Up the Coast of California and Back Again!
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Tara O'Hara · 07-23-2003, 01:36 PM

Okay, you guys!! Here goes! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] We woke up at 7AM on Tuesday morning and got our stuff packed up! The kids were begging to go off on their own today and John said "fine"! I had a little nervous issue with this but, nonetheless, we dropped them off at DL with money for breakfast and lunch and told them to meet us at 2PM. They, of course, had a cel phone to call for any problems and were given strict instructions to stay together! We then took off for breakfast at Goofy's kitchen! My favorite DL eating spot! When we pulled into the Disneyland Hotel, my heart skipped a beat because we had stayed here last year and had so much fun!! The guard at the gate told us to try and check in at the Grand Californian after breakfast and was very nice about not charging us for parking.( We actually found out later, though, tht eating at the hotel qualified us for free parking, anyway!) I can't say enough great things about this buffet!! It is a fun atmosphere and the food is delicious!! We simply stuffed ourselves silly! There is something for everyone here! I especially liked the peanut butter and jelly pizza thingys!! Muffin is much healthier than I and had a bunch of fruit and salmon stuff. After breakfast we walked around the grounds of the hotel a little and took some photos, which, of course, I will share!

When we were finished, we went over to the Grand Californian and were able to check right in!! We got a fabulous room with a terrific view of DCA!! Of course, Muffin had to immediately try on a bathrobe which was hanging in the closet and apparently, was ours for the week!!

Muffin thinking he is a moviestar!! He swore people were waving to him from the monorail!

The gorgeous view from our balcony!

After we got unpacked, we headed of to DCA. The first thing we did was go to Soaring Over California!! Oh my gosh, you guys!! This ride is fabulous! We got to sit in the very front and it makes you feel like you are flying with a completely open view of the most beautiful scenery!! I love the smells that accompany you on this ride as well. You can smell the ocean and oranges!! It is way cool! Next we went on the Grizzly River Run. We got soaked and didn't mind at all because it was 86 degrees!! What a fun ride! After this we went to It's Tough to be a Bug! I will never get tired of this attraction!

Love the glasses!

Love these signs!

I took some of the posters too, but they didn't come out very well! After this , we walked back around to the Golden State district and saw Golden Dreams. I thought it was cute but John gave it a big thumbs down! He felt that it totally glossed over much of the history of California. Whatever! We then saw a little bit of the X games which was pretty cool and apparently will be going on for most of the summer. We did the Tortilla factory tour and then the Boudin Bakery tour. They give you little samples of both a tortilla and sourdough bread respectively. We got lunch at The Pacific Wharf Cafe and then lo and behold, the cel phone rang!! My kids missed their parents?!?! Nah. They were out of cash!! We met them back at The Grand Californian and let them check out the room!

The prebathroom area ( whatever it's called!)

I will continue these pics of our room in the next post!

[ 07-23-2003, 09:46 PM: Message edited by: Tara O'Hara ]

Tara O'Hara · 07-23-2003, 02:07 PM

Mike staking out the top bunk!

Our bed which looked like that pretty much of the time.

The trundle bed.

We then went to the pool,which I am sorry to say,I didn't get any pictures of!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] It is way cool with a huge slide and looks beautiful at night! There is a snack bar and people come around and serve you drinks and food. After coming here the first day, we decided to make it a daily event for a couple of hours in the afternoon! It was so refreshing and really got everybody's kinks out. When we were done swimming, we all took showers and were ready to go back to DCA as a family. We, of course, rode Soarin' Over California again! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Then the kids wanted to go to the Pier area and ride California Screamin'. What a fabulous ride and one that should be experienced both during the day and at night! None of our pictures came out very good, so we didn't purchase them. Next we went on the Maliboomer and then the Orange Stinger. This ride cracks me up as it really does look like a giant orange!! It's just swings, but it is fun. Noone wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel. We did this last year and didn't like the way it felt so we let the kids play some carnival games and, of course, Katie won some huge thing that we would have had to buy a plane ticket for at the pitching game! She wound up giving it to a little local girl. We went back over to DL after this, which, by the way, is very easy to do here! We had dinner at the Village Haus, which is a hamburger/pizza joint. Everyone found something that they like here! We went on Alice in Wonderland, Snow white's scary adventure's [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] and Pinocchio's Daring Journey while in this area and the kids went on the teacups! [img]graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img] No thanks to that!
We were ready after this to head back to the GC, but the kids wanted to ride the Matterhorn one more time! Of course, we were like three people from the front when the Matterhorn decided to have a problem-for like a half an hour!! We waited anyway because we really are like the Griswolds!! I think everyone had a fun filled first full day. My kids flipped a coin for the bedding situation and since we would be here three nights, we made them promise to rotate. There were chocolates on our pillows, which we only heard about because Mike ate them all and our beds were turned down!! It was very cool!

infinity&beyond · 07-23-2003, 02:40 PM

So much fun! I love the bunk beds at the Grand Californian! I'd go for the top one, too!

Tell John that Golden Dreams is about California history, not the US history! I really enjoy that film. It was actually very well researched, using some of the most renowned California history scholars in the state, inclueing the State Librarian (who has written several books on CA history), and my College history professor! It isn't a completely uplifting film (for example, the Chinese railroad workers)...but hey, this is supposed to be Disney!

tikibird · 07-23-2003, 03:13 PM

Woo hoo - loving your DL and DCA details! And the GC looks great (making plans for 2005!)!

More, please... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

luvnwdwgal · 07-23-2003, 05:37 PM

WooHoo! We're at DL!! Hurry with more!! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Loved the picture of the caterpillar!! All those cute little legs!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

LuvMK · 07-23-2003, 07:43 PM

What a fun first day at DL! I know the kids had a ball being on their own - what a great mom you are to give them that experience! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Tara O'Hara · 07-23-2003, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Tell John that Golden Dreams is about California history, not the US history!

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">[img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Oh my gosh, Barbara!! I meant to say California history!! Muffin is such a history buff, he would kill me if I didn't correct that. I also thought that film was beautiful and cried by the end of it! I think he just doesn't like Whoopi Goldberg! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

AKLRULZ · 07-24-2003, 12:16 AM

Outstanding - sure makes you miss MSEP seeing those photos. Nice family you got Tara! Is your cousin Michelle going back to work b/c if not I'll take her job! [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

tikibird · 07-24-2003, 12:47 AM

Seeing those Electrical Parade pictures just took me back - I can hear the music playing! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Thanks so much for all the great pics, and can't wait to hear about the GF!!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

AngelOn9 · 07-24-2003, 01:47 AM

Your report is FABULOUS! I haven't been to CA since I was a little girl, but I now know I MUST get back!

A friend of mine was married in Monterey when she and her hubby were in school there. She's always told me how amazing the coast is and I can now see some of what she meant.

I can't wait to read/see more! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Tara O'Hara · 07-24-2003, 01:33 PM

You guys are so nice! Thanks again for reading this- I know it's looooooooooong!

We met up with our cousins Tom and Judy bright and early on Wednesday morning. These guys are a hoot!! We had an absolute blast with them and the last two days of our trip were, by far, the fastest! Aunt Franny, Terri ( who also works for Disney), and Annie would meet us later at the park. Tom and Judy met us for breakfast at the Storyteller's Cafe. Let me just say that, for being at the Grand Californian, this breakfast is a much better value than Goofy's Kitchen ( which, I love and the kids still didn't know that we went to without them!)! Chip, Dale and Pluto were in residence for the antics and we all got to get up and do a follow the leader sort of dance with them! The food was delicious and you can get a la carte breakfast here as well as the buffet.

Mike and Judy

Me and Tom

Katie dancing!

Katie and Judy dancing!

More Katie and Judy dancing!

Chip!

Can you tell we liked this breakfast? I highly reccommend it to anyone going to DL! After breakfast, we walked through California Adventure to Disneyland. We met Aunt Franny, Terri and Annie, took a vote and decided to go to DL first. We rode the BTMRR first. This is John's favorite ride.

Katie and Annie

[ 07-24-2003, 02:37 PM: Message edited by: Tara O'Hara ]

Tara O'Hara · 07-24-2003, 03:02 PM

Me,Mike,Aunt Franny and Terri

After BTMRR, we headed to Adventureland. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean first. I know I said this last year, but I will say it again! I LOVE this attraction way better here than at DW. The fireflies just add something magical and the whole ride seems longer to me . Next we went to the Tiki room. This is still the old version and definitely needs a rehab but was quite enjoyable. After this we went to Indiana Jones. It wasn't crowded, so we got a fastpass as well and rode it twice in a row! I keep hoping that Dw will pick this ride up. It is awesome! I love walking through the cave first to get to the jeeps! It is very well designed and you feel like you are right there with Indy! When we were done, everyone was hungry so we headed back to Frontierland for lunch. We ate at the Stage Door cafe and then went on Splash Mountain. We didn't like our picture on this attraction either! We would save a lot of moolah on this trip on park pictures. It was getting pretty hot by now and everyone wanted to go back and take a swim, so we did! My cousins were staying at Paradise Pier for the night so they went back there, grabbed their swimsuits and met us at our hotel for a swim!

Annie and Katie by the pool!

Mike, Tom, Chris, Annie, Judy and Katie

Terri by the pool!

Aunt Franny by the pool!

After swimming we all went back for showers and those guys agreed to meet us at DCA for dinner. We ate at Cucina Cucamonga and had yummy Mexican! Ole!! Next the kids, of course, wanted to ride California Screamin' again. All of the adults except me passed on this and went shopping instead! We met up on the Pier and the kids rode the Maliboomer. I got a pretty good picture of that:

Going up! and no I do not know who that girl on the end is!

After this, they went on the Orange stinger and then the river run ride again! All of us big people passed this time. It's funny-when you are a kid, you don't mind walking around cold and wet at night!

Mike,Katie,Annie and Chris

Everyone except the photographer!

Tara O'Hara · 07-24-2003, 03:09 PM

After this, we all went back to the GC for a drink at the outdoor fireplace at the GC. You guys-THIS PLACE ROCKS!! I mean it! They put lots of rocking chairs out here and come out and bring you drinks! You could seriously fall asleep here! This is where I learned to LOVE Peppermint Patties!!

How cool is this?!?!

We spent a while out here and finally decided we had better get to bed! We agreed to meet up at The White Water Snacks for breakfast at 8AM. This place reminds me so much of THe Roaring Fork Snack place at the WL!! Tomorrow would be our last day at Dl/DCA! [img]graemlins/cry2.gif[/img]

Cinderella_68 · 07-24-2003, 04:23 PM

What an awesome TR! Love all of the pictures, especially the one of the light at Yosemite! Wow, you guys packed a lot into your vacation!!

AKLRULZ · 07-24-2003, 04:31 PM

Super! But what the heck are those shield thingys on the Maliboomer?!? [img]graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] I think that ride is similar to Dr. Doom at IOA but there wasn't a face shield.

Nice to meet up with your extended family!