Amy&Dan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2004
In all my trips to Disneyland, I have never done a trip report but this was such a special trip I decided I needed to do one! So here goes:
This trip included:
Me, Amy, age 39
Dan, DH, age 37
Matthew, 10
Maria, 8
My Mom, age 69
My Stepdad Donald, age 80
Dan's Dad Gordon, turned 67 while we were there!
My brother Stephen, older than me!
Jennifer his wife
Their daughter Madeleine, aged 3
Their daughter Charlotte, aged 3
Bunny, Jennifer's Mom
Dan, me, our kids and my parents flew out of Denver on December 7. The Frontier agent saw our destination and Maria's Minnie Mouse ears and knew where we were headed. He kept teasing the kids he was going to call the police about two little kids ditching school for Disneyland! Our flight took off on time and we had a smooth flight. We arrived into LAX and had arranged for Goldenwest Express to pick us up. They were wonderful and I highly recommend them. They took us on a grocery stop and then onto the Disneyland Hotel. The hotel looked absolutely beautiful. We checked in, got adjoining rooms as requested in the Sierra Tower, second floor. We were all tired so after having a drink (one of the many necessary items during our grocery stop was some liquor!) and unpacking, we head to bed. Tomorrow its off to see Mickey. Stephen and Jennifer will fly in from Chicago tomorrow afternoon, meet up with Jennifer's mom Bunny who is flying in from St. Louis and then drive to the DLH. Dan's dad Gordon lives local ,so we will meet up with him in the morning.
Wednesday, December 8:
It is very cold and drizzly but our spirits cannot be dampened! We head down DTD in the mist and my parents marvel at how nice it is. We arrive at Disneyland right at opening and have a picture of all of us taken in front of the Mickey flowerbed with the depot in the background. It is a great picture that I am looking at right now! I got a little misty eyed as we came in, realizing that my mom who has had a long struggle with cancer, was a healthy 42 year old when we came with her in 1977. I am so thankful she made it to this trip! We ride Dumbo first and then some other rides in Fantasyland. My parents marvel at how clean it is. They remembered it being that way long ago and marvel that Walt's standards are still being upheld. We then ride POC and HM. I talk my mom into riding Splash Mountain. Donald, Dan and Matthew head off in one log, my mom, me and Maria in another. Gordon doesn't ride, saying we are insane to ride a wet ride on such a wet day! My mother says she will never forgive me for taking her on that ride! We had fun though. We had a PS at Blue Bayou and got fairly close to the water. We all enjoyed Monte Cristo's and my parents just loved this restaurant. It was so neat to be there with all three of my kids grandparents. We ride a few more things after lunch but I can see my parents are tired so I take them over to the monorail which we ride back to DTD. Dan and his dad take the kids over to DCA. As soon as I get back to our room I call the desk and find out Stephen and family have checked in! He comes down to our room with the girls while Jennifer and her mom unpack. We then all head back into the park. I call Dan on his cell and he and his dad get seats for the parade while I take Stephen's family to Redd Rockets for dinner. Then off to the Christmas Parade which was wonderful. It was so fun to see my little nieces faces as all the floats came by. They didn't know where to look first! Matthew and Maria have a ball with their two little cousins and enjoy being the bigger, older, more seasoned Disney visitors! After the parade, Stephen and family take the monorail back to the DLH while my parents and Gordon watch the fireworks with us. My parents just keep saying over and over how magical it all is! And it was! When we got back to the hotel, my mom suggested she and Donald keep the kids and Dan and I go out for a drink. She didn't have to suggest twice! It felt nice and weird to be out without Matthew and Maria. They made us promise we weren't going to the parks! We headed down to the Lost Boys Bar for a drink and snack since somewhere during our hectic day Dan and I hadn't eaten dinner. Our first happy day is over.
Thursday, December 9:
We meet up with everyone under the Mickey Hat except Gordon who will join us later at Goofy's Kitchen. We walk up DTD and the weather is beautiful and sunny today. The girls are thrilled to see Mickey and Minnie as we walk in but we don't stop. Instead we head straight back to Fantasyland and ride Peter Pan. All along we had all thought my niece Charlotte would be the more daring, go getter on the rides but she was actually a little scared by the darkness of this ride. Madeleine on the other hand loved it! We then head to Dumbo which the girls were so excited to ride. While everyone rode, I camcord and again get a little teary seeing my whole, beloved family on Dumbo. What a memory! After that we do Its a Small World which of course everyone loved. Then off to Alice. Charlotte again, did not care for this dark ride but hung in there and did just fine! We have lunch at the Village Haus and marvel at how much better the weather is. We then rode Pooh Bear which Madeleine and Charlotte now claim is their "new favorite"! After that Bunny and I took the girls on that one again while everyone else rode POC and HM. Bunny and I took the girls into Pooh Corner and they very much enjoyed having both Aunt Amy and Grandma Bunny buy them some neat new stuff! Dan had gotten Indiana Jones fastpasses earlier so some of us rode that while the grandparents got the girls their first cotton candy! Matthew enjoyed telling Aunt Jennifer how scared she would be when the snake jumped out at her. Stephen and Jennifer loved this ride and since it has always been one of our family's favorites we had a blast. I wish they took your picture like they do on Dinosaur in WDW. We then met up with the rest of our group and rode the train back to tomorrowland so we could catch the monorail back to DTD and the hotel. We had a PS for Goofy's Kitchen. Everyone loved this place and stuffed themselves accordingly. Madeleine and Charlotte got to meet more characters and make their own ice cream cones to boot! We had all hoped to see the fireworks but Stephen's girls were exhausted as were my parents so they headed up to their rooms, while my family and Bunny went back to the park for the fireworks. I am so glad we did, so that Bunny could see them. Then we headed back to the hotel via DTD and some shopping. Another great day comes to an end.
Friday, December 10:
We had a PS for the Princess Breakfast at the Plaza Inn at 9:15. Unfortunately my mom had been up sick all night. Her illness, medication and too much rich food at Goofy's had taken its toll. I was crushed because I knew how much she had been looking forward to seeing her 4 grandkids with all of those princesses. I stayed behind with her while everyone else headed to the park. Not 5 minutes after they left my mom decides by God she is at Disneyland and she is going. I am not too sure about this but I call Dan and tell him to go ahead and pay for us and check us in, we are coming! I help my mom get ready and off we go. While she didn't feel up to par and didn't eat much she had a great timel. I was so happy she made it! Maria was thrilled to finally get an autograph from Fairy Godmother. I got a priceless picture of my parents with Mary Poppins, who pretended to flirt with my 80 year old stepdad saying "what a nice handsome fellow" he was! Madeleine and Charlotte loved seeing and hugging all the princesses. I was surprised the Beast didn't scare them but they took him in stride. Madeleine did mention to me that she though that man was really ugly! One note: if you can, try to book as late a seating as possible for this breakfast. That way you can nail Fantasyland before the crowds and then arrive after most people have served themselves from this buffet. It literally took us over 30 minutes to get our food, it is a very disorganized system. When we were still eating we noticed most of the crowd had left and that the later arrivals were getting their food in about one tenth the time! It is a wonderful experience however and we had a great time. After breakfast we head to Astro Orbitor. I am not big on this ride so I suggest Matthew and I ride Star Tours, one of our favorites. My parents decide to come along. Dan thinks I am nuts to take my 69 year old mom on this when she has been sick all night but she wants to go. Well, I couldn't even hear the ride narration as my mom was screaming with laughter the whole time! It was unlike anything she and Donald had ever done and they had a ball! We then all head over to Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain. By now the crowds are really intense and it is hot! We decide to do Autopia next and then take the monorail back to the hotel for a swim. The pool was not that crowded as a lot of people probably don't think of December as good pool time. But the water was warm and the kids loved it. I enjoyed sitting off all that breakfast I had eaten at the Plaza Inn earlier! After swimming, Stephen and family decide to rest and then head to Disneyland again. My parents are anxious try out DCA so we decide that my family will do that with them instead. We fastpass Soarin and then see One Man's Dream. My parents absolutely loved this show. It is so nice to enjoy a tribute to the man who made the whole Disneyland experience possible. After the show I look at my watch and realize I need to get a seat for the Electrical Parade. I was kind of bummed because I want to ride Soarin and experience the ride with my parents but know my mom needs to sit on a bench so I had better find one now. I end up meeting a really nice couple from Canada so it was okay after all. My parents loved Soarin and are once again amazed at all the wonders they are experiencing. They also loved the Electric Parade. I cannot remember which princess threw a kiss at Donald (he is such a ladies man!) but it was truly magical. After the parade we headed out to the plaza area between the parks and watched the fireworks. Then back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. Another wonderful day of family time comes to an end.
Saturday, December 11, Grandpa Gordon's birthday!
Jennifer's aunt and uncle live in the Los Angeles area so they visited with them this day and did not come to the parks. My mom was really tuckered out so she and Donald decide to stay at the hotel and rest. Dan and I take the kids into Disneyland and rode Matterhorn 4 times in a row with almost no wait. We then did Alice and the teacups before heading over to BTMRR and Splash Mountain. The crowds didn't seem too bad and I noticed that Bill Hill and the Hillbillies were doing a show later so I called my parents and asked if they felt up to coming to the park. They had rested and felt ready to go. So Dan and Matthew headed back to the hotel to bring them in and Maria and I shopped and rode the train around and then got a horse trolley (something she has always wanted to do) up Main Street. We met them at the Golden Horshoe and then had lunch and watched the show. I knew my parents would love this show and they did. For our part, no matter how many times we see it, the show never fails to amuse and entertain us! We then rode the Mark Twain Riverboat and the railroad all the way around. By now the crowds were awful. You could hardly walk through. A CM had told me earlier that they were expecting big crowds due to the nice weather and the fact that the previous weekend had been cold and rainy. No kidding! I don't know when I have seen it that packed. We decided to do Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We had never done it and it was wonderful. I decided to not feel guilty about pulling the kids out of school as they were being officially educated at Disneyland! We then stood in a not too bad line to have the kids picture taken with Santa Mickey and then headed to World of Disney to shop. Then off to Grandpa Gordon's birthday dinner at Raiforest Cafe. We had a PS but the place was packed! We had waited over 45 minutes when I remembered that our membership card supposedly gets us in quicker so Dan went up to the hostess. There were all kinds of people yelling due to the fact that they seemed to be seating walk ins and not those with a ps. In any case, either the membership card, or Dan's nice attitude got us a table at last, almost one hour after we arrived. We had a great dinner though and they brought a dessert out to Gordon and sang Happy Birthday. We were all tired so Gordon headed home and we headed to the hotel. We actually had a good view of the fireworks from our room which was really nice. Tomorrow is Sunday and our last day!
Sunday, December 12, our last day:
We all met up at Disneyland in the morning. We hadn't seen Stephen and family the day before so it was nice to be with them again. It was cool and cloudy so the crowds seemed much better. We did some more rides in Fantasyland (but not Dumbo, the line was endless). We then decided to have an early lunch. The day before I had noticed the line to Rancho Del Zoccalo, our favorite place, snaking across the street and down the sidewalk so I decided we needed to beat the crowd. We did and had the place pretty much to ourselves. We then took turns riding BTMRR, Splash, POC, and HM, while also taking turns taking Madeleine and Charlotte on Pooh Bear. We did the early parade so we could all enjoy it again. It was much colder today and very brisk in the shade but we enjoyed it as much the second time. Jennifer and Bunny then broke off to do some Christmas shopping and the rest of us headed back to the hotel for warmer clothes. We had a ps at Cap'n Mickeys over at DCA so we met up with them later and Gordon joined us as well. We had a great dinner outside (the heat lamps almost roasted us though!) with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Max, Donald Duck and Stitch. We were all a little sad though as it was our last night! After dinner (it was 8:30) the girls and my parents and Bunny were really beat. So Dan and Jennifer took all of them back to the hotel. Stephen had been dying to ride California Screamin so me and my kids took him over. I hadn't been on a roller coaster with my brother in over 20 years. He had so much fun! He wanted to keep riding it and the kids were willing so we did it three times in a row. It was freezing cold and my Cap'n Mickey's dinner was heavy on my mind but I am so glad Stephen got to ride it. I finally dragged him off after the third time as Jennifer and Dan were coming back into Disneyland to meet up with us for fireworks while Grandma Bunny nicely offered to babysit Madeleine and Charlotte. WE had to navigate around the Electrical Paraade but at least Stephen got to see a little bit of it. Over at Disneyland Main Street was jammed packed but we enjoyed the fireworks one last time and were thankful Stephen and Jennifer finally got to see them. I am so bummed that they missed virtually all of DCA, especially Soarin and TOT, maybe next time! After the fireworks we were going to do Matterhorn but the line was endless so we did Star Tours instead. They enjoyed it but nothing like my mom did! Then back to the hotel. We were all depressed that our family trip was over.
Monday, December 13, time to say good bye and go home!
Stephen, Jennifer and Bunny were leaving 3 hours before us so they headed out first. It was tough to say goodbye. My mom really cried when she told her twin granddaughters goodbye. I hated to see it so decided shopping was in order. We headed to the hotel gift shop, while Dan hustled into DCA to pick up a picture I had had taken of my parents and kids. It turned out great so it was worth his hustle! Then suddenly the Goldenwest Express people were there and we were leaving. It had been a wonderful trip! We had had kids, grandkids, in-laws, parents, step-parents, nieces, nephews, siblings and spouses. Our age range had been 3 to 80. I had worried that we might all end up wanting to do different things and not spend much time together. I was wrong. Disneyland has so much for everyone that we all found many things to do together. I hope so much that maybe we will be back there together again someday soon, but if not I am thankful we did this trip. Disneyland is such a great place for a family gathering and I would not trade our trip for anything! Thanks for reading such a long post!
This trip included:
Me, Amy, age 39
Dan, DH, age 37
Matthew, 10
Maria, 8
My Mom, age 69
My Stepdad Donald, age 80
Dan's Dad Gordon, turned 67 while we were there!
My brother Stephen, older than me!
Jennifer his wife
Their daughter Madeleine, aged 3
Their daughter Charlotte, aged 3
Bunny, Jennifer's Mom
Dan, me, our kids and my parents flew out of Denver on December 7. The Frontier agent saw our destination and Maria's Minnie Mouse ears and knew where we were headed. He kept teasing the kids he was going to call the police about two little kids ditching school for Disneyland! Our flight took off on time and we had a smooth flight. We arrived into LAX and had arranged for Goldenwest Express to pick us up. They were wonderful and I highly recommend them. They took us on a grocery stop and then onto the Disneyland Hotel. The hotel looked absolutely beautiful. We checked in, got adjoining rooms as requested in the Sierra Tower, second floor. We were all tired so after having a drink (one of the many necessary items during our grocery stop was some liquor!) and unpacking, we head to bed. Tomorrow its off to see Mickey. Stephen and Jennifer will fly in from Chicago tomorrow afternoon, meet up with Jennifer's mom Bunny who is flying in from St. Louis and then drive to the DLH. Dan's dad Gordon lives local ,so we will meet up with him in the morning.
Wednesday, December 8:
It is very cold and drizzly but our spirits cannot be dampened! We head down DTD in the mist and my parents marvel at how nice it is. We arrive at Disneyland right at opening and have a picture of all of us taken in front of the Mickey flowerbed with the depot in the background. It is a great picture that I am looking at right now! I got a little misty eyed as we came in, realizing that my mom who has had a long struggle with cancer, was a healthy 42 year old when we came with her in 1977. I am so thankful she made it to this trip! We ride Dumbo first and then some other rides in Fantasyland. My parents marvel at how clean it is. They remembered it being that way long ago and marvel that Walt's standards are still being upheld. We then ride POC and HM. I talk my mom into riding Splash Mountain. Donald, Dan and Matthew head off in one log, my mom, me and Maria in another. Gordon doesn't ride, saying we are insane to ride a wet ride on such a wet day! My mother says she will never forgive me for taking her on that ride! We had fun though. We had a PS at Blue Bayou and got fairly close to the water. We all enjoyed Monte Cristo's and my parents just loved this restaurant. It was so neat to be there with all three of my kids grandparents. We ride a few more things after lunch but I can see my parents are tired so I take them over to the monorail which we ride back to DTD. Dan and his dad take the kids over to DCA. As soon as I get back to our room I call the desk and find out Stephen and family have checked in! He comes down to our room with the girls while Jennifer and her mom unpack. We then all head back into the park. I call Dan on his cell and he and his dad get seats for the parade while I take Stephen's family to Redd Rockets for dinner. Then off to the Christmas Parade which was wonderful. It was so fun to see my little nieces faces as all the floats came by. They didn't know where to look first! Matthew and Maria have a ball with their two little cousins and enjoy being the bigger, older, more seasoned Disney visitors! After the parade, Stephen and family take the monorail back to the DLH while my parents and Gordon watch the fireworks with us. My parents just keep saying over and over how magical it all is! And it was! When we got back to the hotel, my mom suggested she and Donald keep the kids and Dan and I go out for a drink. She didn't have to suggest twice! It felt nice and weird to be out without Matthew and Maria. They made us promise we weren't going to the parks! We headed down to the Lost Boys Bar for a drink and snack since somewhere during our hectic day Dan and I hadn't eaten dinner. Our first happy day is over.
Thursday, December 9:
We meet up with everyone under the Mickey Hat except Gordon who will join us later at Goofy's Kitchen. We walk up DTD and the weather is beautiful and sunny today. The girls are thrilled to see Mickey and Minnie as we walk in but we don't stop. Instead we head straight back to Fantasyland and ride Peter Pan. All along we had all thought my niece Charlotte would be the more daring, go getter on the rides but she was actually a little scared by the darkness of this ride. Madeleine on the other hand loved it! We then head to Dumbo which the girls were so excited to ride. While everyone rode, I camcord and again get a little teary seeing my whole, beloved family on Dumbo. What a memory! After that we do Its a Small World which of course everyone loved. Then off to Alice. Charlotte again, did not care for this dark ride but hung in there and did just fine! We have lunch at the Village Haus and marvel at how much better the weather is. We then rode Pooh Bear which Madeleine and Charlotte now claim is their "new favorite"! After that Bunny and I took the girls on that one again while everyone else rode POC and HM. Bunny and I took the girls into Pooh Corner and they very much enjoyed having both Aunt Amy and Grandma Bunny buy them some neat new stuff! Dan had gotten Indiana Jones fastpasses earlier so some of us rode that while the grandparents got the girls their first cotton candy! Matthew enjoyed telling Aunt Jennifer how scared she would be when the snake jumped out at her. Stephen and Jennifer loved this ride and since it has always been one of our family's favorites we had a blast. I wish they took your picture like they do on Dinosaur in WDW. We then met up with the rest of our group and rode the train back to tomorrowland so we could catch the monorail back to DTD and the hotel. We had a PS for Goofy's Kitchen. Everyone loved this place and stuffed themselves accordingly. Madeleine and Charlotte got to meet more characters and make their own ice cream cones to boot! We had all hoped to see the fireworks but Stephen's girls were exhausted as were my parents so they headed up to their rooms, while my family and Bunny went back to the park for the fireworks. I am so glad we did, so that Bunny could see them. Then we headed back to the hotel via DTD and some shopping. Another great day comes to an end.
Friday, December 10:
We had a PS for the Princess Breakfast at the Plaza Inn at 9:15. Unfortunately my mom had been up sick all night. Her illness, medication and too much rich food at Goofy's had taken its toll. I was crushed because I knew how much she had been looking forward to seeing her 4 grandkids with all of those princesses. I stayed behind with her while everyone else headed to the park. Not 5 minutes after they left my mom decides by God she is at Disneyland and she is going. I am not too sure about this but I call Dan and tell him to go ahead and pay for us and check us in, we are coming! I help my mom get ready and off we go. While she didn't feel up to par and didn't eat much she had a great timel. I was so happy she made it! Maria was thrilled to finally get an autograph from Fairy Godmother. I got a priceless picture of my parents with Mary Poppins, who pretended to flirt with my 80 year old stepdad saying "what a nice handsome fellow" he was! Madeleine and Charlotte loved seeing and hugging all the princesses. I was surprised the Beast didn't scare them but they took him in stride. Madeleine did mention to me that she though that man was really ugly! One note: if you can, try to book as late a seating as possible for this breakfast. That way you can nail Fantasyland before the crowds and then arrive after most people have served themselves from this buffet. It literally took us over 30 minutes to get our food, it is a very disorganized system. When we were still eating we noticed most of the crowd had left and that the later arrivals were getting their food in about one tenth the time! It is a wonderful experience however and we had a great time. After breakfast we head to Astro Orbitor. I am not big on this ride so I suggest Matthew and I ride Star Tours, one of our favorites. My parents decide to come along. Dan thinks I am nuts to take my 69 year old mom on this when she has been sick all night but she wants to go. Well, I couldn't even hear the ride narration as my mom was screaming with laughter the whole time! It was unlike anything she and Donald had ever done and they had a ball! We then all head over to Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain. By now the crowds are really intense and it is hot! We decide to do Autopia next and then take the monorail back to the hotel for a swim. The pool was not that crowded as a lot of people probably don't think of December as good pool time. But the water was warm and the kids loved it. I enjoyed sitting off all that breakfast I had eaten at the Plaza Inn earlier! After swimming, Stephen and family decide to rest and then head to Disneyland again. My parents are anxious try out DCA so we decide that my family will do that with them instead. We fastpass Soarin and then see One Man's Dream. My parents absolutely loved this show. It is so nice to enjoy a tribute to the man who made the whole Disneyland experience possible. After the show I look at my watch and realize I need to get a seat for the Electrical Parade. I was kind of bummed because I want to ride Soarin and experience the ride with my parents but know my mom needs to sit on a bench so I had better find one now. I end up meeting a really nice couple from Canada so it was okay after all. My parents loved Soarin and are once again amazed at all the wonders they are experiencing. They also loved the Electric Parade. I cannot remember which princess threw a kiss at Donald (he is such a ladies man!) but it was truly magical. After the parade we headed out to the plaza area between the parks and watched the fireworks. Then back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. Another wonderful day of family time comes to an end.
Saturday, December 11, Grandpa Gordon's birthday!
Jennifer's aunt and uncle live in the Los Angeles area so they visited with them this day and did not come to the parks. My mom was really tuckered out so she and Donald decide to stay at the hotel and rest. Dan and I take the kids into Disneyland and rode Matterhorn 4 times in a row with almost no wait. We then did Alice and the teacups before heading over to BTMRR and Splash Mountain. The crowds didn't seem too bad and I noticed that Bill Hill and the Hillbillies were doing a show later so I called my parents and asked if they felt up to coming to the park. They had rested and felt ready to go. So Dan and Matthew headed back to the hotel to bring them in and Maria and I shopped and rode the train around and then got a horse trolley (something she has always wanted to do) up Main Street. We met them at the Golden Horshoe and then had lunch and watched the show. I knew my parents would love this show and they did. For our part, no matter how many times we see it, the show never fails to amuse and entertain us! We then rode the Mark Twain Riverboat and the railroad all the way around. By now the crowds were awful. You could hardly walk through. A CM had told me earlier that they were expecting big crowds due to the nice weather and the fact that the previous weekend had been cold and rainy. No kidding! I don't know when I have seen it that packed. We decided to do Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. We had never done it and it was wonderful. I decided to not feel guilty about pulling the kids out of school as they were being officially educated at Disneyland! We then stood in a not too bad line to have the kids picture taken with Santa Mickey and then headed to World of Disney to shop. Then off to Grandpa Gordon's birthday dinner at Raiforest Cafe. We had a PS but the place was packed! We had waited over 45 minutes when I remembered that our membership card supposedly gets us in quicker so Dan went up to the hostess. There were all kinds of people yelling due to the fact that they seemed to be seating walk ins and not those with a ps. In any case, either the membership card, or Dan's nice attitude got us a table at last, almost one hour after we arrived. We had a great dinner though and they brought a dessert out to Gordon and sang Happy Birthday. We were all tired so Gordon headed home and we headed to the hotel. We actually had a good view of the fireworks from our room which was really nice. Tomorrow is Sunday and our last day!
Sunday, December 12, our last day:
We all met up at Disneyland in the morning. We hadn't seen Stephen and family the day before so it was nice to be with them again. It was cool and cloudy so the crowds seemed much better. We did some more rides in Fantasyland (but not Dumbo, the line was endless). We then decided to have an early lunch. The day before I had noticed the line to Rancho Del Zoccalo, our favorite place, snaking across the street and down the sidewalk so I decided we needed to beat the crowd. We did and had the place pretty much to ourselves. We then took turns riding BTMRR, Splash, POC, and HM, while also taking turns taking Madeleine and Charlotte on Pooh Bear. We did the early parade so we could all enjoy it again. It was much colder today and very brisk in the shade but we enjoyed it as much the second time. Jennifer and Bunny then broke off to do some Christmas shopping and the rest of us headed back to the hotel for warmer clothes. We had a ps at Cap'n Mickeys over at DCA so we met up with them later and Gordon joined us as well. We had a great dinner outside (the heat lamps almost roasted us though!) with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Max, Donald Duck and Stitch. We were all a little sad though as it was our last night! After dinner (it was 8:30) the girls and my parents and Bunny were really beat. So Dan and Jennifer took all of them back to the hotel. Stephen had been dying to ride California Screamin so me and my kids took him over. I hadn't been on a roller coaster with my brother in over 20 years. He had so much fun! He wanted to keep riding it and the kids were willing so we did it three times in a row. It was freezing cold and my Cap'n Mickey's dinner was heavy on my mind but I am so glad Stephen got to ride it. I finally dragged him off after the third time as Jennifer and Dan were coming back into Disneyland to meet up with us for fireworks while Grandma Bunny nicely offered to babysit Madeleine and Charlotte. WE had to navigate around the Electrical Paraade but at least Stephen got to see a little bit of it. Over at Disneyland Main Street was jammed packed but we enjoyed the fireworks one last time and were thankful Stephen and Jennifer finally got to see them. I am so bummed that they missed virtually all of DCA, especially Soarin and TOT, maybe next time! After the fireworks we were going to do Matterhorn but the line was endless so we did Star Tours instead. They enjoyed it but nothing like my mom did! Then back to the hotel. We were all depressed that our family trip was over.
Monday, December 13, time to say good bye and go home!
Stephen, Jennifer and Bunny were leaving 3 hours before us so they headed out first. It was tough to say goodbye. My mom really cried when she told her twin granddaughters goodbye. I hated to see it so decided shopping was in order. We headed to the hotel gift shop, while Dan hustled into DCA to pick up a picture I had had taken of my parents and kids. It turned out great so it was worth his hustle! Then suddenly the Goldenwest Express people were there and we were leaving. It had been a wonderful trip! We had had kids, grandkids, in-laws, parents, step-parents, nieces, nephews, siblings and spouses. Our age range had been 3 to 80. I had worried that we might all end up wanting to do different things and not spend much time together. I was wrong. Disneyland has so much for everyone that we all found many things to do together. I hope so much that maybe we will be back there together again someday soon, but if not I am thankful we did this trip. Disneyland is such a great place for a family gathering and I would not trade our trip for anything! Thanks for reading such a long post!
