G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. & concierge experience

[Princess Buttercup]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. & concierge experi

Nice trip report so far! I love all your pictures. Your older daughter looks so grown up since I saw her last October and your baby is just precious!

[thrax]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. & concierge experi

cool trip report

[G.I. Mom]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. & concierge experi

PART 2
Sunday November 18th

We got up early trying to make it to the park by opening (8:00) and we almost made it. We got there at about 8:15.

When we walked in, we saw that there was the Miley Cyrus taping that morning…OMGosh how exciting! My daughter could not believe it! BUT….believe it or not she still hesitated when I asked her if she was willing to give up her whole morning to watch the taping. (she loves Disneyland as much as I do, yeay!) so after some quick debating back and forth (and stopping for a quick picture with Goofy and one in front of the tree), she decided we would get in line for the taping.



The obligatory shot…the baby was mesmerized by the tree and we could not make her turn around for the shot, oh well…


So we got in line over by frontierland at about 8:30 or 8:45, not too bad, we were right in front of the little store next to the shooting gallery.

Of course, while waiting, mother and daughter had to do some shopping so she got her now customary Christmas hat (Disney is pure marketing genius, changing the designs every year!)

The baby just borrowed it:


While we were in line, we were told not to get out of the line, because then we might not be able to make it back in, but this wasn't really enforced…of course they can’t tell you "No, you can’t go to the bathroom", so everybody mysteriously kept going to the bathroom and returning with either churros or fastpasses for the rest of their party LOL.

My own little line jumpers went and rode Thunder Mountain twice in a row (the lines were super short, I guess everybody was either in line for Miley OR Nemo)….then I took my daughter and we rode thunder and got FP for Indy for later. (the wait for indy was only 20 minutes but we were not so bold to risk getting out too late) of course, we did use the restroom so in a sense I didn’t feel I was breaking the rules!!!


Finally, at about 10 am, the line started moving. Only the first 50 people or so made it to the “front and center” stage. We ended up on the right side of the stage but at the very front, so that was fine. We were also warned there would be smoke and pyrotechnics (there were other people there with small babies) so Dave and I discussed an exit strategy just in case the baby freaked out, I would take her out and he would stay with Gabby so she wouldn’t get trampled in the craziness.

Once situated nicely, here came the only thing that put a damper to our mood…this “lady” (and I use the term loosely) came 20 mins later and literally shoved her girls and herself through the crowd all the way to the front! They kept squeezing and pushing until my daughter was no longer directly in front of me, but several feet to my left. The parents of the other girls and Dave and I told our girls in the first row to stand their ground and try to not let be pushed around too much by the newcomers (who by the way were some contestants in a beauty pageant. Nothing wrong with that by itself, but just so you can have an idea of the annoying, pushy, “stage mom” type of person, obviously living vicariously through her kids) She and my hubby exchanged some words, and she told him in so many words “I don’t know what your problem is, this is all about the kids” and my husband said, yes, we ALL have kids here, who have been waiting for a lot longer to get to the front. You can’t just shove your way in and use your kids as the excuse! The other parents around us agreed with my husband and she remained quiet after muttering some choice words under her breath….nice!

My daughter, blissfully unaware of the commotion, was floating on air, and making friends with some of the nice little girls around her.


Here are some shots out of the many that I took. <<WARNING, PHOTO HEAVY TWEEN MATERIAL AHEAD>>


Background singers warming up:


This random guy from backstage…no idea who he is but he looked important! LOL


Finally, amidst some of the loudest screaming I have ever heard (and keep in mind I was a Guns ‘n Roses fan back in high school!) Miley comes in!!! The guy in the blue shirt kept getting in the way of all my good shots! But this shows my little girl’s priceless smile:


Testing the pyrotechnics and smoke effects (the baby didn’t mind, but Miley did LOL)





Funny note:
After she sang the first time, they told us she was going to do it again and again and as many times as needed, to just be patient….I don’t think any of the kids cared if Miley just stood there lipsynching for hours, but psycho momma on our right was all indignant and surprised that it was going to be the same song! I was dying with laughter!!! What did she expect, a full length concert??? So she goes to her girls (who obviously wanted to stay) "come on girls, let’s go, she’s just going to sing the same thing again" (!) so I couldn’t help myself and said, well I’m glad it’s ALL ABOUT THE KIDS! She gave me the look of death and left…I still feel bad for her girls.

Back to Miley Mania:


My crazy husband trying to get the baby on TV!



Finally, Miley left and they did one more shoot of just audience…for this my (now declared insane) husband put Gabby on his shoulders for a better shot at being on TV…what a guy!


OK, time to leave but not without the chance of taking a picture in front of the castle with nobody behind!!


Phew what a morning…the rest of the morning/early afternoon is a blur. I know that we rode Indy on our FP from earlier, and that we had lunch at Hungry Bear, and finally rode Pooh. Here is the babe waiting in line for Pooh:


After lunch, we decided to go back to the hotel for a swim. We went back via DCA, where we rode Soarin’ and Grizzly…what a luxury to be able to get soaked in November and not worry about it, knowing that your room is just an elevator ride away. I could get used to this….


And this:


Dave went in the hot tub and I was too cold to go swimming so the baby and I just watched big sister have fun on the slide:


What a beautiful hotel:


The sun was setting gorgeously over Paradise Pier in the distance:


Which reminded me we had PS reservations at Storytellers for dinner…time to shower and head back out.

Gabby enjoyed the make your own pizza thing (we had never been here for dinner, just for breakfast. I really loved the corn chowder and Dave had the buffet, but the service was less than desirable, the poor server seemed frazzled and busy, but also unapologetic when I ordered the fuego swordfish and he returned 10 mins later to tell me they were out! Mmm, OK.... and he never made a suggestion for a replacement, that’s it, “we are out”, good thing I ASKED him to see a menu again, but by then, everybody else was in the middle of dinner so I decided to just get a bowl of the chowder) But I did love the ambience of the restaurant and sitting by the fire.



After dinner we did a lot of DCA…rode Soarin’ (we had FP from earlier), rode Screamin’ (I took the baby on the Carousel while waiting, she loved it), did ToT and Monsters Inc.

The park was closing and the exodus back to DL had started, we stopped to take some pictures in front of the DCA tree: (I really love this shot, even if it's blurry...for once I got everybody looking at the camera at the same time!)


Dave decided that he was too tired to go to DL (actually he used the baby as an excuse, saying he didn’t want to keep her out in the cold…good one, honey!) so we kissed good night and my fearless 9 year old and I headed into DL with the full intention of closing the park down…which we did! We rode Matterhorn, Buzz, Space, Mr. Toad’s, Snow White, Thunder, Haunted Mansion (we had FP and but it was a walk on, same thing with Splash)
We even got our own log it was so empty:


We finished the night on a high note by riding Indy twice…we had Fpasses, but the first time we went in there was no line, so the girl didn’t even ask for them. By the time we came out of the ride (around 11:30) a line had mysteriously formed. Not wanting to waste the FP and knowing this is my daughter’s favorite ride in the world, I asked her if she wanted to go again….the answer was a resounding YES! So we made the loooong trek in and out of the temple once again…boy this ride is a workout on itself! I did a little bit of shopping at the Emporium on the way out.

On that happy note, we went back to the hotel where we found this at the lobby (my daughter rolled her eyes at me for taking pictures but I knew my fellow Disney geeks would appreciated them) sorry for the blurriness:



The Christmas tree was finally going up! I told Gabby it would be there by the time we had breakfast in the morning and she did not believe me (remember, this was a little before 1:00 am) but low and behold, it was! Gotta love that Disney magic!

OK….if you have stayed with me so far, thank you for reading! I’ve forced myself to put these memories in writing while they are still fresh in my mind…later on I will print this for my scrapbook. Thank you all for your kind comments and stay tuned for:

DAY 3- an unexpected jewelry purchase….Ariel’s grotto, snow and fireworks!

[dsnylndmom]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

What a wonderful trip report! Sounds like a fantastic trip, thanks for sharing it and your pictures with us

[LittlePrincess1230]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

Yay! Parts one and two were great! I read part one earlier today and kept coming back to see when you would put up Part 2...

...And here it was!

Now you're going to keep me on the edge of my seat while I wait for part 3!

[*SallyStitches*]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

OMG! Your daughters are too cute!

[codelyokorox]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

I can't WAIT for part three!

[oohykitten]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

My husband and I were there that night, staying there, I think we stayed up till about 3 watching the tree....we were up by 6:30 and it was done... I was impressed.

[Micoofy Duck]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

Really, one of the FUNNEST trip reports on here. Great job and can't wait to do to Disneyland Christmas next year.

[Melonballer]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

Great report. I look forward to the rest of it.

[MsKaren]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

Cant wait for part 3.

[vic_ster1047]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

wonderful TR!!!
Your little girls are so cute and looks like your gabby had a blast!!!
Can't wait for part 3!!

[ladydragon55]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

This is the best trip report yet! I am sooooo loving this! What a wonderful thought to go to bed and in the morning wake up to the Christmas tree all set up! Your children are wonderful! And so cute! As for the "lady" at the concert....I have only one word...KARMA!!! Can't wait for part 3!!!

Would you mind taking a photo of your daughters tink hat with a close up of the tink? I could really use it for a project I am working on! Thanks

[Alice's Wonderland]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

Your girls are so cute!! How special that your older girl got to see Miley. Thanks for sharing!

[jesjas03]

Re: G.I.Mom's Pre-Thanksgiving trip, complete with baby, Miley C. &amp; concierge experi

cool, u got to see miley!!! nice tr so far n nice pics