Travel dates: July 16-20, 2007
Travel method: Assorted cars—see Day One for details!
Resort: Off site, Motel 6 on Disney Way
Accommodations: Standard room
Ages Represented in Group: 2 Adults
DL Experience Represented in Group: One old pro and a novice
Cast of characters: Me and my boyfriend, Val (not to be confused with Val Kilmer ;))

A Little Introduction: Val and I have been to Disneyland together once before, in October 2005, for the 50th Anniversary. He had only been to Disneyland once before then, when he was about 6 years old, so that trip was pretty much a new experience for him. I have been more times than I can count.

This particular trip came about a bit suddenly. Val was visiting his family on the East Coast in June, and I called him up one night and informed him that he would be going to Disneyland with me. And a trip was born. Not sure why I got the urge at that particular time, but you know how it is. Sometimes, you just have to go!

We had to plan the dates around a few baseball games—he’s a Giants fanatic, and apparently could not miss the All-Star game—and finally came up with July 16-20. The plan was to leave Tucson early on Monday morning, do the parks on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and drive back on Friday. Well, you know what they say … even the best laid plans … Read on!

(And I apologize in advance for this very long trip report!)

Day One
As I mentioned above, the plan was to leave Tucson around 8 a.m. on Monday morning. We were driving Val’s Mustang, as my car doesn’t have air conditioning. (You will soon appreciate the irony.) After much deliberation and advice from our dear MP friends, we decided to take the route through Yuma and San Diego. I agreed to do part of the driving, but since I am not a fan of the Mustang (have any of you actually tried to drive one of those things?? It’s not easy!) I wanted to drive the leg of the trip that I was familiar with. We are both from Yuma, so we have torn up the road between here and there many times. We agreed I would drive from Tucson to Yuma, and he would take over from there. He had the Mustang in the shop for a few days before the trip, to make sure that it was in tip top shape for the journey, so we were feeling pretty confident.

We didn’t actually get out of town until about 9. I got in the driver’s seat and tried to pull a little u-turn out of the neighborhood. This might be a good time to mention that Val is in love with his car. So I pull the turn, and he winces, like he is in severe pain. Oh brother. I didn’t even hit anything! His car has a body kit, and he was worried that I was going to scrape the bottom of the bumper—which, in my defense, is precisely an inch and a half off the road. I turned to him and asked, “Seriously, are you going to do that the whole time?” He assured me that he wouldn’t, but he wasn’t very convincing. So, we continued to the interstate, scrape free and bumper in tact.

The trip to Yuma was pretty uneventful. We made good time, and were looking forward to getting out of the car for a little stretching and some food. As I was driving up the last hill into Yuma, through Telegraph Pass, the car started acting a bit weird. I mentioned to Val that I didn’t think it was accelerating. He shrugged and said it was because we were climbing a mountain. He didn’t seem too worried, but I had the pedal to the floor and we were barely hitting 50. A Mustang should have more power than that!

Anyway, we pulled into town, refueled and picked up some food. I often think that I miss Yuma, but when we stepped out of the car it was very near 120 degrees (if not more), and I remembered why I moved. After a little lunch, we hit the road, with Val driving. We couldn’t get the air conditioning to blow cold, but didn’t think much of it, as it had been sitting in that ungodly heat for about an hour.

However, about ten minutes out, cruising through the sand dunes, we started to get worried. The air was not working. It was one p.m., and we were crossing a very hot desert. We cracked the windows, but when the air blowing in on you is the melting point of metal, it doesn’t do much good. I actually started removing articles of clothing. It was that bad. I told Val if the air didn’t come on soon, we should stop in El Centro and get a hotel until the sun went down. He didn’t listen and blew right by El Centro, and precisely three minutes later he shook his head and said, “I should have stopped”. Well, at this point, we didn’t have much of a choice but to keep going, because there was really no where between El Centro and San Diego.

Now, it’s one thing to say we crossed the desert without air conditioning, but you really had to have been there to understand the horror. I was almost in tears, and Val got so sick he couldn’t drive any more. He said he was nauseous and his head was spinning. For the love, pull over!! I was sure he was going to pass out any minute. So he pulled over, right on the side of the interstate, half way up a mountain. There were huge trucks driving by as we switched places and I took over driving. It was really nerve-wracking to merge back into the lane, on an incline, into traffic.

We survived on ice out of the cooler, and finally made it to the border patrol stop. The air up here was considerably cooler, but still probably near 100. We had to wait close to 15 minutes before it was our turn at the inspection station. They asked the typical questions, where are you coming from, where are you going, etc. But then the guy says “Is this your car, ma’am?” I said no, and told him it was Val’s. He leaned in the window and asked Val how long he had had the car. What a strange question! Val responded “Since it was new, about five years.” The guy nodded and waved us through. Val was convinced the guy was just trying to be a jerk, but I was sure there had to have been a reason he asked about the car.

We made it to Vejas in Alpine, which loomed like a welcome oasis in our horrible situation. We pulled into the outlet mall, and Val got out of the car, popped the hood, and took a look. (Pic) (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney001resize.jpg) Not that I understand any of this, but I guess one of the belts wasn’t spinning. It was also making the worst noise you have ever heard. My guess is that is why the border patrol agent inquired about the car. We walked through Vejas and found some shade, and Val—who was really flustered at this point—started making calls.

He called the Ford dealership in Tucson, and explained the situation. The guy advised us not to go to L.A. that night. He said that belt would break sooner rather than later, and then we would be in real trouble. He was surprised we had made it as far as we had. We asked if we could have the numbers of some dealerships in San Diego, and he told us just to call 411. Jerk. We called 411 and they were no help at all. The only number they would give us was for National City. I’m not familiar with the area, but it turns out National City was about an hour from where we were. It was around 4 p.m. at this point, and we didn’t want to chance San Diego traffic with our situation. I got fed up and finally called my father, and had him look up Ford dealerships online. He found one for us in El Cajon, which was just down the street, about a ten minute drive. We were thrilled.

We hurried over there, as they were about to close. They were really nice at Ford, but told us there was no way they could even get it looked at today. This really sweet older gentleman told us that it could be the belt, the air compressor, or the clutch, likely all three. Val was worried because he was convinced it was going to be about a thousand dollars to fix it. I was worried because of the arrangements that we had in Anaheim. The man suggested that we rent a car, but we hadn’t planned on that in our budget, and decided we would just stay in El Cajon for the night. I started digging the phone numbers out of my purse and calling the hotel, etc., while Val made arrangements with Ford. And this is where all the good karma we have ever accumulated came rushing back to us …

Val bought the car off of his mother a few years back. As it turns out, when she purchased the car from the dealer, she paid for an extended warranty. The man assured us that any work done to the car would be covered, with only a $50 deductible. Even better, Ford would pay for us to have a rental car for up to five days. Val’s jaw dropped open. I cried. We would make it to Anaheim after all!

So a shuttle came over and picked us up, and took us to Enterprise. They hooked us up with a very cute Ford Focus. (Pic) (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney003resize.jpg) This day just kept getting better. A Focus may not be the best car on the road, but it cost us a fourth of what the Mustang had in gas. So not only do we get free repairs, and a free car, but we get a steal on gas prices too!!

Val summed it up best when he said, “This day went from good, to god-awful, to great!” We hit a lot of traffic between San Diego and Anaheim, but it was otherwise uneventful. We checked into the hotel, freshened up a bit, and walked into Downtown Disney. Our original plans had been to go to Huntington Beach that night (on the advice of some great MPers), but after our hectic day, we just didn’t have it in us. We had dinner at Tortilla Joe’s, and were laughing about our day. What an adventure! We walked back to the hotel and called it a night, as we had Early Entry the next morning.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for indulging me! And now, on to the good stuff …

Well it sounds like you only have UP to go from here. :) I love your style of writing, very entertaining.

my gosh! what a day!

I agree with Anne (WDWheart), your writing style is VERY entertaining! I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip . . . you are working on it as we speak, right??? :D;)

Well it sounds like you only have UP to go from here. :)

That's exactly what we thought! And in retrospect, it really is quite funny. We laugh about it now.

And I am working on the rest of it, but real life keeps getting in the way! Grr ... real life ... :p

Enjoying this so far. Don't forget to tell us what was actually wrong with the car!

Day Two
Wahoo! Early Entry time! We were up at the crack of dawn (much to Val’s dismay) and set out from our hotel around 6:30 a.m.-ish. We made it to the gates around 6:45, and were one of the first people in line. The plan of attack was to go check out Nemo, and if the line was too long, head over to Space Mountain and go from there. While we waited in line, we asked someone behind us to snap a picture. (Pic) (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney004resize.jpg)That’s right. It’s July and I’m wearing a jacket. Eat your heart out, Arizona.

Well, 7:00 a.m. rolled around, and wouldn’t you know it, all of the gates opened … except for ours. People were streaming into the park, and the gal working our gate was merely sauntering over. To make matters worse, the family in front of us was really rude and argued with her for a long time about their early entry. I guess they needed some documentation from the hotel that they hadn’t brought. She finally gave in and let them in, so we hurried through the gate, but by this time several hundred people had beaten us. Of all the luck!

We did the right thing and went around the Matterhorn. By this time we were so swept up in the crowd, we couldn’t have changed direction if we wanted to. We made it to the Nemo line at the appropriate entrance point, and were working our way down to the lagoon, when line jumpers—who had tried to go through Tomorrowland instead of around the Matterhorn like they were told—started coming over the rope en mass. It got so bad that Val and I got separated. He is usually a very timid person but he yelled out at the top of his lungs, “Thank you for cutting me in line! That’s real great!” It was one of the highlights of my day :) The mother that had separated the two of us let him pass so he could join me again, but acted like she was doing us a favor by letting him by. I wanted to chuck her into the lagoon!

All told, it was probably only a 15 or 20 minute wait before we were on the subs, which isn’t bad at all. They handed out the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Quest cards, and that kept us entertained. When we were making our mad dash to the lagoon, the little half-sock I was wearing slipped down on my right foot, and the back of my shoe continually bit into my heel. By the time we made it to load on the sub, I practically had no skin back there, and was bleeding a bit. (I’ll spare you the pictures … eww!) It didn’t put me off at all though, probably because of all the adrenaline I had. We got some advice from a CM on where to get a band-aid, and jumped into our sub. The ride was cute, but I would never wait in that two hour line for it. The effects were amazing, but we both agreed it wasn’t something that we needed to do more than once on this trip.

After getting off the subs, we headed over to Space Mountain. We each grabbed a fast pass and then jumped in the standby line, as it was only 5 or 10 minutes. The lady behind us pointed out my torn up heel and suggested, rather rudely, that I get a band-aid. Why thank you! What a novel idea!

We got off Space, and Val suggested we go and pick up a band-aid. I wanted to hit some of the other E-tickets before the lines got too long, so I talked him out of it and headed over to Indiana Jones. This is Val’s favorite ride so I wanted to make sure that we got on it several times.

We had kind of an interesting experience with this ride. As we entered the scene with the big rolling ball, the lights were all on and the ball was already out. We stalled while the scene reset itself, and I kept thinking “E-stop! E-stop!” We got through that scene, but stopped right at the base of the hill for about 30 seconds. We went forward a bit, so that we could see the Indy AA, and we stopped again. It was like another 15 seconds, and then we were rolling again. We got off the ride and no CM’s ever said a thing. I wonder what was going on. I kind of wanted a full on E-stop—I’ve never been evacuated before! One of my favorite parts of that ride is at the end when the guy says, “If you drank too much from the fountain of youth, we will be happy to assist you with strollers!” Lol. Cracks me up every time.

After that we jumped over to Pirates, then did the Haunted Mansion. Last time I took Val, it was decked out for the Haunted Mansion Holiday, which he didn’t like at all, so it was fun for him to see the real version for the first time. When we got off the ride, we had plans to head over to Splash Mountain. Apparently, the ride was down, so I finally gave in and said it was time for a band-aid. We grabbed some Big Thunder Mountain fast passes on the way, and even discovered the secret bathroom!

I had misunderstood the CM that gave me directions, and I thought that First Aid was at the opposite end of Main St. So we limped all the way down there, and then, come to find out, we had to go back! We finally found the right place, and this sweet little lady gave me a handful of giant band-aids. We were back in business.

We headed over to the Matterhorn, which happens to be my favorite ride. We rode the Tomorrowland side, because it is the best. Val wanted to take a spin on the Mark Twain. I haven’t done this in about 10 years, so it was kind of fun. He does a great duck impression. I bugged him the rest of the trip to keep doing it. It makes me laugh every time.

Splash Mountain was still down, so we decided to use our passes for Big Thunder. We ended up in front of what I had previously described as a MP family, but, after some detective work (and help from this thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=74233)), discovered that it was none other than Andrew, Jennifer, and Adrienne’s boys! I won’t retype the whole story, you can read about it at the link above.

After that bit of excitement, we took another spin on Indiana Jones and then decided to head over to California Adventure. We have decided that the back row on Indiana is the best. For the rest of the trip, we would always request to be put back there. If you’ve never ridden in the back, you have to try it!

We started out our California Adventure by picking up Grizzly River Rapids fast passes. It is one of Val’s favorite rides in DCA. We took a small rest on the steps of a building, and then headed over to Monster’s, Inc. I love this ride and had been raving about it for some time, so Val was interested to see it. (When we went in 2005, it wasn’t open yet.) To my dismay, he didn’t really like it. He said he could understand why so many people were disappointed with it. I love it! I think it’s so cute and well done, I don’t care what you all say!

By that time, we were eligible for Tower of Terror fast passes, so we picked one up and headed back to Grizzly River. It was then, staring at my GRR fast pass, that the light bulb turned on. I excitedly explained to Val that GRR is “disconnected” from the fast pass system, and therefore we could have more than one fast pass at once. Silly me! How could I have forgotten?? So we picked up another GRR fast pass, just to test the theory, threw my purse in the free lockers, and got on the ride. We always argue over which one of us has to sit by the “hole”—the break in the seats where you are able to board the raft. Whoever sits there always seems to get the most drenched. Val lost and ended up by the hole, but we both got pretty wet.

By this time we were hungry, so we headed over to Pizza Oom Mow Mow. Val had some yummy pasta, and I just had a slice of cheese pizza. It was getting close to 1 p.m., and while I wanted to meet all of my MP friends, we were just too tired to go back to Disneyland for the meet. We picked up a Soarin’ fast pass on our way out of the park, and returned to our hotel for a little rest.

As soon as we got in the door of our room, we both crashed. We woke up a few hours later and wanted to go for a swim, but the pool was freezing! In Arizona, we like our pools to feel like bath water ;) Val stayed by the pool and read, while I went back to the room to take a shower.

We made the 5:40 p.m. Anaheim Resort Transit shuttle back to California Adventure. We did Soarin’ first thing. There were the two cutest boys in line in front of us, each from different families. It was both of their birthdays. One was turning four and the other was turning six. They were hilarious and kept us entertained through the wait. The look on the four year old’s face during the ride was priceless—it was a look of pure wonder. I think he thought we were actually flying. Oh, to be young again …

We did GRR again, and this time I was by the hole. I got so soaked, it was ridiculous! By the time we got back to our hotel that night, I was still wet! Then it was Tower of Terror time. The first time Val and I went on this ride together, the drop caught him by such surprise that his hand flew up and hit me in the mouth. So before we got on this time, I made him promise to behave. It was a great ride, and he kept his hands to himself.

Val had never done the Animation Academy before, so we headed over there next. The Sorcerer’s Workshop is my favorite. We went in to the Beast’s Library to find out what Disney characters we were. Val was Jafar, and I was Nala. He assured me that Nala was a good one to be, because she was hot. Uhh … what? You know she’s a lion, right? Anyway, moving on ….

We did the voice overs in Ursula’s Grotto next. I expected Val to not be very into this, and he had even told me it was something that he wasn’t interested in. But for the sake of me and my theatrical tendencies, he came along. Turns out, he had a lot of fun! We did the scene from the Lion King, and trust me. No one has ever done a more convincing impression of Scar than Val did. I was so impressed! And then, knock me over, he wanted to do one of the singing scenes! We did one from the Jungle Book and laughed the whole way through it.

It was getting kind of late, so we decided to head back to Disneyland. On the way out of DCA, I couldn’t resist picking up some fudge. Mmm … Tiger Butter. Delicious!

First thing in Disneyland, we checked the Splash Mountain line. It was running again, but fast pass distribution was closed, so we decided to put it off for another day. We took a spin on the Jungle Cruise instead. I love this ride at night, it’s so much cooler with the lighting and such. We had a great skipper. She was hilarious and did a lot of improvisation, which is always a welcome change from the stock script. The boat was kind of dead though and she didn’t get much play from the guests. It must be hard to keep it up when you feel like no one is listening, but she did great!

We decided to grab dinner at Rancho del Zocalo and eat it by the fireworks. Val ordered the vegetarian burrito, and I had the kids bean and cheese burrito. Val’s meal was huge!! It took up the whole platter, with the giant burrito, the rice, beans, etc. It was massive. Mine, however, was the babiest burrito you have ever seen. It was probably one inch by three inches. Adorable! I wish I had gotten a picture, because the comparison was just too funny.

We took our food over to main street, and got a good spot in the hub. The fireworks are amazing. By far the best part was when Tinkerbell flew down from the Matterhorn and the grown man standing next to me started yelling out, with pure glee, “Look! It’s Tinkerbell! Oh my gosh, I don’t believe it! Look at her! It’s Tinkerbell!” He was just so excited, it was awesome. Ah, Disney magic …

After the fireworks, we returned the forks we had pilfered from Zocalo, and used our fast passes for Indiana Jones. Val wanted to do the shooting range in Frontierland, which was something I had never done before. I was really bad at it, and I think Val was too. Those guns are heavy!! (Val (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney009resize.jpg) and Me) (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney010resize.jpg)

We walked over to Tomorrowland and checked the line for Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters, but it was a bit out of control. We had fast passes for Space Mountain from that morning, so we decided to do that instead. At the fast pass entrance, there was this woman arguing with one of the CM’s. I don’t know what the deal was, but she was being awfully mean and I felt bad for the guy.

Space Mountain is always an excellent way to end the day, and by this time we were pretty tuckered out, so we headed for Main St. Val picked up some pineapple juice from the Dole Whip stand, and I dropped into first aid for some more band-aids. We made it out of the park and were just in time for the shuttle back to the hotel.

Day Three
After our adventurous journey to Anaheim, and our busy first day at the park, we just didn’t have it in us to wake up early. We slept in pretty late, and didn’t get to the park until 12:30 p.m. That was a rooky mistake. It was Wednesday, and by far the busiest day in the park during the time that we were there.

We picked up fast passes for Splash—I was determined to ride it today!—and then did Winnie the Pooh. Val said it was cute. I argued how could you think that was cute and not like Monsters, Inc. He claims it was cute because it’s what you would expect from Winnie the Pooh, but Monsters was disappointing because he expected something greater. Whatever. Monsters is the best.

We decided to go pick up some fast passes for Roger Rabbit, just because we could. We bided our time in Toon Town, waiting for our fast pass window to open up. We did Mickey and Minnie’s houses, and then just kind of sat around on the Jolly Trolley, waiting and (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney012resize.jpg) waiting (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney015resize.jpg). Val pointed out this was not much different than waiting in line for Roger Rabbit, and I kind of agreed, except that we got to sit. Neither of us wanted to leave Toon Town and come back later, so we just hung out. Many people jumped on the Jolly Trolley with us and wondered why it wasn’t moving. I got kind of tired of explaining it. Val and I were both a little grumpy! There was a pretty hilarious CM in front of us though, and we enjoyed watching him interact with everyone. He was great.

Finally, our window opened up and we proceeded to Roger Rabbit. Well, wouldn’t you know it, we were getting ready to board, and the ride broke down! (Ah, that’s my second chance for a ride evac, foiled!) The irony was just two much after waiting for an hour in Toon Town, and there was nothing to do but laugh about it. The two of us sure do have some luck! We got our fast passes back and left.

I wanted to go on Small World (which Val treated like the death sentence) but the line was all the way out of the queue, so we skipped it and headed over to Buzz. The line there was a little long too, but we figured we wouldn’t find one shorter—curse that sleeping in!—so we sucked it up and got in line. Again, silly us, we were doing the honest thing and following the switchbacks and going through the line as we were supposed to, and a ton of people just hopped over the rope and cut in front of us. I took a page out of Val’s book and called out, “Thanks for that! That was real sweet of you!” These two teenage girls who had been some of the perpetrators looked sheepish and let us get in front of them. I love this ride, but I am notoriously bad at it. By the time I had 300 points, Val was already up in the ten-thousands! Oh well. It’s fun anyway.

Big Thunder was down (someone must have angered the theme park gods), so we grabbed a fast pass for Indiana Jones and got out of dodge.

Over in California Adventure, we grabbed fast passes for Soarin’ first thing. I put my ticket in and got a pass, no problem. Val put his in and nothing printed, so he went to another machine. It promptly spat out a pass that informed him he already had a valid fast pass for Soarin’. Uhh … what?? We walked over to the fast pass return line and talked to the CM there. He signed Val’s “this is not a valid fast pass” fast pass, and assured him that it would be fine.

We picked up Grizzly River fast passes too, but they had a really late return time, around 8 p.m. We didn’t think we’d be there that late, but took them just in case. We walked back to the Animation Academy and did Turtle Talk with Crush. As I knew he would, Val spent the whole show trying to figure out how they do it. We both enjoyed it. Those kids are so funny!

After Turtle Talk we did Tower of Terror again. For Val, it is a toss up between ToT and Grizzly River for his favorite ride in DCA, so we did them both a lot. He managed to not hit me in the face again (thank you, dear, I appreciate it), and then strolled over to A Bug’s Land. We didn’t do any of the attractions, since we are not three years old, but the theme is cute and I wanted to show it to him. We then went down to the pier area, and got on the Orange Stinger. I love swing rides, but don’t really understand this one. What’s the deal with the bees?

After that, we took a look at California Screamin’. Stupidest name for a roller coaster ever, but such a sweet ride. We expected the line to be really long, but it claimed it was only 30 minutes, so we jumped in. I think it was actually a bit shorter than that. It’s a great length for a coaster, too. A lot of them are over too quickly.

We were kind of over DCA by this point, so we donated our GRR fast passes to some deserving couple, rode Soarin’—the autographed fast pass worked just fine—and headed back to Disneyland.

It was still pretty busy but we managed to pack a lot into the time we had left. We got off to a rough start this morning, but recovered quite nicely and had a really great day. First thing in Disneyland, we got another Indiana Jones fast pass, and then rode with the one we had from earlier. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, back row is the best.

We were finally able to ride Splash Mountain. We were in the middle seats, and the only time we got wet was on the teeny tiny wimpy dip, not even a hill! Oh, the irony. We were hoping to stay somewhat dry, so it all worked out.

We had dinner at the Hungry Bear—veggie burgers, yum!—amid some very hungry ducks (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney043resize.jpg). I didn’t mind, because this only meant that Val was further encouraged to do his duck impression. It’s golden.

After dinner we tried Big Thunder again, but it was still down. We both said we wouldn’t go back to Toon Town, but somehow we found ourselves there and walked straight on to Roger Rabbit. It was the sweetest use of fast pass ever! Val took over the spinning and got really into it. When we got off he was a bit wobbly and admitted that he had no idea what went on in that ride. Oh well. At least he was entertained!

We did Matterhorn again and decided to give the Fantasyland side a chance to redeem itself. No way. I’m sticking to my story. Tomorrowland side is way better. We checked Autopia and Space, but they both had insane waits and by this time all the fast passes were gone. We took the train from Tomorrowland, and wanted to ride it all the way around, but apparently they hold in New Orleans Square until after the fireworks. Val fell asleep, as he usually does on the train. But come on! It was such a short trip! And how do you sleep through the dinosaurs?

We took advantage of the Fantasmic and firework distractions and did Pirates. It was a total walk on. In fact, the boat in front of ours was completely empty. If that’s not creepy, I don’t know what is. Then we bustled over to the Haunted Mansion. Val and I both agreed that is one freaky bride.

The fireworks had ended and the masses were leaving, so we decided to catch the 10:30 Fantasmic show. We got to the river around 10, and had a perfect spot, dead center. Val got a Mint Julep for us to share during the wait—yes, we love them, even if they do taste like toothpaste :) I also jotted down some quick notes for my trip report, and the woman next to me was really rude about it. “What, you take notes or something??” Jeez lady. I don’t read over your shoulder. Mind your own business!

The show was great, as usual. We were so close, we could feel the heat from the flames on the water. Which was excellent, because we were freezing!

Once the show let out we jetted over to Big Thunder, and it was finally working again. We both agreed that this ride is best at night. I don’t know why everyone gives it such a bad rap, I think it’s one of Disney’s best. The turns are awesome.

We decided this would be a good time to do some of the kiddy rides, and headed over to Fantasyland. We did Pinocchio and Snow White, but Peter Pan was too long and Mr. Toad was down. What is the deal with Snow White? The witch gets struck by lightening and dies a horrible death, and the very next thing says, “And they lived happily ever after” … hmm. I think they missed a step somewhere.

I took Val on Storybook Land, because I love this ride. The miniature scenes are just so cute, and he is an avid gardener, so I thought he would enjoy the plants. Well, wouldn’t you know it, we had the world’s weirdest guide. I don’t know if any of you remember the show Freaks and Geeks, but this chick was a dead ringer for Millie. (Rent it if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) If she said “Aaaah” one more time in that sugary sweet high pitched voice, we were both going to toss her into the canal! It was pretty funny though. We got out of there as fast as we could, almost tipping the boat in the process, laughing about how we kept having all of these weird experiences.

We did Alice next, and then I talked him into Small World. We were just making our way over there when we checked the time. It was 11:53 p.m.! Where did the time go? Not wanting that annoying song stuck in our heads the rest of the night, we altered course and did Space Mountain. We like to end our days that way.

We made the 12:30 a.m. shuttle back to the hotel, and vowed we wouldn’t arrive at the park late like that again. I had read somewhere that Thursdays were always the least crowded days at Disneyland, during any season, so we were hoping for better luck tomorrow.

Day Four
Not having it in us to wake up early, yet not wanting to run into the same problems as yesterday, we compromised and said that we would be in the park by 9 a.m.

A little back story first that I forgot to mention: On our first day in the parks, after some time in California Adventure, we went back to Disneyland. I happened to catch a glimpse at the screen when our tickets were scanned, and it said “Parkhopper” instead of “Re-entry”. That freaked me out a bit and I brought it up to the lady, and she just kind of waved me by and said it was fine. I spent the next two days worrying about it, but Val kept saying it would all work out.

So, we go to enter the park at 9 a.m. on this, our final day. And wouldn’t you know it, the guy scans our passes and something pops up on the screen about there being no uses left. My heart dropped. I was just sick about it. The guy tried a few more times, then asked, “Were you here on Tuesday?” We answered yes, he nodded, and hit an override button. He didn’t even try Val’s, just did the override from the start. Val exclaimed, “See! Disney always takes care of their people!” Haha, so cute. Then he (teasingly) suggested that we come back tomorrow and tell them that we had been there on Tuesday and they should override it. Always thinking, that boy, always thinking. So I don’t know what was going on, but obviously they knew they had computer problems on Tuesday. Anyone else experience this?

Anyway, we made our way to the top of Main St. and checked the ride board. Both Splash and the Matterhorn were down. What the? Anyway, we picked up Space Mountain fast passes, and then doubled back and hit Indy (back row, woo!!). When we got out, Splash was up and running again, so we grabbed fast passes, and took a spin on Big Thunder.

We made our way over to Pirates for the last time. There was this family behind us of two women and a little boy, probably about four years old. I think they had another child too, but she was older. The little boy was crying and screaming about not wanting to go on the ride. His mom kept telling him, “It’s not scary! It’s not scary!” Finally, they calmed the kid down long enough to get him in the boat. We’re making our way through the bayou, and we can hear people going down the drop, several boats in front of us, and of course, they are screaming. At this point, the mom was a little worried and asked a woman in the row ahead of her, very quietly, “This ride isn’t scary, is it?” Haha, priceless. I guess she had never been on it before and wanted to make sure she hadn’t lied to her kid. But even if she had, it was a little late at that point!

Afterwards we decided, in keeping with the pirate theme, that we should head over to Pirate’s Lair at Tom Sawyer Island. I hadn’t seen it since the renovation, and as opposed to pirates as I am, I really thought they handled this make over quite well. The island needed some sprucing up, and I like how they incorporated Tom Sawyer instead of writing him off completely. We played around the island for a bit, and Val caught me leaning out a window (Pic) (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/IMG_0331resize.jpg), and then it was back to the mainland for us.

We stopped for a bathroom break in New Orleans Square. Note to self. Never let Val run loose in New Orleans Square. He loves the architecture and the feel, he’s really into jazz. After a solid ten minutes of waiting for him to come out of the bathroom, I found him down the street, ogling a guitar player. He later corrected me and said the guy was not playing jazz, but rather blues. Either way. That boy needs a child leash in New Orleans.

After that we skirted over for our final visit to DCA. Val wanted to catch the Aladdin musical, and we were trying to make the first show. The plan of attack was to pick up fast passes for Grizzly River and Tower of Terror (I’m fast pass obsessed, in case you haven’t noticed), and then run over to Aladdin. That would have worked beautifully, had we not been held up at the entrance gate. There were a ton of people coming in to DCA at that exact moment. Not sure why.

Well, I’m still determined we can do it, so we run over to Grizzly and grab the passes. Now we have seven minutes till the doors for Aladdin close, so we are cruising over there as quick as possible. Val decides to run for it, and takes my ticket and dashes to the Tower for fast passes. He met up with me in front of Aladdin, and we actually got great seats in the Mezzanine level, with not a moment to spare.

The show was good. The effects were the truly amazing thing, the script was a bit lacking. And they way overdid it on the pop culture references. My favorite part is when all the dancing genies come down the stairs with top hats and tuxedo jackets and the main genie shouts, “Oh, this is so going on YouTube!” Haha … YouTube. That’s funny.

After Aladdin we hit the Tower. There was this family in our elevator that didn’t speak a word of English, and were having trouble understanding the instructions from the CM. I overheard them speaking French earlier, and I studied French for beaucoup years, so I was wracking my brain to figure out how to say it. I wasn’t quick enough, they got the point, and we set off on our elevator. This was by far the best Tower ride we had. Not sure why, but it was just fun.

Back across the park for a last chance at the rapids. In the line, we were playfully arguing about who had to have the hole, as we had each had it once before. Well, turns out it didn’t matter, because we were the last to load the boat, and both ended up on either side of the hole. I swear, we were the only ones in the whole boat to get wet. And we were soaked. When we got off the ride, we created a puddle by ringing out our clothes. I have never been that wet on a ride before!

We bid farewell to DCA and went to Downtown Disney for lunch. We grabbed a quick bite at Napolini, and then caught the shuttle back to the hotel for a little recharge.

We returned to Disneyland around 7 p.m. that night. We rode Splash first thing. As we had changed clothes from our GRR experience and were now dry, we weren’t that keen to get wet again. Luckily, we were in the back seats and didn’t hardly get a drop.

We did Big Thunder, and agreed to go on it again later that night when it was dark. Indiana Jones again, and then we went to pay our final respects to the Disney Gallery. We saw a guy there in a U of A t-shirt—woo! Represent!

And this is where it got sticky. We decided it was dinner time. Val wanted to go to Zocalo again, but I had said earlier that I wanted soup in a bread bowl. No big deal, I’ll just have Zocalo. But Val really wanted me to have my soup, so we made our way over to the French Market. (Which was mistake number one.) Fantasmic was just starting, so we had to fight the crowds. The servers at French Market were the slowest ever, and by the time I got my soup, Fantasmic was just ending. They didn’t have any to-go plates, so we borrowed the one it was on and set out for Zocalo. (Mistake number two.) Picture this. Val is carrying a plate with soup in a bread bowl, fighting the Fantasmic crowds, trying not to spill the soup or break the plate. We tried to get over to Frontierland, but crowd control had it all roped off. No problem, we’ll just take the foot path that connects Frontier to Adventureland.

Unfortunately, they had that set up as one-way traffic, not going in our direction. The fireworks had just started, but our only choice was to proceed into the hub, through the Adventureland exit. Again, not a problem. Frontierland is right next door. Well, there was a problem. They were moving traffic around the hub in a counter-clockwise direction, so we had to proceed all the way around the hub. Wouldn’t have been such a problem if people would actually move, but they kept stopping in the middle of the walkway to stare up at the fireworks. Val almost dropped the plate a hundred times, I swear.

Well, we finally made it to Frontierland, a little worse for wear, about the time the fireworks ended. And wouldn’t you know it, this is the sign that greeted us: (Pic) (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/IMG_0336resize.jpg) Oh, my heavens. After that whole ordeal! Are you kidding me?! We both started apologizing to each other, claiming it was each our own fault, and then we finally just broke down. There was nothing to do but laugh. I laughed so hard I cried. It was hilarious.

We grabbed a table in the empty seating area and went to work on the bread bowl together. We had no spoon, so we were just tearing it apart like cavemen. The soup was very cold, and very gloppy at this point, which only made the situation funnier. We grabbed a nice passerby to document the moment in a photo. (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/IMG_0334resize.jpg)

We waited for the crowds to thin out, then made our way to the Matterhorn. But first, we stopped for the obligatory in-front-of-the-castle shot (Pic) (http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l170/jessieka85/Disney049resize.jpg) which, as you can see, includes very little castle. Oh well.

Val started this thing on Pirates where he would sit on the seat cross legged. It really gives you a thrill down drops and hills, because your feet aren’t touching the floor so you are less grounded. This time on the Matterhorn, we decided to try the same thing. It was awesome. The only way to ride is cross legged. Unfortunately, there’s not many rides you can do that on. Pirates and Matterhorn are pretty much the only two.

Space Mountain was next. There was a herd of bumble bees in line behind us—seven year old kids in yellow and black striped shirts. I thought they were cute. Val was scared.

We did Buzz one more time, and yet again, Val owned me. I wanted to send the picture to my dad, so I sent Val off to get some food while I emailed the picture. Pieces off of a bread bowl is not enough for him, he was starving.

We met up at the Tomorrowland Terrace. It was around 11:30 at this point, and we still had two rides to go before we could call it a night. Val ate his veggie burger (I felt bad because earlier today he told me he didn’t want another veggie burger, but at that time of night it was really the only option) as we made our way to Big Thunder for our night time ride.

When we got to the loading area for the train, there was no CM, so we assigned ourselves the last row and jumped in. The weirdest woman got in the seat in front of us. (She even beats our Storybook Land guide!) She kept yelling and shouting and talking to us. We played along nicely, but it seemed that she had definitely had one too many drinks before getting on the train! Before we even pulled out of the station, she threw her hands into the air and started singing really loudly, “Elbows up! Side to the side!” Over and over again! What does that mean?! During the ride she kept looking back and talking and laughing with us … she was seriously on something. But it was quite hilarious. Quite. Hilarious. There are some of the strangest people in Disneyland, for sure.

Our last ride of the night was Indiana Jones. Back row, all to ourselves. There was hardly anyone in line, and as soon as we stepped off we realized that we should have asked the CM’s to ride around again. Oh well. All good things must come to an end I suppose.

We grabbed a Dole Whip on our way out—it was after midnight and they were still open!—then proceeded slowly down Main St. and away from Disneyland. Oh so sad.

We made it out to the shuttle stop, and waited for awhile. There was a huge crowd of people, and everyone was wondering how we’d all fit on the standard shuttle. And then, wouldn’t you know it, one of the huge Coach charter buses pulled up! It was the sweetest ride back to the hotel ever. Individual padded seats with comfy headrests … ahhh. Val said he wished the bus could take us all the way back to Tucson. Seriously!

We made it back to the hotel and crashed immediately. We had such a great time, but we were definitely very tired. And boy, did we have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow!

Day Five
Woo! What a long report! I commend you if you have made it this far, and I will keep this wrap up short.

We slept in and checked out of the hotel around 11:30. We made our way back down to San Diego to pick up the Mustang and return our rental. I never really did figure out what was wrong with it. They didn’t have to replace the air compressor, but I think they did have to do some heavy work to the belt. The important thing is, we now had air conditioning! It was a pleasantly cool drive back through the desert.

We really did have an amazing time. There were a few minor glitches, but they just make the story that much better. And they've made for some great conversation pieces!

Val says it will be several years before I get him back there again, but I bet you all that we will be back again next year!!

TRC! that was throughly entertaining! Thank you so much for taking the time to do it. Love your attitude . . . just laugh hysterically when things get crazy. :D:p

And can i just say - you and Val are one CUTE couple! WOW!

TRC! that was throughly entertaining! Thank you so much for taking the time to do it. Love your attitude . . . just laugh hysterically when things get crazy. :D:p

And can i just say - you and Val are one CUTE couple! WOW!

Ah, thanks! I think you're the only one that made it all the way to the end :p We had a great time, and it was fun to relive it in the report.

I read thru the end! We were there at the same time. I'm surprised you never saw us.

I read thru the end! We were there at the same time. I'm surprised you never saw us.

I kept an eye out, but there was just so many people. I read your report too--looks like you had a great time as well. I can't believe that part about Mickey dying ... lol. Broke my heart.

I also read it and it was a great report. I agree with Ruthie, you and Val are a cute couple. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

How did you like the Motel 6? We have considered it for quick trips. What did you think?

How did you like the Motel 6? We have considered it for quick trips. What did you think?

It was actually a pretty good experience. The rate was really reasonable (about $60/night). The room was big and clean, the beds were comfy, the pool was nice. No frills, but no complaints either. I'd stay there again.

The front desk staff seemed to be made up entirely of ignorant 16-year-olds, but other than that, we never had any problems. The one thing is that the hotel is right off the interstate, and our room faced the traffic. I was worried about the noise, but either never heard it, or was too tired to care :)

I'd say go for it. It's a great deal for the price.

Thanks for a great trip report!

Fellow Tucsonan here and ...OMG...how did you survive no air in July going through Yuma???? I truly felt your pain.

This is too funny, but back in late Nov. we had the same CM on StorybookLand. I kid you not. We also wanted to toss her in...one of our group is an incredible mimic and he had us in stitches doing her voice throughout the rest of our trip. She was very sweet, but her voice and vocal patterns really got to us.

Bear down Arizona. And thanks again for taking the time to write a great report.

I don't think your report is too long at all. I enjoyed it and the pics sprinkled here and there. I'm home on a Sat night (actually I'm glad to have a quiet relaxing evening) just reading mousepad - haven't read the trip report section before - this is fun. thanks! ~joan

I loved your report - glad someone else writes as much as me about their trip. I laughed out loud a couple of times and things you said or "thought" about people - It reminded me a lot of myself with your sarcasm - hillarious! When we take our next trip to Disneyland we are taking my cousin (I always say we are the same person only in different bodies) and I am sure when I do that trip report there will be MUCH sarcasm!! Thanks for the laughs!

Very entertaining trip report. You are an excellent writer. I don't normally read through all of the super long trip reports. But yours was great, and quite hilarious! I agree about there being a certain breed of weirdos at Disneyland. We have experienced quite a few. I thought it might be a funny thread to start, but wouldn't want to offend anyone. We also have had some of the most interesting/annoying cm's on the storybook ride. What is the deal? Thanks again for sharing your story. :)

Thank you for such a fun, detailed report. It was almost like I was there with you, experiencing the same frustrations, and laughing them off. What else can you do? Better to laugh than to cry when you are at The Happiest Place on Earth.

Enjoyed reading your trip report. Well written!

Roast yer Liver...

Great trip report! I'm so glad it turned out better than it had started-pure misery. And we were there Wednesday, too, and it was INSANELY busy. I don't know what that was all about.

Awesome report! And I read the whole thing! Seems like you two had a great time with lots of adventure!

Oh and the "Elbows up, side to side" thing is actually a song. I think it's called "I Lean Like a Chollo". Don't ask me why I know that but I do.