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vmjess
12-23-2006, 06:38 PM
Trip of a million dreams!

December 18-20, 2006

Cast of Characters:
Myself, DH our two boys ages 6 and 8- flew in from Illinois
My Mom and Dad – drove from NorCal
My sister, niece age 6 and nephew age 17- flew in from Colorado.

I am just going to write about the highlights and moments I remember since I can’t keep track of a timeline for the three days! We spent most of our time in Disneyland, but hit everything at California Adventure in two different trips on 2 different days.

Stayed at the BWPPI as usual and it was good as usual except for the parking situation. When we tried to leave at 4:45 am on Thursday the 21st for my Dad to drive us to the airport, we were blocked in by cars on both sides of us and behind us parked against the wall. We ended up taking a taxi to the airport so we would not miss out flight. The front desk person was not very sympathetic to the issue and refused to try and contact the owner of the vehicle that blocked us in even though the person was illegally parked. Major bummer, but we were on a time crunch so we could not press the issue- we called a taxi and got out of there.

We are Disney Veterans- we go at least every 2 years, my parents and sister are not, so it was fun seeing everything from their perspective, and with my niece there, I finally had a reason to visit the princesses! How fun for little girls.

We noticed that the park seemed very crowded the whole trip, but line wait times were short- that was just fine by me! We rode each and every ride that was open in Disneyland at least once during the 3 days, and saw every show and attraction as well. Many of the rides were walk on at any time during the day. The Christmas parade was wonderful and the fireworks were good, but after the 50th fireworks show last year it will be hard to be impressed by other firework shows anymore!

On Monday, we found a prime bench in front of the castle at 7pm and took turns holding it for fireworks while half of us went and did pirates and shopped then came back and traded for a while. After the two hour wait- the fireworks were cancelled due to weather! We had some very sad kids after that so we headed back to the hotel for bed. We caught the show the next night by the castle- not prime seats, but we just walked up at 9:15 and got a decent spot.

Trip Highlights:

Disneylands 50 year display and show- we missed this last year for our trip during the 50th and were so glad it was still running- we all really enjoyed it.

Jedi Training academy- My boys were both picked and thrilled to battle Darth Vader one on one.

Tower of Terror- 1st time riding this – holy moly it is scary!! Awesome ride.

My 8 year old conquered his fear of fast rides and rode everything at both parks for the first time- including Ca Screamin- his first upside down roller coaster ride EVER!

Being stopped by a cast member and getting Year of a Million Dreams Pins and Lanyards for the WHOLE family- all 9 of us! That was awesome since we always buy pins to remember our trip by- this time we bought more than usual! Thanks Disneyland! It was really cool how they just came up out of nowhere and announced that we were winners and handed out the lanyards right then and there.

Sourdough bread bowls in CA Adventure- YUM! Also a first time for that.

1st time ever doing the Tiki Room- Loved it!

The Christmas spirit, décor, and fun of the whole resort- we took pictures with Santa in both CA Adventure and Santa’s Reindeer round up- Small world was beautiful and the attention to detail make this the best trip ever.

This also seemed like the trip of a million souvenirs! Being so close to Christmas, we bought a few gifts for the kids, everyone got a sweatshirt, Christmas ornament, pins, hats and some kind of toy as well. The merchandise selection was great and we were having no problem finding stuff we just had to have! We got the Santa’s reindeer roundup blankets for all the kids and they came in handy for the cool nights watching parades and fireworks. I bought a snowglobe from Small World and have decided that will be my next thing to collect from Disney ( as if I needed another! ;) )

We had a great time and are looking forward to our next trip in 2008- wow that seems far away…… Here we are with Mickey until next time!

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f39/vmjess/mickey.jpg

I Heart Disneyland!
12-23-2006, 07:04 PM
Wonderful report!!!! The holidays are so magical at DL, this was my first time there for the holiday season. It sounds like you all had a fantastic time and I loved the photo at the end. Lovely family!

rentayenta
12-23-2006, 07:41 PM
What a darling family! Fun on winning the pins and lanyards too.

nvmom
12-24-2006, 07:14 AM
Sounds like a wonderful time!
Someday I'm going to see DLR at Christmas time.

nvmom

disneyhound
12-24-2006, 07:32 AM
What a great report! Sad that you had such a great spot for the fireworks, and then after holding it for two hours, the show is cancelled, Arruugggg...