Monday, February 18th, we were up bright and early.
We had to meet at the middle school at 5am.
Lucky for us, we're a 5 minute walk away.
Since it was mid-winter break, all the lights in the school parking lot were off.
Ooops.
So, we met in the theater to gather our groups and get a quick talk through of what would happen at the airport.
Boarding the bus was interesting.
It was a regular school bus with not much room for baggage underneath.
Not only did we have to pack ourselves into the bus, we had to shove our luggage in the undercarriage or carry it on our laps AND make sure all kids made it on the bus in the goodbye chaos.
In the dark.
It was a slightly stressful start, I must say.
All accounted for? Maybe?
Good enough.
LET'S GO!
We made it to the airport a little early.
Our Tour Organizer was waiting for us with instructions and then handed us off to our Tour Courier who would stay with us for the duration of the trip.
Alaska Airlines opened up a bag check/ticketing line just for our group, which was nice and made things go a tad bit smoother.
One member of the group that I was in charge of (henceforth known as Girl 1) was being dropped at the airport by her parents.
Since our larger tour group was early, she was a bit late in joining us.
I sent my two other group members ahead - Katie and Girl 2 - with another chaperone and waited for Girl 1.
Soon, we found out that the line to go through security was AN HOUR AND A HALF LONG.
It was the longest security line I had ever encountered at SeaTac.
It wrapped around and around and around......
FINALLY.
We made it through security.
We rushed to our gate to meet Katie and Girl 2, since it was time to board.
Except, it wasn't.
Our flight was delayed.
Sigh.
All that stress for nothing.
And this meant more waiting.
Just enough waiting to freak out the already nervous flyer kids - one was puking in a garbage can - and to annoy the rest of the people stuck sitting there.
In case you didn't know, middle schoolers are loud.
Girl 1 has a bit of anxiety and she was supposed to sit next to the pukey kid.
I switched seats with her so she got to sit next to Katie.
The pukey kid did not puke again while in flight.
At the end of the safety spiel,the flight attendant casually noted the following,
"Oh. I have just been informed that there will be no WiFi during this flight.
So, I guess you'll just have to talk to each other for entertainment."
The groans from the middle schoolers was VERY audible.
WiFi did eventually come on half way through and all the kids survived the lack of visual entertainment.
They were so excited to finally be in California!
Meannnnnwhilllllle.......
Mikey and Huzbend were at home and not due to fly out until the next day.
After Ralph got dropped off at his dog-sitter's house, they did a little indoor rock climbing to pass the time.
Annnnd, video game playing.
As would be expected.
Back in Cali.....
Having had a tiny taste of "managing a large group of tween/teen chaos" before boarding our flight, us chaperones were still getting our so-called sea-legs.
Nothing like jumping right in by shuttling 40 kids through LAX!
We managed to keep everyone mostly together through disembarking, bathroom breaks, baggage pick up etc. and eventually made it to the bus pick up spot.
In the crazy, I managed to accumulate one more member of my group.
A boy we'll call, well, Boy.
Yes. That's a picture of 40 kids, with chaperones, all jam packed onto a small median between two lanes of airport pick up traffic.
The kids "hoorayed" every bus that drove by for about 15 minutes until our actual bus pulled up.
It was nice to have all the kids consolidated in one place and to be able to sit down.
The plan was that the bus was going directly to Disneyland Resort.
We would leave our bags on the bus and visit the parks for the afternoon.
Dinner would be a group affair off-site. We would have to meet the bus at a designated time.
After dinner, we would check in to our hotel.
That all sounded great.
Until I saw that we were not going directly to Disneyland Resort.
We were dropped off in Toy Story Lot.
Which would require a 10 minute shuttle bus trip to get to the entrance of the parks!
WHAT THE WHAT?
Guess I'm spoiled.
Okaaaay.
So, we rolled with it.
WE MADE IT!
I think we arrived at about 2:30 or 3pm?
Our group decided to hit Disneyland first.
I'm so proud.
The first thing my group chose to do was eat lunch!
So responsible.
We ate some yummy Mexican food at Rancho del Zocalo.
(one of our favorite quick service places in all of Disneyland Resort)
First ride of the trip.
Splash Mountain.
In order...
Girl 2
Girl 1
and Boy
Katie was in front.
I sat second seat.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I was drenched.
The water mostly flew over Katie and landed in my lap.
Second seat is THE WORST.
When we got on the ride it was beautiful blue skies, sunny and approaching 60 degrees.
We got off the ride and the clouds had rolled in.
F-R-I-G-I-D.
After a stop in a gift shop, we headed to Haunted Mansion.
Wait time was about 30 minutes.
I was wishing I had brought my warm jacket into the park.
I put on my goofy Goofy winter hat to try to retain some heat.
I'm glad that we were indoors.
I'd never noticed before but the Haunted Mansion is breezy.
I rode in a Doom Buggy by myself.
Snack time!
Katie picked up a frozen-rock-solid Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar and Boy picked up the first of many, many churros.
Sun? Where did you GO?
Please come back.
We got in line for Pirates of the Caribbean and waited.
And then waited some more.
And some more.
The ride had broken down.
We wasted 20 minutes just standing there.
UGH.
We hopped out of line.
It was getting close to dinner time.
The moon was on the rise.
We headed over to Tomorrowland to visit the Star Tours Gift Shop.
Star Tours was only a 30 minute wait.
We hopped in line.
About 15 minutes in, Girl 1 and Girl 2 mentioned that they didn't really want to ride.
Turns out that Girl 1 had had issues with the ride when she was little - almost puking.
She's got motion sickness issues.
Girl 2 just didn't feel like riding.
I convinced them to ride.
Mistake #1.
By the time we got off Star Tours, we were cutting it WAY close to the time that we were supposed to be back at our bus over in the Toy Story Lot.
Mistake #2.
We fast-walked to Main Street and encountered the worst sight a person can see when they're trying to rush down Main Street.
A PARADE.
Ugh.
Mistake #3.
We made our way through the crowd down the left side of Main Street only to hit a DEAD END right at the end of the street due to construction.
Mistake #4.
We had to walk all the way back up to the parade crossing - which was at the top of Main Street/Hub - and then make our way back through the crowds on the right side.
We were officially late.
We exited the park and were greeted with the World's Longest Line for Shuttle Buses.
Double Ugh.
Mistake (not really my fault) #5.
There was no way we were going to make it to the bus on time.
Lucky for me, I knew where we were eating that evening.
It was at a restaurant about a 1/2 mile from the park entrance.
I called Katie's drama teacher and told her that my group would walk to the restaurant and meet the group there.
She approved.
Off we went.
The kids enjoyed the walk.
The problem is that we got to the restaurant WAY early.
At least 30 minutes before the rest of the group.
Why was the group late?
The Tour Courier ("supposed to be with us the whole trip") was not on the bus waiting for them. So, they had to wait for her!
It turns out that the Toy Story Lot is right across the street from the mall that the restaurant was located in.
So, the group sat on a bus for 30 minutes when they could've just walked across the street to the restaurant in five minutes. Sigh.
Remember we got there early?
Well, this was the final mistake.
Mistake #6.
I was happy to get a chance to sit and relax.
The kids sat and chilled out too.
But, that down time was bad news.
Girl 1 and Girl 2 had a little bit too much down time to think about being away from family and the stress of the crazy day began taking its toll.
Dinner was at a place called Fire and Ice.
It was meh.
They wouldn't let our group sit until it was the exact time of our reservation (they had ALL those kids standing in their lobby).
There was confusion as to what was included in the meal. The waitress said drinks were NOT. What? That was quickly amended.
The food was mediocre.
The service for allergy and Celiac kiddos was iffy.
Katie's food tested negative for gluten, but she didn't eat a lot of what she had.
Girl 1 had anxiety take hold and couldn't eat.
She spent most of the meal in the bathroom talking to her Mom on her phone and trying not to puke.
Girl 2 was freaked out about Girl 1 being stressed and became stressed herself.
She shut down, didn't eat much and stopped interacting.
Katie did her best. And poor Boy was left wondering if it was something he did or said that made everyone all quiet and non-social.
It was pretty bad.
Dinner was over. I didn't eat much myself because of the drama.
I needed to make sure my kiddos were okay.
After corralling kids, we boarded the bus to head to the hotel.
We stayed at the Embassy Suites Anaheim in Garden Grove.
A fair distance from the parks. Not walkable.
We got to the hotel and I escorted my ladies to their room.
Boy was in a room with other boys. He went to join them.
Girl 1 was still not feeling well. Girl 2's mom texted me to say that she was upset.
Turns out that Girl 1 has severe, paralyzing anxiety that can come on in unfamiliar or stressful situations. Her anxiety was "catching". Katie and Girl 2 were feeling less than happy.
Girl 1 was in the bathroom.
Girl 2 was going to sleep on the couch.
Katie was going to sleep in a two bed bedroom by herself.
Things were getting worse.
I took a minute to talk to them all promising that the next day would not be nearly as stressful.
We would do what the majority of the group wanted to do.
No pressure to ride any rides or run through the parks.
If they wanted to do rides or to not do rides, it was up to them.
There would be no crazy.
Just chill and relax.
I pulled Katie aside after this talk to encourage her to join another group.
This was allowed. For example, we inherited Boy from another group.
There was no way that she would have a fun time if we didn't do any rides and just relaxed all day.
She was hesitant to do this.
This talk seemed to make the Girls feel better (although Girl 1 still spent the night in the bathroom).
Girl 2 and Katie let Girl 1 do her thing in the bathroom.
They hung out, watched TV and eventually went to sleep in the bedroom.
WOW.
What a first day.
My roomie was Katie's drama teacher.
We finally got settled at about 10pm or so.
But, we had to be up bright and early the next day to arrive before the park opened.
Good morning!
We had a view of a lovely moon set from our hotel room.
A nice feature of the hotel that we were staying at was that a buffet breakfast was included.
Katie couldn't eat any of it except the fruit. It wasn't worrisome, because she doesn't eat breakfast anyways.
It worked for everyone else.
Katie snapped this picture of the hotel from the bus.
The purpose of this trip was so the kids could take two workshops put on by Disney Performing Arts.
We had so many kids that we had to split them into two smaller groups.
Katie's group was first to take a class bright and early that morning.
I did not join them for this workshop, opting instead for some ME-time.
The kids were picked up by a Disney Tour Guide person and escorted backstage for their class.
In order to get back stage, they had to walk through Toon Town.
It wasn't yet open for the day, so they were there ALONE.
Katie was nice enough to take pictures of deserted Toon Town.
Shhhhhh. Right next to this door is a secret entrance to back stage.
Cast members (and middle schoolers with classes) ONLY!
Their first class was "Acting 101".
Katie said they had a good time and learned some stuff.
That was about all I got out of her about it.
While they were in class, I decided to head over to New Orleans Square to get myself a treat.
I deserved it, you know.
FREEEEEE!
After finding my treats, I parked myself on a bench right outside New Orleans Square.
Whatta view.
And this is what I ate.
Mickey Beignets.
Three of them all to myself.
Ohhhhh soooo good.
I sat there for a bit more enjoying the sun and actually answering some wandering park guests questions.
I didn't offer my knowledge.
They asked for it.
I also texted Huzbend to make him jealous of my mid-morning snack.
He and Mikey were sitting at the airport in Seattle waiting for their plane.
Because of my horror story about the security lines, they arrived super early.
To, guess what?
No lines.
Ooops.
At least they knew they would make their plane on time.
When I picked up the kids after their class, Katie had decided that she WAS going to join another group. I thought that was best, so off she went.
I'm so glad she did.
She had the best time.
And, it was good practice for her to be on her own and having to communicate her dietary issues.
I think she said she had hot dogs for lunch....
I'm thinking that maybe she might have just had lots of cotton candy.
We'll never know.....
And, it was good practice for her to be on her own and having to communicate her dietary issues.
I think she said she had hot dogs for lunch....
I'm thinking that maybe she might have just had lots of cotton candy.
We'll never know.....
She picked up this little free souvenir to keep her valuables dry.
Splash Mtn. #2 for Katie.
It was a one and done for my group.
I was happy about this.
Katie took this wonderful picture of her friend and Walt Disney and Mickey Mouses butts.
The remainder of my group (minus Boy who was at class with the second group), decided to do some shopping on Main Street.
On the way, we stopped by the Wishing Well because Aladdin was supposed to be there.
But, when we got there, no one was there.
We decided to put some coins in the well and as we were digging in our pockets The Evil Queen snuck up on us and yelled at us for throwing garbage in her well.
She was quite intimidating.
The Girls wanted nothing to do with her and essentially ran away.
It was hilarious.
I left the girls shopping on Main Street to go pick up Boy after his class.
I explained what our plan was for the day.
Take it easy. Sit. Shop. Eat. Relax.
He decided he wanted to still hang with us.
After stopping in the Candy Palace to find some chocolate, we headed to California Adventure (hereafter referred to as DCA).
The kids didn't buy anything because, and I quote, "I'm not gonna spend $6 on a chocolate covered pretzel stick that I can make at home!"
Well, I have no such qualms.
I bought a Mickey cake pop.
When we arrived at DCA, several of the big name rides were "down" pushing up the wait times at many of the other rides around the park.
The line for the Pixar-Pal-Around (ferris wheel shown below) was about an hour.
The group didn't want to wait that long and none of the other rides appealed to the Girls.
We sat and listened to some jazz singers.
We worked our way over to the Ariel ride.
The line was the longest I had ever seen it.
And, that's saying something as we've been around Christmas time.
They wanted to ride it, so we waited in line.
After that we shopped a bit (MORE!) and Boy and Girl 2 rode the Silly Symphony Swings.
By this time, Huzbend and Mikey had arrived.
They had checked into a motel across the street from the park entrance and made their way to Disneyland.
I'm not sure what ride they're on here.
Meanwhile, Katie and her pals were over in DCA.
Being smart cookies, they rode Radiator Springs Racers via Single Rider line so they wouldn't have to wait 2 hours.
Katie with other people's families.
Dinner was "at the parks" for our tour group this day.
My group had Chinese food.
Katie ended up eating in the same area that our group ate, just at a later time and at a different venue.
She ordered a salad.
When it came it had "things" on it that made Katie suspicious that it was not gluten free.
She tested the salad with her gluten tester and she was right.
The salad was NOT gluten free.
But instead of getting something else to eat....she just didn't eat it.
Maybe more cotton candy for dinner?
Bummer.
After dinner, in order to stick with our quest to have the most laid back trip ever, my group headed back over to Disneyland to scout out a location for the parade.
It was really cold.
I inherited another boy whose group didn't want to watch the parade and the following nighttime show.
And who was right down the street eating dinner?
This root beer float lovin' guy!
The restaurant they were eating at is right on Main Street.
So, Mikey was able to see the parade while eating.
I'm sure Huzbend was SUPER excited about that.
Katie and her crew were still over in DCA.
Here she is on the Pixar-Pal-Around.
PARADE TIME!
Mickey plays the drums in this one.
I kinda like how they had this parade at night.
Just felt more special that way.
Rapunzel is very pink.
The costumes were fancy.
Here's some New Orleans inspired attired dancers performing before Tiana coasted by.
Mary and Bert's float ends the parade.
They ride detached carousel horses - that are bouncing up and down - through the parade route.
So CUTE!
Parade was in the books.
The best place to be for the nighttime show was on Main Street.
So, we just sat and waited.
The kids went off to use the bathroom and find some Starbucks.
When they got back, I went off to get a little something something for myself.
Jolly Holiday Bakery was RIGHT down the street.
First up, a Mickey Mouse Club Hat dessert.
OMG. DELISH!
There was a lot of yummy going on here.
I had to look up what was in it so I could report it to you.
The outer layer was a thick chocolate ganache. The ears were dark chocolate discs and the Club logo was white chocolate. Little chocolate shavings encircled the bottom of the hat.
Then, when you cut into that baby and you found, chocolate truffle mousse with a center of vanilla bean creme brulee! The bottom of the treat was a chocolate cookie crumb.
I would eat this again and again and again and again....
......but I did not.
Because, I bought another treat.
Yep. Two desserts.
YOLO ALWAYS at Disneyland!
I got myself a famed Matterhorn Macaroon.
This monster is a giant coconut macaroon.
The top is frosted with white chocolate and white sprinkles.
Contrary to the picture, this thing is huge.
Easily shared between two people.
Or just one that likes dessert a lot.
Kids, being kids, did not want to get up to save a spot in the middle of Main Street.
I left them on the curb playing their ultra-annoying "Marry, Kiss, Kill" game.
I'll let you work out what that game is or you can look it up.
It keeps them occupied for hours.
Huzbend and Mikey had finished their dinner and were off enjoying rides.
Mikey got his license from Autopia, the Disneyland Tomorrowland Speedway.
I'm wondering if that is a nervous smile on Huzbend's face?
A little Astro Blaster action.
This is Mikey's game face.
At this time of night, there was NO line for Splash Mountain.
I mentioned above that it was freezing.
It was hovering close to 40 degrees, with a breeze.
They rode Splash.
They had a log all to themselves.
Notice that neither of them sat in the second seat.
The line was so small, that they were able to ride it again.
This time Mikey went all out with NO HANDS.
This is what happens when Dad's are in charge.
I would've been a panicky mess if I was there.
I probably would've had my hands hovering over his shoulders to catch him if he just happened to fly out.
Showtime!
The kids moved out to the middle of the street to watch.
You're welcome, lazy tween/teens, for saving a spot.
Mickey's Mix Magic is a show that uses lights, lasers, practical effect (like bubbles and 'snoap'), projection mapping and dance music.
It's really fun. It's a nice change up from traditional fireworks.
Mikey and Huzbend were walking between rides and stopped by the Hub to check out what, "all the noise was".
Huzbend does not pay attention to parade and show schedules.
Well, guess what?
My group made it back to the bus with time to spare this night!
Katie's group made it as well.
And, bonus, everyone was happy and just a bit tired.
What a difference from the night before!
The girls hung out, ate snacks and watched TV before crashing.
Although my group had pushed through their problems, other groups were having issues.
There was drama of all sorts.
People feeling left out or not getting along in their groups, stuff like that.
Then, there was the sickness.
Katie's teacher, my roomie, got a call at about midnight to let her know that one of the boys had thrown up. In his bed.
They called housekeeping who swept in and cleaned everything while the other 3 boys in the room slept.
They didn't even know that it had happened.
Crazy.
The next day was Wednesday. Our tour group didn't have to get up quite so early this morning.
Which actually turned out to bite us in the butt.
When we did arrive, the line to go through security was about an hour and a half long. It was SO LONG. It seemed like we walked forever to get to the back of the line.
Having been at Disneyland before, I knew there was another easily accessible security access point.
The problem was that it was about a mile and a quarter away.
Well, it was either walk for 30 minutes or wait in line for an hour.
The tour group decided to trust me and I walked them all the way over to the other security access point.
There was NO LINE.
Win for me.
Loss for our already tired feet.
Daddy and Mikey had already figured out how to bypass the huge security lines.
They just went with no bags.
Huzbend shoved everything in his pockets.
With no bags to check, they could walk right up and enter the shortest line.
Genius.
They headed over to DCA and rode Guardians of the Galaxy about a million times in one day.
There's a gnome in the Collectors garden.
The first of MANY ride photos.
Katie once again split off from our group to head off to adventures unknown.
I once again added another boy to my group.
My group decided that the number one thing they wanted to do was to ride Indiana Jones and It's a Small World. The boys really wanted to do Radiator Springs Racers.
In order to make a Fastpass for Indiana Jones, we had to enter a park. Any park.
The shortest line was headed into DCA.
We went there first.
I secured Indiana Jones and asked what they wanted to do in the meantime.
They wanted Starbucks.
And, I swear, the line for Starbucks should have a Fastpass option!
The kids stood in line for about 30 minutes JUST to get STARBUCKS.
To pass the time, I visited the DCA candy store, Trolley Treats, and picked the weirdest thing I could from the cabinet.
It turned out to be cookies and cream fudge.
I would say that if you love sugar, then you would love this.
It was like eating a solid block of Oreo filling.
I texted a picture of this to Huzbend to show him what I was eating for breakfast, just to get him all crazy.
I forgot to tell him it wasn't that good.
He bought one to eat himself.
Ooops.
Sorry.
Our group, Starbucks in hand (and oreo frosting cube in my stomach), headed over to Radiator Springs Racers.
The line was already long with Fastpasses out into the afternoon.
The boys hopped in the single rider line while we waited for them.
No Starbucks for Katie and her crew.
They were busy gettin' it done and ridin' those rides!
Another single rider line for Katie.
And then, the Incredicoaster - front row.
She doesn't even look like she's on a roller coaster.
For my group, the clock was ticking.
It was getting awfully close to drop off time for the boys acting class.
They got off RSR with 15 minutes to spare!
Yikes!
We had to fast-walk our way from the back of one park to the back of another park!!!
After the long walk that morning to bypass security, our feet were REALLY feeling it.
We did make it on-time though.
Having gotten the boys where they needed to be, our now girls-only group had about two hours to kill before class.
We ended up riding THREE rides!
Much better than waiting in line for another dose of Starbucks.
We did It's a Small World, Indiana Jones and then ended up over in Critter Country to ride Winnie the Pooh.
Here we are in our hive.
We had to grab an early lunch so that we could get to the meeting spot for their acting class.
Ears - check!
Pin Lanyard - check!
Burger and Fries - check!
Juice Box - check!
They might look and try to act older, but they're still kids.
It was explained to me that I had guessed wrong on the picture below.
They were actually exploring the Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island.
Ooops. My bad.
King of the Fake Boulder.
Over in Disneyland, it was time for the second acting class.
It was my turn to attend a class.
We again entered through the secret Toon Town backstage entrance.
I got to go BACKSTAGE.
There're a bunch of warehouses back there.
And access roads.
And dumpsters.
We got to see the backside of Star Wars Land (which was still in construction, but mostly done).
We got to see the open warehouse where parade floats are stashed.
The launching points of the fireworks.
We also learned that the buildings that the Arts Program are housed in will be shut down soon.
There was no word on if or where the program would be relocated.
Best part was that I got to see a parade performer, all dressed in costume/wig/makeup, walking by looking at her phone with earbuds in and drinking a coffee. Ha!
The class this time around was Improv 101.
The instructor, his name was Joe, was fantastic.
Funny and entertaining.
Best part was, he made the kids work.
And not just on Improv stuff. He taught them life lesson type stuff.
"How you do anything is how you do everything"
"Bring your second time, first."
There was talk about setting aside your fears and being the best you that you can be.
All very poignant for the kids and the age they're at.
And believe it or not, they listened (well, some of them did)!
They used these quotes over and over for the rest of our trip.
A pic of just our class group.
Just imagine, there were 20 other kids in the other group.
We only had a few more hours in the park before we had to meet at the entrance to go to dinner.
This time, we were headed to a restaurant in Downtown Disney, so we could walk there.
Hallelujah!
No more shuttle buses.
Pirates had been not operational the entirety of our trip.
We had heard it was open, so we all headed over.
Say HI to Ms. K., Katie's drama teacher.
Alas, the ride broke down AGAIN!
We got out of line and our groups broke apart.
Katie went off with her crazy friends to ride more thrill rides.
My group - I had picked up yet ANOTHER boy (my group count was now 2 girls and 3 boys) - decided to find a churro cart in the Hub and chill till dinner time.
That chill time was mostly taken up with "Marry, Kiss, Kill" and "Would you rather..."
Sigh.
Oh, the castle was having its roof replaced and was being repainted.
This is what it looked like when we visited.
There was a giant scrim over it.
Those black dots are crows.
One of my adopted boys had lost his wallet the day before in the parks.
We got word that it was found and I had to take him to the Lost and Found to retrieve it.
Lost and Found is located outside the park gates.
I let my group wander Main Street and reiterated the plan that we had to meet the entire group at the "Floral Mickey" - the Mickey Mouse that is made out of flowers just inside the entry turnstiles but before you enter Main Street via the tunnels that go under the railway.
I made sure they understood this.
I made sure they understood this.
I took Lost Wallet Boy to get his goods.
While we were standing there it began to rain.
Yuck.
Now, it was cold and rainy and dark.
We were standing, waiting in line and he says, "Hey, we should check on the rest to make sure they're where they should be."
I say, "Nah, I trust 'em."
Not two seconds later, I turn around and I see my group walking over to Downtown Disney!
I yell out to them and remind them that they're meeting the group at the FLORAL MICKEY.
You really can't miss this thing.
They yell "OKAY! SORRY!" out across the Esplanade and then one of them yells, "I thought FLORAL MICKEY was a restaurant."
UGH.
We retrieved lost wallet and made it back to join the group in front of Floral Mickey.
There were still two groups missing.
One of which was Katie's group.
I told the Tour Courier and drama teacher that I would wait for them since I knew where we were going.
Katie's group eventually showed up. They were stuck on a ride.
After tracking down a few more missing persons, we made our way over to the restaurant.
By this time, it was practically pouring rain.
We were soaked and cold.
Our dinner was really good this time around.
We ate at Naples Ristorante e Bar.
We were originally scheduled to eat outside, but because of the rain they rearranged their upstairs seating area and put us all up there.
They brought out salad, pizza and pasta all served family style.
They were even able to accommodate Katie.
She was so hungry she asked for seconds.
Must've been another day of cotton candy.....
Here's a mom asking Katie about her gluten tester.
Mikey and Huzbend had sat down to dinner themselves.
Guess Mikey had pizza too.
They spent the rest of the evening, doing just a few more rides.
And generally acting silly for Photopass photographers.
After dinner, our tour group headed back to the hotel to crash.
The kids and adults were exhausted.
Many of us were also getting sick with various ailments ranging from colds to fevers to puking.
Thursday.
The last official day of the tour.
Katie wanted me to take a few photos of the hotel lobby.
The hotel was hollow on the inside. All the rooms were on the walls.
You could look down into the center.
The center of the lobby floor was taken up with an interesting seating area for the buffet.
There was a koi river and all these rocks around.
One rock had a big stuffed lion on it.
We had to be up, packed, fed and out early.
We had a tour at the Warner Bros. Studio to get to.
Quite a drive from where we were.
Here's Katie's "Annoyed with Mom Face".
Huzbend and Mikey enjoyed another Boys Day at the Parks.
Warner Bros. is in Los Angeles.
Traffic was bad.
To be expected in LA, I guess.
We got a sneak peak of the Hollywood Sign on the way there.
We had to stay with our original groups this time around.
Katie was back with Girl 1 and Girl 2 and we had to let Boy go off with his original group.
The famous Warner Bros. water tower.
We got in a cart and were shuttled around the back lot of Warner Bros. by a very knowledgeable tour guide.
This stretch of dirt road is where they filmed the T-Rex/Jeep chase scene in Jurassic Park.
It's a short stretch of road, so they just had to keep turning around and going back the other way to get the extended driving shot.
We then drove into a town square full of houses, a small park, a town green, business fronts, schools and firehouses.
All fake, of course and used for various TV shows.
Here's the inside of a house set.
There is only a downstairs to these houses and they can be repainted/decorated as needed.
Katie on the gazebo in the center of the town green.
Next stop on the tour was to see Harry Potter memorabilia.
Girl 1 was in heaven.
She's a HUGE Potter-Head.
Katie wanted a picture of the Niffler bread from Kowalski's Bakery in
Fantastic Beasts.
A very familiar looking locket.
They had a Sorting Hat.
You could sit under it and it would announce your house.
Of course, the pictures I took of my OWN CHILD came out blurry.
GRYFFINDOR!
Hmmmmmmm.....
SLYTHERIN!
Then we saw the Bat Mobile.
And a Bat Bike, and a Bat Boat and the Bat Tank!
You name it and it was there.
I took pictures of all of them, but I'll spare you Bat Transportation Overload.
I'm....
You know who I am.
There was a Bat Signal too.
It shined on the ceiling.
We got to walk through an actual working set.
It was a police station/hospital currently being used on some show on Fox.
Because it was an "active set", we couldn't take pictures.
The last stop was to see some costumes from recent Warner Bros. movies, see the Friends Central Perk replica, and then see a few movie magic special effects in action.
This was Katie and I's favorite.
A forced perspective shot straight from The Hobbit and LOTR.
At the end, they had a place where you could have photos taken against a green screen.
They weren't free, of course.
But, we couldn't resist.
We weren't the only ones having fun!
Tea-Cups and.....
.....CARS and.....
....MORE prison breakouts...OH MY!
There was a bit of miscommunication about lunch from our Tour Courier.
We were supposed to eat at a cafeteria for lunch.
The tour ended in this tiny cafe that had a few options.
That was where we were to eat lunch.
They had nothing for Katie to eat.
And nothing for Boy, who joined back up with us for lunch. He has food allergies too.
Katie ended up eating chips for lunch.
Sigh.
During lunch, one of my girls came down with a fever.
We hit the gift shop and the boarded the bus to Griffiths Observatory.
We hung out here for a bit.
There was a bunch of sciency type stuff.
Katie was happy.
Thermal images of Katie, Girl 1 and Boy.
We were high up on a hill overlooking LA.
The views were fantastic.
Here's Katie and Boy checking out where that looooooong straight road leads.
They never did figure it out.
There were rain clouds all around us.
It made for dramatic photos.
We got an even closer view of the Hollywood sign.
I guess you could hike over there from the Observatory, if you wanted.
We had a bit of extra time before we had to get to the airport.
The bus driver took us on a tour of Hollywood.
Here's the famous (and really scrungy looking) Hollywood Walk of Fame.
We drove down towards the Chinese Theater and the Dolby Theater - where the Oscars are held.
Problem was that the Oscars were being held that weekend.
The road was closed and we couldn't drive past to see them.
But, we did see the El Capitan Theater and the giant T-Rex that's on top of the Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not building across from it.
We arrived at the airport exactly 2 hours before the tour groups flight was to take off.
We made sure everyone was ticketed and settled.
I handed off my girls to another chaperone.
We wished the group luck and Katie and I broke off to head back to the Disneyland resort area.
Waiting for our shuttle.
Turns out that the flight home for the tour group was just as crazy as the rest of the trip.
They changed gates about 4 times. They ended up having to take a bus on the tarmac to their plane (and spent a while sitting on that bus).
They got back to the school at about 1am that evening.
And there was more puking and sick kiddos.
Anywho, I was exhausted.
We hopped on our shuttle back to Anaheim and traffic was BAD.
We barely made it to our meet up with Mikey and Huzbend at dinner.
Hi, Mikey!
We were up early to make our way back to the parks for one last family day.
First stop, Guardians of the Galaxy.
Which both Katie and I had not ridden yet.
Mikey and Huzbend...well, you've seen the pictures.
Katie doesn't even look like she's on a ride in this picture.
Especially not one as extreme as this one is.
If you've ridden it, you will appreciate her unnatural calmness.
Mikey picked up a souvenir.
And, so did Katie.
Over to Disneyland!
When they say "Park Hop"?
We accept that challenge and say, "How many times in ONE day, man?!?"
Love the DLR version of Space Mountain.
Pirates was STILL closed.
We ended up taking a leisurely river tour to check out some not-so-local wildlife.
The tour ended at the Tropical Hideaway where we opted to pick up some yummy treats.
NEW Dole Whip flavors.
Katie tried Pineapple/Raspberry Swirl.
Katie rating: YUM
Mikey tried Pineapple/Orange swirl.
Mikey rating: Double YUM. Much better than regular Dole Whip.
I enjoyed a Pineapple/Orange Float.
My rating: It never changes. ALWAYS a MUST get.
But, it got one demerit.
There was no maraschino cherry on my little umbrella.
"Maybe if I don't look directly at them, no one will know they are related to me."
Mikey took care of that real quick.
He's good like that.
Huzbend loves this ride ALMOST as much as parades and fireworks.
Back over to DCA for lunch and more rides.
We ate Mexican food for lunch and I picked up this Mickey Cookies n' Cream bread pudding from Pacific Wharf.
The main body of this was pretty yummy. The ears were a bit too chewy.
Overall a thumbs up...but nowhere close to the Mickey Mouse Club dome cake.
We headed over to our next ride, the Incredicoaster.
Katie picked up a Mickey Premium Ice Cream bar.
Here she is trying not to be associated with us.
Again.
Mikey visited Senor Buzz's Churro cart and got himself a Cinnamon Super Galaxy churro.
And, he made quite the mess with it.
The Incredicoaster was awesome.
It's the exact same coaster as California Screamin', just with an Incredibles theme overlay.
They changed the music, added some static effects and models of the characters.
And even smells!
I convinced the others that a ride on the Pixar-Pal-Around (aka Ferris Wheel of Death) was not necessary at this time.
We instead rode the Golden Zephyr.
A ride that is almost never open because it's effected by wind.
It's a simple swing ride, but allows you got get some fun photos.
Such blue skies.
Soooo relaxing.
Park hop again?
Yep.
Back over to Disneyland for the afternoon parade.
Although 3 members of our family had already seen this parade a few days earlier, Katie had not.
So, we grabbed a seat to watch.
Groot was already seated.
Now that I have a new point-and-shoot camera, I can get some pretty nice action photos.
So many happy photos.
Chip or Dale?
If you have to look it up - shame on you!
Still Katie's favorite princess.
As long as you're near the curb, like within in a foot or so of it, your kiddos can sit down.
We just stood up behind them.
"With a smile and a song,
Life is just like a bright sunny day...."
I'm pretty sure that Katie is not as impressed with the princesses, in general, as she used to be.
Now, she just wonders what they are all so dang happy about all the time.
Huzbend found a kindred parade hating soul to stand next to.
Wildest Ride in the Wilderness time!
Classic.
Hopped on the train in Disneyland for a circle tour and a sneak peek of soon to open Star Wars land.
Back over to DCA for dinner.
We took a pit stop in the Animation store to check out the art.
Then ate at the Carthay Circle - Katie's favorite Disneyland restaurant.
She picked it over The Blue Bayou!
The reason it's her favorite...
Gluten Free Bread Service.
She ate at least two services.
Plus, her steak dinner.
Our meal was excellent.
We opted to walk DCA to find some dessert.
So pretty at night.
I headed over to visit the Abominable Adorable Snowman for an "It's Lemon" cup.
Non-dairy lemon soft serve (aka Lemon Dole Whip).
Tart and tangy, but good.
This one you eat slooooooooow with an upside-down spoon.
I can't remember what Katie had (it might've been cotton candy), but Mikey got himself another churro.
This time he visited the cart near Goofy's Sky School to pick up the Celebration Mickey Chocolate churro.
Sure looked yummy.
And again, it was messy.
I don't think Mikey can eat anything without it being messy.
Last park hop of the evening.
Back over to Disneyland to ride Autopia.
This was Mikey's second go at it.
He rode along with me.
Huzbend got video footage of Mikey driving earlier in the trip.
Katie rode with Huzbend. This was the first time she did this ride.
She looks cautious in this photo.
Katie ended up riding Autopia with me a second time while Huzbend and Mikey went to check out "Snow White's Scary Adventures". Which, from their reporting, they were really scared of.
Katie hadn't watched the nighttime show with her group.
So, we found a spot mid-Main Street to watch from.
Mikey was kinda tired.
This time, along with the music, projections, lasers and lights, there were fireworks.
Such a fun and bouncy show.
Love it.
Mikey shook his petootie to the songs.
The beat of the song perfectly matches Mickey and Minnie's walk cycles.
Like this....
The kids weren't done yet.
Mikey wanted to ride the train ONE MORE TIME.
Huzbend was done.
He dragged his bum butt back to the motel.
We hopped on the Disneyland Railroad for a round trip.
SO HAPPY.
CAN'T STAND IT.
It was a great ride.
We had a very humorous conductor.
They had two trains running that night.
One with the bench seats facing forwards and one with the bench seats facing out into the park.
We stopped at New Orleans Square and a couple who was sitting and waiting didn't enter the train.
The conductor asked if they were getting on and the gentleman replied, "Nah. We don't like that train. We'll wait for the other one."
The conductor took great offense at that and in the rest of his announcements he called out to the people who actually LIKE his train.
Towards the end of the Disneyland Railroad, there's a section that has a diorama of the Grand Canyon and then another diorama of prehistoric creatures that's called "Primeval World".
"Primeval World" was currently under refurb with the windows to the diorama blacked out so no one could see anything. The tunnel was quite dark. The dramatic music and sounds were still playing though.
The conductor ensured us that Disney's time travel device had worked too well and had mistakenly brought us to the beginning of time.
As we pulled into Main Street Station, the kiddos grew sad.
It was time to leave Disneyland.
What a great way to end a whacky trip!
I love Disneyland, but I love it SO much more when I'm with my family.
The next morning, we packed up and headed over to Downtown Disney for some extra fun.
Here's a quick picture of our motel room.
Literally right across the street from the entrance to Disneyland, it can't be beat for location.
The room itself was clean and they had a mediocre free breakfast.
It was okay.
A good place to crash if you don't want to spend a lot of time in your room.
Best part, they had bunk beds.
Here's a view from our door.
That led directly outside.
Remember, I said MOTEL.
You could see this entry sign from our motel.
Shhhhhh.
Be veh-wee, veh-wee quiet.......
WHOOOOAAAA!!!!
We worked in a little cousin time!
First thing we did was visit The Void.
The Void is a whole-body, fully immersive virtual reality experience.
It is SO COOL.
Or course, I don't have pictures or video of what we did.
You can probably see that on the website above.
Just click on the trailer for Star Wars: Secret of the Empire.
Aunt, Uncle and Cousin had to be in their own group, as it could only accommodate four at a time.
I'll run through it quick.
You're fitted with a snug backpack and helmet rig.
We were a team of undercover Rebels disguised as Storm Troopers on a mission to gather some intel.
Best part was that the Storm Troopers were your actual size.
That meant that Mikey was the smallest Storm Trooper you ever saw.
We were able to move freely through a total virtual reality environment. The scenes kept you moving in the general direction they wanted you to go to further the story.
The concrete walls that you saw before putting on your helmet became detailed star ship environs.
We were able to grab blasters and do lots of shooting.
Mikey shot anything and everything that moved.
At one point, we were stuck in a locked room. We were supposed to follow a pattern of buttons to push to open the locked door.
Mikey just shot the button panel and the door opened.
We fought other Storm Troopers, giant lava monsters and even Darth Vader.
It was crazy fun.
But, waaaaaay too short.
We'd do it again, if the experience was longer for the amount of money you pay.
After our VR experience, we headed back to their hotel to hang out and come up with a plan for the rest of the day.
First up, was lunch.
We ate at another Mexican place.
Mexican is a good choice for Celiacs.
And for people that like margaritas.
"Can I have a hug?"
"Ew. No."
After lunch it was POOOOOOLLLL TIME!
They spent a couple or hours swimming around while us adults did all the talky talky stuff.
We decided to grab a quick sweet snack before we had to leave to catch our ride to the airport.
We found a place that served root beer floats.
After waiting what seemed like forever, this is what came out.
Figures.
Only Disney would PLUS a root beer float.
In a mug, with a handle, crushed root beer flavored candies around the rim, whipped cream and a giant Mickey shortbread cookie.
Problem was, since there was a cookie in it, Katie couldn't eat it.
Bummer for Katie, but a WIN for me!
We ordered another - gluten free version - for Katie.
Another wait and wait and wait.....
FINALLY.
Katie did eat/drink the entire thing.
So, I guess it was worth it.
One last photo before we left.
Ugh. Who let that guy in here?
Much better.
Off we go to catch our ride.
Boo.
This trip taught us many things.....
1) Middle school field trips can be crazy and chaotic and quite draining...but still fun in their own way. You just have to adjust.
2) Not everyone Park tours like our family.
3) Katie tried to eat food when she was on her own, but most likely just ate cotton candy.
3) Huzbend cannot take four continuous days of Disneyland crowds without vowing NEVER to return. So, next time we only stay two days.
5) There's really nothing like staying onsite.
4) Mikey likes churros.
5) I STILL love Disneyland.
