Jars840 - May 28th - June 6th, 2008 - Peacock Suites and Crowne Plaza

[jars840]

Travel dates: Weds May 28th - Fri June 6th 2008
Travel method: Minivan
Resort: Peacock Suites and Crowne Plaza
Accommodations: 2 bedroom suite at Peacock/ standard hotel room at Crowne
Resort Experience Represented in Group: I’ve been to Disneyland 6 times before. Hubby and his parents are veterans, going almost every other year throughout his childhood. This is our oldest son’s third time, Middle son’s second, and the baby’s first time.
Cast of characters/Ages: Myself (28), Hubby (28),Father-in-law and Mother-in-law (56), and Our three sons. Jesse is 8, Alex is 4 and Ryne is 6 months old. The last time we were at Disneyland was 2 years ago.


This trip report will get long with 10 days, so I want to say a few things first in case anyone doesn’t have the time or energy to read the entire thing. First, the weather for our trip was fabulous!! We hit a high of 78 degrees. The lows at night were chilly for us, but that’s because we’re used to 115 degree weather! But I couldn’t have asked for better weather at Disneyland.

I want to share my tips for a better/cheaper vacation. Get a hotel room that has a microwave and a fridge. It saves a ton of money simply having a place for milk so the kids can have cereal for breakfast instead of eating out somewhere. Also, if possible, bring a crock pot with you. We made many meals in the crock pot while we were there and it was very nice to come home to a decent meal as opposed to fast food at the park. It also saves a LOT of money. We discovered last time we came that it’s nice when our clothes match. It’s much easier to keep up with everyone when all you have to do is look for a color and then the face.

[jars840]

Day 1 - Wednesday: Driving
We packed up the van Tuesday night for an early start on Wednesday. We left around 6:30am for the 8(ish) hour drive. I had no idea how the baby would handle that long of a car ride, but he did really well.
The older boys were entertained by a movie the entire way, and they had books to read and paper to draw on. Those children watched The Incredibles over and over again the whole trip. It is the ONLY movie they watched even though I brought 6 choices! We stopped for some food and gas in Blythe and then got back on the road. We made pretty good time and got to the hotel around 3pm. Even though check-in wasnt until 4, they had a room available.

Peacock Suites is a really nice place. We are timeshare owners with Shell
Vacation Clubs (SVC). We bought in a year ago and this is the first stay weve had here. The staff is wonderful, very friendly. In the lobby they have a SVC representative. Turns out that if you listen to their 90 minute presentation (or Member Update in our case) they will give you $100 Disney Dollars. So, we signed up for the update on Friday. Ill listen to anything if you pay me for it!

Our room was perfect. We had a separate bedroom with a king sized bed. The baby slept in the living room in a crib that the hotel provided. The other
bedroom had two double beds. Jesse and Alex shared one and my in-laws had the other. They had a bathroom off their room, and we had our own bathroom in our room. It was nice to not have to share! The living room/kitchen area was roomy for a hotel. The TV was on top of a cabinet that held the fridge, microwave, toaster, coffee pot, and can opener. They had plates, bowls and utensils. There was also a good sized table with four chairs, and a couch (that folds into a bed if needed) and a chair.

After we unpacked and settled in a bit, we went to the grocery store. The lobby had provided us with a nice little map that listed things nearby, so we had no trouble finding the Vons. FIL had cooked some ground beef the day before and brought that along in the ice chest. We bought taco shells and shredded cheese and had tacos with refried beans for dinner. It was very filling and super easy. Cost for the 6 of us was only around $12! Cant beat that price anywhere. We went to bed very excited for the next day.our first day at Disneyland!!


Day 2 - Thursday: Disneyland
While everyone was getting ready I started our dinner for the night. (We
planned out all our meals for the week ahead of time, and had a crock pot with us). I threw all the ingredients for Salsa Chicken into the crock pot, and it was nice to know that wed have a nice healthy dinner waiting for us. Peacock has a continental breakfast, so we enjoyed the hard-boiled eggs, pastries and cereal. Its honestly not enough to really fill you up, but it was a good start to the morning. We drove over to Disneyland and got there right at 9am when the park opened. We brought our stroller from home, but we did have to rent an ECV (electronic vehicle) for my FIL. He has MS and cant walk or stand for long periods of time.

My in-laws family has a tradition that everyone must ride Pirates of the Caribbean together first, so thats where we headed. With the ECV he got
a list of the handicapped entrances to all rides. For most of them you head
into the exit. PotC was only a five minute wait in the handicapped line.

When we were here last (two years ago), Pirates was closed for construction, so it was nice to see the new Jack Sparrow additions. One of them truly looked like the real Johnny Depp standing there! To me though, Pirates seemed longer than it used to be. Maybe it goes slower. The boys liked it though.

After that we went to Indiana Jones. Alex (4) was too short to ride it, so MIL took the smaller two on Tarzans Tree house. Indy was also only a 5 minute wait. Next up was the Jungle Cruise (5 minute wait). Surprisingly, the boys were not into the idea of the Indiana Jones special treasure hunt and show thats there now, so we were off to Tomorrowland.

DH, Jesse and Alex went on Buzz Lightyear with only a 10 minute wait, while the rest of us got tables at the Tomorrowland Terrace for the Jedi Training Academy. I nursed the baby (I was worried how I was gonna find time and peace to nurse while at the park, but it turned out to not be a problem at all!) and we watched the Jedi show. It was a lot of fun for the boys, even though neither one of them got picked. The costumes were great and the music was wonderful. I loved the way Darth Vader came out, and Darth Maul looked great!

It was around 11:30 and we were getting a little hungry, but we did not want to spend a lot of money on food. I did buy a soda, but we had a ton of snacks in the diaper bag. We brought a really big one, and they dont check very carefully. We had granola bars, almonds, and Cheez-its. It was enough to keep us satisfied for a while longer.

We did Star Tours, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, and Space Mountain all with no longer than a 5 minute wait. The one downside to the ECV was that FIL couldnt feel the mice run over his feet during the HISTA show. If you have anyone thats able to, have them move into a regular seat.

Next up was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Alex had never been on it, and he loved it! That is one of 2 rides that my MIL likes here, so I sat out with the baby while she rode it. Then we switched places and hubby and the boys got to ride it again with me. There was no wait at all for that one. It had been closed earlier and they had just opened it when we got there, so going through the exit, we were the first ones in line! We rode Splash Mountain next, also with about a 5 minute wait. Ive ridden that ride too many times to count (its one of my favorites) and I have never gotten so wet! We were all completely drenched and it was wonderful!

We went to the Haunted Mansion. That one had about a 10 minute wait. We all got to go on that one, I had the baby in a carrier strapped to my chest. He did cry a little bit, so I dont think he liked the dark.

By this time it was around 4pm and we were all starving! We rode the tram back to the parking lot and drove back to the hotel. The Guest Services people held FILs ECV and charged it for us while we were gone. The room smelled wonderful when we got back, and the food was delicious! We inhaled it!! I nursed the baby again and then we headed back to DL around 6pm.

(Ive never done dinners that way before. I was always against leaving the park. But with so many of us and gas prices, we just didnt have the money to eat at the park so often. We got creative during the week and I am so happy we did it that way. It also gave us a little break from the over-stimulation of the park, let the kids unwind a little bit before we headed back.)

The one thing we were sad about getting the ECV is that we couldnt use the
RailRoad as a means of transportation, since he couldnt take the ECV on the
train. We decided that he could drive by himself and meet us there, and we took the train from Main Street to Toontown. However, Gadgets GoCoaster was too long of a wait (as usual) and Roger Rabbit was closed, so we just walked back to Fantasyland.

We went on the Teacups (5 minute wait) while MIL took the baby on the Carosel. We then all went on the carousel with a 5 minute wait. During this time the parade was getting ready to start so the traffic was awful! We just arent really parade people, so we didnt want to watch. Jesse, Alex, Hubby and me rode Dumbo. Since FIL didnt go on that one we had to wait in the normal line and it was about a 20 minute wait. Wed gotten spoiled to only 5 or 10 minute waits! We were going to go on the Matterhorn on the way, but the wait was just too long and we were getting tired.

I let Jesse pick the last ride of the night and he picked Autopia. He is now
tall enough to drive in the car by himself and he was really excited about that. The wait time said 35 minutes (FIL didnt want to go on that one). We ended up waiting for over 50 minutes! Thats the longest Ive ever waited for that ride. Alex and I rode together and Hubby and Jesse had their own cars. The wait was really unexpected, and by the time we were done we were all exhausted. It was about 8:30 and the park was closing at 9pm, so we headed back to the hotel.

So, we were there for 10 hours total. We rode 14 rides, (plus the railroad) and saw 2 shows.


Day 3 - Friday:

Today we didnt do much. Mostly stayed around the hotel and the pool. We had the timeshare presentation at 3:30. A limo came to pick us up and take us to another hotel for the presentation. Ive never been in a limo before and that was pretty neat. In addition to the $100 Disney Dollars, they gave us a certificate for 3 days of free parking. Peacock only has valet parking and they charge $8 a day.

We grilled dinner tonight. (Peacock has one gas BBQ grill. You just have to let them know what time you want to use it and they have all the utensils.) FIL brought some ribs in the ice chest, and he grilled those with chicken breast for the kids. We also had corn on the cob and some red potatoes cooked in a Ziploc steamer bag in the microwave. It was very good.

The in-laws went to the timeshare presentation after dinner (they got the $100 Disney Dollars too). We watched the Lost season finale online since we missed it last night. (You have to pay $9.95 for 24 hours of internet access.) It was a very relaxing day.


Day 4 - Saturday: Zuma Beach in Malibu

We were all up early today and excited for the beach. We havent been there in 8 years, so the boys had no clue what to expect. I have a friend that lives near Malibu, so we drove a little over an hour to get there and go to the beach with her and her family. Traffic was not bad at all and it was really neat to pass through Hollywood since weve never been there. I saw the Capitol Records building that you always see in movies. Sadly, no celebrity sightings.
The weather was pretty cold and windy most of the day. It was nice really, but for Arizonans that are used to 100 degree weather, it was chilly. The boys loved playing in the sand and the water catching their feet. I love just sitting there in the sand and looking at the waves. So peaceful.

I could have done without the souveneir we brought home though. FIL and hubby got tickets for having a couple beers. Apparently theres a zero tolerance policy for alcohol on the beach. We had no clue, and didnt see any signs. I have to wait until the 21st to find out how much the ticket will cost us.

But the day was great! I had put on a pot roast in the crock pot that morning, so dinner was hot and ready when we got home. It was very tasty. Lunch at the beach was sandwiches.


Day 5 - Sunday: Disneyland

Today my in-laws stayed at the hotel with Alex and Ryne. Just hubby, Jesse (8) and me went to DL. Jesse is tall for his age (53 inches) and could ride
everything, and it was nice to spend time alone with him all day. We left the
van so that they could take the kids to the park, and they went out for breakfast. We took the Anaheim shuttle to DL. (Its cheaper than parking
anyway with just 3 of us. The shuttle was $7 and parking is $12.) We got the early entry with the 3 day tickets, so I wanted to be there at 7am. It took me too long to get ready though and we had to wait for the shuttle, so we got there at 7:45. So, only got an extra 15 minutes before the park opened, but it was so worth it!

I had to take my breast pump since I would be away from the baby all day. That thing weighs 11 pounds, so we got a locker for the day. Totally worth the $7!! After putting the pump and our jackets into the locker, we headed for the Matterhorn. It was always closed every time we went to it 2 years ago so Jesse had never been on it. There was only about a 5 minute wait since the park wasnt officially open yet, and we rode that one twice in a row.

We went to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad next and rode that one twice in a row too because there was no wait. Next was Splash Mountain. It was still fairly cold and I was afraid of getting too wet, but we couldnt pass up the 10minute wait time since we knew it would be busy later. We didnt get very wet this time. We went on Pirates next with only a 10 minute wait.

We were getting hungry now and those Disney Dollars were burning a hole in my pocket. We ate at the Tomorrowland Terrace. All they were serving was breakfast, which I really wasnt in the mood for. It turned out to be excellent! The Sunrise Platter had eggs, bacon, potatoes, and a muffin, along with a drink. It cost the 3 of us $22 and change. The amount of food was perfect for me. Hubby was still hungry after his, but he ate the rest of Jesses so it worked out perfectly.

By this time (about 9:45) I had to pump, so I got it out of the lockers and went to the Baby Center on Main Street while Jesse and Hubby went on Star Tours. I didnt know it at the time, but hubby also went to the crystal store in New Orleans Square and ordered me some champagne glasses with Minnie and Mickey on them. He had them engraved with our wedding date (6-5-99) on the back too. The Baby Center is very nice. The CMs that work there are very sweet and helpful. Its a nice, quiet place with lots of privacy.

So, after I was done we met up and headed over to California Adventure. We got a FastPass for Soarin and the wait for that was really long. So we went on Grizzly River Run. I love that ride! We got completely soaked, head to toe! There was only a 15 minute wait. The next thing was what Jesse had been talking about for the past month! He LOVES California Screamin. He was actually tall enough for it 2 years ago when we went (he was only 6) and that quickly became his favorite. Its definitely my favorite ride at C.A. too. The wait was about 15 to 20 minutes and we rode it twice in a row.

Next was the Maliboomer. Weve never been on that one before, I just wouldnt let my 6 year old do that one last time. I did not like it! None of us really did, so once was enough. Were all kind of afraid of heights, and thats just too high for my taste! We rode the Orange Stinger twice in a row, the wait was only 5 minutes.

We went on Mulholland Madness next, with about a 25 minute wait. Were not very fond of that ride either. There are too many jerky turns. But Jesse loved it! We walked past the corndog stand and Jesse asked for one. I thought that $8 was way too much for a corndog (with drink and chips), but I relented. It was HUGE! It was enough for all three of us to split and tide us over for a while.

We headed over to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (TZToT) next. We have never been on this ride before, we just seemed to bypass it last time. I was a nervous wreck waiting in line (only 15 minutes) because I didnt like the Mailboomer and this seemed to be the same premise. I really liked the video in the library, and loved how the CMs stayed in character. We ended up in the front row. I could never have expected how much I would love that ride! All 3 of us did. The neat thing about it was how much my hubby enjoyed it. He is very tall (6 foot 5) and most rides where you free fall have the bars over your shoulders (like on Screamin). That always holds him in his seat so that he does not move an inch. His butt never flies off the seat. I am short (5 foot 2) and I always get that feeling and I love it! With TZToT he really flew off his seat and he loved it. We immediately got back on that ride again with the same wait time.

We next went to see the Muppets 3D show. I always love that, as weve always been big fans of the Muppets. Its also nice to sit in those really comfy chairs for 12 minutes!

By this time I was getting uncomfortable, so I needed to pump. I walked back over to DL and spent the next 45 minutes there. Hubby and Jesse went on Screamin again and rode King Tritans Carosel also.

On the way back into CA I caught a little bit of the High School Musical show. It was good and the kids were talented, but Im not a fan of the show so I didnt stay long. We met over at Soarin and used our FastPasses. I had forgotten how relaxing and nice that ride is. With the FP the wait was only about 5 minutes. We went back to Screamin again. We got a FastPass for it since the time window was current. We got in line and a CM handed us a time slip to check the wait time. The time listed was 25 minutes. According to hubbys watch, we were only waiting for 12 minutes. Usually hubby gets to sit on that ride alone and me and Jesse sit together. This time they put a single rider in with him. It was a guy almost my hubby size, so they were a little cramped. Afterwards, we got straight in the FP line and rode it again with less than a five minute wait. Turns out the single rider had done the same thing and he ended up riding with us again! He was really nice and talked about not getting to ride many things here when your wife is pregnant and your kid is only 3.

We were pretty famished by this time, so we went to eat. Jesse and I ate pizza at Pizza Om Mow Mow. It was ok, but I like the pizza in Tomorrowland better. Hubby wasnt feeling pizza, so he went and got a hot dog and chips. He spent cash, so I dont know how much his was, but for me and Jesse it was about $18. We were getting tired now and Jesse wanted to play on the SS Rustworthy. Hubby and I sat and relaxed for about 30 minutes while Jesse played. Sometimes I forget that hes still a little kid. Hes so tall!

Jesse wanted to ride Mulholland again and we did not want to, so we let him get in the single rider line. Its the first time hes ever ridden anything by himself and he felt so grown up. He goes from little kid to all grown up in 5 minutes.

We went back to Screamin again (have I mentioned we love that ride?). Last thing was TZToT again, twice in a row. The wait times were around 15 minutes each.

We headed back to DL. I needed to pump again and hubby and Jesse went to ride Indy. Turns out it was closed, but they got to see some of the Traveling Indy Show as hubby called it. They enjoyed that. They played around on Tarzans Treehouse while waiting for me. We met in New Orleans Square. Navigating our way around there was pretty hard. It was really crowded since Fantasmic was getting ready to start. Jesse wanted to ride Big Thunder Mountain RR again, so we did that with a 10 minute wait. We were tired by now and the crowd was getting to us, so we decided to leave around 10pm. We had to wait only a few minutes for the shuttle.

We fit a lot into today. We were there for 14 hours. We rode 26 rides and saw 1 show.

[Matterhorn Yodeler]

Good trip report so far. It sounds like you combined a lot of relaxation activities along with all of the rides. Looking forward to reading the rest!

[Foodie]

I love that idea about taking a crock pot to the hotel room...I wonder if all of the places there would let you do that...

-Foodie

[jars840]

I love that idea about taking a crock pot to the hotel room...I wonder if all of the places there would let you do that...

-Foodie

I'm not sure. We didn't even ask, we just did it. No one said anything about the wonderful smells coming from our room! We tend to leave the Do Not Disturb sign up on the days that we're gone. I don't like wasting water washing sheets and towels that have only been used once, so I just have the sign on the door so they won't change them.

[jars840]

Good trip report so far. It sounds like you combined a lot of relaxation activities along with all of the rides. Looking forward to reading the rest!

It was really nice to be able to stretch out our activities over so many days. With my FIL's condition he needs to rest a lot in between the jam packed days. We went to DL 2 days in a row last time we went and we did not enjoy it as much the 2nd day because we were still tired. You really get more out of it when you can take your time.

[jars840]

Day 6 Monday: Downtown Disney

We ate breakfast at the hotel again today. Around 11 am we drove to Downtown Disney. We saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls at the AMC. It was a really good movie and we all liked it, even my FIL who cannot stay awake for any movie in the theater. We didnt spend much time looking around DD. Thats something I want to do next time. We dropped the guys off at the hotel and MIL and I went to the Disney Warehouse. Someone we met the day before at DL told us about the outlet store. The front desk clerk gave us directions and it wasnt hard to find. All the stuff that used to be sold at the park but is now discontinued is sold here at discounted prices. They have a ton of year stuff from 2007. If you visit the parks every year, it makes sense to wait until the following year to buy your souveniers.

I bought two of the pirate Mickey ear hats, and a baby My First Ear Hat. For 3 hats I only paid $10! It would have cost over $40 at the park. MIL bought a hoodie jacket for $35 instead of the $50 another would have cost at the park. Definitely check it out next time youre there!

We had to go to the grocery store again to buy dinner stuff. I have to write this because Ive never heard of such a thing before. As soon as we got into the Vons, we asked the clerk where the restroom was. He told us and said But it costs you a quarter to get in. Do you have a quarter? We both laughed and said yes, thinking it was a joke. It wasnt! On the door was a lock that you had to put a quarter in for it to open! The quarter came right back out, so it didnt really cost anything. That was so weird to me!

For dinner that night, FIL barbequed hamburgers.


Day 7 Tuesday: Disneyland

This was our last day at the park We ate breakfast at the hotel, and I got dinner going in the crockpot. We got to the park a little early (8:30, park opened at 9) and expected to stand in line for half an hour. I was surprised when they started letting people in right away. FIL went to get his ECV. We headed down Main Street and saw why they let people in early. They werent letting anyone into the rest of the park, they stopped us at the end of Main Street. We stood there for a few minutes until a song began playing over the speakers. I cant remember it, but it was something like Welcome to the Magic. Thats when they started letting everyone in. Thats never happened to me before, and I really loved it being done that way! It really felt more magical listening to the song and walking alongside other people who were just as excited as us to be there. I loved it and hope I get to do that again someday.

We went straight to the Matterhorn since FIL hadnt ridden it yet. The wait was only about 15 minutes. MIL took the baby on the carousel again. Alex was tall enough to go on Matterhorn, and he liked it. He did get scared when he saw the Yeti. We all rode on the StorybookLand Canal Boats. The boys liked seeing real ducks swimming around and loved the tiny lands. By then it was time for the other park to open (10am) so we headed over there. FIL has never been to CA. The last time he was here was 8 years ago and they were in the process of building it.

We went to Turtle Talk with Crush. I love the audience interaction there and Ive always liked Crush from Finding Nemo. The boys liked it, even though they didnt get talked to. We rode the TZToT next. Alex(4) is tall enough to ride it but I wasnt sure if he would like it or not. I described the ride to him and he said he wanted to do it. MIL looked in some stores with the baby while we were riding. The handicapped entrance is the same as the FP entrance, so we only had about a 5 minute wait. Alex was scared in line, and it didnt get any better for the poor kid. The first time the doors opened at the top he screamed. His poor little leg flew up around his ear on the way down! At the end when the lights are coming back on and the elevator is going toward the door to exit, everyone was completely quiet and everyone heard this poor, tiny voice cry Mommy, I wanna go home!. Everyone said Awwww. Poor guy. Needless to say he didnt ride that one again.

We went on Monsters Inc next. Even the baby liked that one. He loved all the colors. That was only about a 10 minute wait with no handicapped entrance. Next we all saw the Muppets 3D show. FIL loved it! I nursed the baby during the show. We got FastPasses for Soarin. The return time wasnt until 5pm! We went to the Grizzly River Run. For the handicapped, you stay in the normal line until you get near the rotunda, then they take you to the side where they have a raft waiting that isnt moving in the rotunda. The wait was about 15 minutes. Alex was barely tall enough to ride. (Actually, he was about a half inch too short, but the CM took pity on him.) MIL went shopping again with the baby. The ride was fun, as always. We did not get extrememely wet this time around.

My MIL headed to A Bugs Land with Alex and the baby while we headed to Screamin. The handicapped entrance there is the same line until you get to the stairs. We waited about 15 minutes. FIL rode with Jesse and I rode next to hubby.a rare occurrence. FIL was not too fond of our favorite ride. He did not take the upside down part very well and didnt ride it again.

We all went to A Bugs Land expecting Alex to be soaking wet in the irrigation place. (I had the foresight to take a change of clothes this time!) Sadly, none of the water was on! Not even in Dots Puddle place. MIL, Alex and the baby were on Heimlichs Chew Chew Train. Jesse and I rode that one too. Everyone except MIL and the baby rode the Tuck and Roll bumper cars next. It was a little hard for FIL to get into the car since hes so tall (6 foot 8). Next up was Fliks Flyers. FIL sat that one out, but the baby was able to go in the carrier. All of the rides here had no more than a 10 minute wait, so that was nice. We went to see Its Tough to be a Bug. They tell you at the entrance that you can remain in your ECV. A few minutes into the show I remembered some of the effects and made FIL get out of his vehicle and sit on the bench with us. I wanted him to get the full effect. Sure enough, it startled him and he loved it! MIL screamed out loud! She had seen the show before, but forgot about the maggots and grasshopper stingers.

We left the park then, it was about 3pm. We drove back to the hotel to eat dinner. I had put another roast in the crock pot with green chilies this time. I shredded it and we had burros with some refried beans. Again, a wonderful and cheap meal! I nursed the baby while everyone rested a bit. We got back to the park at 5:15. The Pixar Play Parade was just starting. We managed to find a good spot and watched it. It was really cute. Ryne was completely mesmerized and the older boys liked the music.

We used our FPs for Soarin. The baby couldnt ride that one, but we all wanted to. So, we used the child switch ticket. Hubby sat out with the baby and we used 5 FPs to ride. FIL and MIL both loved this one. Alex really liked it too, and instantly wanted to ride it again. There was a bit of a snafu with the loading. Because of FILs ECV he had to wait in line 3 while the rest of us were in line 2. Then the CM somehow miscounted everyone, so there were not enough seats in row 2 for all of us, but there was an extra seat in row 1. So, I rode by myself. That made me a little sad, I wanted to see Alexs face his first time riding. We met up with hubby outside and then we used the Child Switch ticket and the other FP. They let us sneak in Alex to ride it again, so the 3 of us were together. It was nice and Alex loved it!

Jesse was begging to go on Screamin again, so we did. Sadly, FIL had no desire to ride that one again. He went with us and watched us take off from the bridge. MIL took Alex and Ryne to play on the SS Rustworthy. They stayed there while we went to the TZToT again. By this time the CA park was closing so we headed back to DL. (It was about 8pm).

My in-laws did a little shopping while I went to the Baby Center to nurse Ryne. Hubby took the boys over to ride Star Tours again. Thats when he picked up my anniversary gift (the champagne glasses), unbeknownst to me. We met up after I did some shopping and asked Jesse which ride he wanted to be the last one this trip. We hadnt gone on the Astro Orbitor yet, so that was the one he picked. The wait was ridiculous of course. I have to remember to go on that one first thing in the morning and get it out of the way before the line gets too bad.

After waiting for 45 minutes, we rode Buzz since I hadnt been on it yet. That wait was about 15 minutes. My pitiful score was only 55K! I have to find some tips on getting a higher score. It doesnt help that I let Jesse steer, so every time I lined up a shot he would move the ship the other direction.

It was about 10pm now and we decided to head home. We stopped for photos at the entrance, turned in the ECV and said goodbye to Disneyland.

We spent about 11 hours there today. We rode 16 rides and saw 4 shows.

There were a few things I wanted to do but didnt get a chance to. I want to see the Aladdin show at the Hyperion. We planned to see that today, but it isnt shown on Tuesdays. Next time well have to see the California Dreams show with Whoopie Goldberg. And maybe someday I will work up the courage to ride the Sun Wheel. But its not likely!


Day 8 Wednesday: Changing Hotels

We had listened to a timeshare presentation back home a few months ago and got a free two night stay at Crowne Plaza in Anaheim. So we took advantage of that and added an extra few days to our trip. We had to check out of Peacock at 11am. We drove directly to Crowne, hoping they would have a room available that early, but of course they didnt. We were able to check some bags so that we didnt have to drive all over with suitcases on top of the van.

We drove to a restaurant called Pat & Oscars. They used to have one here in AZ and it was the date place for me and hubby when we first got together. They closed it down years ago and we havent eaten there in forever. I found one in Orange CA a few miles from the hotel, so I was very excited! We had lunch there and it was every bit as good as I remembered!

We still had time to kill so we went to the Barnes & Noble next door to the restaurant. We sat in the caf area and played our travel Scrabble game while the kids looked at books. We drove back to Crowne around 3pm and our room was ready. The desk clerk gave us coupons. We got one for a free drink at the bar (MIL used that one), a free coffee at the caf (FIL) and two free breasfast buffets (me and hubby). We settled in a little and took the kids to the pool. One thing I really hate about the hotel is that you have to walk through the lobby to get to the pool. Who wants to walk through a nice place looking like a bum? But the pool and spa are very nice. The room had no fridge or microwave.


We drove to Downtown Disney around 5pm to eat at the Rainforest Caf. While waiting (40 minutes) we went to the Lego store. We loved it! The food was good and the atmosphere was very neat. It was a little pricey, coming in at $170 for the 6 of us. We drove back to the hotel and went to bed early.


Day 9 Thursday: Our 9th Wedding Anniversary and Legoland!

Since we were now sharing a regular hotel room, it woke everyone up early when the baby cried at 6am. (At Peacock, I was the only one that got up with him). Sharing a bathroom was hard also, we had gotten completely spoiled at Peacock!

We drove over to Carlsbad, about an hours drive. We got to Legoland at 10am, right when they were opening. I was disappointed in the parks hours. 10am to 5pm? I didnt think that was long enough to see everything.

Turns out it was ok. There were quite a few rides we didnt go on, and one whole land we didnt get to see, but we did see most of the park. The boys favorite thing to do there was play with the Legos in the clubhouse! Thats all they wanted to do. I did not pay $40 a person (AAA discount) and drive all that way for them to play with legos they have at home!!!

Legolands Baby Center was nice, I went there twice to feed the baby. I absolutely LOVED Miniland. It was really neat to see all Americas landmarks built out of Legos. We all enjoyed that. We had lunch there (hamburgers they were only ok) and bought to apple fries. They were delicious!!!

I think I may have judged Legoland a little too harshly though. All I was thinking about while I was there was how it compared to Disneyland. And lets face it, there IS no comparison for Disneyland. I wasnt very impressed with the park, but I wouldnt mind venturing back to Legoland someday.

We got back to the hotel around 6pm and left the kids with the grandparents while hubby and I went out to dinner for our anniversary. We walked over to Outback Steakhouse. It was delicious! Then we went into the hot tub and called it a night.


Day 10 Friday: Driving home

Check out time wasnt until noon, so we took things slow this morning. We took the two older boys down to breakfast while the baby stayed with the grandparents upstairs. The breakfast buffet was wonderful! Omelets made to order (the best one Ive had in a while!), waffles, eggs, pastries, and a lot more. The kids cost $6.95 each, but we had the coupons for ourselves. It was totally worth the money!

Hubby took the kids to the pool while I packed up our stuff. We checked out right at noon and set off for the long drive home. It kept getting hotter and hotter the closer to home we got!

We stopped in Blythe again and ate at Burger King. The kids handled the trip home just as well as the trip up there. The baby finally had a meltdown when we were about 2 hours from home. He cried all the way from Avondale to Casa Grande (over an hour). We stopped at a friends house in Casa Grande and I feed him and let him roll around on the floor a little. We got home around 9:30pm and went straight to bed.


It was a wonderful trip and I cant wait to go again!!

[jars840]

Thanks everyone for reading my trip report! If you want to check out pictures, here ya go:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...3&conn_speed=1

[Matterhorn Yodeler]

Thanks for a great trip report. It sounds like you had a real good time. Your photos were great too!

I think it would be fun if they constructed Disneyland's Main Street out of Legos at Legoland!

[TheDisneyDude]

Great report and the pictures were awesome. I regularly stay at the Crowne Plaza and love it (though its usually just 2 of us in the room - my girlfriend and me).

[candles71]

I've seen the quarter thing in San Francisco before. I think it is to discourage homeless people from bathing in the sink, or whatever. Or our other thought was the quarter went towards the paper goods (but not if you got it back).

I really like your trip report. (We always pack our lunch into the park to help save money.)

[jars840]

Great report and the pictures were awesome. I regularly stay at the Crowne Plaza and love it (though its usually just 2 of us in the room - my girlfriend and me).

It was a really nice hotel. Just not big enough for 6 1/4 people in one room! :-) If just hubby and I ever get to go, I'm sure we'll stay there again.

[jars840]

I've seen the quarter thing in San Francisco before. I think it is to discourage homeless people from bathing in the sink, or whatever. Or our other thought was the quarter went towards the paper goods (but not if you got it back).

I really like your trip report. (We always pack our lunch into the park to help save money.)

Hhmm, I never considered that reason for the quarter. Thanks!