We're visiting our laughing place. From BC with APs! August 21-28th

[Rubygoose]

Here is the story of our 4th family trip to Disneyland! If you haven't already read my garbled up PTR, you can skim it (the link is in my signature).

Our cast of characters include me (Kati), Bryan, Gavin and Annie. For a little more of a back-story on us, feel free to browse my TR from last year (also in my signature).



The purpose of this trip was to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. Originally, Bryan and I planned to leave the kids with their grandparents and head to Costa Rica, but we decided instead to bring them along to Disneyland to celebrate.

 

[Rubygoose]

Day 1:
Beginning our Jolly Holiday
Day 2:
Off to Neverland!
Getting Rumbly in our Tumblys
Everybody's got a laughing place
We finish each other's... Monte Cristo sandwiches!
The backside of water!
Day 3:
Everything is Awesome (back at Disneyland)
California (Adventure) Dreamin'
Day 4:
A suitcase and a dream
Getting our Kicks on Route 66
Oh Tooooooooodles!
Gooferoni and Cheese, Matching Minnies and a Spoon Fight

 

[Rubygoose]

Chapter 1: Beginning our Jolly Holiday

We arrived at the Victoria airport at 6:15am for our flight at 8:15am. There isn't a lot to do at the Victoria airport, and we didn't have to clear customs on this side, so we waited and waited.





The kids couldn't wait to wear their new neck pillows, so they put them on in the Victoria airport!


We flew in on Alaska Air from Victoria to SNA with a 3 hr stop in Seattle. I wasn't looking forward to spending 3hrs in Seattle, but it quickly turned into 2hrs, since we spent so much time waiting in line to get through customs. We also had to go through bag check again in Seattle, and they were much more thorough here than in Victoria.

We were on a newer plane for our flight from SEA to SNA. The leg room was good and they had plug ins in the seats.


I was less than thrilled, though, that we boarded 30 minutes late. So, when we arrived, we had to wait around some more so that we could get into our gate. Gavin fell asleep and banged his head on the window several times while waiting.



When we got off the plane, one of the booster seats that we gate checked wasn't waiting for us at the gate. I bought fluorescent carry bags for them, and they had misplaced the pink one and only left the green one. We waited around for a few minutes to talk to someone, who only shrugged and said "that's it." The flight attendant suggested we see if it comes down with the checked baggage. We went to the carousel and picked up our suit case, but there was no sign of the hot pink booster bag. We were already 30+ minutes behind schedule, so I was getting pretty frustrated. I went over to Lost Baggage and they were just about to offer me a loaner booster seat when their phone rang with news that they found my booster. With a huge sigh of relief, we went to the Alamo car rental line up and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, it was our turn. The guy was so slimy and tried to bill me $60, but luckily I had my print-out from Air Miles showing that I only needed to pay $25. We asked for an upgrade from the Nissan Versa and he tried to get me to pay $10 a day more for something larger, so we declined. Finally, 1hr behind schedule, we walked to the parking structure to find our car. The attendant there said that we got a free upgrade to a Hyunda Elantra, so I'm really glad that I didn't pay the extra $40 to upgrade! As we went to pick up the Elantra, I didn't see a Versa in sight, so I guess that's why we were upgraded.

I plugged in my phone and set the GPS to direct us to Trader Joe's. We first discovered Trader Joe's in Olympia Washington and really wish they'd come to Canada.

Although I look grouchy in this photo, I'm actually really happy that we've arrived at the 2nd happiest place on Earth - Trader Joe's!



For the past three or four years, we have cut out artificial food dyes and most other additives from our diet. Annie has a really bad reaction to dyes and other chemicals, so we've done a big change for the whole family. Eating at Disney can get a bit tricky, especially with snacks, but most meals are ok. As we were now stocked up with Turkey Jerky and cheese strings, we were on the road to Hojo's.

As we arrived and walked towards the check-in desk, we ran into a family that we had met on the plane from Victoria to Seattle! We quickly brought our luggage up to the room and then headed towards the parks. First stop - ticket window. It took nearly 20 minutes to upgrade our 3 free 5-day park hoppers to deluxe APs and redeem my AP from way.com. The kids were getting pretty bored and anxious, but soon enough, we headed into Disneyland. We were STARVING by this time, as we had only eaten snacks in the airport and in the car. We stopped in at Jolly Holiday at 6pm and found a table outside right along the railing.



Shortly after I picked up our food, the Frozen pre-parade began.


Bryan then dashed over to the photo shop to get our Photo Pass Plus, and then the Soundsational parade began. We've seen it several times before, but never from this direction.



It wasn't a great view from Jolly Holiday, but it was nice to be able to sit down and eat while watching the parade.


After the parade, we wanted to sneak in a couple rides before heading back to the hotel. First stop - Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters!






This is Gavin's favourite ride, and later in the trip he bought his very own Astroblaster gun. Bryan couldn't hold back his laughter when Gavin complained to Annie "Hey, don't hit my Asstroblaster!" and then I'd reply "Keep your hands off his Asstroblaster!"


After we defeated Zurg, we headed over to the Matterhorn. Gavin wasn't tall enough to ride this last year, so he was pretty excited (you can just barely see his face!)


Annie just turned 7 in July, so she was able to ride without an adult right behind her. The CMs had to check up on her, though.


We survived the Matterhorn with bruises to prove that we had been on it, and then didn't ride it the rest of the trip.

We took a quick family photo at the castle and then headed back to Hojo.


I tidied up our room and got outfits ready for the next day while Bryan took the kids to the water park.



Then it was off to bed in the squeakiest bunk bed ever made. Bryan and I both jolted up at around midnight because it made a huge clunk. We thought one of the kids had fallen out, but they were sound asleep. I had an awful sleep, as I always do on vacation, even though the bed was super cozy.



At 8am on Friday, we headed towards Disneyland and waited in line for park opening at 9am, for what turned out to be our longest, most productive day in the parks.

Continued in next post ->

 

[DenaRox]

happily following along, so excited to hear more!

 

[Rubygoose]

happily following along, so excited to hear more!

Glad to see you following along! You must be getting pretty excited for your trip coming up soon. Does your daughter know yet?

 

[kaoden39]

I'm here! I love Trader Joe's they are great!

 

[Rubygoose]

Chapter 2: Off to Neverland!

On Friday morning, we started off at DL because DCA had early entry. I think we left Hojo at around 8am, then we waited for the gates to open. They let us in at around 8:30. We walked down mainstreet and "high-4'd" the CMs with the Mickey hands. We got a lot of comments on our matching Splash Mountain shirts as we approached the rope.



My plan for this morning was to study the process for Anna and Elsa, which we would attempt on Tuesday. We started off going to the right, then decided to look in the shops, then decided that that was a waste of time, and went up to the rope on the left. Then I stepped in gum! And it wasn't just a little piece of gum, it was a big, pink, sticky piece of gum.

We watched the Anne and Elsa line up form to the left of the statue, then they were walked in at about 8:45. They cut off the line and the little girl who was waiting got all upset because her mom said that they wouldn't bother going to see them today. I asked the CM if this would be the same process on a Magic Morning, and she said maybe, maybe not. Bryan and I then spotted a family coming through the castle and assumed that they were done with the meet n greet. We were kicking ourselves that we hadn't attempted to do Anna and Elsa that morning, because if we were the first ones in, we could have come back to join ropedrop as well.

Finally, they removed the rope and we walked briskly to Peter Pan's Flight. We always do this ride on our first park morning. Last year when we attempted to do Peter Pan, it broke down and we ended up wasting most of our Magic Morning waiting in line. This time, though, we walked right on with very little wait.



As we exited the ride, we checked out the line and it already was at about 20 minutes or more.

Next, we headed to Dumbo, another ride that we always do on our first morning.

Bryan and Annie rode together and Gavin and I rode together.



The kids wanted certain coloured Dumbos, so once we got on the ride we ended up splitting up. As the ride started we were able to spot each other (and take pictures of each other!)





After Dumbo, we rode Alice and really enjoyed the new elements and much smoother ride. Gavin was terrified of this ride when we went in 2011, two weeks before he turned 2 years old. He was so proud of himself that he wasn't afraid of it any more.



The CM loading this ride told me that Disney will probably steal my design from the hats that I made!



The next ride we went on was Mr. Toad.



Bryan grabbed a quick picture of Gavin and then we had to call him over because the line was moving quickly.




After doing the rides that we knew would get long lines later in the day, we headed over to one of our family favourites, Small World.



The representation of Canada always gives me a good laugh! You'd think they could at least put in something on the right hand side where it's blank!


We still had a bit of time before our breakfast reservation at 10:30, so Bryan and the kids took a spin on the tea cups. I love tea, but I refuse to ride the tea cups!



We had a few more minutes before breakfast and we still needed to get a photographer to take photos of us for our APs. We also wanted a family photo in front of the castle, so decided to get both of these done at once. We had to wait for a few families at the castle, but we ended up getting an amazing photographer named Byron to take our photos. I asked him if he could do any magic shots and he told me that he could do Olaf!

Byron was outstanding and we actually sought him out later on in our trip. He had so much patience and got the kids to pose really well. He also made sure that there was "no butt crack" from the lady behind us crouching down and taking a photo! He spent so much time with us that it was starting to creep into our breakfast reservation, but I didn't mention it to him because he was doing such a great job.











It was now 10:35, only 5 minutes past our reservation for Minnie and Friends at Plaza Inn. We couldn't wait to see who would be joining Minnie for breakfast today.

Continued in next post ->

 

[Rubygoose]

I'm here! I love Trader Joe's they are great!

Welcome! I wish we had a Trader Joe's near us. It was so nice to not have to read the labels on everything, since everything is free of artificial colours. I stocked up on a few cake mixes to bring home, but they didn't have the instant hot chocolate mix that I had gotten in March. Guess we'll have to do a quick trip to Seattle this winter to stock up the pantry!

 

[kaoden39]

Welcome! I wish we had a Trader Joe's near us. It was so nice to not have to read the labels on everything, since everything is free of artificial colours. I stocked up on a few cake mixes to bring home, but they didn't have the instant hot chocolate mix that I had gotten in March. Guess we'll have to do a quick trip to Seattle this winter to stock up the pantry!

Have you tried their Cookie Butter? What a great treat that is!



I love the latest update. The kids seem to have grown so much since your last trip.

 

[DisneytheKid]

Subscribing! Great start to your TR

 

[itr452]

nice will be following for our upcoming trip in 3 weeks

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Hi Kati!! I love it so far

 

[Rubygoose]

Have you tried their Cookie Butter? What a great treat that is!



I love the latest update. The kids seem to have grown so much since your last trip.

Sounds good. Will have to look for that next time.

Subscribing! Great start to your TR

Welcome!

nice will be following for our upcoming trip in 3 weeks

Welcome

Hi Kati!! I love it so far

Glad to have you following along again!

 

[Rubygoose]

I forgot to mention something in my previous post...

That morning we picked up Anniversary buttons, since we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary. After riding Mr. Toad, we popped into the Mad Hatter shop next to Alice and the kids enjoyed trying on all of the hats. I asked the CM if they had the Anniversary buttons and told her it was our 10 year anniversary. She took out 2 buttons, set them on the counter, then pulled out some sort of list and then dialed the phone. I was a little confused, and then she handed me the phone... it was Mickey and Minnie wishing us a Happy Anniversary! So cute!

Chapter 3: Getting Rumbly in our Tumblys

At 10:35 we check in for our Minnie and Friends breakfast at Plaza Inn. We have done this character meal on all of our previous trips. I think we did it on day 2 or 3 of our first trip, but since then, we have always done it on the morning of our first full day. It's a great way to fill up the autograph books and avoid some lines later on in the trip.

The photo at this character meal doesn't include a character, but we had our matching shirts, so we ended up with a couple nice photos.



We may have been the only family to ever ask the PP photographer to take a picture of our backs!


We were seated to the left of the buffet, along the aisle. (We've been put in the corner several times before and requested to move each time. It wasn't very busy on this morning, though.) Bryan and the kids stayed at the table while I picked up our food. They were immediately visited by Dale.



Meanwhile, I spotted Tigger at the buffet. He was holding out his paws and begging for waffles! He then followed a woman around as she was filling up her drinks.

Minnie stopped by our table.







And then Pooh Bear




At this point we started having problems with our WOC pen that I bought last year.


Next came Captain Hook - or Captain Codfish as I called him!








Our pen stopped working, so Captain Hook laid it to rest on our table and placed a napkin over it. He then attempted to sign the autograph books with his hook. Luckily I found a couple extra pens in the backpack.





Next, Tigger arrived at our table




I asked him if he was given any waffles, and he shook his head and then tried to take Gavin's waffles!


Chip came by next and Annie showed him her wiggily tooth. His was a bit wiggily too from too many acorns.


Tigger came back for more high 5's


Annie had been waiting to see Fairy Godmother so that she could ask her about the tooth fairy.


The last character to come visit us was Eyore.




His ears got in the way while he signed our autograph books, so I gave him a little help.


We finished up our late breakfast/early lunch and the characters were making their way out of the restaurant, so we did too. The plan for the afternoon was to head over to our favourite ride - Splash Mountain!

Continued in next post ->

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Kati, the shirts are so cute. How did you guys make those?

 

[Rubygoose]

Kati, the shirts are so cute. How did you guys make those?

I got a woman from Etsy (the one who made my Snow White Shirt that you'll see in upcoming posts or in my July 2013 TR) to turn a ride photo of us into a cartoon drawing. She sold me the digital file and I got the shirts printed from Vistaprint - with a discount code, of course! The problem with the shirts, though, was that it was so hot and we got really sweaty, so we couldn't wear them again on this trip. I think I'll use the image to make us buttons for next time so that we can wear them every day. Bryan calls it our family crest!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Oh I see. I agree with Bryan.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

Hi Kati---so enjoying the Trip Report!

The pics with Olaf are so fun---your children are adorable!

I also love the one of the three of you with Captain Hook---so cute!

What a great idea to put phrases form the song, on the backs of your shirts---so clever!

I have loved reading about the ways you saved money for this trip---AMAZING!!!

 

[Rubygoose]

Hi Kati---so enjoying the Trip Report!

The pics with Olaf are so fun---your children are adorable!

I also love the one of the three of you with Captain Hook---so cute!

What a great idea to put phrases form the song, on the backs of your shirts---so clever!

I have loved reading about the ways you saved money for this trip---AMAZING!!!

Thanks! I realized that we hardly paid full price for anything on this trip.

 

[Rubygoose]

Chapter 4: Everybody's got a laughing place

After breakfast we headed towards the 'left' side of the park. We passed by the partners statue and looked at the little statues.







Then we headed into Frontier Land to ride Big Thunder Mountain. Bryan and Annie had gone on this is 2012, but Gavin wasn't tall enough that year and I wasn't feeling well, so I passed on it. Last year it was still under refurb, so I was really looking forward to trying this one, as it was one of the only rides in DL that I hadn't been on.



The wait was only about 15 minutes, and I absolutely loved it!



We headed over to Splash Mountain to see what the wait time was looking like and it was only 30 minutes, so we decided to ride standby instead of getting a FP, since we were planning on taking an afternoon break soon. I really wanted a photo of all of us in front of Splash, but the walkway there is always quite busy. We asked one of the CMs at the line if she could take our picture. She did an ok job, but didn't get the angle that I wanted (plus, it looks like Bryan is holding hands with the little girl in the princess dress!)



We walked back to the line with the CM and the second CM at the lineup stopped me and said "I want to give you this because you have the cutest shirts!" and she put a folded up piece of paper in my hand. It was a pass for any ride of our choice, other than RSR, for the day! I thanked her, gave her a hug and put the pass into my purse to save for later.





The standby line wasn't too long and we were soon thrown into the briar patch!



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