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View Full Version : Our 4 days of 50th Magic!



mykidsrctmh
05-10-2005, 09:30 AM
Day 1 - Tues. May 3
The players: My 7 and 8 year old sons, 14 year old daughter and her 3 screaming friends, my sister and myself. The event: Block Party Bash Media Preview. Disney invited the 7, 8, and 9th graders from my daughters school to attend this preview event. They could each bring one guest. Wise mom that I am, I offered rides to some of my DD friends in exchange for my little boys and my sister being their guests.

Like a lot of you, I tried my best to win tickets to the 4th, but did not. On Monday, I was thinking about us being at the resort late on Tues. and wanting to come early on Thursday. I figured I would just see how much a room would be at the resort. Monday around 9:30am I was told they were sold out. I checked back around 11am, and rooms were available at all three hotels. Passholder rates too! We love the grand, but it was a little steep. So I booked the DLH for Tues. and Wed. night. Didn't tell my kids. I picked up the boys from school around 3 on Tues. suitcases in car and said "Who wants to stay at the Disneyland Hotel for a few days?" Of course they were so excited! Arrived around 4, checked in. When I checked in, the CM asked me if I had tickets into the park on Wednesday. When I said No, she said you do now! They were giving those cute golden tickets to everyone staying on property, as soon as you signed a media release! So exciting! We went to our room and the boys wanted to swim first thing! We headed straight for the pool, my sister met us there. Some kind of college group convention was also checking in. There was lots of un-disney language and smoking at the pool. But my boys were so busy sliding down the slide and running to do it again, they didn't even notice.

My daughters and her friends rode the bus up from school, we met them in front of WOD were we were supposed to check in. I was surprised to find this was the only group invited to this preview. It is a performing arts school, I'm sure Disney wanted kids who would be high energy for all the filming. They chose the right school! I thought they treated the kids very nice. We checked in right by WOD, went in a side gate to DCA. Dinner was being served at Taste Pilots, we could choose between a hamburger, chicken sandwich, or veggie burger with fries. The only bummer was no BBQ sauce was out! They also had all the sodas the kids could drink - sugar them up for that high energy parade! We were confined to the area right in front of Soarin'. When dinner was over, Jesse McCartney rolled by on the "stage" that is pulled by the surf wagon. He gave a concert (2 songs), the mainly female crowd went crazy.

Someone from Disney prepped the kids about what they wanted during the parade and we separated in to sections along the parade route based on numbered wrist bands that had been issued during check-in. It was mostly media on one side, kids on the other. I'll bet the media outnumbered the kids 2 to 1. It was crazy! Lots of waiting for the parade. Our check-in had been at 6, we didn't see a schedule for the night until then. I was surprised to see they were keeping these kids until 10 on a school night! Finally, the green army men came to pump up the crowd (honestly, they didn't need it). They had been singing and dancing to just the music that was playing in the park!

The parade came and went, those kids didn't stop jumping, clapping, screaming, dancing the whole time. We all loved the parade. Very fun and involving.

I had to take one of my sons to the bathroom, went back to Flick's Fun Fair. A reception was set up for the media back there - very fancy stuff. Tons of dessert tables, a photo area, even flower arrangements in cute orange cones in the bathrooms!

After the parade, the students were taken back to the Soarin' area. They were passing out ice cream out of ODV carts and let them ride Soarin'. They filled out address labels for a thank -you gift to be mailed. It hasn't come yet. I loved how fun they made the evening for the students.

My sister took the boys back to the hotel room to crash. I had to drive the friends home, and my daughter also. Alas, since Jan. our deal was she could miss school for the 50th if her grades were in line and the last progress report fell short. I gave her a 2nd chance to pull the grades up and bring me signed papers from them on Tues., but she did not. So much to her dismay, she would not be skipping school to join us on Wednesday. I'm not sure who was more disappointed, me or her. My DH had to work, so he got to stay home with her Tues. night and take her to school the next day. She *amazingly* managed to get letters signed on Wed., so she did come with us on the 5th - more trip report to follow.

Hakuna Makarla
05-10-2005, 09:44 AM
Awsome!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not wait for more!!!!!!!!

sriggins
05-10-2005, 09:45 AM
great report, thanks!

Eighty8Keys
05-10-2005, 09:56 AM
Can't wait to hear more. Thanks for the great report!

mykidsrctmh
05-10-2005, 10:02 AM
Ah! The day had arrived. Like an 8 year old visiting Disneyland for the first time, I woke up early! My little guys were pretty tired, but popped out of bed when offered a Pop-Tart! (That's a treat in our house!).

We left the hotel with plenty of time to stroll down DTD. We even took time to stop and read the Disney quotes in the window of WOD. It was quiet and we usually hurry by those. My boys took turns reading them and we talked about imagination and the importance of having dreams. It was a great start to the day!

So we had these 5 Golden Tickets, but my daughter had to go to school, my sister and my husband had to go to work. We offered them to one of my friends and her 7 year old son who we go to Disneyland with often. They met us in line at the gate, I thought it was busy until I came back on Thursday and realized how UNBUSY it had been on Wednesday! There was a definite excitement in the air. The gates opened about 8:30 and off we went! We visit the park once a week or so, so had seen a lot of 50's already, it was fun to walk in and see if we could find any new ones since our visit last week. Main Street was set up for the POD a lot like our experience on Tues. with Block Party Bash - guests on one side, media on the other. All those spots were already taken, we kept walking and found a spot to the side of the castle. This was the hardest part of the day for the boys, too much waiting!
Finally, the parade came, we had the Little Mermaid float stop in front of us. I'm looking forward to sitting different places and seeing different things. The boys liked the parade, but had more fun with Block Party Bash.

Right after the parade, we tried to get on Buzz Lightyear. So did everybody else! So we went to Autopia. My friend won a car! We got to drive the gold car - very fun! It looks like there is one gold car for every track. The boys were hungry, but nothing was open yet. Walked back to Toontown, found a churro cart on the way. They were fresh - hot and soft, yummmmy. We looked at murals all day, but didn't see any of our pictures! Looking forward to finding a kiosk. In Toontown there were no lines. The boys jumped 4 time in a row at Goofy's Bounce House, played in the boat, and rode the Coaster 10 times at least! They were in heaven! They played over in the "town", the jail, the mailbox. They were doing the ceremony at Dumbo. I would liked to have gone, but the kids didn't want to. So I decided to let it be their day. Hopefully I'll watch ceremonies when I go back for the 75th!

We had lunch at Pizza Port. I talked the boys out of HISTA. Maybe if they had only brought Captain EO back ... We headed to Fantasyland. Waited 10 minutes for Peter Pan. Got stuck on Mr. Toad and had to be walked out.

Saw the Jr. Chef program was running, had 30 minutes before the next show. We went on Jungle Cruise! Very fun new effects! Back to the Jr. Chef's. The three boys had a blast. There were a lot of grown-ups participating. I'm sure just because the crowds were so light. But they let the little boys do most of the pouring and mixing. They cook with me a lot, and loved it here also. They asked for an extra cookie for mom - yummmy. Some TV station from the High Desert asked for an interview. The other little boy we brought kept yelling into the microphone. If they used any of that interview, they have the most amazing editors in the world!

The Buzz ceremony was starting, I thought for sure they would want to watch. Nope. Off to Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain twice! No lines was more that worth the price of those hotel rooms! Went back to try Buzz again. Still a 30 minute wait. More than we wanted to wait for! We rode Star Tours. It was about 4:30, we decided to try and see the new movie at the Opera House. The Gold Carpet was all ready for the celebs. Looked very fancy, as did the table set up by the HM and the stage that was getting ready on the island for Goo Goo Dolls. It looked to be a smoking party! Briefly considered how to sneak in. Looked at two sons, realized there was NO chance.

The Opera House had closed early. Bummer. It was a great long day, and everyone was satisfied to leave. Said good-bye to very grateful friends. My daughter was done with school at 6, rode bus up. We went swimming and headed over to DCA. I thought it would be busy, but it wasn't! We rode Screaming a few times, got chicken strips and fries from the Fish and Chips place and watched Elecrical Parade. Always enjoyable. My kids have seen parades 100's of times! I'm amazed that their faces still light up and they wave to the characters, move with the music, and still love it!

Bedtime for all! Back to our room we went!

I was surprised to see so much criticism of this day. We had FREE tickets, we knew that there would be a lot of media. We relaxed, enjoyed the abscence of lines, and the picture perfect weather. Really, it doesn't get any better than this!

sunfun94
05-10-2005, 10:03 AM
I cant wait to take my DD to see this parade! Thanks for the TR..cant wait to read the rest! :)

Gramiangel420
05-10-2005, 10:21 AM
Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Can't wait to hear more.

Darkbeer
05-10-2005, 10:55 AM
Where you at the 1 PM Junior Chef on Wednesday???

If so, then you might like to check out this album...

http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/gallery/520867

Also, AVP was at the same show, and took photos for an upcoming article.

mykidsrctmh
05-10-2005, 01:34 PM
Where you at the 1 PM Junior Chef on Wednesday???

If so, then you might like to check out this album...

http://darkbeer.smugmug.com/gallery/520867

Also, AVP was at the same show, and took photos for an upcoming article.

It is a small world after all! My kiddos are the adorable blond in the Incredibles T-shirt and the the brown haired darling in the Hawk sweatshirt. The little boy in the yellow T-shirt is our friend that was with us! Too bad I didn't know what you look like, I could have said hi! Thanks for sharing the photos though!

adriennek
05-10-2005, 02:34 PM
I had to drive the friends home, and my daughter also. Alas, since Jan. our deal was she could miss school for the 50th if her grades were in line and the last progress report fell short. I gave her a 2nd chance to pull the grades up and bring me signed papers from them on Tues., but she did not. So much to her dismay, she would not be skipping school to join us on Wednesday. I'm not sure who was more disappointed, me or her. My DH had to work, so he got to stay home with her Tues. night and take her to school the next day. She *amazingly* managed to get letters signed on Wed., so she did come with us on the 5th - more trip report to follow.

I just want to say that I really admire your parenting. It had to be a tough choice to go back and forth and stay consistent- especially with those golden tickets in hand! I would've been soooo tempted to say, "oh, forget it, this is going to be a special opportunity!" But I hope I'd have the self-control to do the right thing like you did!

Kudos to you, Mom!!

Adrienne

AVP
05-10-2005, 02:37 PM
It is a small world after all! My kiddos are the adorable blond in the Incredibles T-shirt and the the brown haired darling in the Hawk sweatshirt. The little boy in the yellow T-shirt is our friend that was with us! Too bad I didn't know what you look like, I could have said hi! Thanks for sharing the photos though!Oh. My. Heck.

Are you the woman who told me that the recipie was on the back of the bag? :D

If so, I have LOTS of good photos of the three kids you were with.

AVP

Darkbeer
05-10-2005, 04:09 PM
My girlfriend (Deogge's Mom) and our friend Judi was two of the kids at heart (aka adults) helping to make the cookies....

I was in the background taking the photos (dark short sleeve shirt and dress slacks)...

Glad you had a great time..... I got a cookie too, even though I didn't really help:fez:

mykidsrctmh
05-10-2005, 05:25 PM
Oh. My. Heck.

Are you the woman who told me that the recipie was on the back of the bag? :D

If so, I have LOTS of good photos of the three kids you were with.

AVP

That was me! I hated to see you taking such careful notes when I knew you could get that same recipie on the tollhouse bag ;) . That was also me leaning over the fence trying to take pictures and probably getting in your way! I can't wait to see these photos of yours.

It really is a very good photo event for every Disneyland visitor who is also an obsessive scrapbooker!

I suppose if I'd spent more time posting and less time lurking on this board since I joined, I would have known who you all were!

marshmallow
05-10-2005, 05:49 PM
Oh what memories those children will have! I am at that in between point. My children are grown. I am so looking forward to days like these with my grandchildren.

mykidsrctmh
05-10-2005, 05:55 PM
It was a little harder for everyone to get out of bed this morning! I wanted to check out before we left for the day just in case the park was full and we couldn't leave. Dressing, packing, and checking 2 young boys out by 7 am is the stuff Supermom feats are made of! (This is me, so we were not quite done by 7!)

My DD, notes in hand from teachers, was getting to come to the opening - she would have to leave by 2 for an audition at school. My DH had taken her home Wed. night so that she would not miss her early morning church class (she's had 100% attendence so far this year, she didn't want to miss so close to the end of the year). She's a great kid, that progress report aside! She got to the resort around 7:40 - we were just loading our luggage in our car and grabbing our ponchos as the dark clouds were looming. She called me to say she'd run into some friends of ours and was in line BEHIND THE L. Yes, that's the L in CALIFORNIA in front of DCA. Goodness. We joined her line and I apologized to my boys for whining about the Wed. crowds. The park opened, we joined the sea of people on Main Street. Our first thought at been breakfast at Carnation Cafe (the fact Guest Services told me there were not taking PS should have been a clue!). That hour wait was not too inviting. So we zipped over to Riverbelle Terrace. This is my smartest move of the day - sat two kids at a table, got in line, only 6 people in front of me! Within 15 minutes, the place was packed, nowhere to sit, line out of both doors. Between us we ate pancakes, eggs, potatoes, and bacon. It rained outside, but we were dry and comfy! We talked about each of our favorite days at Disneyland. We all had different favorite memories, it was fun to see the things they thought had been the best!

Once again, my lovely little ones were not interested in the ceremony at the castle, so they ran up Tarzan's treehouse while I got in line in for Jungle Cruise. Yes, that was the end of the line back by the Tiki room! When the kids joined the line, I decided to run get fastpasses for Buzz. Oops! It was 10:00! Took me a good 45 minutes to get across Main Street, although I did get to hear/see snippets of the ceremony. I'll download the video for my kids from here, I think they would have enjoyed the ending, they just never would have sat to wait for it!

They came over and we got in line for Buzz just as the ceremony was ending. Only a 20 minute wait. I scored a Level 6! Got my name on the Top 10 board, which until that moment, I thought was just fake names and scores!

We saw the pin line, CRAZY! We decided that there was no way we would still be having fun at fireworks time. So decided to call it a day and do fireworks another time (that will be the 4th day of magic!). Love the way the park looks. Love the sparkle - the magic feels renewed! We found a cute family visiting from Australia on our way out. They came on vacation and had NO IDEA all this was going on today. So we gave them our unused Buzz fastpasses and wished them a happy day. I hope it was!

We ran over to DCA. A big first for our family - my youngest was tall enough for Screamin! And as an added bonus, he LOVED it! We were waiting in line to buy the photo from his first ride and the man and daughter who had been in the car in front of us was also in the photo line in front of us. He turned his head and all 3 of my kids gasped at the same time. It was Sean Astin, and our family loves LOTR! They really wanted to ask him for an autograph, but I've never let them do that when we've seen celebrities before. They begged until I relented while he was waiting for his order to print up. He was so kind to them, signed their autograph books and talked to them for a few minutes. Guess who forgot to take a picture!? Some other people noticed he had talked to my boys and when we left the picture area tried to approach him too, but his host whisked them away. There was no line for Screamin' so we rode again.

Took DD to school and left completely satisfied. Left before any rain, left happy to come another day and see fireworks.

We made priceless memories! For a last minute plan, staying in the hotel was the best thing we could have done! I told my family to skip the mother's day presents, these few days of fun were the best gift I could have had!

Susan L
05-10-2005, 06:36 PM
Sounds like a wonderful time.

CrazyTrain
05-11-2005, 10:04 AM
Why didn't I go to DCA on the 5th?
*sigh*

mykidsrctmh
05-11-2005, 06:32 PM
Today's players: All three of my kids, my sister, and me - poor DH is working again.

Our 50th celebration needed to extend an extra day for fireworks since we wimped out of staying all day on the 5th! Our weekend was packed with other activities, so Monday was the first day we could go! We arrived around 6:30, decided to park in DTD. I should have thought about the fact that this was the first day people with So Cal passes that didn't attend on Thursday could see fireworks - we were not the only ones arriving about this time! I gave up my circling the parking lot and valeted. (Feel free to think of me as lazy!) We only had to wait a few minutes to get on the Monorail and we were off! Rode in the back which was very exciting for the kids.

The park felt very crowded. We headed straight for the castle and laid down our blanket on the curb of the Hub right in back of the Walt/Mickey statue (castle side!). I headed to grab some dinner - there was disagreement amoung the troops so I ended up going to the Village Haus so I could order both chicken nuggets and pizza. Not my favorite place to eat, but I do like that I get a salad with my child's pizza.

There was a couple with a printout looking for their photos in the murals on the Fantasyland side of the castle. They had sent in 10, and ONE photo was used 23 times! We have a long standing tradition for Fantasmic in our family. We go early, lay a blanket, and wait for someone from out-of-town who has no idea what Fantasmic is to ask us what we are waiting for. We invite them to come back 1/2 an hour before the show and join us. I don't know why we do it, just love helping someone get a great seat without sacrificing 2 hours of ride time! We've met some really nice people this way too! Well, this couple was local, but we invited them to come join us for fireworks!

I made it back, we ate. My sister and kids ran to ride Matterhorn, didn't have to wait too long. We played Disney trivia, our new friends joined us, and before you knew it, it was time for the show!

WOW. WOW. WOW. My boys enjoy fireworks, but have never loved them. I usually have to talk them into staying around for them. They LOVED these though! I had avoided all spoilers about this show. We had been listening to our new 6 CD set of Disneyland music all weekend. So fun when we heard lots of it in the firework show! My kids (the whole crowd, really) were so involved in the show - Look at that! That is so cool! Laughing! I thought my boys might have heart attacks during the Star Tours part, they were so excited!

As reported in another thread, Tink did not fly. Her door was open, the spotlight was there. I was a little disappointed, but happy for an excuse to go watch again soon!

If you have not seen this, Go. Soon. Wait in front of the castle, it is time well spent!

A big YEA to Disneyland for putting on a kick-off that brought smiles to our faces and gave me a few more magic memories to tuck away in my heart. I was a teenager growing up in Orange during the 25/30 year celebrations. The specific memories are a little fuzzy (I was at an all night party for one of those things - what were my parents thinking?), but the laughing, the sounds, the smells of Disneyland are permanent residents in my happy memories. I hope the same is true for my kids now. Is it bad that I'm already looking forward to a 75th celebration?

pirateabbie
05-11-2005, 06:58 PM
What a great trip report! I am so impressed by the fact that you kept a positive attitude even when things went wrong. You encountered bad weather, malfunctioning attractions, and huge crowds and yet none of them in any way seemed to affect your good spirits. You mentioned them only in passing and did not focus on them as others might have. Thanks for reminding us not to take all the "bad" stuff so seriously. I'm so glad you and your delightful family had such a fantastic trip!