Bring on CarsLand! A Fun-Filled Mother-Daughter Birthday Trip! FINAL UPDATES 9/8!!!!

[RGirl]

I've been reading along with your other TR, and followed you over here! (In a non-stalkerish way )

Hi Caitlin! I'm so glad you decided to post (and to follow the TR over here to the DLR board)! Welcome!!!! I hope you will stick around.

I will have to check out your TR too!

 

[Luvchefmic]

I've been reading along with your other TR, and followed you over here! (In a non-stalkerish way )

watch out you will fall down the rabbit hole too

Hi Caitlin! I'm so glad you decided to post (and to follow the TR over here to the DLR board)! Welcome!!!! I hope you will stick around.

I will have to check out your TR too!

and so it goes ......told you so

 

[RGirl]

watch out you will fall down the rabbit hole too

and so it goes ......told you so

You are so right!!!!!! And I didn't even notice I had just done it!!!!!

 

[Luvchefmic]

we are like a ping pong ball bouncing from here to my thread this is too funny tonight

 

[RGirl]

we are like a ping pong ball bouncing from here to my thread this is too funny tonight

It's hard to stop, isn't it????

 

[Luvchefmic]

I wish I didn't have too but you have 2 advantages over me

1- it is only 8 pm at your house and it is 11 pm at mine alarm is going off at 5 am

2- I am very much older than you and you are wearing me out with all this back and forth.... so carry on, I send you both love and I will be back tomorrow PROMISE

 

[RGirl]

I wish I didn't have too but you have 2 advantages over me

1- it is only 8 pm at your house and it is 11 pm at mine alarm is going off at 5 am

2- I am very much older than you and you are wearing me out with all this back and forth.... so carry on, I send you both love and I will be back tomorrow PROMISE

I was thinking that you had better be getting some sleep soon. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[hstrickland]

Hiya

This is so exciting! I've never been on the DL TR Thread! Looking forward to all the fabulous pictures and information.

Have a great weekend!
Heather

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

I am excited to hear about the DL trip!!! I haven't been there since I was about 12 so it will be cool to see all the changes

And Willow is just adorable, so of course I can't wait to celebrate her birthday!!!!

 

[RGirl]

Hiya

This is so exciting! I've never been on the DL TR Thread! Looking forward to all the fabulous pictures and information.

Have a great weekend!
Heather

Hi Heather! Thanks so much for joining in! It wouldn't be the same without you.

I am excited to hear about the DL trip!!! I haven't been there since I was about 12 so it will be cool to see all the changes

And Willow is just adorable, so of course I can't wait to celebrate her birthday!!!!

Hi Raina!!! Thank you so much for making the trip over to the DLR board with me!

 

[melindae10]

I can't wait to read your trip report! I just spent the last two days reading your latest DW TR! My 6 year old DD looked at the pictures, and now is in love with BBB! We went to DW last year, but didn't have time for BBB. I am planning a DL trip for Sep/Oct with my DD6 and my DS3, my Mom will also be tagging along. Looking forward to seeing what you and your DD did on your trip!

 

[RGirl]

I can't wait to read your trip report! I just spent the last two days reading your latest DW TR! My 6 year old DD looked at the pictures, and now is in love with BBB! We went to DW last year, but didn't have time for BBB. I am planning a DL trip for Sep/Oct with my DD6 and my DS3, my Mom will also be tagging along. Looking forward to seeing what you and your DD did on your trip!

Hi Melinda! Thanks so much for joining in!!! And thank you for taking the time to read the WDW report as well.

I bet you will have a great trip to DLR! Maybe your DD can do the BBB there - Willow is growing her hair out right now in anticipation of doing it at DLR for the first time this summer. We may do a Fall trip as well - we have done WDW that time of year, and it's just perfect! Are you going to do the Halloween Party?

 

[Luvchefmic]

Just stopping by to say " Hi ! " like I promised last night...still managing to juggle life & the Dis Hugs to you both .......

 

[melindae10]

Hi Melinda! Thanks so much for joining in!!! And thank you for taking the time to read the WDW report as well.

I bet you will have a great trip to DLR! Maybe your DD can do the BBB there - Willow is growing her hair out right now in anticipation of doing it at DLR for the first time this summer. We may do a Fall trip as well - we have done WDW that time of year, and it's just perfect! Are you going to do the Halloween Party?

What can I say...I just love trip reports!! I really want DD to do BBB, the next time we go to Disney she will be 8, which at that point she may not want to do it. Or, she can do it both times! My goal is to go to the Halloween Party, it sounds like so much fun!

 

[melindae10]

I just noticed your trip report on the Wonder! I want to go on that cruise soooo bad! I just read the first page, was that Mexican restaurant in Cle Elum by chance? My aunt lives there and my parents used to live there so we have been there a few times Anyhoooo...back to reading...

 

[RGirl]

Just stopping by to say " Hi ! " like I promised last night...still managing to juggle life & the Dis Hugs to you both .......

You have a Pluto for every occasion!

What can I say...I just love trip reports!! I really want DD to do BBB, the next time we go to Disney she will be 8, which at that point she may not want to do it. Or, she can do it both times! My goal is to go to the Halloween Party, it sounds like so much fun!

Well, Willow is 7 and she is dead-set on doing BB at DLR this summer, so your DD may still want to do it at 8. I'm pretty sure Willow will still want to. I mean, I still like to go to the salon and get pampered, so….. Seriously, I'm hanging on by a thread with DD and BBB - I'm so happy she wants to do it this summer because I realized recently that our last trip was likely her last time, and I got all sad because I hadn't thought of that ahead of time and taken a lot of pics, and we had a terrible PP photog, etc. So I will totally pay for it AGAIN!

We have done MNSSHP at WDW twice, and it is FANTASTIC! I really want to do it at DLR too. So I am really thinking we will try to get down there and use our APs in October this year to see what the party is like there. If you are there during party time, you have to go!!!

I just noticed your trip report on the Wonder! I want to go on that cruise soooo bad! I just read the first page, was that Mexican restaurant in Cle Elum by chance? My aunt lives there and my parents used to live there so we have been there a few times Anyhoooo...back to reading...

Oh, I'm sure it was! I know I had no idea where we were when I got back and started to look through our photos, but I bet it was Cle Elum. It was a really yummy lunch too!

You should totally do the Alaska cruise given that you are in Washington State like us and can actually finally avoid airfare for a Disney vacation! We will absolutely be doing it again at some point. It's AMAZING!

 

[RGirl]

What a Welcome!​

Let’s get this Trip Report started, shall we???

So, as you all know, Willow and I got APs to DLR for Christmas courtesy of me! This would be our first of, hopefully, several 2014 trips there. And this one was to celebrate Miss Willow’s seventh birthday! We headed out on a Wednesday, returning on Sunday

The only flight available to us from our tiny town was the one that leaves at 6:15 in the morning. (Those of you who have read my August 2013 WDW TR are familiar with our early morning travels.) So, just like in August, we were up at 4:00AM on our travel day. We were certainly happy to be bidding good-bye to winter for a few days:

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Willow was pleased to learn that they had complimentary hot cocoa at our teeny-tiny airport.

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Our first flight was just a quick one over to Seattle. It was right on time, and Willow got all her homework done during this short flight. (Her teacher was awesome about her being out of school - gave her a little packet of work and a note that said to just do what she could. Luckily, she was able to zip through the whole thing on this flight.)

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Our flight out of Seattle was on time too, and we landed in Santa Ana a little after 11. I love this airport - small and stress-free.

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We were both excited to see Willow’s big pink suitcase be the first one down the belt at 11:15! I’m not sure that has ever happened to me before.

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Before long, our other bag had made it out as well, and we headed out to the ground transportation area. There is no DME for DLR, but there is a shuttle service run by a third party for which you pay a very reasonable fee. I had pre-booked that, so we headed over there.

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We arrived at the Disneyland Express bus stop at about 11:20, but the next bus wasn’t going to be leaving for 40 minutes. We were still feeling pretty happy though - there was SUN! (We had been living under a dome of fog and clouds for weeks on end at home.)

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The bus did arrive about 15 minutes later, so we were able to wait on the bus.

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We waited for a while, but by the time we left, no one else had shown up. We were the only people on that big bus. This is a pretty short commute. For those of you who are used to WDW, the approach to DLR is very different - it is really right in the middle of the city, and it does feel very strange to be able to see things like Space Mountain, ToT and the Matterhorn from the freeway. For example, you can see the Matterhorn in this one if you look to the right of the windshield wiper.

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By 12:20, we were pulling up to the Disneyland Hotel.

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Willow was ready for a character fix and needed a photo with the welcoming statues.

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Luckily, our first big Disney moment of the trip occurred as soon as we entered the hotel lobby. We were greeted by Baloo!

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How cool is that??? I have never seen characters hanging out in hotel lobbies before. We were big fans of this idea! We were soon being checked in by a helpful CM, and then we saw these two strolling in.

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Willow couldn’t pass up this opportunity, obviously.

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When we left the lobby, Goofy and Peter were hanging out and watching TV with the kids there.

Up Next: What a Welcome! (cont.)

 

[RGirl]

What a Welcome! (cont.)​

Now when I checked us in, I did not yet have our APs (they had to be picked up at the ticket booths in front of the parks). I had booked the room with the AP rate, however, so the CM just let me know that I needed to stop by with the APs later that day; also, our package entitled us to anytime FPs, which we could get once I presented the APs. Since it was Willow’s birthday trip, the CM presented her with a birthday button and a picture signed by all her Disney character friends. It was a very nice touch.

Once we had checked in, we headed to our room. We were in the main tower this time (the DLH has several separate towers of rooms).

I am a huge fan of the recently refurbed DLH rooms - especially the light-up fireworks headboard. Our room was huge and had a great view. We were both really pleased! Here are some room pics.

Vanity/closet area outside the bathroom:

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Our favorite part - the super-comfy beds and headboard:

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Check out our awesome pool view!

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Check out the duo hanging out by the pool now!

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Then Willow spotted Jasmine and Pluto meandering through the pool area as well.

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Up Next: A Little Bit of Disneyland

 

[Luvchefmic]

Okay believe it or not not ony am I here again BUT Tues I am off and I will be getting that TR quite a bit caught up so wanted to let you know

Now on to YOUR report Don't know where to start well with that little princess smiling face LOVE seeing her

Characters in the lobby ? and Pluto by the pool ? WOW a totally different place than here I am so excited to be on the edge of my seat with this report I so dream of walking into Walt's place, someday That headboard ! I am hoping you got some pictures doing it's fireworks thing A M A Z I N G !! Tell us more ( and YES I do have a Pluto for EVERY occasion you should see my house ! )

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Wow--what a beautiful room!!

I LOVE the idea of characters meeting in the hotel! That would be so cool to just walk in and see goofy chillin' in the lobby!

Glad your trip is starting off so well! Can't wait to hear more!