Husker Mickey
I LOVE Chip and Dale!!!
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2006
Yup, we had matching t-shirts while we were in the parks!
We flew into John Wayne/Santa Ana/Orange County airport (my son wants to know why they have to have 3 names for the same place, it's very confusing) Wed. evening. It was a very nice, small airport and I would recommend it. We have flown into LAX several times before. We were happy to find a much scaled-down airport with short corridors and only 14 gates! There is a nice food court and several news stands etc. (Oh of course 2 Starbucks
) We caught the Disney Express to our hotel, the Fairfield Inn by Marriot.
We have stayed there two times before and felt that it was in need of some updates and just some TLC for an aging hotel. Well, we were pleasantly surprised by the updates that we saw in the bathroom, i.e. new tub surround, shower head, and possibly a new toilet. The room was clean and I saw maintenance people doing their job several times. There is an updated snack bar/Pizza Hut Express on the 3rd floor also. Let's just say, we will probably stay there the next time because I was impressed with the upkeep. Don't hesitate staying at the hotel.
There was only one down side with staying there, the fire alarm went off at 6:30am on the first day we were there. It was a false alarm - smoke from the fires set off the hallway alarm. It was a little weird because I had asked for a wake up call for that very same time and it seemed that the phone set off the fire alarm. Too funny
Everyone who had early entry on Thurs. was up and Adam, including us.
We arrived at the gates at 8:30am for the entry at 9:00am. We were the second family at the gates.
It didn't stay that way when people entered the park, they ran to the rope. When they dropped the rope, despite the announcement to not run people ran.
*Some people's kids* Actually, I saw just as many adults running as kids. How are we supposed to teach our children when the adults choose not to listen. Okay, thanks for letting me rant. We headed to Nemo and were on in the first 20 minutes. Our first voyage didn't go well as we experienced technical difficulties. They put us on the the next sub and we went again. That took the entire hour of early entry, which was bummer. We decided to do Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, and Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. Then we headed to the Haunted Mansion and got fast passes for Splash Mountain before heading over the CA to get our VISA Meet and Greet pic.
You really need to know where to go for the Meet and Greet because the first day was the only day that they had a sign in front of the door of the Winery Tasting room, all other days, we had to enter to find it. Mickey and Goofy greeted us the first day, Goofy and Max were on the second day, and (my favorite) Chip and Dale the last day. We then headed to Grizzley River Rapids and got wet! It was a really nice day and several of us decided to ride it again. The second time was a really wet one for me. I could ring out my shirt and shorts after the ride. It was great!!! White Water snacks was our desination for lunch. The food was great, but we really should have eaten outside since we were still wet and the air conditioning was working well.
To maximize our time, we went back to DL since the crowds were very reasonable and rode lots of rides - HM, BTMRR (lots of times), POTC, IJ, Splash M, Teacups, . . . I honestly can't remember all of the rides. We just kept going, and going, and going. The park closed at 8:00pm. Hoping to beat the crowds, we left a little early so as to get a seat at Millie's Rest. It is next to our hotel. We didn't have a problem getting in. The food was good and everyone was beat.
We started the second day by getting on the train and heading to New Orleans Square to get to the HM, then headed to BTMRR, got a fast pass before going on for later in the day, IJ, POTC, over to BLY, ST, SM, on to the train to the front. The Meet and Greet was on and we had our pic taken. We did a lot of rides in CA this day, Screamin', Orange Stinger, Mailboomer, MM, Sun Wheel, Soarin', lunch at the Taste Pilot's Grill, did Monster's Inc, shopping, and back to the hotel for a rest - but not before I bumped into another DISer Jen from Portland - where's your trip report???
That evening we spent using fast passes that we had gathered from earlier in the day. Almost forgot the we rode Roger Rabbit - one of our silly favorites. We ate at the Golden Horseshoe. DS and DD had the cheese sticks and I had the fish and chips. The park was kinda of crowded with Teenie Boppers and their significant others. We rode POTC, BTMRR (twice), IJ, Space M, ST, . . .
Third and final day was early entry. We got to the park right at 7:00. Peter Pan was our first stop, followed by Dumbo, Teacups, Matterhorn, ST, Space M, BLY, IJ, BTMRR, got fast passes for IJ, and BTMRR for later in the day, ate breakfast from the Blue Ribbon Bakery and I had fruit from the fruit cart in Frontierland. Left for CA for the Meet and Greet. Did that and went on rides, Screamin', Orange Stinger, MM, JJF, and Golden Z. Hit the first showing of the day for Aladdin. We are never disappointed in this show and go every time we are in the parks. After the show we shopped and headed to the hotel to grab a bite to eat out of the parks for a late lunch and a rest.
There were several things that I wanted to shop for and I had to do it this last evening. So we did some shopping, rode BTMRR, Space M, ate a late supper during the fireworks - some had food from Pizza Port, some from Tomorrowland Terrace. I had the kid's meal from TT. It was late in the day, so I got a double helping of carrots - go eyes. We grabbed the monorail and went to DTD to finish our shopping.
My MIL took her podometer and we walked about 19,000 steps each day. After eating meal after meal of things that were either fried or big portions, I was a little scared to step on the scale this morning, but decided that I had to know, . . . I had lost a pound on vacation. How many people can say that???
We spent Sunday traveling home. Flew out of JW into Denver and a fast 4 hour drive home to get to our DD's high school softball banquet. She is a freshman and lettered and received the rookie of the year award.
The trip to DL was a surprise to her, she thought that we were just going to Denver for the long weekend - fall break, so we couldn't tell her that we might not get back in time for the banquet. We walked in the door when everyone was getting up to eat. (20 minutes late)
Once again, we experienced the Disney
magic. The trip was so much fun and our DS is a senior this year. We are not sure if we will have another opportunity to travel as a family. Who knows what the future will bring. BTW we got home and DS had a letter telling him that he was awarded a Regents scholarship to the University of Nebr. - full tuition for four years. 
Not sure where he will go, but at least he will have some options! Parents are pretty happy about that one!
We flew into John Wayne/Santa Ana/Orange County airport (my son wants to know why they have to have 3 names for the same place, it's very confusing) Wed. evening. It was a very nice, small airport and I would recommend it. We have flown into LAX several times before. We were happy to find a much scaled-down airport with short corridors and only 14 gates! There is a nice food court and several news stands etc. (Oh of course 2 Starbucks
) We caught the Disney Express to our hotel, the Fairfield Inn by Marriot.We have stayed there two times before and felt that it was in need of some updates and just some TLC for an aging hotel. Well, we were pleasantly surprised by the updates that we saw in the bathroom, i.e. new tub surround, shower head, and possibly a new toilet. The room was clean and I saw maintenance people doing their job several times. There is an updated snack bar/Pizza Hut Express on the 3rd floor also. Let's just say, we will probably stay there the next time because I was impressed with the upkeep. Don't hesitate staying at the hotel.
There was only one down side with staying there, the fire alarm went off at 6:30am on the first day we were there. It was a false alarm - smoke from the fires set off the hallway alarm. It was a little weird because I had asked for a wake up call for that very same time and it seemed that the phone set off the fire alarm. Too funny
Everyone who had early entry on Thurs. was up and Adam, including us.We arrived at the gates at 8:30am for the entry at 9:00am. We were the second family at the gates.
It didn't stay that way when people entered the park, they ran to the rope. When they dropped the rope, despite the announcement to not run people ran. *Some people's kids* Actually, I saw just as many adults running as kids. How are we supposed to teach our children when the adults choose not to listen. Okay, thanks for letting me rant. We headed to Nemo and were on in the first 20 minutes. Our first voyage didn't go well as we experienced technical difficulties. They put us on the the next sub and we went again. That took the entire hour of early entry, which was bummer. We decided to do Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, and Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. Then we headed to the Haunted Mansion and got fast passes for Splash Mountain before heading over the CA to get our VISA Meet and Greet pic. You really need to know where to go for the Meet and Greet because the first day was the only day that they had a sign in front of the door of the Winery Tasting room, all other days, we had to enter to find it. Mickey and Goofy greeted us the first day, Goofy and Max were on the second day, and (my favorite) Chip and Dale the last day. We then headed to Grizzley River Rapids and got wet! It was a really nice day and several of us decided to ride it again. The second time was a really wet one for me. I could ring out my shirt and shorts after the ride. It was great!!! White Water snacks was our desination for lunch. The food was great, but we really should have eaten outside since we were still wet and the air conditioning was working well.
To maximize our time, we went back to DL since the crowds were very reasonable and rode lots of rides - HM, BTMRR (lots of times), POTC, IJ, Splash M, Teacups, . . . I honestly can't remember all of the rides. We just kept going, and going, and going. The park closed at 8:00pm. Hoping to beat the crowds, we left a little early so as to get a seat at Millie's Rest. It is next to our hotel. We didn't have a problem getting in. The food was good and everyone was beat.
We started the second day by getting on the train and heading to New Orleans Square to get to the HM, then headed to BTMRR, got a fast pass before going on for later in the day, IJ, POTC, over to BLY, ST, SM, on to the train to the front. The Meet and Greet was on and we had our pic taken. We did a lot of rides in CA this day, Screamin', Orange Stinger, Mailboomer, MM, Sun Wheel, Soarin', lunch at the Taste Pilot's Grill, did Monster's Inc, shopping, and back to the hotel for a rest - but not before I bumped into another DISer Jen from Portland - where's your trip report???
That evening we spent using fast passes that we had gathered from earlier in the day. Almost forgot the we rode Roger Rabbit - one of our silly favorites. We ate at the Golden Horseshoe. DS and DD had the cheese sticks and I had the fish and chips. The park was kinda of crowded with Teenie Boppers and their significant others. We rode POTC, BTMRR (twice), IJ, Space M, ST, . . .
Third and final day was early entry. We got to the park right at 7:00. Peter Pan was our first stop, followed by Dumbo, Teacups, Matterhorn, ST, Space M, BLY, IJ, BTMRR, got fast passes for IJ, and BTMRR for later in the day, ate breakfast from the Blue Ribbon Bakery and I had fruit from the fruit cart in Frontierland. Left for CA for the Meet and Greet. Did that and went on rides, Screamin', Orange Stinger, MM, JJF, and Golden Z. Hit the first showing of the day for Aladdin. We are never disappointed in this show and go every time we are in the parks. After the show we shopped and headed to the hotel to grab a bite to eat out of the parks for a late lunch and a rest.
There were several things that I wanted to shop for and I had to do it this last evening. So we did some shopping, rode BTMRR, Space M, ate a late supper during the fireworks - some had food from Pizza Port, some from Tomorrowland Terrace. I had the kid's meal from TT. It was late in the day, so I got a double helping of carrots - go eyes. We grabbed the monorail and went to DTD to finish our shopping.
My MIL took her podometer and we walked about 19,000 steps each day. After eating meal after meal of things that were either fried or big portions, I was a little scared to step on the scale this morning, but decided that I had to know, . . . I had lost a pound on vacation.
How many people can say that??? We spent Sunday traveling home. Flew out of JW into Denver and a fast 4 hour drive home to get to our DD's high school softball banquet. She is a freshman and lettered and received the rookie of the year award.
The trip to DL was a surprise to her, she thought that we were just going to Denver for the long weekend - fall break, so we couldn't tell her that we might not get back in time for the banquet. We walked in the door when everyone was getting up to eat. (20 minutes late) Once again, we experienced the Disney
magic. The trip was so much fun and our DS is a senior this year. We are not sure if we will have another opportunity to travel as a family. Who knows what the future will bring. BTW we got home and DS had a letter telling him that he was awarded a Regents scholarship to the University of Nebr. - full tuition for four years. Not sure where he will go, but at least he will have some options! Parents are pretty happy about that one!
