something new (1-6)

I have been telling myself that I need to completely use our season passes as we should...(in other words do not waste them)...I still am tickled pink to have them and count them as a luxury... it is so nice to have something to do whenever we want to...(well except or when we are blocked that is)... and part of that not wasting, I told myself, was that every single time we go, I am going to look for something that I have not seen before, or if I have seen it, did I understand it? so this time there were a couple of things" 1. I absolutely loved the Christmas decorations in Car's Land...the imagination and creativity of people amazes me... 2. in New Orlean's Square, there is a lizard statue by a trash can that was decorated cute... 3. the benches for people to sit on in Bug's Land, are supposed to look like popsicle sticks...so so so cute...

old Disney Favorites (posted from 2009)

Shayne's favorites attraction: hands down, it is Small World, even tho the song gets to me by the end of the ride, I love the dolls, and like to go there each time we are at Disney... restaurant: I love the Blue Bayou, with the Monti Cristo sandwiches, it is a little pricey but, I love the atmosphere, where it is dark and there are "fireflies" and you can watch the Pirate ride come by thru the restaurant... I also love the Plaza Inn for breakfast...they have the best buffett...the honey baked ham is to die for and the omeletes are the best (& I hate omeletes) but these ones are cooked to order and soooooo good...also a little pricey but, when you are sitting eating, a lot of the characters come by your table, so good for the kids land: Fantasy land ride: Pirates and every single ride in Fantasy land (love Snow White, Mr. Toad, Peter Pan and the Story Book Land thru the whale's mouth, so cute... show: It's Tough to be a Bug in Calif. Adventure... character: Pooh and Tigger...also love Snow White... new favorite show: hands down the new Tiana showboat "parade" I am hooked on the songs...love it so much...Zoe and Tim got on the showboat for one parade (on Zoe's BD) dessert: all of the different rice krispie treats favorite memory: #1.. how excited Sian was for the 1st time being there...seeing Disney for the 1st time thru the eyes of a 4 year old... #2..when Greg Tim Zoe and me went on the Raging Rapids ride in Calif Adventure...Zoe was a little nervous, so was I...standing in line, she asked what the defibrillator was for and we explained that it is used on people for when their hearts stop...so, we ride the ride and Zoe was so scared and when we got off, she said, "now I know why the defibrillator was at this ride...my heart almost stopped !!!" we laughed which she did not appreciate so much... #3..going thru the whale's mouth, Sian asked if we were ever coming out of the mouth??? how priceless??? #4..when we took Zoe to Ariel's Grotto, another pricey restaurant in Calif Adventure but, all of the princesses spend so much time at each table...the princes also come...Jasmine especially spent a lot of time with us, think she related to Zoe's brown hair and she loved Zoe's freckles... Timothy's favorites attraction: Main St movie theater, & the animation building ride: Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Journey to the Center of the Earth (in Tokyo) restaurant: Blue Bayou Land: Adventure land, Mysterious Island (Tokyo) Character: Goofy (classic) & Stitch (new) Show: Tough to be a Bug drink: Mint Julep dessert: chocolate brownie funnel cake (soooo good) the Princess Zoe's favorites ride: the Golden Zephyr (in Calif. Adventure) attraction: Small World food: chocolate brownie funnel cake drink: mint julep snack: Mickey Mouse pretzel show: Muppets land: Storybook Land (Fantasyland) restaurant: Plaza Inn for breakfast and the characters character: Alice in Wonderland best memory: Disneyland for her ninth birthday (this past November...) she got to meet Princess Tiana and Naveen...Tim helped her get a pass to go on the Tiana parade on the Riverboat...she said she had the best time... the Princess Sian's favorites (as dictated by a 5 year old !!!) ride: Dumbo attraction: Heimlich's Choo-choo Train show: Muppets and Tough to be a Bug land: Fantasyland character: (this one really surprised me, as Si is a tried and true princess fan) Mary Poppins??? food: hot dogs, macaroni & cheese @ Village Haus and the pizza @ Omm Mow Mow in Calif. Adventure (thinking she must have forgotten the breakfast at Plaza Inn, where it is all you can eat and she saw sooooo many characters that she was overwhelmed for a bit...)

Sunday 1-6 (part two) continued

so we slept pretty well in the hotel and did not want to get up...it was warm and cozy... but Disney has this new thing where pass holders can get into California Adventure one hour early on Saturdays and one hour early to Disneyland on Sundays...so that made it 7 am... we got there maybe a few minutes after 7 and let me say, it was so very nice...we got to go right on any ride we wanted...Tim and Zo headed to Fantasyland and hubby and me went to City Hall to get our disabled pass and then met up with Tim...he and Zoe went on Alice and hubby and I went on Peter Pan... next up? all of us went on Small World to make sure we got to see the Christmas decorations...I have said this many times, but this is my favorite ride anyway and it makes it all the more special with holiday decorations...nice ride... at the Princess Faire, there was noone waiting in line to see Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella...it was nice for Zoe to see them without rushing... then we headed over to New Orlean's Square, for Tim's has to have Mint Julep and they were still closed and Tim and Zo decide to try Thunder Mtn and got right on...hubby and I go on one of my other favorite's Pirates...(there is just something I love about the way Johnny Depp says, ("drink up me hardys, yo ho...") started getting a fair amount of people so we decide to try California Adventure and go straight to Car's Land for Zo to see the decorations and Tim and her get their hot chocolate and walk around waiting for our fast pass to Radiator Springs (now this is my 2nd favorite ride...) & we won the race this time...(I think this is only the 2nd time we have actually won Radiator Springs... lunch at Flo's diner...we love that place...Zo got mac and cheese, I got the mashed potatoes and turkey (the pasta salad is to die for) and hubby got roast beef with corn and cole slaw...Tim decided to walk around a little instead of eating... after lunch, decided to call it a day as we had been there for 5 hours and both parks were getting crowded... all in all a very good weekend...

dialouge for the previous pictures (Sat.)

we were not able to go to Disney during the holidays at all, with everyone being so sick with the flu and all and Tim said we had to go see the Christmas decorations before they were taken down and they were coming down on Sunday... Zoe's pass was blocked for Saturday so we left her with Grandpa for an hour or so, and Tim and I went first over to California Adventure to see Car's Land's decorations and they sure fit the bill...I was not disappointed in them at all...then at dusk every night, when they turn the outside lights on, they do it with pomp and circumstance and this was the first I had ever seen it...really a nice job...the Christmas decorations there were over the top and I loved them... Calif. Adventure had a good number of people there but was very doable...Tim got us a Sea Salt Caramel hot chocolate (I have not had a hot choc. in years...) and it was so yummy...we walked around Calif. for a bit and then headed over to Disneyland and right away were hit with tons and tons of people and they were already lining up for the evening parade...so we went to a few stores and tried to see Small World lit up, but the pressure of people got to be way too much for us and we left to meet Zoe and Grandpa for dinner...trying to get out of the park proved horrendous around the parade and they finally opened up backstage to let everyone who was not viewing the parade an access to leave...LOL Tim tried to take a picture of backstage and was reprimanded by a staff member... we met up with Zoe and Grandpa and went to Downtown Disney (which was nice at night) and stood in line forever at Earl of Sandwich to get dinner to take back to the hotel... even tho it was absolutely freezing outside, Zoe insisted on swimming in the pool, and I wore my heavy jacket and mittens...she did not stay all that long...LOL it was so nice to be able to watch the fireworks in the comfort of our hotel, where it was nice and warm...since the hotel had a microwave, I had bought popcorn but we had our sandwiches to eat... a very nice night (that I had not experienced in a long time...) TBC

the hotel at Disney

we needed time away from drama, frustration and overwhelmingness and guess where we went? we watched the weather reports and saw that it was supposed to rain all day Sunday...but do you think we let a small thing like weather get in our way? no way...we took of yesterday, set for Anaheim and stayed the night at the Desert Palm's hotel...a very nice hotel within walking distance of the parks...the last time we stayed there, they upgraded our room and were only too glad to upgrade once again...the first room they gave us, the previous people's stuff was still in the room incl a pizza...not like the time that hubby and I were on a road trip and the hotel gave us a key and when we opened the door, there were 2 people in bed (not asleep)...so they gave us a new room that was even better...it had a seperate "children's" room that was a step down from the main room...it had bunk beds and a nice tv that Zoe could watch from the top bunk...

 

the hotel had a frig and microwave which made it nice...Zoe had (HAD) to swim in the pool too and it was freezing...her pass for Saturday was blocked so we left her with Grandpa so Tim and I could check out all of the Christmas decorations as they are going to be taken down tonight...they were so beautiful...then we ate at Earl of Sandwich (of which I was disappointed in...) then we got to watch the fireworks from our hotel room...very nice night...

LOL...the last picture of me (notice I do not show pics of me when you can see my face?) was so nice, I could lay on the couch (which folded out) and watch fireworks from our room...

2013 a new year with Disney