Originally Posted By Kathi K The kids are out of school this week and my husband was off work so we took a little family trip to Disneyland. Of course, we never get there early like we hoped. The traffic on the 57 was horrible. Luckily I am married to a human Thomas Brothers so he knew side roads for us to take. We got a nice parking spot and walked right on the waiting tram. We were wondering if there would be any Christmas decorations on the tram route like there were for Halloween but there weren’t any. Took the kids over to the California letters to get what’s becoming a tradition, pictures in front of the A. You see, their first and middle names both start with A. Then went into Disneyland. The lines to get in weren’t too bad. My 13 year-old son had a plan for the day so mostly we took his lead and the first ride was Pirates. We did talk him into trying to get fastpasses for HM first, so sister and I waited for the guys while they went to get the fastpasses. I was trying to save my feet for the long day (more on that later). HM was not open so no fastpasses were obtained. Seems like that ride is having problems every time we are at DL. The line for Pirates was practically nonexistent, which was great. After we got off we made reservations for a somewhat late lunch at Café Orleans. Next we got on the train and took it over to Tomorrowland. Got fastpasses for Buzz, my favorite. All the others went on Space Mountain but I opted out this time. Their wait was about 45 min. Not bad. The kids wanted to do it again so they got fastpasses for later. Then it was time to do Buzz. When we went in the fastpass line there was a family of four with the Million Dream fastpasses ahead of us. They got them outside of Splash Mountain and were so happy to have them. I got one of my best scores on Buzz this time. I am having trouble getting my picture off the Internet, I hope it works eventually. Then it was over to Small World. Not a bad line either. About 15 minutes. It is so pretty when it is in holiday mode. Then we got back on the train to NO. When we got there the HM was open. Lots of discussion about getting in line or getting fastpasses but we ended up getting in line. We had just enough time to do it before our lunch reservation, about 45 minutes. Lunch was interesting. We have been trying to tell the kids how good the Monte Cristo is and so they both tried it. We also got the garlic fries. Good thing, the fries were gone in no time but the kids both thought the sandwich was too much. We need to learn our lesson and get them burgers in Tomorrowland (much cheaper) when they are with us. We need to save the good places for when we are there alone. After lunch we went in some shops and then planned to go over to CA. As we were walking by the bakery we decided to check out the special holiday items (I don’t know why, I was still stuffed from lunch). We ended up getting a brownie, shortbread cookie, gingerbread man, peppermint mocha and hot cider. People were starting to line up for the parade so we decided to get a spot. We were right on the curb and only had to wait a half hour for the parade to start. Got some nice pictures and the kids enjoyed watching also. Then off to CA. The fastpasses for Soarin had about a 7pm return time and we knew we wanted to be back in DL by then so we got in line again. So many lines this day for a Mom who said she would never do a line when fastpass was available. It took about 35 minutes, so not bad again. By then we were all starting to tire a bit so we decided to head back over to Disneyland, use the Space Mountain fastpasses, see Small World with the lights on and then head for home. That is pretty much what we did. While I was waiting for the kids to get off Space Mountain I realized that my feet hurt so bad because I had not taken any Ibuprofen that day. I usually need a bit just to get through a normal day. Dumb! I took a couple but everyone else had already decided that we were about done. We got on the train after seeing the lights at SW and headed for Main Street station. The evening parade was just about ending so my husband went to the locker to get the jackets and I went to World of Disney with the kids. Just a bit of looking around and we were in the car and on our way home by about 7:30pm. You know I wasn’t sure about spending the money for the APs for the kids but this is one thing we can all do as a family and everyone, the 16 year-old, 13 year-old and the grownups have a pretty good time. I will probably drag hubby back again in December and we’ll also go back again closer to Christmas with my 31 year-old, her husband and the baby granddaughter for her first trip. Can’t wait.
Originally Posted By Pollyana Nice report kathi..... and I agree. This is our first year with APs and we love it. Just the two of us now. Wish we would have done it sooner. 43 days and we will be there.
Originally Posted By 4Disnee What a great report it sounds like you have a really good time! Thanks for sharing!
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Thanks for sharing your fun with us kathi How nice it must be to live so close that you can go for a day and how lucky that your husband is a "human Thomas Brothers" so you can get there faster, LOL
