Hot July Trip

The cast for this trip was Me and Rod (64 and 65) Carissa and Kevin (44 and 50) Maile and Poa (18) William (16) Connor (11). Pao was a Disneyland virgin.This trip was on a shoestring for our daughter’s family so we were doing all we could to save them money. This started with us leaving our camping spot with the RV at 4AM to be sure to pick them up at their hotel at 7. This was so we could all go in together a save them $20 as I have a PAP. This meant we had to take them back in the evening and they were determined to close the park. Then they wanted us to pick them up at 7 the next morning. (Thankfully we came up with a better plan. They came by the RV park each day and we all drove in in their car.)

Let me say that I was willing to pick them up early that first day as I was not about to miss Pao going through the gates his very first time. (Apparently, his family had brought him up to believe that Disneyland was a bad place where children go missing?!?) He had said before that he did not want to go but by the time the trip arrived he was very excited.

Our first stop was Indy for FP’s then Pirates. As we were standing in line Pao announced that it was so great we had to do it again. We had not been on the attraction yet!! Next up was Haunted Mansion. He did the same thing in the stretching room. “We have to do 5 times!” Needless to say, all of us veterans were hysterical. We did the Jungle Cruise and yes, he laughed a lot. Then it was time for Indy. (I would have waited on this attraction because it makes all others tend to pale by comparison. I was out voted.)
Crowds were pretty heavy and the heat and humidity were wearing on us. The mornings went pretty well and we always covered a lot of ground. We took afternoon breaks and swam and cooled off. We took full advantage of free FP’s as we wonder how long they will remain available. Pao was the obvious star of the show. The line was really long at City Hall so we had not gotten him a 1st Visit badge. (I did not know most cashiers have them behind the counter.) We had one in our RV from some distant trip so we gave him that. Well, cast members kept asking where he got it as it is not the same as the ones they give now. We finally got him a knew one and so did my daughter. He insisted on wearing all three of them. This is out of context but when we were shopping we got to talking to the cashier about him and his lack of a button. Before I could tell her we had gotten one she ran and got one. I did not have the heart to tell her since she was being so sweet so he ended up with four.

Every time we would do an attraction it was the best. He loved Screamin’ and was apoplectic over the new Tower. We did Frozen and as he and Will and Maile are all in performing arts together; they all loved that. The boys had balked and then afterward said, “Well, if you had told us it was Broadway!” I had! But you all know how well teenagers listen.

The next exciting thing up was Minnie and Friends. All the teenagers were excited with the idea of all you can eat. It was very good with lots of character interaction. Unfortunately, a damper was put on the fun when Poa discovered he had lost his wallet. Luckily, it was toward the end of the meal. Even more fortunately, it had been found on Space Mountain. They got it at City Hall with all money and cards still in it. The biggest hassle was how long it took before they were satisfied that it was his wallet. We were not complaining though since he had no proof.

We had a great time on the Sunwheel of Death. I love it, Rod hates it, Pao and Will loved it. Maile did not like it (she loved it when she was 5.) But poor Connor just hung on when we started swinging and let out these small whimpers. He swears he will never ride it again. But he loved Screamin’ and Space and BTMRR. Go figure.

This is out of context but I have not had much time to type lately. Connor was so excited to be able to drive an Autopia car alone for the first time. I still love Autopia, especially when we go offroad. But I am starting to have a hard time getting in and out of those low cars!!

On our next to the last day we were determined to see the Main Street Electrical Parade. My daughter and Kevin tried to save seats on the sidewalk too early and were told to move. Luck was on our side and as they walked down the street they found two empty benches. Closer to parade time they were moved up to the sidewalk so we got some dinner and just stayed there. The parade was great. My daughter had not see it on Main Street since she was about 5. We were in a pretty good, though not perfect, spot for the fireworks as well. After that we worked our way over to Splash Mountain. Even though I had a poncho my left leg got soaked. I was saying that I was going to have to leave when we realized it was nearly midnight anyway.
The last day was busy of course. We did not go in at opening as we all needed a little more sleep. We ended up having breakfast at Rancho which was quite yummy. We had sent the kids ahead to get FP’s for F! We were able to get them for the 9:00 show. We did a few Disneyland things and then headed to DCA. My daughter had decided that she would ride Tower so we all got FP’s for that and then did Heimlech. By this time Pao did not trust us at all cuz we kept telling him that kiddie rides were really scary and fast. After Tower we went back to our RV and caught a nap and had lunch.

We hit Disneyland with a vengeance for our last evening. We did everything that had a line less than 30 minutes. We got in line for Fantasmic! early and were glad we did. The area filled up fast and we got very good seats(?) Sadly the fireworks were cancelled (thank goodness we had seen them the night before) but they gave us a short water screens show that we enjoyed.

We headed to Fantasyland to get in after the last parade. As we were waiting at the rope; we were told that Peter Pan was down “We know that is where most of you are heading, please do not line up there.” We headed to Mr. Toad and as soon as we got out they opened Peter. The line was crazy as there was no CM managing it. It still only took us about 15 minutes. When we came out we had time for one more thing. We headed toward either Story Book Boats or Alice. Maile and Pao had not been on the Tea Cups yet so we ended up doing that. It was fast and I said, “Decide, Alice or Boats, we have to get in line NOW!”

We chose Alice and when we were two cars away from getting on; it broke down. It was 11:58. We had to leave the queue in an orderly manner but I said, “Head to the boats as fast as you can!!” We made it 30 seconds before the announcement that Disneyland had ended its operating day. That did not break down and we got a really nice last ride of the night and end to our wonderful vacation.

The “fun” was not quite over yet though. We headed out and toward the shuttles. At this time of night we are used to having shuttles running hot and heavy. All of the shuttle waiting areas were packed. We saw a shuttle take off and waited. And waited and waited and waited. It was a good 15 minutes and no more shuttles showed up. Many people were leaving. We were so exhausted but finally decided to walk to the parking lot. We all made it okay. My daughter was about to give up. But we all got there and kind of fell into the car. The ironic thing is that if Rod and I had gone out the other way, towards Harbor and walked back to the RV Park; it would probably have been easier for us.

 

Carissa and Rod being photo bombed by Kevin and Connor


Dale checking out Pao's multiple 1st Visit buttons


Rafiki grooming Will.


Rafiki cleaning Connor's ears!!


We got penguins!!


Connor's first solo.


We filled the back two rows on the left.