Really REALLY Long Trip Report

Claire · 01-11-2005, 12:03 PM

We planned a surprise Disneyland trip for our daughters (9, 6, 4) for Christmas. We were not planning to tell them until Christmas Day, after they’d opened their presents, but since we had our entire family over for Christmas Eve, we decided to tell them that night before opening their gifts from grandparents and aunts and uncles.

We did a Disney-themed scavenger hunt—we had clues hidden in the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD box, Disney Sorry, on the bottom of one of their princess castles, etc. The last clue was hanging on the Christmas tree, taped to the Mickey head ornament.

The girls were dazed….I’m not sure they really knew what was happening, and it was hilarious since everyone else knew they were going and were giving them Disney Dollars as gifts. They each ended up with $200 in spending money…..plus everyone caved and bought them gifts, too. Spoiled girls!

On Christmas Day, they got up early, got a portable DVD player from Santa with a stack of new DVDs for the ride, we ate breakfast, then opened gifts, I finished up some laundry, we packed, ate leftovers from Christmas Eve, then finished packing, played, then hit the road at 3:30. We stopped at Starbucks, which was just closing (lucky us!) and we were on our way!

We stopped for dinner in Roseburg, OR. Then in Ashland for gas and coffee. We got the girls all tucked into their jammies, and turned on one last DVD. I drove from Ashland to Sacramento, where we stopped for gas at 2 am. My husband drove from there. We stopped for gas one more time in Valencia/Lyons and got breakfast and coffee at Starbucks.

We got to Anaheim about 10 am on December 26th, and checked into Howard Johnson. Our room wasn’t ready, but they have large private bathrooms, so we changed and freshened up, so we could go to Downtown Disney to do some shopping.

We spent over an hour at World of Disney, and while I was tempted by some of the 50% off deals, I didn’t buy anything. Courtney (9) got some silver Tink earrings, Cassidy (6) bought a Tink pin for her Jack Skellington lanyard, and Chloe (4) bought a Tink lanyard with the metal dangly Tink and some Tink and Minnie pins. They each made necklaces with a ton of character beads…..don’t know why, since they each have two at home (should have brought them! Ugh!)

They each had Build-a-Bear gift cards, so we went to Build-a-Bear next, Courtney made a "Friend" doll, Chloe made a poodle, and Cassidy made a horse. The poodle and the horse each got Disneyland outfits, with the Mickey hands and mouse ear hats. Very cute!

We snacked on apple pie apples from Marceline’s (our favorite!), then I headed for Sephora. I got a makeover, and put some blush and glittery stuff on my 9 year old. I ended up buying some Cargo lip gloss, a Cargo blush, a Stila compact, and a few philosophy 3-in-1s.

Then we went to Libby Lu. My six year old refused to let the girl put glitter on her at the door, then she asked to wait outside with my husband…it’s just not her thing. My nine year old bought a little compact with lip gloss (she wanted more, but I vetoed it) , and my 4 year old went nuts with the bins of glitter, so she bought some and we left. By that time, my eyes were rolling around in my head.….I had a headache. Ugh. Never again! Blech. I’d rather take my kids to Sephora any day. No more Build a Whore for us.

We had another snack at La Brea Bakery and headed back to our hotel to check in and rest/nap.

At 5 pm, we had reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen, so we headed out at 4, stopping at the Lego store so Cassidy could do some shopping. I had to drag her out of there just before 5. She got a Harry Potter lego set, and posed with Darth Vader.

Goofy’s was great! The food was okay (prime rib, salmon, fish taco bar, salads, mashed potatoes), as we’re used to their breakfast menu (basically the same, but with breakfast items and made-to-order omelettes, which we love), but the kids had a blast. The character interactions were awesome and the place was DEAD. We’ve always been there when it was super crowded, so the girls got lots of attention.

Donald pulled Chloe off and took her dancing, they met Aurora and Prince Philip, Chip & Dale, Pluto and Goofy, the Mad Hatter (who sat with us for about 15 minutes, just to irritate the family next to us), and the White Rabbit. The girls had a blast and we were there for hours.

We staggered back to our hotel room by eight that night. One tired family.

01-11-2005, 12:03 PM	#1
Claire Shagilicious Disneyland!! Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Fulfilling my destiny..... Posts: 740	Really REALLY Long Trip Report We planned a surprise Disneyland trip for our daughters (9, 6, 4) for Christmas. We were not planning to tell them until Christmas Day, after they’d opened their presents, but since we had our entire family over for Christmas Eve, we decided to tell them that night before opening their gifts from grandparents and aunts and uncles. We did a Disney-themed scavenger hunt—we had clues hidden in the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD box, Disney Sorry, on the bottom of one of their princess castles, etc. The last clue was hanging on the Christmas tree, taped to the Mickey head ornament. The girls were dazed….I’m not sure they really knew what was happening, and it was hilarious since everyone else knew they were going and were giving them Disney Dollars as gifts. They each ended up with $200 in spending money…..plus everyone caved and bought them gifts, too. Spoiled girls! On Christmas Day, they got up early, got a portable DVD player from Santa with a stack of new DVDs for the ride, we ate breakfast, then opened gifts, I finished up some laundry, we packed, ate leftovers from Christmas Eve, then finished packing, played, then hit the road at 3:30. We stopped at Starbucks, which was just closing (lucky us!) and we were on our way! We stopped for dinner in Roseburg, OR. Then in Ashland for gas and coffee. We got the girls all tucked into their jammies, and turned on one last DVD. I drove from Ashland to Sacramento, where we stopped for gas at 2 am. My husband drove from there. We stopped for gas one more time in Valencia/Lyons and got breakfast and coffee at Starbucks. We got to Anaheim about 10 am on December 26th, and checked into Howard Johnson. Our room wasn’t ready, but they have large private bathrooms, so we changed and freshened up, so we could go to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. We spent over an hour at World of Disney, and while I was tempted by some of the 50% off deals, I didn’t buy anything. Courtney (9) got some silver Tink earrings, Cassidy (6) bought a Tink pin for her Jack Skellington lanyard, and Chloe (4) bought a Tink lanyard with the metal dangly Tink and some Tink and Minnie pins. They each made necklaces with a ton of character beads…..don’t know why, since they each have two at home (should have brought them! Ugh!) They each had Build-a-Bear gift cards, so we went to Build-a-Bear next, Courtney made a "Friend" doll, Chloe made a poodle, and Cassidy made a horse. The poodle and the horse each got Disneyland outfits, with the Mickey hands and mouse ear hats. Very cute! We snacked on apple pie apples from Marceline’s (our favorite!), then I headed for Sephora. I got a makeover, and put some blush and glittery stuff on my 9 year old. I ended up buying some Cargo lip gloss, a Cargo blush, a Stila compact, and a few philosophy 3-in-1s. Then we went to Libby Lu. My six year old refused to let the girl put glitter on her at the door, then she asked to wait outside with my husband…it’s just not her thing. My nine year old bought a little compact with lip gloss (she wanted more, but I vetoed it) , and my 4 year old went nuts with the bins of glitter, so she bought some and we left. By that time, my eyes were rolling around in my head.….I had a headache. Ugh. Never again! Blech. I’d rather take my kids to Sephora any day. No more Build a Whore for us. We had another snack at La Brea Bakery and headed back to our hotel to check in and rest/nap. At 5 pm, we had reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen, so we headed out at 4, stopping at the Lego store so Cassidy could do some shopping. I had to drag her out of there just before 5. She got a Harry Potter lego set, and posed with Darth Vader. Goofy’s was great! The food was okay (prime rib, salmon, fish taco bar, salads, mashed potatoes), as we’re used to their breakfast menu (basically the same, but with breakfast items and made-to-order omelettes, which we love), but the kids had a blast. The character interactions were awesome and the place was DEAD. We’ve always been there when it was super crowded, so the girls got lots of attention. Donald pulled Chloe off and took her dancing, they met Aurora and Prince Philip, Chip & Dale, Pluto and Goofy, the Mad Hatter (who sat with us for about 15 minutes, just to irritate the family next to us), and the White Rabbit. The girls had a blast and we were there for hours. We staggered back to our hotel room by eight that night. One tired family. __________________ Miles: It tastes like the back of a fing L.A. school bus. Now they probably didn't de-stem, hoping for some semblance of concentration, crushed it up with leaves and mice, and then wound up with this rancid tar and turpentine bull**. Fin' Raid. Jack: Tastes pretty good to me.
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