So Cal trip - Day 4

(Is this trip report getting old yet?)

Ok, so back to the fun.




The plan was for us to sleep in a little on Monday morning since we spent a long day at Disneyland the day before. Tillie slept over with my sister Laurie at the Fairfield and they planned to go to Disneyland early and meet us around 11:00. Only one problem with that plan - we forgot to leave Tillie's park hopper pass with them.

So, on Monday morning we got up early with Isaak and Jonah and headed off to Disneyland. It was a bit rainy outside, but I assured Wendy that it was just the marine layer and it would be warmer inland. Oops. I was wrong.


We met Tillie and Laurie in the Fairfield parking lot and headed over to the parks. The other families were taking the day off from the parks and my parents would meet us later.


I have to admit that I like rainy days at Disneyland, especially if it is just a light rain as it keeps the crowds small. Lucky for us, it only rained for a couple of hours (off and on) while we went to the rides in Fantasyland (Peter Pan, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Dumbo, Snow White) before going over to the Matterhorn. Isaak got freaked out a couple of years ago by the Matterhorn, more specifically the Abominable Snowman and his red eyes, so he was a little worried. He loved it and the worries were gone. In fact, he kept asking to go back to the Matterhorn during the trip.


We met up with my parents right before lunch and ended up eating at the New Orleans Cafe. Of course the kids didn't want that so I walked way over to the Stage door Cafe to get Chicken strips for Isaak and Tillie.


After lunch, the kids rode the train around to the Fantasyland station with Grandma and Grandpa while Wendy and I walked over to meet them with the stroller since Jonah was ready to sleep for a while. We went to Toontown for a bit while my parents took a break and sat with Jonah while he slept in the stroller. While in Toontown, we went on Gadget's go-coaster and saw Minnie Mouse, but not Mickey (before the trip we let the kids know that we wouldn't be going after autographs on this trip since they already had full books of autographs and photos).





The kids love the gags and noises in Toontown so we spent a few minutes playing there and taking pictures of the kids.


We met back up with my parents and Jonah and started over towards the Matterhorn. Right by the Matterhorn, The Madhatter and Alice were entertaining a crowd with a game of charades. We also noticed that Captain Hook and Wendy were nearby as well. Tillie jumped in a photo, but Isaak was afraid of the Captain.

We went over to watch the Jedi Training. We were a few minutes early, so the kids got great seats and hoped they would be picked. As luck would have it, Tillie and Isaak were both picked. It was a the highlight of their day. And of course, we had to go over and buy them a new lightsaber (that they each got to make).



I think we stayed until about 6:00 or 6:30, went by In-N-Out for dinner and headed back to the Coast for the night.

So Cal trip - day 3

Our first day at Disneyland for the trip.


Since we had three families with kids and my parents we ended up taking 4 vehicles to Disneyland, with the plan to meet at some point around lunch (we left around 10:30 in the morning from the condo). My sister Laurie was also going to meet us, coming from her hotel across the street. Since Laurie wasn't using her parking pass at the Fairfield, she graciously offered it to us, saving us $11 in parking. We had also planned to use her hotel room for a nap room if any of the young kids got too tired.


We walked across the street and through the security check and my kids were filled with excitement. I have to admit, I was quite excited as well. I think I may be as excited to go to Disneyland as the kids, mostly because I love to see it through their eyes.


We met up with Jim, Candace and kids (Parker, Conner and Abby) and went through the gates. Since it was a weekend (shhhh... we went on Sunday) it was pretty busy already, but we knew that it would be the only day to see some of the events (fireworks, Electric Light Parade, Fanstasmic, etc).
I have big group phobia and have trouble moving with 5-6 people around the parks, let alone 20 people. But then again, it is fun to go on some rides with the entire group. We found my parents and Brent, Emily and kids (Whitney, Zack, Bella and Grace) getting fast passes for Indiana Jones and then the entire group went on Pirates of the Carribean together.


The first few hours were mostly a blur, but if I recall, we also went on Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters before heading over to Disney's California Adventure to see the High School Musical performance.



Even though it was hot sitting in the main plaza at DCA (Disney's california Adventure), we were able to get a great spot right in the front of where the show was performed. During the show, they sang and danced to a few High School Musical 2 numbers and pulled kids from the audience. All of the Neff kids went out and danced with them. It was fun watching and kids really enjoyed it.








After HSM2, we decided that we needed to go somewhere a bit cooler and decided to see the show, It's tough to be a Bug. We had missed this show on every other trip to DCA in it was going down for a refurbishment the next day, so we went over to the show. We all picked up the 3D glasses and went in, right before it started. This show is a big 3D movie inside of a cave, hosted by Flick from "A Bug's Life". He introduces all sorts of bugs and the bugs each react to the crowd (stink bugs shoots a cloud of sulfur, a bug sprays the crowd with acid, etc). The 3D film with the real effects like water dripping and bees stinging (the bench pokes you in the back and bottom) made for a great show. We thought Jonah would get scarred, but he was laughing the entire time. Wendy, Tillie and Isaak all screamed when spiders dropped from the ceiling and got the pokes in the back, but Jonah was really enjoying it.



We picked up some fast passes to Soarin' over California and then went to eat dinner and try to go on a few other rides at DCA. Jonah and I watched the Pixar Play Parade while the group went on some other rides and then all went on Soarin' except for me and Jonah. After they finished, Isaak and I jumped back on Soarin' as we still had a couple of fast passes.


Brent and Emily got spots for the Electric Parade and I went with Tillie, Whitney, Isaak, Zack and Laurie to ride on the Tower of Terror. Zack got a little frightened by the show in the Library and so he opted to sit the ride out with Laurie. I rode with the girls and Isaak. He was a bit nervous, but enjoyed the ride.

Mom and dad were done for the night and couldn't find Jim's family. We decided to skip the parade, leaving Brent's family and went back over to Disneyland where we went on Autopia. Laurie came with us took Tillie and Isaak on Space Mountain again. While they were there, the fireworks started so Wendy and I sat and watched with Jonah. He had been a great kid all day (he even napped in his stroller for 2 hours) and really like the fireworks.


It had been a long day so we decided to leave around 10:00. We walked back to the Fairfield and said goodbye to Laurie and Tillie since Tillie was going to sleep over with Laurie at the Hotel.


I think Isaak and Jonah were both asleep within about 2 minutes in the car.

So. Cal trip - day 2

Saturday, May 10

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we had crickets in our room at Primm. Wendy wanted to check out as she thought I wouldn't tell the front desk about the crickets. So we pulled around to the front of Buffalo Bills and let Wendy go in to check out.

Wendy said that she politely told them that they may want to get maintenance over to the room as we had a few crickets overnight. The hotel staff was very apologetic and offered to comp half of the room. Wendy explained that she wasn't trying to get a discount, but just wanted to let them know, but the $30 off on the $59 room was a nice gesture.

Total cost of the flat tire episode: about $45 (room and tire fix)

We filled the car with gas, ate at McDonald's and headed down the road around 9:00 A.M.

After having a flat tire, I started to think that every sound was something wrong with the car and I found myself driving a bit slower (ok, so I stayed mostly under 90 MPH through the desert).

A few hours and ZERO stops later, we were pulling into the Marriott Newport Coast Villas.

The kids were excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and all of the cousins. So excited that after about an hour in the Condo, the guy in the condo below us asked if we could stop jumping around and making so much noise.

The condo there is great. Each unit has a bedroom with a King sized bed and master bath and a second bedroom with a Queen and pull-out couch. We slept in the King bed, Jonah in a porta-crib and Tillie and Isaak slept in sleeping bags on the floor in our room. Jim, Candace and kids slept in the other room with the bed and pull-out.

The kids played at the pool and at the playground, Jim and I went to the grocery store to fill up the rest of the refrigerator (Mom and dad filled each room with bottled water, diet cokes, fruit, milk, etc before we got there!)

While the kids were having fun at the pool and playing with the cousins, I went with my mom, dad and sister Laurie to get her checked in at the Anaheim Fairfield Inn and pick up our Disneyland Park Hoppers so we wouldn't have to wait at the ticket booth the next day.

We stopped by the Costco in Costa Mesa and sneaked in a burger from In-N-Out burger on the way back to Newport Coast.

Luckily the kids were tired and went to bed pretty fast rather than stay up all night with the excitement of going to Disneyland the next day.

One month after we left on vacation

Ok. Ok. I know, I still haven't posted anything about our trip to So Cal.

And to think that we started the vacation on May 9 - one month ago.

So, maybe I will do this in a couple of parts.

Day 1 - May 9

We got on the road in SLC around noon and after a short stop in Pleasant Grove to drop off my car with my bro-in-law, TJ, we were on the road. The first big surprise is that Wendy told me that she would start the trip in the drivers seat.

I better explain that I almost exclusively do the driving on the long trips (so I won't back seat drive) so this was a welcome surprise. Although I kept giving suggestions, Wendy drove the 300 miles to St. George like a pro and it was relaxing for me. (looking back, I should have kept my comments to myself!)

We stopped at a crowded Costco in St. George where we met up with my brother Jim and family. Quickly ate a taco at Del Taco since the In-N-Out burger was packed at 4:00, traded kids for the next part of the drive and we were off.

Everything went well until well until we were just south of Las Vegas when our car started making a sound you don't want to hear.

Flat tire

The right front tire to be exact. Jim and his family was right behind us and pulled over to help. Working together, we had the tire changed in about 5 minutes, but it wasn't a full sized tire and I wasn't about to drive into the desert on a Friday night on a spare tire.

So, here we are, 6:30 on a Friday night outside of Vegas looking for somewhere to get the tire fixed. We sent Jim and Candace on their way (they were trying to make it to Newport Beach that night) and limped back to Las Vegas.

Wendy made a few phone calls to look for a Wal-Mart, Costco or somewhere with a tire center while I searched for a Service Station. I got directions to one area, only to find that the tire stores had closed at 6:00, but found an Auto Zone that directed me to a Pep Boys.

Around 7:15 we pull into a Pep Boys, talked to the manager of the tire center and had them look at the tire. While talking to the guy, he mentioned his brother coaches Football with Ron McBride at Weber State and played for Mac at the U of U. The guys there were really good to work with, checked out the tire and said it could be fixed and had us back on the road by 8:00 and about $15 in repairs.

We decided to drive 30 miles south to Primm, NV and stay overnight at Buffalo Bills. We had called ahead from Las Vegas and had a room for $59.

They were nice enough to get a room for us on the first floor, but it was in the back tower and the very last room on that floor. You should have seen our kids eyes as we walked through the Casino, past the bar and all the way down to the room.

Of course, we had to take everything from the car as we hadn't prepared to stay overnight.

We got situated in the room, flushed the first cricket down the toilet and went to sleep.

I said first cricket, as we found 3 more in the room throughout the night. Fun night. Didn't sleep so well.

So, the next morning, I figured out we could park in a hidden back lot that was about 50 feet from our room. Packed the kids up, checked out (Wendy mentioned the crickets and the hotel gave us 50% off on the room), had a quick McDonald's breakfast and hit the road to Newport Beach. We made it around noon on Saturday for the fun to start for the week.

coming soon... more trip report and photos.