Your child found what?

So frankly, when the casual mention of a condom wrapper found under the bed skirt of our Marriott room as I checked us out got us %25 off our Disneyland hotel, I pretty much thought that was our "good luck" for the trip. Boy was I wrong.

I'd found the Park Manor Inn in San Diego when looking for efficiencies (with kitchen), and while it got good reviews, looked generally nice on screen, I was not expecting to walk the "historical site" to be quite so lovely.

On check-in, I discovered that our king bed suite with a murphy bed was instead a queen bed with a pull-out couch, and that the hotel was just about booked solid for the night. The manager noted that one of the few available rooms happened to be the room next door (a studio rather than a suite) and it had a king in it. All well and good, but it did not have a couch or pull-out bed, so no place for Kieran to sleep (the kids performs acrobatics all night long and there is no way any of us would get sleep with all 4 of us in the same bed. The managers solution to this problem (so that we would not be inconvenienced by having to swap rooms during our four day stay here)? Why don't we just keep both suite and studio for our stay since they are adjoining (yippy skippy !!!). So we are hoteling it with 2 full bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, and and two tvs (and 800+ square feet). Talk about being spoiled. Did I mention that our rooms overlook Balboa Park, that we have 1 of 6 balconies out of eighty some rooms (of course we are not using it much as Akira can fit right through the bars - yikes). We can see the planes coming in to land at the airport looking huger than huge. All the rooms are old school (Chip & Dale furniture, beautiful gilded mirrors, incredible carved tables, upholstered chairs). Don't look too closely of course, as the guilt mirror might be artfully attached to the wall with 3 inch drywall screws, and the upholstered chair caves under ones butt (the springs are as old as the hotel). Named a San Diego Historical landmark by the city in the year hrmph-hmmm-numnina, the charm is there - as long as you don't look to closely.

Its gorgeous. Lovely. Spacious. Not sure if I'll ever want to stay in a regular hotel again.

More Disney

Upside down or inside out?

Kiwi as the young King Arthur

My very own pirates of the caribbean

The secret pirate salt trick

Kieran's first bad weather driving escapade

Rain poncho or slick souvenir

Bippity Boppity Blog - A day in Disneyland

The little bit of rain that I was hoping for drenched us twice in the early morning, but also kept the crowds down to a dull roar (something less than the average 41,000 per day). It of course abated right after we spent $30 on ponchos, but per our guide book, they make lovely souvenirs.

We'd read up and planned our trip to hit rides early, leave for nap and come back refreshed (a must for all after our night in Santa Monica at The Hotel California, which felt a little like the song - we had a hellish night due to a overactive real gas flame heater in the room cooking us to 85+ at 2:30 in the morning, dragging my self awake to hobble over to the concierge just to find out how to turn it off).

We got soaked as we waited to get in to the park, and again on one of the outside rides (Autopia), but for a rare moment, Kieran did not care as he got to "drive the car".

Going to an amusement park as an adult can be fun, but going with your own kids is mindbogglingly better. I was last in Disneyland some 15-16 years ago. As an adult in a place like Disney, it is too easy to look past the glitz and illusions and miss the whole thing. But with a child in tow, looking to you to make it all real, its a vortex of fun ... every new turn is a new moment to revel in.

Throughout the day, Brian and I playfully vied with each other for the fun of riding with Kieran - it just made the whole place sparkle. Granted there were a bunch of new rides that Disney has added in the intervening years, but being there with the these two - WOW. Even Akira, who on many of the rides was alternately terrified (shown left) yet begging for more (actually signing "more" furiously as she let out wee wails), quickly learned that queuing up lead to more rides and would pull us toward lines with more-more-more.

Kieran was so enthralled with the mini rollercoaster that he begged to be taken on a big one. We picked the lowest key of the large roller coasters, and I got the honor of co-riding. We put our hands in the air and screamed our loudest screams together (it was brilliant). He did NOT want to go on with Brian a second time, but couldn't stop talking about it either.

We dragged Kieran out at 11 pm. By that point, the dogs were barking furiously, and it wasn't Goofy or Pluto.

In case you are wondering about the blog title, this is the song that the Fairy Godmother sings to Cinderella:

http://www.searchanylyrics.com/lyrics-60396-Disney-BibbidiBobbidiBoo.htm

WTF is a Yumburger?

Among other things, Santa Monica and Venice beach are famous for the Santa Monica Pier, the Venice Beach Boardwalk, places like Muscle Beach (a gym right on the boardwalk), and a frenzy of roller-bladers, roller skaters, skate boards, bikes, pick-up games of beach volleyball, street hockey and more. The "strip" is roughly a 1/2 a mile long stretch of cheap sun glass shops, head shops, t-shirt shops, grungy hippies, a good sprinkling of bad artists, a small handful of good ones, and even on a quiet morning like this one, no less than a dozen pan-handlers, including a half dozen "honest ones", with signs like "why lie, need money for beer, pot, etc". Oh, almost forgot. I counted at least 6 or more sidewalk vendors selling little bundles of sage for smudging, and I could not help thinking that there must be an awful lot of folks in Venice needing to clear bad karma, walking the boardwalk saying to themselves, oh yes, don't forget to pick up some sage for smudging. By the way, good karma is worth exactly $1 in Venice beach per the sign of one pan-handler. I say, why pay ... bad karma is free !

Kieran of course began the morning being unable to walk (I'm too tired mommy), but was perfectly capable of running almost a mile in the stone barrier next to the walk-way, provided I would pick him up and fly him between the gaps. Akira soon followed suite, but at a much slower pace.

Sadly we'd decided that even though we were taking the doubled car as Kieran likes to call it, we would only take our single rider stroller, as it would be easier to manage. 2 miles x 2 ways of beach, barrier, boardwalk, and backache (from carrying Akira on shoulders and sling as Kiearan insisted on riding in the stroller for the sections he wasn't running around like a hooligan) was enough to convince that there was no time like the present to acquire a buggy board for the back of the stroller. Thanks very much to a quick google search and a couple of phone calls, I found a store that was close enough to our next destination (the Hollywood walk of fame) to make it 'on the way'.

Like all tourist stops, the Hollywood walk of fame lives up to expectation. You don't expect to be wowed very much, its just gold stars on the ground with peoples names on it. At the Chinese Theater, all the really old ones are hand and foot prints with signatures drawn into the pavement. We saw the "squares" of the Marxs Brothers, Judy Garland, and Will Smith (somebody must have really liked Independence Day). But as you walk along the boardwalk weaving too and fro to avoid being run over by other tourists, casual noting that Jesus and Superman are walking together and chatting with each other across the street, and you start spotting name after name of star you know, well, its kind of fun, and you find yourself surprised that you are actually, just a little bit awed. Just little.

Of course the kids couldn't care one lick for the stars, but Kieran got a kick out of Sponge Bob, Snoopy, and Micky, and was mildly indifferent (at best) to the star of Winner the Pooh. His tour de force was the promised ice cream and being able to pick the flavor, the topping, and finishing not one, but two bowls of ice cream. If you can't see it, his whole body is hunched up (cold) and he's eating ever so slowly to stave of the ice cream headache that hits with every third bite.

Now we are on our way to the Anehiem Marriot near Disney (tomorrow) which I expect will fully blow Kieran's mind. We took a wrong turn and are in a very odd section of LA. Not scary at all (at least not at 7pm), but odd. We just past a Jollibee drive through restaurant that advertises Crispy Chickenjoy and Juicy Yumburger.

I think I can figure out what is in Chickenjoy sandwich, but what exactly is in a Yumburger?

8 days. 5 cites. 3 big attractions.

Mommy, can we take the doubled car?

So I've succumbed finally to the lure of a minivan. A sleek silvery blue Toyota Sienna, complete with leather seats, and a DVD player for the kiddies. I think the funny part for me is that years ago, when driving my sister's minivan and being told just how good I looked in it, and shuddering at the very thought, to now, knowing that not only was this the vehicle for me, but that I had eyes for no other... its just funny.

I won't say a whole lot about the dealership I dealt with, but as Brian points out, who cares if a car salesman does not like you, they are car salesman. I bargained pretty hard. They did not make much on me. The amusing highlights:

Thirty-Five: Just as I was leaving the dealership, the Indian gentleman asked if I saw the thirty-five. I of course had not seen a thirty-five and assumed it was a code name for some piece of paperwork they had. I said, what thirty-five. He said, no, thirty-five. This went back and forth for 3+ rounds, with me getting more and more confused (and likely him as well), until Brian said, "He want to know if you know its CERTIFIED."

"Are you serious? People are loosing their homes..." After having paid for my car, been handed the keys, walking out to leave, I noticed that I only had 1 remote for the car (supposed to have two), so I turned around and pointed this out to the "closer" (read extra slimy and very pushy guy that replaces your salesman) and he said that the car only came in with one, so that was all I got. I said that this had not been disclosed to me by my salesperson, and I expected two, so would he please do what needed to be done to arrange for me to get a second one. He said they didn't have one. I pointed out that they were a car dealership, and who better to have one than a Toyota dealership. He said I could purchase a second one one. I said I thought I had. He said that it was unfortunate I hadn't been told, but that is that. I said I wasn't leaving without a second one (you'll see this had escalated to a childish battle, but for what I paid, I am pretty sure I was in the right)... To which he exploded and almost yells, "Are you serious? People are loosing their homes... " Suddenly the head-head manager appears and instantly admonishes the closer and apologises to me (and it actually felt like an authentic apology, which is probably why he's the manager), and sends folks scurrying to produce another key fob.

The Magna Shield. In order to keep the deal and compensate for some minor damage in one of the leather seats, the salesman offered to throw in the MagnaShield interior & exterior treatment (see spray on treatment that cost $50 but is billed out at $795, and STINKS to high heaven). I said fine, not thinking what of what this would mean to me, Mrs. Scent Sensitive. Not only did Brian have to drive the car home, but he drove it for the next week, and every night we parked it in the garage with all the windows open so it could air out. We call her Stinky... Stinky Stella :)

Magic Number. Walking off the lot 3 times can save you $3000 or more dollars. Never show up without a copy of Edmonds and KBB in hand, don't purchase ANY aftermarket items through the dealer (200-1000% mark-up, and better quality through private installers), and it almost all cases, if you want a wrap around warranty, it is cheaper to purchase it from a private party than through the dealership. Oh yes, and when you are going to pay for and pick up your car, have a very sick husband and kids at home for nap so you can seriously say, "If I can walk out of here from start to finish in 1 hour, then we have a deal."