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Lindy Higham -- August 1999 -- DisneylandAugust 7-14, 1999 Cast of Characters:
INTRODUCTION Just a little bit of background on me. Ever since I was just a small tot, my parents would take me, my sisters and brother to Southern California. In 1993, my sister Della and I (the single girls of the family) started traveling together to more exotic locations and our first destination was a Caribbean cruise that begun and ended in Ft. Lauderdale. Of course that was my cue to say ... DISNEY WORLD!! We've been cruising once a year ever since going to Disneyland or World depending on whichever coast the cruise sailed from. I've been on seven cruises and visited Disney World five times. It's been three years since we've done a big family vacation and this year the plan takes us to a relaxing week-long condo-by-the-beach in Oceanside, CA. in the fall. We decided because of kids in school, leaving our little pets and various other reasons, the theme park stretch was out of the question. My older sister Sandy really wanted her kids to go to Disneyland this year, Bec will be graduating and will be going on to college, making it tougher to get together. The only option was summer ... what a bummer! Heat, crowds, crowds and more crowds! We are going to try to not let this bother us. We're going to have a great time no matter what! After much decision and after working around Bec's many activities this summer, we decided we'd leave early Saturday August 7, the day after her final fashion show. I'll leave my home Friday evening and leave my car at Sandy's for the week, and sleep for a couple hours. We are driving straight through and coming from Utah, so we'll need to leave early (3:00 a.m.) in order to miss the heat of the desert right at noon. Sandy and Bec will relay the driving, I'm not insured for their car. We'll probably make several little bathroom/stretch-the-leg breaks but we're hoping to make good time and I wanted to stop at the Rainforest Café (an all time favorite from WDW ... mmmm Forest Flatbread!) at the Ontario Mills on the way. I found that there was one there and one at a mall in Costa Mesa, both seem a little too far on the map to drive from Buena Park where we're staying, so I thought we could hit it on the way. Sandy said that we'd all be too travel stained to go on the way, so we'll check into the hotel, clean up and then head back to the mall. Speaking of Buena Park, that's where we will call home for the week. Knott's gets kind of a bad rap from folks on the Disney Internet news groups but it's one of my favorite places! It's sort of a family tradition to stay at the Buena Park Hotel right next to Knott's, which is now owned by Knott's. I have a Magic Kingdom Club and Joe Cool Club (Knott's version of the MKC) Cards and so the room was $64 plus tax. I don't know how it's going to work with all of us in one little room but I think we'll manage okay and not get on each other's nerves. We'll be getting a 3-day flex pass for Disneyland and we'll be going to Knott's twice, admission with the Joe Cool is $26.00 but they have a deal with Ralph's for $19.99. Our schedule at this point will be Saturday-Travel/Rest, Sunday-Church/El Torito's Sunday Brunch (YUM!), Monday-Knott's, Tuesday and Wednesday-Disneyland, Thursday-Knott's, Friday-Disneyland, Saturday-journey home, straight through again! Monday-back to work. I wish we could've stayed at Vegas so we could see some of the cool things there and have gone to the Rainforest Café at the MGM Grand but the hotels are so expensive on the weekend. As far as meals go, we'll try to go relatively inexpensive but there's a few places that are a must. El Torito and Rainforest Café I've mentioned but I'd love to see us going to the Blue Bayou, just to go, you know. I'm a vegetarian, but I'm alone this time, Della the sister that I've been traveling with is a vegetarian as well so it makes it easier to pick restaurants but I think I'll survive. One other for sure place is Mrs. Knott's for breakfast. I've got to tell you I enjoy eating so much more at Knott's than at Dis, we'll see how it works out this year. THE DAY FINALLY ARRIVES!! Friday and Saturday, August 6 and 7 Yes, the day finally arrived! I was so tired at work, I have been planning a travel game and it has really worn me out. The last several nights my Mom and I have been trying to think of rhymes and fun things to get the girls. We've actually closed Super Target a few time this week already (thank goodness for midnight closings!) The day at work was in a word HECTIC! My supervisor was out having gall bladder surgery, so I was doing both of our jobs plus trying to get everything done for while I'm away and organizing a flower delivery for her. I go home for lunch so that was when I did my fastest packing job ever. Was I ever glad when five came!! I hurried off to the bank, got all my money organized, washed my car and got gas on the way home. I picked up the fam and we headed up to the University of Utah for Bec's fashion show, which by the way was much cooler than I thought and Bec did a fabulous job ... move over Cindy Crawford! Dinner consisted of Little Caesar's pizza on the way out to ... guess where ... Super Target! We got the final game prizes and went home to wrap and organize everything. My cousin Lib had called and heard of several new "Disneyland Exclusive" beanie babies, which she collects. I told her that I'd be happy to bring them home and was now armed with a list. After finishing the silly game and getting everything together, it was about 2:00 a.m., no time for sleep. I hopped in the bath to revive myself ... taking only 30 seconds, got ready and loaded my car. WOW!! .... do I really have that much stuff!?! I gave hugs to everyone at home and assured them that I'd miss them very much and was on my way by 2:30 a.m. Fast, huh? Bec called on my cell phone about 2:50. I told her I was almost there and to not leave without me. "Oh please!" was her comment to that. I arrived at the house just a few minutes past 3:00, being very careful about not speeding too badly, since the cops were out in force ... All the kids seemed pretty tired, Sandy, Bec and I were raring to go though. We were just a tad bit late getting off, my bad! We ended up sitting at a red light for at least five minutes but we were law abiding and waited for the green. Corey thought that something was amiss to be pulled out of bed in the middle of the night and thrown in his car seat so he cried for quite a while but finally settled down. We were all wide awake and I wish I would've started the game earlier so the kids would've had something to do but I thought they would've slept for a while. The plan was to go until St. George and stop for gas and hit Mesquite for their breakfast buffet. Sandy got a little tired so we pulled over for a few minutes, Bec and I got out and stretched our legs a bit ... burrrr, was it ever cold! We got going again and pulled into our favorite St. George gas station and who should we see but our Uncle Tommy and Aunt Barbara! What a small world ... oh no not that song ... already!! They live not too far away but just happened to be there. The gas pumped and purchased and ice chilling water bottles and soda, we made our way to Mesquite. We arrived just after about 40 minutes, Bec drove and we were all awake so, Shania Twain was blaring from our Explorer. The buffet was pretty tasty, and it was marvelous stretching our legs and laughing a lot. Corey was so excited to be out of his car seat ... little did he know that he'd have to go right back in. I played a few nickel machines and left with more than I started out with ... not much, but a little. Traveling ... traveling ... traveling ... We made another stop at the Barstow McDonald's/Train Station for a potty break/fry and coke stop. Got some gas at a Shell station, which Sandy thought was great gas. The game was going pretty well and there was at least something to open every hour or so. We finally arrived at Buena Park about 3:00 p.m. California time. Yesh!! California's having about as much construction as us going on. We were so excited spotting familiar landmarks and of course the Knott's rides that loom high enough to see from the freeway. We were looking forward to seeing the new wooden roller coaster, the Ghostrider and were we ever awed by it! The hotel had been remodeled and was a sight for sore eyes. Our room number was 714, same as their area code ... the room looked great but just your every day ordinary hotel room. Two queen beds that really didn't look very queeny, small table and chairs, bureau, tv, night stand in between the two beds, closet space and a vanity/make up area with a sink and of course the bathroom with shower/bath and toilet. I made sure to call home and let everyone know we were there safe and sound. We also tried calling the church to find out what time it was tomorrow but to no avail. I called El Torito to confirm the time for Sunday brunch tomorrow. We all took turns taking a shower and looking pretty ... and then headed all the way back almost an hour to the Ontario Mills, the front desk guy thought we were crazy to go all the way to Ontario but gave great directions. We had a map that I'd printed on the Internet with a coupon, so we parked right by the Rainforest Café and headed into make our reservations. AHHHHHH! I love the Rainforest Café, I could almost close my eyes and imagine myself at Animal Kingdom!!!! We wanted to shop around a bit so I arranged for our adventure to begin at 9:30 after the mall closed. We checked out the major locations the girls were excited to see. Bec got a great deal on Lucky jeans, over half off the prices at our local department stores. We got a couple good deals at Old Navy but we were getting pretty weary from our drive and really hungry, especially after we checked out the food court, which is gigantic! This mall was very similar to the "Sawgrass Mills" in Ft. Lauderdale. I had read so much about the cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory at Disney Quest in Downtown Disney I had to get some for us to share. I chose the Tuxedo, Cookie Dough and Snickers (in memory of the best cheesecake that has every touched my lips from The Tusker House at Animal Kingdom). I got them to go, so we could each try them back at the hotel. These cheesecakes were the most expensive cakes I ever bought at $4.95 per slice ... At this point we thought we'd go back to the Rainforest to see if we could get in any sooner. The host said no problem and in about 20 minutes we were seated with menus in hand. Of course none of us needed them, I had brought home a menu from Deb Wills' site a few weeks earlier and everyone decided what they wanted then. I, of course had a Forest Flatbread all to myself and ordered a waffle fry for everyone to share. Sandy and Bec shared the quesadillas and the chicken Caesar salad. Rachel got the kids hamburger and Katie got the kids chicken fingers, both came with potato chips, which they substituted for a huge order of waffle fries. The food arrived quickly, Bec and I were so hungry we pulled out the cheesecake for an appetizer but the food arrived so we put them away in a hurry. The food was as usual for Rainforest ... magnificent! I had a coke here, and it was delicious, in previous trip reports for WDW I scope out for the best coke of the trip ... nothing can beat that Tusker House coke but I'll keep tabs here. I tried the Caesar salad and it was marvelous!! The chicken was big strips of breast so I could easily pick around them. My Flatbread was a big hit as well, I think everyone wished they would have gotten it. That is one food that I dream about!! When we got out of the restaurant the mall was closed but the Rainforest store was still open so I got a shirt, it would've broken a tradition had I not gotten a RFC shirt!! I had cashed in the Internet coupon at the guest relations desk earlier and was given a large coupon book for various stores throughout the mall. They had one for 15% off of RC merchandise as well as a free entree (which could only be used on a weekday ... drat!) We stumbled out to the truck and drove the hour back to Buena Park, anxious for the to go cheesecake. I have to tell you ... yumbowlie!!!! We were too tired to fully appreciate those cheesecakes but that cookie dough was a slice of heaven!!! Bec loved the Tuxedo but the snickers just couldn't compete with the Tusker House. We ended up throwing some of each piece away, they were just too darn rich to eat very much, we were so tired and it was pretty late. Bec insisted on taking floor duty the first night so Katie and I slept together and Sandy, Rachel and Corey slept in the other bed. Since it had been so long since I had slept, it felt so good to get into that bed and I slept like a baby. Sunday, August 8 Sandy got up when Corey did and I got up shortly after. Bec said that the floor was muey uncomfortable, I volunteered for tonight. I tried the church again and they were there, we could choose between the 9 or 11 o'clock times. We decided to hurry and get going to the 9:00 so we would make sure and get to Torito's before the brunch was over. We're members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and there is a church right across the street that we go to every time we're down in this area. It's amazing but five girls managed to shower, do hair/make up and get all fancied up on time, I'm usually late at home so it was quite a feat getting there and even early. The folks in this ward are always very friendly and we enjoyed chatting before the meeting. We talked with a lady who has two sons attending Brigham Young University (BYU), about 15 minutes from Sandy's house. Small world, isn't it? Oh no, not again!?! Corey wasn't the very happiest so we left after the first hour instead of staying all three. We got back to the hotel, changed and off we went. Amazingly enough as we were leaving the hotel, someone spotted my radp pin. They were stopping something off at the hotel and they were on their way back to Disneyland for the big Internet meet. They showed me their IDIG pin, I sure wish plans could've included a meet ... man, I'm always missing out. I bid them farewell and told them to say 'hi!' to Al from me. We stopped and got gas first, then a quick stop at the local Albertson's for some baby food. The girls thought it was quite novel to not have to pay any food tax. We found El Torito and had a short wait for our table, drinks were included so we had cokes all around. The buffet included beans, rice, cheese enchiladas, chili relanos, chimichangas, salads, pastas, omelette bar, deserts, all kinds of things that I can't remember but quite the assortment. May I say, it's amazing at how much of a mess one small baby can make ... We went back to the room and the girls got into their suits, I didn't bring mine so I put on some Levi shorts and a tank in order to get the maximum amount of sun possible. It was so pleasant! I sat on a chaise lounge chair in the lovely sun with a mug of icy cold water and my headphones. In the distance the soft rumble of the Ghostrider and the faint screams of the riders who waited a looooong time for their fun filled ride. Every so often the whistle of the Ghost Town train sounded getting us excited for tomorrow. We stayed out quite some time, while Sandy and Corey napped in the air-conditioned room. We'd planned to go out looking for a Ralph's to get the discounts for tomorrow's Knott's adventure, so we did the get-all-ready thing again and went in search of the Ralph's. Of course, the one I remembered is now a Food 4 Less, which is also having a deal but Ralph's is better. We stopped to check out a phone book and guess what no phone book at any of the pay phones ... keep looking, finally found another phone with a phone book and go right to a Ralph's on Lincoln. All I had to do is fill out a form to become a Ralph's Club girl and I'm set! No charge. Very similar to our Fresh Value dealie at Smith's. The checker thought that I was Bec's mom and that Bec was Corey's mom ... that makes me a ... grandma?!? She was very nice though, come to find out her sister lives five minutes from Sandy ... it's a small world after all ... oops, sorry, it just slipped out! Knott's passes and of course, "sun in," in hand we went back to the hotel and walked over to the Marketplace at Knott's. Since construction of the Ghostrider, half of the Marketplace is now in the park but it's still fun to walk over and get the 'feel' of being there. I treated whoever wanted something from the bakery, I of course, had to have a boysenberry turnover ... mmmmm! Katie had the same and Rachel had a croissant. Sandy and Bec passed, we all got a couple of boysenberry punches to share, also very yummy! After a while of looking around and buying post cards, we decided to go back to the room. Sandy was going to do a batch of laundry, I never thought that we'd need to do laundry on the second day of a vacation but then of course, it's been a while since I've traveled with a baby! We tried to find something fun to watch on tv but I don't remember succeeding. Della and my Mom called, we sure are missing everyone! We were all getting a little hungry so I treated us to Domino's Pizza, which was excellent and just hit the spot. They delivered but were unable to bring the pizza up to our room so we went down to lobby and picked it up. We got two medium, two toppings; one with mushrooms and tomatoes and the other with mushrooms and pepperoni and an order of cheese bread for $14.99. Luckily, we found Summer Magic on the Disney Channel so there was something fun to watch as we ate our pizza. We were still a bit tired from the big travel day so we decided to hit the sack, my turn to take the floor duty. Monday, August 9 Knott's Berry Farm Bec was right about the floor ... not comfie at all! Got showered and ready and off to Knott's!!! Breakfast was at Mrs. Knott's, I chose the pancakes with O'Brien potatoes instead of the meat and my scrambled eggs were given to Rachel. Sandy and Bec both got the Farm Breakfast, which has potatoes, meat, eggs and biscuits. Rachel got a kid's version of that breakfast and Katie got this yummy looking waffle with strawberries, also on the kid's menu. Sandy, Katie and Corey went back for something (thank goodness for the convenience of being so close!) while Bec, Rach and I headed in for the traditional 'first log ride' ride. Just a little mention here about Knott's, it does really get a bad rep on the Disney Internet sites, it's very true it is not Disney. The figures aren't life looking animatronics, but they are done pretty darn well. Knott's has a lot of fond memories and traditions for me, so I'm including my days spent there as well. It isn't all coasters and thrills, they are there ... in a very big way but there is atmosphere, fun and fantastic food places. It's never stressful there as Disneyland sometimes gets, and even if it's crowded, Ghost Town in all of its peaceful rusticness is always there to enjoy and just soak up the atmosphere! The park was almost empty and we walked right onto the log! We were all so excited to be there!! Knott's log ride is of course a flume ride but set to the theme of an old logging camp with loggers and wildernessy animals and stuff inside ... a very fun ride! We went to the meeting place and since they weren't there yet, took another ride on the log. We started to pose for the camera and got quite a few cute shots, I felt bad I never did buy one. We were always trying for a better one ... While we were on our second Log Ride, Sandy got Katie a "fairy flower," one of those fake roses with ribbons hanging from it. She had a lot of fun with it and was pretty inexpensive, I believe $3.50. We did a couple of coasters. I did Montezuma's Revenge alone. When coming out of Montezuma, I couldn't find my people at all, I walked around searching, but to no avail. I finally found them on the Merry Go Round, which Corey adored. We then did that train we were hearing whistle yesterday. It was here that I realized we'd have a harder time than I planned on having with Katie. She did not want to go, of course she was forced to go ... it was just a train ... of course a train with robbers. She seemed to be okay after we were asked to give up our cash. We were going to go on the mine train next, a train that takes it's passengers into the belly of a gold mine. Katie was having nothing to do with this one though so I stayed off with her. While the others rode, we checked out a show. She was forced on the Kingdom of the Dinosaurs, which she was not happy about and she ended up closing her eyes the whole way through. Which was a pity because it does have some great dinosaurs (although nothing like the Countdown to Extinction dinos) and some pretty neat scenes! The music is also amazing, it's that new age type music I love and listen to as I'm going to sleep sometimes. To make up for the pushing her onto that ride Bec went on the bumper cars with her, which she loves. Then they did Bigfoot Rapids while I watched Corey, we had a great time waiting and I even got some video of them coming around the bend. By the way, they got TOTALLY wet! We got a couple of pretzels to share to tied us over til lunch, which were really good, the best pretzel ever! Katie and I wanted to see the ice show so we headed there next. It was a tribute to America with Snoopy and some hard working Olympic wannabes. It was a pretty good show though, and it was nice to sit in a comfy air-conditioned building for half an hour. We walked around Ghost Town, soaking up the atmosphere, discussing where we'd like to have lunch since we were getting mighty hungry at this point. We decided on the Ghost Town Grill. We'd never eaten there and thought it would be fun. They had a mighty good veggie sandwich there on focchia bread, the fries weren't very good but all of the sandwiches were very tasty. Bec had chicken, Sandy and Rachel had hamburgers and Katie had chicken fingers (what would we have done without chicken fingers?) They had a remarkable sounding cheesecake so I got one for us all to share and it was indeed yummy and only $2.95. After lunch Bec and I got in the Ghostrider line, which ended up being almost half hour, the only line of the day. Had we realized the lines this ride would have in the future, we would've gone a few more times. If you're a coaster enthusiast, this is a ride you can't miss! It was one of the funnest coasters that I have ever been on. The picture of Bec was totally hilarious so of course, I had to buy it! I think she would've preferred me not getting it, though. After our ride, we decided to take an afternoon break. Now, this is something that I have never done before and I wasn't thrilled with it! But I realized that this was a smart thing to do with kids, especially babies. We just rested and some slept. We went back to the park after a while and rode the log ride a couple more times and I did the Boomerang alone, another scary coaster. We tried out the little diner for fries, drinks and shakes, which were all very tasty. We then went over to the Reflection Lake to catch the nighttime water/laser show, which was kind of a waste of time but gave us the material for several jokes the rest of the trip. It was getting chilly and late so we walked home, making arrangements for the shuttle to take us to Disneyland tomorrow on the way up. It was a perfectly fun day at Knott's ... I seemed to miss all the shows that I wanted to see but there's always the next time ... right? Tonight we tried something different and tripled up in the beds ... won't work, I'll be on the floor for the rest of the trip. Tuesday, August 10 Disneyland We got up and got going and were early for the shuttle ... oh okay, it's cause I thought it left earlier than it really did but hey, we made it there on time, right? The ride seemed to take forever!!! Our driver took us through lots of different suburb areas that I had never even seen. We finally got there and then we were stuck on Harbor for at least 15 minutes because of construction trucks blocking our way. The hotel's shuttle bus was being fixed so we were in the very back of one of those 20 passenger vans and we were all getting a little car sick. Let me tell you we were so excited to step out of that van! We finally arrived and got the stroller all set up. I led as we wound our way past all the queues to get in and went to the very last one, walking right into a turnstile. We found out if we wanted to do a Magic Morning than it had to be Thursday, which was going to be our second Knott's day but we thought we'd switch so we could do the Magic Morning. Gotta admit, that new California Adventure thing ... seems like major hokeyness to me, let's hope they prove me wrong but it is by no means comparable to any of the WDW additional parks. Speaking of WDW, it was sure tough being at a Disney Park and it not being Disney World ... no Quasi, Off Kilter, Festival of the Lion King, Tower of Terror, Epcot ... Norway, Animal Kingdom, Disney/MGM and the list goes on ... Disney World has really spoiled me! Ummm ... when can I go back?!? We got in and Katie got an autograph book and a fat pen. Great! This should be interesting! All the times I see kids and adults alike trying to get autographs and pictures from characters, I am so glad I am not a part of that. We'll see how that turns out. Immediately we see Minnie but of course as soon as we get up to her, she has to powder her nose or have a bit of cheese or something! As we were walking down Main Street, I noticed there was painting being done ... right then. I kept a close eye out for "Disneyland Blues" things, and was pleasantly surprised, mostly things looked pretty nice. I did notice Toontown needs some real attention, and a few various other spots but, on a whole, things looked okay. We immediately checked the Candy Parlor for their candy of the day and the wait board. The park had just opened and the Rocket Rods were already a 90 minute wait, Splash Mountain was 45 minutes, Pirates on the other hand was almost a walk on, YES! So we get in line for Pirates, Katie asks, "what are we going on?" When we told her pirates, she wasn't happy but she was a trooper. I really think she liked it but wasn't about to tell that to any of us. I haven't been on Disneyland's version of Pirates for three years and was thoroughly impressed! This is one attraction that the WDW version suffers greatly compared to the original. There were so many new pirates and other small things had been added that just makes the ride so much better! Loved the new ending!! We checked out the menu at the Blue Bayou but there was nothing that appealed to anyone except Sandy thought it would be fun to try the Monte Cristo sandwich again. I couldn't see a thing that a veggie such as myself would've ordered ... Four years ago, Della and I came after cruise number 3 and had a huge yummy pasta/veggie salad. Oh well ... next ... HAUNTED MANSION!!! Katie again wasn't thrilled but half heartedly agreed. She went with me, and I think I made her extra nervous when I quoted every line verbatim. I have a tape that I made with the majority of the ride on it and I told her to imagine that she was in my car listening to it. We made it through and traditionally we guess which ghost will be following us home, Katie won. I really love this ride ... I could go all the way to Disneyland and just go on Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Splash Mountain and watch Fantasmic! and I'd be a happy girl. Next, we tried out the baby swap at Big Thunder Mountain. On the way over, we spotted Cowboy Goofy and Chip and Dale, got pictures and autographs, three down, tons to go. Sandy and the girls went while Katie and I stayed out with Corey. They waited about 15 minutes and then Rachel and Bec did rock/paper/scissors to determine who would go back with me. Bec won, we walked up the exit and requested the back seat and were on the very next train. YES! We then meandered over to Casa Mexicana for an early luncheon, cause we were rumbly in the tumbly. I ordered the three item veggie version of the combination plate. It was way too much food and I would've been okay with only one item. I also got chips and salsa for everyone to share, Sandy did too and we ended up throwing a lot of them away. The coke here was pretty good as well. Rachel and Bec got the taco salad which looked really tasty, I wish I would've gotten that, the quacamolie was delic! After eating we decided we'd do something that Katie wanted to do, so we headed over to Tomorrowland to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience. On the way over from Frontierland I showed them the hub and we made this our meeting place if ever we were to get separated. I thought it might be best to warn Katie about those little surprises in HIStA since she's been stressed about lots of the rides. She wasn't even fazed by any of the effects! Who would've thought? Everyone loved it, even Corey! I wanted Sandy to see the whole thing without worrying about Corey so I had him in my arms and he watched everything so cute, I should have gotten him some glasses! Those mice were no where near as strong as the Florida mice, I could barely feel them. Katie surprised us all by declaring her desire to go on Space Mountain ... it shocked us all so much that even though the line was 60 minutes (a very long 60 minutes as well) we decided we'd do it. Sandy swapped this time. The whole line Katie kept asking what exactly the ride was like ... dips?, fast?, high? we tried to answer them truthfully without worrying her. I was totally parched while waiting for this one, lucky for me they had a drink vender right there in the line, it was $2.50 for a 20 oz. Coke but well worth it because I was so thirsty. We finally got to the front of the line and were in our vehicle. As soon as the music started ... Katie was fine, all smiles. She did confide that it was nothing like she had imagined ... I think she thought it was more of a fast train with cookies. This is another ride that is much better here than in Florida, the music is a huge addition, the seating, the track, everything is better here. After this I thought she'd be fine on everything ... think again. By the way, I decided NOTHING is worth waiting an hour! One comment about Tommorowland, ummm, YUCK! Didn't like it a bit. Space Mountain was brown!! We found Sandy and it was Rach's turn to swap with her so they went while Bec, Katie, Corey and I went to get some candy for a snack and check out the Emporium. I got us some English Toffee, which was marvelous! We were meeting in the hub, so we decided to run and check the Emporium for Lib's beanie list. I was so excited when I found all but three of them! We made a mental note to come back after meeting Sandy and Rach to get them and send them to package delivery, which I loved! We meandered back to the hub and watched the immense crowds go by, Sandy and Rach joined us and we enjoyed our toffee. We headed back down Main Street and purchased the beanies, and Katie decided that she wanted to go on the Matterhorn ... Katie, is that you in there? We walked back through the hub on the way to Fantasyland and of course had to throw some pennies into Snow White's wishing well, a fun peaceful spot that rarely has anyone even there. So we waited in the huge wrap around line for the Matterhorn. Sandy wasn't interested in this one, so we didn't do a swap. Katie really liked it! After that, we thought we'd go on the dreaded Small World, we thought maybe Corey would like to look at all the little dolls and I think Sandy really wanted to go. We grabbed Merlin's autograph somewhere on the way over. We get over to Small World and we waited, yes, you read right, waited for about 15 minutes for Small World. As soon as we were in our boat and turning into the building Corey of course fell fast asleep. I hadn't been for quite a while, so it was quite cute for a few minutes, then I dosed! We decided that we needed to rest somewhere for a bit, I suggested the Animazement show, which would start in 15 minutes, unfortunately there weren't any takers. It's good that Della doesn't mind going from show to show with me at Disney World!!! What I'd give to see the Quasi show right now!! Instead we go on the train back to Frontierland for a relaxing Mint Julep. Katie wasn't thrilled when she heard about the dinosaurs, come to find out what she's scared of are the scenes. We made it to the Mint Julep bar and ordered some Juleps, which came in really nice hard plastic glasses (which we kept and collected enough for Sandy to have a complete set for her family and me for mine ... 21 total) and some fritters. After we saw the people coming out of the French Market we realized we were more hungry than that so we popped in and got some salads and fries (a staple while on vacation, you know!) which were very yummy! We decided we'd hit the Country Bears next so on our way to Critter Country, noticing the Haunted Mansion line and the Splash Mountain line looked like they were the same line. We stopped to look at the deep fried cheese at the little dock stand, so Sandy bought an order, which was very tasty and it came on a cute black shell plate, which we kept. That little area is so fun over there and hardly anyone around, even a secret path to Critter Country. The Bears were great fun, Corey didn't think so though. Katie found the pressed pennies, which she thought would be fun, now this was another thing that I thought was a waste of time and money before but actually caught onto the fun. Katie wanted Pooh's autograph, so we got in the long line to wait for him. While we were waiting Eeyore and Tigger came out quietly and were virtually alone. I grabbed Katie out of line, instructing someone to save our place and got the bouncey one and the gloomy one without a wait. We eventually got to Pooh after a momentary honey break. It was getting close to the starting of Fantasmic! and the good places were rapidly getting filled so we decided to skip it tonight and see it on Thursday. We popped on Pirates once again, Kate still wasn't thrilled, I was hoping that she'd be okay after Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. As we were walking toward Adventureland we noticed that the Indy line was under an hour so we went for it, Sandy swapped so I waited with the girls. I truly forgot how weavy that line is once you get into the building. Great ride, though! As we walked out Corey was crying, he'd just woken up and wasn't a happy camper. Sandy said for someone else to do the swap, she didn't feel like she could leave the sad boy for me to deal with but it's her favorite ride and so I ushered her on. THIS WAS THE LONGEST 20 MINUTES OF MY ENTIRE LIFE! I think this 20 minutes with the unhappy one proved that there are no children in my future. Boy, was I relieved to see Sandy, Indy's sidekick, bopping out! All the while, I could hear the Fantasmic! music and was really wanting to see it!! Another complaint that I had was this year we saw so many people smoking and they would smoke right by us. I'm afraid that was not acceptable to me and especially when I was under duress from a crying child in the first place. A lady lit up right in that extremely congested exit area of Indy, which is a baby swap waiting area and blew smoke right in our direction. YESH!! Crying child, STUPID lady!! I said something snide really loud and she left, hurrah! Boy now with Sandy, still crying we make our way toward the end of Main Street where we find a lovely bench to watch the fireworks. Corey finally settled down, poor kid, doesn't know what's going on! After the fireworks we headed out to get Lib's beanies from package express, I wasn't sure how long it was going to take so we went out way too soon. Turns out to be what it advertises ... expressy. So we were at our bus stop several minutes early and it was really getting chilly. I brought my Mickey sweater but turns out that I never got to wear it, it looked really good on the girls though ... The van finally arrives and brings with it a fancy stretch limo ... now I'd like to continue with 'we got to go in the limo,' alas, all stories don't end happily. To the back of the van, squished again! Back home to floor ... going back to Knott's tomorrow ... yeah! Wednesday, August 11, 1999 Knott's Berry Farm I know, I know ... Knott's again. If you're confused please see earlier Knott's explanation. Back to Mrs. Knott's for bfast. We had a really gruff waitress today but she did let me in on a little secret that will be so noted for the future. Instead of getting the pancake breakfast where I substitute eggs and meat, just get a short stack of pancakes (not on the menu) and a side of O'Brien potatoes. Cheaper. So noted. Everyone else got the very same breakfast as before except for me and Rachel decided she wanted to be an adult today. On the way out I noticed that I didn't put in the other video that I thought I had, so this time I ran back to the room to pick one up. Katie decided to join me and we were going to meet the others in the park ... until I realized walking back that Katie's park pass was with Sandy. Luckily, Sandy made the same realization and they met us at the front gate. As soon as we got to the gate we knew it was to be much more crowded than Monday. It seems every summer school and every youth camp decided to have a Knott's day today. It would be a very different day today and I think I went on a record five or six rides. First on the list today was the log ride, for Sandy, who is totally petrified of the log ride. I was so shocked to hear that she was actually planning on attempting this one but she was determined. So off they go. Katie, Corey and I waited for them to plummet from the flume so we could record it for all posterity to see. I think I did a pretty good job considering I had a baby in one hand and the camera in the other. Although Sandy wanted to hop out of the log before it reached the final dip, she came through fine and we were all very proud that she did it. We headed over to the Ghostrider to see what the line was like, two hours, ummm ... nope! So we popped in the bakery and got some cookies, and turnovers to split. We noticed that the restaurant that used to be The Steak House, which is now Auntie Pasta's Pizza Palace, had a good deal. For a family of four (additional people added $6.50) could have all you can eat salad, bread sticks, pizza, and pasta for $19.99. What a bargain, we decided that we'd have that for lunch/dinner a little later. We had a great time meandering around Ghost Town, one of the funnest things to do at Knott's. There is a silver jewelry stand in the Indian Trails area so I looked while Sandy and Corey watched the Native American dancing, he really got into the beat. I had gotten a pinkie ring from this silver place years ago that I still wear so decided on a middle finger ring to match it. Rachel found a Clauddah ring, an Irish 'sweat heart' ring that played an intricate role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one of our favorite shows) on TV. She was having a tough time deciding so the lady said she'd hold it for her for the rest of the day. I decided a trip to Knott's wouldn't be complete without going on the mine train, so Sandy stayed with Katie and Corey and the older girls and I went. We then went on the log ride again sans Sandy this time, once was plenty for her. Another merry go round ride, I even went and sat on one of those stationary benches and took video footage. We spent some time in Camp Snoopy (kid's area) but Katie didn't seem too interested in doing anything. We did go in Snoopy's Playhouse (think Minnie and Mickey's houses at Toontown) which used to be a Berry Tales Playhouse ... I miss those Berry Tales Bears!!! We checked out the line for the Ghostrider again and it had gone done to one hour, we decided to go for it. Rachel had built up her courage and she was ready. The wait was long but went by much faster than that Space Mountain line yesterday. We met a family, they had a teenage boy and his parents, so one of them would have to go alone too. The son was actually checking my two nieces out the whole line, so he was excited to be talking to these two hot babes. Bec went with his Mom and Rach and I went together. It was such a blast!! A total rush!! Rach said she liked it but didn't know if she wanted to do it again. Me and Bec were stoked to do it at least one more time and it had to be at night. At night it is lit by straight orange line lights and looks totally eerie! We thought now would be a good time to take a little afternoon break and spend some relaxing time by the pool getting some So Cal sun. With the help of the 'sun in' we could all pass as California Girls, all our hair is so blonde. Sandy thought it would be fun to have the three girls get their picture done in old fashion clothes, Knott's has a great spot with several different backgrounds. We'll do that first thing after returning from our break. The break did us all good, I could get used to this afternoon break thing. Della would be so excited to take a break at WDW and spend some time sunning at the pool of the resort. Sandy did some laundry and the rest of us went down to the pool and had a great time. Since the girls were planning on having their picture taken right when we get back to the park, extra time was spent primping, even when a big hat was going to squash their well curled hair. We made it back to the park and the girls had to decide what they wanted to wear, Rachel was having particular problems since she's right in between young woman and child but I think she was satisfied. Katie didn't let on that she didn't like her outfit until we were walking out of the studio. The picture turned out great though. From there we went right into Auntie Pasta's, which was delicious! The server was a tad bit slow but the food was delicious and the Mozzarella Kid was there to tell his tales. I ate more at this meal than at any other meal! We'll definitely return on a future trip, and what a great deal!! $26.50 and we ate a lot of food!! Unfortunately, Corey was not happy and after spilling an entire glass of water on Sandy and a lot of fussing, she declared she was going back to the room. We'd have none of that and we all took our turn walking with Cor. We did manage to eat, yummy! And Corey settled down after we left. After dinner, we spent a lot of time meandering. I love Knott's and this was to be our last couple of hours there. We did their version of the space scrambler which is inside, dark with lasers and cool music ... very fun. Then we did our final log ride ... boo hoo!!! Bec and I were staying on to ride the Ghostrider one final time and so we were walking the rest of the group out, of course stopping to pick up the ring for Rach with a lot of encouraging from Aunt Lindy and discouraging from Mom. Man, am I a bad influence or what!?! Bec and I decided that no matter how long the line is, we needed to be in the back. Unfortunately for us, every handicap person at Knott's decided to go the same time and sit in the back, so we waited, for an hour and a half for our ride. Half of it almost there, when droves of handicap people walked right onto our coveted back seat. We finally did get on and we had an amazing ride, we wished the line would've been less and we'd do it again but it wasn't and we needed to get up really early for tomorrow's Magic Morning. Our shuttle bus was leaving at 6:15, so back to the hotel and to floor. Goodbye Knott's!!!! Thanks for a couple of great days!!! Even after two full days at Knott's I didn't feel like I did everything that I wanted. I'm used to going off season, where you can get more accomplished in a couple of hours than in a whole day in the summer. And remember those shows I wanted to see? Didn't see 'em!! Thursday, August 12 Disneyland ... Magic Morning! I don't know about you guys but 5:00 is really early for me. We got up and actually made it to our shuttle bus on time. Hallelujah, the bus was fixed and there was plenty of room and the driver got us there in good time. I had forgotten my allergy pills and I get allergies really bad so I stopped at first aide and was totally drilled as too why I needed some benadryl. The nurse finally thought I was a good candidate and gave me a shot of liquid benadryl, yuck! She was very concerned and gave me lots of instructions, including come back in four hours for more. I met the rest of the gang outside of first aide and they all looked pretty bummed. It seems the rides for Magic Morning are different than they used to be, we thought we'd hit Indy or Rocket Rods in the early a.m. but they weren't open. Fantasyland, a few Tomorrowland things, and Big Thunder. We got up at 5:00 a.m.!?! We decided to make it a zipadeedoodah day and grinned as we made our way to Fantasyland to do the rides we weren't even planning on doing. The land was empty!! I haven't seen it like this ever! We did Peter Pan, Snow White, Pinocchio, Mr. Toad, Alice and Dumbo all in less than an hour!!! We then did something I never thought that I'd do ... the infamous Splash Mountain rope drop ... what a blast! I think it should be a new tradition. We were four or five people deep lined up by the Golden Horseshoe, but I knew what was going to happen, so I kept Rach and Bec close and when 10-9-8-7-6 ... we readied ourselves for the race, 5-4-3-2-1, there goes the rope ... there goes us. It was so fun doing our best to beat the crowd. We ended up getting to Splash Mountain and walked through most of the queue. The whole thing wasn't set up so we didn't wind through the back/outside part at all. Sandy, Katie and Corey caught up with us in time to get a baby swap certificate in case she decided she had the courage to do it, if not Rach and Bec could go again. The total wait time and time riding the ride was under 20 minutes. So it was just after 8:00 and we done the whole entire Fantasyland and Splash Mountain, we'd planned on taking a nice afternoon break but the shuttle wouldn't arrive for several hours, yet. We were planning on eating at the Hungry Bear but of course that wouldn't open until 11:00, I suggested taking the train over to Toontown so we could get some autographs, since I thought it would be relatively uncrowded at this early hour. We did. Toontown was pretty empty so I suggested we do Roger Rabbit, since we'd never done it before. I really had fun on the Buzz Lightyear Spin at WDW. We walked right on and it was really fun, I'm glad that we were able to do it without lines. We looked around the town and pushed buttons for a while and started getting autographs; Donald, the "Big Cheese Himself," Pluto. Minnie, of course had to powder her nose again as soon as we got to the front of the line. You know, this autograph thing is really much funner than I thought. I could just imagine how fun it would be at Epcot, getting all the characters from the countries. We walked through Mickey's house and the others walked through Minnie's, while Corey and I waited on a lovely bench. The girls also walked through Donald's boat and the Chipmunk's tree house. Sandy took Corey and went to get some baby food from the baby station on Main Street since we hadn't refueled yet, while we stayed at Toontown for a bit more. We planned on meeting her at the Hungry Bear. We noticed earlier the Princess area in Fantasyland so the girls and I headed there and waited for Cinderella's signature. She portrayed Cindy as quite the dope, oh well, she was cute. We headed over to Critter Country via major crowds in Fantasyland, it was so hard to believe just hours ago we were here almost alone. Sandy and Corey were waiting for us at the Hungry Bear. Come to find out, baby food is gold in this place, make sure you have plenty or you'll be paying three times the amount you do in the stores. I ordered the veggie burger basket, which came with fries and a coke. It was the tastiest veggie burger and the fries were pretty good. Sandy chickened out of Splash so the girls went again on the baby swap, so as not to waste that coveted piece of paper. As we were leaving, a HUGE group of Oriental Flag People came and we could barely get out of the restaurant. The place was mobbed by now but we managed to sneak on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates again, not Katie's choice. I kept trying to get us to Animazement but to no one ever seemed to want to go, again I'm glad Della likes to go to shows with me at Disney World. While we waited for the time the shuttle would pick us up, we did some window shopping and soaking up the atmosphere you can only get at Disneyland. On the way out we hit the Ariel's grotto line, which looks suspiciously like the Rocket Rod queue, so we almost didn't stop but the line went by quickly and Ariel was beautiful. We had a few minutes before our shuttle would pick us up, so we all looked around the very, um, interesting California Adventure, not what I thought it would be. I'm not sure about it at all ... like I said earlier, I hope they prove me wrong! We made it to the bus and back home for a well-needed rest, everyone crashed but Katie who really tried but couldn't quite sleep. Not me. I fell on the bed and was asleep in no time. When I read trip reports of people who go back to their room to nap, I have such a hard time understanding how they could let alone, leave the park, but sleep? This trip I needed the breaks as much as the kids! We had a lovely sleep and were planning on hitting the grocery store for some more baby food and dinner before heading back. We all seemed to what something different, Sandy and I were dying for some Chinese but that didn't hit the spot for anyone else. Besides, we don't know a good Chinese restaurant in the area. I suggested hitting the Buena Park Mall and just getting something from the food court, that way everyone can have what they want. Okay, settled. Mall. Once we got there, parked and made our way to the food court, we realized that they were under construction and the only places to eat were a rib place and a pizza place. So we quickly went for plan B, Sizzler. Which was a pretty good deal, for the all you can eat salad bar, with all you can drink coke was almost the same as the burger brunch we had earlier. We were running late so I'm afraid we missed Corey's baby food stop. We made it to the van and were the only ones on. Corey, like I've said is so cute, all the whole trip we've had people commenting on him and even asking to hold him or touch him. Our bus driver fell in love with him and fawned all over him all the way there. We arrived back at the park with two goals, Indy again and watching the second Fantasmic! When we arrived the first Fantasmic! was just starting so we went into the River Belle to wait it out with Coke and cheesecake, very tasty. When the finale hit, I made my way to the door way and after a few minutes we were let out and ran for the best available table. Yep, you heard right, table. We decided to watch from the luxury of a table on the veranda of the River Belle, not quite the Gallery but it was the coolest. We actually got to sit and the view was unbeatable! We met some nice ladies there that sat at the table next to us and chatted with them while we waited for the show to start. Katie fell asleep on the table, she couldn't sleep while we were in the room but now she was zonked! We were worried that she wouldn't be able to wake up for the show but she roused up. As we waited, we made a list of things that were musts for tomorrow. The show itself was marvelous! I tear up every time I hear the music! I bought the CD several years ago and I listen to it often. Yet again, here's something that is oogles better here at Disneyland!! I'm afraid the WDW version just pales in comparison. Being in the restaurant made the get away easier as well. Note for further reference ... always go to the second show and always go to the River Belle! The nice gals, we met were actually Internet girls and Disneyland Annual Passholders. We realized that we could've had APs for just $25.00 more and none of the dates that we were there were black out dates. Shucks!! They talked up the Animazement show and so we decided it was a must for everyone tomorrow. We popped in line for Indy on the way out, since the outside part was non existent but the inside line seemed to take FOREVER, we got through and were bad and looked Mara in the eyes. Sandy went next with Rach and Corey was a gem this time, he just got up on the wrong side of the stroller the other time. Which side is the wrong one, the right or the left? We went and got a Coke, which probably helped ... if Corey is mad, either give him Coke or put on a Britney Spears CD. The rule of thumb we now follow strictly! We thought we had enough time to do Space Mountain so we ran over there, without Katie this time. Her days as the dare devil were very short lived. The line wasn't so bad since it was so much shorter than the other day. The ride was great and when we ran out to Corey swap, Sandy said she wasn't up for going. Corey was asleep in her arms and she was settled, I told Rach and Bec to go again but Bec wasn't interested in going again either. Oh, oh well, if I must go on again without waiting in line. It turns out that we have to squish past all of the handicap people in line. It was kind of embarrassing but a great time, indeed, and in the back seat no less. We really had to book to make our arranged bus time and we thought we were right on the money but the bus driver said that he was about ready to leave us. Luckily it was the bus driver that loved Corey earlier and was waiting for us because of him. Thank goodness for the boy!! Back home and to floor ... Man, was I tired! Am I actually getting old!?! Friday, August 13 Disneyland ... last day ... boo hoo! We made the bus in plenty of time, I've got to tell you, it's quite the accomplishment getting five girls and baby ready in the morning. As we walked onto Main Street, we saw several of our favorite British characters including Mary Poppins, Bert, several penguins, Alice, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit. Bec and I thought that Alice and the Mad Hatter had something going on, they were flirting up a storm! This is where we saw several violent attempts of parents trying to get their child's picture with the character. One lady practically tackled Miss Poppins and pushing and shoving abounded greatly. Kate managed to get everyone there, what a miracle! We moved on and our first order of business: the wait board. Although Splash Mountain was only a ten minute wait, no one was interested but me. Rocket Rods, 10 minutes after opening, was already a 120 minute wait. Yikes! Not worth it. I guess we'll be passing on them this trip. Our to-do list included souvenir shopping, since we always wait til the last minute and never end up getting what we really want. I gave the girls each some money and Sandy was going to buy them something as well. Bec wanted an Aurora shirt (her heroine), Katie and Rachel weren't sure what they wanted. I wanted a 30th anniversary Haunted Mansion CD, which I must add, I listen to all the time! We wanted to get Robert, Kea and EJ (my brother's kids) a shirt to take back. So instead of taking advantage of semi short lines we decided to shop a little and look for autographs. Katie decided she had a bond with Minnie and every time we're in her line she ends up leaving, so that was a big goal for the day. We also thought we'd hit the Aladdin show in order to snag their signatures and we'd find Tarzan and Company after that. My biggest things were to see the Animazement show, do Pirates and Haunted Mansion again and get my CD. We decided to see who was in the Princess line and check out the Tinkerbell store in Fantasyland for T shirts for Bec and Kea. On our way over we found Pinocchio and Gepedo all alone at Snow's wishing well. The girls had them all to themselves for a while and got pictures and autographs. Also, as a side note, they were filming today, which is always of interest to me. It was a Christmas show because there was snow in front of the castle and a big holiday wreath on the window. We never saw anyone famous ... wonder if there was anyone there? Before we hit the shops, we strolled through Sleeping Beauty's castle, as you probably guessed, she's one of our favs. The store didn't carry the Aurora shirts in adult sizes but Bec tried on the XL in the children's size and it fit fine. We decided on the Princess Club shirt for Kea, we thought she would really like it and we decided on a Pirates shirt for Robert that we'd pick up later. We sent all of this to package express to pick up on the way out, what a marvelous invention! The Princess line had Cindy again and since we'd already gotten her, we passed. I did ask about Aurora, but no go. WHERE IS AURORA!?! I just wish Katie could spend a day at World Showcase in Epcot getting autographs. She's had so much fun doing it! We thought it would be a good time to grab a bit to eat, lunch had just barely started at Pinocchio Village Haus, so we popped in. The ladies we met last night raved about the Chicken Caesar, so Bec got that. I got a personal sized cheese pizza with a salad and everyone else got hamburgers. Lunch was pretty good, the Caesar dressing was fab, though. We all thought that it was time for desert now, so we walked up Main Street and purchased some turtles at the candy parlor. Some for now and some to take home, the take-home ones were sent to package express with a note that said contents were perishable. Katie decided she needed Minnie ears so Sandy went back to the Emporium to purchase her a plush Minnie headband, very cute, we should've gotten it earlier! Bec, Rach, Corey and I plugged onto the Animazement show, FINALLY! We got pretty good seats in the stadium area, not as good of seating as WDW theaters. It was now we realized that somewhere we lost Corey's "Old Navy" hat that he's been wearing all week, we are all sentimental, so we felt pretty bad. An old granny lady gave Sandy a scotch blessing about bringing a baby without a hat, Sandy's pretty sensitive, so she felt bad for quite a while. The show started and I was pleasantly surprised. All that I read about it seemed to be negative. It was no where near WDW expectations but was a cute show, especially the Hunchback part. It was hard being in the theater and hearing Quasi songs and not being at the Backlot Theater at the Disney/MGM Studios! I was very glad we finally got there, though! We dashed over to the Tarzan Treehouse (as a side note, I really missed the Swiss Family Robinson music!) I must say this was one of the best moves we made! Tarzan was absolutely ADORABLE!! Let me tell you adult women were pushing kids out of the way in order to have their picture taken with this boy!! We also saw Terk and Jane. I noticed from the brief time getting autographs, the best ones were done with a black sharpie pen. The ones that Katie got with a regular blue pen didn't show up as well as the ones signed with the sharpie. After Tarzan, we hopped on Indy since the outside line was empty. We got the baby swap for Sandy and waited in only half of the indoor queue. We had decided that we'd go to that Aladdin show in Adventureland in order to get more autographs for Katie. I must admit that I was hoping the show would be good too. This show was SO DUMB! I can hardly believe it was Disney!! In truth, Al and Jas spent the whole show flirting! It was worth it to get Aladdin and Jasmine's auto, though, but just barely! At first I thought it was a bit of a melodrama but when I cheered for our hero Al, I was the only one ... yes, the girls were very embarrassed. Katie was feeling bad that she still hadn't gotten Minnie's autograph yet, so I suggested trying ToonTown again. On the way I noticed that there was a gathering over at the Carnation stage so I took a peek ... lo and behold it was MINNIE!!! Hurray before she needs to powder her nose or something! Hallelujah!! We have Minnie! We decided that we'd check out the princess line, no one was there but a frantic CM saying that he hoped that Belle would be there very soon. So the girls waited for Belle and Bec decided to take Cor on the Merry Go Round. He was excited until he bumped his head on the brass pole ... not a happy baby so Bec took him off. I actually have the entire episode taped, and in the background there was a guy making goo goo eyes at Bec, very funny. We met back up and rode Casey Jr. The sun was starting to set on our final day and we all were feeling very sad but Rach was extremely bummed. She was worried about starting Jr. High and she was saying, "it's our last time to walk by this bench ... or that garbage can." It was very contagious because I started feeling sadder. We were getting a little hungry so we decided to go back to the French Market. I ordered the vegetarian soup in a bread bowl and a salad, they gave me the MKC discount but not Sandy, I wonder why? Since we were in the neighborhood, we took our last ride on the Haunted Mansion. Rach started to cry here. Katie was just thrilled this would be the last time she would be dragged on. I always feel very melancholy when it's time to have a farewell ride on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates here at Disneyland! I've been on these rides so many times and they hold so many memories ... We thought we'd shop for Robert's souvenir shirt at the Pieces of Eight store at Pirates exit, which we sent to Package Express. I spied the final three beanies that Lib wanted, the hitchhiking ghosts. CMs were so surprised that I even knew about them because they said that they were just setting them up for the first time. I got them and sent them to Package Express as well. Katie liked the look of those fake gems, so she had a great time picking them out and filling her bag to the very fullest. We walked right into Pirates and bid farewell to them, no I'm not crying ... oh okay, I am!! We found a bench in Adventureland and I got us all drinks from the River Belle and just soaked up the atmosphere and gawked at Tarzan. We were all feeling pretty sad so we had to drag our blue selves away. When all of a sudden, something weird happened. We all got really silly, Bec said something and it just triggered us all so we sat on a bench overlooking Main Street laughing a lot. It's funny how you get in those moods. We did a final check on the Rocket Rods and passed after noticing the wait was still two hours. As we were walking out Rachel and Katie decided that they wanted to get their souvenirs but weren't sure what they wanted. We all helped but in the end, Corey and I were alone on a bench watching the fireworks ... Rachel ended up getting a night gown and Kate got a stuffed Minnie that she loves! We caught the shuttle back to our hotel and packed ... we were still quite silly! To floor for the final night ... ahhhhh, to sleep in my own comfy waterbed again!!! Saturday, August 14 Home ... On the road again! We made one final trip to Mrs. Knott's for bfast. I got the new "Top Secret" short stack of pancakes and side of O'Brien potatoes. Sandy got Corey some boysenberry yogurt, which was delicious! We then got some turnovers and jam, syrup, etc. to take back home. I was really disappointed with the "Joe Cool Club" saving this time. They hardly offered anything! Packed up, checked out and were on our way. We thought about stopping at the Ontario Mills again but vetoed the idea. Sandy started feeling a bit tired so we stopped and she rested for a few minutes in a San Bernardino parking lot. Driving seemed really tough! We stopped at Baker and got fountain drinks at the drive through and switched drivers. It was HOT! Stopped again to check out some of the outlets in Barstow but didn't stay long ... HOT! We were planning on eating at Mesquite again but when we got there, we were behind four tour bus groups in line and didn't stay. We ate instead at Taco Time in St. George. Travel, travel, travel .... It was a long and uneventful day of constant driving. Got to Sandy's, got my stuff and packed up my car. Gave hugs to everyone and went home. Gave hugs and readers' digest version of trip to folks at home and crashed. Bed, I LOVE YOU!!! Final Thoughts What a great trip!! We all had a blast despite heat and crowds. Had some great times, great meals, and great company. It made me appreciate my haven in Orlando and I can't wait to go back to WDW! If I had to choose I'd definitely pick WDW over Disneyland in a heartbeat. I would love to take the whole fam with me some day and show them the sights! Character greeting and autographs as well as the pressed penny/quarter machines were great fun. I guess the moral is not to judge something before you try it! Neither activity was a waste of time! We made out okay traveling and touring with a baby, Corey was very patient with all the driving and weird schedules. Yes, it was crowded. We made it fun anyway. Yes, it was hot. We wore shorts. I'm so glad that we were able to go on this trip ... it was so fun and we made tons of memories, hey guys .... thanks for letting me go! Any who, thanks for reading my trip report! I hope you enjoyed mine as much as I enjoy yours. Next up a spring trip to WDW {insert the fanfare} with my sister Della. See you all at the parks! TTFN - Ta Ta For Now! Lindy Higham nrdwr.mhigham@state.ut.us Mail a Comment to Lindy Higham |
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