Is it December Yet?? Cancelled with a Heavy Heart!

[DizNee Luver]

On to Day 8 (our 2nd Non-Disney Park Day).

Today was a lazy morning.....no one was wanting to get up....including the twins!!

Once we got everyone up & moving.....our first stop was Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

Once we had our breakfast, we had were headed to Hollywood & Burbank for some sight seeing!!

The first place we wanted to stop & see was Pink's Hot Dog Stand. We were expecting a nice looking restaurant, but what we found was a little hole in the wall wedged between two old buildings.

This place always has a line from what we understand. Since we had just eaten Krispy Kreme, we weren't going to eat lunch here....but I wish we could have, just to see what all the hype was about for myself.

As we traveled thru Hollywood, we passed by Mel's Diner:

As we continued out to Burbank, we passed the WB Studios.

We also passed the NBC Studios:

 

[DizNee Luver]

Our destiny in Burbank.......The Disney Studios. I knew we wouldn't be able to step foot inside the gates, but I could sure look & take lots of pictures outside the fence!!!

A close up of the top of the rod iron fence that surrounded the property.

The palm trees on either side of the main gate:

The Partner's Statue:

Loved this building!! The Seven Dwarf's are holding up the roof line.

Sleepy:

Happy:

Grumpy:

Dopey:

Doc:

Sneezy:

Bashful:

 

[DizNee Luver]

So we drove around to the other side of the property (which is HUGE) and got a couple pics of the water tower.

Across the street was the Roy E. Disney Animation Building.

Alternate entrance.....Very pretty with the flowers!

The sad sign telling us we couldn't get in!

Last shot of the Disney Studios.

 

[Trentmom]

I think I heard of Pinks on one of the food chanels, but forget what was so great about them

Loved all the Disney Studios pictures

Are there days that the general public can get in there to tour?

 

[DizNee Luver]

I think I heard of Pinks on one of the food chanels, but forget what was so great about them

Loved all the Disney Studios pictures

Are there days that the general public can get in there to tour?

Pinks has been covered on the Food Network, very famous for their hot dogs (celebrities rave about it).

I sure wish we could have gone in to look around the Disney Studios!!

I've seen D23 offer special tours & I believe Adventures in Disney also offer a tour. They also offer tours in auctions (like the big D23 event last summer).

 

[DizNee Luver]

Day eight continued. After seeing the Disney Studios and longing to go inside to look around, we headed to Bob's Big Boy Restaurant. There used to be lots of these restaurants around, but they've pretty much all disappeared. This is actually a historical site in California!!

The menu:

The burgers.....delicious!!! Just as I remembered!!!

Next up is the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

 

[Trentmom]

Those burgers look yummy

 

[DizNee Luver]

Once we got thru the Hollywood traffic, we parked in the Hollywood & Highland mall parking structure. Once we made it to the street, I got some pics of a few of the stars. Here's a couple!

Here's the Hard Rock Cafe:

The formerly named Kodak Theater:

The El Capitan Theater:

The Disney Soda Fountain:

A couple more favorite stars:

The star in the doorway to the soda fountain:

That of course was my favorite star of all!!!

While we waited to for a seat, we waited outside & got a few more pics of the outside of the building.

More Soda Fountain coming up!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Those burgers look yummy

They were DELICIOUS!!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We were seated at the counter......look how cute these napkins are!!

The worst part of looking at the menu is deciding what to have!!

The movie vault:

The film strip that goes around the ceiling:

The Soda fountain worker.

Black & White Sundae (vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, chocolate ice cream, marshmallow creme)

Pin Trader's Sundae (vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow cream)

Frozen Chocolate Covered Banana.

Peppermint Sundae (peppermint ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow creme)

Hot Fudge Sundae.

All gone.......................................

 

[DizNee Luver]

After our yummy dessert, we headed outside & over the Mann's Chinese Theater.

We headed back to the van & headed out of Hollywood. Only one more picture I needed to get.

At this point, everyone was tired & wanted to head back to the motel. I did a few loads of laundry that night & we went to bed early......early entry (Magic Morning) the next day!!

 

[Trentmom]

Great pics!!

Soda Fountain looks like a fun place

All those desserts look so yummy

It would be hard to decide what to pick

 

[DizNee Luver]

Great pics!!

Soda Fountain looks like a fun place

All those desserts look so yummy

It would be hard to decide what to pick

Thanx Kelly! The soda fountain & the Disney Studio were the 2 main reasons to head to Burbank & Hollywood. The desserts were so good.....the marshmallow creme was so soft, you actually could eat it!! (sometimes marshmallow creme hardens on the ice cream)

 

[tofubeast]

Loving all your Los Angeles pics! I grew up there so all those spots you posted hold a special place in my heart. Sigh. I miss 'home'.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Loving all your Los Angeles pics! I grew up there so all those spots you posted hold a special place in my heart. Sigh. I miss 'home'.

Ah, I didn't know you were from LA!! I'd love to live down in S. Cali but it's so darned expensive.....so we'll just have to keep visiting!!!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Love the pics of the soda shop!

The pic of the 7 Dwarves "holding" up the building was great!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Love the pics of the soda shop!

The pic of the 7 Dwarves "holding" up the building was great!!!

Thank You!!

I wish we could have gotten a clearer shot at it, but I was pleased with what we got....but one of these days.....I'll step foot on the property & get GREAT pics!!! (I think there's an Adventures with Disney that gives you a tour here!!)

 

[DizNee Luver]

Day 9, Disneyland day 5!!

This was a Magic Morning for us, so we were up & out of the motel by 6:15am. Unfortunately, we found out that we couldn't enter the esplanade (the area between the 2 parks) yet. So I took some pics thru the fence......my favorite picture was this one!!

These letters were a favorite of visitors to stop & do pics at......they would change out the colors for different holidays (candy striped at Christmas), etc. These were rainbow colored in honor of the new World of Color show.

We took advantage of not having very many people around to have each member of our family pose with a letter (10 letters, 10 people!!)

This is what the entrance & scenery used to look like for Disney's California Adventure.....trust me, it's really changed (think the entrance to DHS at WDW).

We headed back over to the Disneyland side to get in line for our early entry. This was taken thru the gates.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Early entry is when you can actually walk around & ride things in Fantasyland. (a few in Tomorrowland too). We take full advantage of this time to ride as many things as possible. This land is packed day & night, so the one hour we get here is golden!!

Sleeping Beauty castle. The thing WDW vets are always surprised at is the small stature of our pretty castle. We like our castle.....it fits into this park.....the hugeness of Cinderella's castle just wouldn't fit.

Snow White's Grotto to the right of the castle.

The back of the castle.

A look around Fantasyland.....so peaceful!!

Dumbo!!

The Mad Tea Party!!

Mr Toad's Wild Ride:

After riding stuff in Fantasyland & a few rides on Space Mtn. it was time for our breakfast at Minnie & Friends. The hostess was first to the table.

Ty & Max!!

Eeyore:

Pooh & Eeyore!!

We also saw Capt Hook, Chip, Dale & Rafiki.....not too bad for a character meal!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

The group split up after breakfast & I met up with one of the Dis Divas & her daughter. They were spending the day with our family. Addy & Anthony hit if off well with Zoe who was around their ages (in between).

A couple pics from POTC.

A couple of Haunted Mansion.

The kids with the Evil Queen. She told the kids to make mean/angry faces.

After a run afternoon, we all gathered back up at the Big Thunder Ranch for our BBQ dinner!!

Our group was set at 2 picnic tables.

The drinks are served in Mason Jars.

This was the large tray of food that came out......OH MY GOODNESS!!

The bucket of meat: Ribs, chicken & sausage:

Beans:

Coleslaw:

Corn wheels:

Cornbread Muffins:

A couple pics from the little show. The performers come out & sing a few songs. Some songs they look for the audience to join in. The kids were dancing & singing along making the female lead smile & wave at them quite a bit!

The desserts are extra, but I would highly suggest that you go with the family desserts vs buying singles. The price was very good for the family-size.....just a few bucks more than single servings!!