[The Goof Father]

At long last, I can add a trip report to the vast experiences shared here at Disney Central! I have been looking forwards to a holiday DL trip for quite some time and it finally has come to pass… I will try and finish this up over the next couple days, so join me and my family in our Disneyland trip!

Let me introduce you to the troop! There is my lovely wife Jenny. Cheyenne is our DD9. Gabriel is our DS7. Last but not least, we have Jillian our DD2. So we have a great group of adventurers on our trip!

We brought along some stuffed companions. Gabriel had Pluto, Cheyenne had Thumper and Jillian had Bambi. But, I have to admit, Jillian pretty much took whichever one she wanted at the moment as her own! Two year olds… Sheesh!

Also to help us with our pin trading, we brought about 30 cheap pins from EBay to help us enjoy our pin trading distraction. We had a goal to get as many cool Cast Lanyard Pins as possible!

[dhoughton]

Originally Posted by The Goof Father

At long last, I can add a trip report to the vast experiences shared here at Disney Central! I have been looking forwards to a holiday DL trip for quite some time and it finally has come to pass… I will try and finish this up over the next couple days, so join me and my family in our Disneyland trip!

Let me introduce you to the troop! There is my lovely wife Jenny. Cheyenne is our DD9. Gabriel is our DS7. Last but not least, we have Jillian our DD2. So we have a great group of adventurers on our trip!

We brought along some stuffed companions. Gabriel had Pluto, Cheyenne had Thumper and Jillian had Bambi. But, I have to admit, Jillian pretty much took whichever one she wanted at the moment as her own! Two year olds… Sheesh!

Also to help us with our pin trading, we brought about 30 cheap pins from EBay to help us enjoy our pin trading distraction. We had a goal to get as many cool Cast Lanyard Pins as possible!

Looking forward to reading this Don Goofy...don't leave anything out--especially details on the pin trading! No pressure now.....how long are we going to wait??....is it ready yet??
Good to see you back!!

[Baloo85]

great to hear goof father...great idea about the pin thing from ebay...I'll have to try that someday. btw...jillian is a great name;)...right Pj?

[The Goof Father]

12/4 Day One - SUNDAY

We had a very early flight out of Portland, which meant we would need to give the kids a rest as soon as we arrived at the Paradise Pier. This is the first time for the kids to fly, so I had to give up the window seat. Harumph! I love flying, I am such a little kid about it, because I pretty much stare out the window the whole time. Look at that! Lookit! Wow! See that? Awesome…

We had lunch at Red Robin and picked up a few things at Target… Seems like I have done this before, back at home… Hmmmm? At least we didn't go to Bed Bath and Beyond...

Anyways, back to the fun… Our first order of business was to get the kids rested after the early morning wake up. The problem being that check in time is 3pm, but it was only noon at that time. As I stood in line at the front counter, EVERY person in front of me was told that their room was not ready and to come back at 3pm. I got ready to shmooze and maybe even beg for a room. I batted my lashes. I showed some leg. I dropped a sob story or two. I GOT THE ROOM! I must have gotten a Fast Pass for the room and didn’t even know it!

Later, after naps we decided that we should hit the park. We planned mostly to saunter through DL and take in the sights and a few pictures. As it was Sunday evening in December, the park was pretty crowded, just as I expected.

The Candlelight Processional was going on too, so I am sure that added to the crowds! We witnessed some of it from afar and it was beautiful!

We also began a debate amongst the whole family, what ride should we do first. Gabriel wanted Indiana Jones, since he was finally tall enough to ride. Cheyenne wanted Space Mtn and Buzz, since she had never done those before. I wanted Splash Mtn. My wife and little Jilly were more in favor of Small World. After much wrangling it was Buzz Lightyear that we chose to ride. And it was a great ride!

After that ride we wandered the park looking at all of the wonderful lights. We spent some time in Toon Town enjoying the atmosphere and shops.

We left the park well before closing, so that we could rest up our kiddos for the early opening Monday.

But I had to come back to the park alone… I needed to get my annual passport photo taken, but the City Hall was closed due to the Candlelight Processional. When it reopened there was a loooooong line. Uh, no thanks. I got a waiver so that I could take care of the AP the next day. So now with some free time, I decided to go buy everyone a lanyard for pin trading and a few pins we had seen earlier in the day.

It was also a little bit windy, so I figured that the Fireworks and Fantasmic may be called off. I happened to follow a DL fireman and he released a balloon that further proved my suspicion of the winds being stronger at higher altitudes. While hordes of people were distracted by the events that were likely to be cancelled I squeezed in Splash Mtn and Haunted Mansion.

I scurried back to the hotel room and called it a night... Everyone else was already asleep!

[The Goof Father]

The gang all posing on the fire truck in Toon Town.

I think I had to shoo away a half dozen kids who kept climbing on the truck before I could snap that photo!

[The Goof Father]

Here is my little Jilly calling the Toon Town Police on me for not getting her more candy!

[dhoughton]

Love the picture! Love the "go ride on Splash while everyone's distracted"! Love to hear more......

[The Goof Father]

Here are the girls hanging out in Minnie's House!

[The Goof Father]

Here is my worst nightmare coming to pass. A 2 year old who acts like a teen ager too! Jillian kept covering her face when I wanted to take a picture of her!

I snapped this one anyways! It was soooo cute as her and Thumper ate, but when I pointed the camera at her she had to turn away...

[The Goof Father]

Gabriel and Cheyenne chat with Santa's better half! They talked for a long time about all kinds of funny stuff. They asked her about the reindeer, what she makes for Santa's dinners and whether she liked it better at DL than the North Pole...

[The Goof Father]

Originally Posted by dhoughton

Looking forward to reading this Don Goofy...don't leave anything out--especially details on the pin trading! No pressure now.....how long are we going to wait??....is it ready yet??
Good to see you back!!

I am working on it! And I have been pondering how to tell about the pin trading, because we came back with at least 30 Cast Lanyard Pins.

There are a few spots that seemed to be better than others for getting some of the Cast Lanyard Pins... So I will need to share them!!!

[The Goof Father]

Originally Posted by Baloo85

great to hear goof father...great idea about the pin thing from ebay...I'll have to try that someday. btw...jillian is a great name;)...right Pj?

It is the best way to trade! You get lots of pins for cheap, because at $6.95 while at the park for some of the cheaper pins you can spend a lot really fast (we did that in 2004). This time around I spent about $2 per pin.

And thanks, we love Jillian's name too! We call her Jilly quite a bit too... My wife and I like to pick names are that are not too common, but are still very nice names...

[The Goof Father]

Originally Posted by dhoughton

Love the picture! Love the "go ride on Splash while everyone's distracted"! Love to hear more......

It was fun, I wish everyone was with me, but hey I am in DL, so I had better ride Splash!

[Ready2Go]

Glad to see ya'll had a great time.....Welcome Back.......now more pictures please......

[dznygrl]

Oh, this is the first dose of TR I've had in so long! I love it! More, more!!!

Amazing that I can be so excited about a DL TR even though I'm there every day! That's truly Disney Magic!