Photo TR: From the frozen Midwest, to sunny SoCal!

Last summer Big Mike stayed at our place while he was here in Kansas City going to Worlds of Fun. Ever since then our son Parker has been asking to go on a coaster trip. My wife and I started planning several months ago for this trip. We told him nothing at all about it!!!! I used some of our FF miles and SPG points so the flights and hotel were free!!!! Then last friday we picked him up from school and told him we had to go run an errand. I pulled into the long term parking lot at the airport while he was busy with his Ipod. My wife and I got into he back seat with him and said HAPPY BIRTHDAY and gave him his boarding pass!!!!! He stared screaming and running out of the car he was so excited!!!!

Here is a quick breakdown of our trip.

Friday night fly to LAX

Saturday SFMM

Sunday surf lessons and dinner at Medieval Times

Monday California Adventure and Disneyland

Tuesday fly home

I will let the pictures tell most of the story, but If wanted to first just share some opinions about the trip in no particular order:

*Many people at SFMM were wearing Ed Hardy shirts, while having no tattoos at all. This was weird to me....why pay $70 for a t shirt about a legendary tattoo artist while you have no work done yourself??

* There were several people that had really nice looking tattoo work done and NO ed hardy shirt

* if you are a white guy with no rhythm, please do not try to dance to the music in the queue for Riddlers Revenge. Nobody wants to see that, I promise!

* There was a ton of PDA going on at SFMM. Maybe its because I am from Missouri and we really dont do that here, but I really dont want to see you grinding on your girlfriend in the queue for Log Jammer!

*The hordes of people at Disneyland didnt get the memo that the economy sucks!

*Besides the space shuttle, X2 has to be one of the most complicated machines ever made. It broke down several times while we were there, and after we stood in line for a hour and forty minutes it quit running for the entire day.

* in n out is a much better burger joint than anyplace we have here in MO

*If you go to Medieval Times, dont get really drunk and start cussing at the green night while flipping him off. Nobody wants their kids to see that.

* the best quote of the trip came from my son " Disneyland is WAY better than Worlds of Fun!"

Thanks for checking out our trip....here are the pics!

beach football was awesome!

Parker and the surfing pro Jason.

This is after the surfing lesson. For you ACER's out there who are not quite sure what surfing is. It involves lots of physical exertion and you cant eat while you are doing it.

This was our surf shop place. Our pro surfer guy Jason was great!

The water was freezing!!!!!!

Sunday was the beach day!

I am sure my wife will love that I posted this one!

We had to try on the silly hats.

I really liked this ride. It caused some chaffing, but it was still fun!

The wife and kid rode this...Dad is a wuss and didnt!

She was successful!

My wife was trying to get us wet.

This is where it was stuck for the rest of the day.

The line for X2

Our first stop. The exit for SFMM is all screwed up! It took 40 minutes to get to the park once we were off the highway!

Our rental car was a convertible!

At the airport ready to GO!!!!

Here is the rest of Sunday at Medieval Times.

The entrance

After dinner we went and got some ice cream.

My wife said our knight was the best looking one there. Whatever. they should of had some hot princesses or something!

This was my sons favorite part, where they beat the crap out of each other and huge sparks flew into the stands!

I think this was the king guy.

Their knight SUCKED!

We sat in the blue knight section. He kicked butt!

The menu

This is us trying to look as UNdorky as possible with the hats on!

We got upgraded and they gave us this cool stuff!

And use cool weapons!

Your get to wear cool hats!

I have to interpret an arson trial early in the morning, so I will post the rest of the pics tomorrow. Thanks for looking! Post a reply if you want!

First of all...you're an ASL interpreter? AWESOME! After 7 semesters of sign, I would love to be involved with something like that. But for now, I just settle for the occasional deaf/HI customer at work.

Second of all...you're the coolest parents ever! What an awesome, awesome surprise for Parker . Those are memories that will last a lifetime. I'm loving the pics so far-- the photo of you three on the beach is quite possibly the cutest family photo I've ever seen!

TPR father and mother of the year?

Though there is this other guy who takes his daughter to every part of the USA and the world riding coasters even though she is too small to ride just about all of them.

BTW, great trip report with some very sharp observations.

Like father like son!

I wish my dad (and mom especially) liked coasters... My mom just thinks they're freaky and a waste of time. dad says he's too old for them.

Medieval times looks like a cool restaurant. I've never been there before but my cousins have and they say its good. (infact...I've always wanted to be a stunt actor for shows like that)

*Many people at SFMM were wearing Ed Hardy shirts, while having no tattoos at all. This was weird to me....why pay $70 for a t shirt about a legendary tattoo artist while you have no work done yourself?? Ed Hardy seems to be a "trendy" thing lately whether you have tattoos or not. Infact I have an Ed Hardy shirt and I don't have any tattoos....YET! I'm not just wearing it because its "trendy". I know who Ed Hardy is and I know all about him, I actually like his style of art too.

* if you are a white guy with no rhythm, please do not try to dance to the music in the queue for Riddlers Revenge. Nobody wants to see that, I promise! It's called freedom of expression lol. But I can understand how you feel. I'm a musician and I can't stand it when people have no sence of rhythm.

*The hordes of people at Disneyland didnt get the memo that the economy sucks! Perhaps they're trying to make it better by giving them some buisness?

*Besides the space shuttle, X2 has to be one of the most complicated machines ever made. It broke down several times while we were there, and after we stood in line for a hour and forty minutes it quit running for the entire day. Well X2 already is plagued with a tedious loading/checking procedures. The fact that its Arrow's "guinea pig" coaster also contributes to the technical issues. one more thing, because you're breaking away from "traditional" and thinking outside the box, so you can't really predict what's going to go wrong and what's not going to.

~ Jess "Happy 9th birthday to your son!" Chan

*Many people at SFMM were wearing Ed Hardy shirts, while having no tattoos at all. This was weird to me....why pay $70 for a t shirt about a legendary tattoo artist while you have no work done yourself??

 

* There were several people that had really nice looking tattoo work done and NO ed hardy shirt

THIS! This drives me absolutely insane!

I am pretty sure that 99% of the people that wear Ed Hardy clothing have NO IDEA that Ed Hardy is a legendary traditional tattoo artist, not to mention a legendary painter as well!

I could rant for forever about this, so I'll end it here.

(Edited To add the fact that I don't care if you wear Ed Hardy and you don't have any tattoo's, but you better be aware of who the hell he is and what you are wearing.)

Now that I'm done venting, I have to say that you guys are some great parents!

You have a very lucky kid, and it looks like he knows how lucky he is to have you two as his parents as well.

Thanks for sharing your trip. I'll be looking forward to seeing the rest.

Great trip report, you took some really nice photos. Glad you had a nice trip.

What a great present for Parker, looks like he had a good time, as well as you and your wife.

First and foremost, great TR. Magic Mountain is one park I'd like to visit in the foreseeable future. It's awesome that an ASL interpreteter is on TPR. I'm learning sign language myself and I have never regretted that decision. Anyone can speak Spanish, but not everyone can hear most noises. That is why I took ASL. But anyways, good TR.

I am loving everything so far!!

I am really happy for Parker, I know how much he loves coasters!

It is really nice to see you guys again, if only through pictures.

For everyone reading, Jeffrey and April are not only really cool parents, they are tremendously awesome people and definately great friends of mine!!

Did you guys get to ride X2 before it broke?

Send my birthday wishes to Parker as well!!!!

I enjoyed seeing Parker sporting the Prowler shirt

Cant wait to see more!

All the best, Big Mike

Looks as though you had a great time.

I haven't posted in about a year, but when I learned you were an interpreter, I had to do a shout out.

Been working in Deaf Education for 22 years now!

Look forward to see the rest of the report.

*Many people at SFMM were wearing Ed Hardy shirts, while having no tattoos at all. This was weird to me....why pay $70 for a t shirt about a legendary tattoo artist while you have no work done yourself??

Eh, 99.9% of the population will never own an OCC chopper either, yet that doesn't stop the 99.9% of bikers and random TV viewers from thinking they do.

* in n out is a much better burger joint than anyplace we have here in MO

Or anywhere else for that matter.

Cool report!

for that matter why pay $70 for any t-shirt

This trip sounds like the coolest birthday present ever.

This TR has made my day. I just can't stop smiling! I know Parker will never forget this bday. Ever. You guys are awesome. I'm a big WoF fan too and have plans to make it back there in May.

I can't wait until my 2 boys are a little bit older and I can hit them up with surprises like this as well. Well done! Parents of the Year!

Hello everyone! Our trial just broke for lunch and I just wanted to say thanks for all the wonderful comments! We are very blessed to have jobs where we are able to do a trip like this, and for a son that is grateful he got to go!

Yes, I am an ASL interpreter, so is my wife. We own an interpreting company called Hands to Hear and work mostly in the hospitals, courts, and jails. I got my secret service clearance many years ago and have been able to interpret for the last three presidents that's my favorite part about the job!

My comment about Disney being busy was totally tongue in cheek the talking heads on the news say everyday how bad of a situation we are in, but people are still coming to Disney which is great!

The OCC comment was totally right and I didn't even think of it that way Sometimes trends take awhile to hit the midwest, so next year at this time I guess people will be wearing their ed hardy stuff here!

I have to say thanks to all the TPR members who post here. I have learned so much about how to plan out the days at the park and the things to make sure not to miss! Our trip would not of benn near as good if it was not for you all! THANKS!

Jeffrey

I will admit I never heard of Ed Hardy before this, but I just read this today:

Madonna is reportedly teaming up with Christian Audigier to design a line of clothing with his Ed Hardy brand.

The range is said to include the familiar tattoo printed T-shirts and bodices covered in crystals.

Now it looks like there will be even more Ed Hardy people to annoy you lol.

Peace, Big Mike

* There was a ton of PDA going on at SFMM. Maybe its because I am from Missouri and we really dont do that here, but I really dont want to see you grinding on your girlfriend in the queue for Log Jammer!

My dirty mind started laughing at this...of all rides to mention this on, "Log Jammer?" Thats exactly whats going through all those little teenagers minds at that moment...

Chris.

OH great! thanks big mike for the warning!!!! Anyway here are the rest of the pictures! It was a long day at both Disney parks, we were there from open to close!!!!! I used to live in SoCal and could hear the fireworks every night when I was at home, so it was a great feeling to be back!

i will end this TP with a pic of our cat...he has nothing to do with our trip...he is just really cool!! Bonus points to you if you know what kind of cat he is???????? Any guesses???? Thanks for checking out our report!!!!!!!

Jeffrey, April, and Parker

We have to take this pic every time we visit a Disney park, let me explain why. When I started dating my wife, she had NEVER been on a vacation before and she was 35 years old! She said she wanted to go to SoCal so I planned the trip and went to Disney one day. She didnt want to go at first because she thought is was all kid stuff. Well, she fell in love with it the moment we walked in! She had watched Disney movies all the time as a kid when they were on TV as a way to escape the horrible childhood she was experiencing. Then, to get to ride all these rides erased all the bad memories and replaced them with good ones! She was crying so hard as we walked down Main street to leave at midnight!!! Since then we have been to 9 different disney parks and have taken this same picture as often as we can!!!! We also got engage at WDW at Rose and the Crown right before the fireworks went off! So Disney has a very special place in our hearts:)

We made a sop to visit some friends on the way to the airport.

I sucked at this shooting ride also.

This is what the top of Splash looks likes, but really blurry.

This was my first time on the ride since this was added.

This is my favorite scene in Pirates!

Dead men tell no tales

I love this ride...but I hate its cousin,dinosaur, in Florida!

They had to stop the ride for me because I was not in the lap bars properly. I had one leg under each bar...when you are 6'3" that is much more comfy....but I guess not as safe

I hate this ride...always have. I always shut my eyes the entire time so I dont throw up.

I know Parker needs a haircut...but he does look cool in this pic!

We are the dorks in the back.

OK. Please help us settle a bet. Look at the person in the queue with the UFC sweatshirt on. Is it a man or a woman?????? He/she had shaved legs and gold earrings, but also a UFS sweatshirt and a fedora hat on!! Help us decide! And he/she had 2 boys...one had a mullet and the other had a rat tail...my luck they were probably from my home town!!!

Cast you vote! MAN....WOMAN????

My family looks like they are in that tunnel at Universal that makes you think you are leaning but you are really going straight.

Parker weighs much more now than he did when he was 4 and we did this all the time!

The last TOT we rode was in Tokyo...at least I could understand the story this time!!!

I am not sure what I am looking at in this pic

If you have been on TOT you know what this is.

TOT queue

Monsters was a cool dark ride!!!

This ride was awesome!!!! but I suck at shooting games and Parker kicked my butt!!!! Also it has closed captions, and as an interpreter I think is awesome!

I am sure my wife loves this pic also!

I usually dont like launched coasters, but this was really good!!!!

This was much better than I expected!!!

When Parker found out we were going to California, his first thought was he was going to visit Alcatraz....well this is as close as we came to SF.

The tram ride in. I had to go back to the car later and ride the tram by myself. Then on the way back in I helped this old woman change her flat tire on her mini van and was dirty the rest of the day!

Was that space mountain that you got kicked off for being too tall? That's too bad...Must have been embarassing. One reason I'm glad I'm a whole foot shorter than you.

I think that "gender bender" is a male.

Great pictures anyways!

I am going to guess that it was a guy in the line with the UFC shirt.

I won't even try to guess about the cat, but did not see him on my visit there.

I think the family photo with Mickey looks fantastic!

Glad everyone had a fun time!!!!!

Peace, Big Mike

PS - Say hi to everyone for me

Yep that was Space Mountain! I stayed on it after the cast member stopped the ride and made me get under just the one lap bar. The only coaster I was too tall for was Raging Sprits in Tokyo Disney. They didn't let me on the first time but I came back later and tried a second time and got on!

Ah, sorta reminds me of the time when my almost 6'3 uncle tried to cram himself into Mighty Canadian Minebuster and Backlot Stunt Track at CW, ended up with bruises afterwards. I can see that PTC's and Premier Loopers are very unforgiving for taller people. I guess I can add space mountain to that list too.

That "launched coaster" must be California Screamin'? It's the only launched coaster in Disney. I have never seen CS so up close before...

Anyways, after reading all these TR's of Disneyland and Disneyworld. I really really want to go. I have never been there for all 16 years my life.

~ Jess "It's all Mickey Mouse" Chan

That "launched coaster" must be California Screamin'? It's the only launched coaster in Disney. I have never seen CS so up close before...

 

~ Jess "It's all Mickey Mouse" Chan

Yes, it is Screamin', but the two Rock'n'Roller Coasters and Space Mountain in Paris are also launched rides.

Or were you referring to just the California parks?

I was only refering to California Disney Parks.