Merry Christmas!

At DCA on Christmas day, a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

view from Paradise Pier across Paradise Bay (looking at the giant light up Ferris Wheel) in Disney California Adventure. :)

- - - 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Nothing like an impromptu family trip to Disneyland! (That's the nice thing about some of us deciding to splurge and get the Top-of-the-Line Premium pass that lets us in any day of the week - no "blackout dates").

Sara called in the mid-afternoon and said that as their prior plans fell through, Jeremiah suggested that they travel up & go to Disneyland for the rest of the day...and they were letting us know in case we wanted to join them. Heck Yeah! :D

So around 5pm my folks and I headed over to the Park. Turns out they were just getting in line for Toy Story ride and we might be able to meet up with them in time. Jeremiah and Chloe were outside of the line (Sara & Keely waiting patiently in the line) so C could "explore" and get some of her wiggles out (since she'd soon be restricted in line again :).

As we spotted C & J, C was next to the railing of Paradise Bay, looking out over the water. I snuck up behind her and squatted down to be on her level. She turned around, and gave a squeal of delight! Then she spotted Grandpa & Nana - another squeal! Such a happy little 2 yr old! :)

We rejoined Sara in line and eventually made it to the ride itself. (If you've ever been on the Toy Story ride, you KNOW its a long line - but well worth it! :).


In line for Toy Story Ride :), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.



Another pic from in line at Toy Story (Lil Miss Active), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.



 I got to ride with Chloe and we sat facing her mommy, daddy, and lil' sister Keely.


Sara, Keely, & Jeremiah at Toy Story (Chloe is next to me), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.

Let me just say:  C *LOVED* the spinning of the carts. (She kinda got how to fire the toy guns - pull on the cord - so I helped her out, let her try it herself, and then helped her out firing again).


Chloe's Score & My Score. (Not bad for either when you consider I helped Chloe some of the time :), a photo by marcailgaelyn on Flickr.



After Toy Story, we grabbed some dinner in the nearby food court area. (Side Note: the Holiday Special - slice of Beef Pot Roast with Whipped Potatoes & sauteed Veggies...and gravy of course - was excellent! Kudos to the Disney Chef/kitchen staff! Only downside is that their unsweetened Tea somehow got sweetener in it, and it wasn't until I had them check in the back after receiving Sweetened Tea twice in my cup that they discovered that. At least I got to exchanged for a bottle of water, so I was good :).

After dinner, we headed over to the Bugs Life area where we went on a bunch of Chloe-sized rides. She LOVED them! :) By this time we were getting close to the Evening Fireworks time (they go off at 8:45p), so the Cornthwaites headed off to the Main Park to get a spot to view the Fireworks and the rest of us headed to our respective homes. (Fortunately we had just debarked from the Tram when the Firework Show started so we DID get to see a good portion of it standing in the Tram/Parking Structure area.)

What a wonderful end to our Christmas Day - impromptu family trip to Disneyland was a success!

And now, on to 26th of December (Boxing Day) - another day of Family! :)

anyone want to go to Disneyland?

Hi all!

So I've decided to join the Disney bandwagon and actually take advantage of the "Go to Disneyland Free on your Birthday" promotion, seeing as its my birthday in a couple of weeks.

:)

Anyone want to come with me (i.e. meet up with me there) for either part or all of the day?

I would definitely enjoy meandering around Disneyland (and waiting in the various ride lines) more if I'm hanging out with friends - new or old - than wandering the park by myself. (Done that before, and its boring not having a friend to hang out with while waiting in line :).

My birthday (9/18) is on a Friday this year, which means Yes, I'm taking the day off work.

Let me know if you want to meet up with me. Hope someone (or a few people) can come along with me! :)

Disneyland Fun

Ok, so I really meant to write up my recent (in April) trip to Disneyland, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Hopefully, I'll do it soon. (before I start forgetting details).

=)

In the meantime, here's a fun photo from my impromptu trip...Jenn Mulvey & I shooting it up in the Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters ride!

And this was my 2nd time on this ride (ever)! Not a bad score, if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately the picture from our *first* time through - earlier that afternoon - didn't come through due to a 'transmission error'. (Too bad!) But I'm glad we at least got this pic! And no, my score wasn't nearly as impressive that first time around. Jenn & I were a lot more matched on scores (both in the 40,000 range, if I recall correctly).

=)

Reminiscences about Disneyland trips

Disneyland Trips

Once upon a time I had an Annual Pass to Disneyland and would go with my friends for just a few hours. It was great! Ah, the benefits of living in SoCal! =) There was many a time during College that my friends and I would just head off to Disneyland for a few hours of ‘play’ time. And, as always, we brought along a deck of cards…just in case the line was REALLY long and boring and we’d attempt to play some kind of cards game while standing in line. Another fun (and entertaining for others as well) game we played was “King Frog”.
King Frog is a rhythm game in which the players sit/stand in a circle and beat out a rhythm by alternating clapping their hands together and hitting their hands on their knees/legs. While keeping the rhythm, the King Frog would state “One Frog”. Then the next person in line would then say “Two Eyes”, and each successive person (around the circle) would add on something else (“Four Legs”, and then “Ker Ploop”). Next time around, the King Frog would say “Two Frogs” and all the rest of the people would then have to increase their numbers (correctly) to account for 2 frogs. Side note: the number of ‘Ker-Ploops’ should equal the number of Frogs. If someone messes up, then they’re out. (And/Or, you can shift them to the end/last person in the circle).
Anyways it’s a fun game for kids (also good match practice for forgetful adults!) and it can be highly amusing to those around you…especially in line at Disneyland.
Also, my college friends & I (Gretchen, Heather, & Rebekah….and Erin too) had a tradition that on or for our 21st birthday we’d go to Disneyland and have a little ceremony for the birthday girl. The birthday girl was “Princess” for the day and had a crowning ceremony (I got a Pink Princess hat) which she then had to wear all around the Park for the remainder of the day. The Princess got to choose which of the rides we went on for the day, and the rest of the group formed an “Honor Guard” around her. When we walked anywhere in the park, we kept in ‘formation’ around the princess and attempted to not let anyone through t the Princess. (Sometimes futile, but we tried =) .

However, eventually the renewal price for the Annual Pass went above what I was willing to shell out (especially since the number of friends who also had a pass was declining rapidly) I let mine expire.

Since then, I’ve only been to Disneyland once and that was when my Company (Trico Realty) had their Christmas Party at Club 33 in Disneyland in 2005. That was quite fun and definitely a unique experience to be let into the exclusive dining area for members. (One of my bosses is a member). Once we were done dining at Club 33, we were allowed to stay in the Park and go on rides, etc. which I did. Only problem – I was all by myself so its not as fun to stand in line and go on rides when you’re by yourself. But hey, I was in Disneyland and I got on a few rides for free! =)

Which brings me to my newest trip to Disneyland. Since Dec 2005 I have not been to Disneyland…until last Monday! Out of the blue I received two free Park Hopper tickets to Disneyland through one of my bosses (the one that’s a member of Club 33). He had bought the tickets for someone, but they weren’t able to use it, so he asked if I would like them…and I of course said YES! Only thing was that due to the dates on the ticket (when valid) I would need to use them BEFORE my upcoming trip to England. Which means I had some planning to do to figure out how I could use them before I left!

Once I learned I had two free tickets, I immediately emailed my friend Jenn (Mulvey) who I knew loved to go to Disneyland as well (and also didn’t get to go as frequently as she’d like to). Obviously, her reaction was excitement as well, and she emailed me a list of dates that she had off from work to see if any of them might work out for a Disneyland trip.

So, Monday morning rolled around and I knew that Jenn had the day off. Work had been VERY slow lately for me (with lots of dead/nothing to due time). I got to work, saw that it was going to be another slow day, and called Jenn up out of the blue a bit after 8am and asked her if she wanted to go do Disneyland today? It took her about 2 seconds to process it and say “Yes!” And the rest was history! I told my work that I would take the rest of the day off (personal time) and would see them the next day (they were fine with that since it was SO slow and a lot of people were already out). I met up with Jenn Mulvey at her house just before 10am and we immediately took off (carpooled) to Disneyland.

I’ll post later with an actual “Travel-Log” account of the Day at Disneyland (with pictures!). It was QUITE a fun day!

-=-Becky