A Spring Fling at the Disneyland Resort! About This Page:

[TiggGrrrl]

Sunday, April 21, 2002
Hooray – We’re in Disneyland!
First day of stay
Adventurers: Jeannie aka TiggGrrrl (that's me!) - 12th visit (I think)
Ria – Jeannie’s sister – many visits (CA resident)
Shane – my DS, 16 ½ months – 2nd visit
Tina – Ria’s DD, 6 – 5th visit
AJ – Ria’s DS, 3 – 2nd visit
Grandma Connie – Jeannie & Ria’s mom – 5th visit

We all piled into the Ford Windstar I rented upon arriving at LA’s Union Station from New York at about 10:30am to make the trip from Camarillo to Anaheim. We hit absolutely zero traffic (an amazing feat if you know anything about the LA freeway system) and arrived at the Embassy Suites Anaheim South – Adjacent to Disneyland – WOO HOO! Fortunately, our room is ready and we make our way upstairs in the glass elevator (the kids loved this!) to the third floor. We have a two room suite with a fridge and sink – helpful with three little ones along. The living room/dining room area has a sofa bed that sleeps 2, a tv and dining table. The bedroom has 2 queen beds and we requested a crib for Shane. I highly recommend Embassy Suites when traveling, especially with children. They offer a complimentary full hot breakfast every morning as well as cocktails and appetizers at 7pm every night.

The plan for the day was to head over to Downtown Disney and boy was I chomping at the bit to do just that! So we fed the kids and a shopping we went [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] . First stop was the LEGO Imagination Center – very big on AJ’s fun scale. Shane got a big kick out of the figures made out of LEGOs throughout the store, but wanted to get out of the stroller and do some damage so we beat a hasty retreat out of there. We were just planning on taking it easy and doing some leisurely strolling around and that’s just what we did, wandering in and out of the shops and enjoying the lovely sites. Marceline’s Confectionary is a site to see even if you don’t buy anything – but who goes into a candy store and doesn’t buy anything? Certainly not me! I bought a yummy Mickey shaped rice crispy treat with the added bonus of the ears being dipped in chocolate [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] Ria and I decided a stop in Sephora was a necessity – after all, it’s just like a candy store for makeup and all things foo foo! Grandma Connie was nice enough to stay outside with the kids while we played around in there for a little while and naturally spent some $$. And now it was time for the big kahuna – World of Disney! WOO HOO!!! I can spend many hours – and mucho dinero – in that place! It’s pretty similar to the one in WDW – it’s a pretty overwhelming place with the kids so I didn’t have much time to take in the décor so I’m not sure if the specific character themes in each of the rooms is the same. We spent well over an hour canvassing each merchandise filled room – plush, picture frames, t-shirts, photo albums, watches…you name it, it’s there. I had a heck of a time deciding what I wanted and in a very short time, the top of Shane’s stroller was sagging from the weight of all I had piled on it. I settled on a Tigger t-shirt that says “it’s all about me”, a Disneyland 2002 photo album for the pictures from this trip, a Tigger romper and Buzz Lightyear pjs for Shane and a Disneyland pressed coin book. Make no mistake – this was not the only shopping I did on this little trip and many more bags made their way back home with me (so many, in fact, that I had to send a 50 pound box home with the overflow [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] )

After all that shopping, we were feeling a bit hungry so we headed over to the Courtyard of Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen for a little snack – we had ressies at Goofy’s Kitchen for dinner so we didn’t want to eat too much. Naturally I had to have the beignets – oooh are they ever good – with some seriously strong New Orleans style coffee. Mom and Ria had the same, and the kids split a chicken tenders and French fries meal. This is a really nice spot for a quick snack or a light lunch, and with outdoor seating its very kid friendly as well.

I really wanted to get a look at the Grand Californian Hotel and since you can access it from Downtown Disney (some of the rooms are actually over the shops there!) that was our next stop. My jaw dropped as soon as we hit the lobby – it really is a site to behold! Similar architecture to the Wilderness Lodge, warm and cozy, just lovely. Mom decided to sit and rest on a big comfy chair there and Ria took Tina and AJ to the restroom so Shane and I headed around the lobby for a full tour. I noticed some doors headed outside and away I went. They led out to a courtyard with big wooden chairs and an outdoor fireplace and a garden with a trellis - the wedding garden! The best part of this courtyard though, is that it faces California Adventure! What a kick it would be to get married with California Screamin’ and the Maliboomer looming behind you! I realized we had been out there for quite some time so Shane and I headed back inside to find the rest of the family. I had to share my find with them so I dragged everyone outside to see the beautiful courtyard and also to admire California Adventure – I was absolutely chomping at the bit to get there at this point!

Since we had Goofy’s Kitchen to look forward to that evening, we decided to head back to the hotel and rest up for the evening’s festivities. When we got back there, everyone laid down for a catnap and before we knew it, it was time to get up and get ready. Ria and I got up first while the kids were still sleeping – much easier to get ready that way! Mom was next and then the kiddies – soon we were all ready and off we went.

Goofy’s Kitchen is a buffet character meal in the beautiful Disneyland Hotel and we were really looking forward to it – and we were not disappointed! After we checked in, we were ushered over to a little kitchen setup where Pluto was waiting to take pictures with the kids (and me, Shane didn’t want to go by himself…um, yeah, that’s it…). He was very fun and sweet to the kids and the adults got a big kick out of watching the action.



We only waited about 5 minutes for them to call us for our table and as we were walking in to be seated, Buzz and Belle were right there at the front of the restaurant! Tina and AJ just about fell on the floor, and Shane started squealing like crazy! Mom followed the waiter to the table while we stayed there and let the kids meet the 2 stars. I discovered that Shane is pretty crazy about Buzz – I couldn’t get him away from him! And well Belle said “hello Prince Shane” I about lost it – there went the tears. Ria and I just kept saying to each other “wouldn’t you just love to be her?”. She really was magnificent in her beautiful, sparkly yellow ball gown – I felt like a little girl in the presence of a princess!
We finally tore the kids – and ourselves – away from Buzz and Belle and sat down at our table. It was in a great spot right by a window with a pretty view – everything about this night was right!



We took turns going up for food – the usual kids fare such as mac and cheese and pizza; and for the grown ups there was prime rib, chicken, pork loin, veggies, soups, salads, etc. and of course the desserts! Excellent food all around and while we ate, we were visited by Goofy, Chip, Dale and Minnie. AJ was quite taken with Minnie and blushed when she kissed him – too cute! Shane was his usually flirtatious self and cocked his head to the side when she came to him, then reached out to her and gave her a big kiss on the nose – you can imagine what a proud mommy I was at that moment. A few times during dinner, they turn up the music loud and all the characters get together at the front of the restaurant and dance! All the children run over there and everyone dances together, we had the best time! One time they did the Macarena and my sides were hurting from laughing so hard as I tried to do it while holding Shane and Ria was trying to do the same holding AJ – we must have been quite a sight! But who cares, it’s Disneyland after all! After sampling a few of the desserts, it was time to head back to the hotel and put the kiddies down for a good night’s rest before our trek into Disneyland the next day.



Once they were all bathed and tucked in, Ria and I headed back to Downtown Disney for a little sister time – YAY! We wandered around the shops there for a little while before deciding to board the monorail to Disneyland to get a few rides in. I had bought a discounted 3 day hopper and we were only going to be there for 2 more days so I figured why waste it! And Ria purchased resident annual passes for her, Tina and AJ so we were on our way – WOO HOO! We only had about an hour until closing so we headed right over to the Haunted Mansion since we knew Tina and AJ would not be up for the trip the next day – too dark and scary. I absolutely LOVE New Orleans Square in Disneyland and the Haunted Mansion there is the centerpiece of this marvelous land. I could just sit on a bench and sit there for an hour taking it all in. It’s my favorite land in any Disney park and if you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to do so. In Disneyland, you enter the Haunted Mansion through the front door – a real kick if you ask me! We had very little wait to get into the stretch room and my heart was pounding in my chest as those doors closed and the walls began to stretch – great stuff no matter how many times you do it! Next we boarded our doombuggy and off we went for our tour of Master Gracey’s mansion. We had a great time as always – our favorite part is the ballroom and we both marveled about how seeing it never gets old. Our top hat wearing hitchhiking ghost wedged his way in between us and we bid him goodnight as we headed off. We hoofed it over to Adventureland to squeeze a trip on Indiana Jones Adventure and with little wait, got seated right in front of our jeep – FUN! This is another great, not to be missed attraction here in Disneyland and we really had a blast riding it. After Indie, we just strolled around enjoying the fireflies flickering in the trees and the beautifully lit up Sleeping Beauty Castle. We really enjoyed each other’s company, spending some great sister time together. It doesn’t happen that often these days since we live 3000 miles apart and this was a really special time [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Next: We’re going to Disneyland!