The Larock Family Trip – July 2004

Cast of Characters - Mommy, husband John, daughters Nina (7) and Julia (5)

Day 1 - Saturday July 17th

We picked the girls up from Bill & Carolyn Reynolds' house at 7am after a birthday party sleepover. Our plan to make sure they were tired enough to sleep on the plane worked well. They had stayed up until nearly 11pm and our friends were kind enough to have them ready for us when we got there.

The drive to BWI airport was pretty uneventful. There was very little traffic. Julia and I waited with the luggage while John and Nina parked the car. When we got the call that they were on their way back on the bus, Julia and I got in the Southwest check-in line. They had gotten lucky. The bus was pulling up to the stop just as they were getting luggage out of the car. Nina helped remember the parking spot: G-2 in Lot B.

It was an easy check-in process even though we had three different reservations and two different types of free tickets. Our wait at gate B-9 was also easy and soon we were boarding the plane. Julia fell asleep soon after take-off with her head on my lap. Nina, meanwhile, read her Junie B. Jones, Party Animal book.

For an airline that doesn't serve food by their own advertisement, we sure received enough snacks! First came the drink selections, then the peanuts and snack boxes that had Teddy Grahams, Lorna Doones and peanut butter sandwich crackers in them. We occupied ourselves for a while and then about halfway through the flight, they served more peanuts and Wheat thin crackers and offered coffee to drink or water. We had packed sandwiches for the adults and Lunchables for the girls along with other goodies, so most of the snacks wound up going back into the snack bag!

Nina tried the hot chocolate and tried to take it along as a souvenir by spilling some on her shirt. I suggested she save the heart shaped stirrer instead.

The flight attendants also came around with activity books for the children and our flight attendant always referred to Julia as the princess. I liked the little wings that were included with the activity books. Ray, Tom and one other flight attendant kept us entertained with all sorts of Southwest songs and even a comedic safety presentation that definitely got your attention. My favorite line was one about using the oxygen masks for children or adults that act like children!

After arriving at the airport, collecting our luggage and taking the shuttle bus to National Car Rental, we were anxious to be on our way but the American Express voucher process at the Emerald Aisle checkout was slow. The person helping us obviously hadn't done this before and even suggested that we should present these at the counter instead! Finally, we got on our way. I was surprised as we pulled up to enter the I-5 to see a Creative Memories consultant's car right in front of us and it reminded me of all of the scrapbooking I'd be doing when we got back!

Nina and Julia both commented how different everything looked especially the palm trees. Nina also informed me that we'd gone back in time just like in the movies!

As we searched the radio for signs of Radio Disney, Nina asked if there were any stations on the radio that played something other than Spanish music but didn't stay awake long enough to find out. Julia's nap on the plan kept her up in the car for a while but eventually she too fell asleep.

We finally reached the Candy Cane Inn. It was very easy to find and can you say adorable? It is such a great little hotel and so unbelievably close to the main entrance of the Disneyland resort. Check-in was smooth and we received the keys to room 222, which had a nice view of the pool from above. We asked about the history of the Candy Cane Inn and were told that at one time, all the hotels in the area had themes and the décor had in fact, been one of candy canes! Nina had guess right!

We had just enough time to unpack our bags a bit from the car and then we caught the 5:00pm shuttle to make our 5:30pm reservation for dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. As we walked between the entrances to the parks and through Downtown Disney, we commented on how everything seemed more intimate and accessible. This was very different from what we were used to at Disney World. The Disneyland hotel was at the very end of Downtown Disney but we arrived on time. We checked in for dinner and while our California City pass coupon wasn't valid for weekends, our cast member inquired if we had AAA and offered us that discount instead. We had our photo taken with Pluto while we waited for our table.

Claudia, our server, was very nice and we noticed that the restaurant was nearly empty at 5:30pm. She said attendance was down but that this was also an early time for most people to eat dinner. She was right. The restaurant was nearly full by the time we left at 7:30pm. I ordered a ½ and ½, which is half iced tea and half lemonade and learned that on the West Coast it's called an Arnold Palmer. You learn something new every day. The special for tonight's buffet was Goofy's famous PB & J pizza, which looked really fun, but the girls weren't willing to try it. While we were there, we saw Goofy and Minnie. We saw Aurora, who spent several minutes with the girls and even invited Julia up to dance the Macarena with her! All of the characters gathered periodically in front of the buffet for a group dance or several would participate in skits around the restaurant. At one point, Snow White took a bite of a poison apple given to her by a young man having dinner and fell asleep on the floor until they could find a prince to kiss her hand and wake her up. Goofy got "locked" outside on the patio and it was very comical to watch him attempt to get back in.

Julia wouldn't leave the restaurant until we spoke with Snow White so after speaking with Claudia and Vanessa the character lead; Snow White finally came by our table. She thanked the girls for waiting just like princesses and inquired if they had princes of their own. They named Prince Luke and Prince Shane. We purchased a photo of the family and Julia climbed into an Autopia car that was on display. She sat with another little boy who informed me that he was taking her to Chuck E Cheese! He had no way of knowing that this is one of her favorite places! We walked back through Downtown Disney stopping to salsa a bit while musicians played outside. Julia stopped several times to admire the kiosks along the way and we arrived at the shuttle stop just in time to catch the 8:15pm shuttle back to the hotel. The girls were in the pool by 8:30pm , which felt later than 11:30pm after getting up so early that morning. From our balcony we could see the purple glow of the Tower of Terror as well as the Ferris Wheel and California Screamin' coaster. At about 9:30pm we got a great view of the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom and we said goodnight.

Day 2

We didn't seem to have too much trouble getting up but I'm not sure if it was because of the time change or because we were so excited about our first day at the Disneyland park. We all got dressed and were ready for breakfast just before 7am. It was a very nice breakfast area with room to sit outside. The girls wanted an outside table but as we were eating it became apparent that the small birds living in the area were also fond of eating outside and not shy about coming up to the tables to search for crumbs. The girls were instantly traumatized by the birds so much so that Nina even went inside to eat by herself rather than stay outside. By 7:30am we wanted to catch the first shuttle so we made one final trip to the bathroom. Nina put her camera up on the tissue paper dispenser and it took a picture of the floor as it fell off. I could see the flash from under the stall! I can't wait to see how that one develops!

The lines at 7:45am into the Magic Kingdom were not bad and at 8am, we heard the countdown and the band started playing. We had our professional photo taken with the bandleader and then I was off to City Hall while John took Julia to get an autograph pen. My plan was to check in for Fantasmic but I learned that Guest Services was actually outside the gate so I found John and explained and then headed off in that direction. After getting our tickets to the Fantasmic dessert buffet, I met up with John and the girls at Sleeping Beauty's castle. While I had been gone, they had met Snow White, been the only ones riding Triton's carousel and ridden on Dumbo. I wasn't paying much attention when I heard one of the photographers trying to get my attention. She had matched up our family t-shirts and figured that they were looking for me!

We stayed in Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan. Nina and I rode Pinocchio to check it out and Julia decided to go with us for the second time around. We all loved Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. When in line for the Storybook Canal Boats, we met a young lady with some mental disabilities who definitely compensated by telling us every bit of movie trivia she knew about the stories represented on the ride. She definitely knew her trivia. She told us movies released in order of date! She wound up on the boat in front of us and I'm curious if the folks on that boat got the same information. Between her and the tour guide, I'm not sure who was going to know more!

We enjoyed riding the Alice in Wonderland ride. While Julia and John rode the teacups, Nina and I tried to check out the line for the bobsleds and decided that it was too long to wait. We met the others at It's a Small World or as Julia declares, "It's a Small World after all" ride. While we waited for them, Alice, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum came by and we were able to meet them.

We all really enjoyed the Small World boat ride. As we exited the ride, the clock chimed 10:30am. We picked up some water bottles and walked over toward ToonTown. We met a cast member along the way that traded pins with the girls and they were thrilled to make their first transaction. We picked up a Fast Pass for Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin and then played with the mailboxes in the post office. It was fun to hear the different messages that played when you tried to open each characters mailbox. I thought Disneyland's ToonTown is much better than Disney World's and it was fun to see my Christmas houses in full scale! The girls went through Goofy's Bounce House and Donald's boat and declared them fun. Julia and John got in line to see Minnie Mouse while Nina and I climbed through Chip & Dale's tree house and then got in line to see Mickey Mouse at his house. When we came out, Julia and John were just going into Mickey's house so we switch and Nina and I got in line to see Minnie Mouse. We all walked down to the Cartoon Spin and thought the ride okay but nothing special. John and Nina rode the Go-coaster while Julia and I got some popcorn and water and waited for them.

We picked up frozen lemonade for Nina and walked to the theater to see Snow White's new show but just missed the start. Instead we walked around to Frontier Land and found out that Big Thunder Railroad was closed for the day (and actually had been closed since a recent safety incident). I got a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain for 4:30pm and when we walked around to ride Winnie the Pooh, we were able to walk right on. Nina suggested we take the canoe ride around the pond and while most everyone paddled for the entire ride; it was easy to see that the two cast members were doing most of the work. I asked Bronson, the cast member behind me how many times they did this in a day and he said 30! No need for the gym for him!

While I walked onto the ride for the Haunted Mansion, John took the girls through Tarzan's tree house. I waited for them outside of Pirates of the Caribbean and spoke with David, a cast member there. He told me that the attendance today was a lot lower than it had been the day before which was the 49th anniversary date. We were going to do a child swap for Pirates but after John and Nina rode through, we all decided to head over to the Blue Bayou for our lunch reservation. Christa, the hostess, gave us a table right at the water's edge and we could hear and see the fireflies and the people going by on the boat ride. The repetition of the banjo player became a source of fun for us as we commented on how many times poor grandpa had to play that same song! I tried the famous Monte Christo and while I thought it very tasty, it was too much for me to eat alone. The girls enjoyed pasta and the mini corn dogs offered on the children's menu. After lunch, John went to get a stroller for Julia while the girls finished their Mickey shaped gelatin dessert. The girls wanted me to see Tarzan's tree house so we walked through one more time. When we caught up with John, he told us that we were just in time to see Aladdin's storytelling and so we found spots on the carpet. The show was very funny and the girls got their photographs taken with Aladdin and Jasmine after the show.

I left the group to use my Fast Pass for Splash Mountain and wound up in the back seat. John and the girls went to Tom Sawyer's Island and he nearly lost them or they nearly lost him by taking off in two different directions!

We met up at the boat loading dock and walked over to Tomorrow Land. I was disappointed by this Tomorrow Land especially after reading the article from the SaveDisney website and comparing it to the Tomorrow Land of Disney World. We rode Autopia with about a 20-minute wait. The girls liked getting their own driver's licenses with Suzy and Dusty on them. We also took a few minutes to get a light dinner at Club Buzz. Just some Mickey shaped chicken nuggets and fries.

We walked back to Fantasy Land to try the Matterhorn ride again. We noticed that the Dumbo ride was down for a repair. While we were in line, the Matterhorn ride also shut down for a 45-minute repair so we hopped out of line and road Mr. Toad again. John and the girls rode Peter Pan one more time while I went to check out the photos that had been taken by the professional photographers during the day. I didn't really care for any of them so I walked back up Main Street to meet the others. It was easy to pick out our matching t-shirts in the crowd waiting for the parade. Rather than stay for the parade though, we walked through Adventure Land to the Disney Gallery to see the Fantasmic show. Inside the Gallery, there was artwork from the Haunted Mansion movie and the girls found it to be pretty scary but it was really neat to see.

The hostess called us out onto the balcony for our seating at about 8:30pm. The view was beautiful from there as we watched all the people walking down below. The dessert buffet was delicious and there was too much for us to try everything so we settled for little bites of chocolate cake, raspberry cheesecake, fruit kabobs, fritters with apple dip, cheese and crackers and a steady supply of soft drinks.

The Fantasmic show was amazing and well beyond my imagination. The special effects on the fan of water, the fight between Peter Pan and Captain Hook aboard the sailing ship, the music, the lights, the laser beams all had us watching with our mouths wide open in amazement. Because we had the earlier 9pm seating, we were invited to stay after the show and watch the Imagine fireworks display, which we all thought, was pretty wonderful. Tired but happy, we walked back to the shuttle to go to our hotel. By 10:30pm we were in bed and it didn't take long for everyone to fall asleep. Hanging beside the bed were the three glowing neon bracelets that the girls and I had worn home in the dark after the show. We used them as nightlights!

Day 3

We woke up at about 7am, which surprised me considering how tired we'd been the night before. John went to the breakfast room and returned with food for us to munch on while we got ready. During the course of getting ready to go, John pulled out Julia's tooth that had been stubborn and wouldn't wiggle free. She was surprised and excited to have lost a tooth at Disneyland. What would the tooth fairy bring?

We were ready by 9:30am so we caught the shuttle and planned to spend the day at California Adventure. We didn't think that the park opened until 10am so we were very surprised to see people going in early. When we inquired, we were informed that yes in fact, the park had opened at 9:30am but the only ride that was available was California Soarin'. Good for us! That's the first one that we wanted to ride! It is an awesome ride and we were lucky enough to have seats in the front row! Julia's face throughout the ride didn't look sure but she said she definitely liked it after we got off. The scenery is amazing and the sense of flight and wind is easy to imagine as being real.

When we came out of the exit, the rest of the park had opened up so we walked right over to Grizzly River Run. We picked up a Fast Pass and while we were watching others ride, we decided to get in line for the 20-minute standby ride. The lockers that are available to hold your belongings are truly high tech, for lockers that is. They are computer operated; no keys, and you are given two hours for free. While we were in line, we met a family from the United Kingdom and we wound up on the same raft with them as well. We all loved the ride but got just a bit wet. We got off of the ride and then used our Fast Passes to ride again! We met another family and were surprised that they didn't understand how the Fast Pass system worked. After explaining it to them, it was clear that they were definitely going to take advantage of it. This time, we all got soaked! After getting our things from the lockers, we walked up to the challenge trail. We saw Koda and his friends for autographs and then stayed for the show about releasing the spirits of the totems. Nina took a turn on the tire swing, which she enjoyed, and Julia and I climbed the rope nets. It's a great place to play.

From there, we walked up to the Pier. We tried out the Jellyfish and enjoyed the easy but quick ascent and then the gentle glide down. I rode with Julia and it was fun to hear her giggle each time the ride went quickly up!

We picked up a Fast Pass for the Mulholland expressway ride and got pepperoni pizza at Pizza Oom Mow Mow. After lunch, the girls played on McDonald's Trustworthy playground and enjoyed some of the opportunities to get wet. While Julia continued to play, Nina and I used our Fast Passes and had so much fun that we elected to get back into the standby line for the 25 minute wait to ride again. We were rewarded with seats in the front this time and it was great to hear her scream and having such a good time. I believe her word was "awesome"!

We met John and Julia at the Ferris Wheel and elected to ride in the stationary cars instead of the cars that slid back and forth from the inside of the Ferris wheel to the outside. We had a great view and even saw our hotel from the top!

While John got two strollers, I took the girls to the "boardwalk" tattoo parlor and they each chose a temporary one that we promptly put on in the ladies restroom. When John came back he was surprised to see them all decked out. From there, the girls got a chance to ride on the carousel before we walked over the bridge and entered Flik's Fairground. I liked this area of the park. The first place we stopped was the Good Harvest area with water spurting and splashing all over the place. It was a hot day and the girls got drenched. Nina literally stood under the waterfall and then put her head under the water in the trough. Julia just kept running through the hydrants spouting water at random intervals. When Julia saw Flik and his friends on stage though, she went with her dad to see the performance while Nina just continued to get more wet by the minute. We walked further into the Fair with both girls dripping water from their shorts and rode several of the rides there including Tuck & Roll's bumper cars. We purchased some frozen lemonade while we walked over to see the Aladdin show. With all the heat, the girls were now just wet and no longer dripping!

With our City Passes came preferred seating for this show so we were permitted to enter first and choose any seats in the house that we liked in the orchestra section of the theater. This theater is huge and can accommodate so may people! I met a nice young man and his mom from northern California who were in town for a traditional Philippine wedding and we chatted a bit before the show started. His personality reminded me of one of my cousins, Wayne. His mom and dad were celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary. The show itself was spectacular and well worth seeing. The special effects, the personality of the genie, the comedic remarks about local politicians and Disney were hilarious! I think our favorites were the flying carpet and the elephant.

When we exited the show, we only had six minutes before the next showing of Who Wants to be a Millionaire began and we raced to get there making it by just one minute! We couldn't use our preferred seating for this one because we had arrived so late but we still had a great view of the game area. We were seated in seats 630 to 633. At the 32,000-point question, I was in 10th place up on the board! I was so excited! I missed the next question about the definition of gallimauphry but John guessed correctly and was in 5th place after the 64,000-point question which unfortunately, the contestant in the hot seat answered incorrectly. She was a young 9-year-old girl from British Columbia so her dad was able to be with her up on stage and help her.

John took the girls to the Animation studio exhibit while I picked up two Fast Passes for California Soarin' so that Nina and I could ride again before we left for the evening. They really enjoyed seeing which character they were most like in Belle's library. While I waited, I found the pressed penny machine and made two for them to add their collection. When they came out, we dined on hot dogs and chili dogs at Weiner's right across the "street". Mmmm, delicious.

Nina and I road Soarin' again and were permitted to wait for a front row seat again. I think I could do that ride over and over again! John and Julia, meanwhile, picked out some postcards for the scrapbook. We met at the entrance to Hollywood. With some cotton candy for a snack on the ride back and two more pressed pennies, it was time for us to return to the hotel. Julia and John decided to go swimming. Nina watched Full House and didn't believe that the little baby was the current Mary Kate & Ashley celebrities they've seen in movies. Once again, we had a great view of the fireworks from our balcony before drifting off to sleep.

Day 4

Exhaustion had set in and even with the girls woke up at 8am. They were still tired. Julia perked up a bit when she discovered three Disney dollars under pillow from the tooth fairy but even that didn't last long.

We all got dressed including bathing suits for the girls under their clothes. We took the 9:30am shuttle to the Magic Kingdom. Our plan was to do a ½ day at the Magic Kingdom and a ½ day at California Adventure. That plan was going to change by mid-afternoon.

Inside the Main Street Square, Julia saw Mary Poppins and John went in line with her. When she was the next one in line, the character lead informed them that Mary was leaving and Julia was devastated. I sent John to get his Fast Pass for Indiana Jones and the girls and I walked up to see Ariel in her grotto. When we got there, we realized that we were too early but Peter Pan and Wendy were there entertaining the children who had already formed a line to wait for Ariel. John got back just in time to see Ariel's appearance through the mist and both girls were happy to have their picture taken with the Little Mermaid. Sleeping Beauty's castle was closed off with a large blue tarp - it hadn't been that way on Sunday - so we walked around toward the Matterhorn coaster. This was one ride that Nina and I were determined to ride! Fortunately, there wasn't a very long line so we got in and waited for our car. It was a fun coaster and we were both surprised by the appearance of the Abominable Snowman! While we were on that ride, John and Julia rode the teacups, saw Cinderella and rode It's a Small World before we met up with them. While we were waiting for them, we too rode the teacups and then once back together as a group, we decided to ride It's a Small World, one final time before walking over to Adventure Land. John used his Fast Pass to ride Indiana Jones while the girls and I did a bit of shopping and made a couple of pressed pennies. We made our way over toward Critter Country with the plan to meet John at the Big Thunder picnic but I had gotten it mixed up and the restaurant wasn't where I thought it was. Instead we were at the Hungry Bear restaurant. The girls were now starting to show definite signs of wearing out and so was mom. We decided to ride Winnie the Pooh since the line was short. I thought we'd start walking over toward the actual location of the picnic but Julia spotted Tigger, Pooh and Eeyore in a character line and begged for an autograph. The line was deceiving and was much longer than it looked and by the time we got to Tigger who was first, I was definitely tired and cranky and did not want to be in that line. Julia agreed to give up on Pooh and Eeyore and we started our trek in the right direction this time. Walking around toward Big Thunder was torturous. The girls were tired, I was tired and we were hungry. Finally we saw John and found out that he had been waiting there for us for nearly ½ hour! He took pity on the girls and me though and let us rest while he brought us lunch. Lunch was yummy. Our picnic included fried chicken and potato salad for the adults with a cornbread muffin. The girls' meals included fried chicken, either carrot sticks or "ants on a log", cream cheese filled celery with raisins in a souvenir lunchbox. While we ate, Pocahontas came out to visit. No one else knew she was there because there were so few people walking along that path because the Big Thunder coaster was down. We nearly had Pocahontas all to ourselves! The servers were also having fun filling squirt bottles with ice water and shooting them as all of the passers-by. Many of them were quite grateful since it was so hot outside. The girls and John decided to go to the petting zoo next door while I took a few minutes to just sit and watch. They made masks of some of the characters from "Home on the Range" and came back to show them to me. When they returned, we decided to go back to the hotel for a swim and a nap. We only got as far as a nap which lasted until 5pm!

The girls were still in their swim suits so we walked the two blocks back to the entrance to Disney California Adventure. Before going, though, we stopped at the IHOP right across the street and had breakfast for dinner.

After showing our hand stamps and going through the ticket line, we picked up two strollers. John tried to get a Fast Pass for the Grizzly River Run but they weren't giving any out and there was a 50 minute wait.

We decided to go to the Harvest Fair in Flik's Fun Fair and let the girls play. Julia wanted very much to play in the water while Nina decided she was willing to wait the 50 minutes for the Rapids ride so John took her back. Julia and I rode the "balloon" ride and Francis, the ladybug and then headed over to the rapids to try to get a picture of John and Nina as they came around the end of the ride. As it turned out, they had only had a 20 minute wait and then gone on again! I snapped a few pictures as they waved and then we all went to find a spot for the Electric Light Parade.

We got a great spot near the entrance just beyond the Burrrbank Ice cream stand. I wanted ice cream, but the girls elected to purchase some candy from the store. Nina got sour gummies and Julia found one of the biggest lollipops I've ever seen. She remembered seeing them made on the show "Unwrapped" and decided that it was the snack for her!

The parade was awesome and the music definitely vintage 1970s. We walked back to the hotel since the girls now had their energy back and Daddy took them for a swim. The fireworks went off just past Tower of Terror, right on schedule.

Day 5

Our mornings are starting later and later. The girls slept until 8:30am. We packed up the room and put everything in the car and took advantage of a temporary shuttle pass from the hotel to go shopping in Downtown Disney. The checkout process was smooth and we were ready to go by 9:30am.

Our first stop in Downtown Disney was of course, the World of Disney. There the girls were permitted to pick out one large gift that they wanted to purchase as a souvenir. They each had money left over from our last trip with a bit of extra thrown in from mom and dad. Nina chose a large stuffed Stitch plush toy and Julia, after careful scrutiny of all of her options, chose a Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip Fashion Doll to add to her growing collection. They each chose a pin lanyard: Julia chose Tinkerbell and Nina chose Stitch. There's definitely a pattern evolving for Nina's purchases! They chose a Stitch pin and a Jasimine / Aladdin kiss pin to add to their respective collections and we even found key chains with their names on them. John picked up a Manhattan Steamroller CD of Disney music and I chose two pins for myself, one an Olympic 2004 pin and the other a Mickey DisneyLand pin. We chose a couple of gifts for our friends that we would see later in the week and John purchased the shot glass that his niece, Samantha had asked him to purchase.

From there, we walked over to Build-a-Bear for two new outfits for our animals at home. With our coupon booklet and a nearly complete Build-a-Bear purchase card from Sandie Morthen, we were able to purchase both the Sleeping Beauty costume and a Hula girl costume for just $13. We felt incredibly thrift!

As we walked toward the Rainforest Café restaurant, the girls stopped to trade pins with a cast member at one of the kiosks. They received a Tinkerbell pin and a Simba pin from the cast member and were happy to hand over two of the pins they no longer wanted. They really seem to enjoy trading these pins.

Inside the Rainforest Café, John and the girls walked around the souvenir shop while I put in our application for the Safari Club. We don't have a Rainforest Café near us but we have eaten at several across the country and we have a few of the other chain restaurants near us that will accept the discount card so it seemed like a great deal. We were seated quickly upstairs right near a gorilla and while Julia was at first apprehensive, she soon settled in and began to enjoy the animals. We go through this each time we eat there!

While we were waiting to order, John noticed that the Build-a-Bear bag was missing and knowing that Julia's Sleeping Beauty costume is in there, he quickly heads downstairs to try and find it. Nina had pulled her costume out earlier and had it with her. No one had turned the bag in and it was nowhere to be found. I was reconciled to going back to Build-a-Bear to purchase another one for her but wasn't feeling as thrifty anymore.

We enjoyed our lunch despite the disappointment of losing the costume. The girls had pasta with tomato sauce. John had a burger and I had their Buffalo chicken salad which was yummy but huge!

After we paid the bill, I went back to Build-a-Bear and explained what happened to the sales clerk and asked about purchasing another costume. She spoke with a manager and returned with another costume and said, "Merry Christmas!" I felt like I had been doused in pixie dust! John was thrilled as well since he'd been feeling horrible about the whole thing.

We spent a few minutes in the Lego store then caught the shuttle back to the hotel to make the drive from Anaheim to San Diego. It was easy to find the Comfort Inn & Suites on Hotel Circle and while we were checking in, John met another gentleman who would be going to Comic-con as well.

John got ready to go out for the convention's preview evening and I did a load of laundry while the girls watched some cartoons. After swimming in the hotel pool, we ordered some pizza and breadsticks delivered to our room from a local pizza place recommended by the hotel. I allowed Nina to purchase an hour of Nintendo and she played a few of the games.

About 9pm, John returned with a huge back of giveaways for the girls. They stayed up for a while to see what he had brought before we all settled down for the night.

That's the end of our stay at DisneyLand but there's more to the story of our trip to California.