The vacation of a lifetime!

[Riahsha]

Monday April 15
I have already ordered my photopass picture CD, but haven't received it yet. We didn't take our own photos of things that the photopass photographers did, so there are many missing over the next few days until they come in the mail.
We had breakfast at the hotel as this was a late morning opening there was no problem.
We had planned to take the 9:30am shuttle even though that would get us to the park right before opening. I guess they told us the wrong time because now we find out they only come to the hotel at the top of the hour after originally being told it was every half hour. We had to wait until the 10:00am shuttle, getting us to the park at 10:20am.
We had planned to try to take out as much of Fantasyland as we could get done. Sad to say, after waiting a half hour in the Peter Pan line it was already after 11:00am and Pixie Hollow was opening. After dressing the children in their Neverland outfits that morning, meeting Tink was crucial that day. They were a bit disappointed to only get one ride and then to get in another big line to meet characters. I went and got them some churros from the closest cart and that cheered them up while waiting. We all love those!
We found out the line was so big and going so slow that day because they were filming for the blog. They had us fill out releases so they could film the children. I already checked, they were left on the editing room floor. lol We got some great pics of it though and the kids thought it was neat.












Unfortunately, we didn't see Peter this day.
We did get to ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds after that, which was a nice surprise. I treated them to some cotton candy while we waited in that hour line. By this time we realized we missed the 12:30pm shuttle...the last one until 3:30pm.
We got two more rides in...Alice in Wonderland and Mr. Toad. I really thought Mondays would be less crowded to not have to deal with 20-30 minute lines for the less popular rides, but what can you do? The kids wanted to ride them, so we stuck it out.
At this time we were hungry, but not for a meal after having those sweet snacks and we were on vacation anyway. lol We decided to head next door to DCA and pop into Carthay Circle Restaurant if they had any room. As it was 2:00pm the place was almost empty and we got right in. We all enjoyed the filled biscuits they served, but only DH and I liked the rose soda.


Afterwards we went to get in line at Disney Junior. I was in my chair at this time because I was exhausted. They would not let us get in line and told us to come back in 20 minutes. We watched some performers and then went back to Disney Junior. Even with my wheelchair and GAC he put us in the regular line that was already getting quite full. Needless to say we had a mishap and one of the twins got caught up in the queue "ropes" and couldn't get out. While DH was trying to get him out, the doors were opening for the show and people were getting antsy because they couldn't move up in line. The CM motioned them to go past us with me in the chair in the middle, so I had people bumping into me from all sides. By this time I started crying. It had just been one of those days. The CM completely ignored us, so we left and went to see the Instant Concert show with Goofy.


We tried to start on some of the Paradise Pier rides and the first one was closed, Golden Zephyr. We were there and Operation Playtime was starting, so we watched that and the kids got to participate in it.


We went to Jumpin' Jellyfish and as I have a problem with heights, DH rode it with the kids. Funny that I don't have a problem with roller coasters, so instead of waiting for them I wheeled myself over to get in the Goofy's Sky School line. They appreciated that as we only had a 20 minute wait after they joined me. That became a favorite for all 4 of them.
Granddaughter was the only one that could do Silly Symphony Swings by herself, so I watched her ride while the males went to the little boys room. We were heading back towards Sonoma Terrace when DH noticed no line at Little Mermaid, so we rode that twice. Then we got to Sonoma Terrace to pick up our picnic lunches. They were ok. We took a long time eating. Everyone was tired from no naps and all the activity and waiting, so we were just slow. We got over to World of Color area and were told there was no room for us. What? We have tickets. Heads up for anyone thinking of buying those World of Color picnics, you are given the same color ticket as the Fastpass machine issues. We thought of just trying to find a viewing place, but with DH and I both in bad moods and kids whiny and tired, we got on the shuttle and left thinking we would get Fastpasses another morning. Even with what I would consider a bad day if I was at home, there were still some happy moments to that long day.

 

[Riahsha]

Tuesday April 16
Today was the BBB appointments, so the "royalty" costumes were put on.
When we first entered the park I actually saw Bruce Willis coming out. He had a hat on, but it was definitely him.
I'm great with faces, names not so much. DH didn't really buy it and thought I probably just saw someone who looked like him. After we got back home he was flipping through a magazine in the check-out line and there was pictures of
Bruce Willis riding Tuesday April 16. So there! HA!

First we went over to meet Merida.




Then we got in line for IASW. My wheelchair was placed by the CM and I was helped onto the ride.


At the end, as you all know, they say to exit to your left. DH looks at me and I shrug and he says maybe they move my chair. So we get off on the
left and then were standing there waiting. Another CM asks what we're doing, so DH explains we're waiting for my wheelchair. Ready for this? They actually made me crawl over the ride to get to the right side again and to my chair. I'm not kidding.
Even after all these things that have happened, we still suck it up and go on. We go over to BBB. I had the confirmations printed out for everything as I've learned from experience that sometimes you need proof. All 4 children had the same appointment time and they were all supposed to be worked on together. I made sure that was very clear when I accepted the reservation time from the CM when I made the reservations. When we got in there, we found out they had overbooked and they had to go one at a time. Do you know how long those things take?
We got them done because the kids were dressed up and looking forward to it and we couldn't reschedule.








This was the last straw for me unfortunately though and I broke down. I was an emotional mess. Good thing we had Photopass to get pictures. DH took over then and after we finished our 3 hours at BBB he took us right to Guest Services. He went through it all...the problems we were having with our hotel and the shuttle (of course we know that Disney is not responsible for that, but he needed to vent), the treatment I received when getting the GAC, how it wasn't helping us at all anyway, what happened at Disney Junior, getting stiffed with WoC, what happened with IASM, and BBB.
Long story short. A very insincere apology and then an upgraded GAC because maybe I really did need it. Right.
We also received a couple pieces of paper that we barely glanced at before leaving and trying to make the most of what was left of our day.
The firemen were performing as we walked out and that became the highlight of our day. Our kids performed with them!












We had the last Princess celebration lunch reservation at Ariel's, so we headed over there to catch our 4:00 reservation. We took our time there and de-stressed.

 

[Riahsha]

From there everything seemed to turn around. As we were leaving Ariel's the parade was getting ready to start. A CM asked us if we were wanting to see the parade and took us to a prime spot. Wonderful view!









We were feeling pretty peppy now and DGD wanted to know if it was time to see the other princesses, so we headed back over to DL and did the meet and greets there.








We decided to go to the hotel early and leave feeling happy!

 

[Riahsha]

Wednesday April 17
The plan was to get some rides taken care of today. We decided to start at the back in Critter Country.




The CMs loved their costumes and one was even lamenting the fact that Davy Crockett Canoes was not open. I have to say I fell in love with the Lemon Bumblebee Cupcake from Hungry Bear. Looking forward to having another after having 3 while there. Not 3 in one sitting, of course.

More character meets...Personally, I was disappointed to not see Eeyore.






We headed to Frontierland for lunch at Rancho del Zocalo. We were not impressed with the food there, but the kids loved their Toy Story characters outside of it.




We had to warn Woody about our boys. They had to see if he had a snake in his boot.


Then we went over to Fantasyland and got a few of those rides done. Of course the kids tried the sword and the golden apple.




We didn't see the light in Peter Pan window the whole time, so the sword stayed put. I wonder if it's something random or if you have to request it, or maybe even something they no longer do.



After this we went back to the hotel until just before dinner.
We brought them back in their Indy costumes.


We had reservations for Carnation Cafe that night during the parade. We were enjoying ourselves so much during dinner that we didn't even see the parade.
While we were eating, one of the CMs that was taking care of the parade came over to our table and handed us 4 fastpasses to the Indiana Jones ride.
After dinner, even though we didn't need them, we showed our appreciation by using those passes. We did say thank you also.
They LOVED that ride!


We had finally taken a look at those papers we were given at Guest Services. We had VIP seating for WoC that night. What a beautiful show!

 

[hootey]

Looks like you had a great trip! Congradulations

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Great pictures - bummer about no eeyore but rabbit!! we've never met him.
Sounds like a mostly fantastic visit.

 

[Riahsha]

hootey
Once we figured things out, it was a fantastic vacation!!! Thank you!

DisneyMomma81
No Eeyore was just a temporary bummer.
The kids were happy though because they got to see Tigger and Pooh.

 

[Riahsha]

Thursday April 18
We started the morning at Cars Land, which took us ALL morning.








We had breakfast at Flo's and loved the brioche french toast. RSR was great! Just wish the wait wasn't so long so we could do it twice. Mater was kind of fun, but Luigi's tires were a letdown. They just had way too many out there, so you didn't do much moving around.
We did lunch at Lucky Fortune Cookery and it wasn't bad at all and plenty to share. It was so hot that day! After lunch we decided to see if Duffy was at his spot as all the times before when we walked by there he was gone. We grabbed some Mickey ice creams too on account of the heat.
Duffy was there this time!




We had to hurry to catch our 12:30 shuttle to the hotel, but we made it.

 

[Riahsha]

We brought them back late afternoon in their costumes for Frontierland. It was still really hot, so the duster jackets and hats didn't go on right away. We were able to do two more Fantasyland rides, Casey train and Storybook boats. At this time we only had Fantasyland about half finished. While we were there we took care of the Tangled meet and greet. He kissed my hand. Hubba, hubba!


Then we went to our reservation at Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue. It was still quite a wait even with a reservation, but the kids used the waiting time to goof off.
Loved the food! Loved the entertainment and atmosphere! The kids had a great time too and wanted to do it again. We told them maybe next time because our reservations were made well in advance. The entertainment enjoyed the kids because they kept lifting their hats and yelling "Yeehaw!" in unison.




We finished the evening doing a bit of looking around as we hadn't had much time to do that so far. We looked in some stores and had our first mint juleps. We all liked them.

 

[AussieDisneyNut]

So glad that you are updating your TR. I just love love love the costumes you have for all the kids. They look adorable! How clever to theme for all the different lands!

Sometimes it is so hard when you plan the "trip of a lifetime" and it doesn't always go to plan, but you seem to be adjusting and coping really well.

You obviously have put a lot of work and thought into planning your trip and I'm sure that the memories that the kids have will make up for all the problems.

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Riahsha]

Friday April 19
We knew this was a day we could get messy, so they just wore dark shorts outfits. We spent the morning at Paradise Pier and finished riding there. While DH and kids were on Mickey's Fun Wheel I spotted Buzz Lightyear and CMs setting up a meet and greet. He was the one the boys had been wanting to see, so I wheeled over there and got in line. I was about to let some people go past me when my group came walking up. I don't know how long I had been in that line, but as we were finishing up with Buzz it became his break time. Woody took over, so we got to do them both on the same turn.




From there we had a corn dog lunch and headed for a bugs land. As we were walking out they were starting the Phineas and Ferb dance party, so we stopped so the kids could do that.




They put on their bee wings and antennas so we could get a few pictures and then we packed them up again.


We hit up all the rides in that land and then let them play in the water.


We caught the 3:30pm shuttle that day and ate at the hotel because we knew it would be a late night. Getting back to the park that night we started with the fireworks.


From there we had to fight the crowds to get over to the Fantasmic! seating area as we had purchased the dessert seating. We ended up in the very back row of that section and didn't see much of anything because everyone in that section were standing. Can you believe? We all pay for seats and they stand, effectively blocking children in the back row and we couldn't move anywhere else to stand.
We pretty much spent Fantasmic! viewing time picking through our dessert boxes. We were ready for a break from the parks at this time, so it was good tomorrow was Saturday and we couldn't go in.

 

[Riahsha]

Saturday April 20
We couldn't go one day without some kind of Disney experience, so we had breakfast at Surf's Up.












We spent the day at Huntington Beach and the kids got their first visit to the ocean.

 

[Riahsha]

Sunday April 21
It was amazing how many rides were closed this Sunday, especially in Tomorrowland. So we couldn't ride much. No lack of things to do in Disneyland though.
We went to Jedi Training Academy early to get good seats. The kids were dressed up and ready. The first pick of that morning was our own Princess Leia.
She was followed eventually by the remainder of our little guys. They were all chosen for the same performance.

They loved the training part of it.


Then came the time to fight. DGD enjoyed it.


DGS enjoyed it.


One twin enjoyed it.


The other twin said "forget it" and sat down to pout. This is the same twin that hated HM. He didn't want anything to do with Darth Vader.


After the show we lunched at Tomorrowland Terrace and then went to the photo shop to take care of our photopass for the Jedi performance photos. While I was sitting in my chair outside the shop, Mad Hatter and Alice walked by me going to Refreshment Corner. I knew what this was because of this thread (thank you) and called for my group to hurry so we didn't miss musical chairs. DGD went to change out of her dress while we went to sit down. They enjoyed that, especially the jokes when they were out.




DGS was the first of our group "out".


Then our Darth Vader fighting twin.


Our lover not a fighter twin was next.


DGD won and her prize was putting the chairs away.


Then we did the long awaited Captain EO, which was worth the wait. MJ fans here.


Back to the hotel after this and returning for our dinner reservation at Cafe Orleans. That food is to die for!




We took a ride on the Mark Twain after and then got out of there, so we didn't tire ourselves out too much before starting a new week.

 

[Riahsha]

That Sunday ended up being our last night in the park, we were needed at home. We were disappointed, but made the decision to go back for MHP and stay a few days in October. It's coming soon! Can't wait!