A Year of Disney: The Cousins One Before All the Crazy (March 9-10 2020)

[Jaina]

A continuation of a year of trips (with my new Flex pass) that started in Nov 2019! #013220

So here we were again, planning a trip that has become familiar to me this year (yay AP!) and even my daughter, (D12) who had been twice in the year before it already, but which was very exciting for some other people. My sister-in-law (A) is about 5 years younger than me, and is a single mom. She hasn't been to Disneyland since the trip we took when DH and I were engaged where both of our families went, when she was 17. (Mar 2005) So it had been 15 years. And she went 2-3 times as a child before that. Her first time was actually when she was almost a year old, and she broke her leg right before they went, so she had a cast with lots of Disney character signatures on it. (Not that one-year-olds care about such things, but it's a fun story.) She is a fun-loving kind of person, and was very excited for this trip. She suffers from a bit of motion sickness, but does okay at least once on most things. Her favorite ride is Grizzly River Rapids.

(that's A and I to the left of Pooh in 2005. A few of my siblings on the right)

Her daughter (C11) is 11, and sometimes think she's way older, so my daughter and I were a little worried about her enjoying DL, and if not, making it sad or stressful for DD12.


My SIL has wanted to take a trip for years, but this year was finally caught up enough that she was able to use her bonus at work to bankroll this trip, and she asked if we might go too, to help her plan everything and so C11 would have fun having her cousin along to show her all the fun stuff. It was kind of exciting figuring out a good time, but we finally did, and had it planned for the first few days of our spring break. (Since it was easier for me to not have to try to find a sub for my microschool class, or cancel).


I had several different hotel reservations in the months leading up to our trip, and we were finally set to stay at the Motel 6 on the west side of Harbor. But I found a good deal on an app for the Cortona, and since we'd stayed there before and I knew the rooms were pretty decent (vs never staying at the Motel 6) I switched our reservation over there. It was nonrefundable, but 6 days before I was feeling pretty good about that. We were planning to arrive Sunday, spend Monday at Disneyland, Tuesday at CA, and travel home Wednesday. As we were getting ready for our trip, we started hearing stuff about coronavirus, and though it made me slightly nervous, we weren't going to cancel our trip or anything. None of us are immunocompromised, and we weren't traveling with littles who lick things they shouldn't. We were extra diligent about washing our hands on the trip, but otherwise didn't pay any extra attention. (As you all know, right after we returned home, DL announced its March 14th closure the next weekend!)

Anyway, that's most of the prequel stuff. Onto our trip and how it all went down! Did C11 have fun, or did she find it all too babyish? How did our pre-teens get along with so much time together? Where is the best spot in DL to lay down and rest for a few minutes? The plan was to open and close our park of choice each day. Did we make it? Did we get to ride ROTR? So much excitement ahead!

 

[Jaina]

They came down to our house the night before we left (about a 2.5 hour drive from southeast AZ) and spent the night on couches, and we left pretty early Sunday morning to drive to Anaheim. A gets carsick, so she drove like 3/4 of the time, which was a nice change for me. We didn't run into any accidents or major traffic, and made decent time from Mesa, hitting Huntington Beach about 1 PM.

C11 had never seen the Pacific Ocean, so they were pretty excited to check it out, and get some playtime in. It was still pretty cold in early March, but they lasted until about 2:30, and then we decided to go check into our hotel. We wanted a rest before we checked out Downtown Disney that night.

Like I said, we were staying at the Cortona Inn & Suites, and the regular queen room was very much like the suite my family stayed in the April before this. Basic, clean, but updated-ish and nice. The girls wanted to swim, since they were already in their swimsuits, and the pool was mildly heated, so A hung out with them down there while I relaxed in the room. One of my favorite movie, Last Holiday with Queen Latifah was on TV, so I caught the last 45 minutes of that.

At about 5:30 the girls were all showered up, and we headed over to the Toy Story lot to catch the tram to DTD. Since our last time we used this shuttle, they moved the on/off point to way over in the back corner, which honestly makes me less likely to stay across from the lot in the future, just because it's more walking than it used to be. It's just not as much of a perk, you know? I know the point of the lot is NOT so people from those hotels can catch a ride, but it's been nice on several trips until now. (btw, I had found cute Disneyland sweatshirts for A and C11 at the Disney outlet in Tempe before our trip. So they got them for like $18 each instead of $25-50. Score!

DTD is always a hit, and we thoroughly explored the World of Disney (where C11 spent much of her souvenir money on a Loungefly bag for her souvenir. My AP discount is very helpful on bigger purchases like that!) and then got the little mini beignets at the Jazz Kitchen Express. One bag was plenty for four of us to get a good taste.

We showed them the Grand Californian lobby (and ran into Pluto - what in the world kind of hat was he wearing??), and when we were looking at the pool area, a cast member asked if we wanted to go in and check it out. That was really fun, since there's a good chance we'll never stay there. It's just SO. MUCH. MONEY. and I don't see us ever having so much money (with 5 kids) that we want to splurge on rooms there. You never know though.

We decided to eat something at the newly renovated Craftsman Grill, and ended up splitting a pepperoni pizza. I don't know what style it was (very thin crust) but it was pretty good.

We headed back to our room around 8, because we wanted plenty of time to settle in and get a good night's sleep!

 

[noodle73]

Oh YAY! A new trip report! I have missed trip reports. You made it *just* in time!

PS: I also love Last Holiday... The secret to life is BUTTER.

 

[AuntieMe3]

Also happy to read a report....and I love that movie too.

 

[Jaina]

Oh YAY! A new trip report! I have missed trip reports. You made it *just* in time!

PS: I also love Last Holiday... The secret to life is BUTTER.

<3 It is the best. And yes, I was kind of avoiding the boards for the first 6 weeks or so because it was just so depressing to think about not being able to go for some time, or things not being the same for a while. Or maybe ever. But it WILL open, and and it will still be Disneyland, and there will still be magic. Maybe just not as much for a while, without parades and fireworks and everything. Anyway, it seemed like a good time to get caught up. (Also, so I will stop booking different hotels every 2 weeks for the next few months on booking.com, trying to anticipate when I might be able to go next!)

Also happy to read a report....and I love that movie too.

Thanks for reading! That movie is definitely underrated.

 

[Jaina]

The first day!! So excited guys, let me tell you. We were up nice and early, and chose to walk in from our hotel at the Cortona rather than walk over to the Toy Story shuttle and wait. It was o-dark-thirty (actually 6:20 AM) when we left our hotel, and the sunrise was a good one. Though, I would venture that any sunrise at Disneyland is a great sunrise. The walk was about 15 minutes, and there was a small wait at security. We were definitely not the first ones there! (for an 8 AM opening on a Monday during early spring break "season."

We watched the lines as they "split" and joined one where we were 2nd or 3rd in line. Always nice. They started scanning people in at 7:15, and we didn't have long to wait. We also ran into some friends from home (the whole family of one of the couples DH and I had dinner with the last time we were at Disneyland) right as we walked through the turnstiles, so we got a fun "front of the train station picture." Those are rare for us. We usually have things we want to do at park opening more than we want to wait in any kind of picture line. Alongside my annual pass, the other three 1-park-per-day tickets were all bought from Getawaytoday, (I believe) and though GAT had told me not to scan them into my app, when I went to the ticket booth the night before the CM at the start of the line told me they were fine to just be scanned in, and they worked perfectly.

We enjoyed Main Street as we walked in, but proceeded straight to the Walt & Mickey statue (and joined our from-home friends so we could chat with them while we waited for rope drop) because with only one day at Disneyland to try to get EVERYTHING important to them (and us) in, we had to hit the ground running. (Er, walking with purpose.) I very much wanted this to be a great trip for SIL and C11, since I didn't know if they'd be able to make another trip happen, especially not while C11 was still young. This was the trip! (And, of course, I wanted it to be as great as possible for my daughter, since she had saved up the money for much of her ticket again, and always has her hopes up for the best trip at Disney. There wasn't much that -I- had to do. That's the great thing about having a pas. I don't ever have to feel any urgency on my behalf to get a certain thing done, because I know I'll be back soon, and I can make it happen later. I really enjoy helping others have great trips with my experience though!) And of course, I helped them grab pictures in important spots. Some people like to just live in the moment, but I'm a picture/video person (obviously) and I love to be able to relive a lot of those moments later. Sometimes it's hard to balance those two things. (Preserving the memories while not missing out on the now!)

So rope drop happened not too long after 7:50, and we walked with purpose to Peter Pan. If the line was too long we were prepared to head to Alice instead, but the line was as short as I've ever seen it at opening. Most people were hanging back a little, worried about getting a ROTR pass. I was also worried about this, but knew we had a good chance of backups even if that short ride interfered with our signal, so I took the chance and entered the line. We were like third in line I want to say, and walked right on at 7:59. Yikes!

I definitely did not enjoy that ride of Peter Pan as much as I usually do, because I was watching my phone switch to 8:00, poised above the "Find Out More" button. But it was worth it, because WHILE riding Peter Pan, I scored this!

There was some internal celebrating, a sigh of relief, and I thoroughly enjoyed the last 45 seconds or so of Peter Pan! Totally worth it though, because SIL and C11 had never ridden that one, and it was going to be harder to fit it in later in the day when I knew there would be a 30-40 min line.
Dumbo was still walk-on at 8:04, so we jumped in that line next! We had to wait one ride cycle, but rode it at 8:08. The girls wanted to ride together, so SIL and I got in a Dumbo together. Um, Dumbo is a champ. Neither of us are at our lightest weights right now, and he hung right in there!

Alice was up next, with a very short wait (we rode at 8:17) and I enjoy that one even more than Peter Pan since they re-did it. Definitely a Fantasyland favorite!

Then it was on to Mr. Toad's (a little more line, but we rode at 8:35), which always amazes me (when I ride it every few years) with how kooky it is. SIL was thoroughly entertained by us going to hell...

It was time to use our first fastpass (yay Maxpass!) and we cut through the castle towards Tomorrowland. Guess who we ran into, all by her lonesome! I'm glad we met her, because the girls aren't quite into princesses anymore (at least not enough to stand in a long line with a bunch of little kids) but they still like them. Aurora is one of my favorites, just because Sleeping Beauty is probably my favorite classic film. And I definitely had a cartoon-guy-crush on Prince Phillip...

In Tomorrowland we ended up with back to back fastpasses for Star Tours (8:45 - They liked it, but we got the far right in the very back. Definitely not ideal seats. I always try to take the worst seat in those cases, though, since I get to ride often!), Space Mountain (9:15, which C11 loved!), and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (9:24 - they enjoyed this one.) So the park opened at 8:00 and by 9:30 we had already ridden 7 attractions and taken a character picture. A good start! Only 14-ish hours to go! But how long would we have to wait for ROTR?

 

[RedHotMama]

Oooh! I am loving this trip! The pictures of the cousins are all so cute. And it looks like your SIL and C11 had a really fun time! I wonder if they know how much is because you are so good at planning.

But it was worth it, because WHILE riding Peter Pan, I scored this!

Yay!! I've read about how fast those boarding passes disappear and I was thinking you're crazy for not pausing for a minute to get one before the ride. Good call! Totally worked out.

Um, Dumbo is a champ.

So the park opened at 8:00 and by 9:30 we had already ridden 7 attractions and taken a character picture. A good start!

Wow! What an awesome morning! Looking forward to what happened next.

 

[CandyMouse]

Wow, it looks like you're off to a great start! Looks like you had a fun time with your SIL and her dd and yours! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[Jaina]

Wow, it looks like you're off to a great start! Looks like you had a fun time with your SIL and her dd and yours! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

Thanks for reading along!

Yay!! I've read about how fast those boarding passes disappear and I was thinking you're crazy for not pausing for a minute to get one before the ride. Good call! Totally worked out.

Wow! What an awesome morning! Looking forward to what happened next.

I won't lie - I was pretty nervous. But those long Peter Pan lines at almost every other time of life made me unable to wait it out for three more minutes, apparently! I really wanted them to get to ride it, and I thought I had a good chance of getting a decent boarding group within the first 2-4 minutes that day with how fast they had been going, and with how many backups they -usually- got to. I hoped, and it worked out just fine, but it was definitely a gamble.

 

[Jaina]

The girls had been wanting to stop for a snack, so when we saw the Tomorrowland churro cart was down to 1-2 people waiting when we got off of Buzz, we jumped in line. Four churros later, we were a happy company. (9:51 am) Whatever the special churro was didn't appeal much to us, I guess, because we went classic. I'm not sure if my daughter has had a whole churro to herself (the dark side of having lots of siblings and a also having a mom who doesn't want to eat a whole one by herself usually), so she was excited. I think there was a bathroom break in there, too.

They had finally started boarding for ROTR, so we meandered over to Galaxy's Edge for their first look. None of those three had seen it before, so we just walked all over and checked everything out. They called our group pretty quickly, and we waited in line just over 30 minutes (we rode at 10:35). They loved it, and I don't think anyone got sick, so that was awesome! I love this picture I got of my niece during some part of it too.

It was time for our Matterhorn FP, so we headed over to Fantasyland to ride that one (rode at 11:10). It really is rough, but it has kind of grown on me. Even though the new yeti is even scarier to my adult self than Harold was to my child self...

We wanted to check out the Disneyland Railroad, and be sure to include the cool Grand Canyon/Dinosaur diorama (which SIL didn't even remember existed) so we went over to Toontown and caught the train at 11:30. I really prefer the outward-facing seats, and we got the forward-facing ones, but obviously we're never that choosy when a train shows up.

We didn't have anything else coming up for a few hours at this point, and C11 had really been wanting to check out Tom Sawyer's Island. SIL needed to go out of security and do a midday smoke, so I got my favorite snack (popcorn) and took the girls over on the ferry. They had fun, even though it was pretty warm by now. I was having a lot of trouble with my feet hurting (on the tops, randomly) and was cursing the craziness of the last year and the subsequent 30 lbs I had gained. Not acceptable for it to interfere with my enjoyment of Disneyland and my ability to put in a good 30k step day! I'm working on that right now, and hopefully by my next visit I'll be feeling a little better. But I channeled my dad (at about my age) and took a rest on the benches at Tom Sawyer Island. Unless it's really busy, no one looks twice at you stretched out on one of those while your (older) kids run wild for a few minutes. (12:20 PM)

SIL joined us and we went back over to the "Mainland." We waited in line for POTC for a few minutes, but while I was watching the app, the line jumped from 20 minutes to 35, and we had a lunch reservation we needed to make before the wait + the 15-20 minute ride would release us. So we skipped out of line and headed over to ride Winnie the Pooh. (1:15)

DD12 had her heart set on trying a Tigger Tail, so we collectively spent like $45 at the little shop by WtP. How does that happen so easily at Disney? I was glad DD and I shared one (and also some toffee!) because I really did not care for it, after anticipating trying it all these years. I think it was the combo of the caramel with the flavored coating, but nah. Super cute for pictures though. DD liked it.

It was about time for our lunch reservation, so it was time to split up for a bit!

 

[RedHotMama]

..

Oh my goodness, I love your's and Jaina's matching shirts!

 

[Jaina]

Oh my goodness, I love your's and Jaina's matching shirts!

Thanks! Actually, all four of us have the same shirt, because my SIL has a friend who she got to make the shirts for this trip!

 

[crystal1313]

Loving reading along!

 

[Jaina]

Loving reading along!

Thanks! So glad you're here!

 

[Jaina]

We are heading out of town for a few days (the kids and I, to meet up with some of my family at our cabin at 9500 feet - SO excited to get out of the Phoenix heat for a few days!) and the reservation system had BETTER wait until I get back, haha! I would really love to go opening day with my Flex pass, if I can swing it. It's just so historic, and I feel comfortable taking just myself. I wouldn't take my kids between the required masks and the covid risks, (because they're not overly sanitary, like many kids) but I will totally try to be there for the reopening and 65th birthday if I can get a reservation! My husband is supposed to keep an eye on things, and he followed Getawaytoday for me on FB, because I'm sure they'll go live when they hear about the reservation system. But I would rather him not have that pressure, so I hope it happens next week! Waiting for DH to get back with our van (it is new to us, but having some alignment issues...) and then we'll load up and move out! (It's about a 4 hour drive)

Oh, in other news, we are now dog owners. Meet Chewy, (yes, they named him for Chewbacca) an 8-year-old English Mastiff, who needed a new home when his owners were moving and had a house fire, which leads to them being in a rental for the next year while they rebuild. He is massive, but doesn't bark, lick, or jump, and is great with kids. So, yeah...

Back to our regularly scheduled trip report! (At least until my van gets back)


We split up with C11 and SIL (I don't remember what they were going to do - I guess go find some late lunch!) because DD12 and I had reservations at Cafe Orleans. The menu hadn't looked interesting to the other two or they would have come with us. We sat inside this time, and though service was a bit slow, DD got to try her first Monte Cristo. She thought it was good, but I don't know if she'd pick it again.

We finished lunch about 2-2:20 PM and met back up. We decided to go on the Jungle Cruise next! The line was a little long (it did go upstairs) but not too bad. We enjoyed our cruise. Our skipper wasn't one of the better ones I've had, but he did have a few good lines. Oh man, that's all I have time for!

 

[CandyMouse]

How fun, I love your matching shirts and minnie ears! I really enjoy your trip reports and pictures, I almost feel like I'm there with you! I've never tried the tigger tail or the monte cristo, they look kind of interesting and sweet and I'd like to try sometime, maybe just split with someone. Congrats on your new dog, how exciting for you and your family! I'm sure hoping my family and I will get to go to DL soon, we had to change our April trip to September, but we may change again since we have my SIL and D-nephew going with for the first time! I want them to enjoy all the entertainment and fun ( without masks) that Disney has to offer. We're all older and are going for my son's High School graduation ( any excuse I can think of! Lol!) We try to go about every 3 yrs if possible!

 

[RedHotMama]

Oh, in other news, we are now dog owners.

What a cute dog! I think I enjoy old dogs more than puppies now. I can keep up with them better and they're more calm.

 

[Jaina]

How fun, I love your matching shirts and minnie ears! I really enjoy your trip reports and pictures, I almost feel like I'm there with you! I've never tried the tigger tail or the monte cristo, they look kind of interesting and sweet and I'd like to try sometime, maybe just split with someone. Congrats on your new dog, how exciting for you and your family! I'm sure hoping my family and I will get to go to DL soon, we had to change our April trip to September, but we may change again since we have my SIL and D-nephew going with for the first time! I want them to enjoy all the entertainment and fun ( without masks) that Disney has to offer. We're all older and are going for my son's High School graduation ( any excuse I can think of! Lol!) We try to go about every 3 yrs if possible!

Thank you!! Whatever the Tigger Tail is dipped in has an orangey taste to it, which was my issue. I would have enjoyed it much more with milk chocolate to accompany the marshmallows and caramel. I hope your September trip pans out, but if not, a trip in the spring would be really nice, and you would probably have more entertainment! I'm looking forward to more winter/spring trips since my pass will be extended past my normal mid-November expiration date.

What a cute dog! I think I enjoy old dogs more than puppies now. I can keep up with them better and they're more calm.

Thanks! He is a sweetheart. No telling how long he'll be with us, but hopefully he is having a decent life here with us. I feel bad about the heat, because he's never been inside, so he's an outside dog (and he was before, in this climate). Our house is not quite up to having a 150-lb shedding, drooling dude in here just yet (we might try it in a few months) so for now he has his own giant wading pool that I keep full, and he goes and gets nice and wet several times in the afternoon. We also turn the sprinkler on for him when the kids are in the pool, and for about 3 minutes he acts like a puppy. (Before he goes to lay down and rest, haha)

 

[noodle73]

Aww, Chewy looks like such a sweet old dog!

The Tigger Tail would be a hard pass for me... But it IS super cute for photos.

We aren't planning to go until November but I really hope reservations open up soon so I can get it settled. It would be really cool if you could go on July 17th - Hope it works out for you!

 

[Jaina]

Aww, Chewy looks like such a sweet old dog!

The Tigger Tail would be a hard pass for me... But it IS super cute for photos.

We aren't planning to go until November but I really hope reservations open up soon so I can get it settled. It would be really cool if you could go on July 17th - Hope it works out for you!

Thanks! He is sweet!
Yeah, I can't recommend it, but I know lots of people love them, which is why we tried it!
I hope things are much more normal by November. There's just no telling! I predict after the election everything will calm right down... I am hopeful for opening, especially since the hotels won't be open yet, so maybe AP's will get first crack at it. However, I'm nervous about them actually getting state approval to open then. I'll breathe more easily when I see that news!