Hooray for Hollywood!....Literally!

jenseib

Mommy to Claire
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Hello again!


For those that don’t know me, I am Jen…For those that do…Glad to see you!


It’s time to write up my latest trip report! I am still working on editing pictures, so like usual, it does take me a while to get everything posted. My memory is going these days…..but for the most part, I tell it like it is to the best of my memory.


This trip took place March 17 – 22, 2019. And as you can probably guess from the title, we went to California…Disneyland to be exact, with a few extra’s thrown in!


If you have read any of my former reports, you probably know we usually have a hiccup or 2 each trip. I always say if someone says they had a perfect trip they are lying! Well maybe that is because we usually have at least one issue, and I can’t imagine anyone could have everything go perfectly. Or maybe we just have that kind of luck?

This trip did not disappoint and we had a few hiccups but still had a lot of fun and new experiences.


I will start by giving some background info and some of the “players” in this report. The background part can be a little boring, but it will set the stage for all about to come later in the actual report part. There will be a lot of writing in the first couple updates, but once we get going there will be lots of pictures too!


I will start by introducing my family.

There is me. I am lucky enough to work from home and I have my dream job! That being said, there are days I want to scream and I can put in long hours and then there are days where I don’t do anything. Because of the nature of the business, you can’t always predict your hours or level of business. I will say that once I plan a vacation, I tend to get slammed with business and the week leading up usually is crazy. And in true form, I had one crazy week before leaving and I packed the latest I have ever packed before a trip!



One of the tradeoffs for my crazy business is that when you reach a certain level in the business you can sometimes get perks and/or discounts. These are similar to Florida Resident Rates, Military Rates, Cast Member rates, Interline rates…..you get the idea. These are not always available, so it’s not something to count on, but I check from time to time to see if anything might be available for a time I would like to vacation. I was able to get a few “extra’s” this time, but nothing to shout home about. Didn’t matter, this trip was planned for another reason.


This was my 2nd trip to California. The first being a work trip (which I got to spend with my wonderful friend Cass!) and was very busy, but we did a lot. I was lucky to have Cass as my tour guide through Disneyland that trip. This trip I had to try and take the reins.


Next up is Claire, my 14 year old daughter. She usually travels with me if I am not traveling for business. She loves to travel and knows she is spoiled rotten. This was her first trip to California and she was beyond excited. I know she thought we would see stars left and right….we did not!


Then my husband, Skip. Skip is a farmer. He has been a dairy farmer his whole life and last year they sold the dairy cows and have made the transition to beef cows. He doesn’t vacation with us often and this was going to be our first family vacation in many years….our last one being an Alaskan Cruise on Norwegian. Well, let me restate this. We were SUPPOSED to have our first family vacation in many years in January, but that didn’t quite work out, which is why we were taking this trip….more on that later.


ca5 by Jenseib, on Flickr


I just want to warn you, I will have a lot of pictures eventually, but my intro will be pretty much pictureless and long…but bear with me. I want to give all the background first!

Also, I am usually crazy with picture taking. I actually slacked off this trip. Now I still have a lot, but I realized there is a lot of things I did not take pictures of….and then some things I took like 5 or 6 of the same thing. Who knows what I was thinking?


Thanks for joining me as I relive this next adventure. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
 




I am here!! popcorn:::dance3:I am excited for this one! :cool1:

Already giving me the popcorn? hahahaha

I'm here!

Yay!

can't wait to read all about your Disneyland adventures

I am excited to share it. We were actually pretty laid back but had a good time.

I am here

Yay!

Here! Looking forward to reading all about your trip!

Thanks!

Yay, I'm here too! And YES!! Skip made it!!!! :cheer2:

He did! He did have a good time too, though we had some tense moments.

A 3-fer selfie! :cheer2:

We did a few but I am terrible as selfies.

Reporting for TR duty!

Jill in CO

yay!!
 
How this trip came about…


Back in January, we had a Southern Caribbean cruise booked on the Disney Wonder. This trip was booked actually on Christmas Eve and I was shocked when Skip agreed to come so easily. He is very stubborn and he over thinks things and gets anxiety about unfamiliar things. But he seemed to do ok for the most part.

Then 2 days before we were to step on the ship, the weather was turning bad in Ohio….and with Skip being a cattle farmer…he had to make the decision to bow out. I was upset, but I probably handled it better than others would. I grew up on a farm and I do know his reasoning….but I also think part of it was a relief for him since traveling gives him anxiety.

We found a replacement last minute and the trip was actually wonderful (and I do have a report on that if you care to read).


When he cancelled though, he PROMISED he would take us all on a trip when the weather got a bit better…March sounded good to him and that would work perfectly for us and Claire’s spring break. I didn’t particularly want to take her out of school, or for not many days if we had to since we just traveled….however, while we were cruising in Jan, school did get cancelled 4 of the 6 days she was missing, so technically she only missed 2 days.


We returned from our wonderful cruise on Feb. 4. I know my husband and I knew he would hem haw around this next trip issue now that we were home and he did not disappoint. I didn’t back down and I told him if he was thinking he could get out of this, then he needed to be the one to tell Claire. He agreed to go, but set a ridiculously low budget…and then after I gave him some cruise options, he then decided he could not be away for 7-8 days. He really wanted me to pull something out of my rear!


I had just cruised with my friend J, who had also just booked the Disney Fantasy for the same week we were thinking of going. I price it and EEEK!!!!! It was just insane, even with a placeholder. Skip was up for a Disney cruise, but he wanted it to be in budget. Sorry dude. I tried the Dream and Magic…and sailings were still way over budget or sold out.


Then we looked at WDW or Universal. He loves Universal. Then after pricing it, he thought it was still too high and he had no desire to wait in lines.

I went back to cruises and found a few Carnival ones that fit the budget….but those weren’t Disney and he wanted Disney.

Seriously…we were in the impossible zone. One day he would agree on something and the next day he would do a complete 360. It was driving me crazy.


Finally in late Feb. he said How about Disneyland? At this point I was soooo tired of looking at options and I jumped on it and basically made him stick to this decision. I messaged my friend Cass and asked her some suggestions of offsite locations as I knew she knew the area better than me. I wanted a Monday through Friday and we came up with Fairfield Inn Anaheim….except that it didn’t have a Thursday night available in the package, but I could book it separately. Then I found a good rate for Disneyland Hotel for that Thursday night and decided one night there would be great!

I priced flights, not too bad for that week and then priced arriving on Sunday and still a good price. I asked him if we could arrive Sunday instead of Monday and he said yes, and I booked it all!

 
Oh Skip! You always want to throw a wrench in things. :teeth: But doesn't he know that you have mad trip planning skills and are just as stubborn as he is and that you were going to MAKE him stick to his promise?
 
Im here! I know it must be frustrating, but Skip's indecisiveness makes for a great story! Looking forward to your "make up" trip!
 
Following along! Sorry we couldn't have worked out a meetup, but I know your schedule (and mine) were busy then!
 
I am here. Securing my spot, but have to come back to read - need to do some grading first. :faint:
 
Oh Skip! You always want to throw a wrench in things. :teeth: But doesn't he know that you have mad trip planning skills and are just as stubborn as he is and that you were going to MAKE him stick to his promise?

No he doesn't know...or chooses to ignore that. He wants to be in total control but he has no idea so his suggestions are usually bizarre.

Im here! I know it must be frustrating, but Skip's indecisiveness makes for a great story! Looking forward to your "make up" trip!

Yay!
It can be super frustrating. I want to be sure we are all happy, but it's impossible as he doesn't any of the same wants we do. And yes...then I have a story to tell. hahaha

Following along! Sorry we couldn't have worked out a meetup, but I know your schedule (and mine) were busy then!

We were on the go a lot. I have learned not to promise to many meet ups over the years, especially with Skip, because you never know what will happen at any given moment. I did one meet up with my best friend in CA one night and he knew he had no say or could back out on that one.

I am here. Securing my spot, but have to come back to read - need to do some grading first. :faint:

Don't worry. I am going super slow!
 
On to the planning….


Flights were booked! Hotel package was booked, with the 5 day discounted tickets and maxpass! It really was a great deal!

Sadly Disneyland doesn’t offer a dining plan or I would have jumped on it. The dining plans are made for families like ours. If we don’t have to worry about the cost of the meal, then no harm is done! Skip always complains about any meal we eat out. It’s always too much. (he really never seems to understand the pricing of things). So since there wasn’t a dining plan available, we would be paying out of pocket for everything and I knew he would throw a fit on sit down meal prices….especially since Claire is picky.


Then I started working on which days we would be going to the parks, Skip stated right away he would not be visiting the parks much. But he had the 5 day ticket and he could just come and go. I told him that special ticket was still cheaper than 3 days at full price.


Skip now has access to the internet (and also just got a smart phone a few months ago) so he now has access to all the information you could possibly want. And he now knows EVERYTHING! Yep, I was wrong on many things I told him. I am so lucky to have such a knowledgeable husband.

He did his research and wanted to go to a race museum, then I researched it to find it had closed last year. Then he researched some more and find some suitable backups. Neither of us wanted to drive, so I told him Lyft and Uber were the way to go, but he was sure a taxi was a better option (and probably 3 times the price)!


I mentioned that I would like to do a Hollywood Tour so that Claire could see some of the touristy places. When I went last time, my good friend Stacy picked me up from the airport and gave me a whirl wind tour. I wanted Claire to see some of those sites. Skip said he had to think about that and wasn’t sure it would interest him.


Then one evening we were watching TV and a Universal commercial came on. Skip stated he now wishes we were going to Universal….he LOVES the Simpsons ride. I told him that there was a Universal Hollywood, and though it was smaller, it did have Harry Potter AND the Simpsons. Ok, let’s go there one day.


Of course I had just figured out which days we would be doing each thing, but I was interested too and this was something he really wanted, so I moved days around and booked tickets to Universal Hollywood. I told him that on the day Claire and I do the Hollywood tour, he could then go to his racing museum… NO!!!! I want to go on that tour too. Um…ok! He swears he never said he didn’t want to go…but he did! Hahahaha.


Now my best friend Stacy from Grade school (and we have remained friends after) lives in California. When I went last time, she picked me up from the airport and we spent the day together touring LA.

Her now husband, works at Universal, in the actual studios, and he even gave me a quick back lot tour that day. It was amazing.

I contacted Stacy and let her know we were coming to California. I told her I knew it was last minute, but if she wanted to meet up, let me know. We only had a few “open” windows and we didn’t have a car, but if she could make it work we would too. We decided then that on our Universal day we could meet for dinner after the park closed.


My other best friend from childhood is Kim. She also now lives in California. And guess what? Her husband is the head Chef at Disneyland!

I contacted her to see if she could meet up at any time, but sadly they were going to Paris for her 50th birthday. Kim and I are exactly 1 month apart. We were very close as kids as she worked on my dad’s farm and we spent the summer together for years and she pretty much lived at my house. We were so close that when we got class rings, I went with her birth stone instead of my own because I liked it better.

I was sad that I wasn’t going to get to see her, but she was going to have a wonderful 50th celebration of her own!


Days were now planned…Super Shuttle booked to take us to and from hotels/LAX…Tickets all bought….tours scheduled…meet ups scheduled.….we were ready to roll!

 
Sunday, March 10, 2019, One week before we leave


We were now all excited about our trip. I will admit with all the stress of actually deciding where to go, I wasn’t gung ho on planning. I was busy with work and home and I was tired. I was also a little disappointed to learn the castle was under construction and had a Scrim over it. Bummer!


We finally made it 1 week before we would leave. I was trying to get ahead on work…I still needed to pack!

I finally finished what I had wanted to get done at my desk in the basement and stood up and started to run up the steps so I could start pulling out suitcases and getting things together.

Then I realized I forgot to send that one last email. Shoot! I was up about 4 steps and swung fast around to run back down and my foot landed on a candle I had sitting on the steps (it had been there for months….to take upstairs. UGH!).

I couldn’t get my footing and in the momentum of my turn I went flying! And landed on my stomach, shoulder, left side of my face and ankle. My phone went flying, but actually landed next to me.


At first I thought I broke my nose as my face hurt so much, but no blood squirting out! And luckily I had all my teeth!

But my ankle was THROBBING! I couldn’t move it hurt so bad so I texted Claire to come help me get up. She came down, saw me on the floor….and started lauging!

Stop it! I think I broke my foot…help me up. And she laughed some more!

I got up and crawled up the steps. I could put weight on it, but wow did it hurt. I took off my sock and I had a HUGE bulge on the side of my right ankle.


I called Skip and said I might need to go to urgent care to have it looked at and he kind of laughed too. Love my family!


I took a picture of it and sent it to my friend J and asked her what I should do, as she is a nurse. She said if I could walk on it, it probably wasn’t broken…ice it and wrap it.


Not the greatest picture or angle but this gives you an idea. It actually puffed up more.


IMG_5028 by Jenseib, on Flickr


After a bit, bruising started on both sides of the ankle and my toes were swelling and turning black and blue. I also must have bent the big toe on my left foot as that was swelling as well and getting some pretty colors.


I can take quite a bit of pain and it hurt a lot! I made the decision to go to Urgent Care and Skip grumbled. Seriously? I have taken him to ER’s, Urgent Care, and Dr.’s appointments sooo many times and he is grumbling? We went and he dropped me off at the door and he went to park. I hobbled in and of course it was busy on a Sunday night.

Finally it was my turn and they x-rayed it and it was not broken. But she gave me no pain meds! Just wrapped and said to apply ice and stay off it. Skip started joking with the Dr. and she was laughing. She said it was a long busy day and his jokes were just what she needed. He was the best part of her day. Oh man…now he has a big head!


We told her we were going to Disneyland next week and would I be able to walk on it? Yep! You’ll be fine. Skip was sure we should cancel. I told him I would rent a scooter if I had to, but I was NOT cancelling!


So over the next week, I hobbled around and it did get easier to walk, but the puffiness never went down. And almost 7 weeks later…it still has a lump on the side of my foot and hurts! I might have to eventually go see a Dr. again and see if I need to do anything else. I’m a busy gal, I don’t do well with sitting and keeping my leg elevated!
 

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