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View Full Version : Our trip report! November 4-6th with small kids :)



hippiemama
11-06-2005, 08:44 PM
Our first trip back to Disneyland in 9 years and it was awesome. Heres my very long trip report. And a link to pics (tho I'm sorry they're not in order and I can't figure out how to make them be in order).
I'll also apologize that my pics are primarily of my kids with characters lol

http://photobucket.com/albums/a265/supersilks/Disneyland%202005/

Disneyland Trip Report

Arrived at the park at 8am after a nice breakfast with the other family we were
visiting with. We walked in, got our vouchers exchanged for tickets and walked in singing .

We walked down mainstreet, stopping for Goofys autograph and pictures and went straight to Fantasyland to ride Dumbo. The kids loved it and Zoey said when it was over "It was too fast.... like it didn't even happen" and was about ready to cry when we told her "Its Disneyland honey, be happy, go ride it again!". So this time instead of me riding with Roman and she with big sister, while dad took video, she rode with daddy while sister Chels rode with Roman and I took pictures. We took a family photo on the golden dumbo and everyone was happy that our day was officially started.

Next we rode Casey Jones train and they all sat in the pink monkey cage and made monkey noises. Then it was off to Peter Pans ride - the kids really enjoyed it and weren't scared at all of the darkness of it (much to my pleasure). Then we were really excited because Peter was waiting for us when we got off the ride for pictures and autographs. Then we rode Mr.Toads wild Ride which was cute too.
Then Pinocchio, the Teacups (I think Romans favorite from the way he giggled), and the Alice in Wonderland ride.

I was really surprised that my Zoey wanted to ride the Matterhorn so Tom stayed with Roman while me and the girls went and rode Zoeys first 'real' rollercoaster. She really did great - even with the "scarey red eyed monster" and when it was done she said "that was great. Lets do it again!"

It was around 11 at this point and we really wanted to make sure Roman saw "jacks house" (Haunted Mansion) before falling asleep so we left Fantasyland and hopped the Disneyland train (loved the Grand Canyon and Dinosaurs) over to New Orleans square.

Ok . we LOVED Haunted Manion, but we really really LOVED The nightmare before Christmas overlay. It was totally different , but really enjoyable. Roman just loved it "ooooh Jack mama , more Jack!".

Then I took the girls on Splash Mountain (Zoey squeezed my thigh so hard on the big splash i thought I'd bruise lol) and Dad took Roman to meet and hug on Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger.

Dad needed to take a break from the park, recharge the video camera battery and change shoes so he left the park for a bit while me and the kids (Roman sleeping in the stroller) ate lunch at the Hungry Bear resteraunt and then did some shopping for souveneirs. Had the kids ears made with their names on them - they LOVED watching that and wearing their own ears.

Tommy met us back at the Nightmare before Christmas store and then we went over to Pirates of the Caribbean. I LOVE this ride - man its just so cool! I think Dads favorite for sure. Zoey was just amazed when we got off the ride that it was still daytime - she had a hard time realizing that the sky in POTC was part of the ride and it wasn't really nighttime in there.

Off to Indiana Jones. My all time favorite ride I think. Daddy and I left the little ones with the teenager and went alone. He wore his Indy hat I bought him 9 years ago on our last trip to disney (we'd been dating 3 months at the time) and folks kept calling him "Indy" lol which he loved. Fast pass rocks by the way if I didn't mention that - they didn't hve that either 9 years ago. We had a blast and then I sent Chelsey back on with daddy while I took the little ones with my friend and her little ones over to the Tikki Room which I never did last trip. The kids LOVED the birds singing! Zoey thought it was absolutely amazing. And Roman kept saying "more bird mama. tikki tikki" for about half an hour after we left.

Jungle Cruise - kids LOVED this as we knew they would and the bad jokes were just as much fun as last time. Oh, and they have pirannhas in the water now! That was knew and unexpected. I loved it!

It was about 5:30 at this point and my kids were tired and hungry so we left the park, went back to our hotel and ordered in chinese. Was a really nice break and we rested our feet a bit. I packed everyone up again around 8 to head in and get a spot for Fantasmic but by the time we got in and over to the water both kids were fast asleep. My stroller is not designed to have a 5 and 2yo in it sleeping and necks were contourting in not so hot ways, so we opted out for the night. We left Chels with the other family who were staying in the park and she had a blast riding a bunch of stuff with their teenage neice. Two 16yo girls i disneyland lol.
(while we went back to the hotel she rode the audobon, buzz lightyear, they did honey i shrunk the audience, startours and space mountain and saw fantasmic and fireworks)

Saturday morning we got up and headed back in. We decided we were headed to toontown so along the way finished up Fantasyland by going on snow whites adventure and the storybook boat ride. Then into toon town :)

We met Mickey and Minnie and visited their houses and then both kids rode the coaster - yep, Roman was tall enough by about an 1/8 of an inch. We rode that twice. They also bounced in Goofys house (and yes my son is only 2 but no one asked so we let him go in - its sposed to be 3+) and he had a blast! We visited Donalds boat and met him too !
Pluto came out for autographs, Chip and Dale too and then we met the characters from Chicken Little too - Chicken little and Abbey Mallard.
We rode Roger Rabbits ride and wandered around a bit and then it was time to eat.

We went over to Tomorrow land and ate and met Buzz Lightyear himself :)
Then it was time to meet our friends at California adventure. We arrived and took the kiddos in to Playhouse Disney which they totally LOVED. Romans face seeing Bear in the big blue house was PRICELESS. Zoey loved it too. Just a fun way to spend some time.

We saw Elastigirl (incredibles), Frozone, Sully from Monsters Inc and Jojo walking down the street. The kids were loving it!

Then my teen Chelsey and I , and our friend Mark left Tom and Marks wife amanda with the little ones and headed over to Tower of Terror. Oh MY GOODNESS i LOVED this ride and I totally did'nt think I would!!!! I won't give details to give it away but we absolutely had a blast. I laughed so hard I cried and coudl'nt breathe. We ran back and took over the little ones and ice cream and sent Tommy back to ride it again with Chelsey.

Then we went to the Bugs Life show - i have to say we LOVED this 3D little show. The kids thought it was amazing! Then I sent Tommy, Amanda and Chelsey to California Soaring while Mark and I kept the little ones busy on the big CATerpillar trucks and bugs land fun stuff. Then we switched and I took Zoey on soaring. She absolutely loved the "flying ride that smelled like oranges".

California Screaming - ok. So I HATE rollercoasters.
But I promised my teen, so off we went. First I made hubby go with her and Mark. They came off and he swore i HAD to do it. So i did. I loved it - I loved it. Did I mention I loved it?

The kids played at the midway during all this - winning blowfish and octopus.
They had a great time

It was almost 5pm - dinner reservations for my little princess was next on the agenda so we went over to Ariels Grotto for dinner.
They greeted us with gold crowns, Princess celebration buttons and seated us at a lovely table overlooking the water. The food was really just "ok" but we enjoyed it. Had some soup to warm up a little - the heaters were a good thing too. Roman slept thru dinner which was kinda nice so we could concentrate on princess Zoey. One by one the princesses arrived at our table to talk to her, hug her and sign her autograph book. She was amazed, in awe, smiling so much that at one point she said "i'm smiling so much my face hurts mama". They were charming and treated her as if she was a princess herself. The service was great and can I say there was SO MUCH FOOD. The kids meals came in adorable sandbuckets with ketchup in the shovel and that made Zoey giggle. After dinner and dessert we were able to catch the block party parade that was happening across the street and then they brought us our to go boxes (yes, more then one) and the cotton candy and we were off.

We knew our kids wouldn't make it much longer, so we met our friends again back in Disneyland for our last hurrah - the Parade of Dreams. WIth perfect curbside seating I watched my childrens faces the way you dream of seeing them in Disneyland. Smiling, eyes wide open in amazement as the floats and music came by - dancers waving and blowing kisses. Zoey yelling "I love you sleeping beauty and getting a kiss blown to her in return. She hugged me and said "mama, this is the best day of my whole life". Roman held onto daddys neck pointing and screaming "more ninny mow" (Minnie mouse). Even our teenage daughter threw her arms around us and thanked us for bringing her back to the happiest place on earth.

When the parade was over we shopped for the rest of our souveneirs on Main street and then it was time to say goodbye so we headed out of the park waving and singing. All of us wearing our ears. It was truly an incredible family experience.

We will go back. Probably next year :)

TowerofTerror
11-06-2005, 10:23 PM
Great trip report. I wish I could go but haven't been to the park since Since September 11th two before I was kicked out of the park.

mi_mous
11-06-2005, 10:36 PM
GREAT trip report!! I can't wait to go!! Only a couple more days, then I can post my report!!

Glad you had a great family trip!! That is what Disney is about, right??:D

disneyhound
11-07-2005, 05:25 AM
Great report! I had chills reading about your enjoyment seeing your kids react to DL, same experience for me when I took my daughter her first time, Thanks for the report!

maryjeane
11-07-2005, 06:35 AM
Oh, hippiemama, what a wonderful report. Sounds like you had a very magical time. I have tears in my eyes - one week from today we will be walking through the gates!!! I can only hope my 13 year old will throw her arms around me and thank me for bringing her. She's NOT excited about going, but her 4 sisters sure are!!

Crazy4DL
11-07-2005, 08:26 AM
What an amazing time you had! I loved reading the excitment and contentment in your "voice" - great trip report! Thank you. :)

IcDkRy16
11-07-2005, 10:07 AM
What a great trip report! It sounds like you guys has such a great time. I loved the pics. Thanks for sharing!!!

PrincessAmie
11-07-2005, 11:32 AM
It sounds like you all had fun! Thanks for the report. :)

Alice Fan
11-07-2005, 11:35 AM
Thanks so much for posting your trip report, I really enjoyed reading it! There's nothing like seeing Disney Magic through the eyes of your children!