Dedication

I really need to force myself to sit down a few times a week and actually write something. I know, no one really reads this, but I like to believe someone wants to hear what I have to say. And hey it gives me something to do!

2 days left

So we're down to the wire. Suitcases are packed, tickets are in hand, APs are in my wallet, electronics are charging. Now, hurry up and wait! The last couple days before a trip are always the hardest. I'm running out of stuff to keep me busy! The pre-vacation crazies are starting to set in.

There still are a handful of things I haven't settled on I suppose. I'm still on the fence about doing another guided tour. I do need to return a few things to the library as well. That is something I have forgotten about before, and its hard to ask your house-sitter to return your overdue books. But I think the one thing that has been decided for us is this, we are spending an entire week almost exclusively at Disneyland! I know, many of you are thinking, how in the heck could you spend and ENTIRE week there, its so small. Well, you would be surprised. One, its off season so crowds are lower and so are wait times. Two, I'm on a mission to take some more interesting pictures this trip, so I can spend an entire day hunting for neat shots.

To anyone who says that once you've seen Disney you don't need to go back, it never changes, well, I'm setting out to disprove that. The parks are an ever changing entity, and with all the recent construction (on both coasts) I cannot wait to compare pictures from my last several trips with the new ones I will have from this trip. And, if anyone has any suggestions for neat, funny, witty, interesting shots, please let me know!

Guided Tours at Disneyland

Since we did the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour with our friend Kim this summer, I have been toying around with the idea of taking it again with my friend Kelly next week. I absolutely loved the tour. Not much of the information was new to me, I read too much, but both my mom and Kim were delighted by it. I will admit, had our tour guide not been so engaging, I'm not sure I would feel the same.

We had a small group, albeit an odd group. Actually I don't think odd even begins to describe the dynamic, but I digress. I absolutely loved the interaction and level of interest the tour guide maintained through the entire tour. For those of us thoroughly engrossed in the history and essential "Walt-ness" of Disneyland, I think that the tour shouldn't be a disappointment.

I think for me, the highlights of the tour were the audio tid-bits we were afforded by the use of headsets. It was neat to walk down Mainstreet and see what Walt saw and hear his voice. It just added a little extra magic to an already magical place for me. Then to move on and meet "Ophelia" was another high point. Getting up close and personal with an animatronic flower is a fun experience for anyone interested in the "how does it work" side of some of the classic attractions.

All-in-all, I think there will be another Walk in Walt's Footsteps in my near future. If not by a paid guided tour, at least I can pretend. I still believe you walk in his footsteps everytime you pass through the turnstiles. "To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land."

Listening is a practised skill

Ignorance and unsolicited advice! I hate when you ask a question and instead of someone actually answering the actual question I ask, all I get is someone's opinion of what they think I really wanted to hear! If I wanted to hear about the horrible experience you had because you're a big whiner who uses your shortcomings as an excuse as to why no one likes you or were treated unfairly, I totally would have asked! Ugg! So just a piece of advice for the new year friends, when someone asks you an honest question, think long and hard about the actual words used in said question and answer appropriately.

January 2010 PTR

A friend yesterday told me I should write a travel book. I laughed. Of course I laughed, I mean really, me, write a book? Then I thought, ok maybe I could. I am so very blessed to have family and friends who are willing to support my craziness and encourage me to use my craziness for potential moderate financial gain. My mom told me to use my blog more, and my dear friend told me she'd technologically stalk me to keep me productive and motivated. So here it goes. So far nothing exciting just some trip details and observations....we see where this all goes-

Upcoming Trip Disneyland and Southern CA January 23-29. The travelers this time are my mom and myself, and my friend Kelly (same one who thinks I should write a book) will be joining us midweek. When we bought our DL annual passes this fall I knew I got some pretty hefty discounts, at least by Disney standards, on property, but I didn't realize I could get some off property as well. Thank you social media! Hojo Anaheim is currently running some amazing AP room specials and I snagged one up. I'm hoping we are not disappointed! From HoJo's website and trip advisor, this looks like the nicest Howard Johnson hotel in existence.

Granted it will be late January while we are there, I am hoping to be able to try their pirate themed water playground/pool complex. Who doesn't like pirates? Even if its to cold for water park fun, there is a nice hot tub and promises of a new deluxe hot tub/spa (I know it is talked about in their YouTube video about the pool complex. Yes, the HoJo Anaheim has a YouTube channel! Its great use of social media and gets you really excited to visit their property.) A hot tub is great any time of the year.

Because of the great AP rate I found, we were able to reserve a premium, Disneyland view room. I hope this does not disappoint. This particular hotel also offers a few amenities I appreciate, refrigerator, microwave, balcony, FREE Wi-fi, and the best of all...Keurig coffee makers in the rooms. I can finally have good coffee in our hotel room, and not just in the park! Oh, how I long for a cup of coffee in our "coffee spot" on Mainstreet USA....

T-minus 1 week and counting

So we are down to the wire for the BIG road trip....I'm starting to have my pre-vacation jitters. There's not much left to do, but I still feel like I'm missing something. I've been working on packing, still too much crap. Need to clean out the cooler and start picking up snacks for the road. But despite all the "other" stuff that's still needing to be done, all I can think of is, OMG we're going to be in Disneyland in a week! I know my dad asked if we ever thought of vacationing anywhere else, of course, its not like we're skipping out on seeing southern California. I just thoroughly enjoy Disneyland, what's wrong with that?

So I guess that leads to the BIG decisions, like, what to snack on first, what ride to go on first, what characters to see, what type of photos will I take this time? Who knew it could be so complicated, ;)

Humanity Parade

A good friend on mine is a flight attendant, and that said, she sees some what I shall refer to as "interesting" people in her travels. I love her insights into humanity. She posted a photo album last week that reminded me of the photos Lilo took of tourists in "Lilo and Stitch". It was entertaining and enlightening. I also like to people watch. I do it a lot. However, now I think I will do it with camera in hand. I was looking for a photo theme for our upcoming trip and I think, thanks to K, I will focus my photo taking on painting a portrait of the hoards of Disney tourists in their humanity parade.

For the past few years we have developed a routine in the park. We get there fairly early, get a cup of coffee on Mainstreet and camp out for a morning people safari and then repeat mid afternoon, and at park closing. You see some of the same people and I am fascinated by their daily change in appearance and demeanor. The typical theme park visiting family is ill-prepared for the day to day hustle and bustle of the American family vacation. No one has a plan, and there is no pre-trip training, amateurs. This year I will make it my mission to dutifully photo document this "Humanity Parade".