Our LONG overdue trip back to MY LAUGHING PLACE! Nov. 2016

[LALA8971]

That stinks about PCH Grill. I had it on our list as a possible stop, but I was on the fence. I think you pushed me off it. Thanks. I can tolerate ok food, but not horrible service.

Yeah, it was really quite shocking. I will only choose Storytellers from now on.

 

[LALA8971]

What a disappointing end to your day! My husband has said if we plan a trip to WDW someday that he will want a couple of relaxing days in between park days, and I'm like . Even though I know he's probably right, when it comes to Disney I refuse to believe that I'm not 18 anymore...

Disappointing, yes, but still a day at the Disneyland Resort, so it couldn't be too bad!
The break day was a little hard for us to take, but we were so thankful in the end. It really refreshed us for our last day in the parks!

 

[LALA8971]

Sorry for the long delay! Life gets in the way and all that.
The good news is........I'm planning another DL trip for October! My sweet friend was gifted a trip by a family friend and she invited me to come along. They recently welcomed triplets into their family (total of 6 now!), but will only be taking the 3 oldest girls to DL. I'm so excited to get to have girly/princess time and do another Halloween Party!
Ok, back to the last trip:


Thursday, 11/10:

7:00 am EMH at DL

We stopped for our Starbucks fix in DTD (waited only about 10 minutes) and headed towards security. We had a short wait there, though my dad, of course, was singled out for the additional search. We got in line at the DL gates around 6:40 or so. We were lucky enough to be next to an amazing family from New Zealand. They had already been at DL for 8 days and this was their last day in the parks. I love DL, but 9 days? Their children looked as excited as kids can be that early in the morning…..



We were let in right at 7:00.

Our last morning of walking down Main Street first thing (so bittersweet).



Our mission that morning was HSM. We breezed right through the queue and boarded about 7:15.



After our Star Wars adventure, the boys went on the Matterhorn (once a trip is plenty!) and my Mom and I wandered around, took pictures and just soaked it all in. I love the feel of the park when it’s somewhat empty.

 

[LALA8971]

Thursday, 11/10 (Cont.):

Next on our list was Indy. Fantastic as always. I think we only waited about 15 minutes, as the park had really just opened. We also grabbed a FP so we could come right back at 10:00 and do it all over again.



While we waited, we were able to get in 2 turns on BTMRR.



After our 2nd trip to Indy, we headed over for my favorite - Splash! We were able to ride that one twice also and all of this before 11:00!



We rode HMH (about 25 minute wait) and Pirates (5 or so) and then decided to head out of the park for lunch and a break back at the hotel (after a little shopping on Main St. of course). After a couple of hours swimming and stuffing our faces, we would be going to DCA for a bit before finishing our trip at DL.

 

[Belle83]

Joining in, what a great morning! Empty parks are the best

 

[LALA8971]

Joining in, what a great morning! Empty parks are the best

Thanks!

 

[LALA8971]

Thursday, 11/10 (Cont.):

Naps and pool time complete, we headed to DCA around 5:00, via the GC entrance. What is right in front of you when using that entrance? Grizzly River Rapids, of course. One of my faves when it's warm, but not so much when it's dark and starting to get cold....



My Mom, Dad and me were in no mood for wet shoes, so we became the audience, while my DH and DS rode. We stood on that bridge watching raft after raft get completely drenched by that "surprise" geyser!



Only to have my hubby and son breeze right by it, totally dry! Super cute video of my son panicking about it though. But, he made me promise not to post it......

After a quick coffee stop and some pics of the pier (so amazing at night!)......



We headed over to Screamin' for a ride. We finished off our time in DCA with a little shopping at Sarge's Surplus Hut (love that little shop) and a final turn on Mater's.

Took a few shots of the Christmas decorations on our way out. I fell in love with this tree:



We bid a final goodbye to DCA and headed out to spend our final hours in DL.

 

[LALA8971]

Thursday, 11/10 (Cont.):

We re-entered DL at around 8:00 and went straight to Buzz:



and then pulled a FP for Star Tours. I think we did a quick ride on POC after that. My Mom and I shopped around New Orleans Square for a bit. The park was PACKED! I've never been in DL when it was that busy and it was quite a shock. I've always had the opinion that a packed park is 100% better than being at work, so make the most of it!

We were able to get an OK spot down by ROA for the fireworks. Beautiful! So mesmerizing that I didn't take 1 photo! Not the greatest angle for the show, but it was nice and quiet down there. We went over and used our FP for Star Tours and then headed out of the park for the last time this trip around 11:00. I think we did a little more shopping at World of Disney before heading back to the hotel.

We all stayed up for about another hour, just talking about our trip and packing up. This was, by far, my favorite trip to DLR.

 

[LALA8971]

Friday, 11/11:

Heading home

We checked out of the rooms around 10:45 am. Our SuperShuttle was scheduled to pick us up at 11:55. I messaged the driver, letting him know we were ready early (no response). The van actually sat at a hotel down the street for an hour and didn’t get to us until almost 12:30 pm.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 2:30 from LAX. If you use SuperShuttle, don’t bother messaging the driver…….We picked up another 2 passengers (first one was very quick, the 2nd, not so much. Some sketchy trailer park and the passenger took 10 minutes just to say goodbye to the managers.........) and headed to LAX. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I was holding my sons hand and praying...... The driver was so reckless and I don’t think he stopped playing with his tablet for longer than 30 seconds the entire ride.

Now, I’m a tipper. Even with bad service, I normally at least tip something. There is a restaurant chain in Oregon (and WA) called McMenamin's. We jokingly call it the place where wait staff goes when NO ONE else will hire them. Great food, consistently terrible service. But I always tip anyways. I did not tip this driver. I ended up calling SS after we went through security, explained the situation and they told me to fill out their survey, but there was nothing they could do for me. Never again! We are planning on just using Uber in October.

But, we did make it to LAX alive.......Our first flight went smooth, with a layover in Seattle. We arrived at PDX around 8:00 pm. I think we were walking through our door by 9:00 pm.

We picked up our furry children (Sarabi & Rufus), and our scaly one (Falkor, my son's bearded dragon), the following morning. We stuck around the house and relaxed the rest of the weekend.

In closing, I must say that this was the best trip I have shared with my kiddo. During his first trip (2011), his father and I were separated, so it was a fun, yet strained trip. Our 2012 Halloween trip was great (and we were back together), but taking ART at the end of the day and waiting for it in the mornings was such a pain. We also had some other family stuff going on and I think it was hard to let loose, knowing we had a couple people missing from our trip. This trip was just magical. No stuff going down at home, I had saved like a maniac, so the budget was very healthy. My ankle held up really well (previous break that didn’t heal properly). Both of my parents were in better shape this trip, so no issues there. Staying on site was the key though. I already told my poor husband that we will be staying at the Grand on our next big trip to DLR......

So now I'm working on planning our WDW trip for November 2018 and also getting a quick trip in to DLR in October with my brother. One of my best friends (a mother of 6, including 10 month old triplets) was gifted a trip to DL by a friend of the family, so she invited me along to play tour guide! They are only bringing their 3 older girls this time. I can't wait to do princess-y stuff!

Thanks for reading!