**DISCLAIMER: Those that do not like very detailed reports of trips to theme park destinations should leave now and probably skip the next three entries. We will not be held responsible for any brain explosions due to Disney information overload.**
And then,
it was my birthday.
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday, dear myself.....
....NOW INHALE THAT CHOCOLATE MINI-MUFFIN AND GET IN THE CAR!
Off to the airport we went.
No surprise this year.
We were headed back to Disneyland.
Tee-hee.
After a non-eventful and short flight, we landed at John Wayne Airport.
THE best airport to land at when going to Disneyland.
(Tip added as a courtesy to those planning DLR vacations that they are then going to ask us to tag along on)
We took a shuttle from the airport to our hotel.
This time we had decided to stay "off site".
Unlike Disney World, there are TONS of hotels/motels right outside and within walking distance of the parks the great majority of which are extremely cheaper than staying at a Disney owned hotel.
We were able to tack on a whole extra park day to our trip because of the money we saved going this route.
We got into our hotel room at about 7:15pm that evening.
We began to unpack some stuff.
Mikey realized that he had forgotten his favorite stuffy and blanket at home.
He was pretty upset.
We talked him down.
Now, we had to find some dinner.
We were thinking of walking up to Downtown Disney to see what we could find, but a quick search of the DLR app brought up an opening at Goofy's Kitchen over at the Disneyland Hotel.
Goofy's Kitchen is the kids favorite restaurant in all of Disneyland resort.
It's a crazy character buffet with tons of food, a lot of which our kids can eat.
Problem was that the reservation was for 8:05 and our hotel was about a 20 minute walk from the restaurant.
TIME TO GET A MOVE ON!
Katie was drooling in anticipation of the meal.
I was just happy to be in Anaheim.
Huzbend knew the way to get there as he had walked that way a few years back on the way to a CVS for Mikey when he was sick that one time....annnnnd we'll say no more about that.
We made it!
Phew. There were just minutes to spare.
We ran/race walked the entire mile it took to get there.
"Uh-hilt! Garsh, you sure are sweaty, folks...."
As soon as we were shown to our table, Minnie stopped by for a visit.
Katie and Huzbend went off with the chef to peruse the buffet options while the dog, the myth, the legend, Goofy himself, came round for a visit.
Happy, happy Katie.
Check out that plate.
She ate it all.
And, went back for seconds.
(And, I think, thirds, as well!)
I think Mikey ended up getting seconds too.
Lots of mac n' cheese and hotdogs.
No vegetables.
Just grapes.
Chip came round....
...followed by Dale.
Much like Chef Mickey's over at WDW, every 15 minutes or so there is a character parade accompanied by a song and napkin twirling.
The restaurant had really cleared out by now.
We were one of the last reservations of the night.
With everyone done with the main meal, it was time for MY favorite part of Goofy's Kitchen, the HUGE dessert buffet.
Here is Plate #1.
The dessert buffet selections aren't safe for our kids.
The only thing they can have is soft serve ice cream out of the machine.
But, no worries.
This is Disney.
They brought them out huge brownies to have with their ice cream.
And because we were one of the last families in the restaurant, it meant that we got a double helping of some characters.
Goofy was able to catch up with Katie.
And Mikey went in for another hug.
I got to be in a picture too!
Chef Mickey was there horning in on Goofy's action, for some reason.
But, it's always nice to see The Main Mouse.
Since it was my birthday (and Huzbend snitched on me), the servers brought me out a special cupcake and sang.
Sooo pretty and delicious to boot!
I had already had two plates of desserts by this time.
No lie.
I can do this......
I can do this......
I couldn't.
I couldn't finish it.
It was SO good though.
There was only one character we hadn't see yet.
Pluto.
He had been by earlier when the kids were off getting more food, so they missed him.
Then, he got distracted playing with some Service Dogs at another table.
Ultra-cute, by the way, to watch them interact with him.
But, finally, right before we left, he came.
He was the craziest character of the bunch.
Even more so than Dale, and that's saying something.
He must've been going "Hyper Puppy".
We know a thing or two about that.
He gave the kids HUGE hugs.
Flapped his ears at them.
Licked them.
Squished them.
And then posed for this gem of a photo.
We left Goofy's at about 9:30, maybe, and meandered our way through Downtown Disney.
We made a not-so-quick stop at the World of Disney store to pick up a stuffie for Mikey.
There were so many, he just couldn't choose.
After what felt like an eternity, he ended up choosing Thumper.
Katie picked up a stuffie of Dug with a "collar of shame" accessory on him.
Then, it was time to trudge back to our hotel.
Okay. Yes, we saved money.
But, walking back to the hotel with the traffic roaring by, the convenience stores/pizza joints, the pan-handlers and a few homeless folks was not really magical in any way, shape or form.
Our hotel was pretty nice. I'd stay there again.
The walk to and from DLR was, eh, easy but not so great.
What a whirlwind start to our vacation.
I'm kinda glad we ran a mile to dinner and then had to walk a little more than a mile back.
Made me feel not so bad about having two plates of desserts and half a giant cupcake.
