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Thread: Birthday Trip April 26th, 2014 - May 3rd, 2014 Grand Californian Hotel

  1. #1

    Birthday Trip April 26th, 2014 - May 3rd, 2014 Grand Californian Hotel

    Travel dates: 4/26/14 - 5/3/14
    Travel method: Car (my daughter's, because I do not drive in cities)
    Resort: Grand Californian
    Accommodations: Standard Room with 2 queens and a daybed
    Ages Represented in Group: 33 - 65
    Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: All of us have been to Disneyland several times in the last 30 years. Some of us have been to Disney World. We had stayed at Disneyland Hotel once and Paradise Pier a couple of times before it was a Disney property
    Comments: This trip was to celebrate my 65th birthday with my kids.
    Cast of characters: Karen (me), 65
    Tammy (my daughter), 44
    Patrick (my son), 41
    Carolyn (my daughter-in-law and Patrick's wife), 39
    Richie (my son), 33

    We have been planning this trip for 5 years. We did it 5 years ago for my 60th birthday but for only 3 days. That time my daughter-in-law didn't go with us. It was so much fun being with my 3 grown kids. I am so blessed that they all love to be together. After that I decided that we needed to do this every 5 years for my birthday.

    Friday, April 25th
    Tammy arrived at our house near Kingman, AZ, from St. George, UT. She had left after work and had stopped at Nellis AFB to get two military 3-day Park Hopper passes to use back to back. After she got to our house, we went into town to eat and do a little last minute shopping for snacks and breakfast items to take. We bought 2 cases of water, and she already had about half a case. We wondered if we'd use all of it, but we ended up using it and a little more. After we got back home I did my packing. I did it so hurriedly that I'm surprised that I didn't forget anything. I packed way more clothes than I wore, but I wanted to be prepared with jeans in case evenings were cool.

    Saturday, April 26th
    We loaded up the car (pretty much threw stuff in) and left at about 5:30 AM. We drove to Needles where we stopped for breakfast. We ate at a local restaurant, The Wagon Wheel Restaurant. The food was good, and they served large portions. Neither of us finished our breakfast. Tammy and I had been on a 10 week weight loss challenge before the trip. We each made up our separate plans for each of the 10 weeks. If we went off the plan even once during the week, we had to buy the other a meal at Disneyland. We both went off a few times during the 10 weeks, but after we balanced those out, Tammy still owed me one meal. I had lost 18 pounds, and Tammy had lost a few. We both needed to buy some new clothes, because I was down to a size 8, and Tammy to a size 2. We left with both of us weighing less than we had in 19 years. So the challenge had worked.
    After breakfast we drove to the factory outlets outside of Barstow but found that they didn't have near as many stores as they had previously had. We did do some shopping and bought a couple of things. We ate lunch at a Jack in the Box somewhere around Lancaster I think. We split a sandwich for lunch. We wanted to do more shopping and went to a factory outlet in Lake Elsinore. We bought a few more things. We really didn't find as much to buy as we'd hoped. After that we drove to Stanton to a Howard Johnson hotel for that night. It was adequate, but we had wanted to save money that night. We then drove to Downtown Disney for some shopping. I also bought my first ever annual pass at Disneyland. Just so that I could say I'd been in Disneyland 7 days in a row, I got a voucher (since it was a block out day) just for that day. I went into Disneyland and was going to just ride the train, but it wasn't working right then. I got my picture taken by a photo pass photographer and also turned in my voucher for the Photo Pass Plus so that we'd be all set for the next morning. We stopped in at the Grand Californian to make sure that if we checked in early on Sunday, we'd be able to go in for early entry at CA. We ate dinner at La Brea in Downtown Disney. We split the Grilled Turkey Club Panini. It was really good. We left after dinner for our hotel. We went to bed early so that we'd be ready for fun the next day.

    More to follow.


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  3. #2

    Living vicariously here and wondering how you lost 18 lbs in 10 weeks. Well done!


  4. #3

    I walked 10 miles a day (3 hours every day) and probably ate less than I should have most days. I was eating about 800 calories a day for most of it. I did allow myself a couple of "free" meals on most weeks. I ate mostly salad or veggies for dinners. I want to lose another 20 pounds which would put me at my goal weight. I feel like I need to eat a little more and take a little longer to do that. The challenge we made really helped, because I didn't want to have to buy my daughter any meals at Disneyland. After the first few weeks we decided not to tell each other how we did until the end. The first time one of us went off our plan and told the other, then the other would figure she could go off, and it would just even things out. For the last 5 weeks we had to be really careful, because we didn't know how the other was doing, and neither of us wanted to risk going off and having to buy the other several meals.


  5. #4

    Sunday, April 27th. We got up early and got to the Grand Californian at about 6:25. We started the registration process and hoped that we would still make early entry into CA. The guy at the desk was really nice and was explaining things about the park that we already knew. We wanted him to just skip it so that we could leave. We were still able to get to the park in time for entry. Unfortunately I can't remember the order in which we rode the racers and other rides. I'm pretty sure that we rode the racers first. I know that we also did Luigi's. I think that was one of the mornings that Toy Story Mania wasn't working yet. We rode California Screamin' and I think we also did Soarin'. Tammy got in the fast pass line in time to get passes for the Racers again. We spent the morning in CA and hit all of the major attractions. We got out picture taken at the Disney Visa Meet & Greet. We ate lunch at Pacific Wharf Cafe. I had the clam chowder in the bread bowl, and Tammy had the enchilada soup (soup of the day) in a bread bowl. Their bread is sooooooo good. After lunch we looked around some more, and we watched "Five and Dime" perform in Carthay Circle. About that time we got the text that our room was ready, and we went back to actually "move in". We had pretty much just thrown stuff in the car, and we had them take all of our stuff up to the room. It was well worth the $11 tip we gave the guy. We loved the room, and we got everything unpacked, put in drawers, closet, bathroom, etc. We got all of our snacks organized and put water and sodas in the refrigerator. We were a little surprised that the drawers were small. We each took 2 drawers and figured that the rest could keep their stuff in their suitcases after they arrived. Carolyn was flying in from Dallas and was supposed to be there by this time, but her flight was delayed. She got there a little after 4 PM, and we were waiting out front when the shuttle drove up. We took her up to our room on the second floor and then went into Disneyland. We got fast passes for Space Mountain and did a couple of other attractions before staking our spot for Fantasmic. This is the first time we've taken a comforter to sit on during the wait and the show. It is so much nicer to have that. Since we were staying at the GC, it was easy for me to go back to the room to get the tote with the comforter. I also had a small throw pillow to sit on. That also helped. It really frustrated me that I can no longer get comfortable just sitting on the ground. Even with the little pillow, it was hard. I had to keep getting up and standing for a while. I love Fantasmic, but I'm just not sure that I can keep watching it. Getting old does have it's drawbacks. Tammy and Carolyn went to get our dinner for us to eat while we waited for the show. They got the skewers from Bengal Barbecue, and I got the Fish and Chips from Stage Door. They sure give you a lot of fish, and it was pretty good. After the show we did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and I can't remember what else. At some point we did get our free meet and greet photo prints from the photo shop. All three of us have Disney Visa cards. So we each got a free 5x7 print. We did stay until closing at midnight. We went back to our room and didn't stay up for very long. I had a hard time getting to sleep. These old aching bones and joints kept me awake for a while.


  6. #5

    Happy Bday! I hope to bring my daughters and celebrate my 65th there too (not for 17 years but I'm planning ahead!). Looking forward to hearing more in your trip report.

    Now, bring me that horizon...drink up me hearties yo ho!
    Always planning another visit to Disney...

  7. #6

    Monday, April 28th, 2014
    Tammy got up early to do the pilates at the GC. She works out pretty much every day, but I just walk. So I skipped this, as did Carolyn. This day was another early entry into CA. We got to bag check early and then in line at the entry to the park. Then we hurried to the rope to get to the racers. Sometimes it amuses me that we stand in line 3 times for a total time of up to an hour just so we won't have to stand in line for a ride. Somehow it makes sense to do that. We had a short line before the Racers and then we headed for Toy Story. It wasn't open because of problems with the ride. So we didn't get to go on that. We did get to a couple of attractions. I'm pretty sure we went on California Screamin'. We went on that at least once for the whole 6 days we were there. I think Tammy ran and got fast passes for the racers, which we rode soon after that. We got went to the Disney Visa Meet and Greet. Then we went into Disneyland and went our separate ways. That was about 11 AM, and we made plans to meet at the Walt and Mickey statue at 1 in case any of us were tired of doing it alone. I had been looking forward to this part, because I've never really done Disney by myself. The first thing I did was to get a macaroon from the Jolly Holiday Bakery, because I'd read such good things about them. It was really tasty and much bigger than I'd expected. I sat outside and listened to the Refreshment Corner pianist while I ate it. After that I couldn't seem to focus and just wandered aimlessly. What a waste of time. That made me upset with myself. I did ride the train. I also got my picture taken by the Walt & Mickey statue. (When I looked at the photo pass + pictures online after we got home, I realized that each of us had separately had our picture taken there). I went back there at 11, and Carolyn was there. I didn't expect Tammy to be there, as she is much more of an independent person than I am. She wasn't there, and I knew she was enjoying her time alone and would meet us at 5 at Cafe Orleans, because we had reservations there. Carolyn and I had lunch at the Hungry Bear and sat by the water. We split the Turkey Provolone sandwich and an order of onion rings. I love their onion rings. We took our time and had a nice relaxing lunch. We didn't do a whole lot that I can remember, but we went to the Tiki Room. We ordered the Dole Whips there before the show. It was the first time we'd ever eaten them, and we really enjoyed them. One tip that we followed was to get the Dole Whips on the inside of the the Tiki Room enclosure. It's a much shorter line. We enjoyed the show. Later that afternoon we went to the Golden Horseshoe for the "Laughing Stock" show. We enjoyed it, and the girl chosen from the audience did an amazing job on her part. We met up with Tammy at Cafe Orleans and immediately ordered the Pommes Frites. We love those. Tammy and I decided to split the Monte Cristo. Carolyn got the Gumbo. I could only eat 1/4 of the sandwich. We could have just split it 3 ways. After dinner we headed back to CA to get a place for World of Color. We were able to ride a few rides before getting our spot. Once again I found it hard to sit down on the ground and wait for the show. My back and legs really don't like that at all. I finally left and walked around a little before coming back for the show. Tammy and Carolyn enjoyed playing the Mickey Wheel Color game on their smart phones. I still have a stupid phone. So I didn't play along. After the show we went back to our room and put one of the Disney movies we'd brought intot he DVD player and kind of watched it for a little while. But we were tired and didn't stay up too long.


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