Disneyland Trip
Last weekend we checked the kids out of school and took off on a Wednesday afternoon for a whirl-wind Disney weekend. After spending the night in Mesquite we arrived in sunny southern CA on Thursday afternoon. That afternoon we got used to our 'family suit' (2 rooms, 2 bathrooms and a living room - pretty sweet for less than $130 a night) and we spent the evening
swimming and walking around Downtown Disney. Little did we know this would be the last sun we would see on our vacation.
Friday at Disneyland was a total blast! The park was empty all morning and by lunch time we had seen the whole park and ridden everything we wanted to ride. The crowds got heavier in the afternoon
and evening, but with wise use of the fastpass system, it didn't slow us down. The longest line by far was for Peterpan (of all things) and that's because the ride broke down right as we were about to get on. (Thank you to all the people who got out of the way as Chuck and Jared vaulted the railings to make and emergency potty run while the ride was getting repaired.)
We got in line for the Casey Jones Jr. Train just as the fireworks were going off and had a great view sandwiched between Toontown fireworks and the fireworks in Fantasyland. The highlight for sure was
watching "Fantasmic". In all the years I've gone to Disney theamparks I've never taken the time to watch one of these night time shows (this is the best time to ride rides as the lines are short), but Kaitlin really wanted to watch it, so half hour before the show we asked a motherly looking Cast Member where the best place to view the show was. She di
rected us and we had a great view and the show was Incredible! The day had been cool and cloudy (sweatshirt weather) and as we watched, cold rain began to fall. We sat there and shivered but the show was still well worth it.
The next morning we woke to rain, but undaunted, we headed out the door for our day at the tide pools. When we got down to the car it wouldn't start. A jump from the hotel maintenance man didn't help. We got the kids settled in front of the Disney Chanel ( a treat because we do not have cable at home) and I called an old friend that we knew in our last house that had moved "somewhere around Anaheim". To make a very long story short, our friend, Becky Hunter, left the movie theater (she had had tickets to the premier of Harry Potter for 2 weeks) and came to drive us to a car repair place. We learned our car needed a new alternator and Becky Hunter had our car towed on her AAA to a repair place that she trusted. It was well past noon by then and rain was coming down in sheets. Our friends offered to drop our family off at a mall close to the repair place so that we could catch a movie while they worked on our car. We took the kids to see "Despicable Me" (it was very cute) and then walked around the mall for awhile until our car was fixed. Although our day at the beach was lost, we are so grateful for our friend who was our Good Samaritan that day.
The drive home the next day was supposed to be only 11 - 12 hours, but turned into a 16 hour ordeal when we hit a blizzard in Beaver and the highway was closed. We went on a detour which ended up to be a two hour nightmare. Without going into detail, lets just say that the highlight was finding the closed small town gas station that had a pop machine outside so we could get sodas to drink. While the drive home was horrible, we were grateful that we made it home safely.
Thanksgiving
A quiet Thanksgiving at home was just what was needed for my family that still was not 100% recovered from our Disney adventure. In the morning we went and saw "Tangled", the new Disney movie, which we loved. For Dinner we enjoyed a rotisserie chicken, potatoes, stuffing, frog-eye salad and home made rolls. Ruth made a pumpkin pie, crust and all, by herself.
On Friday we drove up to my parents house to visit with them, my brother Richard and his family from TX, and my sister Donna. We had a good visit and were able to take part in the traditional "Thanksgiving Snow Flake Cutting".
Last weekend we checked the kids out of school and took off on a Wednesday afternoon for a whirl-wind Disney weekend. After spending the night in Mesquite we arrived in sunny southern CA on Thursday afternoon. That afternoon we got used to our 'family suit' (2 rooms, 2 bathrooms and a living room - pretty sweet for less than $130 a night) and we spent the evening
swimming and walking around Downtown Disney. Little did we know this would be the last sun we would see on our vacation.Friday at Disneyland was a total blast! The park was empty all morning and by lunch time we had seen the whole park and ridden everything we wanted to ride. The crowds got heavier in the afternoon
and evening, but with wise use of the fastpass system, it didn't slow us down. The longest line by far was for Peterpan (of all things) and that's because the ride broke down right as we were about to get on. (Thank you to all the people who got out of the way as Chuck and Jared vaulted the railings to make and emergency potty run while the ride was getting repaired.)We got in line for the Casey Jones Jr. Train just as the fireworks were going off and had a great view sandwiched between Toontown fireworks and the fireworks in Fantasyland. The highlight for sure was
watching "Fantasmic". In all the years I've gone to Disney theamparks I've never taken the time to watch one of these night time shows (this is the best time to ride rides as the lines are short), but Kaitlin really wanted to watch it, so half hour before the show we asked a motherly looking Cast Member where the best place to view the show was. She di
rected us and we had a great view and the show was Incredible! The day had been cool and cloudy (sweatshirt weather) and as we watched, cold rain began to fall. We sat there and shivered but the show was still well worth it.The next morning we woke to rain, but undaunted, we headed out the door for our day at the tide pools. When we got down to the car it wouldn't start. A jump from the hotel maintenance man didn't help. We got the kids settled in front of the Disney Chanel ( a treat because we do not have cable at home) and I called an old friend that we knew in our last house that had moved "somewhere around Anaheim". To make a very long story short, our friend, Becky Hunter, left the movie theater (she had had tickets to the premier of Harry Potter for 2 weeks) and came to drive us to a car repair place. We learned our car needed a new alternator and Becky Hunter had our car towed on her AAA to a repair place that she trusted. It was well past noon by then and rain was coming down in sheets. Our friends offered to drop our family off at a mall close to the repair place so that we could catch a movie while they worked on our car. We took the kids to see "Despicable Me" (it was very cute) and then walked around the mall for awhile until our car was fixed. Although our day at the beach was lost, we are so grateful for our friend who was our Good Samaritan that day.
The drive home the next day was supposed to be only 11 - 12 hours, but turned into a 16 hour ordeal when we hit a blizzard in Beaver and the highway was closed. We went on a detour which ended up to be a two hour nightmare. Without going into detail, lets just say that the highlight was finding the closed small town gas station that had a pop machine outside so we could get sodas to drink. While the drive home was horrible, we were grateful that we made it home safely.
Thanksgiving
A quiet Thanksgiving at home was just what was needed for my family that still was not 100% recovered from our Disney adventure. In the morning we went and saw "Tangled", the new Disney movie, which we loved. For Dinner we enjoyed a rotisserie chicken, potatoes, stuffing, frog-eye salad and home made rolls. Ruth made a pumpkin pie, crust and all, by herself.
On Friday we drove up to my parents house to visit with them, my brother Richard and his family from TX, and my sister Donna. We had a good visit and were able to take part in the traditional "Thanksgiving Snow Flake Cutting".
2 comments:
Ruth looks like quite the baker. I don't think my pie crusts have ever looked that good.
Thank goodness for Becky Hunter. Sounds like she made a very difficult situation more like a frustration than a nightmare.
So glad you made it home safe. All the snow this week has made travel a little harrowing.
I am so glad you were able to do a trip all together. It sounds like a lot of fun.
Post a Comment