Trip of a lifetime.....Disney Christmas, Birthday, Food * BIG & final update!

[BellaBaby]

Oh--A Disney Outlet Store in Vegas?

We are driving this summer from Denver to Anaheim and we will stop in Vegas for the night. Do you remember where the store is located? I'd love to stop in if we have time!!

Great update!!

 

[zanzibar138]

Oh--A Disney Outlet Store in Vegas?

We are driving this summer from Denver to Anaheim and we will stop in Vegas for the night. Do you remember where the store is located? I'd love to stop in if we have time!!

Great update!!

Me too! Vegas is our last stop so if we have any money left and room in the suitcase, it's my last chance to stock up on Disney items

Loving your TR so far. San Francisco was actually the least exciting part of the trip for me, and now I'm starting to get excited about it

 

[6Smiles]

I'm joining in. What wonderful pictures and such magical memories for your family from the beginning.

 

[maryr1oz]

Can't wait to read more - what a great trip!!

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Oh--A Disney Outlet Store in Vegas?

We are driving this summer from Denver to Anaheim and we will stop in Vegas for the night. Do you remember where the store is located? I'd love to stop in if we have time!!

Great update!!

Yes, I do remember where it is!!! We stayed at Caesers Palace and itis way down the other end of the strip. It is on Las Vegas Blvd down past the Mandalay Bay on the same side.
It has lots of stores and the Disney store is actually on the outer part and is right next to Saks Fifth Avenue. it's actually called Disney's Character Warehouse Outlet Store.
We did get a decent amount of things from here, but you have to remember, being from Australia it was great for us but I have read where other people ( mainly those form the USA who have loads of other Disney stores ) have been somewhat disappointed!

But, if you can get there, it is worth a look. We then went in the all the other shops and had such a great day. Found a store called Harry & David that have the most wonderful concoction of popcorn with chocolate called Moose Munch..............mmmmmmm it was just too yummy!!!

Hope this helps!

Sue

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi everyone!

Now, lets get to Day 3!!!

For our last day in the bay area, we headed off down to the pier bright and early to board our sea vessel ( a ferry!!! ) to take us over to Alcatraz.

It takes only 10 minutes to get over to the island and the view on the way is very pretty.

After docking, we were given instructions and told about the facilities on the island. We were also directed where to go to pick up our headsets for our self guided tour. This really is something that I had been looking forward to learning about and the tour did not disappoint. It gives you the complete history and is actually narrated by a former prisoner.

First building you see on arrival

You are free to wander around and take as much time as you like. No food is allowed on the island so most peole only stay for a couple of hours. We thought we would oly be there for a little while, but found ourselves wanting to explore more.

The water tower

Some pictures from inside the cell blocks

Scary prisoner!!!

We finished the tour and headed out through the gift shop and we noticed a gentleman sitting there who was signing books. It was an ex inmate who was actually sentanced and served 4 years on Alcatraz and he was signing copied of his book written about the rock. DH bought a copy and got him to sign it.

So, back to the dock for our trip back to the mainland. We wandered around the pier and found these guys!!!

We also found a sourdough bread shop that has these wonderful creations in the window!!!

And of course, no trip to San Francisco is complete without a photo of this!

It was then back to the cablecars for a ride back into Union Square for, wait for it........................more shopping!!! I loved the cable cars and some of them were decorated for Christmas with lights and snowmen!!


We had a very early start the next day as we needed to be at the airport for our flight to Vegas by 7.30 am!!!
So, reluctantly had an erly night for our last night in San Francisco!!! And this is the seafood pizza we had for tea!

It was very nice, but the waitress here was just terrible. Too busy watching the tv so no big tip for her!!!


Day 4 - Viva Las Vegas!!!

Here we are in the foyer at 6am for our 6:15 pick up!!!

So, we arrive at the airport and have no trouble checkiing in. We flew with United..............the flight was good, but they managed to break 2 of our suitcase zippers and DD's lovely bright pink suitcase was now covered in big black oil patches. Oh well, I suppose that's what you get for not buying the black one!!

Flying over California ( maybe we should say Soarin' over California! )

The Las Vegas strip taken from the air

Anyway, we arrived in downtown Las Vegas where we boarded a shuttle to our hotel...............Caesars Palace!!!

The airport

Statue in the the foyer

We headed straight over to Margaritaville for lunch. It was just yummo!!!

Ribs for DH

Burger for me!

Oh my................it certainly lived up to expectations. The room was enormous and we had big spa bath that was just divine!

So, we left our luggage and set off the explore the strip.

More from Vegas soon!
And of course, to finish the post, a Disney pic!!!

Until next time...............cheers!!!

Sue

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lovely photos Minnie Sue. You must be really pleased to have such great memories. Thanks for sharing.

Was the ex-inmate big and scary?

Can't wait to see your pictures of the Strip!

 

[BellaBaby]

Thanks for the tip on the Disney outlet in Vegas!!

Yes, was the inmate very scary looking?

 

[Soaptopia]

I am hooked! Can't wait to hear more. You have a very lovely family! I can't wait to have a child of my own and have vacations like this.

 

[AussieDisneyNut]

Christmas in San Francisco looks wonderful! I hope one day we can experience the same magic. Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[JH87]

I love your TR! I live about 90 mins from San Fran so I visit often, it's kinda nice to see it from a tourist perspective. I really enjoy your pictures! Looking forward to the Disney ones!!

 

[chickyann]

loving your trip report so far

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Hi everyone!!!

Sincere apologies for the delay in getting to the next post...................life gets in the way sometimes! So, here goes a big post!!!

Now where were we.......................I know................Vegas!!!

Now this was one place that we just had to visit more than once. Wall to wall M&M's and 4 floors of merchandise including the option to make your own personalised ones!!!

Now here's a quick question..............what do call a group of Elvises???

An Elvi of course!!! we came across this fun bunch on the monorail that links the Luxor and the Mandalay Bay hotels!!!

No trip to Vegas for me would have been complete without going to see the Lion King on stage. One of my favourite things to do is go to the theatre and I must say this was the best theatre experienc ever!
The show is just amazing and we had the best seats in the house!!!

We went to the matinee show and headed off to the Rainforest Cafe at the MGM for tea. I must say, I was not too impressedd with the food here but DD thought her cheese pizza was great!

The fish tank at our table

The front entrance sign

The next day was a very looooooonnnnnnnggggg day!!!!
We got picked up at 6am and boarded our bus to take us to the Grand Canyon!

We stopped at Hoover Dam along the way. I must say, the size of this thing is enormous.

The tour guide was telling us about the water shortage and that the water in the dam is normally up higher. If you look at the picture the white on the rock face is where the water level should be.

This is the new bridge that has been finished recently that goes right over the top of the river instead of having to go around.

This is a desert cactus that were scattered around the base.

And the sign on the border of Arizona and Nevada!

So we continued on for a few hours more and stopped just before we reached the canyon itself for a meal and also to view a movie ont eh canyon at an Imax theatre.

And now....................the Grand Canyon...........

At Bright Angel Lodge and yes, that is snow!!!

Now even though it was a huge day, to see the canyon is just something spectacular. It's one thing to see it in pictures, but to see it for real is simply breathtaking.

So, back to the strip.............

Outside Caesars Palace

It really is amazing who you can run into!!!

Inside New York New York with a Jellybean version!

More in the following post!!!....................

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

New York New York at night

We decided to take the lift up to the top of the Eiffel Tower which is inside the Paris hotel. Wow, what a view!!!

This is Caesars......it is just sooooo big!

And while we were up the top, we were fortunate that the fountain show at the Bellagio started! It was just spectacular!!!

More of the strip from the top of the tower

We here in Australia don't have carollers that go around at Christmas time so I was thrilled to find this foursome at the outlet mall were we did some shopping!

And here are some pics taken at night!

MGM

Excalibur

And some of the inside of Caesars Palace.

One thing I was so happy about with Vegas is that I found my favourite restaurant! For those of you who love Chinese as much as me, you just must try PF Changs....................yum yum yum!!!

And to finish off tonights post............a Disney pic of course!!!

Stay safe and thanks for coming along for the journey!! Loads more to come!!!

Cheers

Sue.

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

I love your TR! I live about 90 mins from San Fran so I visit often, it's kinda nice to see it from a tourist perspective. I really enjoy your pictures! Looking forward to the Disney ones!!

Thanks so much and I am so glad you are enjoying the pics! I have so many Disney ones and I can't wait to get them posted!

It makes it so much more fun to relive the trip with others!

So stay tuned!!!

Cheers

Sue

 

[jnjusoioa]

I am along for the ride. Sounds amazing, can't wait for the Disney parts but for sure loving all the stops. Thank you for writing.

 

[AussieDisneyNut]

Great photo's of Las Vegas and The Grand Canyon. It makes me a little sad that we won't be visiting those places on our trip, but we couldn't fit everthing in! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

And away we go.............!!!

We had some souvenir pics taken in Vegas and I thought I would share them before I continue on!

DD with Macaws at the Margaritaville restaurant.

DD with real lion cub at MGM.

Us just before we took the lift to the top of the Eiffel tower

So, today IS THE DAY....................DD and I are soooooooooooo excited as we are finally going to where our dreams come true!!!!

Ok, have we got everything................have we checked out............are we really going to Disneyland.................today???!!!

Got a scary cab to the hire car depot. Scary because the door at the back kept popping up and I was so frightened we were going to lose the suitcases all over Las Vegas Blvd

We arrived in one piece thank goodness and picked up the dreamy car...

And where were we going???

The Ho Jo of course!

So with course set, we drove off..............destination Anaheim!!!

Leaving Las Vegas Nevada.........hello California!

And we just couldn't resist stopping at Sizzler at Barstow along the way!

And we had a visitor who joined us!!!

So, after we had filled up on yummy Sizzler food ( I just love steak and Malibu chicken!!! ) we set on our way again. It got dark on the way and we got to see all the Christmas lights on the way. One thing I was just so excited to see were the real Christmas tree lots. We don't have "real" trees here in Australia so these were a real novelty ( and just so Christmassy!!! ).

Ok, so the lady on the GPS system announces "turn left and you have arrived at your destination". By this time, I could hardly contain myself!

So, we checked in, parked the car, found our room, dumped ( yes literally dumped!!! ) the luggage and took off down the road!

I can't remember when I cried for the first time, but I do know I was very emotional. All the planning, all the dreaming of having my family here with me in my happy place was real. Somebody pinch me............!!!

The first pic I took in the downtown area

So, we explained to DD that is was too late to enter the park ( it was around 8pm) but we could certainly hang in downtown Disney and be back at DL when it opened in the morning. We also said that she could make whatever she chose in the Build A Bear store as that was something we had both been looking forward to! Mine to come later!!

This is the making of Belle Bunny!
Step 1.......choose animal!

Step 2..........give bunny a name and place inside

Step 3......... Fill bunny

Step 4........... take a heart and make a special wish

Step 5...... add heart and sew bunny up

Step 6.........the finished product!

Step 7.......ask Mum very nicely if Belle Bunny may have a special outfit to wear home!!!!

We then went out and just wandered around the DTD area. We were forbidden to enter the big Disney store as hubby claimed it was too late and he would never get us out of there ( he was most definitely right!!! )

So, we did some window shopping instead!

A whole window of Minnie!!!

And of course no trip is complete without stopping off here! Yummo!!!

In the window we found.....

And.....

We wanted to stay longer, but had a very big day so reluctantly headed back to the Ho Jo ready for a very big first day at Disneyland tomorrow.................

Stay tuned for the Disneyland portion with sooooooo many pics!!!!

And to finish the post, we end with the customary Disney pic!!!

Until next time!
Sue

 

[BellaBaby]

Yeah!!!!! DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are staying at HOJO's when we go in June also!! Hope it was a nice stay for you.

Looking forward to the first MAGICAL day~

 

[BellaBaby]

What is the California inspections?