Just returned *March 2018* #Tripsyouneveroutgrow2018

[Wilsonfamily4]

Day 1
This trip was just 4 ladies. We left our families and jobs and ran away from March 2-6. We spent 3 and half days in parks. I have been friends with Karen and Becky for 23 years when we met our freshman year in college. Melissa married one of our college buddies.

We started at 2:45 am when my blasted alarm went off. My husband drove me to Karen's house in the town nearby and Melissa picked us up. We drove north picked up Becky and then headed to the PDX airport. Our plane was to leave at 7:15 so we were there our 2 hours before at 5ish. My friend Becky has a handicap pass so we were able to park our car in the short term parking which is so nice on cold mornings. It was an easy time through as they had the sniffing dog come through the line so shoes stayed on, liquid didn't come out, it was so fast and painless. Those hours waiting for the plane go so fast when you are with good friends you don't see often enough.

We arrived at around 9:30 am in Long Beach and we "ordered" an uber to take us to Candy Cane Inn. (The uber was $29 for those who wonder. ) I took a picture for my friend who loves palm trees so she could see them in the California wetness. So disappointed that the weather for our days there was forcasting rain.

Candy Cane Inn had a room ready for us even at 11. So we dropped our stuff off, grabbed our rain ponchos, and caught the shuttle to !Disney! The rain sucked. No doubt about that. When you leave Oregon for California you don't want more rain. But it was Disney so we were giddy. We had bought tickets from LMTClub so we were interested to see how this went. Those tickets are much cheaper and we just walked to the turnstile, they took our picture and handed us a regular ticket. Awesome.

Our first stop was lunch at Carnation Cafe. We usually eat outside here but today it was inside for us. I have celiac so I had a gluten free burger and I will say that is one of the worst gf hamburger buns I've ever had. So disappointed in Disney. The girls ate their meals which I don't remember but they raved about the fried pickles.

After gaining some energy we headed for the ride we always ride first. (This is our 3rd time visiting together. ) We didn't care how long the line was for Peter Pan we were waiting! We took a quick selfie before walking through the castle.
From left to right
Melissa, me, Becky and Karen.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

Continue Day 1
Look at those clouds in that picture above. After our Peter Pan ride it started to drizzle. Out came the ponchos. I had bought a 5 pack of different colors on Amazon that I brought to share. Those went off and on on the rest of that Friday. When you bring them you feel a bit geeky but then you see quite a few others wearing them and you are just glad you brought 'em. We mentioned a few times we wished we had also brought a little towel to wipe down chairs, rides, etc when it was wet.

After PP we decided to ride Casey Juniors Train which none of us had ever done, then Big Thunder Mountain, and Indiana Jones. We next got a paper fast pass for Haunted Mansion and while we waited for that went on the Winnie the Pooh ride and shopped at that shop before we did HM. Karen and I bought ourselves a little afternoon treat. Next was Jungle Cruise.

We then shopped our way out of Disneyland and headed for California Adventures for the rest of the evening. Disneyland in the spring is beautiful. We were sad to see the walls down main Street but at least the hubs were cleared.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

Finishing up Day 1

After we left Disneyland we grabbed a paper fast pass for Soarin' for a return of 8-9 pm and continued on to RSR. The standby line was too long for us so we rode standby. Luckily enough we all got into the same car! That is one of my very favorite rides.

After this we headed for some dinner at the Pier. At this point everything was wet. We all seperated and grabbed different dinners then ate together.

After dinner we made our way down to Toy Story Mania. We had to ride standby with a 45 minute wait. While in line I was getting texts updates and pictures from my friends and family as the my daughter's Varsity basketball team was at 4A State basketball playoffs. I hate missing games and I was so hoping they would win so I could see them at the Elite 8. And they did! (They start tomorrow night for their run at the Championship game. )

We were wet and cold but we still had to ride the newest version of Soarin'. But we had time before the fast pass return time so the girls headed to Starbucks and I went in search of a hot cocoa in a Disney travel mug.

After we warmed up a bit we went next door for Soarin'. None of us had been on it yet. Boy, I enjoyed the old one but I really love this around the world version.

We had been up for 18+ hours at this point so it was time to head back to the hotel. It was so nice to get out of wet clothes, into jammas and snuggle in bed.

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

My daughter's baskets team is at state so I'll probably catch up on day 2 in a few days... if anyone is reading.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

I'm reading!

 

[BrerMama]

Reading. Sounds like a fun trip!

 

[Wilsonfamily4]

Day 2
Saturday morning was the only Magic Morning on our ticket we could do, so it was up and out of the hotel by 6:15 for a 7:00 Disneyland entry. Melissa decided she'd sleep in and meet the three of us later.
The morning was beautiful. At this point walking to Disney was still an easy task so no bus for us. We made it through the turnstiles and then we were lead down an alleyway to the right that isn't normally opened.
As we walked I bought Max Pass for us so we could get some photos and electronic fast passes. I was impressed by Max Pass. So nice to be able to book rides we weren't anywhere near. But sometimes the lines for the electronic machines got long with people not sure what to do or not using both sides.
We grouped with the rest of the early birds at the rope until we were released. We veered to the right for Alice in Wonderland. My friend Becky lost a leg to cancer as a child and uses crutches, so there is no running for us. But we did make it to Alice and walked right on before walking right back on it again. This ride had the best colors and is just a nice easy ride. Next we went to Toads Wild Ride.
Took a break for some photopass pics and then we rode Big Thunder two times in a row. We were feeling pretty good about how quickly we were getting rides done. At 9 we were headed into Pirates.