During the time we were thinking of doing a 50th for my mom and dad, Terry had told me we would be going somewhere overnight on that Fri the 29th. But he wouldn't say where or what we would be doing. So the week before our anniversary he asked me if I had any ideas and I told him I thought maybe Vegas for a concert. He just smiled and left it at that. Then he said something about too bad we couldn't have rode with Jadyn and Jake when they went up to Salt Lake to a concert the same weekend. So then I thought we were going up north. Also during this week I was doing the deposit for one of my co-workers who was on her vacation. So again I didn't think we were doing anything except for that one Fri night. On Tues (the day before our anniversary) I was at work and Terry texted and told me to hurry home that night. So I starting thinking maybe he was going to take me to Tuachan or something. I did as he said and got home right at 4:30. He had dinner on the table and he and Jaice were sitting down ready to eat. While we were eating Terry said, "when you are done eating I need you to do something". I said OK and he said I need you to get packed. We are going somewhere today. I was shocked and told him there was no way I could go. I had to do the deposit. He said don't worry everything is taken care of that Rachel knew and it had been worked out. Then
I asked who was going to take care of the girls. He said that was all worked out too. So I starting packing. He handed me my nikes and told me we would probably be going on a hike so I made sure to pack comfy hiking clothes. My thought then was we are going to hike the Y. So after I got packed and Jay came to get the girls we headed out. But then I got confused again when we starting heading south to Vegas. Then I thought to myself what are we going to do in Vegas for 4 days. After we started on the highway Terry put in all top 100 songs from 1991 for our listening pleasure. It was fun to try to remember each singer or band and how different it was from the music now. After we got to Vegas I saw a sign that said Duran Duran on Fri at Mandalay Bay and I said "ah ha, we are going to that concert" but again I thought to myself what else is there to do in Vegas. Then I thought we were going to visit Brandon and Tracy especially after Terry ordered 4 in and out cheeseburgers. But I guess he was just really hungry because soon we passed their exit and kept going. As soon as we left Vegas it finally hit me that we were going to Disneyland. I said I know where were going, Disneyland! And he still didn't say anything he just smiled. Then I started texting everyone so excited and starting asking him how the heck he pulled this off. He said he'd been planning it since we got back from our family Disneyland vacation in Oct. He wouldn't have told me anything but since he thought we would have the 50th party he better let me know I wouldn't be here at least one day. He hadn't told anyone about it either. The only people that knew were Rachel from my work and Jadyn and he only told her a week before so she could watch the girls for him.
On Tues night he said he wasn't able to get the hotel by Disneyland so we stayed in Temecula California and then got up early and headed out the next morning. He had even packed my Disney shirts for me to wear and had his too. Sadly though all my shirts were too hot to wear in the summer. He had also packed a picture that we had taken 25 years ago at Disneyland. He thought of everything. Because of traffic we got to the park at about 8:45. He headed to get Hyperspace Mountain and Buzz fast passes while I got in line for Peter Pan. When we got on the ride I think it finally hit where we were and how excited I was to be there and I starting crying. After we got off Peter Pan we hit all the other rides we wanted to ride in Fantsayland and then made our way around the park the rest of the morning. We didn't get hungry until around 2 our time (we had made to order omelets at the hotel that Terry loved every day). I had no idea if we were going to leave the park and then come back. But then Terry said we can eat if you want to. We had been in New Orleans square area and he started heading back toward the Pirates exit. I just thought we were taking a short cut. Then he stopped at the Blue Bayou restaurant. I said what are you doing in there and then I heard him say "we have a reservation". I started bawling again. I have always wanted to eat there but never thought I would. We got a table by the water and they brought out our cool light up menus. I really didn't need one though, I knew exactly what I wanted. Every blog that talks about food to try at Disneyland has always said the Monte Cristo Sandwich is a must. And it did not disappoint. It was huge and came with 3 dipping sauce choices. We also had a yummy house salad and rolls. Terry tried their steak and said it was very good also. They also brought out a Mickey shaped chocolate mousse for our anniversary that was also yummy! While we were eating we enjoyed watching and listening to people on the Pirates ride and enjoyed the atmosphere. I loved every second of that lunch. I didn't want to leave but we eventually did. But not without the rest of my sandwich (which we ate for dinner later) and a new sturdy take out bag to hold our waters in (we didn't pack a backpack) After lunch we went on every ride we wanted to, looked in shops, and continued to explore the park. That night during fireworks we were going to walk down main street and right before the shops a cast remember was standing by a huge fence that is normally closed. She told us to go ahead and so we got to walk behind all the building on Main Street. They had old posters of the rides all along the buildings and fence. They also had part of a curtain opened and we could see all the jungle cruise boats lined up. I never realized how close that ride was to Main Street but it is literally right behind it. After we got to the other end of Main Street, we looked at all the moving window displays at the Emporium and then walked back down behind the buildings on the other side. They had some more old ride posters and the employee entrances to the shops on that side. It was so fun to just take our time and explore things we had never done or seen before. We walked in and out of each shop just taking our time looking at all the decorations they use in each shop and trying to see things we haven't noticed before. We also tried the Dole Whip Float that I've always wanted to try but never had. We didn't get hungry again until around 9 so we found a bench and finished off my sandwich. Then just kept riding the rides, watching the parade and enjoying being in Disneyland until close at midnight. On our way out we saw Mickey so we got in the short line and had our picture with him and then headed out to our shuttle and got to our hotel around 1:00. We checked in and headed up to our suite. We stayed at the Embassy and it was very nice. We were exhausted so we went right to bed so we could get up early and head to California Adventure the next morning.
The old entrance to Club 33
Pooh Bear for Jantz
Inside Blue Bayou!
My Yummy Sandwich
Mickey Shaped Mousse they brought for our anniversary
Dole Float in the Tiki Room
Feel much better!
Watched the fireworks by the river for a cool new perspective
Terry blowing a kiss to his favorite princess..Arial
Day 2
We got to California Adventure right before 8 when it opened. Terry ran to get Cars fast passes and I got in line for Soarin Around The World. It's a good thing we did cause the next time we went by the line was over an hour and fast passes were gone. We only waited about 15 minutes for the ride. I liked the new movie Terry said he still likes the California one a little better. We had until 11 before we could get on the Cars ride so we decided to do all the boardwalk rides. There was no wait for Screamin so Terry went on that one alone while I watched. After we got on Toy Story with a short 15 min wait and then walked on the Fun Wheel, Goofy's Sky School, Zepher, and Little Mermaid. We then headed to Cars Land and rode the new Luigi ride before getting on the Radiator Springs Racers. After that we went and got our Tower of Terror fast passes and then got in line so we could have the experience of seeing all the cool decor for tower before they close it. Then we headed over to the Monsters ride which had a 25 min wait. But the cast member saw us deciding if we wanted to wait and asked if it was just the two of us. When we told him it was he handed us a buddy pass and said you can just walk right up now. I was so excited nothing like that has ever happened to me before. After that ride we got a yummy mango smoothie and walked over to get our Grizzly fast pass and ride Tower again. We went on the Cars ride one more time and Grizzly 2 times. We also went and sat in the lobby of the Grand California hotel for a while. Terry would of stayed longer but I got nervous the security guard would see we didn't belong and ask us to leave. It was very nice inside and felt good to put our feet up and cool down for a little while. After leaving the hotel we went and watched Talking with Crush and rode our last ride before heading back over to Disneyland at 6. Terry had wanted to try the Mexican restaurant in Frontierland so that's where we headed first. It was very good and we took our time eating and refilling our water cups and bottles with a faucet they had in the restaurant instead of having to use the water fountain. We went on Pirates and Splash Mountain and then went on Haunted Mansion. The last couple times we have been have been in October so they have had it decorated with Jack Skeleton things. It was fun to be able to ride it with the original decorations. One of the times we were in line there was no one behind us and a special tour group came in and Terry was listening to all the inside tips the cast member was telling the group. He leaned over to me and said, "somewhere in here is a Tigger blanket". So that time through we kept our eyes out and were able to find it. It was another fun thing I've never had happen before. That night we wanted to watch the firework show standing on Mainstreet so we could see all the cool projections they have on the buildings during it. It did not disappoint either. During the Frozen portion it even began to snow on us. It was something we didn't know was going to happen and was so cool. We were in the perfect spot and I got a little choked up again during the fireworks. After the fireworks I told Terry lets try to get our picture in front of the castle so while everyone else was heading out of the park we made our way through the crowds to the castle. They still had a rope up and we could see the cast members cleaning up the fireworks and things they used on the castle. When the cast member said they were going to start taking pictures we squeezed ourselves in line and were able to get our picture before they let the rope down and everyone was behind us. After we were done with our picture we wanted to try the corn dogs so we went at 11:00 and got one to share. It was very yummy. We took our time eating and then headed back up Mainstreet to do our shopping and people watching until midnight. Even though we were so tired we were so happy to just enjoy being in Disneyland. We walked very slowly out to our shuttle and went back to our hotel.
I promised Terry I would ride his favorite ride the Zepher with him
I loved it!
Cooling off
enjoyed every moment of our last couple time ever on the Tower of Terror!
The Radiator Springs photographer had some time on their hands
our own personal photo shoot
Last time we went the girls had got special disneyland Alex and Ani bracelets that you can only get from Disneyland. I knew that is what I wanted from the second I found out that's where we were going. When we looked they didn't have it in the store. So luckily i looked online at the disneystore and they had it on sale ofr 20.00 instead of 50.00. I hurried and ordered and have loved it since I got it.
Day 3
The next morning we slept until 9, and then Terry had one final omelet before we headed to Vegas. We got to Vegas around 2 so we checked in to the hotel took a short nap and then headed in to town. I still had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. Terry had just said we will be eating soon. So I was just along for the ride. We parked in a parking garage by Bally's and headed in. I guess Ballys connects to Paris but I didn't realize we had gone in to another casino until I saw the huge base of the Eiffel tower. We walked around for a little while and then Terry said come look at this menu. After I looked at it I read the name of the restaurant and said hey this is Tracy's restaurant. A couple minutes later Tracy and Brandon came and we got to eat a another fabulous meal. Terry got a pasta dish that he really liked and I tried one of their steaks. We had a yummy raspberry shortcake dessert and them made our way over to Mandalay Bay for the Duran Duran Concert. We had seen them a long time ago and I really loved that concert. I was very excited to find out that was who we would be seeing. We got there while the opening band was still playing and had fun listening to them. Duran Duran did amazing and I loved every minute of their show. It went by very fast though. I could of stayed a while longer but we ended getting back to the hotel around midnight. The next morning we slept in until 10:00 then got up and headed home. The whole week was magical and it was the best 25th anniversary surprise I could of ever wanted. I will remember this the rest of our lives.
Tracy was the only one in the crowd that went old school
