“This place better not burn down before I get my entrée!" – A DLR Feb16 TR (8/25 Wrap-up & new TR)

[skier_pete]

Good morning and WELCOME everyone to my latest trip report. For those that are new to reading along on our adventures, we are a small family of DW, DD12 and myself. I used to travel with my grandparents to WDW as a child, and while I had a period of not going in my twenties, my DW and I took our first vacation together to WDW in 1997, and once we took our daughter in 2006 and stayed on property for the first time – we became Mousejunkies that go back every year. 10 WDW trips, and this our third DLR trip later, as well as a DVC purchase in 2014 – we are confirmed Disneyholics.

DD12 – not so much – she is going through the teenage phase, in which she mostly wants to be on some sort of electronics laying in her room, so spending time at Disney Parks has become “boring” to her.

Also along for the ride –my DMom, who went with us to WDW in 2011, but is now 75, and while doing well for her age moves a little slower than 5 years ago. She did great keeping up, and even though we offered to get a wheelchair she kept tooling along.

Here’s the whole gang at the Warner Brother’s studio tour entrance.


It was a few years ago that I started thinking about doing this trip, and when we bought DVC two years ago, the plans became more substantial with the idea that we would be able to stay at the Grand Californian DVC. With our February break being low season – we could afford to get a 1-bedroom for 3 nights – just barely – and give everyone a bit of room to spread out. This would be a really special treat, as you can’t get much closer to the parks than the Grand Californian.

Well, for those that didn’t follow my PTR, things didn’t work quite as planned as I was unable to book a room at 7-months. Making a long story short – we DID eventually get the days booked at just 33 days before the trip. That was quite a relief, as it also saved quite a bit of expense on an already expensive trip. (We would’ve had to pay for a separate hotel for those nights – and still owe the dues on our points.) It also meant we stayed at the Grand Californian – YAY!

In addition to 3 days at Disneyland – we also went to Hollywood, the Warner Brother’s Studio in Burbank, LEGOland, and SeaWorld. I am going to spend some time discussing all of these as well, so if you are not interested, just skip ahead to Day 5 once it comes along.

 

[skier_pete]

Table of Contents.

Day 1-3 - A stop in Hollywood LINK

Day 4 - WB Tour Part 1 LINK
Day 4 - WB Tour Part 2 LINK

Day 5 - Disneyland Early Entry - Part 1 LINK
Day 5 - Disneyland Early Entry - Part 2 LINK
Day 5 - Disneyland Subs, Buzz and Pirates - LINK
Day 5 - California Adventure, Flo's V8 Cafe, and The Grand Californian - LINK
Day 5 - Carsland and Paradise Pier + World of Color LINK

Day 6 - Disneyland - Tomorrowland, Fantasyland & Toontown - LINK
Day 6 - Disneyland - Adventureland and Liberty Square - LINK
Day 6 - Disneyland - Club 33 Part 1 - LINK
Day 6 - Disneyland - Club 33 Part 2 - LINK
Day 6 - Disneyland - evening in the rain - LINK

Day 7 - DCA - Toy Story and Carsland - LINK
Day 7 - DCA - Carsland & Bugsland - LINK
Day 7 - DCA - Hollywoodland - LINK
Day 7 - DL - Launch Bay and Cafe Orleans - LINK
Day 7 - DL - Paint The Night Parade - LINK
Day 7 - DL - Disneyland Forever Fireworks - LINK

Day 8 - Legoland - LINK

Day 9 - Seaworld - Part 1 - LINK - added 7/19
Day 9 - Seaworld - Part 2 - LINK - added 7/19
Day 9 - Seaworld - Part 3 - LINK - added 8/25

Wrap Up and New Trip Report Link - LINK

 

[skier_pete]

Days 1 through 3 – the condensed version

So – our trip is not exclusively to Disneyland, but I will certainly spend the most time discussing this. We started out by flying from our home in Buffalo to my mother’s house in Mesa, Arizona. We lost my step-dad about 14 months ago, but my mom has been doing well on her own. However, we needed a little time to help around the house. We spent two days there in Mesa, before leaving for California on Valentine’s Day. The plan was to make our way to California, but visit Hollywood first and take the Warner Brothers Studio Tour the next day.

So our third day (Valentine’s Day) we got up early and drove to California. A pretty uneventful drive until we reached Pasadena at which point we hit the awful LA traffic. At 1 PM on a Sunday! YAY! We still make it to downtown LA before 3 PM. We parked underneath in the Hollywood and Highland parking garage. (A little secret – you can get your parking ticket validated by buying something in the shops – FREE parking in LA.) It was CROWDED! The mall at Hollywood and Highland.



The view of the Hollywood sign.


DD being completely unimpressed by Hollywood.

We walked around for a little while, checking out the entrance to the Dolby Theater. For those that watched the Oscars / pre-Oscar show these are the stairway and entranceway through which everyone walks into the Dolby theater.



They were already prepping for the Oscars, which at the time were 2 weeks away. The road was partly closed (the red carpet is actually the ROAD in front of the theater). We then walked up the street to the Chinese theater next door. I was surprised to find out my mom and never been here to the tourist district of LA.







Big crowds around. Across the street at the El Capitan, which is of course the Disney owned theater and where most Disney premieres take place.



It is always cool looking at the footprints at the Chinese theater. Judy Garland


Cary Grant


The Harry Potter kids – which DD got a little bit of a kick out of:


R2D2 – C3PO and Darth Vader:


Roy Rogers, his horse, and his GUN!


We crossed the street and went into a souvenir shop or two. DD was most excited by this – Oscar’s Butt. (Yes, she’s 12.)


Across the street from the Chinese Theater. Funny, I’m pretty sure the one at Disney World may actually be bigger.


Many “characters” around – but this guy was very much in Character!


Found this star for the Disney fans:


The front of the Dolby Theater – again the home of the Oscars and many other award shows:


Right in front of the El Capitan – The Muppets have their own star:


After that we had enough of this Mobscene – so we headed over to the Farmer’s Market, which is now also accompanied by “The Grove” and outdoor, highend shopping mall that’s also used as a location for some live shows - They usually shoot scenes Dancing with the Stars finales here, and also I think it showed up in the Disneyland 60th special. Anyways, it was another mob scene. (What the heck is everyone in LA going to the MALL for Valentine’s Day?)







We really only had one purpose, and that was to get a corned beef sandwich from Magee’s. We were introduced to these by Kevin Klose of the DIS podcast back in 2013, and they are SOOOO good. I wouldn’t travel across the country just for one, but when in the neighborhood.




It was a long day and it was starting to get dark, so we decided to cut across the city and head to Burbank where our hotel was. We were staying at the Tangerine Hotel, which was obviously a reworked “dive” hotel that is now calling themselves a “boutique” hotel. It was across the street from the Warner Brothers Studio, so we were all set for the next day when we were going to take our tour. This was the only time that all 4 of us had to be in a single room for a night as it was too expensive to get two rooms. (I think it was $186 for the night.)

 

[rteetz]

Joining in Pete!

Looks like a great time so far. I really hope to get out to California one of these times to check everything out including Disneyland.

That's cool you got to see the real Chinese theater, and I'm surprised that you think it looks smaller than the WDW one. You can't really tell in photos.

I can't say I'm a fan of corned beef but my mom would like it.

 

[nimbuscat]

Following! I thoroughly enjoyed your last TR, so I am looking forward to this one!

 

[franandaj]

I'm here and in!

We still make it to downtown LA before 3 PM. We parked underneath in the Hollywood and Highland parking garage.

This cracked me up. It's almost like saying, "we made it to Buffalo before 3PM. We parked on the Canadian side of the falls...." Well maybe not exactly, but I tried to give you a reference that would be pertinent. Downtown is a good half an hour from Hollywood. Not exactly sure how many miles.

I was surprised to find out my mom and never been here to the tourist district of LA.

I'm wondering g if I've ever been there before. I think I have but not totally sure.

DD was most excited by this – Oscar’s Butt. (Yes, she’s 12.)

Across the street from the Chinese Theater. Funny, I’m pretty sure the one at Disney World may actually be bigger.

Nice picture!

Many “characters” around – but this guy was

Whatever he was ( not sure why I didn't get the whole quote), it's good that he didn't spy you taking his picture without paying him. Some of those characters have been known to go ballistic on tourists who take their pictures without paying them.

(What the heck is everyone in LA going to the MALL for Valentine’s Day?)

Good question! We didn't even leave the house that day!

We really only had one purpose, and that was to get a corned beef sandwich from Magee’s.

That looks really good to me right now.

it was too expensive to get two rooms. (I think it was $186 for the night.)

Yikes I had no idea that Burbank was so expensive!

 

[skier_pete]

That's cool you got to see the real Chinese theater, and I'm surprised that you think it looks smaller than the WDW one. You can't really tell in photos..

Yeah - it's hard to judge. It's on the same scale - but it just seemed a lot bigger the last time we were in Florida. Maybe it was just all the crowds surrounding us here in LA.

Following! I thoroughly enjoyed your last TR, so I am looking forward to this one!

Thank you so much!

This cracked me up. It's almost like saying, "we made it to Buffalo before 3PM. We parked on the Canadian side of the falls...." Well maybe not exactly, but I tried to give you a reference that would be pertinent. Downtown is a good half an hour from Hollywood. Not exactly sure how many miles.

Jeepers - I wasn't thinking about the someone here might know LA - I was just trying to get through the boring parts of the TR. OK - how about this.

"We came into town on the I-10 freeway which was moving pretty well most of the way but packed with cars. Google had us move to the 101 through downtown LA, which was pretty close to a standstill for about 2 or 3 miles. Once we got past downtown though it opened back up, and it took us another 10 minutes or so to get to exit 8 off the 101 - which was Hollywood Boulevard. This was also moving really slow - as there were lane restrictions at the Dolby Theater. We saw some opportunity to park on the street - but with a car full of stuff I wasn't too keen on this. From our previous stay at the Loews Hollywood, we knew there was an underground parking garage under the Hollywood and Highland complex - so that's where we headed."

IDK - relative to the size of metropolitan Los Angeles, I thought that area of Hollywood was pretty close to Downtown - but yeah, I get that it's not the same as downtown LA.

Whatever he was ( not sure why I didn't get the whole quote), it's good that he didn't spy you taking his picture without paying him. Some of those characters have been known to go ballistic on tourists who take their pictures without paying them.

Yeah - he was with someone else, so I sort of snuck the picture. We were there the weekend Deadpool opened, so there were Billboards everywhere around LA. (I always find it a bit amusing that there seems to be 10X as many movie ads in LA as anywhere else I've ever been in my life...like the people in LA wouldn't already be the most aware of movies being out. I always wonder if the marketing people do it to show the execs - "SEE! Look at all the advertising we have!!")

Back to the subject at hand - I mostly tried to avoid the street characters. You are right - they can be awful aggressive. We warned my DM and DD to just stay away from them. My mom was a little freaked out by the Rocky Horror/Tim Curry/Dr. Frank N Furter guy and kept talking about him after we passed. "Is that a he or a she?" she asked. Mom's can be so cute sometimes.

Part of why I wanted to stop here was to me it is a way to capture all the best and worst of Hollywood in a single spot. The glamour of old Hollywood in the theaters and espcially the Chinese, combined with the seediness of the surrounding area and the throngs of tourists. I'm not much of a city person - so hitting all that in about an hour works well for me!

Yikes I had no idea that Burbank was so expensive!

I didn't really shop around a ton on that one night. I did look closer to Hollywood and anyplace decent was in the $200 to $300 range, and I wasn't going to risk a <$150 hotel in Hollywood. I was thinking of trying to stay at the Loews - but it was running $400 for the night. (Again, it was Valentine's Day, so maybe that was pushing the prices higher for a Sunday night.) I figure the location in Burbank was a nice spot, and the area was safe, I was actually very happy with the place, though a little disappointed in myself for not taking any pictures. I did pretty good taking lots of pictures on the trip, though still only ended up with around 1200 pictures. However, none of the Tangerine.

 

[Saphire5742]

One day, someday, I'll visit California.
Till then I'll just sit back and enjoy your report.

The pictures of the various footprints are delightful.
And that corned beef sandwich- looks yum yum yum. I'll have to remember that place for a future trip.
Looking forward to reading more

 

[Krissy04]

Long time reader..first time poster...fellow Buffalonian...love your TR's!
Is that guy wearing an EPCOT shirt...walking past the Louis Vuitton store?

 

[YodasMom]

Love DLR and all my memories from my ABD trips! Glad you had a good trip! Following..........!!!

 

[khertz]

Joining in!! Seeing those pics brings back so many memories of the anniversary trip DH and I took a few years ago when we spent some time in LA before going to Disneyland.

Excited to hear about the studio tour!

 

[Tinker326]

Joining in- late.. but I'm here. Maybe I can actually keep up now that busy season is winding down.

Giggling over the 'teenager' DD - Yup- her & Sarah have so much in common- including this! Maybe someday we can meet in Disney again & just shove them in a room with their ipads/phones. . Course I refuse to go in August- so maybe not. Hahahahaha!!!

Looking forward to another report!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Excited to read your report!

 

[franandaj]

We came into town on the I-10 freeway which was moving pretty well most of the way but packed with cars. Google had us move to the 101 through downtown LA, which was pretty close to a standstill for about 2 or 3 miles.

That's called "the four level" in traffic speak. It always jams up there. It would have to be the middle of the night not to have traffic at that spot. The 110 merges in with the 101 and two lanes merge into three, but only four lanes remain after the merge, so it's always a bottleneck. Plus one lane from each freeway merges into the same lane, making a headache for both of those lanes. Once you get past the merge everything is fine.

Once we got past downtown though it opened back up, and it took us another 10 minutes or so to get to exit 8 off the 101 - which was Hollywood Boulevard.

See what I mean. We make that drive often as the Pantages is on Hollywood Blvd and we see a lot of shows there.

IDK - relative to the size of metropolitan Los Angeles, I thought that area of Hollywood was pretty close to Downtown - but yeah, I get that it's not.

There are a ton of "little burrows" to borrow a term from New York City. In between Downtown and Hollywood there is Thai Town, Korea Town, the area called Westlake (aka slums).

I always find it a bit amusing that there seems to be 10X as many movie ads in LA as anywhere else I've ever been in my life.

Huh. I'll have to try and notice while we're in the Midwest later this month. I'm numb to it or just don't get to Hollywood much anymore since our band rehearsal location moved to Korea Town.

Back to the subject at hand - I mostly tried to avoid the street characters. You are right - they can be awful aggressive.

I've never really encountered them myself, but they are always on the news for attacking folks and getting in brawls.

My mom was a little freaked out by the Rocky Horror/Tim Curry/Dr. Frank N Furter guy and kept talking about him after we passed. "Is that a he or a she?" she asked.

That's funny. I guess she never saw the movie.

Part of why I wanted to stop here was to me it is a way to capture all the best and worst of Hollywood in a single spot.

Makes sense. I can sure tell you where to find some of the worst!

 

[skier_pete]

One day, someday, I'll visit California.
Till then I'll just sit back and enjoy your report.

The pictures of the various footprints are delightful.
And that corned beef sandwich- looks yum yum yum. I'll have to remember that place for a future trip.
Looking forward to reading more

I've said this many times - but I'll keep repeating it. ALL Disney fans should find the time to switch up their trips and take at least ONE trip out to Disneyland. It's enough of a different experience with some very unique and wonderful things. If you are coming from the east cost - the airfare can add some costs, but you can really stay very inexpensively within a short walk of the parks, so it's great to find a way to do it.

But, until then, thanks for joining in. Hopefully I can convince some people they should make the trek.

Long time reader..first time poster...fellow Buffalonian...love your TR's!
Is that guy wearing an EPCOT shirt...walking past the Louis Vuitton store?

Hey- you're right - it DOES look like an Epcot shirt! Good catch. And thanks for joining in, I've met a few people on here from Buffalo but not too many - so happy to meet you, I always think we should try and generate a local (WNY) DIS group. Please feel free to comment anytime...I love reading people's responses!

Love DLR and all my memories from my ABD trips! Glad you had a good trip! Following..........!!!

Thanks for joining in. We did the Backstage Magic ABD trip, and of course this wasn't nearly THAT good, but it definitely informed our travel - including going to Hollywood and Highland.

Joining in!! Seeing those pics brings back so many memories of the anniversary trip DH and I took a few years ago when we spent some time in LA before going to Disneyland.

Excited to hear about the studio tour!

Hi there! Should be getting to WB pretty soon - maybe not this week though.

Joining in- late.. but I'm here. Maybe I can actually keep up now that busy season is winding down.

Giggling over the 'teenager' DD - Yup- her & Sarah have so much in common- including this! Maybe someday we can meet in Disney again & just shove them in a room with their ipads/phones. . Course I refuse to go in August- so maybe not. Hahahahaha!!!

Looking forward to another report!

I know - I so wish you guys weren't a 1000 miles away, Sarah and DD would probably be best buds. DD is kind of "over" Disney at the moment - we probably could leave them in the room together. Does Sarah do IMessage or anything? Not sure at this point that they haven't seen eachother for a while, but maybe they would start chatting if we paired them up that way.

Excited to read your report!

Thank you for following along!

That's called "the four level" in traffic speak. It always jams up there. It would have to be the middle of the night not to have traffic at that spot. The 110 merges in with the 101 and two lanes merge into three, but only four lanes remain after the merge, so it's always a bottleneck. Plus one lane from each freeway merges into the same lane, making a headache for both of those lanes. Once you get past the merge everything is fine.

Actually - this was the first time in LA that I noticed a lot of the snarls were caused by highway mergers. Perhaps because we avoided the worst of the rush hours, we only really saw these "worst" spots, but yes, that merger there was some really truly terrible design. Just in general it is stunning how bad shape many of the roads are, but I commented that it's probably because they can't even afford to take them down a lane to fix them.

 

[DnA2010]

Joining in, looks like a fun time for sure!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Joining in Pete - looks like a fun trip and you got to see a lot of different things!

I loved the R2D2 and C3-PO footprints!

That did look like quite the mob scene, guess just being a weekend

If you've had NYC corned beef, how did this compare?

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in, looks like a fun time for sure!

Thanks for joining in!

If you've had NYC corned beef, how did this compare?

The corned beef at Magee's is incredible - melt-in-your-mouth level quality. I would put it on par with the best NY deli. Also, it was hand carved very thick. NY deli corned beef in my experience is thinner sliced, which I think the thin slice and fresh hand carved left it very hot and very tasty.

Now admittedly the serving size at Magee's I was a little disappointed in. It certainly doesn't match the quantity that you get in your traditional NY deli.

 

[Tinker326]

I know - I so wish you guys weren't a 1000 miles away, Sarah and DD would probably be best buds. DD is kind of "over" Disney at the moment - we probably could leave them in the room together. Does Sarah do IMessage or anything? Not sure at this point that they haven't seen eachother for a while, but maybe they would start chatting if we paired them up that way.

She's been begging for IMessage.. we've been reluctant to give in to her.....and have held off mostly because she really doesn't KNOW anyone who has it except her sister and her sister doesn't want her messaging her. Hahahahaha!!

If we decide to allow her to have it, let's def. see if we can hook them up. Perhaps they can plan their electronic, reptile filled vacation getaway together. Hahahaha!!!!

 

[skier_pete]

Perhaps they can plan their electronic, reptile filled vacation getaway together. Hahahaha!!!!

A virtual zoo - the perfect vacation.