The Gamble Family

We made it back from California early this morning. We all had a great time. The weather was nice, overcast every morning and fair temperatures in the afternoons. It was a bit chilly in the evenings. It was crowded, especially Monday and Tuesday which were the last two days for local passes. Thursday was the least busy of all of our days. We had a lot of fun. Abigail loved meeting the characters and enjoyed people watching. She was pretty tired by the end of the trip and slept a lot on Thursday and Friday.

We were able to do almost everything we wanted, though it was sometimes difficult as there were things we wanted to do with Abigail and she wanted to sleep. She did go to the Astro Oribter, Bakery Tour, Buzz Lightyear, Captain EO, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Princess Fantasy Faire, Dumbo, Tiki Room, Finding Nemo, Flik's Flyers, Golden Zephyr, Goofy's House, Mickey's House, Haunted Mansion, Heimlich's Chew Chew (twice), Jungle Cruise, Small World (twice), King Arthur's and King Tritons Carousels, Winnie the Pooh (at least 5 times), Mark Twaint Riverboat, Monster's Inc. (twice), Mr. Toad's Ride, Peter Pan, Pinochio (twice), Snow White, Pirates (twice), Puddle Park, Redwood Creek Trail, Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Storybook Land Canals, Little Mermaid (twice), Ladybug Boogie and Toy Story (twice). She also went to several shows; some she was awake for (ie Aladin) and others she slept through (Fantasmic). She also met a lot of characters. We took her to see Winnie the Pooh and Friends three times. And people think there is nothing for babies to do. Actually, there were several things we did not get to do with her that we would like to. But it's okay, we're going back!

Adam, Grandma, and I also rode all of the thrill rides and coasters several times. Adam lost his cel phone on the California Screamin. It wasn't even on the part that goes upside down. The new Star Tours ride is a lot of fun. Every time you ride it the ride is different because there are 54 different possibilities. The Matterhorn was closed this week and next and only scheduled to be open on the weekend. But Adam and I lucked out because they opened the ride Friday night. We just happened to walk past it and heard screaming. So we were able to ride it once each before going home. Riding the coasters was kind of a pain after my mom left because one person always had to stay with Abigail. They have rider switch passes that allow two people to ride later. When there were three of us this was nice becacuse someone always got to ride twice. But when it was just Adam and I, it was a pain because everthing took twice as long and we had to do everything alone. This is what we did during her nap times so we could do things together the rest of the day. The problem was, it seemed like all she did was sleep Friday.

Our hotel was okay, though I'm iritated because we left our pillows in the room the day we checked out. When we came back that night to get the car, they said they could not check lost and found because only House Keeping can. What!? That seems silly. When Adam called today they said they didn't have them. So, what did they do with them? I left them on the bed, my fault, but they were there so where are they now? Overall, it was nice enough. The shuttle was convenient because our hotel was first. There was a continental breakfast that was okay, it really could have used some fruit, but it was alright.

Following are pictures from our trip. They are in order by day.

SUNDAY

The Birthday Girl

New PJs for her birthday from Grandma.

MONDAY
Our first day.

Having a bottle before catching the shuttle.

Meeting Winnie the Pooh for the first time. We have a video I'll post later. My mom said that seeing Abby so happy to see Pooh made the whole trip worth it. It really was adorable the way she loved him.

She loved Tigger too. He wanted to keep her.

Abby and I met Sulley while Grandma and Adam rode the Tower of Terror.

Adam hangs out with a Lego statue of Woody.

Posing in a stationary teacup after getting Abby some ears. There were three pictures, but they were all a little weird. This was the best I guess.

Grandma and Abby in the teacup.

Abby passed out after a long day of fun.

TUESDAY

This was our anniversary. Grandma took Abigail back to the hotel around 8 that evening and Adam and I stayed for a few extra hours.

Abby and Grandma on Dumbo.

Posing in the stationary Dumbo.

Abby on King Arthur's Carousel. Originally I strapped her on alone with me standing next to her. She became unhappy so I had her sit with Adam.

In line for Snow White or Pinochio, can't remember which.

Adam and I posing with a Dumbo statue. No, he is not really that tall; I'm sitting on the railing.

Abby with Duffy the Disney Bear. She liked the bears the best.

All of us pose with Duffy.

Adam the action figure. Batteries not included.

WEDNESDAY

This was my mom's last day. This time Adam took Abby back early and my mom and I stayed a bit later.

Abigail meets Buzz Lightyear. He could not sign her birthday card, apparently he can't write with those gloves on. Sulley was unable to also, though about a dozen other characters did sign it for her.

After meeting Buzz, Abigail and I waited at this giant sphere fountain outside Space Mountain for my mom and Adam who were riding the coaster.

My mom took Abigail over to Fantasyland while Adam and I rode Space Mountain. We found them just getting onto the Storybook Land Canal Boats.

Knight Adam failed to pull the sword from the stone. Where's Vader when you need him. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you really need to watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4_dZPVg8KI

Family picture on Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer Island.

There was a group picture of us here too, but I just deleted it from the blog and it's really a pain to add back in.

Adam and Abby on a Pirate Look Out post.

Meeting Mickey. We really wanted to take Abby's picture with Minnie on Tuesday when she was wearing her red and white dress. Actually we never got a picture with Minnie. Every time we found her they would say, "She has to go, but will be back in thirty minutes (or after the parade, etc.)" OR Abigail was asleep. Ugh! So frustrating. But we did meet Mickey. Abby loved him, and we were the last in our group so he spent an extra minute or so with her.

Group shot. The photographer took this. I hope he's better with his own camera. The lighting is really poor.

A visit with Goofy.

THURSDAY

Grandma flew back home, so now we were on our own.

In line for the new Little Mermaid ride. On Tuesday Grandma and Abby waited 65 minutes so we could ride. Adam and I attempted to ride the Screamin coaster, but it was closed. This was a problem during our trip; I've never seen so many rides get closed. They always opened back up, but it was a least a dozen different rides and several of them (ie. Screamin and Thunder Railroad) were closed several times over the five days. Anyway, we all rode Mermaid on Tuesday after a long, long wait. It was very well done and puts to shame all of the old Dark Rides like Peter Pan that were made before all of the new technology. On Thursday, the three of us waited just 15 minutes. Park attendance was about half of what it was on Tuesday. It was really very nice.

Abigail got to meet Woody. Jessie wasn't around, but there was a friendly green soldier. He had a face, so he was allowed to talk. Characters with masks are not allowed to talk, but princesses and other characters with faces are.

We ate our lunch near King Triton's Carousel. While Adam was finishing up, Abby and I took a ride with no wait. This time I sat with her. She was very nervous about sitting there with me just standing next to her, so I hopped on too.

We met Balloo that evening. We actually came back for him as he was leaving the first time we saw him. It was getting late, so Abby wasn't as happy to meet him as she might have been.

FRIDAY

Our last day. Abby was pretty tired. Also, she might have been alergic to something in the air and she rubbed sun screen in her eyes. We took her to First Aid. All in all, she was pretty tired by Friday. Five days was too long for her. Adam, however, did not want to go home.

Eeyore, finally! We met Pooh on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He and Tigger were always out, but Eeyore left as we arrived on Mon and Wed. This time we were right on time. Unfortunately, this is when Abby got the sunscreen in her eyes. She was happy to see Pooh, and did not want to leave him. So she was kind of grumpy for Eeyore and Tigger. Did I mention that she loves Pooh best. Well she really does. I think this is because her first bedroom was decorated with Pooh and she has a Pooh stuffed animal that she loves to hug. I've also showed her the original Winnie the Pooh Cartoons on DVD. She isn't much for TV, but each segment is less than 20 minutes, so she watches most of it. She loves that she can see Pooh on TV and hold him at the same time. I think this might be why she is quite attached to him.

Tigger again. A bit sadder today.

Okay, this was funny. I was taking a short cut to Fantasyland. And who do I see but the Fairy God Mother. But Abigail was sleeping. So I just asked if she would sign her card. I was going to take a picture of her, but she asked if I could just lift the blanket and get a sleeping Abby in the picture with her. She hoped it would not wake the baby. I did this and Abby sat up and looked at the God Mother. I snapped the picture, laid Abby back down, re-covered her, and continued my walk. She went back to sleep, thankfully!

Meeting Jasmine at the Princess Fantasy Faire.

This is the Queen from Snow White. We actually had already met her an hour before and she remembered Abigail. I was disappointed to see her because she is NOT a princess and there are only 3 princesses available at a time at the Faire. But, it is good that she was there as the pictures from the first visit were not very good. Anyway, she took Abigail by the hand and walked her over to Snow White explaining that it was Abigail's birthday and she needed her card signed (it wasn't her birthday anymore, but we had the birthday card so I guess the Queen thought it was). She was pretty good at staying in character as she scowled and wiped off her hands after touching the baby. The queen of hearts did this too.

Snow White was one of the better posers with Abigail. She sat down and put her on her lap, this really made for a nice picture.