When Can We Do This Again? May 2018 Finished 2/2 The End

Sounds like a wonderful morning. I'm glad you got to ride Peter Pan! And with no wait! Good job!

I really like the theming in Red Rose, too. I hope they let it be a permanent change to the restaurant.
 
I really love Fantasyland early in the morning! I'm really glad you did get to ride PP. That's a sad one to miss if you're counting on it, and it's almost sadder to have to wait 40-ish minutes for it, so... :) And I LOVE your Small World outfit!
 
I just did a quick catch-up on this and it's making me so emotional. So many similar memories and you just look like you're so happy in all your photos! I love that one with you hugging Sulley and the one with you asking Spidey to do the web shooter pose. What a kid at heart. And uggghhh, I'm sad princesses aren't your thing but your pics still make me miss the girls. Such sweeties. I'm excited to hear about the rest of your trip but I'll also be super emotional and dramatic so prepare yourself for those comments! :thumbsup2
 
You guys! I'm feeling so much love!!

Sounds like a wonderful morning. I'm glad you got to ride Peter Pan! And with no wait! Good job!

I really like the theming in Red Rose, too. I hope they let it be a permanent change to the restaurant.

It was the *best* morning. I don't know if it's the nostalgia of three plus months looking back or whether it really was great, but it all seems to exist in this sort of perfect haze in my memory. I wish we had gotten to eat at Red Rose, but that's a story for another day...

I really love Fantasyland early in the morning! I'm really glad you did get to ride PP. That's a sad one to miss if you're counting on it, and it's almost sadder to have to wait 40-ish minutes for it, so... :) And I LOVE your Small World outfit!

Thank you for the comments on my outfit. I thought I was adorable. I do that most of that time. And yes, we would have been too sad to miss Peter. It's not much, but it's classic for a reason.

I just did a quick catch-up on this and it's making me so emotional. So many similar memories and you just look like you're so happy in all your photos! I love that one with you hugging Sulley and the one with you asking Spidey to do the web shooter pose. What a kid at heart. And uggghhh, I'm sad princesses aren't your thing but your pics still make me miss the girls. Such sweeties. I'm excited to hear about the rest of your trip but I'll also be super emotional and dramatic so prepare yourself for those comments! :thumbsup2

Timmy! So my daughter started following you because she follows a bunch of DCP people on Insta and then it became this, "Did you see Timmy's graduation?" conversation as she updated me on all her other DCP accounts. She's trying really hard to take the hours she needs for her associate's degree next semester and next fall so that next fall she can apply for DCP and be there starting Jan 2020.

As for being super emotional and dramatic... me. Right now, that's just me. I'm sort of dragging my feet about ending this because the memories are so *right there* for me. Pixar Fest ending brought a whole new wave of emotion. That was "our" fest. But seriously, these two days after our break were my favorite days and I will try to use my words to capture exactly how magical they were.
 


Day Six, Part Two: Finishing up at Disneyland

Off Indy and onto Big Thunder,

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where I booked Hyperspace Mountain for Dan and Ches. Before we went that way, we went over to Haunted Mansion and took pictures of Chesney’s HM outift.

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I don't actually remember that we rode it at this time and it's not in my notes that way, but I got this photo so I think we got stuck in the bride room. I do remember getting stuck and taking this picture because it was such a perfect place to be stuck and I was alone in my doom buggy and I just practiced taking pictures. I just don't remember that it happened at this point in the timeline.

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By this time, I was pretty done with sitting around while they rode things, so I peeled off at the Tiki Birds and went and watched some birdies sing while they rode the Mountain.

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And then they got lost coming out of Space Mountain and ended up walking through Fantasyland and through the castle to where I was waiting at the hub near Adventureland. This is why I almost always waited for them at the exit of a ride. They get lost.

Also, I don’t have it in my notes but I’m guessing that while I was watching Tiki, I booked them onto Guardians. I know we were wanting Racers but we needed it for a specific time period after our lunch reservation and it wasn’t available yet, so I took a chance and booked Guardians hoping that by the time they rode, Racers would be available for the time I wanted.

As we walked back down Main Street to head to California Adventure, we ran into Chip and Dale, and oh, they’re just the cutest things.

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They pointed out Chesney’s Just Graduated button and “asked” about it and then when she told them we were from Kansas, they started flapping their arms and laughing about how we flew out from Kansas. It was fun and made Ches and I happy.

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This one we had printed on a canvas and it's currently hanging in Chesney's bedroom. One of my favorite character interactions. They are so. much. fun. And our smiles are so genuine. The best.
And then as we crossed into California Adventure we bumped right into Oswald with no line and got that picture as well.
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It was time for Dan and Ches to ride Guardians and I just could not sit out there and wait for them again, especially with the drizzle. I told them I was going to meet Anna and Elsa, which would make me a super popular with the pre-K crowd, but not my personal favorites. I have concerns about the whole locking your special needs child in a room thing.
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This is seriously the best part about that big room where you wait for Anna and Elsa. I had no love for any Disney princesses going into this trip, and I came out a true, blue Punzie lover. I sing "At Last I See the Light" on the daily for one my students. And me. I sing it for me. I really try not to regret missing anything during our trip -- we made the right decisions to do what was right for us at the time -- but dang I'm sad we didn't meet Rapunzel. I'm so happy to finally have a favorite Princess. And when they put this scene up on all those 360 screens in that huge room, it's just awe inspiring. How I did not start singing and twirling, I don't know.

Side note -- there was a male CM that was doing line control and he was singing and dancing to every song and I loved him so much and I was texted Ches while I waited and I was like, "You need to come over so we can dance with this guy" and then by the time I was through the line, he was no longer dancing. But we did see him later that day doing parade crowd control and he was still dancing. I can't imagine any grander life than working at Disney and dancing to songs.
So back to the Frozen girls... it turns out the line was so slow that Dan and Ches rode their ride, walked over to where I was and Ches scooted right into line with me just as I went in to see them. This was the only time we had anyone join us when we were ahead in line and we let so many other groups meet up in front of us that I didn’t feel too bad about it. In general, I think that if you’re in a group, you should wait for everyone in the group to be there before you get in line and start moving, but that apparently is not the norm at Disneyland so I wasn’t going to feel too guilty about doing it once. (Although obviously I still feel guilty because I just wrote a whole paragraph about it.)
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I actually kinda like Anna. She's got spunk.

Funny story... I was pushing a little girl on a swing the other day and her name was Something-Ana and I asked her if I was pronouncing her name correctly. Because you can do Ah-na or Ann-a, you know. And she looked at me and said, "You can just call me Elsa."

Anyway, obligatory photo of us with the girls:

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The CM who took the photo was great, loved my outfit and took a bunch of photos in that very bad lighting. That was a bit of Disney magic right there.

And with that, I'm at my photo post limit and we're about to have the best meal of our trip (I still think about it randomly) so I'll just end this for now. More to come soon!




 
Random personal thing -- my middle daughter is planning her wedding. I somehow talked her into bringing me dinner tonight in the name of taste testing BBQ for her wedding dinner, but the big news is that I think she has talked her fiance into going to WDW for a few days for her honeymoon. She really wants me to plan it for her, but I'm honestly not sure I can plan a trip that I won't be taking. But the youngest is getting organized to apply for the DCP in a year, so I'm holding out for a trip when either she goes or when she's done and we pick her up....
 
Such a great post!

This one we had printed on a canvas and it's currently hanging in Chesney's bedroom.
Love the pic! My family had a lot of fun with Chip and Dale on our trip, too.

I have concerns about the whole locking your special needs child in a room thing.
Oh yes. We talk about that a lot in our house. Their parents really needed some parenting help. I think the magical gnomes could have helped out with that more, too.

And when they put this scene up on all those 360 screens in that huge room, it's just awe inspiring.
I need to find that room!

And she looked at me and said, "You can just call me Elsa."
Haha! Funny girl.

CM who took the photo was great, loved my outfit and took a bunch of photos in that very bad lighting.
I'd like to know what is the deal with Disney having photo-ops in such dark rooms? They're Disney. They could make the lighting awesome if they made any effort. They could make it look like a photo studio if they wanted.

Random personal thing -- my middle daughter is planning her wedding.
Congratulations!!!
 


I hear you on not wanting to finish your report because you don't want your trip to end AGAIN! I'm so glad it was such a beautiful day though. :) And Chip and Dale are my favorites. They were always my favorite classic cartoons, and I think that transferred into my love for them at Disneyland. :) You would really think (like RedHotmama said) they could get it together with the photo lighting! And I cracked up at your paragraph you wrote about not feeling guilty. That's something I would do too. (all of it)
 
Timmy! So my daughter started following you because she follows a bunch of DCP people on Insta and then it became this, "Did you see Timmy's graduation?" conversation as she updated me on all her other DCP accounts. She's trying really hard to take the hours she needs for her associate's degree next semester and next fall so that next fall she can apply for DCP and be there starting Jan 2020.

Haha, that's so sweet! I see you both liking my Instagram posts so I'm loving having a mother-daughter duo fanbase lol And omg MY CP GRADUATION. Like way to make me even MORE emotional. Honestly, such a fun fabulous night! I'd do it over a billion times. I hope you did end up seeing that (I can't remember if you liked that post or not).

Also I 100% feel that with Pixar Fest ending. That was my summer. I came in near everyday to work hearing all the Pixar music from the Esplanade, seeing all the banners and Pixar colors. Avoiding the Pixar Play Parade and trying to catch characters out front... Disneyland will feel like a whole new place without that.

ANYWAYS, back to your TR!

I LOVE Ches's Gracey Manor tee and leggings. Like actually my aesthetic and I need both BADLY.

Awww, you do look so happy with the chippys! They really are so much fun. They are TROUBLE but fun. (I also was almost always recognized by one of them so they are special to me hehe).

YAY FOR FIGURING OUT YOUR FAVORITE PRINCESS!! Rapunzel is a FABULOUS choice. She always has a special place in my heart since her story was the one that brought me back to my Disney love and "I See The Light" never fails to make me cry especially with its beautiful sequence in the Animation Building. Nothing will compete with seeing the lanterns fly up on Cinderella Castle when Celebrate the Magic was still around. She is hard to catch for meets in Disneyland (but she's always with Eugene which is such a bonus) so honestly you'll meet her when you meet her and it will be glorious.

I totally feel you on the whole waiting in line then letting people jump in with you, but I kinda got over it. Fact is the character hosts go by party not by person so they assume potentially there could be more than one of you waiting to meet princesses so don't feel bad. It took a whole program for me to get over it but I never minded letting people join me in line. I was already one party in line, adding one person did not make it any faster or slower for those behind me.

Awww, I'm crying at your Anna and Elsa photos because... well... like every princess they have friends that are so special to me after working near them for so long. And I'd used to spend so much time with them in Arendelle, such special times too.

Excited to hear more! I'm really feeling that extra magic like you said.
 
Such a great post!

Thank you so much! The big room with the lanterns is the big room when you first enter the Animation Building. I stood there a long time and they cycled through a bunch of Disney movies but the Tangled scene was my favorite. And yes, Disney would know how to light a room for pictures. Such a waste to wait in line for so long and then have bad pictures.

I hear you on not wanting to finish your report because you don't want your trip to end AGAIN! I'm so glad it was such a beautiful day though. :) And Chip and Dale are my favorites. They were always my favorite classic cartoons, and I think that transferred into my love for them at Disneyland. :) You would really think (like RedHotmama said) they could get it together with the photo lighting! And I cracked up at your paragraph you wrote about not feeling guilty. That's something I would do too. (all of it)

Chip and Dale are the best. I'm so glad we stopped. Ches was saying we hadn't seen them yet and it was an impulse (of course, at this point more people were entering than leaving so the line was actually very short).

Also I 100% feel that with Pixar Fest ending. That was my summer. I came in near everyday to work hearing all the Pixar music from the Esplanade, seeing all the banners and Pixar colors. Avoiding the Pixar Play Parade and trying to catch characters out front... Disneyland will feel like a whole new place without that.

I LOVE Ches's Gracey Manor tee and leggings. Like actually my aesthetic and I need both BADLY.

Awww, you do look so happy with the chippys! They really are so much fun. They are TROUBLE but fun. (I also was almost always recognized by one of them so they are special to me hehe).

YAY FOR FIGURING OUT YOUR FAVORITE PRINCESS!! Rapunzel is a FABULOUS choice. She always has a special place in my heart since her story was the one that brought me back to my Disney love and "I See The Light" never fails to make me cry especially with its beautiful sequence in the Animation Building. Nothing will compete with seeing the lanterns fly up on Cinderella Castle when Celebrate the Magic was still around. She is hard to catch for meets in Disneyland (but she's always with Eugene which is such a bonus) so honestly you'll meet her when you meet her and it will be glorious.

I totally feel you on the whole waiting in line then letting people jump in with you, but I kinda got over it. Fact is the character hosts go by party not by person so they assume potentially there could be more than one of you waiting to meet princesses so don't feel bad. It took a whole program for me to get over it but I never minded letting people join me in line. I was already one party in line, adding one person did not make it any faster or slower for those behind me.

Awww, I'm crying at your Anna and Elsa photos because... well... like every princess they have friends that are so special to me after working near them for so long. And I'd used to spend so much time with them in Arendelle, such special times too.

Excited to hear more! I'm really feeling that extra magic like you said.

Well, I'm having issues with quoting at the moment, but let me say... yes. Chesney's leggings were amazing; I found them on Etsy. I love hearing your "inside" info on the characters and am happy that seeing my photos made you happy. It was just a super fun day for character meets.
 
We came out of the Animation building and went into this little Mickey shop across the street to browse and there we found my favorite souvenir ever. We had been looking at blankets all week because it was cold and drizzly and we were seeing parades and fireworks and wanted something to sit on and I also love blankets. We thought we had seen every style in all the Disney shops, but here we found a style we hadn’t seen and loved. Totally grabbed it right up and if someone hadn’t bought the other one in stock right in front of us, we would have had two. It’s already Jake the Doxie’s favorite blanket.

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Our next stop was Wine Country Trattoria for the Paint the Night lunch dining package. I was pretty bummed when I realized World of Color would not be showing during our trip -- when we went nine years ago, they were building WOC and so we’ve never managed to see it -- but thought we’d go for reserved seating for the parade. I actually booked this thinking I’d cancel if we didn’t need it to see the parade, but then having seen how crazy it was for Fantasmic and the Pixar Parade in DL, I decided we should keep it. In the end, we probably didn’t need the reserved seating, but it was nice to know we had it AND this meal was delicious, so no harm done.

Our next stop was Wine Country Trattoria for the Paint the Night lunch dining package. I was pretty bummed when I realized World of Color would not be showing during our trip -- when we went nine years ago, they were building WOC and so we’ve never managed to see it -- but thought we’d go for reserved seating for the parade. I actually booked this thinking I’d cancel if we didn’t need it to see the parade, but then having seen how crazy it was for Fantasmic and the Pixar Parade in DL, I decided we should keep it. In the end, we probably didn’t need the reserved seating, but it was nice to know we had it AND this meal was delicious, so no harm done.

[OK -- little side story here. There was a woman and her young child eating near us. The woman ordered Salmon for her preschooler. Do 3 year olds actually eat salmon? We thought it was strange, probably because we don't eat fish regularly (I have fish issues) but I guess I thought... hey, we're in an Italian restaurant, get the kids some spaghetti.]

Our next stop was Wine Country Trattoria for the Paint the Night lunch dining package. I was pretty bummed when I realized World of Color would not be showing during our trip -- when we went nine years ago, they were building WOC and so we’ve never managed to see it -- but thought we’d go for reserved seating for the parade. I actually booked this thinking I’d cancel if we didn’t need it to see the parade, but then having seen how crazy it was for Fantasmic and the Pixar Parade in DL, I decided we should keep it. In the end, we probably didn’t need the reserved seating, but it was nice to know we had it AND this meal was delicious, so no harm done.

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Extreme close up of my soup. The broth was beefy and that's small pasta. It was really good.

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The wedge salad. I think this was Dan's. I ate the tomatoes and cucumber. He ate the lettuce.
For our entrees, I went with Spaghetti Bolognese and Dan and Ches ordered the lasagna. I thought everything was perfect for the chill day, and that spaghetti was the best I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot of spaghetti.

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My spaghetti. So good.

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Fun little lasagna.
Ches and Dan loved the lasagna, but it ended up upsetting Dan’s stomach later. Boo. (Spoiler alert -- just about every meal I really enjoy upsets Dan's stomach. He pops Tums like crazy. And it gets really depressing for me.) We finished up with tiramisu for Dan and I and panna cotta for Ches. I sort of wished I’d gone with the panna cotta because it looked really good, but it was all delicious.

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Pretty sure this is the tiramisu.

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And Chesney's panna cotta. (I probably didn't spell that right. We don't eat a lot of this stuff in Kansas. Ice cream and cake. We have that.)

Also spoiler alert - we don't have a lot of authentic Italian restaurants in Kansas. This is definitely the closest we've come to that and I super enjoyed every minute of the meal and food. My enjoyment may have been enhanced by the fact that it was cold and rainy outside. But I'm not going to tell you that I don't randomly think of this meal in the middle of the day and wish I was there to eat it again.
Somewhere while waiting in line for the Frozen girls and eating lunch, I must have found the perfect Racers time slot open and booked it. We got done with lunch just in time to walk over and right onto the ride. As soon as we scanned into Racers, I looked and there was the perfect time slot for Racers for that evening (6:25-7:25) so I grabbed it. To me, this is a good example of how quickly the parks started filling once the rain stopped. At some point between 10:30 and 11:30, I was able to grab a MaxPass for Racers at 12:30, but by 12:30, the next thing available was for 6:25. We got so much done that morning in the chilly rain and I’m so glad we went because it also helped us set things up for a really fun evening.

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RSR obligatory picture

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This must have been from when they rode while I was in line to visit the Frozen girls. Dan and Ches are right in front.

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Gah. I ended up hating when we were on this ride and the front row put their hands in the air. Ruins the picture for the back row. And, like, unnecessary. It's not a roller coaster. It's just a fast ride and you're not really proving anything about your own bravery by throwing up your hands. I mean, I guess you can go for it if it helps you enjoy the ride better, but maybe do it a little less enthusiastically so you don't cover the faces of the back row.
After Racers, we left the park for our mid-day break but went left to World of Disney where we finally found a spirit jersey in Chesney’s size in a color she wanted. She didn’t want one of the princess themed jerseys and she didn’t want black or olive green. She was looking for blue, lavender or sea foam green. We finally found a denim blue jersey in medium at World of Disney. Also that day we finally found the shirt we’d been wanting for Brady and a shirt Dan had been wanting but hadn’t been able to find in his size. That’s another tip -- if you find a shirt you want and they have it in your size, get it there. There were several times we’d see one we wanted but they’d only have big sizes available (which works well for me) and we’d end up going to 3 or 4 other stores to find the size we wanted. And in the case of Brady’s shirt, I’d seen it Day 1 but then couldn’t remember where I saw it when I was ready to buy. Good news is that we found them all. So there's my shopping tip.

Also, it is currently near 90 degrees in Kansas and every day I walk into my closet and see my spirit jersey hanging there and I want to wear it SO FREAKING BAD. And it's just too hot. I just want a nice, crisp, cool day so I can put it on.

With that, I'll end for now. Not sure this was the greatest update unless you really like seeing pictures of food, but it was a nice mid-day for us.
 
Awww, I love that blanket, it's so cute and looks so cozy. Makes me wish I had been able to wait to get a throw for my bed in my apartment while I was in California, I would've gotten one of those.

Mmmm, the PTN lunch looks and sounds delicious. I do believe it is actually spelled panna cotta so I don't think you're wrong and yes I would swallow that whole. I'm sorry that the food didn't sit well with Dan. Always how it works with food that is really REALLY enjoyable.

Yay for Racers and Spirit Jerseys! I love how you all look like you're on Rock n Roller Coaster or something with those faces, it's perfection. Lowkey disappointed Ches wasn't drawn to any of the princess spirit jerseys but to each their own. The Blue Denim one is really cute.

Can't wait to hear about the second half of your day! :mickeyjum
 
Super cute blanket! And it was 104 here in AZ yesterday, so I totally hear you on needing some cooler weather. It's usually more like after Halloween before we get any "fall"-feeling weather. Boo. I'm just hoping southern CA doesn't have a little heat wave for our Halloween party next Monday. It likes to do that when I go there. Helping me feel at home? Who knows.... Yes, RSR and Guardians are both rough if you have someone putting their hands up in front of you. I've never had a good RSR pic of me anyway, since my mouth is invariably open strangely and my hair is more often than not across my own face! :) How fun to find the perfect souvenirs you were looking for!
 
Awww, I love that blanket, it's so cute and looks so cozy. Makes me wish I had been able to wait to get a throw for my bed in my apartment while I was in California, I would've gotten one of those.

Mmmm, the PTN lunch looks and sounds delicious. I do believe it is actually spelled panna cotta so I don't think you're wrong and yes I would swallow that whole. I'm sorry that the food didn't sit well with Dan. Always how it works with food that is really REALLY enjoyable.

Yay for Racers and Spirit Jerseys! I love how you all look like you're on Rock n Roller Coaster or something with those faces, it's perfection. Lowkey disappointed Ches wasn't drawn to any of the princess spirit jerseys but to each their own. The Blue Denim one is really cute.

Can't wait to hear about the second half of your day! :mickeyjum

Thanks so much for reading and responding and encouraging!

Super cute blanket! And it was 104 here in AZ yesterday, so I totally hear you on needing some cooler weather. It's usually more like after Halloween before we get any "fall"-feeling weather. Boo. I'm just hoping southern CA doesn't have a little heat wave for our Halloween party next Monday. It likes to do that when I go there. Helping me feel at home? Who knows.... Yes, RSR and Guardians are both rough if you have someone putting their hands up in front of you. I've never had a good RSR pic of me anyway, since my mouth is invariably open strangely and my hair is more often than not across my own face! :) How fun to find the perfect souvenirs you were looking for!

Yesterday Ches got to break out her spirit jersey! I did not because my school district keeps my room on the warm side (but we totally rigged up a dehumidifier that tricks the a/c into keeping it about 2 degrees cooler than district approved) but Ches wore her spirit jersey all day and said it was perfect. It was never above 60 degrees all day. It was wonderful. This week it isn't supposed to get above 80, so still short sleeve weather, but I'm sure washing all our hoodies right now..
 
Shopping done, it was back to the hotel to relax. At 2 pm, I was able to pick up a MaxPass for Toy Story Midway Mania for later that evening. I think this is one of my favorite MaxPass features -- being able to book a pass for later in the evening while sitting in the hotel with my feet up.

After our break at the hotel, we left to head back to the parks about 3:30 because we wanted to catch the 4:15 show at the Royal Theater. We’d seen Tangled earlier in the week and wanted to catch the Beauty and the Beast version. This is such a hidden gem. It made us laugh, let us see a princess (and the gasps when Belle came out in her ball gown!) and we just really enjoyed it.

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I had booked a Buzz MP as we entered the park and after the show we walked over to ride and it was crazy! The Fastpass return line was so backed up. I bet we waited in line 10 minutes just to scan in and Disney had upper level management out trying to get the line moving again. I’m not sure if the ride had gone down or what but it was one of the stranger things that happened that week. The good thing about Buzz is that the Fastpass line once you scan in is really short before you’re on the ride (unlike, say, Indy, where the Fastpass and standby line merge way before you get anywhere near the ride).

On the way out, we shopped Main Street and planned to pick up that 3rd spirit jersey but we decided to ask Kiah which color she’d like and she was working a 12 hour shift at the hospital and we didn’t get a quick answer. We went ahead and crossed over to California Adventure, and then of course she texted with her answer (she went for rose gold) and then they didn’t have her size in CA. Ah well, we had another day.

I was hungry by this time but Dan wasn’t very hungry at all so we decided to go back to Flo’s for a second try. We bought 2 of the club sandwiches this time plus an extra order of fries and then split them between the three of us.

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When we were done eating, DJ was out having his dance party so we stopped to watch that for awhile...

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And then we messed around in Radiator Springs for a bit waiting for our MaxPass time...

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We rode the Racers and then next up was our MP for Toy Story Midway Mania so we headed over that way and ended up stalling waiting for our time to come up. It was kind of strange because with the construction, the Fastpass return line got pushed back pretty far and so it was hard to judge when to get in line to be at the front when it was our time. We figured it out (just got in line 5 minutes early because the guy working the line said that we could scan in five minutes early) and had fun on the ride, even though it got stopped a couple times. Unlike Buzz, you can’t rack up more points when you get stopped on Toy Story because it just converts to zero points on screen, but you can practice your accuracy.

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Or you can just try to hit the characters. Not that I did that.

By this time, it was around 7:45 pm and seating for Paint the Night started at 8, so I went ahead and got in line for it and sent Dan and Ches to get ice cream. I got to have my one and only Mickey Bar that night while waiting for the line to start moving.

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We were I think 3rd in line for the Paint the Night reserved seating and I knew we were going to try to pull off watching the parade and then seeing fireworks, so I was checking out the area and trying to figure out what would get us out of CA quickest and over to Disneyland. When we were let in at 8, the groups in front of us went to the left (where there were actual benches) but we went clear to the right and I spread out our blanket right at the edge of the reserved seating area. What this meant is that someone else sat down right beside us on the other side of the rope at the same time and had essentially the same view but didn’t pay what we did. However, we got a really good meal out of it, so I wasn’t feeling bad about it.

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The view from our seats.


 
Argh. So sorry I didn't update last weekend. And then this is my husband's 50th birthday and he and I just got back from a quick weekend in Branson, so I'm still exhausted. But I'm going to finish out this day of our trip...

Since we were seated about an hour early, we had an hour to kill while waiting. This involved playing Emoji Blitz, getting Photopass pictures taken, Dan laying down because he’s old and it was too much work to sit up, and other ridiculous things.

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At about 8:45 pm, they took down the rope around our area and told us they’d be rechecking our reserved section passes (they had hole punched them when we went in) but they never did that second part. We could hear the parade coming long before we could see it and there seemed to be some big gaps between the floats but it was so much fun and we loved every minute of it. Such a fun catchy song.

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As the last float passed, we got up and followed the parade until we could make a left, then headed for the exit gate, across the esplanade, and into Disneyland just as the first of the fireworks went off. We were able to squeeze into the crowd on main street just even with the Emporium and were able to see most of the Main Street projections and the fireworks over the castle.

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And that is when I decided we’d do it right the next night. But for now, watch the fireworks, turn around and exit again and head back to our hotel. It was a very full day, but very fun and we only had one more day to enjoy it all.

Day Seven Part One Together Forever
 
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I just found your trip report and read it all in one night! I love all of your photos, and you and Ches have some of the best shirts! Where do you get them all?? We are going on our first trip to Disneyland (also our first time in California) this spring and this has me so excited!
 
I just found your trip report and read it all in one night! I love all of your photos, and you and Ches have some of the best shirts! Where do you get them all?? We are going on our first trip to Disneyland (also our first time in California) this spring and this has me so excited!

Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed. You reminded me that one of my new year's resolutions was to finish this thing -- one day left, so I think I'll get to that soon!
 
Day Seven
Together Forever

We woke up on Friday, our last full day, with two goals in mind: see Mickey and the Magical Map and see the fireworks from Main Street.

The universe had other plans.

Ches gets some funky things with her health sometimes. One time about five years ago, she woke up one morning with half her face swollen. At first she’d thought it was a pimple that got infected, but when I took her to the doctor, the doctor was convinced it was a sinus infection even though she had no other cold symptoms. Regardless, some antibiotics and oral steroids took care of it pretty quickly.

You get where this is going right? She started swelling on Thursday (again, she had a pimple on the side of her nose where it was swelling and it did seem to be infected) and when she woke up Friday morning, the left side of her face had swollen so much she couldn’t even open that eye. She didn’t feel bad at all she was just so swollen she couldn’t see.

And this is where I’m thankful that our medical insurance includes the Teladoc service. I was able to call and get her added to our account (I could have done it online, but I only had my phone and all that info is on my laptop) and I was able to get her set up with a video chat with a doctor licensed in California immediately. Since she’s 18, she had to give permission for me to have access to her account, but it was done very quickly -- didn’t even really delay us -- and she did a video chat with the doctor, who also asked to talk to me. He was concerned, as was I, and quickly we had a prescription for oral steroids and Amoxicillin being sent to the Walgreens at the corner of Katella and Harbor. I chose Walgreens because we’ve used them in the past to fill prescriptions when traveling (someone always seems to get sick) and I thought they’d have my insurance information. I sort of forgot that my insurance had changed since we last used them (my job didn’t change, just who they use for insurance so I wasn’t thinking about this).

Anyway, we had decided to do the whole go to CA, hop on Soarin thing and use MaxPass and we started off but then my stomach decided it wasn’t on board and I had to go back to the room before we even got out of the parking lot. And then it turns out we thought we were running late, but the parks actually didn’t open until 9, so we were way early. I met up with Dan and Ches waiting outside CA and it wasn’t long before they let us in, I bought MaxPass and they went to ride Soarin.


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The only photo she'd let me take before we were let into the park. She wasn't upset about the setback, just not feeling very photogenic. But if you look back at the photos from the night before, you can see she's puffy on her right side.
Things did not go as smoothly with this plan as they did the first day. It took them forever to get on the ride and back out. Again, they thought it went fast, so this was probably my perception due to wanting to head to Walgreens and having to wait for them, but they didn’t come out until about 10 till 9 and they’d walked into the queue very quickly after 8:30.

When they got off, I had a MP for Racers at around 9:30, but I knew I’d likely be cancelling it. We headed out of the park and off down Harbor to Katella. It wasn’t a horrible walk (we’d talked about taking an Uber again, but it really didn’t seem that much farther from the Uber pick up/drop off spot). We made it to Walgreens about 9:10 and the pharmacist of course was working alone and hadn’t gotten to the electronically sent prescriptions. I gave him our insurance card, but he said it wasn’t a prescription card (only medical), and I told him we’d just pay cash and submit the claim.

So we sat down so he could work on it (thankfully no one else around) and then I remembered that our local pharmacy is great and got the idea to call them and get our prescription insurance information. It worked out well except they said our company was the one I’d given him the card for and it wasn’t but the pharmacist figured it out. So we were probably there about 20 minutes waiting, paid less than $10 for the 2 prescriptions plus some Sudafed, and then we went to the main part of Walgreens to buy her and I electrolyte water and got her some trail mix to eat with all her meds. She ate and we both drank while walking back to the parks.


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Walking back to Disneyland from the corner of Katella and Harbor. It wasn't a bad walk at all.
I had decided that going into CA and riding Racers and then heading to DL in time to catch Mickey’s show didn’t really sound like a great idea, so I cancelled our Racers MaxPass earlier and picked up a Big Thunder mountain pass that would come up in the next half hour.

Bag check to get back in had sort of been the last thing on my mind, but it was incredibly long and backed up. Definitely the worst security line we waited on the entire week. I don’t know… if I’d thought about it, I could have left my bag with Dan and Ches and just taken my wallet and made the pharmacy walk by myself I guess, but I also felt better having them there as I wasn’t as familiar with the walk and it probably got the meds in Ches a good half hour earlier than it would have if I was delivering them.

Once we were through bag check, the gate lines weren’t long and we were heading towards Big Thunder. Ches used her hair to hide the fact that her face was swollen, which worked for everyone. No scaring young children, she didn’t have to feel self conscious…

And man, I love Big Thunder.


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I just love the little details on Big Thunder.
After our ride through the wilderness, we walked over to the carts outside Haunted Mansion because Ches wanted to pick up some socks -- socks are her *thing* -- and they were running a special where you got two pairs for a discount. She also has a couple friends that love Nightmare Before Christmas so she got a couple of plush Jack Skellington dolls for them.

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Ches wanted a picture of her Disney popsocket in front of the castle. I bought it from an Etsy seller a long time ago, but it was super cute!
Next up was lunch -- it was just around 11 and I wanted to get some food in Ches -- so we walked into Red Rose but there was some kind of funky smell going on in there. They were changing over from breakfast to lunch and we had to wait and during that time whatever the smell was became overpowering and my already rough stomach just went “no.” So we left and decided we’d grab something somewhere else, which was kind of sad. I was dying to try the gray stuff cuz it’s delicious, but you know how when you smell something off you just can’t unsmell it? That was the issue. Like it wasn’t even a bad smell, it was just strong and seemed out of place and that was enough.

We still needed to ride Alice in Wonderland -- it was down the day before during Magic Morning, probably due to the drizzle -- so we went over and jumped in line for it. We maybe waited 20 minutes. I’m pretty sure the sign said 30, but we were on and off within that time. This is such a great dark ride. While I found most of them only mediocre, this one was fun with the integration of the screens and animatronics. Really enjoyed it.


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And we were still hungry and needing lunch in Ches but hey, we were back on track for our last day. Next up? Mickey and the Magical Map!
 
Ehh I'm sorry y'all had such a crazy morning. Poor Ches getting puffy on a Disney vacation, that's no fun, but yay for getting it squared away in the quickest most efficient way possible. Thank goodness for Disneyland being that close to everything (side note: you know you really miss a place when someone mentions an off-property location and you know EXACTLY where that is)!

Glad to hear you still made it for Soarin' and Big Thunder. I also agree that Alice in Wonderland is a really well done dark ride at Disneyland. I think their Peter Pan's Flight is the best or Haunted Mansion (even though I think Magic Kingdom's is superior) but that ride got a nice upgrade with the video element. Also, the outdoor part is quite fun and has a fab view.

So excited to hear about your experience with Magical Map! I'm sure it was AMAZING (I was just looking at my TimeHop and seeing my first experience at Map (my first trip to DLR was a year ago) so I'm very nostalgic for that show atm)) :mickeyjum
 

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