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

Loving the TR! Would love to hear where you have a cabin. We've been trying to get one for years but life keeps getting in the way. We also have a Chewy, but a Maine Coon stray who likes our property. He's a gentle giant and I feel for him being an outside cat.
 
Loving the TR! Would love to hear where you have a cabin. We've been trying to get one for years but life keeps getting in the way. We also have a Chewy, but a Maine Coon stray who likes our property. He's a gentle giant and I feel for him being an outside cat.

Thanks! I've been meaning to work on it more, but life has been crazy, even without our normally scheduled summer activities. We have been trying Chewy inside (just laying in the kitchen on a blanket) because it's so, SO hot out. He did well so far, but the whole house smelled a bit like large dog. :) "Our" cabin belongs to my parents, and it's on Mt. Graham, just southwest of Safford, AZ. It's actually forest service land, and there are only a couple dozen cabins on the whole mountain, but my great grandfather and my grandpa had cabins up there, which is how we got into owning one up there. There aren't usually any for purchase, and it's not a luxury stay by any means. :) With no cell signal and only a generator for electricity, it's more like fancy camping. :) But the cabin sleeps about 13-15 in a pinch, and we've been known to put up a few tents behind on busy weekends. Usually there's not too many people up there, though, and it's a beautiful, fascinating mountain. I would highly suggest it for a weekend trip, maybe staying in a motel down in Safford, and going up for the day. There is a little lake with some good trout fishing (Rigg's Lake) and some beautiful vistas and photography opportunities. It's quite rough up there, but the road stays passable thanks to the forest service and U of A, which has their huge telescope up there near Columbine, where our cabin is located. Safford is around 3 hours from the Valley (through Globe) and the top of Mt. Graham is maybe another 1.5 hours (mostly because you can only go 10-30 mph up the road). It's at about 10,000 feet though, and the weather is beautiful, with highs in the 70's even in the heat of summer. Anyway, that's my mountain spiel. :)
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Thanks! I've been meaning to work on it more, but life has been crazy, even without our normally scheduled summer activities. We have been trying Chewy inside (just laying in the kitchen on a blanket) because it's so, SO hot out. He did well so far, but the whole house smelled a bit like large dog. :) "Our" cabin belongs to my parents, and it's on Mt. Graham, just southwest of Safford, AZ. It's actually forest service land, and there are only a couple dozen cabins on the whole mountain, but my great grandfather and my grandpa had cabins up there, which is how we got into owning one up there. There aren't usually any for purchase, and it's not a luxury stay by any means. :) With no cell signal and only a generator for electricity, it's more like fancy camping. :) But the cabin sleeps about 13-15 in a pinch, and we've been known to put up a few tents behind on busy weekends. Usually there's not too many people up there, though, and it's a beautiful, fascinating mountain. I would highly suggest it for a weekend trip, maybe staying in a motel down in Safford, and going up for the day. There is a little lake with some good trout fishing (Rigg's Lake) and some beautiful vistas and photography opportunities. It's quite rough up there, but the road stays passable thanks to the forest service and U of A, which has their huge telescope up there near Columbine, where our cabin is located. Safford is around 3 hours from the Valley (through Globe) and the top of Mt. Graham is maybe another 1.5 hours (mostly because you can only go 10-30 mph up the road). It's at about 10,000 feet though, and the weather is beautiful, with highs in the 70's even in the heat of summer. Anyway, that's my mountain spiel. :)
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Looks like heaven to me.
 
Back to our regularly scheduled trip report! I keep hoping that if I'm slow enough, by the time I'm done with this I'll have another trip to plan, but that may not happen. Sigh.

Where were we? Right after the jungle cruise? It was almost 3 PM, and I took the girls up through Tarzan's treehouse. My SIL didn't go with us, but I can't remember if it was a heights issue or if her knees hurt on so many stairs. Mine did, haha! It's great to get old. They enjoyed exploring everything. :) I like how Disneyland can let little "mini adults" act like kids. I like how real adults can act like kids, too...
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Immediately after that, it was time for Pirates of the Caribbean, and we waited 15-20 minutes. (Also, this is probably as close as I'll get to Club 33, haha!) I don't necessarily enjoy Pirates as much as most of the other rides, but it's so impressive and immersive and awesome in that regard. My SIL loves it. On hot days, it's even more enjoyable to get down there in the dark a/c, and it's something we usually do in the afternoon when our feet need a break.
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After that, and a quick Adventureland bathroom break, we had a FP for IASW, and got on just before 4 PM. It was funny to think that we did the three big "boat rides" all back to back. A good idea though, in the middle of the afternoon. I highly recommend it!
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Shortly before 4:30, I offered to set up and hold onto a good spot on Main Street for our group for the new 6 PM "Magic Happens" parade. That's one of my favorite things about having an AP: Since I get to go often, I don't mind giving up my time to wait for things like that to make sure that those who are with me (who don't get to go often) can have a good view of things. It's going to a very weird year or two at Disneyland while everything is so different. I will miss the parade and shows, but I'm curious to see what positive differences there might be to experience. While I waited, the other three went and got our Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sundaes from the Golden Horsheshoe Cafe. My SIL (on the other side, haha) had seen a pic of one online, and wanted us to try them. :) They were very good, but we had a hard time finishing them (we split two between the four of us) and there was the incident where I accidentally dropped a bunch of pressed quarters and change into one of them. Ew. My SIL took this opportunity while we were waiting and close to the entrance to go outside and smoke. We tried to save some ice cream for her, haha.
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The parade was very good, and we enjoyed it a lot. I feel like it's shorter than Soundsational but great music and fun visuals. I had several favorite parts, including the Moana dancers, the big spirit guide (Pepita?) from Coco, and the King Arthur float. I was so excited about that one! It had been delayed about 15-20 minutes for some reason, but at least it happened. It's the worst to wait 2 hours for something that doesn't happen! (Been there, done that, a few times at Disney!)
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Since the parade started and ended late, we had been a bit concerned about out BTMRR FP's for 6:50, but we made it over there at 6:45, no problem. I love that ride so much, and it's different at every time of day. Evening and night are my favorite times though! We asked to wait for the back, of course.
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Night is definitely my favorite time to ride Autopia (it was 7:20). The line usually shrinks a lot, and the sun isn't beating you up while you wait in line. This isn't a ride I ever do as an adult by myself, but the kids always love it, so we try to do it anytime we have younger non-real-drivers with us. :) It gives me some of that nostalgia feel, too, of some of the Disneyland-from-days-of-yore, haha. (and a cool pic of the Astro Orbiter on our way over)
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We followed it up with another awesome round on Space Mountain (7:45) and then did a little pin shopping. We decided to split this set, with DD12 stealing the Disneyland sign and Home pin, C11 getting the cute balloons, and I got the placard. I haven't seen it since that trip though. Hmm. I should look for it and see where it ended up!
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I hope you are pressing with ACTUAL copper pennies vs. the junk they pass off these days which is copper coated zinc. We only press with actual copper and silver vs. zinc/bimetal they pass off as coinage these days.
 
Looks like heaven to me.
It really is. I spent so much time up there every summer of my childhood (we almost never go up in the winter because of snow and the water having to be turned off), and at least a piece of most summers since. It's my other Happy Place, along with Disneyland.

I hope you are pressing with ACTUAL copper pennies vs. the junk they pass off these days which is copper coated zinc. We only press with actual copper and silver vs. zinc/bimetal they pass off as coinage these days.
Huh. I've never thought of this, but now I'm intrigued. Sounds like we need to go through our penny collection and find all the really old (read: made until I was born) ones. That sounds like a fun thing to try for. My kids mostly just do them for fun, cheap souvenirs, and don't keep track of most of them, but I would maybe do some for me if it was with old copper pennies. Thanks for the thought!
 
It really is. I spent so much time up there every summer of my childhood (we almost never go up in the winter because of snow and the water having to be turned off), and at least a piece of most summers since. It's my other Happy Place, along with Disneyland.


Huh. I've never thought of this, but now I'm intrigued. Sounds like we need to go through our penny collection and find all the really old (read: made until I was born) ones. That sounds like a fun thing to try for. My kids mostly just do them for fun, cheap souvenirs, and don't keep track of most of them, but I would maybe do some for me if it was with old copper pennies. Thanks for the thought!
We only press pre-81 pennies. For the shiny coins, actual Silver coins.
 


We had a little while to wait before our next FP, so we headed to Fantasyland (by way of the castle - just quick iphone shots that don't look amazing) and rode Pinocchio (8:30 PM), did some mystery pin trading, and rode the Casey Jr. train (8:55), which I don't know if I've EVER ridden. If I have, it was one one of my earliest trips at 3 or 6. That was kind of fun, though a little interesting in the dark.
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Our FP was up for the Matterhorn at 9:20. That one is always fun in the dark, with all the beautiful lights from all over when you go through the outside portions. <3
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After that we were lucky enough to find a Photopass photographer without much line in one of my favorite nighttime spots. These were the only Photopass photos we got that day (other than Space Mountain) so I was so glad we made it happen!
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We walked out right as Mickey's Mix Magic was starting, and even though there were no fireworks (because it was getting stormy?) it was fun. I like this picture I got of SIL and C11.
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SIL was hungry, so we went over to Frontierland and got her a corn dog. While we waited, we tried to decide what we were going to do. We had FP's for Splash Mountain, but C11 had been nervous about that one, and honestly I think she was just completely worn out. She's used to staying up late, but not to getting up early and walking all over creation all day! We had planned specifically for this moment, though, and were staying close enough that they could go back to the motel on their own, and we could stay, so DD12 wasn't sad.
 
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and rode the Casey Jr. train (8:55), which I don't know if I've EVER ridden. If I have, it was one one of my earliest trips at 3 or 6..

Casey Jr Train is so cute. I bet your littles would enjoy it too.
 
Yay, love seeing more of your trip report! Great pictures and looks like you all had a lot of fun, I love Disney rides at night, so much fun! My favorite is Thunder Mountain!
 
Matterhorn at night is SOOOO much better. Loving the TR, keeping me upbeat
Agreed. I kind of tolerate it during the day (because of its roughness), for historical value, and to hear other people (and myself) scream at Harold 2, but I enjoy it a lot more at night, especially during the holidays when IASW it so colorful.
Casey Jr Train is so cute. I bet your littles would enjoy it too.
I'm sure they would. We'll have to make a point to go on it with them, if/when things calm down and I get to take the two littlest for their trip!
Yay, love seeing more of your trip report! Great pictures and looks like you all had a lot of fun, I love Disney rides at night, so much fun! My favorite is Thunder Mountain!

Mine too! That is my favorite DL ride most of the time, and it's even more awesome at night!
 
Just found this TR and I've read a few of the prior ones back to Family of 7... Thank you for sharing them and I've been taking notes... My oldest is 24 and has been to WDW a half dozen times when she was younger and doesn't want to go again :scared1: but does want to go to DL... So I'm doing my research so I can plan the trip when DL opens back up...

I love the shirts you made.... Especially the neon green/yellow with the black Mickey head and the white/teal blue with white Mickey heads... So cute and yet so easy!!!

I was born and raised and still live about 25 miles from Palmer College... It's amazing how many people from all over come to little ole' Davenport for college... Just goes to show what a great college it is!!! :thumbsup2
 
Just found this TR and I've read a few of the prior ones back to Family of 7... Thank you for sharing them and I've been taking notes... My oldest is 24 and has been to WDW a half dozen times when she was younger and doesn't want to go again :scared1: but does want to go to DL... So I'm doing my research so I can plan the trip when DL opens back up...

I love the shirts you made.... Especially the neon green/yellow with the black Mickey head and the white/teal blue with white Mickey heads... So cute and yet so easy!!!

I was born and raised and still live about 25 miles from Palmer College... It's amazing how many people from all over come to little ole' Davenport for college... Just goes to show what a great college it is!!! :thumbsup2

Thanks for saying hi! That's fun - we enjoyed our time in Davenport, but it feels like a lifetime ago at this point. :) We'd love to take the kids back someday to see everything, since they don't remember any of it. :)
I'm glad that my reports have been helpful. Of course for a while it's going to be a whole different ballgame, but be assured I'll be back as soon as it opens, and be doing some reports at that point. It's going to be an adventure! :)
 
I've been mostly avoiding disboards lately (because it just makes me sad!) but I was excited to see your trip report on here. Looks like such a fun time! We just rode Casey Jr. for the first time in October, and we were so surprised by how much we LOVED it! The views of Fantasyland are great!

And I definitely agree that Matterhorn is better at night, but I tend to think most outdoor rides are better at night. One of my favorite BTMRR memories is riding during the fireworks. So fun.

I can relate to how fun it is to take non-regulars around DLR. We got to do that with visiting family a couple times when we were local APs, and I just loved it. It's so fun to see everything through fresh eyes!
 
I've been mostly avoiding disboards lately (because it just makes me sad!) but I was excited to see your trip report on here. Looks like such a fun time! We just rode Casey Jr. for the first time in October, and we were so surprised by how much we LOVED it! The views of Fantasyland are great!

And I definitely agree that Matterhorn is better at night, but I tend to think most outdoor rides are better at night. One of my favorite BTMRR memories is riding during the fireworks. So fun.

I can relate to how fun it is to take non-regulars around DLR. We got to do that with visiting family a couple times when we were local APs, and I just loved it. It's so fun to see everything through fresh eyes!

It makes me sad too! I sometimes avoid these boards for weeks at a time right now, because I feel like DLR is never going to open. :-(

My favorite is BTMRR at night, and riding during the fireworks is definitely on my bucket list! I'm always happen to go with different people and different combinations, because it's always a slightly different experience!
 
What a fun trip report! I don't know how I missed it. I love going with those who are first-timers (or maybe just haven't gone in a long time) to see their reactions to things. It's a whole different kind of magic to watch others fall in love with Disneyland.

I agree it's hard to come on the boards when Disney isn't open and we really have no idea of when it will be open. I took a break for quite a while, but we have since recently booked flights for early January. I have a really good feeling about the parks opening in the next month or so, so we took a gamble and booked flights. We were originally against the idea of going within the foreseeable future because of the COVID-19 risk, but decided that if we wear masks and use hand sanitizer like it's going out of style, we can have fun and be safe. So far, I've been really impressed with how Disney is handling crowds so that puts my mind at a little more ease.

Trip reports like yours help get me excited to get back to the parks!!
 
What a fun trip report! I don't know how I missed it. I love going with those who are first-timers (or maybe just haven't gone in a long time) to see their reactions to things. It's a whole different kind of magic to watch others fall in love with Disneyland.

I agree it's hard to come on the boards when Disney isn't open and we really have no idea of when it will be open. I took a break for quite a while, but we have since recently booked flights for early January. I have a really good feeling about the parks opening in the next month or so, so we took a gamble and booked flights. We were originally against the idea of going within the foreseeable future because of the COVID-19 risk, but decided that if we wear masks and use hand sanitizer like it's going out of style, we can have fun and be safe. So far, I've been really impressed with how Disney is handling crowds so that puts my mind at a little more ease.

Trip reports like yours help get me excited to get back to the parks!!

I really hope they'll be open soon! I will be there soon after, I hope. At this point, though, I kiiiinda just booked a flight to WDW next month, so...
 
Okay, guys, these last few weeks (and few days with all the rumors) have been a crazy whirlwind, but I'm dedicated to getting this trip report finished!

SIL and C11 decided to call it a night and head back to the room. C11 just wasn't up to Splash Mountain (this was her first real experience with big rides), and was pretty worn out. DD12 was nervous about Splash, but also very excited about it. You guys, we were the only ones in our log, and posed the cutest little saluting pictures, but the camera wasn't working! We were so bummed! We were able to go twice in a row without any wait. (Between 10 and 10:30 PM)
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By now it was raining in earnest, and we were glad to already have our ponchos out. But, that means I didn't take too many more pictures that night, and we didn't make it to closing. We hadn't made it on ME:SR yet, so it was time to wait in that line. I think it was about 25-30 minutes at 10:40-ish, and we also had a FP to ride BTMR right after that. BTMR when it's raining a bit is interesting. Still fun, but not quite as much fun as a late night ride with no water blowing in your face. :)
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By now (11:35) we were damp, a little cold, and very tired, and we made the trek back to our room to get a little sleep before our California Adventure day!
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We kicked off the next morning at 7:30 AM as we left the Cortona Inn & Suites. It was still very drizzly, so we decided it was worth lugging our umbrellas with us, in case it turned into real rain. We walked way over to the loading area of the Toy Story parking lot (I really miss it being in the center...) and rode into the parks.
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If we had gotten up just a touch earlier we would have made rope drop, but we walked in by about 8:07, so it was all good. We used Maxpass (oh Maxpass, my love. Will you ever exist in the same way again??) for RSR, headed straight for Guardians of the Galaxy, and all rode that one together (8:45). It was a little scary for C11, but she acted like she loved it, and SIL though it was awesome, but it was a little much for her motion-sickness-wise.
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We headed over to the Pier, where DD12 and I were eager to ride the Incredicoaster. Thankfully, the rain had calmed down. C11 was a big "heck no" for the Incredicoaster, and SIL has been on it and would have gone again, but we decided to split up for a bit instead until our FP for RSR at 9:45. DD12 hadn't ridden the Incredicoaster since 2016, when she was 8, and it had been too much for her. She'd been trying to psyche herself up for it ever since, but was determined to try it this time. Thankfully, it was a good experience, and we even got to ride in the first car without asking! (9:25) After that we hit the new Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind so she could check it out. Very pretty, and fun to look at, but of course not much of a ride other than that. SIL and C11 had a nice time during our separation, but I'm not sure what they did, other than I have this picture from them. I think they rode Inside Out also. :)
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We met to walk over to RSR, which I was pretty excited about. SIL hadn't ever seen Carsland, and it's such a fun ride! Our wait with FP was about 15 minutes, and we rode at 9:57. Everyone loved that ride, of course, even with the awkward 3x3 seating! I don't even want to think about how that line's going to be with social distancing, guys... (also pictured: the cute Mickey heads DD12 and I put on our toes)
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