Disneyland Family Reunion *Updated 6/4* About This Page:

[CinderMomma]

Disneyland Family Reunion May 13 - May 15, 2007
Cast:
CinderMomma, Me (38 going on 7, Cinderella fan & Princess)
Great Prince of the Forest, DH (40 something, Bear at heart)
Kenai, DS (5, Mickey lover, Cars & Playhouse Disney Nut)
Koda, DS (3, Buzz & Woody’s #1 Fan)

Sleeping Beauty, Sis #1 (40 something, Tink Obsessed)
Captain Red Beard, BIL (late 30’s, Pirate Fan)
Littlest Mermaid, DD (4 mo., 1st Timer)

Belle, Sis #2 (30 something, the BDay Princess)

My sis, Sleeping Beauty, is a San Diego CA native. She & her DH have always been in love with Disneyland. She wore Mickey earrings for her wedding, they've had APs since I can remember, are stock holders, etc. Disneyland truly is the happiest place on earth for her & always has.

Our Littlest Mermaid of a niece was born the end of 2006. This was to be our 1st family trip to meet the little bug, my second. Of course, a visit at Disneyland was definitely in order, thinking our boys were starting to come of age to appreciate it finally. Once we began booking travel, my other sis, Belle, became green with envy at missing the 1st reactions to Mickey etc. So she soon was included in all the festivities. Family Reunion at Disneyland was in the works!

May 13, 2007....Our So Cali. Journey began early Sunday morning around 6 am. Our little alarm clock (Kenai) was still on central time zone & anxious for the day to start. “Can I go to Disneyland? Hey, hey….Can I go to Disneyland??”.

We sat the kids in front of Playhouse Disney TV with little plates of bagels & fresh strawberries, while we quickly got our Disneyland bags packed in the SUV & pounded multi-cups of espresso roast. I dressed us all in the yellow T Shirts, complete with iron on prints from Brother Bear. Kenai & Koda have their paws stretched out & wind blowing their fur on the faces, added the saying “Our Family Dreams…Coming True”. The kids looked sooo cute & kudos to DH for sporting his own Bro Bear Tee! He’s such a good guy!
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We then presented the boys with my homemade dog tags (shoe id tags laminated with their names & our cells). We talked with them about getting lost & showing their tags to CMs to find us quick. Then we hooked them on the back loops of their little Stride Rites & were loading up. Not before we christened the bow of our vessel with a new Mickey Antenna ball topper!

Cozy between my two little one’s massive car seats, just close enough to break up any fights or dry any tears of frustration….we were excited to be off & onto the 5 just a little after 9:30am! As we drove north to Anaheim, we listened to Disney Pop & Movie songs on CDs. Setting our own magic, we all sang along in our best Disney personality voices, laughing away.

We distracted the window views of Disneyland on our left as we continued north to Fullerton & the Disney Character Warehouse Outlet Store. Whew, they missed any of the obvious sights or give away! I was sent on another coffee run , while the gang DH, & kids settled into the shopping mode. Cars was playing on a TV in the back of the store with tiny chairs, perfect for a moment of preoccupation. We took turns zipping thru the store, while an adult watched the kids. I’d really wanted to find a Cinderella Tee, but they didn’t have anything in above a 2T! Oh, well…I got a cute Mickey & Minnie Tee, with retro graphics. Picked up 2 boys fleece jackets for the cool nights & 2 new banks to save for our next trip! I was disappointed they didn’t have any large adult sizes, for DH. Outlet didn’t get anything other than golf shirts in for the guys. DH is not a typical golf shirt wearing dude, he’s more of a Happy Gilmore style. YouTube - Happy Gilmore Recut

We then crammed back into the SUV, whined & squabbled a bit about what we should do about lunch, since it was getting late. The original plan was to eat bread bowls at PacificWharf, but it didn’t look like there would be time & didn’t want the kids to get off schedule or cranky from hunger. We got drive thru Jack In the Box & ate in the car, on the way to Disneyland hotel. Turned out we could’ve eaten a full course meal waiting in the car; the pull up to the hotel was absolute mayhem! Forgot, the Mother’s Day brunch was at the hotel!

Our suite was not ready for check in, so we dropped our bags with bell service & headed into the lobby. DH & I sang, Let’s All Go to the Lobby, from the old fashioned previews at drive in movies & released the boys from their car seats. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAtDLwFlfOc

Up Next: Disney Entrances.....

[Colexis Mom]

Great start More please

[CinderMomma]

Sunday, May 13th, 2007 cont'd.......
Disney entrances:
We were all elated to be at Disneyland! Koda & I headed to the bathroom of the Disneyland Hotel lobby…while DH & Kenai headed to explore the hotel. Low & behold….they met Pluto, just outside the banquet hall! Kenai was shy (a little freaked from his 1st character encounter) & wouldn’t touch him, but smiled.

We finished getting things together & started walking towards Downtown Disney, walking past the “Never _and Pool”. That made us chuckle that the L had dropped off, or maybe it was stolen by a pirate?

We headed straight into DCA after a check at security.
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First things first, we stopped by Guest Relations due to our many special circumstances, including, autism spectrum disorder, sensory integration, & multiple severe food allergies.

CMs were fantastic! They loved our shirts, didn’t want to see the documentations from our Drs & were very understanding of our situation. They were so well informed about dietary restrictions & autism. Our Kenai had the beginnings of an episode while waiting for us & they saw first hand how bad it could potentially get.

They didn’t hesitate to immediately give us an alternate entry GAC & many handouts on menus for celiac. They were great, & made the entire experience wonderful!

I’m writing Disney one HUGE thank you for the GAC, because it made our entire experience! We knew within our 1st trip to a ride line, this vacation wouldn’t have worked for our family without assistance. It could’ve been one huge, costly, nightmare of an event for all of us…that is unquestionable! Thank God, it was nothing short of Our Dreams Coming True, because of Disney details & outstanding customer service!!!!

Our first stop after eyeing Engineer Toys was Playhouse Disney!!! The kids were reading the signs from down the block & coming unglued, bouncing out of their strollers! They jumped & squealed at the window displays in the waiting area of Higgly Town Heroes & JoJo. We were able to get front row on the 3:15pm showing & I thought the kids were going to loose their marbles from excitement! This show is so great for any Playhouse Disney fan! They picked some of the best characters-when Bear in the Blue House first came out, our jaws dropped at his size!!
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The girl that is the main host at this show had to have had voice training-because her voice is identical to the announcer on TV!!! The show is completely interactive, with bubbles & streamers popping from the ceiling, lots of dancing & giggles! We loved it & it became an obsession the rest of the trip.
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Next up, we headed off to a Bug’s Land. On the way we passed GrizzlyPeak & a small waterfall. Koda started squealing about the water & wanted to jump into it. We then knew we had to divert all little eyes away from water attractions for the afternoon-because we were not prepared for changing into dry clothes or lugging wet shorts around. So, blocking all view of Dot’s PuddlePark, we went onto the inners of Bug's Land........

Up Next...Flik's, Caterpillars, Fleas & a Party??? ..........

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Great pictures too

[CinderMomma]

Sunday, May 13, 2007 DCA cont'd.....
It was time for our Littlest Mermaid to eat & change. The rest of our gang hung out under the shade in Bug's Land. We were off to Flik's Flyers. We climbed into our little Chinese Take Out Box & held on. Flik’s is so cute in the concept & art design, I just feel it may have been wasted on the shortness of the ride. Also, I was disappointed that the sides of the box were so tall that the only view our little one got was inside of a Chinese Take Out Box (minus the MooShu ). Poor baby, no view of Bug’s Land, all he got was a queasy stomach.

To make up for the loss of riding experience, we headed off to Heimlich’s Chew Chew. Even though the narration was corny & predictable, this was such a cute ride! Loved going into the watermelon & getting squirt with water. Then the animal cookie box with vanilla scent pumped in, just a sensory delight! We laughed at how many times Heimlich burped at the end & I said a parent’s little prayer that they wouldn’t remember that part to further reenact later! Prayer was answered, they didn’t remember that part! Yea!

Tuck & Roll’s Drive Em Buggies was drawing us into PT’s Flea Circus. At 34” our littlest was a tad small & had to just watch his brother & Daddy climb aboard. I thought my face was going to split in half from how wide I found myself smiling at my child’s delight on this ride!
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I was very happy that he was having fun & his dreams were all coming true. I almost cried between this & Playhouse Disney experiences. What a day! It wasn’t over yet though! We left Bug’s Land & started to line up on the far end of SunshinePlaza for the Block Party Bash.

Sensing a rumbling in our tummies, we peaked into the silver train & Baker’s Field Bakery. We were more than overwhelmed with the yummy smells & selections, but worried about Kenai’s allergies. We opted for a cinnamon roll & only after hearing the register drawer close, turned around with buyer’s remorse while spying Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream! Of course, Kenai also wouldn’t have been able to eat that ice cream-but….man o live, did it ever look good! Turns out the kids wouldn’t eat the cinnamon roll & we shared it while waiting on Block Party. The roll was okay, nothing wonderful in the taste arena-but enormous portions! Eating some stopped the rumbling in the tummy anyway.

Koda wanted to wear his Buzz costume & we quickly dressed him along the parade route. [/IMG]
Shortly, the Party began! The bouncing & music was a little zany, but fun for the kids. Celebrate is now Koda’s favorite song & he breaks out in chorus spontaneously, every time he gets happy, just hysterical. [/IMG]
The Green Army guy atop the float, made the parade comical at our end. He reminded me of a tame version of Will Ferrell or a lounge act gone wrong[/IMG]
He yelled out sarcastically to one guy “hey, you got the memo about the camo shorts! Way to go!”.
This made my sis & I crack up because all our guys were wearing camo shorts with their yellow shirts. Funny stuff!
Up Next....Engineer Toys, Check In DLR Hotel & Electrical Parade....

[Colexis Mom]

Another great upate Your DS looks so cute in his BL costume

[Chrissi]

Just getting caught up here...great TR! My DS has that exact same Buzz costume. Yours is adorable in it!

[DyanKJ130]

All caught up on your TR!! Looks like you're off to a great start. The looks on your boys' faces says it all!! Can't wait to hear more about your magical adventure!!!

[CinderMomma]

After the crowd thinned out, we headed out of SunshinePlaza to Engineer Toy Shop. As much as I wanted to run around the Toy Shop, I opted to sit it out with the Littlest Mermaid. She is such an adorable baby , she laughed real loud & hard at her crazy Aunt, of course no one was around to witness. We had a blast the two of us, cutting it up in our corner, as I shouted every once in awhile to Kenai or Koda to stay with Daddy.

Our best souvenir purchase of all was the Mr. Potato Head in a box. I brought two of our Potato Head bodies & extra shoes from home, had them at the hotel in our bags. We stuffed the all you can fit box with every Disney accessory we could, including pirate hat, parrot, boots, beard & earring ear. Even tiny Buzz Lightyear shoes & bottoms, Mr. Incredible bottom, arms & eyes!
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It was irresistible not to shout out to DH, don’t forget to get some Mickey feet or the Tink lantern, etc. We spared no extra space in that little box, even cramming accessories inside the shoes. This souvenir is the Disney deal, all for just $18! This is a toy we really play with in our home, as long as there are weird accessories, which now we have even more of! All the adults later fought over putting Potato Head together. It’s a great toy & it's once again all new to us!
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We then left DCA temporarily, to check into the Disneyland Hotel. Koi fish ponds were drained & presumably being refurbished, Fantasy Waters also. The playground behind the Cove Pool was closed & being reworked. The gardens were beautiful & every rose in the area seemed to be blooming especially for a scheduled wedding.

Captain Red Beard, BIL, already got us into our suite & we went straight to the Bonita towers. Plenty of elbow room for our crew in the 2 bedroom suite, even 3 bathrooms! We got the suite end with two queen beds, a pull out sofa & entertainment center with gorgeous etchings of the original park (which reading from my ‘PassPorter’, are the 1953 concept drawings that sold bankers on the whole Disney idea!)

Just love the details in this hotel, my son & I giggled when we sneezed…right above the little tissue dispenser hole is an etching of Sneezy!

We were on the upper floors & the balconies made the Mommy bear in me nervous as all get out. Each window in the suite has a sticker about not leaving the big windows open because birds like to come into the suites. So, automatic Mommy rule, shout out was “NO ONE even open a window or balcony”! Which later proved wise, because our littlest Koda sang Peter Pan’s “I Can Fly, I Can Fly….Out The Window” (The last part is his newer version.) Lol!
We ate pizza & lasagna in our suite, we’d picked up at Napolini in Downtown Disney. All of which was cold & not good.

We freshened up a little & I passed out the first installment of gifts….an entire tube of glow stick bracelets for everyone in our group! I’d picked these up in the bargain $1 bins at Michaels!

So we adorned ourselves with glowing oddity creations & headed off to DCA for the Electrical Parade. I wore my Cinderella crown decorated with blue glow sticks, I felt so princess like in a slightly salty way!

We grabbed some polished Disney concrete for our rears & waited for the magic! My Sis had read somewhere that “Disney steam cleans their sidewalks every night. EVERY NIGHT!” After reading that I really noticed the sidewalks & cleanliness, take a look sometime, it’s amazing.

Here comes the Electrical Parade Train with Mickey on top!
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All the mouths fell open it was so great! In fact, all the photos of parades, turns out I have a habit of literally leaving my mouth open in awe & delight of the spectacles! Funny Mommy. My favorite part of the Electrical Parade was when Dumbo winked right at me, yes, right at me! Then Cinderella waved at me-just me, no one else! Lol!
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With the spring hours of the parks, DCA was tactfully remindful of the fact you had to get the heck out of Dodge before the park closed for the night. So off we all MOOved towards our cattle gates, err, I mean the exit gates.

We were just behind the large California letters, when BOOM-the fireworks from Disneyland started. We’d hoped to watch these from the hotel, but the timing didn’t happen. They were fantastic, a completely Disney styled spectacular!

Our kids don’t do well with all of the sensory involvement of fireworks. We’d brought along marksmen ears & lots of things to help out. We didn’t need any of them!

They were still aglow from the Electrical Parade & entranced. It was a dream to watch their little faces so happy! This was a very rare moment & one I’ll always treasure!

The kids fell asleep on the way to our Disney suite in the sky & we slowly tucked them into bed, under the Sleeping Beauty’s Castle etchings on the headboards. We said a little prayer for their dreams to be happy & may tomorrow fulfill their every delight as well. Then we ordered a wake up call from Mickey for 6:30am & barely had our heads hit the pillows-we were asleep.

[Chrissi]

Another great update! I love your Tater Head!

You know, I bought those same tubes of glowstix at Michael's last summer and my son bit into one a few months ago. Thank goodness they're non-toxic, but very bitter. His mouth glowed blue for several hours. Glad you had no trouble with yours!

[Colexis Mom]

What great Mr. Potato Head parts you got I'm glad you were able to see the Electrical Parade too! Great pictures!

[CinderMomma]

I bought those same tubes of glowstix at Michael's last summer and my son bit into one a few months ago. Thank goodness they're non-toxic, but very bitter. His mouth glowed blue for several hours. Glad you had no trouble with yours!

Actually, we've bought these before also. We usually use them to go camping. Likewise, mine have bit into them-spit it out right away...ended up with blue glowing splatters all over the quilts! I think they've learned their lessons & didn't attempt this trip. Maybe they were just too distracted....

[DyanKJ130]

Nice update & photos!! your Pirate Potato Head!! Hurry back with more!

[bsblady01]

more please.

[CinderMomma]

Monday, May 14, 2007:

Zzzzzz…Brr-r-ring, ring (pause), ring…”huh?..Hmmm,” leaning over to the night table, I picked up the phone receiver, straining my most gravel toned unlady like voice..”Hell-o-o-o?” . A soft pleasant recording on the other end of the phone said “this is your courtesy wake up call”…”and now here’s a special song by____” I woke sharply to it & realized Mickey was due to come on the phone! I quickly shook Kenai awake & put his sleepy head to the receiver just in time. I could hear Mickey’s friendly mouse voice on the phone welcoming Kenai another day! His eyes grew bigger & a small smile spread over his angelic face. Yea, another day of magical dream filled memories awaited us!
We got our “team” family reunion T Shirts & Khaki shorts on. Shirt du Jour, you ask? Why purple of course! All the brighter to see you with in Disneyland crowds my dear!

Captain Red Beard did a quick grocery store run, off property, while we fed the baby & finished getting the crew together. We had bagels, fruit & mini chocolate doughnuts in our Disneyland Hotel Suite. Simply enough to get the day jump started in a carb-a-holic, diabetic shock, type of jolt! However, one minor, teensy problem here…NO COFFEE!!!!! Ahhhh! One downside to this nice big suite of ours is the fact that there was only one tiny 2 cup coffeepot. (Just ½ a shot to my normal morning routine these days. ) We had 3 huge strong coffee lovers in our crew-unless you want to stand around for an hour or so, huddled around waiting for your cup-simply unacceptable to the caffeine addicts. AND the coffeepot was located in the main sitting area, which Belle was snoring away in! Yikes! Knew I should’ve ordered room service!

Adrenalin folks, sheer… adrenalin, is what kept us going for the 8:00AM early admit into Fantasyland. (plus, a few yelps to Belle, to get her little behind in gear! ) We made it past the small crowd waiting at the main gate and were thrilled to see a little entrance marked to the far right for early admits. What a happy sound in the morning to hear the little Jiminy Cricket whistle as the CM swiped our passes ! I love the wonderful details in Disney everyday surroundings, just sets your heart to flutter in child like delight! Or was that my body’s reject to starting the day without coffee?

Taking in all the wonderful Main Street details, we saw Mickey in front of the Main Street Cinema! Very brief wait to meet him & sign autographs. Kenai & Koda did so well with the excitement of having met the “Big Cheese” himself. Not the slightest bit afraid of this giant mouse, just filled with all the love in the world for him! It was a joy to watch them both! [/IMG]

We were on cloud nine after meeting Mickey first thing & floated up to the castle. We turned to the right side of Sleeping Beauty’s abode to Snow White’s Grotto. I am very tickled that we took the time to visit this little enchanting area. Especially first thing, at early admit time, when we were the only family to be there! This will be another magical moment I hope to continue to cherish in my heart for years to come. I always sing the “wishing song” in a real high Snow White type voice & Koda usually echoes the "ahhh,ha,ha,haaa" part to me. Now they were able to lean into the well & hear Snow White themselves! We spent quite a bit of time here singing along with Snow White & her charming echo. It was darling![/IMG][/IMG]

We spent so much time slowly drinking in the awesome Disney ambience this morning, it was just shy of 9:00AM-our scheduled early admit into ToonTown! So we high tailed it from the castle to ToonTown gates. We flashed our early admit passes & were able to get past the crowd at the gate. As soon as we looked up, there was Goofy in front of the Post Office! Another excitement for Kenai & Koda! They were jumping & shouting when they saw him.
After posing with loveable Goofy & getting his autograph, we looked around the rest of ToonTown.

We did a brief run thru of Minnie’s house. No one was home at the house & no other visitors at our arrival either. We nebbed around a bit in Minnie’s fridge and looked at her “diet” cookies she had waiting for company, like us! I love Minnie’s kitchen, it’s a toss up between her’s & Rachael Ray’s colorful kitchen, that I just adore! What a bright cheerful cottage! Would’ve loved to have swapped decorating ideas with Ms. Mouse herself, but alas-another day will come. Minnie was busy getting ready for the Mayor’s show. [/IMG]

We tried to wait with the other early admitters outside of Daisy’s Diner for the Mayor’s Welcome. Managed to catch a small amount of the dancing and hub-bub, however the crowd was heavier than anything we’d experienced till that point (still very light crowd for Disneyland I’m told though).

I think the excitement of meeting 2 celebrities, the bright colors in ToonTown, noise, and etc was a bit much for our sensory defensive guys. They each had episodes of their own makings. I was sad to see the beginnings of problems for our dream vacation thus far , but reality is reality. Even though it was difficult to establish what exactly was starting to set them both on edge, we only remained briefly in ToonTown. It was probably for the best, because once the gates were opened to general admit, that little paradise of a corner became crazy ! One day, I’d like to go back to visit ToonTown & take in all the delights of details. Just not sure our little bears could handle it.

UP NEXT: Princess Shopping, kickin' it at the Village Haus, & Dream Squad Alert!!!