We just got back from our vacation to California and I realized I hadn't even started on a trip report yet. It's easier for me to spread it out over a few posts so here it goes! And there are A LOT of details in here that are trip related more than Disneyland related, so it's gonna end up being pretty long.

Vacationers: Myself, husband, son (6 and autistic), daughter 3

Day 1 - The drive down

I had the few days before our trip off from work which gave me more than enough time to pack and prepare, so in that case we were ready to go. Hubby had to actually work that day, so I was a bit worried how awake he would be for the 16 hour drive. When 3pm rolled around we headed over to the local Hertz rental car office to pick up our vehicle for the drive down. That many miles meant there was no way I was going to but the wear and tear on our own car.

We got to the rental office and was told they had a compact SUV but were having trouble getting anything else. Last time I checked, they had 3 sizes of SUVs, and we needed the midsize (the Ford Escape size) because we used it on our trip last year and it was perfect for the luggage and the carseats. The lady called someone on the phone and the conversation she had made it sound like they were still looking for a 5-seat SUV for us and all they had was a small 4 seater in the lot. I was getting upset because I made the reservations 3 months in advance and they didn't have the vehicle.

We walked out to the lot to look at the one they had and it was way too small compared to the Ford Escape. She then started to tell us that this was the vehicle reserved for us and they always say "Or similar" on their reservations to prevent people from asking for a particular car. I agree, but the little SUV they meant for us to use was in no way a similar size to the Ford Escape. The cooler we needed to bring for our son's rice milk wouldn't fit behind the seat for me to reach, and there was no armrest between the drive and passener seat to put our movie player to help the kids make the trip. It was a completely different class on all other rental websites.

She said she would keep trying to find one and we went home to wait. She also tried to tell me I was picking it up early but I had my reservation papers with me and corrected her that was not the case. At home, I checked the web site again, and they had changed it around since I reserved 3 months ago. The 4 seaters and the 5 seaters were now lumped together. I went to Budget's site and a few others and they still showed them as being in seperate classes. After about 2 hours of waiting (keep in mind we needed to start loading the car and get going to follow our time schedule). She called to say that she was told they had found an SUV and it would be there in 30 minutes, so we drove back over to wait. They brought us a Trailblazer, which was slightly bigger than the Escape, but it would do. During the paperwork they informed us it would be an additional $80 for a vehicle upgrade, then dropped another bomb on us that we would have to pay $50 for both of us to drive.

Last year when we rented from Hertz at the Airport, the clerk asked us if we were married, we answered "yes" and he said because of that we didn't need to pay for the extra driver fee. This year we felt like we were taken, but we needed to get going so we could leave the house before 7pm. I'm pretty sure I will not be renting from them in the future, which is sad cause we had a great experience with them last year.

So home we went and packed up the vehicle.

We got out of the house right around 7pm and started our 16 hour drive. I had a headache most of the day (Hertz didn't help that) and after about 3 hours on the road it had turned into a migraine. I was able to take over driving for hubby, but my headache only allowed me to drive for a few hours. I felt guilty and sad because I knew driving straight thru only works when both people can drive. Hubby told me not to worry and took over driving for me prematurely. I was feeling horrible at this point (those who get migraines know what I mean) and was really doubting whether we were going to be able to drive all the way through or stop at a hotel so I could get better, but at 3am my migraine stopped. The rush of energy one gets after feeling better was awesome. I took over driving and was able to let hubby sleep for many hours.

There is something wonderful about the sun rising during a road trip. Sunrise always comes right before we get to the flat lands where the cow pastures are and it's just fantastic. The kids are sleeping, hubby is sleeping and I can just enjoy the quiet. That's my favorite part of the drive. When we hit Sacramento everyone starts to get a bit excited. Sure we're still like 5 hours out, but it starts to feel close. As we neared L.A. we start to hear some funny commercials. For instance $3200 can get you either a boob job, nose job, or a few sessions of liposuction. I was shocked and humored by the fact that these commercials are so common. We also passed a adopt-a-highway sign that was sponsored by Godfathers Bail Bonds. Who would get a bail bond from these people? Its like there's an invisible "or else" written under their name, lol!

When we got to our hotel (Best Western Park Place Inn) we were all tired but still excited. We had made it yet again. Check in was flawless. The parking spaces were a little tight for the Trailblazer, but we found one near our room. There are also parallel parking spaces against the brick wall that surrounds the hotel which were perfect for SUVs too.

Our suite was on the third floor and was clean and perfect. Not sure what gives hotels "that smell" but it instantly lets you know you're on vacation! We grabbed some food from the nearby McDonald's, ate, and then crashed onto the beds for a while. When we woke up we walked over to Downtown Disney to stretch the legs and browse the shops. We went back to the hotel after a few hours and prepared to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow was day 1 of Disneyland!

Day 2 - First Day at Disneyland (Friday May 11th)

We had set the hotel clock radio for 7:30, but I woke up before then as did my son. Luckily, my son is the type to remain quiet in the morning when asked, so I got him some milk from the fridge and some Applejacks we brought with us.

A bit more about the room:
We booked a suite, which was 2 queen beds on one side, a half-wall divider, and a "living room" area with a couch that also became a sleeper. Our room had wireless internet, and although it wasn't very fast compared to home, it was adequate. There is a microwave (ours was the type where you turned the knob to set the time, and a choice between defrost and cook. There were no digital buttons at all), and a small fridge. They advertise that there are no freezer sections to the fridge, but that is misleading. Both the suite we stayed in last year, and the one this year has a small upper section of the fridge that acts as a freezer. We re-froze some icepacks in there in a short period of time.

The queen beds were very comfortable, though we did request extra pillows which were brought promptly. There are no room safes. The bathroom had two light switches, one for the regular light, and the other was for the heat lamp. Both switches started the fan. The shower curtain rod was the angled kind which pretty much doubles the "elbow room" in the shower. The vanity has one sink and also holds the coffee maker, and the tray with papercups, the ice bucket, and other amenities. There is a built-in hairdryer. Iron and ironing board is in the closet.

We left the hotel room around 8:20 and headed to the free breakfast which was upstairs at the restaurant next door. It was a bit crowded, but not to the point we couldn't get a booth. They had cold cereal (cheerios, cornflakes, and two others), hard boiled eggs, warm toast, toasted bagels, danishes, cake doughnuts (chocolate, powdered & plain), fruit, coffee, juices (apple, orange and I think grapefruit) and milk (I think it was 2%).

After a quick breakfast, we walked over to the park and got in line. We had 3-day hoppers and the lines to get inside went quickly. They hadn't yet dropped the rope so we waited in the crowd for it to happen. My son was getting anxious and was stepping on my feet while he fidgeted around, then right before the drop, he backed up onto my foot (again) and managed to take the toenail off my big toe. I hobbled over to First Aid and got some bandaids and cleaned it up. I told the family we were going on Pirates first and that was that! lol!
Walking was slow for me, but we made it over to pirates and there was no line. I hadn't been on Pirates for 10 years so it was very nice to finally go on it again. I was surprised at how dark it was before and during the first drop. I remembered it much brighter in the past, even remember light at the bottom. The ride was great and I really like the movie character additions and the Davy Jones effect.

After we got off Pirates, we walked back to Pooh and went on that. Afterwards we noticed that Tigger and Pooh were out for pictures, so we waiting in a short line to meet them. While in line for Pooh, the handler said Pooh had to leave for a bit but would be back in 2 minutes. Pooh left and then returned in less than two minutes (probably for a cast change) and the line was back in business. After that we headed over to Fantasyland and rode the kid's favorites (Dumbo, Merry-go-round, teacups and Peter Pan). I think they need to add some sort of Pixie Dust effect at the loading area right before you take off, even if it's just some lights in small tubes that blink on right before the ships depart.

After Fantasyland we took a short break and left for our hotel, picking up some McDonalds along the way for lunch. We ate, relaxed a bit, and then headed back to the parks. We went into DCA to see the High School Musical wrapping up and moving to the Golden Dreams area where they performed another set. It was relaxing over there and we found ample shade on the concrete ledge seating around that main walkway. about 15 minutes later, we could hear that Lightning McQueen and Mater were on the way and our kids were very excited. They drove up and then parked for pictures. The sound of Mater's horn and McQueen's engine revving surprise some folks, but it wasn't loud, just sudden. After pictures we headed back over to DLand.

Our son wanted to go on Pirates again really bad (as did I) so we hit Pirates first again and it had a very short line. Next we walked back through Frontierland and let the kids watch Thunder Mountain go by. Son wanted to go on it immediately but daughter was uncertain so we put it off for later. Back in Fantasyland again we went on Dumbo and teacups then headed to the Autopia. We took the monorail as well, which the kids loved, and came back to do Buzz. By this time it was getting dark and close to dinner, so we walked over to the River Bell Terrace to eat. We bought our son a chicken strips kid's meal from the nearby Stagedoor Cafe because RBT doesn't have chicken strips for kids. His came in a paper lunch pale type container. Our daughter had the mac 'n cheese kid's meal (which she loved and it came in a black mickey-shaped plate), I had the clam chowder breadbowl (which came with a salad) and I don't recall what hubby had, but it was all good and filled us up.
Afterwards we walked around a bit and headed back to Fantasyland for more rides and to wait for fireworks. To our surprise, most of FL is closed prior to the fireworks, so we stood next to Alice and planned to watch the fireworks from there. While we waited, a CM said that his favorite place to watch the show was just off the walkway that led from Fantasyland to IASW, so at the last minute we walked over there. I must say his suggestion was fantastic. We could see all area's of the show and the music was loud and clear, and my daughter got a clear view of Tinkerbell flying in the air. Out of all the fireworks shows I have seen. I think I like the Dreams one the best. Just the way it incorporates all the rides and everything was too cool.
After the fireworks, we went back to the carousel but had to wait. It was pretty much 10pm before they opened Fantasyland back up. We hit the kid's favorite rides again, and then began to head to Mainstreet to exit the park.

On the way out, my husband bought me a light-up rose. I can't tell you how special that made me feel. I have wanted someone to buy me one of those since I was 14 years old! And I had no idea they actually are scented with roses too! What a treat!

After the short walk back to our hotel, we were welcomed by a clean room and we called it a night.

Days 3 & 4 (Sat. & Sun)

Saturday we slept in a little bit and took advantage of the free breakfast next door once again. It was waaaaay crowded compared to Friday and our family couldn't get a place to sit down when we arrived. I stood in one of the out-of-the-way paths with the kids while hubby tried to get us some food. The food was pretty thrashed that morning too. No hardboiled eggs (or they had already run out) and the bagels and toast were being devoured by guests almost as soon as they were being put out. Since they were freshly toasted, they could only put out a few at a time, there was quite a wait for bagels and toast. Even the doughnuts and danishes were pretty low. There were also A LOT of crabby people there, some yelling at their kids, lots of parents/grandparents with scowls on their faces.

A booth opened up near us so we took it. I used one of my anti-bacterial wipes to give it a quick clean cause one side was sticky. I don't fault the restaurant management for this tho, there were just way too many people rushing around and all and I just wanted to sit down with the kids. We weren't going to the park this weekend, and given the folks we saw heading there, it was probably a good thing. How can people start the day on a vacation being so crabby?

Within about 10 minutes of sitting down, the place began to thin out. They were pretty much ending the free food by that point (it was a little after 9:30am) but there was enough left to give us basically what we all had the other day minus the hardboiled eggs.

We went back to the hotel to finished getting our stuff together and map out our trip to Little Tokyo in L.A. My husband (who is half Japanese) and I were very excited about today's plans and we left the hotel about 10:30ish to drive down there. Traffic was... well... traffic was the way it always was and I think we got there a bit before 11:30. There are a bunch of parking lots around there so parking was not a problem, it was just a matter of what we wanted to park closer to. The kids were a bit cranky because this wasn't Disneyland, but there was a Family Fest going on and they quickly got excited. We wondered around stopping in shops and watching some cultural dances. Shopping was fantastic and we had some delicious sushi, sashimi and mochi ice cream there too. The bathroom situation is a bit challenging though. If you are going into a restaurant to eat, be sure to look for one inside if they have one (they would be for restaurant guests only). They only other place we saw were the bathrooms at the nearby hotel.
When we got back to the hotel, we picked up some more fast food from McDonalds and made it a night.
Here is a website with all the info on Little Tokyo:
http://www.visitlittletokyo.com/01shopping.html

Sunday Mother's Day
I wanted a relaxing day Sunday, so we picked that day for our beach day. We got up early, gave the kids some milk and cereal that we had with us and headed for the beach. We weren't sure which one we wanted to visit, so we just drove down Harbor Blvd. We passed a large Japanese grocery store on the way down (Marukai) and made a mental note to stop there before our vacation ended to do some shopping since there was also one in Little Tokyo but we didn't stop in.
We ended up taking a left when Harbor Blvd. split and were in the Newport/Balboa area. There were parking meters up and down the street so we parked and investigated. Not being sure what the parking meter laws were on Sundays here, we put coins in just to be sure, and made the short walk to the beach. It was gorgeous! There were hardly any people there, the sun was shining and the air was still cool. The kids had a blast running around in the sand and waves and we got some pretty shells. It was a perfect day for the beach and a great way to spend Mother's Day.
After shaking out the sand we headed back to the car and went back to the hotel. Hubby wanted to take me to Rain Forest Cafe for dinner, but we called ahead and it was already an hour wait. It was Mother's Day and we expected it to be a long wait, but reading the reviews here made us realize that the hour would no doubt be a lot longer. He asked me want I wanted to do, so I suggested Sonic. Yes, it sounds silly, but we don't have a Sonic anywhere near us anymore, lol! The Map at Sonic's site made it look like the restaurant was a few blocks away on a main street, so we went there. We must have drove around for 30 minutes looking for it, then went back to the hotel and called them. Turns out the Sonic was on a street called Lemon (there was no address on their home page, it just said Anaheim) and was rather tricky to find by just looking at the map on their site. So we headed back out and got a late lunch. The slushies were worth it!
We relaxed at the hotel and watched a few movies (one we brought with us, and we got the in-room move "Bridge to Terabithia". It was totally NOT what I thought the movie was going to be like, and we watched another of our own movies afterwards because it left us with a sad feeling we needed to get rid of. We all watched ZOOM afterwards, which was a pretty good movie - our kid's loved it - and went to bed early. We planned our EE day for Monday morning!

Day 5 (Monday, May 14th)

We woke up really early for EE on Monday, skipping the free breakfast our hotel offered. We didn't get there right at opening for the EE, but a few minutes afterward which help with getting through the front gate quite a bit. When we got to the front gate and handed over our 3-Day Hoppers, the lady at the booth told us we had to wait in the regular line cause this was for Early Entry. I had to turn the Park Hoppers over to show her where it read we got one EE entry. She then scanned our tickets and in we went. I thought it was a bit odd that she said that, and maybe they need to educate the front gate staff a bit more. Or she was new, not too sure.

We made a bee-line to Fantasyland, Peter Pan in particular. After riding that, we went on our kids' other favorites: Dumbo, the Carousel, and Mad Tea Party. By that time the rest of the Park was open, so we head to - you guessed it - Pirates, at the urgent request of our son. Our daughter was not to pleased to go on Pirates again, but we bribed her with "pirate treasure" at the end of the ride. It was a walk-on again (gotta love that!) and though our daughter fussed at the beginning, the waterfall drops had her laughing and having a good time again. She doesn't like the complete darkness at the beginning, but after we get past that she's fine. Our son was of course in Pirate heaven. It's really awesome to see the look in his eyes during that ride. He is completely engulfed in wonder and awe. And he didn't miss a Jack Sparrow either. After exiting pirates, we went into the Pieces of Eight shop and bought a treasure ring for our daughter, and one of those cool plastic pirate guns for our son. The clerk showed us that when you pull the trigger the light from the barrel makes a skull and crossbones. Our son was joyous! lol!

We were getting hungry so decided to have breakfast at a sit-down restaurant. We chose Cafe Orleans because it was right there with no wait. They seated us inside and it was nice and quiet. We ordered the mickey waffles for each child (they devoured them!), I ordered the cafe scrambled eggs (yummy and perfect!) and hubby ordered the three-cheese Monte Cristo french toast. We shared our breakfasts so we each got a bit of the monte cristo and the scrambled breakfast. The monto cristo was good with the berry compote on it, but it had quite a "bite" to it. I think it was the swiss cheese in it that made it slightly too cheesey. If they would do mozzerella, brie and cream cheese I think it would have been a bit better. At the end of the meal, they brought us a handful of golden chocolate coins. There must have been about 10 of them, hehe. As we left Cafe Orleans, we passed some people trying to get in. They told them they had closed for breakfast (we must have been the last folks in!) and weren't going to reopen for another 45 minutes to an hour (I forget which).

Splash Mountain had been running a bit on the 11th (at night) so as we headed over to Pooh we heard the screams and noticed it was up and going earlier than the refurb schedule said! We asked the kids if they wanted to ride and they both were very excited. We stood our daughter up against the height sign and she was about half and inch taller than it. This was the first year for her to break the 40 inch mark and boy was she excited!! The line was a bit long, but we were pleasantly stuffed from breakfast and enjoy the wait in the shade while I explained to the kids what kind of ride it was. Hubby hadn't been on hardly any rides himself, so this was a new one for him too. right before we got to the loading area, there was an very icy breeze in the tunnel. For a moment I was wondering if it was going to be too cold for the kids to ride. Getting to the loading area brought back the morning warmth again tho. My husband sat in the very back with my 3 year old daughter next to him. There was an empty seat in front of them, and then my seat, my son's seat, and two very nice people in the front. To tell the truth, I had been very nervous about Splash. My son has autism and is prone to impulsive things sometimes, so we had planned on having me ride in the back next to him on a seperate log. But he had been doing so well listening in the parks that we decided to let him have his own seat in front of me. When we got in, he said "ew mommy, it's wet!" about the seat with this little devilish smile all boys get at one point, and I knew he was going to be fine. I told him to grab onto the side handrails and hold them, and he did. He saw the first drop from a mile away and was sooooo excite. "Oh oh!!" he said with glee over and over again, and when we dropped down the first hill there were nothing but giggles from my two kids (and their parents!). I also remembered to warn my husband to hold tight for that fast inside drop that starts right when you see briar bear's bottom. I wondered how they would take the BIG drop, and on the lift they were giggling. They loved the big drop! They screamed with glee on the way down, as did we all, and just laughed and laughed afterwards. When we got off they asked to go again, but we went on Pooh first. After we got off Pooh they had shut Splash down. Good thing we went on when we did!

At this point we headed to DCA for a while. We went on Monster's Inc, and then grabbed some lunch at Taste Pilot's Grill. Fantastic food, well worth the money. I order the 3 piece ribs and couldn't believe how much meat there was on them. With the crisscut fries and coleslaw I was pretty much stuffed. Hubby order the chicken sandwich, my son got the chicken strips and my daughter ordered the little burgers with cheese. The kids got a big kick out of being able to order their own meals on the touch screen, and there were plenty of seats. My daughter couldn't finish her meal so we got a spare mickey plate from the counter to put over it and headed back to the hotel for a short break and to put the extra little burger in the fridge there.

I was meeting my cousin who is a cast member at a bit after 5pm so we headed back to the park around 3:30ish. We walked over to the Autopia to take a ride before meeting my cousin and it was fun as usual. Only bad thing was some of the people in line. There was a group of teen girls who were shredding their souveneir driver's licenses and just dropping them over the railing into the bushes below. It was really disgusting and made me realize that I would never do anything like that at their age. I couldn't even figure out what type of mind set would even thing that would be a good thing to do.
Another almost bad experience happened at the end of the ride. I'm always careful not to bump anyone and as I pulled up to the car my hubby and son were in, something told me to hold onto my daughter. Sure enough we were rammed from behind so hard that we crashed into my husband and son's car. even with me holding my daughter securely, her little nose barely missed the steering wheel. The person in the car behind us was an adult male and there was no apology or anything from him. Some people.... I just don't know what they are thinking.

We went over to the Riverbell Terrace and met my cousin and her husband. I hadn't seen her in like 10 years so it was a treat to meet up with them. She brought my kids each a big button which we attached to their lanyards, and the kids just really adored her and her husband. After a quick meal at the Riverbell, we all went on Pirates and then walked around a bit talking. We happned to pass Big Thunder, which my son asked to go on. Our daughter too wanted to ride which surprised us. It was another of the 40 inch rides she could now go on, and she was measured 3 times along the way, each time she beamed with a smile to show the CM that yes she was tall enough. I sat with her, not sure how she was going to take it, and we were off. To all of our surprises, she LOVED it. Our little "dumbo is my favorite ride" girl was all about Thunder Mountain now. She wanted to go again, but the park was closed and we had to explain to her it was time to leave and we could go on it again tomorrow. We walked over to DtD with my cousin and her husband so they could take the tram bake to their car and then we wandered slowly to the hotel, just in time to watch Heroes on NBC (vacation or not, we can't miss Heroes!)

I've been waiting 6 days for the rest!

I have been enjoying reading your trip report. Thanks for taking the time to post it.

*Sorry, ran into a busy time at work! Sorry for the delay!*

Day 6 (Tuesday, May 15th)
Hubby and I knew this was our last day at the Parks, so it was a little somber in the morning getting ready. Once again we went over to the free continental breakfast offered upstairs next door and were soon on our way to the gates of Disneyland. I have to say that each time we had to wait in line to get in, the lines moved much faster than I thought they would. Grats to the CMs on that.

I always dread the last day at Disneyland, and I purposely go a bit slower to take it all in, from the music playing in the background when you first enter, to the sights of passing under the "tunnels" into Main Street. This day was no different.

Our first stop was to the Princess Fantasy Faire. By the time we walked to the far back of the park, the line was really long. We got in and waited. And waited and waited. We took turns taking the kids down to see the events happening down in the main "courtyard" area. Every once and a while they would have a princess reading and abbreviated version of their tale, and there were two tables where kids could take one of the free paper crowns, a sheet of stickers, and do some decorating. We found that the hats, even at the smallest tab, the paper crowns were much too big for our 3-year-old daughter. I took two of the bigger stickers off the sheet and used them to hold the crown together at the smaller size for my daughter.

After waiting about an hour and a half, we finally rounded the corner for our turn. The first Princess was Jasmine, who noticed my daughter was pretending to be a kitten and began to talk to her about Rasha. We then posed for a few pictures, a few with our camera and a few taken by Disney photographers. The next princess was Cinderella who also spoke to my daughter about her mice and cat, then it was more pictures. The last character was actually Prince Phillip. Our kids had no idea who this was despite watching Sleeping Beauty a lot, and they didn't really want to socialize with him but we had pictures nonetheless. I have to say that the character CMs were very good for this, and they do give you personal attention and great picture opportunities. I felt bad for the guy playing Prince Phillip though cause no one seemed excited to see him. Prince Phillip is the only "Prince" to actually DO something worthy of being a hero!! You'd think he'd get more respect. (Can you tell he is one of my favorites? hehe). And the photographers were very good. They hand you a card after they take your pictures which you can then go online to view. You can add neat graphics to the pictures online, but can't print them out for yourself. They aren't free, and they aren't cheap. I think it was like over $100 for a each disk. For one or two pictures that is outrageous, but if you were to use their service throughout your stay, and get a disk loaded with pictures, it would probably be a good deal.

After the PFF, we decided to get some souveniers. Last day is always shopping day for us, so we walked over to the little shop right outside of It's A Small World to have a look. My son used his $20 birthday money from his grandparents to buy a cool Mickey Pirate set. It came with a few characters, a ship, some treasure and a few other pieces. My daughter picked out a Marie Plushie (from Aristocats) and a princess coloring book. She had Duchess from last year and was just crazy about Marie this year. She also picked out one of those glowing star wands.

we decided to go to DCA for a few hours now, and walked over. We hit Monsters Inc. first. I think this was a much needed addition to DCA because we like it enough to walk over there to go on it. Before it was there, DCA was pretty much a take-it-or-leave-it park for us. After Monsters, we went to Taste Pilots again (can't get enough of those ribs!) and we all pigged out on the good food.

There is one ride hubby and I have been dying to go on, but with the kids it was impossible. This year however, our son was old enough to ride so we headed over to Grizzly River Run to see how long the line was. It was a 15-20 minute wait and our boy was all over it, hehe. Our daughter was once again devastated she wasn't tall enough. We had never used a parent-switch pass before, so here's how it worked over at Grizzly. You have to go see the CM at the beginning of the line with both parents, the kid that can go on the ride and the kids that can't. He saw that my hubby was taking our son the first time through and I was waiting with our daughter so I go the pass and we went over to the little "overlook" spot to wait for them to come down. My son LOVED it. I think he's really big on the splashy water rides cause he was laughing and giggling the whole time. And they were soaked! We met them at the exit and my son and I were directed to go through the exit line back up to the large round rotating deck. My son was elated at this point that he was going on it again, and as we entered the boat, I buckled him in and myself and we were ready to go. The ride was awesome, I got completely soaked, although I must say there were times I felt more dizzy than I ever did on Tea Cup, so a WARNING for those who might have trouble with spinning rides.

We started to walk over to Bug's Land, but my kids wanted nothing to do with that. Especially my daughter who was scared of the bugs. So we went to the part of the park that had the robe bridges and little nature trails. We let the kids run around for a bit, and then my son wanted to try the rope swing that was on a pulley. I was nervous about this, because it required him to take the rope swing and walk all the way to the end of the "track" get up on the hill, and then jump to the swing to get on and swing away. With his autism it's hard for him to just "do" something for the first time because he doesn't have a model to work from the first couple of times. One might think that seeing other children do it would be enough, but for him it's not. We watched as he tried the first time and ended up just holding on to the rope while it dragged him into the wood chips. I wanted to go help him so bad, but we couldn't get into that area to do so. the CM (bless her heart) who was at the hill, called him to come back and try again and she helped him get up on the swing and he made it through the second time just like a pro.

After that we said goodbye to DCA and went back to Disneyland. We debated going to the hotel in between, but the kids said they didn't want to (and last time we did they just ran around the room playing anyway) so we reentered Disneyland.

We decided to try the direction my family had always taken through the park growing up. We had let the kids mark on the map all the rides they wanted to go on that day, and so we headed over to Adventure Land to begin our path through the park. We started to enter the little waiting area for Tiki Room, but the kids protested. I reminded them they had marked it on the map, but the both said they didn't want to go. Ok, we said and moved on to Jungle Cruise. Again that was a "no" from them both, and after failed convincing by both my husband and I, we pass that one up too. Indy was one that would have to wait til they were older, which put us -guess where?- Pirates. Before we could ask if they wanted to go on Pirate, my son was already pulling me along into the weaves of the queue with a big smile on his face. Our daughter started to fuss again (I swear it's just the dark part at the beginning she doesn't like) so Hubby waited outside with her.

I'm not sure what happened this time on the ride because we walked right on but right as we passed Jack in the barrel, the boats got bumper to bumper and stayed that way through the rest of the ride. It was like one long boat-snake. Every time a boat went up the waterfall, there was bumping between all the boats and then we were stuck. My son enjoyed it either way, but it made for a long ride and a long wait for my daughter and hubby outside. Though they did get to see Captain Jack Sparrow while they waited.

We headed for Splash, but it was closed, so we walked a little farther to Pooh. We had an early dinner at Riverbelle Terrece and then rode Thunder Mt. Fantasyland was our next stop and Hubby actually went on the teacups with us this time (his first time on) and like it! Of course we went on Dumbo and the Carousel and then walked over to Buzz. Daughter didn't want to go on Buzz so we walked around Tomorrowland while we waited for them to come out. Sadly, it was getting close to 8pm by that time, so we asked the kids what rides they wanted to go on one more time. Son said Pirates (no surprise there!) and daughter said "I want to go on Thunder Mountain!". We were both a bit shocked, thinking it would either be Dumbo or teacups for her, but no it was BTMR and there was no talking her out of it. So we all went to Pirates, and then Thunder Mt.

They wanted to go on BTMR again but we explain that the park was closing and they were bummed but ok. We walked slowly towards Main Street, taking a nice long look at the scenery on the way. It was emptying out by that time, so it was a nice calming walk. we popped into the Candy Shop there (it was packed as was to be expected) and bought some lollipops, peanut brittle, Goofy sours, and I picked out a 3-can pack of Disneyland coffee. (I must say I've tried the Disney Blend and the French Vanilla since then and was surprised by the smoothness of this coffee. Definately getting more next time!) As we exited the park, we told the kids to say goodbye to Disneyland and that we'll see ya next year. It was at that point that it sort of hit them, cause my daughter got really quiet and wanted to be carried back to the hotel, and my son was sniffling a bit. When we got back to the hotel we gave the kids a bath and sort of pre-organized for the packing tomorrow.

Day 7 (Wednesday, May 16th)

Today was the dreaded "check-out" day. We set the in-room alarm for 8:30 and showered before waking up the kids. We got them some milk and cereal we brought with and set them at the small table to watch cartoons while we packed. It wasn't soon before the questions came. "Are we going to Disneyland?" "Not today. Today we drive back home." They were obviously not happy about that, lol! We packed and organized and got the kids dressed, then began to load up the rental car. Being on the third floor, it took many trips to get all our stuff to the car. There is one elevator but it was quicker to just take the stairs up and down. Being that one of us had to watch the kids (me) while the other one loaded the car (hubby) made things even slower, but it gave me a chance to double check along the way that nothing was being left behind.

We then took the kids down to the car to get them in their seats and ready for the trip. I went back up to make one final walk-thru of the room (the saddest part of the trip!) and then walked over to the front desk to check out. I was help right away and they even got my brand new CrownClubCard updated with points earn for our stay. we paid the bill and then I met the hubby and kids at the car. As we pulled out onto Harbor, we headed south because there was a store we wanted to stop in before beginning the long trek home. The kids once again asked about the park since we were driving away from it, and we tried to cheer them up by telling them we'll come again next year.

The store we wanted to stop in is an Japanese Grocery store called Marukai on Harbor. There was one at Little Tokyo too but we hadn't had the time to spend too much looking around there. It is a club store, but we only had to pay $1 for a trial month pass, and they had a bunch of nice things in there. We bought some snacks and gifts and then loaded up the car once again for the trip home.

Last year we made the mistake of trying to make the drive back with little sleep, but this year we got plenty and were feeling optimistic about just driving straight through. The trip was going very well, traffic was good and we managed to drive the whole thing straight through with just a few stops to stretch legs and let the kids run around a bit. After leaving Anaheim at about pm, we arrived home in Portland around 4am. We unpacked the essentials from the rental and just put them in the living room while we headed to bed for a few hours of rest.

My next post will be some discoveries I made on the trip and some tips I will use on our next one.

These are just some things I learned and want to remember for next time. Hope others will find it helpful as well.

* Invest in an Entertainment Book. You can get great deals on Rooms and Car Rentals.
* Gas was actually cheaper at roadside stops that had multiple gas stations, and noticably cheaper at the truck stops that carried regular gas (Especially at Pilot stations!!!)
* Bring some microwave popcorn for a snack in the hotel room during midday breaks/whenever snacks. we also bought some paper bowls and plates for eating/snacking in the room.
* Disneyland only has regular popcorn, DCA has caramel corn, and DtD has kettle corn.
* Try to always carry a few bandaids and antiseptic wipes.
* If you have a picky eater, or dietary restrictions, check out the menu listings here to see which eateries have what. It saves time.
* There are separate Early Entry gates. They are located closer to the DtD side of the entry gates.
* Most of Fantasyland (around the carousel) closes during the fireworks and then doesn't open up until about 20 minutes after the fireworks are over.
*If you plan on using Disneyland's photographers for pictures, start using them at the beginning of your trip. That way you'll have a lot of pictures to put on the flat fee they charge for the CD.

I'll add more as I remember. ^.^

One thing I forgot to mention is that half of the time we ordered Kids Meals they forgot to include the color-change straw. While it didn't seem like a big deal to us, it might be to some other families so make sure you check before you walk away from the counter with your meal.

And I forgot to mention we didn't see a single DreamTeam member the entire time we were there. Again, not a major thing, but we only saw maybe 5 people our entire trip with Dream FastPasses. Didn't see anyone with lanyards or ears or stuff like that. It was kinda strange cause I thought for sure we'd see families with giveaways while we were there. We did see one elderly couple eating at the RiverBelle Terrace with a white tablecloth. They were REALLY GRUMPY though, so we assumed it was because something bad had happened to them in the park and the meal was a compensation. They were THAT angry looking.

Thanks for the lovely trip report. Glad you had a good time!