Monday, December 31, 2012

Wow. Just...wow (Grand Californian)

I previously mentioned just how blessed I was to have won 2 nights at the Grand Californian Hotel, with 2-day parkhoppers! (Thank you, DIS Unplugged!) I very seriously never thought I'd ever be able to stay in the Grand Californian...most trips I've gone, I can stay 3 or even 4 nights at the hotel we stay at, for the price of one night at the Grand Californian.

The parks opened at 10 AM on November 1, 2012, with Early Entry at Disneyland for hotel guests (and Magic Morning folks) at 9 AM. My BFF, Miss D and I left the Best Western Stovall's not that long after 8 AM (somehow managing to arrange all our luggage and most of Mom's into Miss D's car). We drove up to the Grand Californian and I headed to the lobby, leaving the others to deal with the luggage, so we could get everything done as quickly as possible.

The Cast Member at check-in was so nice. She said she had the 4 of us booked for a 5-person standard view (those are the ones facing the parking lot, with a small daybed instead of a balcony), but it wasn't ready yet. If I recall correctly, she said she could get a 4-person room instead that would be ready. I deliberated for a split-second...my BFF doesn't like to share a bed with anyone, so the 5-person room would mean we didn't need the air mattress. And I'd heard the rooms were so small, I wasn't sure if we had room for the air mattress. But I really wanted to have a balcony and feel special. So, I asked if they had anything with a view.

The Cast Member kindly spent a few minutes looking through the computer until she offered a partial pool view. I gladly took it...and what do you know? It was ready!

This photo is from 8:27 AM. We had more than 48 hours in this gorgeous room! It was in the Villas section, I believe.


So beautiful! And I think there was almost room for my BFF's air mattress in the CLOSET...absolutely plenty of room for it in the corner past the desk on the left. We just had to shove the desk a bit.

After soaking up the room, we made our way to Disneyland for Early Entry.

"I am so excited to be here!" said Shellie May.


A girl stared at her and asked me who she was. I said she was Shellie May, Duffy's friend from Japan.

She didn't know who Duffy was!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Hello from Sleeping Beauty Castle

"Happy Halloween!"


Good night, Disneyland!




Here is my costume at night!


OK, there's a reason for this photo.


In Disneyland, the restrooms had electronic paper towel dispensers, but they dispensed a really stingy amount of paper towel. So I had to stop at the Grand Californian restroom on the way back to our room at the Stovall's.

LOOK AT HOW MUCH PAPER TOWEL YOU GET!!!!

The Grand Californian is a really nice place...and we will be staying here tomorrow!!!!

Well, not in the bathroom.  In a REAL room!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Halloween parade on Halloween night at Disneyland 2012

This is the Halloween Cavalcade at Disneyland. It's not a huge parade, and the music loop is very short, but I like it because it's pretty much about dressing up for Halloween, which is my favorite part of Halloween.


Are you ready?


Get ready!


Get ready for Halloween! (This is the Family of the Night who got picked to be in the parade.)


Everybody jump, jump, shout and scream.


Are you ready for Halloween?



I was a little sad I didn't get to meet Halloween Duffy, but at least I got to see him! And he was SO CUTE!


I think Stitch was a biker. He made me laugh anyway.


It was a little weird to see a parade about getting ready for Halloween at about 10:45 PM on Halloween night, but it was also fun to see the very last Halloween parade at Disneyland for 2012!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Carousel on Halloween

This is kind of funny. So we'd wanted to ride the carousel but we went by and it was closed (I guess for fireworks). So we went to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, then came back and...it was closed again (I guess for fireworks). Then we finally came back a third time.

Carousel! Finally!




Thursday, December 27, 2012

Golden Zephyr Duffy in Pixie Hollow!

No meet-and-greets...just a quiet place to go get candy.


And sit on a cool-looking machine.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Fog in New Orleans Square on Halloween

Are you sorry Christmas is over? I am. But nothing chases away the blues like fog in New Orleans Square!


Spooky but pretty!


The post caps at the Jack Skellington meet-and-greet made me laugh.


(I'd already met him last year, which is good, because the line was long!)

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Spooky Christmas

OK, actually it's Halloween at Disneyland.




Merry Christmas again!

Downtown Glendale is a pretty neat place.

It looks kind of like Radiator Springs!


We literally saw this slide one minute after I marveled at how much Downtown Glendale looked like Radiator Springs.


Then we stopped in the food truck section. This is at Old Dixie's!


This is a biscuit with fried chicken, gravy, bacon, and cheddar cheese. It was good! The biscuit was amazing and the bacon...so good!


This is for our friend Mintsy.


Miss Hannah's Gourmet Popcorn! The Tutti-Fruiti is one of my favorites!


We slowly made our way back to the shuttle.


So many pretty houses!



"I think your BFF could use this book," said Santa Duffy. "Since she would like to win a cowboy's heart."


And, here's the bus. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day!



Monday, December 24, 2012

Duffy at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (and I am so blessed!)

We are going to ride the train!!!!!


So we wanted to watch Big Thunder Mountain Railroad during the fireworks show. This was a great idea, because the whole reason we were able to go on this trip was thanks to a contest on the DIS Unplugged Disneyland podcast!

Long story short, you had to submit a Disneyland tip and they'd pick one at random to give 2 nights at the fabulous Grand Californian Hotel, with 2-day parkhoppers.  So I entered, using the tip to ride Big Thunder Mountain during fireworks. 

And they picked my name!!!!!!


So anyway. We actually booked 2 more days at Best Western Stovall's and bought a Halloween party ticket too, to stretch out our visit. But the free hotel and parkhoppers are the reason we went. And I was SUPER excited because I didn't think there would be ANY way I could go to Disneyland in 2012.


Fireworks outside of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Merry Christmas from Glendale Glitters!

There are a LOT of lights at Glendale Glitters in downtown Glendale, Arizona.


And the streets are blocked off for attractions and food stands!


Aren't the trees pretty?



So patriotic!


See the streetlights, even floodlights, hurt my eyes in this scene...


Merry Christmas, everyone! See you tomorrow!


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Merry Christmas to all!

Santa Duffy had a great time at Glendale Glitters!


There are bears in here!


There are beautiful decorations outside this shop! (and bears inside)


These lights make Santa Duffy feel very tiny! Oh wait. He is tiny.


"Do you think I may be on the news?" asked Santa Duffy.


2012 is Arizona's centennial! That means our state is 100 years old. :)


Look at all the lights!



So pretty!


In the middle of the street, there are a few attractions, like a trampoline! Wow!


"I am so small," said Santa Duffy. "If I tried to ride in that I'll bet it would shoot me up to the moon."

More tomorrow!