Updated 8/27/04~ FINALLY FINISHED ~Looby & family take on Disneyland! About This Page:

[loobyoxlip]

Thursday - our last day in the parks



We woke up this morning at 7:45. Why can't I wake up this early and hop out of bed when we're at home? We showered and dressed and had breakfast by the pool again. We definitely got our moneys worth out of the continental breakfast offered by the hotel! My back was killing again today and I didn't really feel like eating anything.



We walked down to DCA this morning. It was a beautiful day. Not too hot and the forecast was only to be in the 80's today, which was perfect. We got into DCA at opening time and played around by the sun fountain and took pictures.

Jalen and Kylor are quite handy with the camera. It amazes me how good the pictures they take come out!

One of my favorite pics of the boys with Grizzly Peak in the background:





Some more pics in front of the sun fountain:







We decided to go to the 10:30 showing of Playhouse Disney, and people were starting to line up, we we went over to Sunset Blvd. and saw ... a bellwoman! From Tower of Terror!! She was standing at the end of Sunset Blvd. to tell people about the unadvertised first official soft opening of Tower of Terror for the public. Whoo-ppeeeee!! Jalen really didn't have any desire to go and definitely had his heart set on Playhouse Disney. Well, Grandma had no desire to go on ToT, either. So Kylor and I hop off to ToT while Gma takes Jalen to PD. I think Kylor and I gave each other like 10 high 5's on the way over. We were practically skipping. Here is was our last day and the first soft opening for the public, right after the park opens. It couldn't have gotten any better! Except that I left the backpack with the camera with Gma. Oh, well.



We walked right into the hotel after being greeted at the entrance by a bellman. Once inside we met another bellman at the front desk who directed us right into our empty open library. They waited for a few more people to saunter in, then closed the door to the library. This part is exactly as at WDW. After departing the library, there are 2 areas you can go to, straight ahead or upstairs. Only the upstairs was operating today, so up we went. The rest of our party went in an elevator that was boarding and Kylor and I and 2 other people were escorted to the left end elevator to await our turn. As we are waiting, there are no other people in line. Our bellman leaves to go prepare the elevator and we are the only 4 people in the whole area. We were all commenting on how surreal the whole thing was. Very cool.



Our elevator was ready and we were ushered inside by the bellman. No one else came during this time so it ended up being just the 4 of us in the elevator. There are some very cool effects here. One big difference is you just immediately go up, not backwards then up. The doors open and there is a mirror. Eventually the mirror fades away and it looks like you (the people in the elevator) are ghosts. When I was waving, it started going in slow motion and fading out. It's hard to explain but very cool. We had a few fun drops, but the fun coming out of your seat action was missing. I don't know if it doesn't drop at fast or what, but when we rode ToT in WDW a few weeks later, there was a definite difference in this area. I think the ToT in WDW is WAY better. Maybe since this was just a soft opening, though, they were testing it at different speeds, etc?



We exited the elevator and looked at our picture. It was so neat to have a picture with such an empty elevator. I memorized the # as I wasn't sure yet if I wanted to buy it. After you see the picture, you walk through the ToT store and then exit outside. A very quick walk back around to the front of the hotel and we were back at the entrance. Still no line, so we walked right into the library again. This time there were about 8 people in the elevator. It was a fun ride. As we're going through the shop this time I decided I had to buy the first picture. Luckily I still remembered the picture # and I bought a 5x7.



I figured PD must be getting close to being over so we walked back down Sunset Blvd. No big crowds exiting yet, so we hung around on a bench outside. About 5 minutes later, I saw a very happy Jalen and Gma coming out of the theatre. They sat way in the back on the benches. My mom said another grandma was sitting next to her and they decided those were the grandparent benches



We quickly made our way over to Muppets 3 and just missed the doors closing to the theatre, so we watched the 15 (or 20?) minute pre-show. My back was still hurting, so sitting on the floor there with no back support was torture. I couldn't wait to get into the theatre. It was a cute show, as always. Jalen kept trying to grab everything. My mom liked it, too, so that was good.



Coming up: Free tortillas and another great showing of Aladdin!

[ilovelilo]

Thanks so much for the great update!! That's so cool that you got to go on ToT like that! And I love the pictures as usual (your kids are so adorable!). Looking forward to reading more (especially the "free tortilla" part!).

[Colexis Mom]

How great that you were able to experience ToT Tina And so glad to hear that it's only in the 80s now and not the 100s Love all your pictures of you guys Can't wait for more

[chezp]

Congratulations on getting to ride ToT! What an experience that must've been. I love all those photos - you're right, Jalen and Kylor will turn out to be great photographers in later life, if those examples are anything to go by.

[luvnwdwgal]

Thanks for the update Tina!! How cool that you got to ride ToT! I think the picture of the boys with Grizzly Peak in the background is sweet! Looking forward to more!!

[DopeyGirl]

What a sweet picture of the boys with Grizzly Peak!!!

Looking VERY forward to the next part . . . because if by free tortillas you mean MISSION tortillas . . . especially fresh!!! TO DIE FOR!!!

Will be checking in on your TR often while I am out of town!!!

[DebiDebiDebi]

Keep it coming Tina!

[dsnytina]

*~Tina~*
Another magical post!
Thanks for taking the time to type this up for us!
Tina

[DrDolphin]

Tina great update and I loved the details about TOT!!! More please.

[EvilQueen]

great start...sounds like fun!

[Fantasmic! kid]

[ QUOTE ]
I definitely see why people praise this Fantasmic! over the WDW version.

[/ QUOTE ]



That quote made my day!

[Diz]

I just spent the last hour catching up on your TR. I'm aching to try DL and was interested in reading about your hotel. From the pics, it looks sweet .

Your boys sound so easy-going. Your trip seemed to flow along very smoothly.

I'd love to try TOT in DL! It must have been a blast!

Thanks for sharing all the great photos! Can't wait for more!

[loobyoxlip]

OK, after watching Muppet Vision 3:d we headed over to the Pacific Wharf area. We were right by the Mission Tortilla factory and they were letting a little group of people in, so we deposited the stroller on the side of the building and went in. When you first enter, there are little holes you can look in in the wall that have small screens showing a Latino family making tortillas. There are about 4-5 different viewing holes. You can spend as much or as little time here as you want. Of course Jalen had to look at every one, which was fine. We then walked through the doors to the 'factory', where you can see the tortillas going through the process of becoming a tortilla. The start out as a ball and then you watch the machine flatten it and make it a tortilla. Then you get free samples! YUM!! Warm and fresh off the factory line tortillas! Whole tortillas. OK, OK, yes, they were great! They also had a guy in a little booth on the side showing how to make some tortilla dishes. My mom and I each got a free tortilla cookbook. We walked outside with our books and Jalen decided he didn't want his tortilla. Oh, darn, I had to eat another one Directly across the way is the Boudin Bakery. This also lets in groups of people at a time and we hit this one at the right time, too. There is a screen with Rosie O'Donnell and that Colin guy from Whose Line. Then they open the doors to the bakery and you get to walk through and watch sourdough bread being made.



Along the way there are other screen with Rosie and Colin explaining the process. Unfortunately, no free samples at the end of this tour.



Jalen has been wanting to ride the Jellyfish, so we headed go Paradise Pier for his Jumpin' Jellyfish ride. Along the way, we found this cool photo op:



The line was about 10 minutes. I figured this was a ride my mom could handle, so I sent her to ride with Jalen while Kylor and I waited. Jalen and Grandma on the Jumpin' Jellyfish (a kid version of Maliboomer)





Here's Kylor waiting with the Sun Wheel in the background:





At this time we were getting hungry, so we exited DCA and walked across the street to IHOP. I got the pancakes and tried a different syrup on each pancake, with my favorite flavor ending up being boysenberry. Who'd have thought? We all had breakfast items and were feeling quite full when we left.



We went back to DCA to show Jalen and my mom the cool things we had discovered the other day at the Animation Courtyard and the Sorceror's Workshop. Jalen and I made another movie clip, this time we sang 'Heigh Ho Heigh Ho'.



As we left we saw it was around time for the Aladdin stage show to begin at the Hyperion Theater. We had seen this last year and just adored it. It's a fabulous, fabulous show! We had preferred seating, so got to go into the theater first. We sat in first row of the second section, which were great seats. Last year we were way on the top, which were good seats, but not as close. My mom is not into musicals or stage shows, and said later she was thinking when the show first started 'What did Tina drag me in to?' Of course, she ended up loving it as much as I do. Again, this year the Genie threw in some timely pop culture references. At one point he started singing 'She Bangs' like William Hung (moves and all) Very smart show. A few of the actors walked through the aisles and gave Kylor and Jalen high 5's.



My back and stomach were hurting again after this show, so we decided to make a quick run to the Lego shop as Grandma had promised Kylor and Jalen a Bionicle and I wanted to replace Jalen's lost pirate eye patch. Kylor and Jalen with the Lego man (who even snores) : This picture is for the Star Wars fans: After this, we take the shuttle back to thte hotel. I laid on the bed and almost immediately fell asleep. When I woke up, Dr. Phil was on t.v. and my mom and the boys were gone. She had taken them to the pool (they got a LOT of pool time in on this vacation). They came back while I was still laying in bed in pain, so my mom took them for pizza across the street from the hotel. I fell asleep again and woke up while they were still gone feeling a little better.



I decided to do some laundry before we left. I got all the socks and underwear together and did one small load. Mom and the boys came back and we packed and got things ready for the morning. The shuttle was picking us up at 9. While we were packing up, we watched Survivor. Then we just lounged around the rest of the night watching the Jamie Kennedy Experiment and ER. It was the season finale to ER and I fell asleep with like 10 minutes left!



I woke up the next morning feeling much better. My backache was completely gone and my stomach felt OK. I woke up at 7 and showered. When I got out of the shower, everyone else was awake. We still had about an hour and a half until the shuttle came. We again had breakfast by the pool and got all the last odds and ends together before heading out to the front lobby to wait for the SuperShuttle. It came about 9:05 and we were on our way back to LAX.



We checked in and went to our gate. We waited about 2 hours before the boarding began. They boarded all the revenue people and there were 5 standbys trying to get on. The agents radio'ed ops and asked how many more they could take (there was a weight and balance issue going on). They advised only 2 So another 2 standby passengers got on the plane. Luckily there was a flight going out of Orange County at 5 PM. LAX brought our bags back to the luggage carousel for us, and we went outside to take the Supershuttle back to Orange County airport. It took FOREVER! Good thing we were not in a hurry. And it cost $70. Oh, well.



This airport is SO SO nice. If you go to DL, definitely try to fly into SNA rather than LAX. This airport reminded me of a mall. It was so clean and nice. We had a while to wait for our plane, so we went to the airport's food court and Kylor and I had Pizza Hut while my mom had ice cream. I also had a Starbuck's iced mocha drink. Jalen had McD's, of course. We went and hung out at our gate. The plane was on time and we got on just fine. We had the front row, which is so nice for people with long legs (no seats in front of yours). Unfortuntely this flight only went as far as Kansas City. We would have to spend the night and fly into Milwaukee and then onto Marquette in the morning.



So we were all settled in on the flights, things are going smoothly when Kylor tells me has a headache. I unfortunately had his aspirin in my checked bag. My mom tried to crush up an adult Motrin and put it in some water for him. He drank it and had a horrible look on his face. I saw him searching for the puke bag. We found it just in time. Still, as it was, he ended up getting some of it on his pants. And here being in row 1 wasn't so great as the bathrooms were in the back, and I had to walk all the way to the back of the plane from row 1 with a smelly puke bag in my hands. I tried to clean Kylor off as best as I could, but he really stunk! Luckily there was a lady with a small child behind us, so she understood!



I asked the flight attendants where they stayed in Kansas City overnight, as I thought maybe that hotel would give me a discount. She told me and when we got off the plane, I called them. She told me $39, which I thought was a great rate. The shuttle picked us and the crew up, and when I went to check in she had found me a $36 rate. NICE!



I got the kids ready for bed, and my mom and the boys were out. I went and found the washer/dryer and washed Kylor's pants. The crew had also told me about a little room off the lobby with free internet access, so of course while the washer was going, I went and checked the Passporter boards I also listed us for the next days flights we were taking.



We got up the next morning at 7 and took the 7:40 shuttle to the airport. Our next 2 flights went smoothly and we were home at 2:20. It was so nice to be home! We had a great trip, but a week was a long time to be with my mom all day every day. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom, but I'm not used to "living" with her!



Well thanks everyone for taking the time to read this report. Sorry it took me so long to complete it!

[Fantasmic! kid]

Thank you very much for such a great report!

[ilovelilo]

Thanks for a great ending to your report! I'm glad you all had a good time and I liked reading it. It really makes me want to go to DL someday!