October 7-14 2011 WDW with DD6, my Mom, and my Hubby (his first visit finally!)

[RebeccaMcK]

Thanks, Kathy....yes, she didn't get to go on much but she wanted to be there for Kimberly's first time at DLand. She rode "It's a Small World" with us in a special wheelchair boat (didn't have to get out of her wheelchair). Saw the Christmas parade and had a good dinner, that was about it (Mom, Dad and Grandma left after dinner that trip, and then we younger ones "partied" by going on a few more rides before the fireworks started). But Grandma always enjoyed Disneyland....she is the one who is the "star" of that story in my old TGM trip report where her wig flew off her head during BTMRR and landed on the lap of the guy behind her (man, he was surprised). She said, "Thank YOU!" and swooped it back onto her head while my sister, her friend and I cracked up. That had to be some time in the '80s....I don't remember the exact year, but we kids were all very young. I was somewhere between ages 9 and 11.

My sister finally arrived in CA last night (took them 3 hours to get home from LAX - traffic was very bad) and she dropped her luggage at Mom and Dad's and went with them straight over to the nursing home to see Grandma, where she fell apart when she saw her. Grandma's breathing is labored, her hands have swollen up (Mom took her rings home last night), and it won't be long now. Mom hopes it doesn't happen today, since it's her and my dad's wedding anniversary (44 years), but it'll happen when it happens....we can't control when. I'll get there (CA) on Tuesday.

[RebeccaMcK]

I got the phone call this morning from my sister, who thankfully is with my mom at this time. Grandma passed away in her sleep early this morning (I don't know what time). They are with her now at the nursing home. Mom, understandably, is having a hard time. Dad is handling the details (memorial service plans for hopefully this Thursday at the church - the only day we knew ahead of time was available) and they had me phone my grandma's sister to give her the news. She told me she went to see her yesterday, so it's nice she saw her one more time. My prayers were answered, because I didn't want Grandma to hold on long enough to see me. We get there tomorrow. Today I'm doing the last of the laundry and will finish packing. We're supposed to get snow today but so far it's just cold and the sky is white with clouds.

RIP Edith May Harrison Smith, of Failsworth, Manchester, England. Thank you everyone for reading the past couple weeks.

[kbmoore]

Rebecca,

I am sorry that you didn't get there to see her, but thankful that she passed in peace. My prayers are with you and your mom and family.

God Bless.

[RebeccaMcK]

Thank you, Kathy.

[WileyCoyote]

Rebecca , so sorry to read your news. she is at peace now. God bless and watch over a gentle and gracious lady
thoughts for you and your family at this sad time xx

[RebeccaMcK]

Thank you, Amanda.

[jilly7896]

Sorry for your loss, Rebecca

[RebeccaMcK]

Thank you, Jill.

[jillyb]

Rebecca I'm so sorry for your loss. My prayers and thoughts for your family.

[RebeccaMcK]

Thank you, Jill. We are now in San Francisco Airport after a messy delayed morning in Colorado Springs. While they were de-icing our already late plane in COS, they broke something so we eventually ALL had to get off the plane and wait at a nearby gate for a new plane. Our connecting flight in SFO was also late but we didn't know and our suitcases may have made it to that flight but the United c/s agent didn't know for sure. So now we're waiting for a flight to LAX while our bags might wind up in Ontario (our original airport). lol We are to check the baggage claim area in Los Angeles first, and now we don't get to have In'n'Out Burger today since we're arriving closer to dinner time now and I'm sure Mom planned something even if it's just Round Table Pizza or El Pollo Loco from up the street. We'll have In'n'Out some other time while we're in CA. It's tradition. I had my sister get a head start on ordering the photos we'll need from my Shutterfly album for putting together the Grandma photos collage. Good thing since I'm getting there so late now. 4 pm-ish arrival means we'll be stuck in some L.A. traffic going back to Mom and Dad's, and first to Grandma's condo where we'll be staying. The memorial service is at 6 pm Thursday at the Anglican church where Hubby and I got married, and where I attended off and on since around 1985 before we moved to CO. Nice old church, technically in Hollywood. I think Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Mary Pickford were amongst its first members. Mom hired a bagpiper to play the recessional hymn, we'll have a few other hymns sung, and my sister will sing a couple solos (Memory from Cats and The Lord's Prayer). Apparently Memory was my grandma's fave song. So, I probably won't have much GOOD computer access over the next several days, not until there is some down time after the mass. I check email on my phone but don't often answer from there. Bye for now.

[RebeccaMcK]

Hi all. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I am writing from Hubby's laptop at my other grandma's house (the one in the northern CA area near Monterey) and I have a short report about a day at Disneyland - after the memorial service last Thursday night my mom told everyone to "go do something fun" the next day and not show up at her house for anything since they were all taking a day off from things. So, Friday morning I decided to go to Disneyland. Surprisingly, Kimberly at first did not want to go. Hubby didn't want to go but he was happy to have the condo to himself and come and go as he pleased (walking, with a spare entry key, since I had the car for the day in Anaheim). Eventually Kimberly decided she would go, and I called Disney Visa and had them put my 21.05 points onto my existing rewards card. I phoned my sister to see if she'd like to go, but no, she wanted to stay home and rest. So, we got a late start (no rope drop) but Kimberly and I left the Covina condo at 9:10 am and parked in the Toy Story Woody parking lot at 9:50. By 10 we were on the shuttle bus to Disneyland's entry. Here is a pic of Kimberly on the parking lot shuttle bus, wearing a "Happily Ever After" pin/button that a CM gave her before we boarded:

We went straight through Disneyland towards Tomorrowland with the intent of getting FPs for Space Mtn right away (remember Space Mtn wasn't operating either of the two days we were there in July, in this report thread).
The big tree at the start of Main Street USA, with Kimberly in front:

(I resized the first two photos but the rest will be full size - I'll resize them later on the photobucket site when I have more time. I still missed the step AGAIN to resize them before/while uploading.)

The following pic shows the Matterhorn in the background.

Upon entering Main Street we saw there were lots of characters near the tree and off to the sides with long lines of people to meet them (Goofy, Mickey, Gepetto, some others - some wore Christmas/holiday clothing). We got through a very crowded Tomorrowland, and at 10:28 am we pulled FPs for Space Mtn that would be good to use at 1:20 pm - and by 12:25 we'd be okay to pull new FPs. While near the castle hub on the way out I took some pictures of Kimberly near Sleeping Beauty's Castle, the entry ways to Frontierland and Adventureland, and the outside of what used to be Carnation Plaza (or whatever it was, a restaurant) that will soon re-open as Jolly Holiday Cafe:





While I was taking the above photo of the Jolly Holiday Cafe (opening soon) there were some Mary Poppins performers in front of the Castle but I didn't shoot their photo - Bert and Mary and some dancers were performing "Oh, It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary."

Actually, before we got near there we looked at the line to meet Tinkerbell (Disneyland has Pixie Hollow hidden near the Buzz Lightyear ride) and found out it was 45 minutes and she was in her fall/winter costume (which we'd already met her in, in Orlando in October). So then we left Main Street. As we walked toward the park exit, this time I remembered to take pictures of the Enchanted Windows (decorated windows...with animated movie scenes along the way - all my pics turned out okay except for one that showed the girl from "Hunchback of Notre Dame" dancing around near a goat). And at the farthest entry door to the Emporium store we went inside to look for sunglasses for Kimberly because the sun was hurting her eyes, she was squinting too much, and I had forgotten to bring her sunglasses from Colorado. The Minnie Mouse sunglasses cost $11.80 with tax and I used my Disney Rewards card to pay for it. More in the next post. (Edit: I will add the Enchanted Windows photos and the pics of Kimberly in her new sunglasses in the next post, in case there are already too many photos added here.)

[RebeccaMcK]

Here are the photos of the Enchanted Windows along Main Street (right side when you're exiting the park, starting about halfway down the street):
Ratatouille:

Pocahontas, I think:

Lion King:

Little Mermaid:


(Can't see all the pics too well when they're small on Photobucket so I'll stop saying what scene is what. If you've seen the animated films, you'll recognize the characters and scenes.)






And here is the pic of the "start here" window at the front end of Main Street:

Here are two pics of Kimberly wearing the Minnie sunglasses I bought her inside the Emporium shop (with tinted lenses closed and then open):


Here is another pic of the Main Street Christmas Tree, this time showing the top of it:


At 11 am we lined up in a very short line to meet White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (someone we haven't met before, although we met Alice at Epcot's UK in October). The kid in front of us had a glove-hand-topped pencil for him to sign his autograph with, and the rabbit pretended to pick his nose with it until we noticed. Then he put it to his mouth and Kimberly said, "Ew! He ate it!" Haha...the character guy/girl must have been bored, trying to entertain himself/herself.


At 11:12 we entered Disney's California Adventure (which opened at 10 am that day...Disneyland opened at 8 am). I took a pic of the new entry turnstiles. The big California letters that used to be in the middle of the area between the two parks are gone.

We looked at Grizzly River Rapids since we didn't ride it in July (a better climate to ride in, since you get wet, but with a much longer queue), and although it had a 10 minute line Kimberly didn't want to ride once I told her she'd get wet. So we ambled on towards Redwood Creek Challenge Trail to try and find Dug and Russell from the Up movie. Well, the CM there told us Dug would appear right there at the entrance guide map but he was running late. So we hung around there for a little while but Kimberly wanted to go "do stuff" and we left to do more of the challenge trail. I took a pic of her near the big tree.

And here is the Explorers' Map they give you to follow the challenge trail (you can get stamps, I think, at each spot, but we didn't bother with that or each step of the challenge):

We explored a bit and went on the shaky wood bridges but not the rope-net ones because I was afraid I'd drop things (I had my cell phone handy for if my friend texted me about where to meet her because she was there that day with her daughter whom Kimberly met in July when we went with my dad). Kimberly went on the little slide near the bear rock formations:

(Here are the two bear rock formations:)


....and after we went back to find out from another CM (and a photopass photographer) that Dug wasn't coming after all we went to the 12 noon Wilderness Explorer Camp show nearby in a little amphitheater area. A CM got all the kids to go volunteer to greet everyone with the "Adventure is out there!" motto and the "caw caw Grrr!" greeting/slogan (whatever - salute?). It was cute since they all marched out together in a line. Then they all got to sit down and the CM guide communicated with Russell via CB radio to guide him to our show (he had lost his GPS and his backup GPS, etc.). It was a cute, short show once he showed up. A couple of times a small puppet of Kevin the Bird popped up in a "window" on the stage but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a photo of him. Here are the pics I did get:



Then we all lined up to meet Russell. Kimberly and I were last in line but then we also got to spend the most time with him. He was very animated with her (haha). One of my pics is blurry because they were both jumping up and down while facing each other. (Oh, and the CM there really liked my Mickey watch from JCPenney.)



We left that area and headed up to the Little Mermaid ride - got into line at 12:15 and it only took 5 minutes to get onto the ride. I took photos of the main entrance mural area and one of the handicapped/wheelchair vehicles, and then I got some semi-good photos during the ride with my cell phone camera (no flash). To come in next post....
(ETA: correction - the Explorers' Map has scratch off parts for each challenge station, not stamps. And it looks like I didn't get a photo of the Mulan character scene off to the right of the Pocahontas scene in the Enchanted Windows. Oh well.)

[RebeccaMcK]

(continuing from last post - had to cut the old text and save it in a text file to re-insert later so I don't lose any of the report!) Here are the pics from the Little Mermaid Ride:




















Wow, I took a lot of pics on the ride - some of the above pics might be out of order because I took the "best of the best" from both times riding (we rode it again right after the first time, at 12:30 with just a slightly longer wait). The interior of the ride will be exactly what we get at WDW's Fantasyland when their version of the ride opens. While we were re-entering the line to ride again, we saw the Phineas & Ferb parade/party go by, getting to its spot for its holiday-themed show. We had seen it in July, the normal version (Kimberly had a great time dancing with Phineas and Ferb and their scout helpers). We went to Pacific Wharf Cafe in the "food court" area for lunch afterwards...the line wasn't too bad. Here is a "far away" pic of the food court area before we got there:

CarsLand is being built in the background - you can see the rock work from the Cadillac Range.
Here is a pic of the nice breads available for individual purchase (unless they were just for decoration):

We sat down at 1 pm easily at a table. Our lunch was $20.75, and I paid $9.25 with my rewards card and put the rest on Disney Visa. Kimberly had the mac'n'cheese toddler meal, which also came with milk and applesauce (this time she ate a bit of the applesauce). I gave her some of the bread from my yummy sourdough bread bowl (corn chowder, delicious). They give you the "lid" from the bread bowl so you can tear it up and butter it to eat separately (or dip it in the chowder, whichever). Here are pics of the food we got:


The box Kimberly's meal came in:


More in next post.

[RebeccaMcK]

They had vegetarian chili and clam chowder, too, but I opted for the corn chowder because it was corn in a chili bisque with bits of ham and chives (and cheese) in it. My drink was a Coke. Also got Disney's bbq potato chips, shared with Kimberly. A female Mariachi band was performing nearby, and when they came over to our end of the food court Kimberly wanted to dance to them - so she got up and told them she wanted to dance. They made a half circle around her and played a mariachi version of "It's a Small World" while she danced (I filmed a short video).


Let's see if the video clip posts here, too:


When we left there, we got into line at 1:35 pm for Mickey's Fun Wheel (the ferris wheel). Like in July, we again opted for the non-swinging gondola - which had a long line but not as long as the queue for the swinging gondolas. I filmed a short video clip of the swing gondola so you can see how they swing a bit as they come around for loading (this is mostly for you, AMANDA! hehe):

While the ride is in full motion they do swing all the way around their individual rails (boomerang shape, IMO). I thought the recorded announcer voice sounded like Robin Williams (doing his impression of a carnival ride announcer). At 2:05 we boarded. A couple from Rancho Cucamonga sat across from us, and when the woman saw all our Disney gear we were wearing (shirts, watch, jacket, hat) she said, "You look like the type to own Annual Passes." I answered, "No, but I'd have one if I still lived here." And we talked about Califonia...they asked me about Cars Land and what it's going to be like. I told them how it's Radiator Springs, with some rides (one really cool one like Test Track and the others will be more like kiddie rides), along Route 66 - and that's when the woman said she's from a city along Route 66: Rancho Cucamonga, which is where my friend lives - the one I was waiting for a text from, which came later. I took pics of the views from the ferris wheel. Cars Land is coming along nicely, set to open next summer. Pics:










One or more of the above photos shows Tower of Terror off in the distance AND even Big Thunder off to the left, beyond in Disneyland. (ETA: The two video clips here work - just click on their image and it'll redirect you to my photobucket site where each video will play. Also, that big building in the foreground in some of the view pics, with the blue roof, is the Little Mermaid ride building.)

[RebeccaMcK]

Here is one pic I think I forgot to post in the previous post - it's the view from the ferris wheel of the kiddie area off to the left...Goofy's Sky School (or whatever the kiddie coaster is called) and a hotel behind it from this vantage point which I think is Portofino but I am not positive - might be the Grand Californian...it is one of the two, I THINK. I don't think it's the Disneyland Hotel:

For the first time, we went past this area of Paradise Pier, knowing it would wrap around back to where we'd started near the Mermaid ride. In the kiddie ride area (not Bug's Land but a different area on other side of park). At 2:20 we got in line to ride Jumpin' Jellyfish (drop/parachute type ride but not fast or bad) since the Goofy kiddie coaster wasn't running. We waited seven minutes and then rode.



There was a nice quick service restaurant across the way that I'd never known about (Mediterranean food) that had restrooms that we used. Well, I used, because Kimberly swore she didn't have to go (this will come back to haunt us later....emphasis on the word HAUNT). The Green Army Men went by in their Jeep for their little show/parade as we came out.

On our way back to the front of Paradise Pier (Goofy's Sky School was closed and TSM had a long line so we didn't head that way at all) I took some scenic pics:




Got a pic of Tower of Terror as we were heading out of DCA:


We went back into Disneyland and saw parts of the Christmas Fantasy Parade coming down Main Street as we headed towards Space Mountain to use our FPs (the CMs keep you moving along, not stop to see the parade if you don't already have a spot). I did snap a pic though, just of Woody from Toy Story on his float:

My Rancho Cucamonga friend had texted by now to say she and her relatives (they had family visiting from Arizona with them) were watching the parade by IASW, but she didn't want to meet up with us until after the aunt and uncle left, which would be around 5 pm. So we got into the FP return line at Space at 3:06 and rode at 3:19 (I took a pic of the ride photo), avoiding a 55 minute standby queue.

[RebeccaMcK]

In that last pic of us on Space Mtn, Kimberly insisted that I keep my arm around her during the whole ride. However, after that she had a sore arm for the rest of the day - it's better to just trust the hand rails and hang on for dear life. The lap bar holds us well enough. I'll remind her next time she doesn't need me to unnecessarily bump into her during the ride. We won't ride this at Magic Kingdom any more - with its pod style seating (one behind another)...it's too bumpy and jerky. And Kimberly is afraid to ride alone in a pod even if I or Hubby are seated behind or in front of her. At Disneyland you sit two by two, as you can see in the photo - and it's a better, smoother ride.

We then walked over to BTMRR, through CROWDS of people, to pull FPs at 3:36 with a return time of 4:15 (not bad). We decided to hang out in that area, so we went up to the Big Thunder Ranch where Santa has his Reindeer Roundup. I took pics of the reindeer and the little donkey Pocahontas.



Saw Mrs. Claus nearby with a short wait and also Pluto in antlers, so we met both of them.




We still had time to kill so we headed over to Fantasyland just to look around. I showed Kimberly how the evil queen from Snow White appears in the window above the ride to everyone outside. That scared her, and every time we passed that area she turned to check on the queen. She opens the curtains every two or three minutes and scowls down at everyone (fake). I took two pics:

There she is...can you see her in the window up there?

We took the little walking tour through Sleeping Beauty's Castle. None of my pics in there turned out, so you'll just have to experience the tour yourself some time (I don't think it's as good as it used to be, before they "modernized" it with technology and lights....I liked it when it was more like Barbie dolls posed in movie scenes). Then we walked around and took more pics in Fantasyland (it's GORGEOUS at Disneyland - I have a lot of pics of it in my previous mini report contained here in THIS report from when we were there in July....but I have high hopes for the new stuff at Magic Kingdom to make their Fantasyland look nicer, too):
We didn't ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride but I took a pic of Kimberly in the ride vehicle model outside the ride:


Still can't get that sword out of the stone near the carousel.

Top of the Pinocchio ride exterior:

At 4:15 we headed back to BTMRR and it had broken down. So we lined up for Jungle Cruise at 4:20 and rode 12 minutes later. Kimberly sang "Man in the Mirror" while we were in line. The boat captain/driver was funny....the "backside of water" line was followed with "You know what water is backwards? O2H." At 4:40 we were done, and the weather had cooled off a lot so I put our jackets on us. More in next post.

[RebeccaMcK]

We then climbed up Tarzan's Treehouse, something Kimberly has never done. It was interesting, and I took photos. First, two pics of the exterior while "downstairs" and away from the attraction:


View from near the top, looking out towards New Orleans Square I think:

...and a view looking out towards another area:

Now of the scenes inside the Tree itself:




In the above photo, the "drawing" keeps appearing and disappearing sketch by sketch on the drawing tablet sheet.


We were done at 4:50 and so we went to check on BTMRR - still broken. Kimberly CRIED. A nearby adult saw her and said, "Yeah! WAAAH!" (faking a cry himself). I took a couple pics of the scenery nearby, to show the Riverboat while we decided what to do next (she didn't want to ride POTC).

The pic below shows Tom Sawyer Island (part of it), except now at Disneyland it's Pirates Lair, not TSI (still haven't been there to check out the changes - it is the scene set at night for Fantasmic, on the lagoon...in the pic you can also see the sailing ship Columbia off to the left. Kimberly didn't want to ride either ship.):


We went into the Golden Horseshoe to get an early dinner (Kimberly swore she wasn't hungry, but she wolfed down the Kid's Power Pack I got her). The next and final show of the day was to start at 5:30 (Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, whom I haven't seen in YEARS). I got chili in a breadbowl (it was good but not great) and a root beer, and the kid's power pack included a strawberry yogurt, a string cheese, a little bag of Goldfish crackers, apple slices and milk. That all cost $19.69, and I went back up to the counter later before the show started to get another root beer - this time a large for $3.76 and I didn't even drink all of it. Here are the food pics:


Billy Hill and the Hillbillies perform a music/comedy act that is HILARIOUS....the youngest of them (who is starting to look older but still has his dark hair) introduces each soloist as Billy Hill - and they all play fiddles or big basses (like cellos). They put a holiday twist on all the songs, mixed up with regular "hillbilly" songs. Kimberly was laughing so hard at some of the funny faces the main guy made I thought she'd fall off her chair. After he sang "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" he put in some fake buck teeth and looked hysterical. We enjoyed the show and it wasn't even too crowded. There are often lines to get inside and find seats but we must have got there at a good time - just walked right in and found off center seating on the ground floor halfway to the stage (there is seating upstairs, too, but for this show no one was up there). A couple pics of the show:


We then headed back over to BTMRR (not far away) to check its status, and it was back up and running but now Kimberly didn't want to ride because it was dark outside. She has never ridden it at night (which is fun to do). She refuses to ride. What?!? And yet she'll ride Space Mtn at any time of day and it's MOSTLY in the dark the whole time?!? Oh well. So I told her, "Well, you can ride Big Thunder now or we can go ride Haunted Mansion - which one?" She thought for a few seconds and answered, "Haunted Mansion." Wow, she has always refused to ride that one. So we went over there and got into the standby line at 6:10, thinking we would not be there for a 9:15 FP return (on hindsight, I should have just pulled FPS and done this later because we WERE there past 9 after all). I couldn't talk her into trying the Indiana Jones ride so we were running out of things to do, believe it or not - which is why I didn't think we'd be there another three hours. My friend's relatives had not left yet, so she was to text me later after they'd gone. In the meantime, my phone was losing battery power drastically. Hubby phoned while we were in the HM line, and I kept our conversation short because of the battery drainage. There are some funny names on the gravestones "decor" - I copied some down: G.I. Missyou, Ray N. Carnation, Dustin T. Dust, Theo Later. Well, at 7:30 (yes, 80 minutes after getting into the queue that was posted to be 65 minutes and we weren't even inside the house yet), Kimberly said she had to use the restroom. ACK!! She said, "I'll try to hold it." But a few minutes later, after seeing her bounce from foot to foot, I decided not to risk it and we left the line to go use a restroom I knew was in nearby New Orleans Square at the end of the row of shops near the train station. Then we went back to HM to see if we could pull FPs for later, and the CM said they were all gone. Kimberly burst into tears. The ONE time she finally wants to ride Haunted Mansion (and it was with the Nightmare Before Christmas holiday overlay, so it was very different from its usual version) and she can't ride. I didn't want to get into what was now an 80 minute standby line. Here is a dark pic of the outside when we were pretty close to the mansion earlier:

[RebeccaMcK]

So, I appeased her with It's a Small World. We headed over towards the ride and stopped to get a bag of cotton candy along the way (something she had been wanting all day). The CM at the cotton candy stand commented on my cap from Castaway Cay, saying his parents went on a Disney cruise and did we enjoy ours....I said, yes, definitely. Castaway Cay was the best stop along the cruise when we went in November 2009.

Before we got to IASW we passed near the front of the Castle all lit up so I could take a photo:

I LOVE that photo.

At 8:32 we were in line for IASW, with its holiday overlay theme. While in line, there was an announcement on all the speakers that the fireworks for that night were canceled. Heard a lot of groans from the crowds. Meanwhile, the outside of IASW darkened about every ten minutes and then lit up with the Memories show (photos mixed with occasional Christmas scenes/displays). It did that a few times while we were in line, while Kimberly happily ate most of her cotton candy, with my help.





(My photos during the "show" didn't turn out well so I just posted the ones of the regular exterior lighting, above.)

It was a fun ride and I took some pictures since it was done up for Christmas. Those will come in the next post.

[RebeccaMcK]

Pics from inside the lovely Holiday version of IASW (even if you HATE this ride, try this version once - it's worth checking out for all the stuff they change/add during the Christmas season):




Cinderella in France:

The Three Caballeros in Mexico:

The Little Mermaid in an "ocean" themed scene:

Lilo and Stitch in a Polynesian themed scene:



Woody and Jessie (and Bullseye) in a Western-themed scene:







I may have shown other Disney characters inserted into the ride before, in their country's scenes, but I didn't take pics of them all this time. They have Pinocchio in Germany, Mulan and Mushu in China, Aladdin and Jasmine in Morocco/Arabia(?), and maybe some others I'm forgetting at the moment. I might have shown their photos amongst the July report pics or else in my old TR on TGM.

After we exited the ride (note that as you leave, head to the left if you don't want to exit through a souvenir/toy shop on the right - most people go straight through it), we went over to the train station near the closed ToonTown (just closed for the night) and rode the train at 8:45 over a couple of stops to Main Street. Along the way the train went through the old Grand Canyon and Dinosaur scenes and I had just two cell phone photos that turned out okay:


No flash photography or lights are allowed on the train ride. After getting off the train at Main Street near the front of the park, we headed to the parking lot buses and then were back home at the Covina condo by 10:05 pm (Grandma's condo will soon be rented out to nearby college students after Mom gets the place fixed up a bit). Had a great time minus a couple setbacks....too bad we didn't get to ride BTMRR and HM. But later I brought up a couple YouTube videos on my phone to show Kimberly of both versions of Haunted Mansion, so now she has seen what the ride is like during the holidays and during the "regular" season. Maybe she'll get to ride it next time!

[RebeccaMcK]

Now we are home in Colorado, obviously, and I wanted to add a photo or three of the new Sleeping Beauty Castle toy set I got Kimberly (from Santa). Among her other toys Christmas morning were play figures from Winnie The Pooh (plastic), a little stuffed Bolt dog, a rocking plush horse with a Cowgirl Jessie outfit - and I took pics of all of those:
ChristmasSantaGifts.jpg
ChristmasSantaGifts2.jpg
ChristmasSantaGifts3.jpg
ChristmasCastleInterior.jpg
ChristmasCastleInterior2.jpg
Looks like that is all that will attach here so I'll put the other JPG files in the next post.

[RebeccaMcK]

More pics of the toys from Christmas morning (a plush Perry the Platypus was included, as you can see in the above pics):
ChristmasCastleInterior3.jpg
CowgirlJessie3.jpg
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Mom is doing okay considering all that has gone on - she had one breakdown on Christmas Day while getting dinner ready, insisting everything stay "normal" and then freaking out when two of us said we didn't want potatoes....but she needed a good cry anyway, and my sister and I were there to let her know it was okay to cry. My sister's boyfriend Rich flew out the day after Christmas so he could be there for Jenn, and on the Friday we drove back south from Monterey Jenn took Rich and a couple friends to Disneyland (he had been just once before, as a young child). Actually, the couple friends treated Jenn and Rich to a rental car and their day at Disney. These friends have Annual Passes and drove up from San Diego to spend time with Jenn and Rich. Everyone is back home now...Jenn and Rich headed back to Houston the day after the burial. Hubby got home on New Year's Eve, picked up Peanut our dog from the kennel on January 2nd (they were closed on the 1st), and Kimberly and I got home this past Friday night, the 6th.

Now since my earlier post today disappeared as I moved photos and text around, I'll post a shorter version of it here:
For anyone who is still reading along, I have started adding photos to the Disneyland posts, starting at post #336. So you can go back and read the "old" posts with the photos now added. I finished adding the rest of the pics just a few minutes ago. Enjoy! I did lots of edits to the previous text too, lol.

[RebeccaMcK]

I know, I know....my trip report is DONE and has been for a while. I should have nothing more to share. But I got something in today's mail that I thought would be fun to show you, my readers. My parents have been cleaning out my grandma's condo (preparing to rent it out) and they've come across things that belonged to my uncle (who died in 1990 at age 34....my mother's only sibling, and my DD Kimberly is named after him - Kimberly was his middle name). My grandma kept most of his things after he passed, and now we're going through HIS things as well as Grandma's.....but anyway, my uncle worked in Hollywood and did some wardrobe work for some Disney tv specials (they were doing tv movies at the time, like a sequel to Splash, and some other things that aired now and then). Disney even knew my uncle was sick (even before we did) and wouldn't be able to work much longer, and they promised him he'd have a job with them as long as he was able to work. He wasn't a costume designer, just usually part of the costume department, and he enjoyed working for Disney (he also did TV work in England, Canada, and then once he came back to the U.S. for good he mostly worked with Bob Hope and SuperDave Osborne - I have autographed photos from when he worked with Donny & Marie Osmond and others in the 70s and 80s). In February 1988 (the year I graduated from high school) he was flown out to Orlando to do whatever it was they had him doing (I used to have his old MGM Studios sweatshirt) - he stayed at the Poly (I've asked Dad to find the old maps and stuff I found in a drawer at the condo, they were my uncle's....maps of Epcot, Magic Kingdom and the Poly). Apparently the airplane he flew on used to be Walt Disney's own private plane (The "Mouse" or "The Mickey Mouse" 234 MM) and he was presented with a photo and a certificate of authentication signed by the pilot. So my dad, knowing I love all things Disney, mailed the certificate to me along with the plane photo, and here is a photo of those two items for you to admire and enjoy (lol):

UncleFlight.jpg

[pfalcioni]

That is awesome! What a wonderful find.

[jillyb]

That is very cool!!!

[RebeccaMcK]

Thanks, Pam and Jill!