Lagoongirl
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2005
Day Five
Characters:
Me- 41, Lucky Mom, Havent been to Disneyland in 12 years
Kylie, DD-5, 1st trip to Disneyland
Friday, September 16
Plan- Disneyland, Character breakfast at Plaza Inn
Our days of sleeping in are over. We were up at 6:00. We had a PS time for 11:10 so no breakfast. We went down to the breakfast at the hotel only to grab forks and spoons so we wouldnt have to eat with our fingers again. Kylie saw the doughnuts and wanted one, though so we stayed long enough for her to eat that. Since I wasnt sure where I was going and it is imperative to get there early, we left for Disneyland at 7:45. We parked ($10) and took the tram and arrived at the gates at 8:20. At 8:30 they opened the gates and let us into Main Street. We did a little bit of shopping, buying an autograph book and pen ($11.81) for Kylie. If you shop in the shops on the right side of Main Street the back of the stores are all connected so you can work your way up to the rope drop and casually slip out the door and be at the front of the line at rope drop.
We had purchased Ride Max and we followed the plan riding Peter Pan first. Even being at the front of the line we still had to wait about 10 minutes. I felt so badly for the child in front of us. He was with his father and another man. The men we wearing clothes with evil things on their T shirts, they had tattoos all over their bodies, and the boys fathers hat said F___ You! I dont want to seem judgmental, but dont kids have it hard enough without bad examples from their parents? He was the cutest little boy of only about 3 or 4 and I seriously wondered how his innocent mind was being trashed. Anyway .after Peter Pan we went to Dumbo, Storybookland, Mad Tea Party (where I saw another DIS member I didnt talk to her, I just recognized her from a picture) and Alice in Wonderland. Ride Max was way off on the time that it would take to ride these rides. We were 30 minutes ahead of schedule so we went to Small World. On the way we ran into Goofy and Pluto and got our first autographs. We rode Small World and Kylie loved it.
It was time for our character breakfast. Today, I must have been on one or something because I kept getting really annoyed at people. We were waiting in line to check in and this woman comes up, butts in front of everybody, announcing that she had a reservation so she didnt have to wait in line. I wanted to tell her that hello, everybody has a reservation. The CMs were too nice to her and allowed her through. As soon as we got in we sat down and waited for them to call our name. This woman starts taking her child among the tables and interrupting characters who are engaging with other guests and starts taking pictures of them with her son. A man and an older woman (who I assume was her husband and mother or mother in law) are seated near us in the waiting area. The mother said, Arent we supposed to wait until were called? The husband said, Well, you know her. I cant tell her anything. They called our name shortly after that and I thought I would be rid of her, but it gets worse.
They seated us and we went and got our breakfast. I had eggs, bacon, hash browns, French toast, OJ, and chocolate milk. Kylie was still full from the doughnut so she just had cereal, eggs and chocolate milk ($36.61). When we went back to our table, to my horror I realized that theyd set us right by this annoying woman. I also noticed that the child had a very red, irritated eye (I hadnt been close enough to him before). She was still taking her son to other tables where the characters were interacting with others and interrupting. I could feel my annoyance building. I was almost just as mad at the characters and other people for not standing up for themselves. I think she just took everyone by such surprise by her rudeness that all they could do was sit there with their mouths open.
Anyway, the characters that they had that day were Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger. Minnie Mouse came to our table and we were just getting ready to take a picture when this woman comes up and grabs the character. I about lost it. I turned to her and said, You will wait until she is done interacting with my child! She looked at me with utter surprise on her face. I swear she literally had no idea how rude she was being. She said Okay, and backed off. Maybe because my annoyance had been building, by the time she tried to butt into my childs time, she could tell I meant business.
When Minnie moved off to her table, I noticed Minnie fussing over the boys red eye. Suddenly this woman started carrying on .Oh!!! How did you do that!!! Oh!!! Mommy fix it!! She started holding a wet cloth up to it. It was just a little too loud dramatic if you know what I mean. It was almost like she was trying to act like this was the first she knew about it and she was saying it so loudly. I noticed how red it was immediately. She had to have been blind to not have noticed it before. This woman was so aggressive and loud that it wouldnt have surprised me one bit if earlier that morning she had done something to that boys eye. Course, I was so steaming mad at her by this point that I had attached all kinds of horrible things to her.
Other than nightmare lady the character breakfast was great and Kylie enjoyed it a lot. We had seen all the characters except Tigger, but as we were leaving he was holding a bunch of balloons by the exit and we got a picture with him.
So now it was back to the Ride Max schedule. Next on the list was Matterhorn. Kylie didnt like it much so I accepted the fact that we wouldnt be riding that again. We went to Buzz Lightyear and picked up fast passes for 11:20-12:20. We started heading toward Big Thunder and Kylie had to go to the bathroom. In the stall next to us some poor woman was being sick. It started to really stink and it was all I could do to hurry Kylie along.
Kylie kept noticing little girls wearing princess dresses and wanted one. I told her if she agreed to have it be her Halloween costume then I would get it. I gave in and we went in to a princess shop and got a Cinderella dress, wig and tiara ($90.51). Finally, we went back to Big Thunder to get a FP. They werent operating the FP machines so we waited in line for 10 minutes. The coaster type rides at Disneyland are just a smidgen more than my daughter likes so I knew wed only be able to ride these once. I was grateful she let me do that much. After that we went over to Splash Mountain and got a FP with a return time of 12:35-1:35) BTW, you CAN have more than one FP in your possession. I now had one for Buzz Lightyear and Splash Mountain. We were way ahead of our Ride Max schedule so we took the train to Tomorrowland from Frontierland. We used our FP to Buzz. This ride is an all around fun ride that both adults and kids love. I envision Id have a hard time keeping my husband off of this ride. Anyway, we both loved it and went and got another FP after we were done.
Kylie kept seeing little girls in their princess dresses and wanted to wear hers so we found a restroom and she put it on. She was so proud!!!
We caught up to our Ride Max schedule and went to Adventureland to get back on track. Unfortunately, Jungle Cruise was temporarily closed. So we went to the Jasmine and Aladdin show instead. This show is definitely for little kids. Kylie liked it alright, but I was bored to death. You could miss this one unless you are really into their live productions. This was not quite on the same scale as their other productions. When we got out of the show, Jungle Cruise had reopened but the line was long so we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. We were back on schedule and we had a 10 minute wait. While we were waiting in line, I overheard the people in front of us talking about FP. They had their maps open and the mom wondered aloud what FP was. The daughter said she thought it was something that you paid extra for to get to the front of the line. Poor people!!! I should have filled them in, but didnt want them to think I was listening to their conversation. Besides, the less people that understand FP, the more FPs there will be available!!!
By this time, the Ride Max schedule was not working at all so I pretty much gave up on it. We went and used our FPs on Splash. Kylie liked the ride except for the very end which scared her. I made it up to her by taking her on Winnie the Pooh which she liked a lot.
Kylie was hungry so we went in search of food. It was starting to get crowded and it was hard to maneuver the stroller through the crowds. We ended up getting an ice cream at Gibson Girl, which we had to wait 20 minutes for. While Kylie ate her ice cream ($4.60) we found a spot to watch the early parade by the princess restrooms by the Matterhorn about 30 minutes before starting time. Kylie ate her ice cream and played with her Pixter while we waited for the parade. The parade was really quite good.
We went back to Tomorrowland and rode Autopia. People were smiling at Kylie because she looked so cute in her Cinderella dress, which made her even more proud. On the way out of Autopia we ran into Mickey. This was our first sighting of Mickey so, of course, we had to get his autograph.
My original plan was to catch the 4:15 showing of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, but meeting Mickey made us miss that so we went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience and got another FP to Buzz. As I said earlier, my daughter had been coached to not like the 3D movies by her older sister, but she politely sits through them.
We made the 5:30 showing of Billy Hill and we got fish and chips and a drink ($10.60). We called home before the show. About half way through the show, Kylie decided she wanted some dessert, so I went to order a funnel cake and another drink ($8.60). The service was very slow. I waited about 10 minutes and there was only one other person in front of me. But, I didnt mind as my daughter was safely sitting at a table and I could see the show from where I was too. Better there than some long line out in the sun.
After Billy Hill we had our longest wait of the day on Jungle Cruise (20 min). We went through Tarzans Treehouse and Kylie enjoyed the interactive stuff at the end. We then went to Buzz and used our FP. We rode Astro Orbitor and the Monorail. Kylie had seen the Monorail pass when we were waiting for the parade and had been wanting to ride it ever since. We hopped on the train and rode it to Fantasyland. We found a spot to watch the fireworks that was suggested in one of the books I read, and left our stroller there to save our place, then we went to ride Pinocchio, the Carousel, and the tea cups. When we went back to our fireworks spot we discovered that theyd blocked off all of Fantasyland and had moved our stroller. So I went in search of a new spot late in the game. It was very crowded and I couldnt find a spot even for two little people and a stroller. Fighting the crowds, I made my way to the hub and found a spot opposite Adventureland entrance. A tree blocked a view of the castle but I could see the fireworks fine. Kylie fell asleep in the stroller so I watched them by myself. After the fireworks, we left along with the hordes and got back to our room at 10:40. By then, Kylie got her second wind and wanted a doughnut. We hopped in bed exhausted at 11.
Highlights: Kylie in her princess dress, Fastpass
Downers: Nightmare lady, sick lady in bathroom, losing our fireworks spot
Characters:
Me- 41, Lucky Mom, Havent been to Disneyland in 12 years
Kylie, DD-5, 1st trip to Disneyland
Friday, September 16
Plan- Disneyland, Character breakfast at Plaza Inn
Our days of sleeping in are over. We were up at 6:00. We had a PS time for 11:10 so no breakfast. We went down to the breakfast at the hotel only to grab forks and spoons so we wouldnt have to eat with our fingers again. Kylie saw the doughnuts and wanted one, though so we stayed long enough for her to eat that. Since I wasnt sure where I was going and it is imperative to get there early, we left for Disneyland at 7:45. We parked ($10) and took the tram and arrived at the gates at 8:20. At 8:30 they opened the gates and let us into Main Street. We did a little bit of shopping, buying an autograph book and pen ($11.81) for Kylie. If you shop in the shops on the right side of Main Street the back of the stores are all connected so you can work your way up to the rope drop and casually slip out the door and be at the front of the line at rope drop.
We had purchased Ride Max and we followed the plan riding Peter Pan first. Even being at the front of the line we still had to wait about 10 minutes. I felt so badly for the child in front of us. He was with his father and another man. The men we wearing clothes with evil things on their T shirts, they had tattoos all over their bodies, and the boys fathers hat said F___ You! I dont want to seem judgmental, but dont kids have it hard enough without bad examples from their parents? He was the cutest little boy of only about 3 or 4 and I seriously wondered how his innocent mind was being trashed. Anyway .after Peter Pan we went to Dumbo, Storybookland, Mad Tea Party (where I saw another DIS member I didnt talk to her, I just recognized her from a picture) and Alice in Wonderland. Ride Max was way off on the time that it would take to ride these rides. We were 30 minutes ahead of schedule so we went to Small World. On the way we ran into Goofy and Pluto and got our first autographs. We rode Small World and Kylie loved it.
It was time for our character breakfast. Today, I must have been on one or something because I kept getting really annoyed at people. We were waiting in line to check in and this woman comes up, butts in front of everybody, announcing that she had a reservation so she didnt have to wait in line. I wanted to tell her that hello, everybody has a reservation. The CMs were too nice to her and allowed her through. As soon as we got in we sat down and waited for them to call our name. This woman starts taking her child among the tables and interrupting characters who are engaging with other guests and starts taking pictures of them with her son. A man and an older woman (who I assume was her husband and mother or mother in law) are seated near us in the waiting area. The mother said, Arent we supposed to wait until were called? The husband said, Well, you know her. I cant tell her anything. They called our name shortly after that and I thought I would be rid of her, but it gets worse.
They seated us and we went and got our breakfast. I had eggs, bacon, hash browns, French toast, OJ, and chocolate milk. Kylie was still full from the doughnut so she just had cereal, eggs and chocolate milk ($36.61). When we went back to our table, to my horror I realized that theyd set us right by this annoying woman. I also noticed that the child had a very red, irritated eye (I hadnt been close enough to him before). She was still taking her son to other tables where the characters were interacting with others and interrupting. I could feel my annoyance building. I was almost just as mad at the characters and other people for not standing up for themselves. I think she just took everyone by such surprise by her rudeness that all they could do was sit there with their mouths open.
Anyway, the characters that they had that day were Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger. Minnie Mouse came to our table and we were just getting ready to take a picture when this woman comes up and grabs the character. I about lost it. I turned to her and said, You will wait until she is done interacting with my child! She looked at me with utter surprise on her face. I swear she literally had no idea how rude she was being. She said Okay, and backed off. Maybe because my annoyance had been building, by the time she tried to butt into my childs time, she could tell I meant business.
When Minnie moved off to her table, I noticed Minnie fussing over the boys red eye. Suddenly this woman started carrying on .Oh!!! How did you do that!!! Oh!!! Mommy fix it!! She started holding a wet cloth up to it. It was just a little too loud dramatic if you know what I mean. It was almost like she was trying to act like this was the first she knew about it and she was saying it so loudly. I noticed how red it was immediately. She had to have been blind to not have noticed it before. This woman was so aggressive and loud that it wouldnt have surprised me one bit if earlier that morning she had done something to that boys eye. Course, I was so steaming mad at her by this point that I had attached all kinds of horrible things to her.
Other than nightmare lady the character breakfast was great and Kylie enjoyed it a lot. We had seen all the characters except Tigger, but as we were leaving he was holding a bunch of balloons by the exit and we got a picture with him.
So now it was back to the Ride Max schedule. Next on the list was Matterhorn. Kylie didnt like it much so I accepted the fact that we wouldnt be riding that again. We went to Buzz Lightyear and picked up fast passes for 11:20-12:20. We started heading toward Big Thunder and Kylie had to go to the bathroom. In the stall next to us some poor woman was being sick. It started to really stink and it was all I could do to hurry Kylie along.
Kylie kept noticing little girls wearing princess dresses and wanted one. I told her if she agreed to have it be her Halloween costume then I would get it. I gave in and we went in to a princess shop and got a Cinderella dress, wig and tiara ($90.51). Finally, we went back to Big Thunder to get a FP. They werent operating the FP machines so we waited in line for 10 minutes. The coaster type rides at Disneyland are just a smidgen more than my daughter likes so I knew wed only be able to ride these once. I was grateful she let me do that much. After that we went over to Splash Mountain and got a FP with a return time of 12:35-1:35) BTW, you CAN have more than one FP in your possession. I now had one for Buzz Lightyear and Splash Mountain. We were way ahead of our Ride Max schedule so we took the train to Tomorrowland from Frontierland. We used our FP to Buzz. This ride is an all around fun ride that both adults and kids love. I envision Id have a hard time keeping my husband off of this ride. Anyway, we both loved it and went and got another FP after we were done.
Kylie kept seeing little girls in their princess dresses and wanted to wear hers so we found a restroom and she put it on. She was so proud!!!
We caught up to our Ride Max schedule and went to Adventureland to get back on track. Unfortunately, Jungle Cruise was temporarily closed. So we went to the Jasmine and Aladdin show instead. This show is definitely for little kids. Kylie liked it alright, but I was bored to death. You could miss this one unless you are really into their live productions. This was not quite on the same scale as their other productions. When we got out of the show, Jungle Cruise had reopened but the line was long so we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. We were back on schedule and we had a 10 minute wait. While we were waiting in line, I overheard the people in front of us talking about FP. They had their maps open and the mom wondered aloud what FP was. The daughter said she thought it was something that you paid extra for to get to the front of the line. Poor people!!! I should have filled them in, but didnt want them to think I was listening to their conversation. Besides, the less people that understand FP, the more FPs there will be available!!!
By this time, the Ride Max schedule was not working at all so I pretty much gave up on it. We went and used our FPs on Splash. Kylie liked the ride except for the very end which scared her. I made it up to her by taking her on Winnie the Pooh which she liked a lot.
Kylie was hungry so we went in search of food. It was starting to get crowded and it was hard to maneuver the stroller through the crowds. We ended up getting an ice cream at Gibson Girl, which we had to wait 20 minutes for. While Kylie ate her ice cream ($4.60) we found a spot to watch the early parade by the princess restrooms by the Matterhorn about 30 minutes before starting time. Kylie ate her ice cream and played with her Pixter while we waited for the parade. The parade was really quite good.
We went back to Tomorrowland and rode Autopia. People were smiling at Kylie because she looked so cute in her Cinderella dress, which made her even more proud. On the way out of Autopia we ran into Mickey. This was our first sighting of Mickey so, of course, we had to get his autograph.
My original plan was to catch the 4:15 showing of Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, but meeting Mickey made us miss that so we went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience and got another FP to Buzz. As I said earlier, my daughter had been coached to not like the 3D movies by her older sister, but she politely sits through them.
We made the 5:30 showing of Billy Hill and we got fish and chips and a drink ($10.60). We called home before the show. About half way through the show, Kylie decided she wanted some dessert, so I went to order a funnel cake and another drink ($8.60). The service was very slow. I waited about 10 minutes and there was only one other person in front of me. But, I didnt mind as my daughter was safely sitting at a table and I could see the show from where I was too. Better there than some long line out in the sun.
After Billy Hill we had our longest wait of the day on Jungle Cruise (20 min). We went through Tarzans Treehouse and Kylie enjoyed the interactive stuff at the end. We then went to Buzz and used our FP. We rode Astro Orbitor and the Monorail. Kylie had seen the Monorail pass when we were waiting for the parade and had been wanting to ride it ever since. We hopped on the train and rode it to Fantasyland. We found a spot to watch the fireworks that was suggested in one of the books I read, and left our stroller there to save our place, then we went to ride Pinocchio, the Carousel, and the tea cups. When we went back to our fireworks spot we discovered that theyd blocked off all of Fantasyland and had moved our stroller. So I went in search of a new spot late in the game. It was very crowded and I couldnt find a spot even for two little people and a stroller. Fighting the crowds, I made my way to the hub and found a spot opposite Adventureland entrance. A tree blocked a view of the castle but I could see the fireworks fine. Kylie fell asleep in the stroller so I watched them by myself. After the fireworks, we left along with the hordes and got back to our room at 10:40. By then, Kylie got her second wind and wanted a doughnut. We hopped in bed exhausted at 11.
Highlights: Kylie in her princess dress, Fastpass
Downers: Nightmare lady, sick lady in bathroom, losing our fireworks spot
