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DangerMouse
01-11-2007, 09:50 AM
Just going to mention highlights since we got to experience a lot of new things this time.

Cast: Me (37)
Dh (36)
Grandma (my mom - 66)
Kendall (9)
Kenyon (6)
Kadee (4)

Sunday 1/7:

Opened park. Hit Peter Pan first. Always Peter Pan firs! Then did rest of FL rides including Dumbo before it went down for refurb. After FL we headed back to City Hall for the Discover the Magic tour!

The tour was awesome. Our guides were Amber and Kelly who played kind of a straight man/funny man game. Kadee, my 4 year old, decided that she was going to lead the tour and grabbed Kelly by the hand and led her to each place we were supposed to go.

I got to go into the Gallery this day. Yea! I had never been in there before. The bone throne is sooo cool. I could have spent a lot longer in there, but with three kids, not possible.

Did a few rides in DL, caught the early Christmas Fantasy Parade on Main St. Then headed to DCA for the rest of the afternoon/evening to catch the EP. We saw the EP at 8:45 down near the Zephyr, and then ran to beat it out of DCA and to DL to catch the fireworks. Made it in plenty of time to see the final show of Believe in Holiday Magic and snow after (and they said it couldn't be done!) ;)

After the snow ended, we booked it to Space Mountain to use our last FPs of the night. Good way to end the day. I actually enjoyed the new soundtrack to Space. My son said he liked it MUCH better than the original. I think it will be fun for a while, but will be glad to welcome back the original.

Monday 1/8:

Sleep in, no EE. The lowlight of this day was that I lost my voice before we even got to the park. Seeing as I am the "commander in chief" of our little group, this was COMPLETELY frustrating. I lost my temper and cried a lot this day because several times the kids almost got lost and things just didn't run smoothly at all. Gosh, I had no idea how much I held things together at Disney until I lost my voice!

Highlights: Kendall was chosen for Jedi Training Academy. Kenyon probably would have been chosen as well (we hit the first show and there was a very small crowd), but he was acting all shy and scared. Kendall did great and got to fight Darth Vader! Loved the show but saw lots of moms holding "guilt trip signs" which stated "Pick Me! I didn't get picked last time," or "Pick my brother!" It was kind of strange seeing the efforts people will go to. The show was awesome and the head Jedi trainer was very funny and talented.

Ate lunch with the Billies. Great show as usual and we were right up front. This is my mom's favorite thing in DL, so we had to make sure she saw her beloved "Kirk".

It was HOT HOT today. Over 80 degrees so we tried to find rides to keep cool (Pirates, IASW, Splash, etc.)

Lowlight: Princess Fantasy Faire. I hate this new venue. Grandma and Kadee waited in line for 45 minutes and still had about 30 minutes wait to just meet a princess, so they gave up. That never would have happened in front of the castle. I don't understand why they don't post a schedule of when the princess shows/storytimes/activities are. My mom had no clue of what she was waiting for in line. I had to tell her it was just for a princess greet. I had to ask a CM what else was available at PFF. They were very secretive about it too, hiding the schedule of princesses in their pockets and not allowing you to see it. WEIRD! We did not get to meet a single princess on this trip. Kadee got over it, but I'm not sure I did. Grrrr. :(

Camped out for F!, but it was cancelled due to high winds. Caught our last ride on Jungle Cruise that night.

Tuesday 1/9: (Still no voice, still hot)

7:20 am PS at Storytellers. YEA!!! I finally found the character breakfast for me! This was the PERFECT place for an early morning character dining experience. Service was exceptional, food was out of this world and character interaction was absolutely awesome. I could have spent all day in there. We ordered off the menu which made it much more affordable. I had the banana stuffed french toast (YUMMMMMM!)

EE at 9:00 am. We were at the front of the lines to get in and hit Peter Pan first (always Peter Pan first!), and the rest of FL rides and Space before park opening.

Did Nestle Cookie Baking at 11:00. Kids enjoyed that. Ate dole whips while we watched them.

Spent a better part of an hour talking dd(4) into trying Splash. She finally caved and she LOVED it. (we knew she would). So we went on Pooh and then did Splash again.

No FP's were needed today at DL. Most rides were 5 min wait or walk-on.

Mistake: Headed to DCA thinking it would be slow like DL. Wrong! It was more crowded. WHAT???? Waits for Soarin were at least 30 min, ToT was 20 min, and Screamin was 25 min. Ok, so we used FP system.

Did Screamin twice. Not as impressed with this Chili Pepper song.

Kadee (4) did Soarin and GRR for the first time. She loved both of them. Said "no way" to ToT. I don't blame her. Her brother doesn't like it either.
She tried Mulholland Madness but said once was enough. It made her tummy hurt.

Got "pinned" by a CM in Animation Studio. She gave me two Tinkerbell pins. I'm guessing this is just a little extra giveaway for the YOAMD. My girls were thrilled even though they had really been wanting the Dream FPs.

Dinner at WWS. Everyone had a kids' meal. TONS of food and very affordable. They have the best chicken strips, and they gave my son a big basket of strawberries because he said he wanted fruit as a side.

Headed back to DL to get our spot for F! Snow White's float was missing, and the crocodile chasing Hook was missing too, but it seemed like there were more fireworks at the beginning. Ran to Splash after for our very last ride for this trip. I love ending a DL trip with Splash Mountain!

Lots of new stuff, but it still seemed rushed. I really wish I had a full day just to spend time leisurely shopping on Main Street. I don't think that will happen unless I go without the kids. Ahhhh, maybe someday . . .

I'll add photos once dh gets them uploaded.

yellowrosedtxn
01-11-2007, 10:06 AM
Thanks for the trip report! I really enjoyed it and I'm glad you had a good time. I can't wait for my next trip!

Shelley

julw
01-11-2007, 10:31 AM
Sounds like you had a awesome trip! I wanted to ask you about the Cookie baking...do you have to have reservations for that or sign up in advance or do you just show up? And how do you know the times for it- are they listed out front? Thanks!

Julie

DangerMouse
01-11-2007, 11:20 AM
Sounds like you had a awesome trip! I wanted to ask you about the Cookie baking...do you have to have reservations for that or sign up in advance or do you just show up? And how do you know the times for it- are they listed out front? Thanks!

Julie

No reservations required for cookie baking. They have a sign posted in front showing times they are running it. :)

DangerMouse
01-11-2007, 05:45 PM
Here are the pics. You can click on the image to enlarge, then scroll through.

http://www.joltstudios.com/sirak/index.html

:D

rentayenta
01-11-2007, 05:56 PM
DangerMouse, what a wonderful trip report. You have darling kiddos too. Is that you on the Carousel in the orange shirt?


Love the hook in the nose pic too! :D

Crazy4DL
01-11-2007, 07:59 PM
FUN report! Your kidletts are so adorable. They look like they were having the best time. Love it! :)

disneyhound
01-12-2007, 05:13 AM
Thanks for posting your TR! What tour did you go on?

DangerMouse
01-12-2007, 06:27 AM
DangerMouse, what a wonderful trip report. You have darling kiddos too. Is that you on the Carousel in the orange shirt?


Love the hook in the nose pic too! :D

Yep, that's me and my mom on the carousel. My mom is quite a character (as you can tell from the hook/nose pic). Thanks for the compliments! :D

DangerMouse
01-12-2007, 06:28 AM
Thanks for posting your TR! What tour did you go on?

We went on the Discover the Magic Tour. It is geared toward 5-9 year olds, but there was an adult couple that came on it as well and had a blast.

raediance
01-12-2007, 07:36 AM
Sounds so fun! x) I've never been on a tour. That sounds so cool!

lobotomomma
01-12-2007, 09:10 AM
Loved your trip report and the pics, DangerMouse!!! You have a darling family. Thanks for sharing!!!

IdahoMike
01-12-2007, 12:40 PM
Great report, sounds like you had a great time! I could not agree with you more regarding the Princess Fantasy Faire, IT STINKS! I have 3 boys, but still, they like to meet characters, and the lines for this were worse than Space Mountain every time we went there. It was much, MUCH better when they hung out near the castle. We bagged the FF, but luckily were able to meet Aurora, Belle, Snow White and Cinderella over in DCA at different times, either at drawn to the magic, or on the street of Hollywood Pictures Backlot.

rentayenta
01-12-2007, 07:26 PM
Yep, that's me and my mom on the carousel. My mom is quite a character (as you can tell from the hook/nose pic). Thanks for the compliments! :D



She seems really fun! What a great trip. If we ever go at the same time, we have to meet up. :D

MammaSilva
01-12-2007, 07:38 PM
Love the trip report and the Pics!

I can't get over how much Gabbie and Kendall look like each other!

I Heart Disneyland!
01-12-2007, 07:44 PM
Wonderful report!!! Love the photos as well. Your children are adorable!!!

rentayenta
01-12-2007, 07:50 PM
Love the trip report and the Pics!

I can't get over how much Gabbie and Kendall look like each other!


My Gabby?

MammaSilva
01-12-2007, 07:53 PM
yeah your gabby!

rentayenta
01-12-2007, 08:06 PM
yeah your gabby!


I was thinking they looked alike too. :) Kooky. Thin with shoulder length hair and similar features.

DangerMouse
01-14-2007, 08:33 AM
She seems really fun! What a great trip. If we ever go at the same time, we have to meet up. :D

We would love to meet up with your crew, Renta! Do you have your December dates picked out yet? :)

rentayenta
01-14-2007, 09:59 AM
We would love to meet up with your crew, Renta! Do you have your December dates picked out yet? :)


We do. I am planning for Dec. 13-20 but I can be flexible. Anytime between the 10th and 23rd will work. I don't want to miss the MSEP- it's my favorite.

Are you guys going in Dec?????

DangerMouse
01-14-2007, 10:50 AM
We do. I am planning for Dec. 13-20 but I can be flexible. Anytime between the 10th and 23rd will work. I don't want to miss the MSEP- it's my favorite.

Are you guys going in Dec?????

No plans yet. I have a hard time convincing dh of the need for more than one trip annually. :eek: :p

Come next fall, I'll feel him out and see if it's a possibility. Of course, I'll go ahead and make hotel reservations around August. ;) I'll keep your dates in mind. We have gone the second week of December in the past and thought it was a great time to go.

The EP is our favorite, too. That's why we went when we did last week. We caught the last EP on Sunday. It was WONDERFUL.

DangerMouse
01-14-2007, 11:39 AM
I keep forgetting to add that I am absolutely kicking myself that I didn't upgrade to an AP on our last day. I have a friend here locally who wants to do a girls' trip this spring, plus if we go in Dec . . . well, that's just a ton of money I wasted by not upgrading! kick, kick, kick!!!

rentayenta
01-14-2007, 12:15 PM
I keep forgetting to add that I am absolutely kicking myself that I didn't upgrade to an AP on our last day. I have a friend here locally who wants to do a girls' trip this spring, plus if we go in Dec . . . well, that's just a ton of money I wasted by not upgrading! kick, kick, kick!!!

PM on the way.....................;)