The Wettest, Merriest, and Happiest Birthday/First Visit Nov/Dec 2012 TR! 2/13 FINAL!

[407-W-DISNEY]

Thank you for the TR! You really do a great job telling us about your trip!

I have to admit I laughed out loud of the picture of Matt being in Zombie mode at the airport!! I'm STILL laughing!! sorry Matt - no offense!!

That is so cool about the golden tickets...some day I shall have one, some day...

I often wondered about loosing the 'magic' when you are in Disneyland.....no wonder Disneyworld is so HUGE!!!

[DisneytheKid]

Hey Dani,

Thanks again for the great Trip Report! We were there a couple weeks after you and stayed at Desert Inn as well. Couldn't agree more with what a great hotel it is for the price. Loved all the pics and commentary. You and Matt are a really fun couple to see enjoying Disney!

Now I've got to start reading your new TR...

Thanks again,

Mitch

[DharmaLou]

Major sadface that this TR is over. I loved it. I'll be checking out your WDW TR as we're planning on WDW in 2014 (along with an early 2014 DLR trip for me for the Tink half)

You mentioned being so excited to take your own kids to Disney - and it's awesome. I've been to DLR & WDW probably a dozen times combined and it's awesome, but this past trip with DD who had just turned 4 was truly magical. It's so fun to see Disney through their eyes!!

[LadyFaire88]

Awesome trip report! Visiting Disneyland around Christmas time is at the top of my to do list so it was fun to see, esp. From someone from my neck of the woods. heading over to your new WDW trip report now.

[stacy~**]

Originally Posted by danimaroo

One of my faaaavorite favorite photos of the trip has to be this one below of Mickey’s Fun Wheel. Seriously, it’s such an awesome sight to see at night!




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This is a great photo!! Even though I am deathly scared of the Fun Wheel, I am a HUGE fan of the Paradise Pier theming and the Fun Wheel is, of course, the centerpiece!! Beautiful water reflection...perfect, goosebump giving picture!!

SO sad to see your trip end BUT the good news is I plan to move over to your WDW report so it isn't goodbye!! Yay!!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by mommy2allyandaveri

Absolutely loved your TR, and am currently reading your WDW PTR. I'm reading in nice and slow so I don't run out of stuff to read.

I think you might be the best TR writer ever!

On a side note, isn't Long Beach the WORST airport to fly out of? Sitting in a portable, hardly any food choices. Then you have to walk outside to get to your plan. Thankfully it wasn't raining, who wants to sit on a flight when you are wet? Yuck! I don't think we will ever fly out of there again.

Aw thank you so much! You are seriously so nice! And that compliment just made my day!!

Ya know, as tiny as it is and with the lack of dining options/seating area, the one thing I really enjoyed about it was how quickly we got through security! I think if it was raining hard I wouldn't have been happy about boarding/de-boarding outside, but I did appreciate getting off the plane way faster than normal because they de-boarded from both the front and back of the plane!

It's the one airport down there that JetBlue flies to for really cheap, and since we love JetBlue, it'll probably continue to be where we fly. But Matt agrees with you, haha.

Originally Posted by khertz

I really loved this TR! It made me wish we had another DL trip in the works, because I really loved it there SO much more than I ever thought I would! Now I just know whenever we do make it back, we need to go for the holidays. I loved all of your pictures of the decorations, the lights, the ride overlays. Beautiful! I'm glad you both enjoyed your time despite the rainfall.

Heading over to your WDW TR now!

Thank you so much! And yeah, while it's not official, we are planning on going back again soon! And DEFINITELY do the holidays! It was amazing and that's why we are planning on November again!!

Glad you're over on my WDW TR!

Originally Posted by Susan121302

Ooops, just realized my ticker is a leftover from our last trip....I may put up a disneyland ticker though for this August. Headed over to your other TR.... can't wait!

Haha oooh that makes more sense!! I do hope you get to go back though! Glad to have you along for another adventure!

Originally Posted by 407-W-DISNEY

Thank you for the TR! You really do a great job telling us about your trip!

I have to admit I laughed out loud of the picture of Matt being in Zombie mode at the airport!! I'm STILL laughing!! sorry Matt - no offense!!

That is so cool about the golden tickets...some day I shall have one, some day...

I often wondered about loosing the 'magic' when you are in Disneyland.....no wonder Disneyworld is so HUGE!!!

Thank you so much!! Hahaha, I thought it was funny too because he was just SO spaced out from the early morning arrival! Hahaha.

Yeah, these golden tickets have really spoiled us, they're really neat to have, even if it just ends up being for one year!

Unfortunately for us, we did lose it a little bit whenever we left the resort... which is why I'd love to stay at Grand Californian at some point, to see how it would change things!

Originally Posted by DisneytheKid

Hey Dani,

Thanks again for the great Trip Report! We were there a couple weeks after you and stayed at Desert Inn as well. Couldn't agree more with what a great hotel it is for the price. Loved all the pics and commentary. You and Matt are a really fun couple to see enjoying Disney!

Now I've got to start reading your new TR...

Thanks again,

Mitch

Thank you so much for the kinds words, Mitch! That is awesome that you stayed at Desert Inn as well and really enjoyed it! Fantastic place to stay for the price for sure!

So happy you've jumped over to my WDW TR, too!

Originally Posted by DharmaLou

Major sadface that this TR is over. I loved it. I'll be checking out your WDW TR as we're planning on WDW in 2014 (along with an early 2014 DLR trip for me for the Tink half)

You mentioned being so excited to take your own kids to Disney - and it's awesome. I've been to DLR & WDW probably a dozen times combined and it's awesome, but this past trip with DD who had just turned 4 was truly magical. It's so fun to see Disney through their eyes!!

I know, I'm sad, too... but very thankful I have another TR to jump right into! Makes it not as sad for me, haha. I'm happy you'll be reading along with our WDW TR! That's so exciting you're planning a WDW trip! Let me know if you have any questions about anything!!

I am SO excited about taking our future kids to Disney. I love going with Matt but seeing the joy on kids faces there just makes my heart swell. I can't wait!

Originally Posted by LadyFaire88

Awesome trip report! Visiting Disneyland around Christmas time is at the top of my to do list so it was fun to see, esp. From someone from my neck of the woods. heading over to your new WDW trip report now.

Thank you so much! As you can see, we LOVED visiting at Christmas time. It was absolutely beautiful! Where are you from? I love meeting other PNWers who love Disney!

Can't wait to see you over on my other TR!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by stacy~**

This is a great photo!! Even though I am deathly scared of the Fun Wheel, I am a HUGE fan of the Paradise Pier theming and the Fun Wheel is, of course, the centerpiece!! Beautiful water reflection...perfect, goosebump giving picture!!

SO sad to see your trip end BUT the good news is I plan to move over to your WDW report so it isn't goodbye!! Yay!!

Thanks! I loved Paradise Pier lit up at night! And yeah, I can see why you'd be terrified of the Fun Wheel... It's kind of scary! Which is why I would never in a million years do the swinging side. NOPE.

So happy I'll see you over on my WDW TR! I think it'll be a fun one, and it's going to last awhile considering we were there for 10 days!

[LadyFaire88]

Originally Posted by danimaroo

Thank you so much! As you can see, we LOVED visiting at Christmas time. It was absolutely beautiful! Where are you from? I love meeting other PNWers who love Disney!

Can't wait to see you over on my other TR!

I live just south of Seattle.

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by LadyFaire88

I live just south of Seattle.

Haha, so do we! Kent, actually. We lived in Seattle for 5 years before buying a house. We still work in downtown Seattle. Nice to know you're a neighbor!

[LadyFaire88]

Originally Posted by danimaroo

Haha, so do we! Kent, actually. We lived in Seattle for 5 years before buying a house. We still work in downtown Seattle. Nice to know you're a neighbor!

Haha, that's funny because by just south of Seattle I mean Des Moines. We really are neighbors.

[MasonsDisneyMom]

Another great trip report! I was hysterical over Matt in zombie mode! That made my day!

[GatorMommy2007]

Loved your TR! Thank you so much for sharing it with us Dani! One day I hope I make it out to the Land!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by MasonsDisneyMom

Another great trip report! I was hysterical over Matt in zombie mode! That made my day!

Thanks! And yeah, I thought it was pretty hilarious. Poor man was so tired.

Originally Posted by GatorMommy2007

Loved your TR! Thank you so much for sharing it with us Dani! One day I hope I make it out to the Land!

Thank you so much! And you're very welcome; thank YOU for reading it! I hope you get a chance to go out to DL because it's well-worth a visit!

[merrysmom]

This is the first trip report I've read all the way through! We are taking our family (me, DH, and our five kiddos) to Disneyland this December, so I was so excited to see a little preview of the magic. We usually do Disneyland every other year, but it's always been February or March, so I'm beyond excited to see what Christmas in the park is all about!

(And on an incredibly silly side-note- thanks for posting how tall you are. I've been coveting the classic Mickey shirt you were wearing the first day, but being 5'9" and about your size, I was worried it would be too short. Now I can order it worry-free!)

[Briarrose1306]

I know I'm late to the party, but I'm reading through you TR from the beginning and had to comment on Chapter Five: "I am NEVER going on Splash Mountain again!" This is so why I have a love/hate relationship with SM. I'm never one that gets a little wet, it's ALWAYS a downpour on me, soaked all the way though, so I totally understand your misery. I lost my first cell phone because of SM.