Wish We Were Walkin' Down Main Street: A non-Trip Report

mouschievous

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Today is the day we should have been leaving for our DLR trip. This trip was huge - it was to celebrate my parents' 50th anniverary. We'd been planning for over a year; they've known about it since we gave them the trip a year ago on their 49th anniversary. Instead of the awesome trip report I should be writing, I'm going to write this non-trip report, about the things I'm doing instead. Hopefully it will bring smiles and laughter at a time when it is much needed. (I'm also taking this opportunity to learn how to link to specific posts, and it's my first trip report, so bear with me!)

The Original Plan
Day 1: Tues, Sept 8
Day 2: Wed, Sept 9
Day 3: Thurs, Sept 10
Day 4: Fri, Sept 11
Day 5: Sat, Sept 12
Day 6: Sun, Sept 13
 
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The Original Plan
On Sept 12, 1970, my parents were married.

On Sept 12, 2019, my husband and I gave my parents an invitation that looked like an old DLR ticket pack. It invited them to come to Disneyland as our guests to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They were shocked and very excited.

On Sept 12, 2020, we were scheduled to have a luncheon at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen as one of the culminating events of our 5 days in Disneyland.

On July 13, 2020, we officially canceled our trip. Wait - not canceled. Postponed until a later date.

Trip Specifics
Originally, we were to leave home the evening of Tues, Sept 8. We rented DVC points and had a 2 bedroom suite at VGC all lined up. We would stay 5 nights and return home on Sunday, Sept 13. We were going all out - World of Color dessert party, character breakfasts, all the shows, everything. It was going to be epic!

What Mom and Dad didn't know was that we had invited friends and family to join us. This is the invitation I created and sent to our family and friends (names and such changed for privacy)
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About 20 cousins, aunts, uncles and life long friends were going to come to Disneyland and join in on the festivities. Some for the whole trip, some for just the weekend, all of them for the aforementioned luncheon. We still haven't told them that part of the plan - why disappoint them more than necessary?!

We canceled the trip in July and now I'm making my own fun at home, partly because I'm bored (I haven't traveled since last July!) and partly as a way to turn what could be a pretty depressing week into a decent one. This is my report about my non-trip.
 
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Day 1: Tuesday, Sept 8

Pretzels, not Planes
In an alternate universe, I got up this morning, showered, and went to school where I orientated 800 new freshman to high school, after which I dashed off to the airport to meet my family, where we ate a hasty dinner and caught a plane to LA. We landed at John Wayne airport, took a cab to the Grand Californian, and checked in for our luxurious, relaxing vacation.

But we don't live in an alternate universe, we live in this one, where Covid canceled all our plans.

So this morning I got up, showered, and walked across the hall to my home office where I logged into a staff meeting with 171 other members of my school. Afterward, I did two loads of laundry and a load of dishes, as well as some planning for the first week of school.

The embroidery shop called - Mom and Dad's anniversary ears were done! Wahoo!! I left to go pick them up, but when I got there they had closed early, probably because of the fires. Oh yeah, because 2020 isn't awful enough, we now have wild fires close enough that people I love are having to evacuate. Thankfully it is not a threat to us at this point, but we're all on edge and it's scary. This is what it looked like at my house yesterday and today.

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That's smoke, not a beautiful sunset.

Instead of a hasty, overly priced dinner at the airport, I made a delicious turkey tenderloint and curried rice. I have an air fryer lid for my instant pot and it's the best invention ever.

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Yummmmm.

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After dinner, I made pretzels. Not Mickey shaped, but they are Auntie Anne's, which we have at the airport, so I figure it's good for what should have been a travel day!

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No, the contents weren't hot! Inside were all the elements necessary to make their pretzels at home. Here's a batch waiting to go in the oven

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And two delicious pretzels on a plate! One is cinnamon sugar, the other is chocolate donut flavoring (from Flavor God)

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Not the most beautiful, but they tasted good!

Outfit of the Day
I call this "weary traveler chic." No, I wasn't traveling, but it's probably what I would have worn if we had been. Easy to throw on, as comfy as jammies, professional enough to teach in, and super easy to go through security.

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Ears of the Day
Light up balloon ears (And WHOA, I don't think I could wear those for long! Tight and heavy. Youch!)

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Day 2: Wednesday, Sept 9

Dole Whip Disaster

I got up this morning and made some eggs for breakfast. Snuck a leftover pretzel in there too! After breakfast, I had a morning Zoom call with a colleague, and then I was off to my first attraction!

What's first....Peter Pan? Pirates? Oh! Radiator Springs! I got the gray car. Except they've changed RSR a bit and instead of racing through the hills, we were heading down the highway and ended up at the grocery store. Ah well, at least I was able to stock up on food - including ingredients for many different Disney delights. I have options for what to make this week, people!
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Oops, how did those gummies get in there?!
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(By the way, skulls and eye balls taste fruity, apparently.)


On the way home, a great song came on the radio - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. I stayed in the car to finish listening (read: singing along at the top of my lungs) because you don't walk out in the middle of any Queen song, even if you do have the entirety of their repertoire downloaded to your phone. And then Like a Prayer by Madonna came on so of course I had to stay and belt that one out too!

Finally the good songs were over and I was able to go inside. As I was putting away the groceries, I noticed a bag was leaking. Turns out the drive home must have been Mr Toad's Wild Ride, which resulted in a broken egg :( While I was doing that, the Dole Whip mix was delivered!!
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I had one more Zoom meeting and then I was able to work on making Dole Whips. I made the mix and put it in the ice cream maker.
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Unfortunately, even though I followed the directions of the multiple people on the internet (who are always right, of course), my Kitchen Aid stand mixer ice cream maker attachment never made the mix into ice cream :sad:
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I'm not sure what the problem was. The bowl was frozen for more than 24 hours, at the back of the freezer per recommendations, and I churned for more than 30 minutes. Maybe the house was too hot, or maybe my mix needed to be colder, or...? I plan to try again, and next time I'm going to chill the mix for 24 hours.


Oh well. We went to my parents' house for dinner, taking the failed Dole Whip with us. We walked into the house and I announced that this is the worst Disneyland vacation ever as I showed off my soupy Dole Whip!
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We had taco salads for dinner, and then the night was saved by Ice Cream Sundaes. Yum.


Outfit of the Day
I love this purple Minnie dress.
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I wore it on our last Disney trip, too
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Ears of the Day
Purple/blue iridescent sequin ears
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Day 3: Thursday, Sept 10

Nothing today. We're under evacuation watch for wildfires. I'm packing.
 
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Day 4: Friday, Sept 11

Marshmallow Wands and Monte Cristos
Ok, so today is better and I can tell our story now.

We have wildfires in our county. Throughout our state, nearly 1 million acres have burned since Monday. Thankfully not in our part of the county, but close enough that we are on level 1 (Get Ready) of evacuation. That meant that yesterday was spent cataloging all of our things, making a list/staging the things we wanted to take in evacuation, and obsessively checking the evacuation map. My day really went downhill when an area close to us went from level 1 to level 2 (Get Set - pack, and either leave now or be ready to leave on a moment's notice). Then I really freaked out. On top of that, I was still trying to get work done, because school was supposed to start on Monday!

Today, we seem to be in a better place. The wind, which was causing so many problems, has died down. It's basically non-existent at this point. That means the smoke isn't clearing and our air quality is now the worst in the world BUT the fires are more manageable now. They were able to stop the fire about 1 mile from town where my 98 year old auntie and 76 year old cousin live. They both evacuated and are safe, and now we're fairly certain their homes were spared, too. My school district also canceled today and Monday - they said to treat it like a snow day - which was a huge help since I really couldn't focus on work. It also means we now have lost days of school to inclement weather before classes even began 😂 2020, man. What a doozy.

Today was also supposed to have been the last day of a large arts festival that I helped plan. We had to postpone because of the situation, of course, so then I invited my parents over for dinner to continue our fake Disneyland adventure. I made three things that I've actually never had at Disney but was planning to try on this trip - Marshmallow Wands, Monte Cristos and Pomme Frites.

First, I made the caramel for the marshmallow wands
Caramel.jpg

Moments after this photo, my candy thermometer fell in the caramel 😂 😂 😂 All I could do was laugh. Then I pulled out my meat thermometer and used it instead. It's a digital read out, so if the probe fell all the way in, oh well.

I used the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction that @mre200200 posted about, but I followed his instructions and took it to 248F (firm ball stage) instead of the 235-240 (soft ball stage) that the recipe called for. It made for delicious, but very chewy, caramel. It's possible that I put it on too thick
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The store didn't have any sticks, so I used plastic straws!

After the caramel, I melted the chocolate. Note to self - the microwave is way faster and delivers the desired results. I did semi-sweet over a double boiler and milk chocolate in the microwave. My mom doesn't like dark chocolate, but I was afraid the milk chocolate would end up being too sweet (spoiler: I was wrong).

The finished product!
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I put the chocolate on too thick, but it still tasted delicious. My dad said "Better to have too much chocolate than not enough!" I did have to put them in the fridge - does everyone have to do that? It could have just been because it was warm in the house. I took them out before dinner because I was afraid that with the cold caramel and chocolate they would be hard to eat, and when I served them the milk chocolate were very melty and messy. The semi-sweet weren't as much.


Speaking of dinner, here it is! I even made the remoulade
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It was really good! Even my dad and husband, who both poopooed the idea (and for whom I made backup meatloaf, just in case) loved it. I think I need to raise the temperature of my oil so it fries a little faster and doesn't get as greasy. Also, I wanted to use challah or brioche, but I couldn't find any in the store and ran out of time to make my own, so I just used regular ol' white bread. The problem is that I think the bread really needed to be thicker. But overall they were tasty - we didn't even need the backup meatloaf! The fries were also a huge hit - we ate the entire batch, though I think I'm the only one who used the sauce.

So overall, a much better day!


Outfit of the Day
"Dinglehopper Hair, Don't Care" (Look closely and you'll see chocolate from the marshmallow wand near the hem of my shirt. oops!)
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Ears of the Day
One of my favorite pairs - Little Mermaid 30th Anniversary ears!
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Day 5: Saturday, Sept 12

Party like it's 2020
This year is so bizarre. Our original plan for Mom and Dad's anniversary was a trip to Disneyland. They knew about that, but they didn't know that we had invited others to join us and were expecting around 20 other family and friends to be there. Then Covid hit, and we had to change plans. So we made a reservation at a fancy restaurant for outdoor dining, ordered a yard card, snagged some bride and groom ears and had them embroidered with their names.

...And then our entire state caught fire and our backup plan went out the window. No yard card - too smoky for anyone to be outside. No ears - the embroidery shop is in an evacuation zone. No dinner - can't eat outside with the smoke and the restaurant isn't doing indoor dining due to Covid.

So Mom and Dad ordered takeout from Olive Garden 😂

Something that stayed through all the planning was the cards. When we first invited people to join us, we also let them know that we understood if they couldn't celebrate with us in person, and invited them to send cards or video greetings that we would share with Mom and Dad at their anniversary lunch. When we canceled the trip, we asked everyone to please send us cards or video greetings that we would share with them at dinner. When that got canceled...well, we still had the book of cards.

I put all the cards together into a scrapbook. The beginning of the book detailed the original plans, along with the fact that Covid canceled our plans. I included the invitation we'd sent others for the surprise party, and then we glued all the cards in. I think we had around 30 cards that people sent us to give them. After dinner, we took the book over to their house. We told them that before they opened it, we needed to tell them something. We told them that today we should have been having lunch at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen to celebrate, but that it wasn't going to be just the four of us - my mom's siblings, my cousins, long time family friends, so many people were supposed to be having lunch with us, too.

They were shocked. They couldn't believe that we had put that all together, and that no one had spilled the beans! We told them that what we brought over was their "surprise party in a box." They loved the book, and the idea of the party that never happened, and said that when we reschedule our trip we should let all those people know and hopefully they can still come.

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Party, part 2
That wasn't the only party that day! Earlier in the day, we attended a surprise party for our nephew's 13th birthday. It was a lot of fun, and my mother in law made it a "Farrell's" birthday party. If you remember Farrell's restaurant/ice cream parlor, then you probably know about The Zoo ice cream dish and the crazy birthday celebrations with the sirens and all that. For those who don't know...well, this is it

It's a giant sundae - I think 7 lbs of ice cream - with plastic animals in. Then they put it on a stretcher like thing and run it around the restaurant before it lands on your table. It used to be a big thing for birthdays and such. The funny thing is that the last one near us closed before the kids were born, so none of the kids at the party had any idea what was going on! Regardless, it was a fun way to celebrate the birthday of a kid who doesn't like cake (who doesn't like cake?!).

All in all, a good day. No outfit or ears today - with the smoke it's all I can do just to breathe, let alone plan fancy stuff - and no Disney treats since we were busy most of the day with parties and things.
 
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What a sweet celebration for you to have planned for your parents! :thumbsup2
So while it didn't work out according to plan hopefully the delayed trip will be just as awesome whenever it eventually can happen. Bet they will be extra surprised when all the other friends and family show up too.

BTW, I love the invitations! 💗

Hope you manage to salvage the week now and have some fun in spite of the current circumstances!


I am right there with you and a little gloomy as I have not traveled since last August. It is really sad since this is the first time in over 30 years we have not taken an annual vacation. 😭
Oh well. what can you do? Just keep working on those plans for when we all CAN finally get out and go somewhere! Disneyland will be the second destination at the top of my list. In the meantime... I guess we all can do a lot of daydreaming!
pirate::mickeybar::MinnieMo 🍿pluto:🍗:smickey:🍦pooh:🥤👻🍭👸:mickeybar🏰
 
What a sweet celebration for you to have planned for your parents! :thumbsup2
So while it didn't work out according to plan hopefully the delayed trip will be just as awesome whenever it eventually can happen. Bet they will be extra surprised when all the other friends and family show up too.

BTW, I love the invitations! 💗

Hope you manage to salvage the week now and have some fun in spite of the current circumstances!


I am right there with you and a little gloomy as I have not traveled since last August. It is really sad since this is the first time in over 30 years we have not taken an annual vacation. 😭
Oh well. what can you do? Just keep working on those plans for when we all CAN finally get out and go somewhere! Disneyland will be the second destination at the top of my list. In the meantime... I guess we all can do a lot of daydreaming!
pirate::mickeybar::MinnieMo 🍿pluto:🍗:smickey:🍦pooh:🥤👻🍭👸:mickeybar🏰
Thank you for the kind words!! If DLR is your 2nd destination...what is your first?!
 
Thank you for the kind words!! If DLR is your 2nd destination...what is your first?!
Well, having been to Disneyland over the last 15 years (mostly for 2 week trips) my family and I switched up one year and made our first trip to Europe in 2014. After that we were hooked! Since it's considerably a more expensive trip than Disneyland we have been alternating between the 2 destinations. Hopefully in late 2021 or early 2022 we will be heading back across the pond for our 4th visit. So far we have visited 8 countries and hope to add a new one to our list on the next trip. Germany is the family favorite so far. While we will go back there I'm also looking forward to seeing what else is out there!

Disney parks will always be dear to us. We have visited Disneyworld and Disneyland Paris also but honestly Disneyland will always be our favorite park! I'm ready to go back any time!
 

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