OK now for some more luxurious topics. Recently Erik and I went to CA for his cousin's wedding. And though we didn't plan on being at Disney well I'm sure you can guess what happened. Here's my recap of the experience.
So it all started while Erik and I were waiting for our plane to depart from Newark airport. Erik was teasing me that I found it torturous to be in CA and not go to
Disneyland. Off-handedly I said "well the wedding doesn't start until Sat evening we do have the rest of the day free."
Short tangent:
We were in CA for his cousin's wedding. There are three cousins getting married on that side of his family the first was Megan who got married in Dana Point this weekend. We have another wedding of his cousin Josh in June and then us in Dec.
OK back to the discussion on the plane. So I was saying that what really sucked is I've only been once (for one day) and I won't get to go back till next Feb (for like one and a half days over Valentine's weekend). The only reason I've been able to go at all is because Erik's company is head-quartered out in LA and he has to go out for business every Jan and Feb. However because of work schedules and how tight money is due to the new house and the wedding I've been a bit limited in my ability to join him and spend a lot of time in Disneyland. Anywho it was originally decided that we wouldn't go this year - because of the above reasons. It was decided that we would go next year - since Erik is scheduled to be out there on business over Valentines day and I refuse to spend our first married V-day - especially only 2 months into things - apart. Plus I had been hoping to make a trip to WDW and use our free AP's that weekend before Erik was told that it was the same week or so he had to be out in CA. So I knew I'd be going next year but as I told Erik I didn't want to wait a whole year to see the new Finding Nemo Submarine Ride . Plus I always love any chance to enjoy Disney right????
So we put the whole conversation aside until Sat when we could get a better idea of our schedule and what was possible. Disneyland is only about a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes away from Dana Point. Well Friday night after what felt like a LONG day traveling (we started out at 9AM Eastern and didn't stop until 11 PM Pacific) we were invited to go Whale watching on Sat. This is perhaps one of the few things that could even begin to entice me away from a Disney trip. Because really how often does one get to go out on the Pacific ocean or see Whales (one of my childhood loves) plus it would have given Erik a chance to spend more time with his family (something he doesn't get to do often). Well we decided to wait till Sat. morning. I was up at 6:30 Eastern time - got to love time zone changes. I checked the weather report which was iffy so I figured it was better not to be on the ocean that day it looked like it could be choppy if not rainy out there. Plus I just knew deep down that if I went out to Whale watch instead of Disney that I wouldn't see any whales. So it was off to Disney we went.
We left about 9am Pacific and decided to go park in Downtown Disney since I wanted to do some shopping on our way out of the parks.
So here's one of my favorite pics for the day
My dad is a huge Gene Autry fan and I of course love Disney so to find both in one shot was too cool!
So then it was onto the parks.
Here is the obligatory picture in front of the Mickey Flowers. It was so cool Tink's wand adds pixie dust every few moments and Mickey sparkles... I don't remember that from my last trip to WDW last May. But I thought it was just too cool.
Then we hopped on the Double Decker Bus to head down Mainstreet. I didn't get a pic of the bus but I did get a pic of the transportation I wanted to ride however it was full.
Also I got my first full glance of the Castle. During my only other trip the entire left side was covered with refurbishment tarps.
Then we stopped and grabbed fast passes for Buzz on our way to the Finding Nemo subs
We wanted to hit it early before the lines got too long. This was about 10am however the line was already listed at 75 minutes. So while we were waiting in line I took some pics.
Here's our boat
and I took pictures of the signs for almost every ride we went on just so I wouldn't forget!
Afterwards we headed back to Buzz for our ride - we both were level 3 but I'm starting to get better.
Then it was over to one of my favorite rides
It just never gets old for me!
Then it was lunch time so we headed over to Blue Bayou. We didn't have an ADR since we hadn't decided till that morning to go. Unfortunately they were booked full not just for lunch but through closing. Which didn't matter since we had to leave by 3 anyway. I fell in love with this restaurant after our last trip - but maybe next time we'll actually get to eat there!
While we were over in New Orleans Square I decided to at least get some pictures.
The place I'm sure we'd all love to stay - but this is probably the closest I'll ever get. Couldn't miss the photo-op though.
Then we hopped on the Jungle Cruise since it only had a 5 minute wait! Can't pass that up either.
My favorite scene!
Then it was off to Main Street for hot dogs. I can't for the life of me to remember the name of the restaurant - because my brain reverts to Casey's out of habit. But while expensive it was very yummy and hit the spot.
After that we headed to the Castle for some pics in Snow White's Grotto.
The first one is my favorite!
Next I went window shopping and bought a few sovieners from a cart. Including....my bridal mouse ears! Then I came home and read about how I overpaid, but that's OK because they made me super happy to wear in the park!
I also ended up buying a pair of Disneyland Resort mouse ears (you know the basic black ones) since I didn't have them from DL only WDW.
I don't have pics of those or Erik's groom ears because they're still in CA with him.
Later we went on Pinocchio - which was a first for me.
Oh and I did get a picture of Erik playing a bit
Plus I was so proud because he did wear his groom ears the rest of the time we were in the parks which is so unlike him!
After Pinocchio we went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - but I forgot to get a pic. It's one of Erik's favorites from when he was a child and since they don't have it in WDW anymore I make an effort to get on there when we're in DL.
Finally we went on Alice in Wonderland. Which broke while we were in line. This happened last year too and then we had to leave to make our ADR. So this time we decided to stick it out for like 20 minutes - at which point we had to leave the park or risk being late for the wedding which started at 5:30. Well after about 15 minutes it was up and running again and so many people had gotten out of line that we hardly had to wait at all. It was my first time riding it so I enjoyed it a lot.
Finally we hopped on the Monorail and head back to Downtown Disney.
During our last trip I had seen a cake topper I liked. It was the inexpensive ones for about 20$'s. So now that we were engaged I wanted to go take another look. Originally I planned on buying it but then I saw the Lenox one's in person and I knew I had to get one of those. Since I plan on keeping it to display in the house after the wedding I just couldn't resist the nicer quality of the Lenox. I haven't taken any pics yet. Maybe next week I'll try to add one.
So we ended up rushing back and getting to the hotel (where we were staying and the wedding was occuring) at about 4:50. We had to rush to get changed and get out there on time. And while it was cold - during the ceremony since it was off the ocean and windy - it was beautiful.
Here are a few wedding pics. I know it's not Disney but don't we all just love a wedding?
And here's one of the first dance
Well that's our crazy Disneyland trip. It was a good thing though. Because on Sunday (when I took the flight Erik insisted on booking for me even though I told him I could fly out Monday instead) I got stuck in LAX with plane delays after my shuttle driver got lost twice finding 2 of his stops and going to the wrong airport! So instead of getting home at 9:15 Eastern it was more like 12 when I landed and I still had over an hour to drive back to my house. Plus I had to go to work the next day since I hadn't already planned to take off like I would have if I had been able to take the flight plan I chose. Needless to say Erik will no longer be making my flight arrangements. I will do all of the booking even if he does all the paying!
Well hope you enjoyed my mini-trip report .... and now back to our regularly scheduled planning journal!