[dznygrl]

Yay, I am finally getting started!

The Cast:
Kim ~ 19 ~ the bride (dznygrl)
Ryan ~ 19 ~ the groom (dznygrl's_guy)
Judi ~ 40-something ~ bride's mom
Guy ~ 40-something ~ bride's dad
Michelle (aka Mia) ~ 11 ~ bride's little sister
Melissa ~ 20 ~ best friend of the bride & groom

Dates: May 11-17, 2004

Here goes nothing!!

[dznygrl]

May 11 ~ Day One ~ Traveling

Like every other Disney trip, I could NOT sleep the night before! (This one may have even been the worst of them all.) To help prevent this, I took what I *thought* was a double dose of my prescription sedative. However, I read the bottle wrong...it ended up being a quadruple dose!

Melissa spent the night with me, and she said that I was the most hilarious thing she had ever seen after I took that quadruple sedative dose! I vaguely remember some of it. I know I was babbling incessantly about nothing, and I kept rolling off the bed and laughing hysterically!

Not surprisingly, I felt quite foggy when I woke up only 5 hours after falling asleep! But with all that I'm-going-to-Disney energy coursing through my veins, I was wide awake in no time.

Ryan was on shift at the fire station until 6 AM, and he raced to my apartment as soon as he got off. Ryan, Melissa & I were all piled into the car with our stuff and on the road by 6:20 AM! Disney, here we come!!!

It took us a good 16 hours to drive from Keizer, Oregon, to Anaheim, California. We arrived at about 10 or 10:30 PM. The funniest thing about our trip down was the fact that our bladders were definitely NOT synchronized! We stopped at rest stops almost every 60 miles! When two of us didn't have to go, the third one always did...LOL.

For the first two nights, we were staying at the Ramada Limited Suites with my parents. (They and my little sis had gone down a couple of days earlier to enjoy Disneyland together.) We had 2 suites...one for the guys, and one for the girls. When we got there, Michelle was already sacked out and dead asleep in the girls' room. I snapped a picture because I thought it was too precious!

We all pretty much went straight to bed. After all, the 3 teens and one preteen had a big day ahead of us at Six Flags Magic Mountain! My parents were happy to be getting a day off from Michelle, hehe. They intended to RELAX!

More soon, including pictures...

[JM0318]

More more more I can hardly wait....

[dznygrl]

May 12 ~ Day Two ~ Six Flags Magic Mountain

So the morning of the 12th, time to rise and shine and hit those roller coasters!!! I have to admit, this is one of my fortes. I LOVE big roller coasters! (Same with Melissa.) The scarier, the better.

However, Mia & Ryan had never been on big coasters...especially the world-record-breaking variety that you find at Magic Mountain. It was obvious they were both a little nervous. Okay, make that A LOT nervous!

The drive from the hotel to Six Flags seemed to take FOR-EVER. In reality, it took about an hour and fifteen minutes, but I felt like I was going to die because I was so excited!!

We arrived at the park just before opening, and the lines in front of the gates were NOT BAD AT ALL! Yay! I was hoping it would be smooth sailing, since we were hitting the park on a weekday in May. Sure enough, it was awesome.

As a tradition, I like to ride a certain ride "first" no matter how many times I come back to a park. Melissa and I wanted our first ride to be our favorite, "Goliath." HOWEVER...that was a big NEGATIVE coming from the rookies, LOL. It was something about the steep 255-ft. drop into an underground tunnel and the 85 MPH that was keeping them away.

Sooo...I let Ryan pick the first ride. He picked what he thought was one of the tamest rides in the park, the white wooden coaster "Colossus." Nyeh nyeh nyeh! (My evil laugh.) Poor boy didn't know that the "innocent" coaster goes over 60 MPH! As soon as the cars started moving, he looked like he was about to throw up. But as soon as the ride finished, he turned to me with these huge wide eyes and exclaimed, "Can we do it again??"

HOORAY! I hooked someone else on roller coasters for life!

Unfortunately, Mia & Ryan would STILL not go on Goliath, and they were sticking to their guns on that issue! I was so bummed. We even managed to get them on Batman (a suspended coaster with multiple loops) and Riddler's Revenge (a STANDING coaster with multiple loops!) before ever getting them on Goliath!

I was very happy, because both Mia & Ryan were thrilled with the coasters so far. I was afraid that one of them was going to be the resident chicken all day long, and would have to sit out on everything.

About midday, we hit a ride that was new to all of us (even Melissa and I)..."Deja Vu." It's a suspended coaster, so your feet are dangling, and it pulls you up somewhere around 200 ft., then launches you through loops and twists, and then does it all BACKWARD!!! All of us were standing in line watching this thing with dropped jaws. When we got on it, every one of us screamed our lungs out the entire time, and I took a hysterical picture of Melissa and Mia after the ride...their hair looked very similar to Einstein! Without a doubt, my favorite ride of the day.

We had lunch at Wascal's...chewy chicken fingers...not so great...and then decided to take a break to let our food settle. It was during this time that Ryan and I headed over to Guest Relations and upgraded our one-day passes to Season Passes!!! YIPPEE!!! Both of us were incredibly excited about that.

After our food had settled, we hit almost every other coaster in the park...save for I think 3. By the time we rode "Scream" (another new one to all of us), most of us were done for. We all had headaches, aching backs, you name it. We went from 19 to 90 in one day! No surprise, though, if you consider what we were doing to our poor little bodies...LOL. We bought the pictures of ourselves on Scream, because it was hilarious! I hope to be able to scan one of the pics eventually.

We took a break for Dippin' Dots (yummy) then *attempted* to ride a couple more things. The word *attempted* is definitely key! We were all moaning and groaning by that point. Time to call it a day!

I was elected to drive back to the hotel, so I took the entire sleepy posse back to the Ramada. We were all sore and starved! Found a Del Taco in the phone book, and we drove down there to pig out on cheap Mexican food!

After that, it was a quick drive down Harbor Blvd., just to see what was nearby...and then back to the hotel for BED!

The biggest day is tomorrow--the wedding day, and California Adventure!!!!

[dznygrl]

May 13 ~ Day Three ~ The Wedding!

On the most important day of my life, I snapped awake at 5:30 AM and couldn't possibly go back to sleep!

So instead, I tiptoed around the hotel room and got dressed, and decided to head outside to take some pictures of our hotel. I snapped some pictures, wandered around the parking lot, and then went into the breakfast room and enjoyed some blueberry muffins while I watched TV. As of yet, I was the only one awake in the entire hotel! LOL. So I had the whole room to myself. The weather channel predicted a high of 83 degrees. PERFECT weather for my wedding day!

By the time I went back up to the hotel room, Mom was up and getting ready, but Melissa and Michelle were still dead asleep. I decided that (as the bride) I should probably start getting ready ASAP. Lots to get done!

I showered, got all snazzed up in my dress, blow-dried my hair, applied a little makeup (not a makeup person, but I figured for my wedding day I could at least give it a shot...) and by the time I was done, the rest of the girls were finally up and getting ready too.

We wanted to leave the hotel by 8 o'clock. This should have been enough time to find the courthouse, have the ceremony, and get back in time for our 11 o'clock PS at Goofy's Kitchen.

All I can say to that is......BAH!

Ryan and I had Map-Quested the courthouse before we ever left Oregon. Unfortunately, that map never left the state *with* us! Not only did we find out at about 7:40 that the guys were still not awake, but by the time they were ready to go, we still had NO IDEA where we were going!!!

My mom finally got ahold of someone at the courthouse (which was quite a tough thing to do!) and they gave her directions. Whoohoo! We were off!

First stop for the girls...Collins Flowers, a nice florist shop almost directly across the street from our hotel. Picked up a pretty red rose boutenneire (I have no idea how to spell that) for Ryan, and a bouquet of a dozen various-color roses for me. Then we followed the directions from the nice person at the courthouse, and should have been there within half an hour...

Almost an hour later, someone (I think it was Ryan) realized we were headed North on I-5! Uhhhhh....sorry, but when you're in ANAHEIM, you don't head North to try to get to a courthouse in SANTA ANA!!!! The stupid person at the courthouse must have been a complete idiot. Even *I* knew that Santa Ana was SOUTH of Anaheim!!!!! By that time, we had to run back to the Ramada and check out of one of our suites so that we didn't get charged for it. (Ryan and I were moving to a different hotel that night, and Melissa was flying back home...)

So...as it turns out, we didn't even arrive at the courthouse until 11 o'clock! (So much for our PS.)

It took only a couple of minutes to fill out the paperwork and then go over it with the secretary. It was then time for the ceremony! In fact, the whole thing happened so fast I was in shock. I barely remember details!

What I do know is, I was ecstatic and so was Ryan. I think both of us were grinning crazily the entire time.

We were ushered into a beautiful little room with a bench, a podium, flower-covered trellis, and some framed pictures on the walls. It was A LOT nicer than I expected! (We were just expecting a plain ol' office or something.) The Justice of the Peace who was performing our ceremony was named Ivonne. She was sweet, and we liked her immediately.

BOY, if you thought Ryan and I were grinning like idiots BEFORE the ceremony...you should have seen us DURING!!

I bet money that none of you have ever heard vows like ours, that's for sure! Instead of "I Do," Ryan said, "Yeah!" and then looked embarrassed. It was so funny! But I made it even worse when I replied, "Uh-huh" (or something totally retarded sounding.) We were both just gazing into each other's eyes and beaming, and I don't think a single shred of intelligence was filling either of our brains! LOL.

We arrived at the courthouse at 11, and were married by 11:35!!!! There was tons of picture-taking after the ceremony, including a lot of pictures we took outside of the courthouse in the bright sunshine.

Then it was on to Goofy's Kitchen! Hopefully we could get a seat even though we missed our PS...

No problem! We were ushered to a table only minutes after arriving, and I can say without a doubt that this was the BEST meal of my LIFE!!! I have never, EVER been beaming so big the entire time! It was the combination of being a newlywed all of a sudden, getting pictures with all the Disney characters, being absolutely surrounded by Disney Magic, and being there will all of my family & best friend...it was MAGIC at its best!

Some of the highlights of the meal:
1) When we first came in, they wanted us to have our picture taken with Pluto. I was still in my wedding dress and carrying my bouquet, and Pluto got down on one knee! It was hilarious.
2) Captain Hook acted like he was going to kiss my hand, and then tried to steal my wedding ring instead!
3) The whole staff sang "Happy Wedding Day" to us, and brought us a chocolate Mickey Mouse cupcake.
4) Goofy made us cut the cupcake together and then feed it to each other while he supervised! (However, he quickly ran away when we threatened to "feed" it to him! ;))
5) Goofy started doing the Macarena to a jazzed-up version of "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room" and there were actual Disney videographers there, shooting for a promotional video or something! We all got up and danced with him...and who knows? We might see ourselves in a video!

After Goofy's Kitchen, we all went back to the Ramada to change and head for California Adventure!

However, we got a little sidetracked when my sister decided it would be fun to suck the helium from the balloons we got at Goofy's Kitchen and then say things for the video camera. OMG! I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my life! I sucked a huge lungful of helium and then sang Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, and I think the entire group was in tears!! My dad got it all on video, too. I can't wait to watch it. Just a word of warning: don't try to do as much as I did! I sucked so much helium, I got light-headed and really nauseous for a few minutes. That was the end of that!

My dad was staying behind at the hotel because his knees were hurting him from the last few days at Disneyland. So it was the five of us: Mom, Michelle, me, Ryan & Melissa all headed for California Adventure! We went out to get in my car...and found that my sister had used a glass marker to write "Just Married" on the back windshield! (Plus some hearts and stuff around the side windows.)

Of course, none of us THOUGHT before we got in the car...We assumed that since my mom had the longest legs, and my car is a coupe, it would be polite for us girls to squeeze into the back and let my mom have the front passenger seat. BIG MISTAKE!

All the way to Disneyland, people were honking or waving or just plain STARING at the car. And of course, they thought that MY MOM and Ryan were the happy bride and groom!!!!!! LOL! I was so mortified...not to mention how Ryan and my mother felt! I think Ryan stepped on the gas a *little* too fast all the way to the Disney parking garage, while we were all in stitches in the backseat!

Once that horrible embarrassment was over with, it was time to meet a new DC friend! YAY! We were supposed to be meeting Kristy (yesimaprncess) at the Tower of Terror at 3 o'clock, and we had made it just on time!

One little glitch in our plan...Ryan and I were supposed to be wearing the bride and groom ears, but they were sold out of the bride ears! We didn't have a clue how to recognize Kristy, so we kinda hung around the ToT Fastpass area for a while, wondering how on earth we were going to find her!

A little after 3, I saw a girl just across the way get on her cell phone and make a call. That's when I realized, "I left my cell phone in the hotel room! I wonder if that's Kristy trying to call me!!!"

So, on a hunch, I walked over to the girl and her group and said..."I'm looking for a Kristy...?"

Kristy's hand shot up in the air! HOORAY! I found her!!! Time for a hug and introductions all around.

Our groups decided to ride the ToT together, so we hopped in line. (Even though the wait was up to 45 minutes I think!) While we were waiting in line and chatting, we found out that it really is a Small World After All! Turns out, my mom works with Kristy's sister, Kristy's cousin is going to be attending the same school as Melissa, we all live within driving distance of each other, and much more! My head was spinning, but it was so great! I really, really, REALLY enjoyed meeting Kristy and her relatives. It was another incredible highlight of the day!

The ride was AWESOME. Still not the WDW version, of course, but excellent in its own way. I loved it!!! (And so did everyone else.) Kristy was SO THOUGHTFUL: she bought pictures for both my mom and I! I was so excited...and it is safely in my wedding/honeymoon scrapbook as we speak!

After the ride, we all took pictures together...of course, that is the ONE roll of my film that didn't get developed yet, so I don't have the proper pics. But I've got one of several of our "groups" in the elevator on the ToT, so I will attach that one below. :)

We separated after taking pictures, but I'm sure we'll see each other a lot in the future! After all, we live in the same area of Oregon! (And as it was, some of us spotted each other later in the week...)

Our tour of California Adventure was a whirlwind one for the rest of the day. Melissa had to catch a flight back to Oregon later that evening (for FINALS on Friday--blecch! I don't envy her!) so we were trying to make the most of fastpasses and short lines. We managed to hit Grizzly River Run, Soarin' Over California & California Screamin', and then hop over to Disneyland Park and use fastpasses on Indiana Jones. (My mom had been kind enough to run get the FPs for us while we waited in line for Soarin'. Thanks Mom!! )

Then we had to walk Melissa out to the Lion King parking lot, where my dad was going to pick her up and take her to the airport. Waaaaa!!!! I was sad to see her go, but very glad that she got to be there for the wedding!

California Adventure was closing by that time (early closing at 6--I HATE IT!) and Ryan and I needed to go check in to our new hotel. So we went back to the Ramada and gathered up our stuff...and took my little sister with us when we checked in to Desert Palm Hotel & Suites. I stayed here as a child, but it has since been COMPLETELY redone--I mean, the building isn't even remotely close to the way it was! It's a very nice hotel, though. Beautiful, and certainly a bargain at only $65 per night!

The first room we checked into was what we originally paid for...a King suite. However, when we walked into the room, it was VERY apparent that the construction was not completed on the hotel. The room absolutely REEKED of paint, and our lovely view out of our sliding glass door was an unfinished terrace littered with construction supplies. Just lovely...

I didn't want to be a pain, but honest-to-goodness, in the few minutes we walked around that room, I got a SPLITTING headache from the paint smell!

So...back down to the lobby we went, where I sweetly asked if they had another room that hadn't been painted so recently. The guy was very nice, helpful and apologetic. Brownie points for him!

But much to our dismay...(NOT!)...they didn't have any more King suites available, so they were going to have to upgrade us to the Borrego Suite, which had 2 Queen beds, a city view and sunken living room! DARN!!!!!

I couldn't BELIEVE our luck! The room was GORGEOUS, and we were still only paying $65 per night! We absolutely fell in love with that room over the course of the next few days. I wish I could afford to stay in that suite every time, because I could seriously LIVE there!

After settling in a bit, we thought about going for a swim in the hotel pool. (Luckily, Mia had brought her bathing suit.) But when we got down to the pool, it was PACKED with people! Didn't look too appealing, so we skipped it and went to dinner at Del Taco instead.

And yes, if you're wondering, we ate at Del Taco almost every night of our trip! LOL! Sounds disgusting, but we couldn't beat the fact that each of us could eat for less than $5, with food left over!

After dinner we took Mia back to the Ramada, chatted with my parents for a little bit, and then went back to the Desert Palm. I majorly needed a bathroom break, so wouldn't it figure...our keys didn't work! I was practically dancing while Ryan had to race back down to the front desk to get both of our keys re-programmed. Ahhh! Finally, relief!

We didn't stay long, because I realized I hadn't brought any bubble bath...and DARN IT, I wanted a bubble bath!!!! LOL. We located a Walgreen's, where I bought my precious bubble bath...and then went back to the hotel for the night.

That's the end of that day!!! WHEW, WHAT A DAY!!! The best day of my life.

[rlander]

Hey Poly Hula Queen!!! Congratulations!!! Wow...your trip and wedding came together perfectly.
Ryan is a lucky guy. You are a very pretty girl.

[Dana]

Congrats to you and Ryan. The report and the pictures were great. Thanks for posting them.

[mickaholic4077]

I'm so happy that everything went great,Kim!!! When are you guys coming to Disney World?

[sandanv1]

What a beautiful couple you make. Congrats again.

[dznygrl]

Thanks everyone! I'm blushing. Hehe.

Mick, I don't know when we are coming to Disney World...:glaring: Still trying to work that out. After how much we enjoyed DLP and DCA, we are seriously considering going back to our original plan of moving to California. (We think that the plus side of this would be that we can still vacation in WDW and have something to look forward to!) :) We'll see what happens money-wise and everything.

There's more trip report coming...I just have to get into gear and do it! :) Plus more pics! Yay!

[tigger]

Congratulation to the both of you. Sounds and looks like you had a great wedding. I wish you both a magical life together!

(By the way what ever happened to Ryan's Jeep! As a fellow Jeep owner I'm very concerned when one goes missing )

[dznygrl]

Originally Posted by tigger

(By the way what ever happened to Ryan's Jeep! As a fellow Jeep owner I'm very concerned when one goes missing )

LOL...could have been worse, but definitely could have been better!

The good news? They found the Jeep only an hour after I reported it!
The bad news? Whoever stole it parked the Jeep illegally, so the police impounded it! (That's how they found it.)

Now in order to get it back, we have to pay the impound fees!!

[tigger]

Originally Posted by dznygrl

LOL...could have been worse, but definitely could have been better!

The good news? They found the Jeep only an hour after I reported it!
The bad news? Whoever stole it parked the Jeep illegally, so the police impounded it! (That's how they found it.)

Now in order to get it back, we have to pay the impound fees!!

Good to hear you found it and so quickly! Sorry you are being victimized twice I guess paying the impound fee could be seen as paying a finders fee .

[Cinderellafifi]

OMGosh, congratulations!!! The pictures are great!!!

Sorry about the fees

Wishing you much happiness!!

[Jacki]

Hey there little Mrs.
I just LOVE reading your report and seeing your pictures you and the Mr. make a BEAUTIFUL couple, you look absolutely stunning in you picture. (just enough make-up)
keep up with the trip reports and moooooooore pictures please!!!!!

Congrats again to you both!!!!


TTFN, Jacki