Originally Posted By goodgirl Sunday, December 3, 2006 The Cast of Characters: Me Diana, Casey & Caleb (my niece, her husband and their 5 month old) SuzieQ, my roommate Lisann22 and Sis, in the connecting room PixieGlitter and IceKnyght, somewhere in the hotel Kar2oonman, Readingmom, 2oonlet1 and 2oonlet2 DisneyChica and JustDuckee All of the above but me had arrived on Friday or Saturday. I had a morning flight out of Portland and arrived at the John Wayne Airport around 10:20. Diana and Casey drove up from San Diego to spend the day. Their timing at picking me up at the airport was perfect. I got to meet my grand-nephew Caleb for the first time. Soooo adorable. We headed to the Best Western Park Place Inn where I quickly checked in, had them hold my bags, and got a parking pass for their car. We walked across Harbor and headed to Disneyland! The day was gorgeous. Very warm; no jacket needed. I made mental notes of everything we did so that I could later journal and scrapbook this first trip to Disneyland with Caleb. After passing through the entrance, we entered through the left tunnel. My last trip had been in June, so this was the first I’d seen the Park without all the 50th decorations. Instead, it was Christmas. We reached the Castle and took several photos in front of it. We even had one of the professional photographers take a photo which turned out to be great—no other people in it!—and Diana purchased a copy for me. We passed through the Castle and headed toward it’s a small world where we met up with everyone else. This was Caleb’s first attraction. He seemed very intrigued with the colors and movement and music. We stopped at Carnation Plaza for lunch. (I had the Cobb Salad.) After that we headed to Pirates. This was the first I’d been on it since the improvements. I like them! Caleb chose to sleep through this attraction. We then headed over to the Golden Horseshoe for the Billy Hill Show, one of our group’s favorite things to do. Friendofdd and Poohbear14 joined us! At one point Caleb took notice of friendofdd and broke into joyful smiles. Too cute. He enjoyed the Billy Hill Show too. Our group then went our separate ways. Diana, Casey, Caleb and I went over to Santa’s Reindeer Roundup. I got a cute photo of them in the sleigh. We thought we would go to Toontown and see if we could get a photo of Caleb with Mickey Mouse. However, we got diverted onto the wrong side of where we wanted to be, due to parade control. So we found a spot and watched the last couple minutes of the parade. After that we headed to Toontown, but alas, Mickey was not home so we headed to Main Street, looking for a hat and shirt for Caleb. I was disappointed. For every 25 “baby girl†items Disney sells, they only sell one “baby boy†clothing item. I did find a little t-shirt and Diana found one too. We headed over to the Grand Californian to sit outside behind the fireplace. Okay, here is where I have to state how disappointed I am in the staff at the Hearthstone. Casey and I went into the bar and found a CM at the service counter. I politely said: “We are sitting outdoors and were wondering if we could get an appetizer menu and order some drinks.†The CM glared at me and said “We don’t put our menus out there because they would blow away.†“Yes, I realize that. Do you have an extra one here that we could look at?†She said, “I told you we don’t put them outside, they’re at all the tables in here.†Okay, I looked around and every table was full. Did she expect me to go up to an occupied table and ask to borrow their menu? Well, luckily Casey saw someone leaving and was able to snag one. Best to move on to our second request. Very politely I asked, “Do we place our drink order with you?†She stiffened up, gave me a look of horror and said, “No! We don’t take drink orders here. You’ll have to go find the bartender.†Now, honestly, I was really surprised at how rude she was. There could have been a politer way to deter me to the bartender. Oh well. So Casey and I found a space at the bar and waited. And waited. And waited. A CM then came forward with some supplies. She started filling containers with orange juice and pineapple juice. She would look up and stare at me. Would it hurt to just smile and say “Someone will be with you in a moment.†Nope. Finally the bartender comes up. And once again, I politely say, “We’d like to place a drink order.†“I have to clean up the bar first,†he states, and begins wiping down the counter. Okay. Then he asks the gentlemen sitting next to me if he can get him anything. The guy wants some of those snack things they provide so the bartender goes and gets him some. Finally, he directs his attention to me. I place our drink order. The total comes to $18.09. Casey gives him a $20 bill. He goes to the cash register, rings up the total, removes the $1.01 change, takes it over and puts it in the their tip jar. Wow! I was really surprised. First, if we had been provided “friendly†service and he’d laid down our change I would have added $3 to it. Given the impersonal, unfriendly and—to me—rude service we received I would have added just $1. However, we weren’t even given the option. And while the place was full, it didn’t seem that busy. We took our drinks and headed back to the fireplace. In short order, everyone else started arriving: Lisann22, Sis, SuzieQ, IceKnyght, PixieGlitter, JustDuckee, DisneyChica and the 2oon Family. We had a fun time with several in our party imbibing many, many alcoholic beverages, including yours truly. Diana and Casey had to depart for San Diego so we said good-bye. They, by the way had Caleb photographed with Santa earlier and got their photo—it was adorable, of course. Pretty soon, we all decided to head back to the hotel—Best Western Park Place Inn. Along the way 2oonlet1 took SuzieQ hostage in the Sephora store, hunting down the perfect eye shadow. As we exited Disneyland onto the Esplanade, Kar2oonman announced that it was time to ride Secret Space Mountain. As I reflect on this in a sober state of mind, I have no idea what made this “Secret†but at the time, still reeling from my Hearthstone libations, it made sense. So off we went to ride Secret Space Mountain. After that we headed to the motel. I have vague memories of partying some more in someone’s room but eventually made it back to my own bed for a great night’s sleep.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ Great report! I don't do the girly thing very often, but I adore 2oonlet1. She didn't have to kidnap me at all. We had fun in Sephora! For once, the smells in the place didn't overwhelm me. The hysterical part was getting back to the hotel rooms where we were supposed to meet everyone else and finding no one home. We played girly-girl some more while we waited OMG - Caleb's face when he noticed friendofdd's was priceless! Does he know a Grandpa or what?! Those smiles!!
Originally Posted By goodgirl This is a family site PixieGlitter. I can't reveal everything you did or it might violate community standards. ;-)
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Customer Service was an issue on this trip for sure. Sad to report that about our beloved DL. ;< Great report!
Originally Posted By dlkozy WOW-the poor service! You are much nicer than I am though, if someone had just assumed that they were getting a tip from me and had just put my change in the tip jar-I think that I would have them DIG it out and give it back to me! :0)
Originally Posted By wendebird I'm so sorry about the bad service as well. It sounds almost as bad as the CM's in WDW. Talk about a grumpy bunch of people there. Great report, I'm off to read some more!
Originally Posted By chickendumpling I am just enjoying this little vicarious journey so much, goodgirl. First the photos, now Billy Hill, and fodd and Caleb bonding like that (awwwwww!)and “Secret†Space Mountain. Too fun! I am shocked by the not just poor but rude service you got at GCH. I’m glad you guys didn’t let it ruin your good time!
