a drink for me - $21 worth of Disney Rewards. The kids ate the Lunchables I brought in for them. As we were finishing up lunch, the Columbia was pulling up – so ran over and took a cruise. We looked around the bottom of the ship…Brice didn’t like being down there.
Next stop was Fantasyland…we did Pinocchio, Snow White & Carousel quickly and then made a bathroom stop. Then it was 1:15…we decided to head over to Small World before heading back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel at 2:00 and unpacked everything. We setup the little Cmas tree on the table. Bobby wasn’t feeling well…he hadn’t been since we left the afternoon before…so the kids and I went on a stroll. While we were gone – Tinkerbell came and left the kids their first present!! Megan got a new Tinkerbell winter jacket!! Brice got $10 in Disney Dollars to buy whatever he wanted! We all rested a bit and got back into California Adventure about 4:00. I grabbed two FPs for Soarin’ and then we headed to Bugs Land. Brice & I went on the Bumper Bugs (or whatever they’re called!) while Bobby & Megan went on Heimlich. Then we all went on Heimlich and I took the kids on Flik’s Fun Fliers. On the way out we stopped for the Bug’s Life Movie. We were hungry after this, so we headed to for dinner. I got the fried chicken sandwich, like always, and it was still great. I think Bobby got a BBQ chicken – the kids ate some fries and the PB&J uncrustable sandwiches I brought in. After dinner, Brice & I headed over to Soarin’ while Bobby & Megan browsed in the shop. We met them after our flight and Brice saw an extendable light saber that makes noises & lights…he used his Disney Dollars to buy it.
We headed back over to DL (with everyone else since the parade was almost starting) at 6:20. Brice was playing with his light saber…and Megan looked a little sad. So, Bobby bought a lighted necklace for Megan to have…it was only $5 and really neat! Bobby & Brice went on Star Tours since it was up & running and then we headed over to Innoventions. We had never really spent any time in here…a lot of it wasn’t really for us, but we did do the virtual vacation and wanted to see the robot demonstration….it only had a few show times, so we planned to come back another time to see it. By now we were tired and it was lightly raining…so we figured the fireworks would be cancelled. We walked & browsed down Main St. We got back to the hotel & I left Bobby with the sleeping kids on a bench out front of the office & ran next door to get a fake root beer float…a $1 sundae with nothing on it and a Coke, I got myself a chocolate shake.. It’s always a big mess in the hotel room…but Bobby thinks it’s worth it.
We got back up to the hotel, got the kids into bed, and watched some TV while we ate our ice creams. We heard the fireworks and went out onto the walkway to watch them…but it was freezing, so we peeked through the window to watch them!!
Monday – December 11, 2007
The kids woke up at 5:45 AM!!! I set them up with a movie on the DVD player for a while. I got dressed and headed out for breakfast while Bobby was in the shower. I got sandwiches from McD for Bobby & I and a bunch of donuts & some flavored coffee for me at the continental breakfast. The kids opened their Tinkerbell presents…Brice got a Mr. Incredible costume & Megan got a Cinderella dress!! So, they wore them into DL today. We got to DL when it opened and headed for Fantasyland and went on Casey Jr first since the line was short. Next, we hurried over to Storybook Land Canal Boats & then Alice & Dumbo. We took the back trail over to Frontierland and stopped to see Santa’s Reindeer. It was still early so everything was deserted…so I’m not even sure what else was available at the table area. We got on the wagon out front and had another family take our picture.
We headed around Rivers of America and decided to hop on the rafts over to Tom Sawyer…we hadn’t been over since the remodel. The kids had a good time, although it was a little muddy since it had been raining. We headed back to shore about 11:00 and decided to try the French Market Restaurant since I had heard they now had the Monte Cristo Sandwich. They didn’t open until 11:30…so we browsed around New Orleans for a while. I bought a little parasol for Megan – I’ve been waiting for her to be old enough to appreciate it since before she was born. We got a purple one with hearts on it. It was $11.95 for the small one. It takes a few hours for the paint to dry, so we had to pick it up later. We headed over to do Pooh…but it was closed down, so we did Splash and then the bathrooms. By then, Pooh was back up, so we took a trip through the 100 Acre Woods and then headed back for lunch. We were seated after a very short wait at 11:40. We were sitting outside and it was just a bit cold…I went back to the strollers and got everyone’s jacket after we ordered. I got the Monte Cristo sandwich…I can’t remember what Bobby got – a sandwich I think, it was OK. Brice got the Monte Cristo version of the PB & J…it was an uncrustable sandwich deep fried! He liked it. Megan just shared with all of us. After lunch, we headed to Pirates and then got our strollers…on the way out of NOS one of the bands was walking by and one of the guys dropped a string of beads into Megan’s stroller tray. He couldn’t have known how great that was for her…she loves pretty shiny things!!
We got back to our hotel at 3:00 and left about 4:30 after resting. We had a 5:00 Priority Seating at Storyteller’s Café. We’d never eaten there before. We went through CA and arrived about 20 min early. The restaurant was actually closed & locked down until they reopened for dinner at 5:00. So, we strolled around the lobby of the Grand Californian, saw the Cmas tree, shopped in the stores…We got back to the restaurant about 5 til and there was quite a crowd! But, we didn’t have to wait long. We decided that the buffet looked good, but wasn’t worth the price. The kids shared a make your own pizza, I had the ravioli…dinner was $38. The restaurant atmosphere was very nice. Our kids were a bit restless, but did pretty good. Brice loved that the napkins were folded up – he thought it looked like a crown. I told him that if he was a good boy for the whole dinner he could put it on his head and I’d take his picture…it’s a very strange picture. We got done @ 5:50 and head to DD through the hotel. We got a Reindeer antenna ball and then a Mickey antenna ball in silver & red to replace the one that was stolen a few weeks ago. We got into DL at 6:10 and went up to the Train Station to watch the parade. The parade was good – although we had to hold the kids the whole time so they could see. After the parade we rode the train around to avoid some of the crowds. We got back off at Main St – since we had to get our strollers – and headed for some fireworks seats. Bobby & Brice went on Buzz while Megan & I had a snack and waited. While they were gone I realized that we hadn’t picked up Megan’s parasol yet!! As soon as they got back I ran over to NOS and got it…and then I found a popcorn stand by the Haunted Mansion. Brice had asked for popcorn but the stand at the Hub had about an hour long line!! I got back with a few minutes until the fireworks started. They were very good…but nothing’s as good as the 50th firework show! After it was done we slowly made our way out in the crush of the crowds…and went to sleep!!
Tuesday – December 12, 2006
Today the kids didn’t wake us up until 7:20! We were in DL by 8:45, just before opening. We did some shopping on Main St. We bought a few magnets for $4 each…Jungle Cruise & another ride we didn’t have yet. I also got a Minnie shaped water bottle for $9. The first ride of the day was Brice & I on Star Tours. Then we grabbed some FP for Space Mtn and went to wait in line for Autopia. I barely like this ride & really hate the line…and in the middle of the line Brice decides he had to go the bathroom, so we had to run down and then cut back in line with Bobby & Megan. We did get a few good views of the construction for the Nemo ride. We finally realized why it was going so slowly, only one lane of one side was open!! After we finally got off, we went on Space Mtn…Brice’s first time. He said he liked it, but didn’t want to go again! We headed to Tomorrowland Terrace for lunch and to watch the Jedi show. I ran and got pizza for Bobby & a salad for me since hamburgers didn’t sound good. The Jedi show was really neat – not at all what we expected! After it was done, we went on Buzz and then headed to do Tarzan Treehouse (since we did promise our son)…on the way we stopped and had a Cast Member take our picture in front of the castle. We were hoping to get a good family picture to use for out Christmas cards. Bobby & Brice went on Tarzan’s Treehouse while Megan & I relaxed. Next we went on Haunted Mansion & then Splash & Pooh. By this time it was 2:00, so we headed back to the hotel for a little nap.
We got back into DCA about 3:15 and went on Monsters…it’s a great ride! Then we did the Crush show…I think we like this show more than the kids do! We headed over to Fantasyland to look in the shops…mostly the one that has the neat family crests that you can order. We decided (again) that it’s just too expensive. We ate dinner at the Plaza Inn, I got the Fried Ckn dinner & Bobby got the pasta – both were great, like usual. I also got a really good latte from a coffee machine…I don’t think I’d ever tried these before – I’d been afraid they’d taste bad. Dinner was $29 with our discount. After dinner, we headed back to Small World to see it at night time. The line was super crazy long…but it went pretty fast. I called my brother while we were in line – it was his 16th birthday. After we finally got through the line & cruised around the world again…we headed back to Toon Town. It was pretty deserted. We looked through some of the shops & took some pictures by the Cmas tree & went on Roger Rabbit. We opened the kids’ Tinkerbell present they had got that morning – it was glow in the dark necklaces. We headed over to do Jungle Cruise since its better at night and but made a small detour to Tiki Rm since it was seating. During the finale, when the center thing with all the white girl birds comes down for the second time, Brice said “Oh, not them again!!” :)
Then we went on Jungle Cruise and headed back to Main St. I waited in a crazy long line for some coffee and then also got some fudge. Bobby was looking around some of the stores while I was waiting. By the time I got done it was 8:30…the kids were sleeping, so we parked the stroller on the curb right at the end of Main St in front of the Cmas tree. We ate some of the fudge while we waited (I had bought two pieces…peanut butter & peppermint…we never did eat it all) It was a very good spot to see the fireworks. On the way back to the hotle, I stopped back at McDonalds for more ice cream & coke for Bobby again.
Wednesday – December 13, 2006
This morning I got up at 6:45 and grabbed breakfast for Bobby & me at McDonald’s ($4) and some donuts for the kids. The present today from Tink was Winnie the Pooh candy canes!! We left the hotel @ 8:30 and were on Main St for the rope drop. We headed straight to Peter Pan and didn’t have TOO long a wait – I don’t know how that many people got there before us!! And then we went over to the Carousel (where we found 1/2 a candy cane stuck to Brice's leg...from this morning!!) & then Mr. Toad. Next we headed back to Main St. to buy the kids their annual Christmas ornaments. Brice finally decided on a Peter Pan – he looks like he’s suspended and flying off the Cmas tree! Megan got a Cinderella princess dress on a hanger for her ornament…they were $22. While I was waiting to have them wrapped up, Bobby & Brice headed over for the Jedi Training Academy again – this time to find better seats down on the floor. Megan & I soon caught up with them. Megan was being a little grumpy…she didn’t want to sit down with us and watch the show – so we put her back in her stroller and gave her a juice box and she was happy!! Brice got picked to become a Jedi…Bobby took about 100 pictures!! He did pretty well, his light saber got stuck a few times…and he got to fight Darth Mal. That guy is really good and his makeup is amazing. After they finished each Jedi received a certificate.
Next, to be fair, we headed over to the Princess thing back in Fantasyland Theatre. We got in line at 11:00 when they opened. The line was super long and after 5 min it hadn’t moved. Bobby went up and asked what exactly we were in line for…and we found out it was just to see a princess!! So, we got out of line and explored the rest of the stuff…it isn’t very well explained. We even asked a cast member and he didn’t seem too helpful…but there really isn’t much to do…we took some pictures down by the stage (that is very beautifully made up with tons of flowers). They did have coloring available, and they gave the kids crowns (but they were adult size crowns and wouldn’t stay on, so I had to rig them to be smaller). Other than the store…that was it!! We were told that there was dancing a few times a day…we weren’t quite sure what that meant and weren’t able to come back to check it out.
We headed down through Fantasyland to Frontierland to get Chimichungas from the vendor ($10)…they looked really good. I thought mine was fine, but Bobby really didn’t like his much. The kids had yogurt & fruit I think!!
Then we headed to Tomorrowland and Brice & Bobby went on Star Tours while Megan & I headed to Buzz…then we went to the Spaceport store and looked around…I finally bought the hat I had been looking at. It is pink and has a big rhinestone T in the front…for Tami…actually Tinkerbell is on it too. It is actually a youth hat so it was cheaper! Only $19! I ALMOST got an M Minnie one for Megan…now I wish I would have. Oh, well…another reason to go back to DL!! After B & B got done, we headed to Space, but it was broken down. So, we stopped at Buzz on the way to the hotel for a nap about 1:00.
After a nice little rest, we headed into DCA. Brice requested that we go on the Jumpin Jellyfish…so we did. Woo Hoo!! Then we headed over to Monster Inc and I went on Tower of Terror by myself for the first time. On the way out of DCA we got a family picture on the A of California that is decorated for Cmas and has Goofy on it…great picture!!
On the way back into DL, we stopped at the Silhouette Studio and waited a few minutes to get Megan & my picture done. Megan looks super cute…I don’t really like myself – it doesn’t quite look like me. Bobby grabbed a corn dog from the bus since he was starving (because he didn’t eat all his Chimichunga at lunch). After he finished we headed back to Storybookland Canal Boats, but they were closed….so we did Pinocchio & Snow White. By now it was dinnertime, so we decided to give Village Haus another try….the lines here were SUPER long…it may have been the longest wait all week! Bobby was quite frazzled from the kids after I got back, finally, with dinner. Dinner was $21 and was OK…the kids split a chicken nugget meal…I think we both got cheeseburgers…nothing special.
So, we decided a nice relaxing cruise on the Caribbean would soothe our nerves…unfortunately we ran into Pirates… :) We stopped at the NOS bathrooms when we got back and then headed back and went on Pooh twice for the grand finale to DL. At 7:30 we headed out of the park, tired. I went to McDonald’s after we got back for ice cream & soda.
The next day we drove home & had TONS of stuff to do with Christmas so close....I love going to DL @ Cmas, but December is always SOO busy!!
• rgardenantiques@cox.net
• 12/9/06-12/14/06
• Time of Year: Christmas
• Travel Method: Car
• Resort: Offsite
• Accommodations: Ages Represented in Group: Toddler, Preschool, Adult
• Disneyland Experience Represented in Group: Veterans
Cast:
Bobby Olson, My Husband – Disneyland Veteran
Tami Olson, Me – Disneyland Veteran
Brice Olson, Our Son – 4 years old – 11th Disneyland Trip
Megan Olson, Our Daughter – 2 ½ years old – 8th Disneyland Trip
Accommodations: Good Nite Redlands & Anaheim Camelot Inn
Places Visited: Disneyland & California Adventure
Pre Trip Planning:
It’s now the end of August and I just booked three different hotels for Dec 10-14. The Camelot Inn ($112), Park Vue Inn ($89) & Desert Suites & Inn ($69). The decision seems obvious with the price difference, but we really love the Camelot Inn & stayed there last trip for the first time…but it’s almost twice as much…so we are going to wait and see what kind of deals I can find and how much money we have saved up…we may stay at the cheap hotel and splurge on another Olszewski piece!!
We decided to cancel the Desert Suites reservation – it’s just too cheap (in every sense) and the parking can be a mess
Nov 7th –. Every few weeks I’ve been checking out prices at the three hotels above and a few right next door. Ramada came up with a good price. Before I discussed it with my husband, I checked Expedia again! I found Camelot for stay 3 nights, get 20% off…which brought it down to $98 a night!! So, we decided to cancel the others and go for this one. The difference is that the carpet actually felt clean last time!! And the continental breakfast is great & McDonalds is right next door too! I’m so excited, hopefully this month will go by fast with Thanksgiving and all the Christmas planning.
One other thing I’m planning…while I have been doing research for Christmas time @ DL…I read about the trees you can order at the DLR Hotels. So, I decided to go buy a tiny tree at Big Lots for $3. I also got a few tiny ornaments and a little string of shiny garland. We are going to decorate it and “Tinkerbell” is going to bring presents every morning! I even found Tinkerbell wrapping paper.
Saturday – December 9, 2006
Bobby had to work today…he was able to get off work a little early so we wouldn’t be driving as late. He got home @ 4:00 and we were on the road by 4:20. We stopped and got dinner @ Mc Donald’s somewhere in Phoenix ($15). The kids were watching movies on the DVD player…so it was a pretty uneventful drive. At 8:00 we stopped at a rest stop – everyone went to the bathroom, got diapers changed, got the kids in PJs and got the kids their medicine. (The night before we left both kids started getting sick!) We turned off the movies and gave them some milk & told them to go to sleep! In Quartzsite we stopped for gas & some drinks. We arrived at our hotel @ 11:00 AZ time – 10:00 CA time!! The kids woke up while we were getting settled in the hotel room, and didn’t want to go back to sleep!
Sunday – December 10, 2006
I was up, showered & headed out to find some breakfast for everyone @ 7:00…I found a McDonald’s just around the corner ($12). It took forever to go through the drive through. But, I felt bad for the guy once I got up there…he was the only person I could see…I’m guessing there was someone cooking at least!
We ate and packed up and were out of the hotel by 7:45…we arrived in Anaheim @ the hotel at 8:40. Our room wasn’t ready, so we got a parking pass and loaded up the strollers. First stop, as always, was Buzz. Brice wanted to go on Star Tours, but it was closed. So, we headed over to Pirates next. Last trip Brice got scared of this ride, but before that he’d always loved it. While we were in line, he got scared again! We talked him through it and told him we’d trade Pirates with going on the Tarzan Treehouse next. So, he went & loved it. When we got off Pirates, we headed to Tarzan, but it was closed – darn ;-). We headed over for a bathroom stop in Adventureland. While I was waiting outside, I noticed that the Aladdin show was seating. We’d never seen it, so we headed there next. It was almost show time, so we had to sit back a few rows & the kids didn’t want to sit up front…but they really couldn’t see. The show was pretty good – but since the kids were restless we didn’t enjoy it much.
Next we headed over to see Haunted Mansion with the Holiday overlay. By then we were hungry and decided on Stage Door Café. We got a few orders of chicken strips & a drink for me - $21 worth of Disney Rewards. The kids ate the Lunchables I brought in for them. As we were finishing up lunch, the Columbia was pulling up – so ran over and took a cruise. We looked around the bottom of the ship…Brice didn’t like being down there.
Next stop was Fantasyland…we did Pinocchio, Snow White & Carousel quickly and then made a bathroom stop. Then it was 1:15…we decided to head over to Small World before heading back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel at 2:00 and unpacked everything. We setup the little Cmas tree on the table. Bobby wasn’t feeling well…he hadn’t been since we left the afternoon before…so the kids and I went on a stroll. While we were gone – Tinkerbell came and left the kids their first present!! Megan got a new Tinkerbell winter jacket!! Brice got $10 in Disney Dollars to buy whatever he wanted! We all rested a bit and got back into California Adventure about 4:00. I grabbed two FPs for Soarin’ and then we headed to Bugs Land. Brice & I went on the Bumper Bugs (or whatever they’re called!) while Bobby & Megan went on Heimlich. Then we all went on Heimlich and I took the kids on Flik’s Fun Fliers. On the way out we stopped for the Bug’s Life Movie. We were hungry after this, so we headed to for dinner. I got the fried chicken sandwich, like always, and it was still great. I think Bobby got a BBQ chicken – the kids ate some fries and the PB&J uncrustable sandwiches I brought in. After dinner, Brice & I headed over to Soarin’ while Bobby & Megan browsed in the shop. We met them after our flight and Brice saw an extendable light saber that makes noises & lights…he used his Disney Dollars to buy it.
We headed back over to DL (with everyone else since the parade was almost starting) at 6:20. Brice was playing with his light saber…and Megan looked a little sad. So, Bobby bought a lighted necklace for Megan to have…it was only $5 and really neat! Bobby & Brice went on Star Tours since it was up & running and then we headed over to Innoventions. We had never really spent any time in here…a lot of it wasn’t really for us, but we did do the virtual vacation and wanted to see the robot demonstration….it only had a few show times, so we planned to come back another time to see it. By now we were tired and it was lightly raining…so we figured the fireworks would be cancelled. We walked & browsed down Main St. We got back to the hotel & I left Bobby with the sleeping kids on a bench out front of the office & ran next door to get a fake root beer float…a $1 sundae with nothing on it and a Coke, I got myself a chocolate shake.. It’s always a big mess in the hotel room…but Bobby thinks it’s worth it.
We got back up to the hotel, got the kids into bed, and watched some TV while we ate our ice creams. We heard the fireworks and went out onto the walkway to watch them…but it was freezing, so we peeked through the window to watch them!!
Monday – December 11, 2007
The kids woke up at 5:45 AM!!! I set them up with a movie on the DVD player for a while. I got dressed and headed out for breakfast while Bobby was in the shower. I got sandwiches from McD for Bobby & I and a bunch of donuts & some flavored coffee for me at the continental breakfast. The kids opened their Tinkerbell presents…Brice got a Mr. Incredible costume & Megan got a Cinderella dress!! So, they wore them into DL today. We got to DL when it opened and headed for Fantasyland and went on Casey Jr first since the line was short. Next, we hurried over to Storybook Land Canal Boats & then Alice & Dumbo. We took the back trail over to Frontierland and stopped to see Santa’s Reindeer. It was still early so everything was deserted…so I’m not even sure what else was available at the table area. We got on the wagon out front and had another family take our picture.
We headed around Rivers of America and decided to hop on the rafts over to Tom Sawyer…we hadn’t been over since the remodel. The kids had a good time, although it was a little muddy since it had been raining. We headed back to shore about 11:00 and decided to try the French Market Restaurant since I had heard they now had the Monte Cristo Sandwich. They didn’t open until 11:30…so we browsed around New Orleans for a while. I bought a little parasol for Megan – I’ve been waiting for her to be old enough to appreciate it since before she was born. We got a purple one with hearts on it. It was $11.95 for the small one. It takes a few hours for the paint to dry, so we had to pick it up later. We headed over to do Pooh…but it was closed down, so we did Splash and then the bathrooms. By then, Pooh was back up, so we took a trip through the 100 Acre Woods and then headed back for lunch. We were seated after a very short wait at 11:40. We were sitting outside and it was just a bit cold…I went back to the strollers and got everyone’s jacket after we ordered. I got the Monte Cristo sandwich…I can’t remember what Bobby got – a sandwich I think, it was OK. Brice got the Monte Cristo version of the PB & J…it was an uncrustable sandwich deep fried! He liked it. Megan just shared with all of us. After lunch, we headed to Pirates and then got our strollers…on the way out of NOS one of the bands was walking by and one of the guys dropped a string of beads into Megan’s stroller tray. He couldn’t have known how great that was for her…she loves pretty shiny things!!
We got back to our hotel at 3:00 and left about 4:30 after resting. We had a 5:00 Priority Seating at Storyteller’s Café. We’d never eaten there before. We went through CA and arrived about 20 min early. The restaurant was actually closed & locked down until they reopened for dinner at 5:00. So, we strolled around the lobby of the Grand Californian, saw the Cmas tree, shopped in the stores…We got back to the restaurant about 5 til and there was quite a crowd! But, we didn’t have to wait long. We decided that the buffet looked good, but wasn’t worth the price. The kids shared a make your own pizza, I had the ravioli…dinner was $38. The restaurant atmosphere was very nice. Our kids were a bit restless, but did pretty good. Brice loved that the napkins were folded up – he thought it looked like a crown. I told him that if he was a good boy for the whole dinner he could put it on his head and I’d take his picture…it’s a very strange picture. We got done @ 5:50 and head to DD through the hotel. We got a Reindeer antenna ball and then a Mickey antenna ball in silver & red to replace the one that was stolen a few weeks ago. We got into DL at 6:10 and went up to the Train Station to watch the parade. The parade was good – although we had to hold the kids the whole time so they could see. After the parade we rode the train around to avoid some of the crowds. We got back off at Main St – since we had to get our strollers – and headed for some fireworks seats. Bobby & Brice went on Buzz while Megan & I had a snack and waited. While they were gone I realized that we hadn’t picked up Megan’s parasol yet!! As soon as they got back I ran over to NOS and got it…and then I found a popcorn stand by the Haunted Mansion. Brice had asked for popcorn but the stand at the Hub had about an hour long line!! I got back with a few minutes until the fireworks started. They were very good…but nothing’s as good as the 50th firework show! After it was done we slowly made our way out in the crush of the crowds…and went to sleep!!
Tuesday – December 12, 2006
Today the kids didn’t wake us up until 7:20! We were in DL by 8:45, just before opening. We did some shopping on Main St. We bought a few magnets for $4 each…Jungle Cruise & another ride we didn’t have yet. I also got a Minnie shaped water bottle for $9. The first ride of the day was Brice & I on Star Tours. Then we grabbed some FP for Space Mtn and went to wait in line for Autopia. I barely like this ride & really hate the line…and in the middle of the line Brice decides he had to go the bathroom, so we had to run down and then cut back in line with Bobby & Megan. We did get a few good views of the construction for the Nemo ride. We finally realized why it was going so slowly, only one lane of one side was open!! After we finally got off, we went on Space Mtn…Brice’s first time. He said he liked it, but didn’t want to go again! We headed to Tomorrowland Terrace for lunch and to watch the Jedi show. I ran and got pizza for Bobby & a salad for me since hamburgers didn’t sound good. The Jedi show was really neat – not at all what we expected! After it was done, we went on Buzz and then headed to do Tarzan Treehouse (since we did promise our son)…on the way we stopped and had a Cast Member take our picture in front of the castle. We were hoping to get a good family picture to use for out Christmas cards. Bobby & Brice went on Tarzan’s Treehouse while Megan & I relaxed. Next we went on Haunted Mansion & then Splash & Pooh. By this time it was 2:00, so we headed back to the hotel for a little nap.
We got back into DCA about 3:15 and went on Monsters…it’s a great ride! Then we did the Crush show…I think we like this show more than the kids do! We headed over to Fantasyland to look in the shops…mostly the one that has the neat family crests that you can order. We decided (again) that it’s just too expensive. We ate dinner at the Plaza Inn, I got the Fried Ckn dinner & Bobby got the pasta – both were great, like usual. I also got a really good latte from a coffee machine…I don’t think I’d ever tried these before – I’d been afraid they’d taste bad. Dinner was $29 with our discount. After dinner, we headed back to Small World to see it at night time. The line was super crazy long…but it went pretty fast. I called my brother while we were in line – it was his 16th birthday. After we finally got through the line & cruised around the world again…we headed back to Toon Town. It was pretty deserted. We looked through some of the shops & took some pictures by the Cmas tree & went on Roger Rabbit. We opened the kids’ Tinkerbell present they had got that morning – it was glow in the dark necklaces. We headed over to do Jungle Cruise since its better at night and but made a small detour to Tiki Rm since it was seating. During the finale, when the center thing with all the white girl birds comes down for the second time, Brice said “Oh, not them again!!” :)
Then we went on Jungle Cruise and headed back to Main St. I waited in a crazy long line for some coffee and then also got some fudge. Bobby was looking around some of the stores while I was waiting. By the time I got done it was 8:30…the kids were sleeping, so we parked the stroller on the curb right at the end of Main St in front of the Cmas tree. We ate some of the fudge while we waited (I had bought two pieces…peanut butter & peppermint…we never did eat it all) It was a very good spot to see the fireworks. On the way back to the hotle, I stopped back at McDonalds for more ice cream & coke for Bobby again.
Wednesday – December 13, 2006
This morning I got up at 6:45 and grabbed breakfast for Bobby & me at McDonald’s ($4) and some donuts for the kids. The present today from Tink was Winnie the Pooh candy canes!! We left the hotel @ 8:30 and were on Main St for the rope drop. We headed straight to Peter Pan and didn’t have TOO long a wait – I don’t know how that many people got there before us!! And then we went over to the Carousel (where we found 1/2 a candy cane stuck to Brice's leg...from this morning!!) & then Mr. Toad. Next we headed back to Main St. to buy the kids their annual Christmas ornaments. Brice finally decided on a Peter Pan – he looks like he’s suspended and flying off the Cmas tree! Megan got a Cinderella princess dress on a hanger for her ornament…they were $22. While I was waiting to have them wrapped up, Bobby & Brice headed over for the Jedi Training Academy again – this time to find better seats down on the floor. Megan & I soon caught up with them. Megan was being a little grumpy…she didn’t want to sit down with us and watch the show – so we put her back in her stroller and gave her a juice box and she was happy!! Brice got picked to become a Jedi…Bobby took about 100 pictures!! He did pretty well, his light saber got stuck a few times…and he got to fight Darth Mal. That guy is really good and his makeup is amazing. After they finished each Jedi received a certificate.
Next, to be fair, we headed over to the Princess thing back in Fantasyland Theatre. We got in line at 11:00 when they opened. The line was super long and after 5 min it hadn’t moved. Bobby went up and asked what exactly we were in line for…and we found out it was just to see a princess!! So, we got out of line and explored the rest of the stuff…it isn’t very well explained. We even asked a cast member and he didn’t seem too helpful…but there really isn’t much to do…we took some pictures down by the stage (that is very beautifully made up with tons of flowers). They did have coloring available, and they gave the kids crowns (but they were adult size crowns and wouldn’t stay on, so I had to rig them to be smaller). Other than the store…that was it!! We were told that there was dancing a few times a day…we weren’t quite sure what that meant and weren’t able to come back to check it out.
We headed down through Fantasyland to Frontierland to get Chimichungas from the vendor ($10)…they looked really good. I thought mine was fine, but Bobby really didn’t like his much. The kids had yogurt & fruit I think!!
Then we headed to Tomorrowland and Brice & Bobby went on Star Tours while Megan & I headed to Buzz…then we went to the Spaceport store and looked around…I finally bought the hat I had been looking at. It is pink and has a big rhinestone T in the front…for Tami…actually Tinkerbell is on it too. It is actually a youth hat so it was cheaper! Only $19! I ALMOST got an M Minnie one for Megan…now I wish I would have. Oh, well…another reason to go back to DL!! After B & B got done, we headed to Space, but it was broken down. So, we stopped at Buzz on the way to the hotel for a nap about 1:00.
After a nice little rest, we headed into DCA. Brice requested that we go on the Jumpin Jellyfish…so we did. Woo Hoo!! Then we headed over to Monster Inc and I went on Tower of Terror by myself for the first time. On the way out of DCA we got a family picture on the A of California that is decorated for Cmas and has Goofy on it…great picture!!
On the way back into DL, we stopped at the Silhouette Studio and waited a few minutes to get Megan & my picture done. Megan looks super cute…I don’t really like myself – it doesn’t quite look like me. Bobby grabbed a corn dog from the bus since he was starving (because he didn’t eat all his Chimichunga at lunch). After he finished we headed back to Storybookland Canal Boats, but they were closed….so we did Pinocchio & Snow White. By now it was dinnertime, so we decided to give Village Haus another try….the lines here were SUPER long…it may have been the longest wait all week! Bobby was quite frazzled from the kids after I got back, finally, with dinner. Dinner was $21 and was OK…the kids split a chicken nugget meal…I think we both got cheeseburgers…nothing special.
So, we decided a nice relaxing cruise on the Caribbean would soothe our nerves…unfortunately we ran into Pirates… :) We stopped at the NOS bathrooms when we got back and then headed back and went on Pooh twice for the grand finale to DL. At 7:30 we headed out of the park, tired. I went to McDonald’s after we got back for ice cream & soda.
The next day we drove home & had TONS of stuff to do with Christmas so close....I love going to DL @ Cmas, but December is always SOO busy!!