Trip Report

[SnowWhite09]

Looking forward to hearing more soon

 

[PrincessInOz]

Looks like a day in shopping heaven.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Well done on the shopping front with 3 kids in tow too! Dinner looked yum and a great setting.

 

[Tashinwdw]

I am really enjoying your trip report. I have only done WDW and thats where we are spending most of our next holiday. Had 3 days spare at the end and decided to tag on disneyland. Now I am wishing we had more time there.

Oh and loving the food pics, what camera do you use? My food pics never come out that good

 

[Aussiefamof5]

What is that drink? It looks a bit like the Coronarita my husband loved at Bubba Gumps, except yours looks frozen (even better).

I agree about Lego prices. We got some in the States, but my DH wishes we got more. Next holiday we are heading to Walmart and stocking up.

Coronarita's they are divine and soo tasty frozen!!... A little too tasty lol

 

[Aussiefamof5]

I am really enjoying your trip report. I have only done WDW and thats where we are spending most of our next holiday. Had 3 days spare at the end and decided to tag on disneyland. Now I am wishing we had more time there.

Oh and loving the food pics, what camera do you use? My food pics never come out that good

We havnt done WDW yet i think we will wait till miss tilly is a little older. Disneyland is amazing and we didnt cover all the ground, hence why we are returning this year.

The camera is a samsung galaxy GC100, amazing camera, with a touch screen almost like the samsung galaxy mobile, it uploads straight to FB, has drop box and heaps more features, and takes great shots, for the amateur like me

 

[Aussiefamof5]

Ooh must find out about the Velocity cards! Is there fees involved in the initial loading? We are off in a few months so need to get something sorted for our spending money

Thanks for the update.....looks just divine there it really does!!

You can load with POLI for a $1 fee funds available in 2 business days, but its only up to $1000, if you BPAY transfer 3 business days and $1 fee. THats the only part I dont like, From what i have looked at I think the Qantas card doesnt charge a fee and if you BPAY i think its available straight away, dont quote me on that though, but you acquire points for both which is awesome

 

[Aussiefamof5]

Great updates. The pool/dining area of the hotel looks so lush and peaceful. I particularly like all those outdoor lanterns.
I'm getting excited about spending a night there.

I have to say you will love it For me nothing compares to this now in so many ways, the luxury, the convenience, the privacy its beautiful

 

[Aussiefamof5]

Sorry about the delay folks it takes forever to upload the photos...
Day 3

Today we were having our early morning entry in to california adventure park. One thing that i didnt point out at the beginning, on your first day of entry in to the parks, I read that people were feeling inconvenienced about the delay in to the park due to having their photos taken. Its really not that big a deal and we had 5 of us, Just take your confirmation from the HOTEL, they do require ID so you just have to deal with the fact that you need to take your passports in to the park for one day. They take your photo Tilly didnt need to get out of the pram, they issue you with a plastic card and off you go. The next time you enter the park, no ID required you just need your tickets (plastic card)

So today it was our early morning into california adventure, we got through to the park, cars land was down due to refurb and up and running later in the week, We thought it was really amusing how everyone felt the need to HURRY in fear they wouldnt be first in line for a ride LOL But hey us aussies just hang back and go with the flow.... for me it was also a bundle of nerves as me and Hamish were going straight to california screaming me and hamish had never been on a roller coaster before so I was peaking just a bit, we both took some motion sickness tabs that morning hoping it would help.
We sucked it up and off we went .....

Have to say it was awesome loved loved loved it!! Although I did close my eyes when we went around mickeys wheel



My partner and Hamish were next, as Hamish loved it and you could go straight on the ride due to early morning entry, I have some videos of the actual ride itself and will try and post a link to it later.



We wandered around the pier for a bit not much was open there but it was really lovely to look at.
Next my partner and Hamish wanted to do tower of terror, NO way was I doing that so sax, tilly and myself were cruising down to bugs land on our way we stumbled across this big luvable guy




A random truck in the park, again disney detail in taking you back to earlier times




Hamish and my partner laughing in the back corner

The park had now officially opened but we were happy with what we had achieved in our early morning, california screamin twice, and tower of terror, which has huge waits during the day.

Ladybug boogie ride, we waited for ten minutes for this ride so get their early folks.



We then did the Heimlich train LOL this is really funny but you have to do it for the little ones,
My partner trying to hide under his hat and sunnies sitting by himself and hamish behind him looking real impressed


By now it was mid morning and I wanted to take tilly to the disney junior live on stage performance. Now folks this is a real let down, we went in expecting Mickey and co... well no its just pop up puppets on the stage!! Tilly was soo dissappointed but she got to join in the jumping and clapping, but we will be giving this one a big fat miss next time!!

We were going to head over to cars land now and get a bite for lunch

 

[Aussiefamof5]

We wandered in to cars land and decided to eat at flos cafe... YUK YUK YUK gross food really gross and majorly expensive. We did get the little souvenier lightning mcqueen lunch box for sax and tilly that would have to be the only good thing, plus if you eat outside you can view the cars ride, however today it was down for refurb.

So this is where you will find lighting mcqueen hanging around



The kids did maters junkyard then we cruised out and were heading over to condor flats






At condor flats the guys lined up for around 25 mins for soarin, as it was getting close to park capacity, me and tilly stumbled across her favourite character





we then went over to grizzly river run, for this you must have a change of clothes with you as you will get very very wet, I rode once and got soaked the boys didnt care they rode it 3 times in a row


just across from this ride is the california grand's entrance in to the park, we only used this entrance when we left the park later that evening after world of colour. Also where the ride to grizzly river run is where the fast passes for world of colour are, this is where most people head to in early morning entry.

My memory fades me for a bit but im pretty sure we headed out of the park at this stage as it was getting later in the afternoon, the boys wanted to go for a swim and chill for a bit, but we wanted to come back later for world of colour.

Much to tilly's surprise Minnie was back so we got one last photo of her




We got our hand stamped on our way out so we could return later.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great start to the morning. Early entry is such a good way to get on the more popular rides without the long queues.

Nice set of Meet and Greet pictures with Miss Tilly and Minnie.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Meemoo]

I love the character photos - I'd love photos with Mickey in his olden days clothes

 

[Aussiefamof5]

so we returned to the park later that evening with two grumpy kiddos in tow.... after a brief time out things returned to normal LOL the park is really pretty of a night, we came prepared with blankets as california does get chilly of an evening.

We didnt really have a plan, if the kids were able to hold out for that long we would see world of colour, we didnt bother with a fast pass as we knew we still had another day here, we had a vote earlier in the day as to what park we prefer, and we all voted disneyland!!!! California Adventure has its bonuses but you dont really get the disney feel there.

My partner and Hamish wanted to tower of terror in the evening


We wandered into bugsland really cold there of a night!! Sax did some kind of dodgem car ride and made hamish go with him, it was the slowest ride ever but sax had a ball.
Back through Hollywood studios and some random shots

This is where they have the Mad T Party from what i hear is more of an "ADULT" kinda party, they have the white rabbit DJ very LOUD dance music and some really strange characters (no not disney characters) roaming about.Its only on friday and saturday nights apparantly.








So we headed back around to the pier and wow it is absolutely beautiful





The boys did a few rides, a goofy roller coaster, and some other rides, i cant remember what they were called, we transformed in to our characters for the evening

Totally suits




our tired poppett

I should have previously mentioned the pier area starts to fill up around 7:30 with all the fast pass world of colour holders, there was alot of pushing, really dont get that your at the happiest place on earth geez!!!

We went down to mickeys wheel and found what we thought to be the last resort spot to watch world of colour. HA it's actually a great spot. World of colour is a water show, so whether you watch it from the back you still get the same view as if you were at the front as it is see through... but without all the crowds and heads.
Im going to post the link up to the full video, so if you like the spot eye it out during the day, head to mickeys wheel there are some seats right up the front of the pier and thats your spot
http://youtu.be/6mXRz-pg2t8

Here is also the link to the full ride for california screaming... my partner is the one doing all the screaming
http://youtu.be/GkX4pcJNttQ

So after the world of colour show we headed back to our hotel as we were rather beat for the evening, and we had a very tired grumpy Rapunzel on our hands.

Tomorrow its universal studios
Thanks for reading along guys

 

[zanzibar138]

Great tip for WOC! I'll have to remember that one for our visit - I can never be bothered to line up for a fastpass.

 

[aussie shaz]

I believe when we were there they weren't letting anyone around that side of the lake. They had ropes keeping people out. They said that it was too dangerous there because all the lights had to be off for the show.
It looks like a great view though.

 

[zanzibar138]

I believe when we were there they weren't letting anyone around that side of the lake. They had ropes keeping people out. They said that it was too dangerous there because all the lights had to be off for the show.
It looks like a great view though.

That sounds familiar too...

 

[beejai]

Loved your world of colour video, unfortunately when we went, thought we had a good spot until they made everyone stand up, my son(11) and I couldn't see a thing, hubby held 4 year old daughter, so atleast they could.
Really enjoy your trip report

 

[Aussiefamof5]

I believe when we were there they weren't letting anyone around that side of the lake. They had ropes keeping people out. They said that it was too dangerous there because all the lights had to be off for the show.
It looks like a great view though.

Nope not roped off, we walked around from the mickey wheel side, you could feel the heat from the fire lights when they lit up. It really is a good spot and you can view everything perfectly without anyones head getting in the way

 

[Aussiefamof5]

Today we head to Universal Studios, it was a tuesday and a great time to visit universal. We had organised this as part of our packagage at DLH. The tour company was california greyline, we were picked up from our hotel and taken to their depot where people were put on other buses according to the tour they were departing on, you do have to pay a $5 surcharge for fuel per person, we paid in cash but im not sure if they have eftpos option or not. You pay this inside at the cashier then they give you a voucher with tour info. Our driver was Charles. He was fantastic he actually gave us a mini tour of LA on our way to the studios, if you get him on your tour be sure to tip as he is very worthy, giving hints on places to eat, areas to avoid some history, and a great sense of humour!!!

After a long bus ride about one hour we arrived finally, charles advised us to return by 5pm at earliest with bus departing at 5:30.




A hint from charles was to do the studio lot tour first as you will have excessive wait times as the day progresses so that was the first thing we opted to do.
My partner having being there hmmmm 20 years ago said we have to hurry its all the way down the bottom so we hurried down these massive escalators really steep too.


You have amazing views of the valley on the way down


Here is a link of a Universal Studios Walk Through
http://youtu.be/Cazmd4YggWw

So we finally make it down the bottom, and oh no something has changed in 20 years The studio tour is now up the top!!!
(FYI its just to right of the simpsons ride)
Back up we go to the tour and luckily we got straight on, it was really hard to take pictures as the car is constantly moving, but here is one of jaws lot


Funnily enough some things never change as this was on the tour 20 years ago lol.
From memory you go through a tunnel where you put on some 3D glasses and there is a king kong theme where dinosaurs are fighting the car shakes about and water is sprayed on you. This scared poor miss tilly to bits very frighting for her.
You then go around where they film Desperate Housewives, CSI, sex and the city a few other movies, there was a section where they imitate and earthquake, a section where you see all the cars from movies, flinstones, Need for Speed cars, etc.

The tour was pretty good, goes for about 20 mins I think, its a good way to see things differently then to the movies themselves. Once we completed the tour they were asking for ppl to be standins for some home cooking show... naaaahhhh we passed on that we had some RIDES to do whoooo.

This is where we seperated for a bit, me and tilly went to watch the animals producers show, look its cute seeing all the animals act on cue, ie running through hoops etc, tilly liked to see the animals but she was a bit bored with the simpleness of it.

After this we had lunch, the guys had some greasy fix, and all i wanted was something healthy!!! After a 20 minute walk I came back with a banana and a cookie for tilly, and beer LOL Healthy simple food is really hard to come across in amusement parks.

By this stage it was getting close to the first show of waterworld which we opted to miss so we can get in some rides. So down to the bottom lot we go.



Transformers 3D!! So if I had to vote on the best ride in all the amusement parks on our trip. This would be it. Absolutely amazing i could ride that again and again and again and still love it every time.

We then did Jurassic Park.


This ride freaked me out, I lifted off my seat on the way down and thought i was going to fall out, but it was still pretty cool

We were in the third row, and poor saxon totally freaked out!!!



My partner and Hamish did this next and the mummy ride while I took saxon and miss tilly to dino play. Its a lovely little areas for the kiddos to run free for a bit


It was an ice cream pitt stop, then back to the upper lot to the simpsons and shrek 4D and the haunted house.

Funny thing about this all 3 kids freaked out on their own rides, me and tilly and sax went to shrek 4D, I was alittle dubious and confirmed when we entered, you go in to an imitation dungeon torture chamber, with the 3 little piggies, pinnochio and donkey i think, being held captive in cages, the voice of the ghost is very loud and its dark, poor miss tilly basically lept on to my shoulders!!!!

Once you go in you can sit on some cinema seats, pop your glasses on, now the seats move about quiet ferociously, so I had to move me and tilly to the seats that didnt move, you feel the wind of spiders crawling on your feet, and tinkerbell comes out of the screen she landed on tilly so she was happy with that. Saxon enjoyed this ride, but not so on the simpsons, he took a quick exit before he got on.

Upon exit we bumped in to donkey and tilly and sax had a great funny chat with him


Hamish decided that the haunted mansion was too much for him and he took the quick exit too.
By then it was time to go check out the city walk. Which was amazing!!! lots of shops and cheap souvenirs, we spent quiet a bit of time here but not long enough unfortunately as we had to return to the bus.

We have decided that when we go back to california this year we are going to stay at the Hilton at Universal City simply so we can spend some more time at the city walk. You dont really get a full day at the park when you do the tour, due to travelling, so this will allow us to spend a great deal of time at the park too.


being an onsite hotel and we were very weary.
We returned to the bus and got back to our hotel which was the first drop off so after a long day another bonus.

I think we ate at tortilla joes on downtown disney, YEP they have CORONARITAS and the food was fantastic, very fresh and abundant, customer service was great, i think we paid around $85 including tip so it was quiet good.



Will post a link later to the studio tour.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Just caught up and are still enjoying your TR immensely.

Your faces on the Jurassic Park ride are classic

I agree with you about the Transformers ride. It's my favourite theme park ride to date. Also, I agree that the Shrek seats are rough. I had backache for hours after going to the Orlando Shrek show.