DisneyWHAT?? - oh, DisneyLAND - 3/16-20 - COMPLETE!! About This Page:

[DrDolphin]

Great update Eileen!!! How [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] that Bob is in such elite company!!!

[LizardCop]

[b][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] the trip report and photos!!! So sorry it's coming to an end... More, Please???

[lauren-roxy]

Hysterical update Eileen!! My husband is Cuban, and some things definitely do sound much better in Spanish!! The guinea pig story had me giggling, and I wasn't even there. Can't wait to read more!!!

[Caldercup]

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The guinea pig story had me giggling, and I wasn't even there.

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You should see Calder do the impression of Snowball's death (and he wasn't there either!)
"Squeak squeak, squeak... splunk."
It's pretty funny -- in a morbid and sad way.

And I've never played the organ since. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
Eileen

[Colexis Mom]

Another fantastic update Eileen [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] What a thrill for Bob [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[chezp]

What great updates Eileen! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] "The other wife and son" is just too funny - I love it! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]

I'm loving reading your report, especially having been, as you've covered quite a few things that we didn't get the chance to do, so it's great to hear all about them. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[LizardCop]

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And I've never played the organ since. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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And I'm sure the rest of the guinea pigs in the world appreciate this [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]

[snoozy]

I just got all caught up from where I left off last. Great report and pictures, more please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[bsblady01]

more please

[PrincessSharon]

All caught up, Eileen, and loving it! I was giggling over Karen's death march to catch the parade, but hey - you made it! Ya gotta do what ya gotta do [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I'm so enjoying your report and cant wait for more!

[zacksmom_1993]

Y’all are going to have to jump in the way back machine with me since I haven’t posted to this trip report in eons. Meanwhile, my dutiful Disney partner in crime has been a busy little bee. And, with another Disney trip on the horizon and with the unwritten rule that you have to finish a trip report from your last trip before you go on your next trip (are you hearing me party people with your fabulously funny, entirely engaging, yet utterly unfinished trip reports,) I figured it was time to get back on it.

So, without further ado, Karen will attempt to combine five Eileen trip report updates into one massive update about Day 3. Can she do it? Will she finish? Why is she talking in the third person? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

I woke up surprisingly early after our late Friday night. I got myself ready, none too quietly, thinking that I’d ease Zack into the idea of being vertical with lots of ambient noise. He wasn’t budging, and our meeting time with Eileen and Calder was rapidly approaching. On to Plan B, where I turn on the TV to make Zack realize that there’s more exciting things to do than sleep. Well, the plan seemed logical. But, the little glitch was that the TV set at the lovely Tropicana had the weird habit of turning on at the highest volume possible, regardless of the volume at which it was set when you turned it off. Zack jumped like I had put the paddles to him. (Clear!) Geez! I wanted to wake the kid up, not give him electric shock therapy. Regardless, it worked, and we were soon on our way with Zack only slightly more grumpy than usual.

We grabbed a quick breakfast and then let Eileen and Calder do likewise. Sometime around 10:00, we were on our way to the park, and in the gates of DCA shortly after opening. After grabbing Fastpasses for Soarin’, we were on our way to Monsters Inc.

It was the second time that Zack and I had been on it, and we probably liked it even better this time around. The animatronics are great

and, like the classic Disney rides of the past, it makes you feel like you’re inside the movie.

I did manage to get one picture of that scene Eileen was talking about where Boo hits Randall and he changes patterns on his body.


The only thing missing from this go around was Ros speaking to you at the end of the ride. The last time we rode, she said, “Hey, lady in the back seat. (That would be moi.) I love your hair.” Well, obviously that comment made the ride go WAY up in my estimation. What woman doesn’t like to have her hair complimented? The only thing better is complimenting the shoes. And, she couldn’t see my shoes because of the solid ride vehicle door. Or, she would have said something about them because they were hecka snappy!

After Monsters Inc, we were off to get our scream on at Tower of Terror. What I love most about this ride is how weightless you feel. Let’s just say that if I were a boxer, I wouldn’t exactly be in the featherweight division, if you know what I mean. So for me to feel like I’m as light as, well, a feather is priceless. I had a huge grin on my face saying, “I’m a little fairy princess,” as I exited. What? Feeling light is a BIG deal for me!

On the way back to use our Soarin’ Fastpasses, we stopped to have a quick visit with the Mickster in his California gear!

We rode Soarin’, grabbed a couple of drinks, and made a quick stop at the bathrooms. See Eileen, you weren’t EXCLUSIVELY using the bathroom near Pinocchio’s, just predominately.


We moved onto the Redwood Creek Challenge trail after seeing the end of the Miner 49er show with Chip and Dale. Eileen wisely planted herself on a bench while the kids ran off to play. I went to grab Fastpasses for the roller coaster. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking about how Sharon will be shaking her head in disgust at my Fastpass management techniques. We don’t grab another Fastpass as soon as our Soarin’ window opens, and then we waste a Fastpass on a ride that we never end up riding. Lame. Lame. Lame. In February, we will bow (and follow) to your superior intellect, oh great queen of the Fastpass.

I made my way back and had Eileen excitedly tell me about her interactions with Chip and Dale. How do you know that your dating life needs improvement? When you’re jealous of your friend getting attention from two 6’ tall male chipmunks. I went off under the pretense of finding the boys when really I wanted to pout. I did manage to take a couple of cool shots from some of the higher elevations of the trail.


And then, I spied the boys waiting in line to try their hand at rock climbing. The rock climbing? Yeah, not Zack’s thing.

You can see him in this picture desperately clinging to the rocks. Let’s face it. We both run our yaps so much, we have phenomenal muscle development in our mouths, seemingly to the detriment of muscle development elsewhere in the body. Calder was more of a natural and was even willing to pose a little bit.

Granted, the picture would be a lot more impressive without the little girl in it.

After the boys had played a bit more, we went on Grizzly River Run where Zack got seriously wet. Afterwards, Chip and Dale were once again entertaining and I grabbed a shot of my gang with Chip.

I wanted to poke around the store by GRR a bit, but Zack was anxious to get some food. So, we switched kids and Zack took Eileen into the Grand Californian to Whitewater Snacks, while Calder and I shopped.

I love this store. It’s perfectly themed like a Sierra rafting / ski shop.

Plus, they have some really funny items.

Can you read this shirt? It reads, “Uppa Creek Canoe Rentals. With paddle $29.95. Without a paddle $2.95.” Get it? Up a creek without a paddle? Love it.
(Continued in next post)

[zacksmom_1993]

Continued from previous post

A bit more looking around and Calder and I were ready to join Eileen and Zack just as our food was being served. Excellent! Just as I had planned. Mwah-ha-ha-ha! Man-o-man. I love me some French fries from Whitewater snacks. They’re these thick cut, golden, crispy pieces of perfection, topped with coarse sea salt. Yummo!

We met up with Bob briefly inside the Grand Californian, and then again at the Lego store a little while later. This place is like nirvana for Zack. He could spend hours and hours in there, and probably will spend hours and hours inside the WDW version in a couple of weeks. Me? I’m pretty “meh” about it. I do love this picture, though, of Zack chatting with Mr. Bionicle.


After we had dropped a chunk of change, we slowly meandered back towards the hotel. Zack and Calder were back to arm-in-arm buddies, as you can tell from this great shadow picture.

I swear my kid is as moody as a bi-polar manic depressive going through menopause.

Dealing with pre-teen mood swings on top of hours in the Lego store was more than I could handle. It was definitely cocktail hour! I swung by the convenience store and grabbed a big bottle of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. While Zack built Legos, I got comfy with my pal Mike. And then, Eileen came over and she got comfy with Mike too. Scandalous!

After a quick swim for Calder and Zack we had about five minutes until the start of the Parade of Dreams. Now because I have years and years of experience at Disneyland, I was absolutely positive that the afternoon parade ran from Main Street to It’s a Small World. Then, the evening parade came back from It’s a Small World to Main Street. We’d have just the perfect amount of time to catch it when we entered Disneyland. So, color me surprised when we got into Disneyland and saw the back side of the parade heading down Main Street towards the castle. What the…?

Well, this just wouldn’t do. Eileen and Calder were going to see this parade if it killed me, or as it turns out, killed them. I dodged, I weaved. I leaned left, I bobbed right. I jumped over bags, strollers, … small children a la airport OJ Simpson. I successfully navigated through the shops on the side of Main Street and turned back to bask in the glow of success with my companions.

Unfortunately, the only one who knows my crazy ways is the one who shares genetic material with me. Zack was the only one with me and he was gasping for breath, pessimistically saying, “We’ll never make it, Mom. What? Are you trying to kill me?” The one thing you never say to a Weiss (are you taking notes February girls?) is “Never.” I ran back grabbed Eileen and Calder, ran back through the stores, out past Tomorrowland, around the Matterhorn, and Ta Da! There was the parade in front of us. A few pictures for you all that are probably exactly like Eileen’s except for inferior quality.


Since we were so close, we made our way to Toontown after the parade and onto “Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin.” I love this ride. I was dating a guy one time who was best friends with an Imagineer. (I know, I know. Totally dated the wrong friend.) He said that Roger Rabbit was the most technologically advanced ride in the park, and he had worked on Indy. The line itself is lots of fun, with doors to bang on, animatronics to see, and barrels of dip to avoid. I tried to get Zack to take a picture with the dip. It turned out… not so funny.

Eileen stepped up to the plate next, and showed Zack how to do it right.


We made our way through the line quickly, and were on in no time. Eileen and Calder seemed to enjoy it.

And, pre-teen Zack seemed to enjoy Jessica Rabbit.

Zack, she’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way!

The stomachs were rumbling so we were off to Pinocchio’s. Then, we waited for fireworks that never happened, watched the 50th Anniversary movie with Steve Martin, and slowly worked our way back to our respective hotels.

Even though it had been a long, long day, Zack refused to go immediately to sleep. Instead he decided to play with some Legos in bed while watching the Mummy. I wanted to go immediately to sleep, so I drifted off with sounds of the Mummy in the background. Let me tell you, that is one weird movie to drift in and out of. Lots of screaming, groaning, fighting, yelling. Not exactly like listening to Yanni. I woke up about an hour later with the Mummy still on and Zack face planted into a pile of Legos. I turned everything off, and wedged the Legos out from underneath Zack, and fell right back to sleep.

Just a quick note (like anything I write is quick) about the “other wife and son” thing. The night before I was headed out to visit the Lloyds in April, I went out to dinner with my friend, Lisa. We were kind of joking around about the other wife thing. And, Lisa said, “Are you sure they were kidding? You know they have that show “Big Love” on now.” Then I started thinking, “Yeah. And, Eileen did spend that time in Utah.” (Apologies in advance to all of our Utah Passporters.) But, I’m happy to say that the Lloyds are not that particular brand of freaky. They’re freaky in other ways, sure, ways that are uniquely suited to my brand of freakiness. Just kidding Lloyds, love you I do!

Actually, I think Lisa was intrigued by the idea. She’s been having a heck of a time in a 6-year relationship with a not-ready-for-marriage kind of guy. At least with polygamy you know the guy isn’t fundamentally opposed to the concept! But, that’s a discussion for another time and another place; a time and a place with lots of cocktails! On to Day 4!

[DawnDenise]

Karen--

Between you and Eileen, I should know better than not to be drinking anything while reading your trip reports. Chuck was giving me that "Oh---you must be reading a trip report look" and went to get me a couple of paper towels.

I was gonna quote things and make comments but I would have had to quote the whole dang thing. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]

So, I'll end my comments with BRAVO ladies!!

[lauren-roxy]

Hysterical update Karen!! I laughed out loud reading the whole thing!!! Can't wait to read more!

[Caldercup]

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I was gonna quote things and make comments but I would have had to quote the whole dang thing. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]

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You said it perfectly, Dawn!! I cracked up so many times reading Karen's wonderful (if woebegottenly slow-in-coming update) that Calder shut the door to the office and went to the basement... [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]

There's one thing I HAVE to quote:
[ QUOTE ]
How do you know that your dating life needs improvement? When you’re jealous of your friend getting attention from two 6’ tall male chipmunks.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, according to SuperKate (who's a friend of Chip and Dale), ya shouldn't be jealous, Karen..... Rather than "Big Love," it would be more like "The L Word" if C&D had intended any Muskrat Love...

And speaking of Big Love, Bob's not into swinging. One Disney-obsessed wife and child are enough for him! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Now, if you were a Cubs fan and had season tickets to Wrigley Field, I'd be in trouble!

Eileen