Boo's Mommy
11-01-2006, 05:11 AM
Me, 33 year old
DH, 35 year old
DD, 3 year old
DS, 22 months old
GM, 57 year old – Day 2 and 3 only
GP, 59 year old – Day 2 and 3 only
Trip date: 10/22 – 10/26, 2006
Just a forewarning….though it seems long, there are a lot of details I know I missed! Happy reading!
Day 1:
Sunday 10/22, early morning…and I mean EARLY…..3:30 a.m. DHand I woke to have coffee, showers and gather the last few things together for the drive down to Anaheim. I packed the car the day before so everything would be ready and accounted for (I’ve been planning this trip for 4 months and nothing was going to be left behind!). Around 4 a.m., little DD woke up too (so much for her sleeping in), but was happy to snuggle under a blanket in front of the tv while we got ready. After we were dressed, DD was dressed and DS was left for last thing to change and put in the car. 5:30 a.m. and on the road! It was sooo quiet and dark out, DH and DD weren’t sleepy, tooo excited to get to the Disneyland Resort (DLR). Not that we weren’t but still, DS and I fell asleep. DD was all too happy to keep DH awake while driving. From what he tells me, it was very, very, foggy too, which didn’t help.
We arrived at the DLR at 8:30 a.m. I was soo busy being in awe of the whole place (and mind you, it’s not our first time here, but still every trip is as magical as the first!), I only was able to snap a few photos as we tried to find our way to the Grand Californian Hotel (GCH). We were warmly greeted at the gates as we informed the CM we were checking in. That was a thrill for us to say we were going to stay at the GCH!!!!
The GCH did not disappoint, it is sooo GRAND! There is a beautiful huge lobby when you enter. Though our rooms obviously weren’t ready, we were allowed to check in early and was given our room keys so we can enjoy the hotel amenities right away. DD was given balloons to share with her brother and a wonderful autographed photo of Mickey Mouse! We were torn between touring the hotel and entering the park, but decided on the park to activate our Annual Passes!
We used the special entrance through GCH into Disney’s California Adventures (DCA), and high-tailed it to Monster’s Inc ride. This would be DD all time most favoritest ride of all (as proof, we rode this ride at least 50 times in the 5-day stay!!). After a couple of runs, we went across to Disneyland (DL) and got our Annual Pass cards. DD got her very first AP too! We headed straight to Adventure Land and rode the Jungle Cruise and were fortunate to have “ken” as our CM on the boat. He was Hilarious!! And …..***spoiler warning***……. When did they add the phiranah’s??????!! That was a cool surprise as I hadn’t ridden that ride in almost 10 years! DD asked the CM after the ride for her very special Jungle Cruise map! It’s a great addition for our vacation scrapbook.
Anyhow….off to get fast passes to the Haunted Mansion then DH and DD went to Splash Mountain while DS and I went to ride Pooh. After a turn at Pooh, I could not resist the call of the Pumpkin Fudge at Pooh’s Corner!! Mmmmmm it was soooo yummy, bought one square for me and one for DH . DS and I rode Pooh again, after we got off, we noticed DH and DD just got on, so we waited at the exit. At that point, Pappa was wonderfully surprised with some pumpkin fudge!! Off to Haunted Mansion we go! No lines at all with the fast passes! We had never ever seen the Haunted Mansion in all it’s holiday splendor and (forgive me for all the Classic ride people), but I LOVED it wayyy more than the original Haunted Mansion!! When we got off that ride, the park seemed very very packed. Soo much so, it was difficult to maneuver our stroller and wheelchair! Also, it had gotten very, very warm! It must have been about 90 degrees!! Heat plus wall to wall crowds, it was time to head back to DCA!
I know most people don’t care for DCA, but we love it, especially because it’s always more calm and laid back. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE DL, but I also like to be able to walk around and see the sights and not have to concentrate on how not to bump into people because it’s just soo crowded. Back to DCA and of course, back to Monster’s Inc! After several rounds of MI, we headed to It’s a Bug’s Life for a few rides there. It was just soo hot we decided to head back to the GCH for a swim at the pool. Unfortunately, our room was still not ready (1:30 pm), but the guys at the Bell desk were sooo helpful in finding our luggage so we can get all our swimming gear and enjoy the pool.
There are 3 pools at GCH, the 1st is a large rectangular pool, which surprisingly no one was at, then next was a 1’ deep kiddie pool, and last was the large pool with the super slide and a kiddie slide….that’s were everyone was and for good reason too! The slides were fun! Pappa decided to try the slide…once and only once…..while it was fun, he left the slide for the more nimble and able of folks. The kiddie slide was awesome though! DD and DS had a blast on it. DS was scared at first, but loved it after the first try!! Oh btw, GCH provides really nice life vests for all to wear, which was great for the kids. Pool weather was perfect and the lounge chairs at GCH were soooooooooo comfortable!!! I wanted to take a nap! But we had 2 small kids that were just sooo full of energy, I can’t believe all the fun and playing has not tired them out! Fortunately our room was finally ready around 2:30 pm and we headed up. We called the Bell desk for our luggage once we were there and they arrived in a few minutes!! Our refrigerator wasn’t there yet, so we called Housekeeping and it was up in a few minutes as well!
The room was decent sized (2 queens) and decorated in a “woods” theme, like in Snow White! And the view was great! We were facing Grizzly Run, you could see Soarin and the Holllywood Tower of Terror! Whenever we were in the room, we’d leave the slider open, to take in all the glorious noise of the park, but if you’d close it, there was not a single bit of noise! It must be like a million-paned glass!! While we unpacked, we heard a knock on the door and we received our Anniversary Gift Basket!!! It was a beautiful surprise, there were Mickey and Minnie dolls, and lots of different kinds of Disneyland Chocolates! Of course we didn’t open it, to keep the magic! A few minutes later, room service delivered a cart that had wine glasses, chilled sparkling cider and a bunch of chocolate covered strawberries and plain strawberries!! It’s a good thing I hid 2 chocolate strawberries for us to enjoy later as the four of us devoured them all! They were DELICIOUS!!!! After a little freshening up, it was time to hit the parks again! DL was still sooo crowded, we stayed at DCA. DH went on Grizzly Rapids and LOVED it. He went again while we walked around the shops. Then of course….can you guess where we went next? Yup, Monster’s Inc. We kept riding it until the park closed! DD new all the CM’s by name! We were headed to DL since they are open late, but apparently hundreds of people leaving DCA were thinking the same thing. Since it was still warm out, we decided to head back to the hotel to go for a swim! You gotta love the easy walk back to GCH! Dinner was a simple nachos and sandwhich and chicken fingers at Whitewater Snacks (drinks through refill of our mugs purchased earlier). Food was good, inexpense for Disney standards, but we waited an hour!!!! We were beat after this first day, but the kids were still wound up from all the excitement! We ate on the balcony and watched all the trick-or-treaters at Mickey’s Halloween Treat. Unfortunately, I decided too late that we wanted to go and all was sold out. I won’t make that mistake next year! The kids played and played in the room until they finally crashed…..10 pm-ish. So much for having some quiet adult time to take in all the ambiance…we crashed shortly after!
DH, 35 year old
DD, 3 year old
DS, 22 months old
GM, 57 year old – Day 2 and 3 only
GP, 59 year old – Day 2 and 3 only
Trip date: 10/22 – 10/26, 2006
Just a forewarning….though it seems long, there are a lot of details I know I missed! Happy reading!
Day 1:
Sunday 10/22, early morning…and I mean EARLY…..3:30 a.m. DHand I woke to have coffee, showers and gather the last few things together for the drive down to Anaheim. I packed the car the day before so everything would be ready and accounted for (I’ve been planning this trip for 4 months and nothing was going to be left behind!). Around 4 a.m., little DD woke up too (so much for her sleeping in), but was happy to snuggle under a blanket in front of the tv while we got ready. After we were dressed, DD was dressed and DS was left for last thing to change and put in the car. 5:30 a.m. and on the road! It was sooo quiet and dark out, DH and DD weren’t sleepy, tooo excited to get to the Disneyland Resort (DLR). Not that we weren’t but still, DS and I fell asleep. DD was all too happy to keep DH awake while driving. From what he tells me, it was very, very, foggy too, which didn’t help.
We arrived at the DLR at 8:30 a.m. I was soo busy being in awe of the whole place (and mind you, it’s not our first time here, but still every trip is as magical as the first!), I only was able to snap a few photos as we tried to find our way to the Grand Californian Hotel (GCH). We were warmly greeted at the gates as we informed the CM we were checking in. That was a thrill for us to say we were going to stay at the GCH!!!!
The GCH did not disappoint, it is sooo GRAND! There is a beautiful huge lobby when you enter. Though our rooms obviously weren’t ready, we were allowed to check in early and was given our room keys so we can enjoy the hotel amenities right away. DD was given balloons to share with her brother and a wonderful autographed photo of Mickey Mouse! We were torn between touring the hotel and entering the park, but decided on the park to activate our Annual Passes!
We used the special entrance through GCH into Disney’s California Adventures (DCA), and high-tailed it to Monster’s Inc ride. This would be DD all time most favoritest ride of all (as proof, we rode this ride at least 50 times in the 5-day stay!!). After a couple of runs, we went across to Disneyland (DL) and got our Annual Pass cards. DD got her very first AP too! We headed straight to Adventure Land and rode the Jungle Cruise and were fortunate to have “ken” as our CM on the boat. He was Hilarious!! And …..***spoiler warning***……. When did they add the phiranah’s??????!! That was a cool surprise as I hadn’t ridden that ride in almost 10 years! DD asked the CM after the ride for her very special Jungle Cruise map! It’s a great addition for our vacation scrapbook.
Anyhow….off to get fast passes to the Haunted Mansion then DH and DD went to Splash Mountain while DS and I went to ride Pooh. After a turn at Pooh, I could not resist the call of the Pumpkin Fudge at Pooh’s Corner!! Mmmmmm it was soooo yummy, bought one square for me and one for DH . DS and I rode Pooh again, after we got off, we noticed DH and DD just got on, so we waited at the exit. At that point, Pappa was wonderfully surprised with some pumpkin fudge!! Off to Haunted Mansion we go! No lines at all with the fast passes! We had never ever seen the Haunted Mansion in all it’s holiday splendor and (forgive me for all the Classic ride people), but I LOVED it wayyy more than the original Haunted Mansion!! When we got off that ride, the park seemed very very packed. Soo much so, it was difficult to maneuver our stroller and wheelchair! Also, it had gotten very, very warm! It must have been about 90 degrees!! Heat plus wall to wall crowds, it was time to head back to DCA!
I know most people don’t care for DCA, but we love it, especially because it’s always more calm and laid back. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE DL, but I also like to be able to walk around and see the sights and not have to concentrate on how not to bump into people because it’s just soo crowded. Back to DCA and of course, back to Monster’s Inc! After several rounds of MI, we headed to It’s a Bug’s Life for a few rides there. It was just soo hot we decided to head back to the GCH for a swim at the pool. Unfortunately, our room was still not ready (1:30 pm), but the guys at the Bell desk were sooo helpful in finding our luggage so we can get all our swimming gear and enjoy the pool.
There are 3 pools at GCH, the 1st is a large rectangular pool, which surprisingly no one was at, then next was a 1’ deep kiddie pool, and last was the large pool with the super slide and a kiddie slide….that’s were everyone was and for good reason too! The slides were fun! Pappa decided to try the slide…once and only once…..while it was fun, he left the slide for the more nimble and able of folks. The kiddie slide was awesome though! DD and DS had a blast on it. DS was scared at first, but loved it after the first try!! Oh btw, GCH provides really nice life vests for all to wear, which was great for the kids. Pool weather was perfect and the lounge chairs at GCH were soooooooooo comfortable!!! I wanted to take a nap! But we had 2 small kids that were just sooo full of energy, I can’t believe all the fun and playing has not tired them out! Fortunately our room was finally ready around 2:30 pm and we headed up. We called the Bell desk for our luggage once we were there and they arrived in a few minutes!! Our refrigerator wasn’t there yet, so we called Housekeeping and it was up in a few minutes as well!
The room was decent sized (2 queens) and decorated in a “woods” theme, like in Snow White! And the view was great! We were facing Grizzly Run, you could see Soarin and the Holllywood Tower of Terror! Whenever we were in the room, we’d leave the slider open, to take in all the glorious noise of the park, but if you’d close it, there was not a single bit of noise! It must be like a million-paned glass!! While we unpacked, we heard a knock on the door and we received our Anniversary Gift Basket!!! It was a beautiful surprise, there were Mickey and Minnie dolls, and lots of different kinds of Disneyland Chocolates! Of course we didn’t open it, to keep the magic! A few minutes later, room service delivered a cart that had wine glasses, chilled sparkling cider and a bunch of chocolate covered strawberries and plain strawberries!! It’s a good thing I hid 2 chocolate strawberries for us to enjoy later as the four of us devoured them all! They were DELICIOUS!!!! After a little freshening up, it was time to hit the parks again! DL was still sooo crowded, we stayed at DCA. DH went on Grizzly Rapids and LOVED it. He went again while we walked around the shops. Then of course….can you guess where we went next? Yup, Monster’s Inc. We kept riding it until the park closed! DD new all the CM’s by name! We were headed to DL since they are open late, but apparently hundreds of people leaving DCA were thinking the same thing. Since it was still warm out, we decided to head back to the hotel to go for a swim! You gotta love the easy walk back to GCH! Dinner was a simple nachos and sandwhich and chicken fingers at Whitewater Snacks (drinks through refill of our mugs purchased earlier). Food was good, inexpense for Disney standards, but we waited an hour!!!! We were beat after this first day, but the kids were still wound up from all the excitement! We ate on the balcony and watched all the trick-or-treaters at Mickey’s Halloween Treat. Unfortunately, I decided too late that we wanted to go and all was sold out. I won’t make that mistake next year! The kids played and played in the room until they finally crashed…..10 pm-ish. So much for having some quiet adult time to take in all the ambiance…we crashed shortly after!