Somebody's Gonna Pee in a Cup, West Coast - Link to new TR 1/21

[Steppesister]

So glad to hear it!!

 

[MickeyLover20]

Just found your TR and went to read the PTR and can't wait to hear more. I guess I will have to go and read your other TRs while I wait.

Shawna

 

[awfullybigadventure]

I'm in! Love it so far. Can't believe anyone would stop in the middle of the road for a picture! Thank goodness you were alert and avoided an accident.

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

 

[Steppesister]

Well, based on all these replies, apparently just about all the Dis'ers I know have to to this to their families. Do you think this has something to do with all us trip planners being type A?

Surely not any of us! (you have no idea....)

 

[MEK]

The Drive


I don’t have her camera, but I’d imagine she has approximately 400,000 pictures from our arrival day that are just green blurs.

You'll have to ask her how many green blurs she had to delete.

We were following the trailer down the road and I could see this beautiful sight up ahead.

(taken from our 2012 trip because nobody got a picture this time)

Love the little caption on top of the picture. Can't imagine why you couldn't grab a picture this time?

All of a sudden the vehicle in front of me with the trailer slammed on the brakes and swerved into the left lane. By the time I could see why, I had to follow their evasive maneuver.


Some idiot stopped in the right lane and had his door open, standing in the middle of the road taking a picture.


Right next to one of those little signs that say don’t stop to take a picture.

WTH? I have only one word for this guy and it isn't DIS friendly. Seriously, who does that?

Kudos to you for making that long drive. Did you do all the driving? I really admire people who can drive that far. I am not one of them. I would be completely asleep at the wheel by 11pm.

Love your packing skills. Did you leave any room for souvies?

 

[momabbate]

See all caught up. Sorry to hear the kids got sick. Glad that is almost over. Your DL trip is to close for anyone else to get sick, so stay healthy. Your kids are so cute.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Our trip began on Friday December 12, but let me start with some background information. I was supposed to be at a conference Thursday through Saturday, so I was about 2 ½ hours from home Friday morning. I attended the conference until about noon before I returned home.

So you just ditched the last day of the conference?
Let’s weigh this one out… Conference… Disney… conference… Disney…
Yah, you done good (so long as the employer don’t know ‘bout it).

Once I got home, I hauled all of our luggage out into DW’s Suburban and packed everything away as stategically as possible. I really put the old Tetris skills to good use.

Before I went to bed, I told her our plan was to leave at around 8… and I subsequently set my alarm for 8pm.

Between you and me, 9pm was my real target departure time anyway.

“You should always make room for a loophole when you need it”
Pretty sure I’ve read that somewhere

MiL and FiL were coming over to watch the kids while I slept and DW was at the school. They brought over some pizza so we could all grab a bite before hitting the road.

Babysitting and pizza delivery? Score!
We’ll just have to wait and see what the price of pay back will be for that one.

Great! Nothing to do but sit around and wait…

No plan works that well…
<< queue ominous foreshadowing music >>

The kids at this point are running around the house going absolutely crazy. DS knew as soon as I woke up we were leaving for Disney World, so he was just bouncing off the walls and ready to get rolling.

Old enough to be excited for the trip…
Young enough to not realize that it includes umpteen hours of car ride.
You win


For now…

At around 8:45, DW finally walks into the kitchen.



With 3 more bags.

<<Dum-de-dum-dumm… Dum-de-dum-dum-DUMMMMMM.>>
The story you’re about to here is true but the names have been changed to protect the innocent…

Oh who am I kidding, there’s no innocence here.

FiL and I went outside and finally managed to find small spaces to eventually cram everything in. I was a monumental task. I was literally holding things from falling out the back while shutting the hatch and pulling my hand out at the last second.

A bit like Wile E Coyote setting a trap…
for himself…

We hit the road at 9:04 so it definitely paid off that I told DW I wanted to leave at 8. Hmmm… maybe I should have used that trick more on this trip. Hindsight is 20/20.

No, you should use that trick more often in general.
It’s the only way to get “some folks” anywhere on time.
(larger groups especially)

We headed south on I-65 with the GPS showing me an ETA of 11 am at Art of Animation.

900 miles in 14 hours? That’s a bit ambitious.
I’d estimate it somewhere closer to 2pm. Beat that and you’re makin’ good time.

I knew there was construction near the river. I thought that it wouldn’t be too bad at around 10 or 11 pm. That’s what I get for thinking.

You think?

Nothing like being delayed 45 minutes before you even get a mile out of the state.

Could have been worse though…
We lost near an hour before even getting out of our own county on one trip down to WDW.
You’ll be lucky if you don’t get stuck in at least one more jam on this leg.
I generally estimate about one traffic snafu per 500 miles of drive.

Unfortunately, the kids had no interest in sleeping after we stopped. We put Planes in the DVD player, and DS eventually faded out, but DD was having none of it. She wanted to be held. I ended up pulling off the highway just north of Atlanta at a McDonald’s. DW thought she could hold DD for a bit and get her to sleep.

It didn’t work.

But it did get her calmed down enough that we could strap her in and continue. Before we got a mile down the road, both kids were once again sleeping.

Only one major seismic event so far?
Given the age grouping you’ve emerged relatively unscathed.
May that continue (I got’s me doubts, but I’m not in the vehicle so no problem for me at least).

The kids were going absolutely batty from being trapped in the car for so long.

Spoke too soon…
So much for my offer of good will

I don’t have her camera, but I’d imagine she has approximately 400,000 pictures from our arrival day that are just green blurs.

Lookin’ forward to that three hour slide-show aren’t ya’?

All of a sudden the vehicle in front of me with the trailer slammed on the brakes and swerved into the left lane. By the time I could see why, I had to follow their evasive maneuver.

<<Ahooga Ahoogah.. >>
Initiating evasive maneuver: “Charlie Foxtrot”…
All hands brace for impact…
<<Ahooga Ahoogah.. >>

Some idiot stopped in the right lane and had his door open, standing in the middle of the road taking a picture.


Right next to one of those little signs that say don’t stop to take a picture.

And yet… I’m not really surprised by this encounter.

Oh well, at least this means I’m on Disney property. I can’t be too mad. I just honked my horn as I drove past.





Look, kids. A deer!

Good cover…
The young'ens will learn all about road rage soon enough.

Hi everyone!

I just want to wish you all a Happy New Year! I'll try to get to replies sometime in the next couple of days. I'm sitting here using my chromebook, which is great for typing, but kind of a pain to copy and paste for replies.

Yes, I'm being boring and lame sitting here 10 minutes until midnight on the Dis. We found out today that both of our kids have the flu. So we had to cancel our NYE plans. At which time we found out that my wife's sister's kids have strep. And we learned later this afternoon that her brother's 1 month old also has the flu and is in the hospital.

So everyone is sick around here and it is just kind of blah... We were supposed to go to MiL's tomorrow for a late Christmas celebration with DW's aunts and cousins, but that has been cancelled as well. The Dr. prescribed Tamiflu to both DW and I as a preventative measure, but so far we've been fine. I just hope if we do get sick it happens soon so we have it over with before our California trip.

Anyway... I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2015.

Sorry to hear that the creeping crud made its way into your house.
May all that mess subside quickly.


and a happy New Year to you and yours.

 

[that's nice]

Subbing... hey Andy!

I'll be back to catch up.

 

[afwdwfan]

So glad to hear it!!

Thanks!

Just found your TR and went to read the PTR and can't wait to hear more. I guess I will have to go and read your other TRs while I wait.

Shawna

I'm glad you're here, but there's no need to torture yourself with the past. Just jump right in and join the fun here!

I'm in! Love it so far. Can't believe anyone would stop in the middle of the road for a picture! Thank goodness you were alert and avoided an accident.

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

I have faith in humanity to do stupid things. There aren't many things that surprise me anymore.

Surely not any of us! (you have no idea....)

Oh, of course not...

You'll have to ask her how many green blurs she had to delete.

Some questions are better left unanswered.

Love the little caption on top of the picture. Can't imagine why you couldn't grab a picture this time?

Well, for one, I don't think anybody tried. But even if they did...

WTH? I have only one word for this guy and it isn't DIS friendly. Seriously, who does that?

Yeah, I definitely wasn't having Dis friendly thoughts.

Kudos to you for making that long drive. Did you do all the driving? I really admire people who can drive that far. I am not one of them. I would be completely asleep at the wheel by 11pm.

I don't have any problem making a long drive. In fact, I definitely prefer to drive over being a passenger. To be completely honest, I'd rather drive 14 hours if I'm the one behind the wheel than to fly 2 or 3 hours.

Love your packing skills. Did you leave any room for souvies?

Um... no. But that doesn't mean we didn't buy any.

See all caught up. Sorry to hear the kids got sick. Glad that is almost over. Your DL trip is to close for anyone else to get sick, so stay healthy. Your kids are so cute.

Thankfully they're doing better. And we can't wait until Disneyland.

As for the staying healthy part... well, I don't have the flu or stomach bug or the strep throat that seem to be going around. But I'm currently taking prescriptions for a back injury that I hope is better by Saturday.

 

[afwdwfan]

So you just ditched the last day of the conference?
Let’s weigh this one out… Conference… Disney… conference… Disney…
Yah, you done good (so long as the employer don’t know ‘bout it).

Well, the employer didn't send me to this one. It was a conference for an organization that I'm involved with as an officer. But yeah, I ditched it in a heartbeat.

“You should always make room for a loophole when you need it”
Pretty sure I’ve read that somewhere

Hmmmmm... Nope, never heard it!

Babysitting and pizza delivery? Score!
We’ll just have to wait and see what the price of pay back will be for that one.

Eh... they got time with grand kids. They were happy.

No plan works that well…
<< queue ominous foreshadowing music >>

Ain't that the truth

Old enough to be excited for the trip…
Young enough to not realize that it includes umpteen hours of car ride.
You win


For now…

I'm just glad that I didn't have to hear "are we there yet" 50 million times.

<<Dum-de-dum-dumm… Dum-de-dum-dum-DUMMMMMM.>>
The story you’re about to here is true but the names have been changed to protect the innocent…

Oh who am I kidding, there’s no innocence here.

Ok, seems about right.

A bit like Wile E Coyote setting a trap…
for himself…

Only this time... it worked!!!

No, you should use that trick more often in general.
It’s the only way to get “some folks” anywhere on time.
(larger groups especially)

Yeah... I really should.

900 miles in 14 hours? That’s a bit ambitious.
I’d estimate it somewhere closer to 2pm. Beat that and you’re makin’ good time.

I've done it in less than 14 hours before. Quite a bit less...

You think?

I know. It is really a bad habit that I should just give up.

Could have been worse though…
We lost near an hour before even getting out of our own county on one trip down to WDW.
You’ll be lucky if you don’t get stuck in at least one more jam on this leg.
I generally estimate about one traffic snafu per 500 miles of drive.

There is literally no way that could happen to me!

Only one major seismic event so far?
Given the age grouping you’ve emerged relatively unscathed.
May that continue (I got’s me doubts, but I’m not in the vehicle so no problem for me at least).

Hey, as long as I don't see red and blue lights in the mirror, all is well.

Spoke too soon…
So much for my offer of good will

Eh... even that could have been much worse.

Lookin’ forward to that three hour slide-show aren’t ya’?

If she is anything like DW... and she is... Those pictures will probably never be viewed again until the day she tries to take a picture and the memory card is full. Then most of them will be deleted.

<<Ahooga Ahoogah.. >>
Initiating evasive maneuver: “Charlie Foxtrot”…
All hands brace for impact…
<<Ahooga Ahoogah.. >>

I can always count on you.

And yet… I’m not really surprised by this encounter.

I'd say I couldn't believe it... but that would be a lie. Stupid people breed stupider people. And there's a whole lot of stupid in this world.

Good cover…
The young'ens will learn all about road rage soon enough.

Yeah... soon enough...

Sorry to hear that the creeping crud made its way into your house.
May all that mess subside quickly.

So far, so good. Fevers are gone and DW and I haven't caught it yet...

and a happy New Year to you and yours.

Thanks! Same to you!

Subbing... hey Andy!

I'll be back to catch up.

Hi Tim!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Ok, I'm all caught up! And sorry you guys have the sickness going through your house. We had the same situation over the last month. Not fun. Hope it all clears up before you leave!

I really put the old Tetris skills to good use. This is what I ended up with.

Nice work!

Between you and me, 9pm was my real target departure time anyway.

Sssshhh! Don't give away our secrets!

At around 8:45, DW finally walks into the kitchen.



With 3 more bags.

In addition to what I’d already loaded.

“Well, I couldn’t pack the things I wasn’t done with yet.”


Then that wasn’t “everything,” was it??? [/CENTER]

Urge to kill...rising....

As it turns out, they chose that evening to hang some new road signs over the top of the interstate. As the highway crossed the bridge, traffic was being merged from 3 lanes down to 1. By the time we passed the road crew, that ETA display had changed from 11:00 am to 11:45 am. Nothing like being delayed 45 minutes before you even get a mile out of the state.

I can't believe they didn't clear this with your travel plans first.

We ended up rolling onto Disney property well after our target of “noonish”. It was closer to 2 pm. The kids were going absolutely batty from being trapped in the car for so long. I think MiL had gone loopy too because she was sitting behind me taking pictures of flowers and orange trees as we drove by.

Surely you were holding it together just fine, right?

I don’t have her camera, but I’d imagine she has approximately 400,000 pictures from our arrival day that are just green blurs.

The magic of digital photography!

All of a sudden the vehicle in front of me with the trailer slammed on the brakes and swerved into the left lane. By the time I could see why, I had to follow their evasive maneuver.


Some idiot stopped in the right lane and had his door open, standing in the middle of the road taking a picture.

I think we have our next candidate for the Darwin Awards.

Oh well, at least this means I’m on Disney property. I can’t be too mad. I just honked my horn as I drove past.

It would have been awesome to use one of those giant Mickey hands to tell him he's #1.

 

[afwdwfan]

Real life / Disneyland PTR update

My goal is to post our arrival at AoA later this week, but first I wanted to share a few details regarding our present situation.

First of all, thanks for the concerns about our health. As of right now, both of the kids appear to have recovered and DW and I have avoided catching it. Let's hope it stays this way.

In not so good news... I'm in some pain. We were actually packing some things for our California trip on New Year's Day. And I hurt my back folding laundry. That's right... I hurt myself folding laundry. I leaned across the bed to toss a sock in a laundry basket and I couldn't stand back up. Any chance I'll get out of having to help with laundry in the future?

Yeah, I didn't think so either.

Anyway, I was feeling better Saturday morning, but by Saturday night, if I sat down, I could barely stand back up. Yesterday was even worse than Saturday. I told DW I would call the Dr. today and see if I can get in. When I woke up it felt better, but I called anyway. It was a good thing, because after sitting at my desk at work for about an hour this morning I was miserable.

I was diagnosed with "probably just a strain, but if it isn't better next week, give us a call and we'll do an MRI to see if it is a herniated disc." He gave me a prescription for a steroid and a muscle relaxer. He asked if I wanted anything stronger than Tylenol for the pain. I'm stupid enough that I actually said no. I figured the other meds would help, and I can deal with the pain since it doesn't keep me awake at night once I get myself in a comfortable position.

It totally went over my head that we leave for California Saturday, so if this isn't better by next week, I'm screwed. I figure I'll give it a couple of days and see how things go and then call if I need to be seen again. I'm kind of thinking the pain killers might be a good thing to take him up on in case it would flare up while we're gone.

But right now... man... I can barely move. DD can take longer steps than I can, and I'm walking like I've got something shoved you know where. My left hip is starting to hurt, I assume from compensating for the altered range of motion caused by my back. I'm really hoping things improve by Saturday.

Anyway, in trip news. we received our Disneyland info from our TA. We apparently received an insulated Disneyland tote for booking with our Disney Visa Rewards card. I didn't know they did that, so it was a nice surprise when it came in the mail.

​

We also made a purchase for our upcoming trip. We figured that we'd like to have a stroller to help with mobility through airports and in San Diego and Disneyland. But we really didn't want to take our nice big City Mini Double stroller with us. For one, I'm not sure we'll have room for it in our rental, and for another thing, we'd hate to have that thing destroyed by airline personnel. Instead, DW found a Kolcraft umbrella stroller on Amazon for less than $30. I'll let you know how well it holds up after our trip, but it seems to be decent quality. And it is one of the few umbrella strollers that I've ever been able to push from a comfortable position. I'm 6'2" and with most of them it feels like I'm bending way over to push them. This one doesn't feel too much shorter than our double stroller.

Yes, we only have 1 stroller for 2 kids. But we'll be at the closest resort to the parks at DL, and neither kid wants to be in the stroller all the time anyway. DS was very good about walking with us at Disney World last month, so hopefully we can make this work relatively well.

Now, I have a couple of questions for DL vets and anyone who has gone to Southern California.

1. Is the San Diego zoo worth it? We considered going to the zoo when we arrive on Saturday, but I looked at their website and saw the prices. I was in shock. I mean, I've heard great things about it, but if we were just planning to spend 3 or 4 hours there, is it worth it???

2. EMH... I've read about the MM and EMH stuff at Disneyland and I've got myself confused. Since I'm staying on Disney property I will have EMH as I understand it. Now, unlike the MM for the 3 day ticket which is good for one morning only, EMH can be used every day we're there... right???

Ok, I will work on trying to get the next real update ready. Thanks!

 

[franandaj]

Real life / Disneyland PTR update

But right now... man... I can barely move. DD can take longer steps than I can, and I'm walking like I've got something shoved you know where. My left hip is starting to hurt, I assume from compensating for the altered range of motion caused by my back. I'm really hoping things improve by Saturday.

I'm so sorry to hear about your pain. That's awful. Have you ever considered seeing a Chiropractor? Or even getting a massage for the area in pain? I know these are "California" trearments, but both work wonders for me. Good idea to take him up on the pain pills. They work wonders for Fran.

Yes, we only have 1 stroller for 2 kids. But we'll be at the closest resort to the parks at DL, and neither kid wants to be in the stroller all the time anyway. DS was very good about walking with us at Disney World last month, so hopefully we can make this work relatively well.

Never had experiences with kids and strollers so I can't help you there, but smaller and more compact is always better. DL has much smaller passageways than MK or WDW anywhere for that matter. Those double wide strollers take up way too much space and the crowds at DL have been really bad this (well last) year.

1. Is the San Diego zoo worth it? We considered going to the zoo when we arrive on Saturday, but I looked at their website and saw the prices. I was in shock. I mean, I've heard great things about it, but if we were just planning to spend 3 or 4 hours there, is it worth it???

I can't give you an answer, but I will point you in a direction of where you can read someone else's report and form your own opinion. My good friend PrincessInOz (whom you may or may not have seen around these boards) took a trip to California in October. The first part of the trip began in San Diego County and she went to the zoo. Here is a link to her TR. Keep in mind that the quick link page, has three different trips from 2011, 2012, and 2014, so you have to scroll down fairly far to find the posts on her day at the zoo.

Quick Links on PrincessInOz's TR

2. EMH... I've read about the MM and EMH stuff at Disneyland and I've got myself confused. Since I'm staying on Disney property I will have EMH as I understand it. Now, unlike the MM for the 3 day ticket which is good for one morning only, EMH can be used every day we're there... right???

OK, now you've confused me! You have a 3 day ticket right? And you're spending more than 3 nights at the Grand? I believe that just by virtue of you staying at the Grand you have access to MM, whichever park it is at regardless of your ticket.

I have an AP, and rarely do we get out there in time for MM unless we're using points to stay on property, so I'm not as familiar with it, but hotel guests have access. Some people check in at 7AM knowing the room won't be ready, but so that they can show their keys and get into the park for MM.

 

[jedijill]

Ouch! I agree with Alison...get thee to a chiro and/or acupuncture. Worth every penny! The chiro got me back on my feet super fast after my car accident. I could barely move from the whiplash.

I would skip the zoo if you only have 3-4 hours. Its huge and its all hills. I think its too expensive for a short time.

I believe you get EMH everyday as a resort guest but don't quote me on it.

Jill in CO

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm glad to hear the kiddies are better and you guys didn't catch it, but ... ouch. I actually winced just reading about your back. Sounds like you're in a lot of pain

Take it easy and try not to aggravate your back further. Hopefully you'll be feeling better by Saturday. But yeah, pain meds from the doc might be a good idea ... just in case.

That Disneyland bag is awesome! Are those your tickets? They're super cute! (Last time we went it was Cars characters on the tickets, but those are cuter).

If I remember correctly, there's less space in a lot of places at Disneyland, so having a smaller stroller will definitely help.

I've never done the San Diego zoo (the only thing we did in San Diego was SeaWorld) and never stayed on property at DL, so I can't help you there.

I hope your back miraculously recovers soon!

 

[natebenma]

We stayed at the GCH in July- as a resort guest you get the extra hour at one of the parks each day.

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday- CA
Tues, Thurs, Sat- DL

if it hasn't changed.

Hope your back feels better SOON!

 

[ursalita]

Ugh. Back problems are the worst. The last time I had an issue my doctor prescribed muscle relaxers and naproxen sodium (OTC Aleve). I keep it around for flareups and follow the instructions on the label. Works great.

It's too bad they don't make fold up Sit and Stands. That stroller got me through those years when the older one can walk well but still wants to sit down now and then. Then we moved on to the umbrella stroller - I absolutely loved that thing, I think it was a MacClaren. I actually went through 2 after I ran the first one over with my car. Thank goodness the boys were already strapped into their car seats.

If worse comes to worse and the older one needs a stroller you can always rent one. We had to do that for our then 4 year old at HS last year. He was super tired and cranky but didn't want to ride in a stroller because "it's for babies!" Then DH said the best line of the trip: "It's not a stroller, it's a kid car." After that they were both fighting over it.

 

[Dugette]

Looks like a nice find on the stroller! Seems to have a pretty big sunshade for an umbrella stroller too. And, with your back pain, it may help you out - I'm thinking by pushing it, as a walker of sorts - but if worse comes to worse, maybe you could get a ride? I kid, but DH has a lot of back/hip pain issues and he actually does find that pushing the stroller helps him when it flares up.

Glad to hear that the kids are feeling better and you and your wife stayed healthy through things. Just hope you're not in pain by the time you leave.

I think I went to the San Diego Zoo like 22 years ago, so I don't remember much - I know I always hear that it's a good zoo. I know some zoos have reciprocity type things for admission, if you have a pass to another zoo - I have no idea if they do there or if you have any other pass, but just throwing it out there. And, if you are still having back pain, that probably makes your decision right there to skip the zoo with all that extra walking.

I haven't looked closely enough at DL to know about the early entry details, but sounds like there are others who know - I'm taking notes too, in case we make it there sometime this year.

Feel better! (and/or get those painkillers!)

 

[ashw100]

I am so sorry about your back. I second the suggestion to see a chiropractor. I was terrified to go to one but nothing except painkillers worked to get rid of the pain. One trip there and felt like a million bucks. You may need other adjustments but it should help for the time that your gone.

I used to live in SoCal (a very, very long time ago) and at the time San Diego zoo was one of the best and definitely worth it if you can. Its not many places you can see a Panda but I am biased they're my favorite animal.

 

[KatMark]

I'm so glad the kids are better and that you and DW haven't caught their illness and hope it stays that way.

Andy, I'm so sorry to hear about your back. I would try a chiropractor as well and definitely get those pain pills. I would still make you do laundry though.

I can't help on the questions about San Diego Zoo and DL as we've never been. I've heard great things about the San Diego Zoo, but if it's only a couple hours, not sure it's worth it.