So now for the trip report part. This was the best trip we have ever made to Disneyland. Everybody we met treated us like royalty. I truly can not thank everybody enough for the wonderful time we had. It started pretty much as soon as we got there and didn't end until we left.
It was an honor to meet everybody who came out to see us and I just want to take this opportunity to thank everybody who did take the time to meet us. The gift of time is perhaps the most wonderful thing you can give a person. The fact that so many people took time out of their lives to come and meet us is very humbling. To those wonderful people who actually flew across the country to be there when we are I can never thank you enough.
So we were in the park from Wednesday to Monday. In that whole time I went on 2 rides, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. If you count the tram as a ride, I did 3.
We had multiple offers to take us to the Disney Soda Fountain, and WDI. I also received an offer to go to the Company D store. I can not believe how many people wanted to take us to places. Thank you to all of you who offered. The fact was I wanted to be sure to be in the park as much as possible so I could meet everybody who said they wanted to meet us. I did take the opportunity to go to the Company D store because it was close and I could also take my new friends Dawn(Dawny) and Bryana(Bryanag135). I am not sure if the wonderful person who took us wants to be mentioned so I won't do that now, but you know who you are and thank you so much!!!
So I did a whole lot of pin trading while we were there. That is what I love to do the most. I have been on the rides dozens of times from our trips through the years, but pin trading is always different and I love dealing with other pin traders. You all are an amazing group of people to trade with!!!
Wednesday through Saturday afternoon was nothing but pin trading for me. I met many of you and received some amazing Ariel pin zaps. I must say a few people really stand out for their kindness. Here is the problem I am having. If I list some of them and forget any others I would feel terrible. So please allow me to thank you as a group. There is one story that I do want to tell and I hope I don't embarrass this wonderful trader too badly by doing so. But it will allow me to show all of you traders who are shy that you don't need to be. I am finding out how many of you are out there. Julio (wholeo20) was sitting next to me for about a half hour and I didn't realize who he was. Finally he got up the nerve to talk to me and said "hi, I am Julio" I was flabbergasted. I asked him why did it take so long for him to say hi, his response "I didn't know what to say". I was in shock. I know I can be kinda scary looking, but I asked people to come find me and say hi. So I was very surprised it took him so long to do it. I am thrilled he finally did!!! You are awesome Julio and you should never be afraid to say hello to people!!! You are Julio and people should be honored to know you!!! That goes for everybody on here. You are all part of this wonderful family and as such you should never be afraid to say hello to people and ask them if they want to trade. I did see many people there who have never traded with a another guest and several who have only traded very seldom with other guests. Everybody needs to remember pin karma is a wonderful thing. If somebody is rude to you, they will get that returned to them at a later date. But if you ask somebody and they surprise you by saying yes then there is great pin karma for everybody involved.
Small side track. I made buttons for everybody who said they were going to meet us. I thought there might be 20 people sign up for my "little project" and it turns out over 100 people signed up and I had to buy more buttons. There is no way I was ever going to remember that many people so I figured what better way to remember who is who then have them with name tags. :naughty: I thought the other benefit of this would be, if I didn't know the people I was trading with were on dpf then there might be a lot of others who didn't know each other either. What better way to identify the wonderful family members here then having a badge of honor with your names and id's on them?
For those who have asked and those that will ask, I will be doing something in the near future so that others can also get them.
So now back to Saturday afternoon. Marisa and Sebe were nice enough to throw a pin trading party while us out of townees were in town. They are wonderful hosts (whoever stole from them better give back the stuff or something really bad is going to happen to them). We were lucky enough to get a ride from Janice (jrdnsmom). It was Amy, me, Dawny, Janice and Jordan in the minivan. The party was amazing!!! So many people and so much trading going on. Stu was trying his hardest to find me 50 pins that I needed. While he fell a little short, it wasn't by much. Kristin (disneycrazee) made me the amazing pin bag you see in the pic above. I was showing it off the rest of the night. Then somebody asked if there was any pins inside it. Doh:facepalm: , I didn't even open it up because it was so amazing that I didn't think the gift could be any more awesome. I was wrong. There was pins inside it. I had to go give Kristin another hug and apologize for not looking in it sooner. No, that pin bag will never see the inside of a park because it is simply too amazing to ever take a chance with. It will get some pins put onto it ant then will be hung like the piece of artwork that it is.
During the party Nathan and I were talking and he said something that I still don't understand. He was telling me how many of the locals were so excited that we were coming down:werd:. I have never had anybody excited I was going anywhere (okay so maybe my children get excited when we are gone)
, but never anybody excited that we were coming someplace. I can't thank you enough for those kind words Nathan.
When some of us old people finally decided to call it a night (after midnight) we went back to Janice's van and started to leave and we had a flat tire. Since Dawn had to go to the airport very soon Lenny was nice enough to give her a ride back to her hotel and the rest of us waited for AAA to get there so they could change the tire. AAA finally showed up about a half hour later (not bad time) and changed the tire for us. We then loaded up the car and off we went. Well on the freeway we start feeling a vibration. I finally told Janice she should pull over and I would check the tire. Apparently the AAA guy didn't get the tire seated properly and the wheel was coming off of the hub. Well I tightened it back up and we were off again. When we got to the hotel, I checked the tire again and it was slightly loose again. I think I finally got it tightened up properly. By the time we got back it was 2:30am Sunday morning. Still it was a wonderful time even with the tire issues. Thank you Janice for the ride and the excitement. I can't think of anybody I would rather have my life dangling with then you!!! For those that have not met Janice, you have to!!! She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met!!! Plus she gives great hugs!!!
Sunday at Disneyland, this is the day I was most looking forward to. This is the day that I got to meet Carissa and Mimi. For those who do not know who Carissa(Romancing_Train) is, she is the person who is most responsible for my zapping people. She is the amazing person who set up the RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) attacks. I was last October's victim and I have never been the same since. I was so touched by the kindness of people I had never met before and those that I knew from pinpics that I decided I needed to continue the wonderful feelings I received by zapping others. So if you have been zapped by me, you now know who was responsible for it. Mimi is her wonderful grandmother. Here is the picture of me and Mimi.
Now Mimi and myself do not like our pictures taken. But I am thrilled with this wonderful picture of us together with one of her favorite characters Dumbo.
So Sunday was amazing for me. I got to meet the 2 people I was most looking forward to meeting and we went on a couple of rides I mentioned earlier. We then went over to LGM and did some pin trading. Mimi and Carissa went on Buzz Lightyear and I had to go find a Dumbo popcorn holder for Mimi while they were gone. Well the trip finally caught up with me and I wasn't feeling all that great. I am sure it was mostly due to lack of sleep, but I think the other part was the amazing treatment everybody was giving us also started to hit me. It is hitting me again as I write this. I still can not believe all of the love and kindness we were shown by so many people!!! It is so humbling to me. I never thought anything like this would ever happen to us. Carissa kept asking me if I was okay. She said I looked sad. It was not sadness she saw, but shear joy and amazement at what had happened to us. I simply can not put into words how much this meant to us. The fact that so many amazing people came together to make sure we had such a wonderful time it blows me away.
Monday was another fantastic day pin trading and spending time with so many new friends!!! Then it was over and back to home on Tuesday and then reality back to work on Wednesday. But it was also back to planning our next trip down there to so many wonderful family members of DPF!!!
To everybody who took the time to come out and meet us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!! That means more to us then any of the wonderful zaps and trades we made. We love everybody we met!!! We are so thankful to be part of this wonderful family!!!
Thank you for my Vanellope button!! 
