Just Mom and Me at Disneyland - *Updated with Final Thoughts 2/26 * - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Just Mom and me at Disneyland Day 2 part 2
Cast of Characters
Me---I’m the mom, certified Disney Nut
Jack---My nine year old son, baby of the family, lover of legos, collector of stains, drinker of coffee
Janice---My good friend since the first grade
Jenny---My cousin and good friend
Jack was soon snoring in the backseat, and we had an easy drive to the Candy Cane Inn. It took just about 40 minutes. We checked in, checked out our room and were on the next hotel shuttle to Disneyland! We were through the turnstiles quickly and in search of dinner, because we were starving. We settled on the Plaza Inn at the end of Main Street. Jenny and Jack had pasta, and I had my favorite fried chicken dinner with all legs.
It was just getting to parade time as we exited the restaurant, so we decided to check out Nemo, and were told it was about a 90 minute wait. Jack and I headed over to do a quick run on Autopia while Jenny hopped in line for Nemo. The line for Autopia was only 10 minutes so Jack and I were walking very quickly through the loooong empty line when Jack suddenly stopped to pick something up. I was moving too fast and was too close to him to stop, so I went completely careening over his back and in to the wall. I slid down the wall and landed with a thunk on the cement. Ouch. The little girl behind me fell directly on me and was so embarrassed that she hopped up and zipped past us. Being a true Disney touring nut, I spotted a group of at least 20 closing in on us, so I hopped up and hobbled up to the line. I’m sure the whole thing was quite comical, but I was not about to give up my spot in line for a little pain.:wink:
Jack and I normally drive our own cars, but due to my recent injury, I insisted that my son do the driving. And I must say, he can reach the pedal on his own now, so I just enjoyed the ride. After enduring a 20 minute traffic jam at the end of the ride, we headed back to Nemo where we found Jenny in the outside lane of the line. We hopped in with her and continued our wait. A short while later we were boarding our submarine. I loved how they kept much of the same spirit of the old ride (some of the narration was the same words) with all the new technology added in. Well done, imagineers! And it turned out to be a long ride too.
Now we decided it was time to acquire a snack and find a spot for the fireworks. We got popcorn and hot chocolate, which of course, required two separate lines. But I purchased my first souvenir mug for my collection, a special Disneyland Resort Halloweentime one. We were treated to the full Remember show that evening, and it was wonderful, worth the extra day on the park-hoppers. We’d seen an abbreviated version during Spring Break earlier in the year. Sigh. Shall I sing it for you now? It just makes me cry every time.
Then it was on to our last must-do of the evening, the second showing of Fantasmic! We milled over, had to wait a bit for the first showing crowd to clear and then took our place at water’s edge. Right before the show began Jack had had it. He was very tired and ready to call it a day. We decided to leave about 5 minutes before the show was over to beat the crowd and frankly, Jack’s just too big for either of us to carry. We were quickly out of the park and on the next shuttle back to the Candy Cane Inn, where Jenny showered, I went to the ice machine for ice to nurse my still sore arm (at this point I was afraid my wrist might be broken), and Jack fell into bed. It wasn’t long before we were all out for the count.
Just Mom and me at Disneyland Day 2 part 2
Cast of Characters
Me---I’m the mom, certified Disney Nut
Jack---My nine year old son, baby of the family, lover of legos, collector of stains, drinker of coffee
Janice---My good friend since the first grade
Jenny---My cousin and good friend
So sorry for the very long break between updates. I was fixing on starting my next pre-trip report when I remembered this one. I really thought I’d finished it! So, on with the show-er report, that is…
We woke up the next morning and my wrist felt better, and I was quite certain it wasn’t broken, just badly bruised. I took some ibuprofen and hopped in the shower. Jack hopped in when I was out, and Jenny got ready. Then it was out the door and poolside for the lovely breakfast included with the room. Jack had Danish, cereal, and coffee, I had bananas spread with peanut butter and milk. I don’t recall what Jenny had. I do recall that we sat next to the cutest little girl in a Cinderella dress who was celebrating her fourth birthday. She was adorable, and we enjoyed our visit with her and her family.
We were on the shuttle and on our way after breakfast, and decided to head straight to Peter Pan since the rest of Disneyland’s population were on their way to Nemo! After Peter, we encountered a never-been-seen before phenomenon (not even post 9/11 or way back in the 70s). Dumbo was a walk-on! Jack and Jenny had a fun ride, and then we hit the rest of our Fantasyland favorites, skipping only the Storybook Canal boats in favor of a nighttime ride.
I become a little fuzzy at this point as to what we did next. I believe it was Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and Pirates. I know we had lunch at Blue Bayou at 11:30 and were able to snag a waterside table! Jenny and I had Monte Cristos and Jack went for a PB & J Monte Cristo from the kids’ menu, which turned out to be a deep fried Uncrustable! Which was pretty yummy, but not as good as the regular Monte Cristo.
After our lovely lunch, we rode Haunted Mansion and then made our way over to DCA where our first order of business was Soarin’ (no fastpass needed and 10 minute wait!). Then we were on to the special Halloween Time villain scream show. It was really good and we saw some unusual villains before and after the show, but no one was in the mood to wait in line for a picture. Then Jack wanted to ride Mullholland Madness and we all had a spin on the Golden Zephyr. We pondered the age old question~ Why are the golden zephyrs silver? Then it was on to Grizzly River Rapids which Jenny had never braved before. She’s not one for water rides. We had a rip-roarin’ good time, and she got completely soaked! Jack and I were somewhat wet, but nothing like she was! We then stopped for a yummy ice cream treat and made our way back across the esplanade to Disneyland.
It was off to Toontown where we visited Mickey, toured Minnie’s house, but she wasn’t home, and rode Roger Rabbit. We stopped for a snack and then were on to our night time must-dos, the Canal Boats in Fantasyland and Jungle Cruise, which was a hoot as always~and we saw a real live giant rat at one point when the skipper shined his light on the bank. Shiver.
Tommorrowland was next where we rode Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Buzz, not necessarily in that order. We stopped for dinner at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port where I had Pasta, Jenny had a salad, and Jack got the kid’s meal with pizza. It wasn’t a slice of pizza, it was a little hockey-puck size pizzaesque type thing. Jack was not impressed and wound up eating part of my Chicken fusili, of which there was plenty.
Jack was itching for a swim in the hotel pool, and Jenny and I were getting tired, so we decided to call it a night. Shortly, we were back at the hotel, Jenny was off for her drive home (40 minutes or so), and Jack was suited up and in the pool. He had a great time playing with a couple of other boys and eventually, I had to insist he get out so we wouldn’t be wiped out the next day.
We were out like lights again and woke up refreshed and ready for our last Disneyland day.:sad: Actually, Jack was focused on swimming again, so after I had a quick shower, he donned his trunks and we made our way down to breakfast. It was chilly, and steam was rising off the pool, but Jack was not bothered one bit by any of that. He ate bites of breakfast and swam to his heart’s content. One of the kids he’d been playing with the night before asked if he’d spent the night in the pool. Jack’s response, “My mom wouldn’t let me!”
After a while, I got him to return to the room for a shower. I started packing up at this point and discovered that Jack’s new Lego set was too big for our only suitcase. So, I decided to pack and check our little carry on bag as well as our suitcase. Then I put my book in Jack’s backpack and we’d just have to carry the big box with us. We went to the front desk and they stored our luggage for the day, and we were off once again!
We headed straight into Disneyland with Critter Country on our minds. Only 20 or so people were headed into Frontierland, and about that many for each of the other lands. Everyone one else RAN to Nemo. I’ve never seen anything like it. We went straight to Splash Mountain, wound our way through the line and hopped into a log. We had a great ride as usual and when it was time to bail out the CM said we could stay on if we liked! No one else was waiting! Another unheard of! The couple riding with us went on to their next adventure, and Jack moved to the very front of the log, and we were off! It was awesome!
We shopped in Pooh’s Corner next and then rode his ride! Now, I needed to use the restroom and Jack refused to go in with me. Yesterday, this hadn’t been a problem, but nature called, so I parked him at a table (we were at the Hungry Bear) outside the ladies room with instructions not to move (and a few other safety tips as well). When I emerged, Jack was going nuts and pointing to a few people. It took me a moment to catch on, but Jack held up his dream Fastpass and it all became crystal clear. These people were with the dream team, and they were handing out dream Fastpasses! Score! They also gave us a paper Fastpass for Haunted Mansion, since its Fastpass is seasonal! We proceeded directly to Haunted Mansion and handed over our Fastpass, but decided against using any of the others. Lines just weren’t long enough to warrant it.
We spent the rest of the day on cloud nine! We re-rode all our favorites including Nemo and lunched at French Market where we bought our favorite souvenir of the trip, a Zero bowl for one of our dogs. The dessert that came in it wasn’t too bad either.:wink: I purchased a Nightmare Before Christmas insulated mug for my collection, and as a bonus, they let me fill it with frozen lemonade instead of coffee! We finished off the day with a few rides back and forth on the Main Street vehicles. We had a wonderful chat with the CM who drives Walt’s fire engine. Then we enjoyed a snack Main Street and called it a day. It was a perfect way to end the trip.
We returned to the Candy Cane Inn, claimed our luggage and waited for our Super Shuttle ride. The guy came along right on time. We had one stop to make at the Tropicana to pick up another family. The family turned out to be from our home town and the aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandparents of a boy in Jack’s class. What a small world! We were all dropped off at the airport a full hour before we needed to be. We checked in for our flight, went through security, and went in search of some dinner. We walked the length of the terminal and found only two options open. McDonald’s and some cold sandwiches in a refrigerator case. I didn’t want McDonald’s, so I was looking through the sandwiches and discovered that they were all on multi-grain bread which is a no-no for me due to my oat allergy. So, on to MickeyD’s it was. We both wound up throwing most of our food away. Blech. They certainly need some more food choices at 7:00pm at John Wayne Airport.
We had an uneventful flight home, were picked up by DH and the girls and in bed before 11:30.
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Taking a trip with just one of my kids was a really great way to spend some time together without all the family mayhem. We had fun just being together, and Jack enjoyed the special attention from all the other adults too. He did start to :gasp: miss :gasp: his sisters towards the end of the trip. There were lots of “Hallie or Zoie would love this” comments. The girls were seriously jealous and not too happy with me, but it doesn’t really bother me. They’ve both had trips with just me (or dad) before. In fact Zoie was an only child for two whole years and had lots of individual attention. In any case, it was a great experience, and I don’t regret it a bit.
Legoland was super-fun, and it’s likely we’ll be going back, but Jack is totally spoiled by Disneyland. He prefers it to any other place on earth (except for the Disney Magic, of course). Apparently, it’s a genetic disorder.
Our stay at Candy Cane Inn was wonderful, as usual, and we won’t hesitate to stay here again. Halloween Time at DLR was really festive, especially at Disneyland Park. My kids are big Nightmare Before Christmas fans, so the merchandise was a big hit, and some Christmas shopping was done. DCA’s decorations were okay, but the whole park wasn’t immersed in the overlay. It was sporadic.
The Dream Team Rocks! This was our third award of a dream, and it just adds a little something special to the trip. Just a little extra Disney magic.
How long ‘til I can return to Disneyland? I’m sure I’ll figure out a way to return this year! I’ve got November and December floating around in my brain…
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It is a little like the anti-WDW, though. 
It's all about little boys. 
We were through the turnstiles quickly and in search of dinner, because we were starving. We settled on the Plaza Inn at the end of Main Street. Jenny and Jack had pasta, and I had my favorite fried chicken dinner with all legs. 
We were quickly out of the park and on the next shuttle back to the Candy Cane Inn, where Jenny showered, I went to the ice machine for ice to nurse my still sore arm (at this point I was afraid my wrist might be broken), and Jack fell into bed. It wasn’t long before we were all out for the count. 
PassPorter Guide Author
Apart from the fall, it sounds like a good night. 
Sounds like a great time at DL otherwise 
More please 
for sharing your TR with us! I have enjoyed reading it!!
I’ve got November and December floating around in my brain…
Glad you and Jack had a great time!! Thanks for sharing your adventures 
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