fantayzya
07-24-2003, 11:37 PM
Or...
Just When You Think You have Everything Covered
The Players
Me: 40 year old Mom. Been to California twice prior, DL once pre DCA
Daddio: 50 year old. Former California resident. Been to DL many times
Ben: Nearly 17 Been to California once before, DL once pre-DCA
Nate: 7 year old. Never been to California before.
The alarm was set and we hit the sack, proud that we had all bases covered and could just get up, load up and go. Yep, as they say, “The best laid plans…“ Fortunately Daddio woke up on his own. Despite setting the alarm, we completely forgot we always have the auto ’weekend off’ switched on so we never get a surprise alarm on our days off. It never would have rung that morning. Oops and whew!.
My brother, Dan had offered to drive us to the airport after he got home from work so we loaded up the Blazer and took off for his house. We had delivered Hercules and his belongings to Dan the day before, as he was also kind enough to dog sit for us, so we had to be careful not to freak poor Herc out by letting him see us. Delivery went smoothly, as did check-in, and we had plenty of time to hang out and enjoy some Cinnabons and coffee( thank goodness) before we went to the boarding area.
Our biggest goal on this trip was to try to leave work behind and actually get away from our world for a bit. Go figure we’d end up on the exact same flight plan as my service electrician from work and his family. Seems his wife stumbled on the same great airfare deal I had found so they opted to go west for the shut down too. Ahh well, if I had to be with someone from work, at least it was someone I can tolerate. Rich’s family seems very nice and it was a pleasure to meet his wife and two adorable little boys. His oldest son (about 4 years old) kept saying “You’re everywhere” each time we saw them. We had about an hour and a half at O’Hare in Chicago, just enough time for me to suck down a couple of espressos and get my caffeine level back up to normal without all the liquid to cause inconvenience on the long leg of our flight. It worked! (whew again)
Upon arrival in LA, we grabbed our bags, after about an hour wait, and made our way to National’s Emerald Aisle. We picked a Buick Century for our wheels, after finding this car a great option the last two times we rented. We were very happy with it this time as well, even with all four of us aboard rather than just Daddio and I. After navigating our way to Anaheim and driving a couple of times around the loop to get our bearings and figure out the best way to actually be able to get into the driveway to the hotel, we checked into Super 8 on Disneyland Drive, which is easy to spot but not so easy to actually make the turn into.
Because of Disneyland closing early that night for the Pirates premiere party, we opted for DCA . It made sense after all the hype we did for Naters, to start out with a bang, so our first stop was California Screamin’ . It was for all intents and purposes, Nate’s first ‘real’ coaster and he loved it…the first time. We got the picture to commemorate the event. It was a decent pic despite his looking a bit scared. Lines were short so we went right back on. Not the wisest move we’ve ever made. It was a bit much for our stomachs and this scared Nate. New plan of action was to hold off on the rides, walk it off a bit and get some dinner. We had a sandwich on the plane, but nothing really substantial all day. It was time. Wandered a bit and got a FastPass for Soarin’ over CA. Burgers sounded pretty good and fairly safe on our queasy tummies, so dinner was at Taste Pilot‘s Grill. Daddio and Nate just wanted a kid’s meal so Ben and I got the food while he and Nate got seats. It was a decent burger and we all had more than enough to eat. We really like what Disney does with condiments for burgers. We still favor Cosmic Ray’s and Pecos Bills, but this one was pretty good. Fresh lettuce and tomato, Bar-B-Q sauce and the basics too. I only wish they had included the mushrooms like at the MK.
It wasn‘t quite time for our Fast Passes so we wandered a bit more and checked things out. It was starting to get busy as Disneyland had closed and lines were stretching. Plus there were roller bladers all over the place that we had to dodge who were promoting a soft opening of the X-Treme Games show they were doing. While the bands had a certain appeal, Daddio and I agreed that they were a bit loud and might not be so appealing to older visitors to the park.
Finally it was time and we headed into the hanger. Soarin’ is amazing. I had read that the front row was the best so we asked politely and were granted those seats. Wowzers! Daddio kept me informed about what we were flying over and Nate kept saying ’Wow!’ Ben thought it was pretty cool too. The only thing I didn’t like about it was it was too short. The front row was great as there is now blockage from the other rows and no feet dangling in your line of sight, but you can see the edges of the screen a bit more than I would have liked. Next time, we’ll try a different view for comparison purposes.
Wandered a bit but lines were getting even longer as the crowd swelled. So, as we had by then had a very long day, we opted to go back to hotel and swim/hot tub.
We needed to collect more towels from the desk after finding out they had only left us 2, and requesting at least 5 each day, we hit the pool/tub. It felt so good. Our pool at home is out of commission this year due to it’s needing a liner replacement and we’ve all missed it, especially DaBoyz.
By then bed time wasn’t unreasonable even for CA, so we hit the sack. DaBoyz passed out almost immediately, but Daddio and I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. We finally konked out. BAM! POW! Around midnight we were shocked awake by what sounded like WWIII! We would have sworn there were car bombs and gunfire in the courtyard parking area at our hotel. Our windows were rattling and the whole building was shaking. Scared the bejeebers out of me and Daddio swore he flashed back to Vietnam. He opened the drapes and we saw fireworks. Incredibly close. In a sort of half awake semi-trance we stepped outside onto the sidewalk and watched the show. Here’s me in my Pjs and Daddio in his boxers. I’m sure we were a scary sight . Amazingly, DaBoyz never even moved. Needless to say, it was quite some time before we were able to settle down and get to sleep again. But what a great show.
Just When You Think You have Everything Covered
The Players
Me: 40 year old Mom. Been to California twice prior, DL once pre DCA
Daddio: 50 year old. Former California resident. Been to DL many times
Ben: Nearly 17 Been to California once before, DL once pre-DCA
Nate: 7 year old. Never been to California before.
The alarm was set and we hit the sack, proud that we had all bases covered and could just get up, load up and go. Yep, as they say, “The best laid plans…“ Fortunately Daddio woke up on his own. Despite setting the alarm, we completely forgot we always have the auto ’weekend off’ switched on so we never get a surprise alarm on our days off. It never would have rung that morning. Oops and whew!.
My brother, Dan had offered to drive us to the airport after he got home from work so we loaded up the Blazer and took off for his house. We had delivered Hercules and his belongings to Dan the day before, as he was also kind enough to dog sit for us, so we had to be careful not to freak poor Herc out by letting him see us. Delivery went smoothly, as did check-in, and we had plenty of time to hang out and enjoy some Cinnabons and coffee( thank goodness) before we went to the boarding area.
Our biggest goal on this trip was to try to leave work behind and actually get away from our world for a bit. Go figure we’d end up on the exact same flight plan as my service electrician from work and his family. Seems his wife stumbled on the same great airfare deal I had found so they opted to go west for the shut down too. Ahh well, if I had to be with someone from work, at least it was someone I can tolerate. Rich’s family seems very nice and it was a pleasure to meet his wife and two adorable little boys. His oldest son (about 4 years old) kept saying “You’re everywhere” each time we saw them. We had about an hour and a half at O’Hare in Chicago, just enough time for me to suck down a couple of espressos and get my caffeine level back up to normal without all the liquid to cause inconvenience on the long leg of our flight. It worked! (whew again)
Upon arrival in LA, we grabbed our bags, after about an hour wait, and made our way to National’s Emerald Aisle. We picked a Buick Century for our wheels, after finding this car a great option the last two times we rented. We were very happy with it this time as well, even with all four of us aboard rather than just Daddio and I. After navigating our way to Anaheim and driving a couple of times around the loop to get our bearings and figure out the best way to actually be able to get into the driveway to the hotel, we checked into Super 8 on Disneyland Drive, which is easy to spot but not so easy to actually make the turn into.
Because of Disneyland closing early that night for the Pirates premiere party, we opted for DCA . It made sense after all the hype we did for Naters, to start out with a bang, so our first stop was California Screamin’ . It was for all intents and purposes, Nate’s first ‘real’ coaster and he loved it…the first time. We got the picture to commemorate the event. It was a decent pic despite his looking a bit scared. Lines were short so we went right back on. Not the wisest move we’ve ever made. It was a bit much for our stomachs and this scared Nate. New plan of action was to hold off on the rides, walk it off a bit and get some dinner. We had a sandwich on the plane, but nothing really substantial all day. It was time. Wandered a bit and got a FastPass for Soarin’ over CA. Burgers sounded pretty good and fairly safe on our queasy tummies, so dinner was at Taste Pilot‘s Grill. Daddio and Nate just wanted a kid’s meal so Ben and I got the food while he and Nate got seats. It was a decent burger and we all had more than enough to eat. We really like what Disney does with condiments for burgers. We still favor Cosmic Ray’s and Pecos Bills, but this one was pretty good. Fresh lettuce and tomato, Bar-B-Q sauce and the basics too. I only wish they had included the mushrooms like at the MK.
It wasn‘t quite time for our Fast Passes so we wandered a bit more and checked things out. It was starting to get busy as Disneyland had closed and lines were stretching. Plus there were roller bladers all over the place that we had to dodge who were promoting a soft opening of the X-Treme Games show they were doing. While the bands had a certain appeal, Daddio and I agreed that they were a bit loud and might not be so appealing to older visitors to the park.
Finally it was time and we headed into the hanger. Soarin’ is amazing. I had read that the front row was the best so we asked politely and were granted those seats. Wowzers! Daddio kept me informed about what we were flying over and Nate kept saying ’Wow!’ Ben thought it was pretty cool too. The only thing I didn’t like about it was it was too short. The front row was great as there is now blockage from the other rows and no feet dangling in your line of sight, but you can see the edges of the screen a bit more than I would have liked. Next time, we’ll try a different view for comparison purposes.
Wandered a bit but lines were getting even longer as the crowd swelled. So, as we had by then had a very long day, we opted to go back to hotel and swim/hot tub.
We needed to collect more towels from the desk after finding out they had only left us 2, and requesting at least 5 each day, we hit the pool/tub. It felt so good. Our pool at home is out of commission this year due to it’s needing a liner replacement and we’ve all missed it, especially DaBoyz.
By then bed time wasn’t unreasonable even for CA, so we hit the sack. DaBoyz passed out almost immediately, but Daddio and I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep. We finally konked out. BAM! POW! Around midnight we were shocked awake by what sounded like WWIII! We would have sworn there were car bombs and gunfire in the courtyard parking area at our hotel. Our windows were rattling and the whole building was shaking. Scared the bejeebers out of me and Daddio swore he flashed back to Vietnam. He opened the drapes and we saw fireworks. Incredibly close. In a sort of half awake semi-trance we stepped outside onto the sidewalk and watched the show. Here’s me in my Pjs and Daddio in his boxers. I’m sure we were a scary sight . Amazingly, DaBoyz never even moved. Needless to say, it was quite some time before we were able to settle down and get to sleep again. But what a great show.