I had really hoped to have posted this within a day or 2 of being home, but picked up this nasty bug and haven't been able to fully shake it yet
. Anyway am a little better so decided to get down to it!
My sister, A (22) and I (23) had started thinking about a trip to New York about a year and a half ago. Of course, we kept adding stops to our trip, and I mean you can't be in LA and not go to Disneyland right!? I had always wanted to go to Disneyland as a kid, and visit Minnie Mouse, and now I had my opportunity. We booked out flights with V Australia about 9 months out. It was a pretty good deal I think, although tbh, I forget what we paid. I banned myself from checking prices for flights from then on! Fast forward 9 months and we had booked all our hotels in the US. Ironically all 3 on Expedia. I kept watching a heap of different websites for the best deals, but as it turned out Expedia gave us the best prices. I didn't really have any particular hotel in mind for NY or Vegas, but did want Hojo for Disneyland since I'd only heard good things about them.
To cut a long story short we flew from our regional town to Melbourne with Qantas (wasn't able to get a Virgin Blue flight on our V Australia ticket). Then in Melbourne, checked our luggage through to LA and checked us in for our flight to SYD. Once arriving in Sydney, we headed to the transfers desk, hopped on a bus and were bussed to the International terminal, where we were able to check in for our V Australia flight. Our ticket said boarding was at 7.30pm (for our 9.05pm flight) which didn't seem quite right, nevertheless being around 7.20pm at the time, we hightailed it to our gate, going through all the security hoopla. I'm thinking it must have been a misprint, since we didn't start boarding till about 8.15pm.
Before too long we were onboard and in the air. The in-flight entertainment is pretty good. I must admit I'm not at all familiar with the offerings of other long haul airlines and the only other international flight I had taken was to NZ with Qantas, and that was back when they had the drop down tellys every few rows. But V had tons of movies, lots of new releases, TV shows, TV channels, and a huge selection of CDs.
Now the flight itself. Horrible! And that's putting it lightly. Being novice international travellers, we chose window seats, we know better now. I had a guy next to me who was asleep (or seemed to be asleep) for about 2/3 of the flight, so we couldn't get up, go to the loo, walk around, we were prisoners in our seats. 13 something hellish hours later, we touched down to rain in LA, which set a theme for the part of our trip in LA- RAIN!
LAX really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Immigration only took about 15mins to get through. And customs was even quicker. We headed outside to track down the Disneyland Express bus. There wasn't any real signage saying where they stop so we waited in the general area for what was only a couple of minutes before we saw the unmissable bus pull up. We got onto the empty bus with one other guy who was also going to Hojo's. We were on our way to Disneyland
I just want to stop at this point and say LA highways are INSANE. I seriously applaud anyone who dares to take on the highways and survives, let alone gets to their destination!
Before long we were in our room at Hojo's. I loved Hojo. It's not a 5* hotel, but everything seemed very clean and well maintained. And even for a person who prefers modern stylings, the retro-ness grows on you. I especially loved the gardens, and standing on our courtyard watching the rain on the flowers across from us.
I had wanted to pick up our tickets before our first day so that we were all set to go in the morning. So we set out in the rain. I love Disneyland at night and was disappointed we were right there but couldn't go in yet! We found the ticket booths and were quite surprised when the cast member mentioned we were her first customers in an hour! The rain must really drive people away. She was very friendly, giving us our first visit badges, and giving us info about the park, although she did say the park was going to open at 9, but on the website it did say 8 (which turned out to be right). We headed back to the hotel, with our shoes full of water, to rest for our first big day at Disneyland.
My Ridemax plan said to be at the gates ½ hr before they open. I had intended to be, but as it turned out we didnt get there until about 10min to. That was actually ok, because it put us about 4th in line. We walked through those gates and I almost cried. I couldnt believe we were there- at Disneyland! I wanted to follow the Ridemax plan pretty carefully for the morning portion at least, so we did. We walked onto almost all the rides; Peter Pans Flight, Mr Toads Wild Ride, Small World Holiday. We were supposed to do Mad Tea Party followed by Splash Mountain but with Mad Tea Party closed to rain, and not wanting to get more wet by Splash, we decided on Buzz Lightyear (where I was slaughtered- I maintain my shooter was broken!). We had done all this in only about 1hr 15 mins- way ahead of the schedule. It was at this time I realised that we werent going to need it that day, since we were walking onto most rides and there was no crowd (from what I could see for my first day there). So being way ahead of schedule we went to Main St to grab a bite to eat. I cannot remember where we were, but I think it was the place next to the Gibson Girl Ice cream place. Anyway like everything else in America the food was huge! I got a cookie which turned out to be the size of my head, and A got a muffin that might as well have been the size of a bucket!
I forget what order we did the following because all I remember is the rain! It was relentless. Anyway we went on Roger Rabbits CarToon Spin. We visited Mickey; we only waited about 3 mins before being let in, and to our surprise Mickey was standing there with Goofy! We then went next door to see Minnie, and we literally walked in the door and straight into the photo area with her- no wait at all. I loved Toon Town, even as an adult it was fun exploring. We rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, as our first E ticket ride. I loved it! I loved walking through Frontierland too, looking at the ground, seeing horse shoe and cart tracks. We were heading to Indiana Jones when we saw a group gathered, so we poked our head through and saw Jasmine and Aladdin! Of course we had to join the short line for a photo. Meeting our first face characters was a little awkward, but they were lovely. Jasmine was beautiful and Aladdins teeth were cartoon white! Anyway onto Indi. What a bumpy ride! You definitely dont want to do this one after eating lunch. All of the effects are really cool; I had to close my eyes as the big rock was coming towards us. We then went to Pirates of The Caribbean. That is an amazing ride. And for something thats as old as it is, way cool. I forgot we did the Matterhorn somewhere in there too. That was one of the longest waits we had, about 10mins.
We had about 20 or so mins before our PS reservation at Blue Bayou. The rain was bucketing down by now. We were saturated and there were puddles everywhere. We just wanted to get a bit dry before lunch, so headed nearby to The Enchanted Tiki Room. Im not sure if other Aussies are familiar with this or it was just our family that didnt grow up with this, but it seemed like we were the only ones in the room that had no idea what was going on. The Cast Member running the show was hilarious, but A and I were just sitting there while everyone around us was singing along to the songs. Oh well, it was an experience!
It was time for lunch now. We were about 10 minutes early for our PS but we let in after a couple of minutes. We had a pretty good table in the second row from the water. What a wonderful place to have lunch, so beautiful. Id encourage anyone to go there if you can squeeze it into your budget. We decided to split a meal to save money, but paid the extra in order to get our own sides and appetisers. I got the gumbo, which was nice, but a little too spicy for me. A got the salad, which she also enjoyed, but she said it had way too much dressing on it, so perhaps order the dressing on the side. We split the Tesoro Island Chicken (I think it was called). It was quite nice, although it was probably one of the meals we were served in America that I could have eaten a whole one of.
It was nearly time to head over to DCA to see Aladdin, so we wandered through the shops on Main St on our way out.
Everything I had read suggested that we be at Aladdin about ½ hr before show time, so we were, but there was literally no one else there. So we decided to check out DCA a little and come back closer to start time. We looked around and ended up at Paradise Pier. Almost as soon as we got to Paradise Pier the rain had stopped and we caught our first glimpse of the famed Californian sun! We decided to have a go on the swinging gondola on Mickeys Fun Wheel. It wasnt as scary as I thought, but definitely dont do this one after eating! We got back to the theatre about 10mins prior to show time, and there was a bit of a line at this stage. They were only filling the orchestra level of the theatre, and even that wasnt completely full. But the show, wow! I really was not expecting something of that calibre going in.
We park hopped again over to Disneyland, only to find the park is now closing at 8pm, not 11, due to the rain. A bit of a shame, but what can you do? Instead of wasting park time eating, we decided to do a few rides again and eat at Downtown Disney. I had wanted to do BTMRR again, but some of the track had flooded so it was shut down! We tried to find the entrance to the Monorail to take us to DTD, but couldnt find the proper entrance, instead we found a lift and that took us up to the track. I still have no idea where it was!
We decided on ESPN Zone for tea. What a place that is. I had a go at counting all of the TV screens I could see, I got to 32 and lost count. And thats only in the restaurant area. We had a nice meal there, but didnt get to check the whole place out since we had another early morning.
So the next morning we woke up to rain, yet again. We were going to spend half of the day at DCA. We went straight to Soarin. Only a couple of mins in the queue and we were hearing Puddy walk us through everything. What an amazing ride! We were in the last row, and thank goodness, I did get a little queasy and had to close my eyes and look at the peoples feet above us to remind me it wasnt real. But wow! It really feels that you can touch the trees. I cant even imagine what the world one is going to be like.
Next A was determined to get me on Screamin. I promised her Id go on it once (reluctantly). I really dont love rollercoasters (although I think that might have changed now- dont tell anyone) so had watched the ride on You Tube a couple of times and kept repeating to myself Its only 2 mins, its only 2 mins. Honestly I dont remember the queue at all, all I know was I was sitting in that seat and we took off the launch bit. I was already screaming and it hadnt started yet! The next 1.5min or so was the scariest of my life. I screamed the whole time. I knew my eyes would be closed the entire ride so I asked A to tap me on the shoulder when we were going to go upside down. I had already thought wed done it when I got the tap. I did open my eyes once about ¾ into the ride, but then we took a scary corner so they sealed shut again! When we got off the ride, my legs were jelly, my mouth was wide open from the screaming, and tears were streaming down my eyes. I still dont know if I was laughing or crying!
Still a bit wobbly, we joined the line for TSMM. This, along with Matterhorn was one of the longest lines we had, probably 15 mins. But it was well worth the wait. I think it is much better done than Buzz. Oh, and I won by the way! We had another go around of Mickeys Fun Wheel, the swinging gondola again. It started to rain again, so we got some food from the Farmers Market (I think), and sat down under some shade and watched the rain pour in. We were hoping to wait for it to die down, but it kept getting harder and harder. We stood in a doorway of a shop for a bit trying to wait for a break in the rain. But there wasnt any. I had never seen rain like that in my life, where it was once clear, there were now huge puddles. Exhausted, we decided to go back to the hotel to dry off a little and then come back a bit later.
When we got back I turned on the TV and the news was reporting that there was a tornado warning for the Orange county area and that it will still be in effect for another ½ hr! They were reporting huge floods, some guys car got flipped over from the wind. It was crazy! Anyway, after a bit of a nap, we got up and there was no rain! A bit more optimistic we headed back to Disneyland for our last few hours there. And what better welcome to our last night at Disneyland than a welcome from Mickey and Minnie, posing for photos at the top of Main St. I told A to get in line for photos while ran to City Hall to change back some of my Disney Dollars. One of the Cast Members in City Hall mentioned that she had lived in Orange County her whole life and there had never been a tornado warning- that made me feel special. Anyway, as it turned out Mickey and Minnie had to get ready for the parade so they closed off the line to A, oh well, it is still pretty magical walking into DL and seeing Mickey and Minnie there!
On our last night I hoped to finally do MHTP, but it was still closed because of the rain. But we did get to do BTMRR again. We also did Finding Nemo- good for kids, I guess; Innoventions- honestly, a bit lame and Astro Orbitor- I thought was more fun than Dumbo, but I did have to steer with my feet because Im guessing its designed for an adult and a kid!
With a tear in my eye, we left Disneyland. We went back to DTD and despite A wanting to go back to ESPN Zone, we decided on the Rainforest Cafe. We were told a 40 min wait, which I was expecting, so it was ok. We went to check out the shops of DTD while we waited for our table. I think it was Ralph Brenemans that had something on because there were a few drunk people walking around creating a bit of nonsense. It is strange being in a Disney environment, but having idiots like that walking around. Whatever, even they couldnt spoil the magic too much. After shopping up a storm at World of Disney, we headed back and got our table. As we sat down though a thunderstorm broke! Our waitress gently explained to us, though, that this happens every ½ or so. After a great meal, in a way cool restaurant, we finally had to leave. We walked through the deserted DTD, through the entrance area of Disneyland, all with the music playing.
I just a couple of words about Disneyland before I move onto the rest of our time in LA. Even though it rained every day, when I do eventually go back it will probably be in (their) winter. Im sure the rain had an effect on the crowd levels, but even at night when there were more people out, the wait for rides wasnt bad at all. Plus DCA was looking rather empty, in a sad way. Another thing, Disneyland was spotlessly clean. We always saw people sweeping, cleaning, picking up rubbish. One bad point, well disappointing more than anything, we had our picture taken with Mickey & Goofy and gave the photographer our card and they swiped it, but when we went to get some pictures, it wasnt on there. Luckily we had a picture taken on our camera too, so we werent photoless, but just a warning that technology blips do happen.
Ok, if you are still with me, Ill breeze through day 3 & 4.
On the Thursday (day 3) we went to Universal Studios. They forecasted the most rain for the week on this day. There were evacuations of some neighbourhoods due to mud slides. Just nasty weather. But nevertheless, we were going to try and have a good day. We got a ticket through Greyline (possibly) that included a bus to Universal and tickets into it. We got there just after opening and picked up a map. As it turns out they have special maps for wet weather that points out dry locations and dry rides, quite handy I thought. We decided to do the studio tour first thing, while the rain held off (which it did for part of it). Even though it is scripted, it is pretty fascinating, showing the effects, sets, etc. After the studio tour, which goes for quite a while, we went on The Simpsons Ride. I will state this now; this is the best ride at Universal. We ended up doing this one again before we left. We grabbed some lunch using a coupon I found online and ate under some shelter while the rain bucketed down. We did the Terminator ride (very loud!), Shrek (very violent!) and saw the performing animals show (way cute!), and the Blues Bros show. The Blues Bros, I am really not an expert and dont like critiquing things I know nothing about, but they were bad. I mean they could sing, but I dont think their heart was in it, the acting was very shoddy. Another good thing about Universal in the rain, they had opened up a big theatre area and were offering free coffee and hot chocolate and playing Madagascar on a big screen. It was quite good, you could come in, sit down at one of the tables they had there, dry off, warm up and then head back out again. We used this a few times. Just as we were leaving for the day we walked past the House of Horrors. There was a person standing outside saying that its still open if anyone wants to go in. Originally I was adamant I wasnt going to go through, I knew that it had people jumping out and scaring you and both A & I dont like that so we werent going to do it. We walked past and I thought I had done so many things I was afraid of, whats one more. So A agreed and we went back. We got the spiel, there are performers in there dont touch them, they wont touch you. We were a couple of meters inside when I heard someone else come in behind us. I stopped and we let the man go ahead of us, as a kind of buffer. I was at the end of our little group so thought I was safe but when things come after you with a fake knife, it doesnt feel too safe. I think we did that attraction in record time. It was scary and Ill be forever thankful to our knight who protected us
.
After a big, wet day at Universal, we jumped back on the bus to Anaheim. Oh, one other thing about Universal, its set way up in the hills, and we only caught glimpses of the view, but what we saw was beautiful. Anyway, it took much longer getting back to the hotel, about 2 hrs, compared to 40 or so mins getting there. We were dropped off near Mimis, and though what a better time to try there infamous food. I think it was my favourite meal of the trip. I had some kind of pork chop from their smaller portions menu. It was good to have some healthy, home style food, with veggies! If we were staying longer, wed definitely go back there.
Now for our last day in LA, and we were headed to Hollywood. We had a hop on hop off bus tour booked, so just needed to get there. I had planned out our bus and train routes, but it is still a little nerve wrecking to see if everything is right. But I neednt have worried, because it was all really easy. We got to Hollywood and went to pick up or HOHO tickets, only to be told that the HOHO bus tour was cancelled. We were offered a number to call to get our money back or we could go on a celebrity homes tour. With nothing else planned besides the HOHO bus, a little disappointed, we did the other bus tour. Originally I didnt want to do a celebrity homes tour because I felt it too intrusive, plus these celebs have so much security around their house, so what can you see anyway? But as it turns out there was really not much celebrity in this tour. Sure we went past some famous houses, but I more enjoyed looking around the neighbourhood and at houses you can actually see. Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, they are stunning neighbourhoods, plus we got to cruise down Rodeo Drive. All in all, it was, unexpectedly, a good tour. We went for lunch in Hollywood & Highland at a place called uWink. Its a cute place, unlike anything in my hometown anyway, where you have your own individual screen and you order your drinks and meals from that. You can also play games against people from your table or anyone in the restaurant. After lunch we went and booked in at the Kodak theatre for the next tour. The tour of the theatre is quite short, only ½ hr, but it is a nice theatre. We also had a look at Madame Taussades. It was our first time to one of these so was a pretty cool experience. Some of the sculptures are really real, some are pretty far off, some come off well in photos, and others not so well. Totally exhausted, and having done just about all we can, we decided to cut our day short. So we hopped back on the subway, then onto the train, and then to the bus again.
Back at the hotel, we were working out what to do for the rest of the evening, when I remembered Wal-Mart was open till 10. So I Googled the bus route and worked out a pretty easy way of getting there. So we went outside into the cold and waited for the bus. Before long the bus was coming, and went straight by us. As it turns out we were waiting at the ART stop, not the OCTA stop, oops. So we waited another 20mins for the next bus. I always wanted to go to Wal-Mart, it seemed very American. But once there, I really wasnt that impressed. Dont get me wrong, its massive, at least the Buena Park one was. And they had a lot of different things, but not much variety, if you know what I mean. Their supermarket section was cool though. I picked up some Pop Tarts to take home.
We went outside and waited for the bus. And almost like a final kick up the bum from LA weather, a storm started. No kidding, we were huddled under this tiny bus shelter and it was raining, there was thunder and lightning, and then it started hailing. By the time we got off the bus in Anaheim though, the ground was dry. There had been a storm in Buena Park, but nothing in Anaheim.
I had booked a car with LaFleur Limos to pick us up at 4.15am the next morning to take us to the airport for our flight to NY. We were checked out and waiting in the rain. 4.15am came and went. No car. I had the guy at the desk call us a taxi, and thankfully he let us wait inside. The taxi came, and after a more expensive ride than I was expecting, we were at the airport. Luckily I had allowed enough time, so we werent late. One highlight at the airport though, was we did see Tommy Lee and kids go through security next to us.
Ill leave it here and wont go into the NY part of our trip, because honestly, if you are still with me you deserve a medal. Or at least one of my Pop Tarts!
Suffice it to say, we had an amazing trip. I cant wait to go back to Disneyland one day, hopefully sans the rain, but even if it does rain, who cares, Disneyland is magical!
. Anyway am a little better so decided to get down to it!My sister, A (22) and I (23) had started thinking about a trip to New York about a year and a half ago. Of course, we kept adding stops to our trip, and I mean you can't be in LA and not go to Disneyland right!? I had always wanted to go to Disneyland as a kid, and visit Minnie Mouse, and now I had my opportunity. We booked out flights with V Australia about 9 months out. It was a pretty good deal I think, although tbh, I forget what we paid. I banned myself from checking prices for flights from then on! Fast forward 9 months and we had booked all our hotels in the US. Ironically all 3 on Expedia. I kept watching a heap of different websites for the best deals, but as it turned out Expedia gave us the best prices. I didn't really have any particular hotel in mind for NY or Vegas, but did want Hojo for Disneyland since I'd only heard good things about them.
To cut a long story short we flew from our regional town to Melbourne with Qantas (wasn't able to get a Virgin Blue flight on our V Australia ticket). Then in Melbourne, checked our luggage through to LA and checked us in for our flight to SYD. Once arriving in Sydney, we headed to the transfers desk, hopped on a bus and were bussed to the International terminal, where we were able to check in for our V Australia flight. Our ticket said boarding was at 7.30pm (for our 9.05pm flight) which didn't seem quite right, nevertheless being around 7.20pm at the time, we hightailed it to our gate, going through all the security hoopla. I'm thinking it must have been a misprint, since we didn't start boarding till about 8.15pm.
Before too long we were onboard and in the air. The in-flight entertainment is pretty good. I must admit I'm not at all familiar with the offerings of other long haul airlines and the only other international flight I had taken was to NZ with Qantas, and that was back when they had the drop down tellys every few rows. But V had tons of movies, lots of new releases, TV shows, TV channels, and a huge selection of CDs.
Now the flight itself. Horrible! And that's putting it lightly. Being novice international travellers, we chose window seats, we know better now. I had a guy next to me who was asleep (or seemed to be asleep) for about 2/3 of the flight, so we couldn't get up, go to the loo, walk around, we were prisoners in our seats. 13 something hellish hours later, we touched down to rain in LA, which set a theme for the part of our trip in LA- RAIN!
LAX really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Immigration only took about 15mins to get through. And customs was even quicker. We headed outside to track down the Disneyland Express bus. There wasn't any real signage saying where they stop so we waited in the general area for what was only a couple of minutes before we saw the unmissable bus pull up. We got onto the empty bus with one other guy who was also going to Hojo's. We were on our way to Disneyland
I just want to stop at this point and say LA highways are INSANE. I seriously applaud anyone who dares to take on the highways and survives, let alone gets to their destination!
Before long we were in our room at Hojo's. I loved Hojo. It's not a 5* hotel, but everything seemed very clean and well maintained. And even for a person who prefers modern stylings, the retro-ness grows on you. I especially loved the gardens, and standing on our courtyard watching the rain on the flowers across from us.
I had wanted to pick up our tickets before our first day so that we were all set to go in the morning. So we set out in the rain. I love Disneyland at night and was disappointed we were right there but couldn't go in yet! We found the ticket booths and were quite surprised when the cast member mentioned we were her first customers in an hour! The rain must really drive people away. She was very friendly, giving us our first visit badges, and giving us info about the park, although she did say the park was going to open at 9, but on the website it did say 8 (which turned out to be right). We headed back to the hotel, with our shoes full of water, to rest for our first big day at Disneyland.
My Ridemax plan said to be at the gates ½ hr before they open. I had intended to be, but as it turned out we didnt get there until about 10min to. That was actually ok, because it put us about 4th in line. We walked through those gates and I almost cried. I couldnt believe we were there- at Disneyland! I wanted to follow the Ridemax plan pretty carefully for the morning portion at least, so we did. We walked onto almost all the rides; Peter Pans Flight, Mr Toads Wild Ride, Small World Holiday. We were supposed to do Mad Tea Party followed by Splash Mountain but with Mad Tea Party closed to rain, and not wanting to get more wet by Splash, we decided on Buzz Lightyear (where I was slaughtered- I maintain my shooter was broken!). We had done all this in only about 1hr 15 mins- way ahead of the schedule. It was at this time I realised that we werent going to need it that day, since we were walking onto most rides and there was no crowd (from what I could see for my first day there). So being way ahead of schedule we went to Main St to grab a bite to eat. I cannot remember where we were, but I think it was the place next to the Gibson Girl Ice cream place. Anyway like everything else in America the food was huge! I got a cookie which turned out to be the size of my head, and A got a muffin that might as well have been the size of a bucket!
I forget what order we did the following because all I remember is the rain! It was relentless. Anyway we went on Roger Rabbits CarToon Spin. We visited Mickey; we only waited about 3 mins before being let in, and to our surprise Mickey was standing there with Goofy! We then went next door to see Minnie, and we literally walked in the door and straight into the photo area with her- no wait at all. I loved Toon Town, even as an adult it was fun exploring. We rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, as our first E ticket ride. I loved it! I loved walking through Frontierland too, looking at the ground, seeing horse shoe and cart tracks. We were heading to Indiana Jones when we saw a group gathered, so we poked our head through and saw Jasmine and Aladdin! Of course we had to join the short line for a photo. Meeting our first face characters was a little awkward, but they were lovely. Jasmine was beautiful and Aladdins teeth were cartoon white! Anyway onto Indi. What a bumpy ride! You definitely dont want to do this one after eating lunch. All of the effects are really cool; I had to close my eyes as the big rock was coming towards us. We then went to Pirates of The Caribbean. That is an amazing ride. And for something thats as old as it is, way cool. I forgot we did the Matterhorn somewhere in there too. That was one of the longest waits we had, about 10mins.
We had about 20 or so mins before our PS reservation at Blue Bayou. The rain was bucketing down by now. We were saturated and there were puddles everywhere. We just wanted to get a bit dry before lunch, so headed nearby to The Enchanted Tiki Room. Im not sure if other Aussies are familiar with this or it was just our family that didnt grow up with this, but it seemed like we were the only ones in the room that had no idea what was going on. The Cast Member running the show was hilarious, but A and I were just sitting there while everyone around us was singing along to the songs. Oh well, it was an experience!
It was time for lunch now. We were about 10 minutes early for our PS but we let in after a couple of minutes. We had a pretty good table in the second row from the water. What a wonderful place to have lunch, so beautiful. Id encourage anyone to go there if you can squeeze it into your budget. We decided to split a meal to save money, but paid the extra in order to get our own sides and appetisers. I got the gumbo, which was nice, but a little too spicy for me. A got the salad, which she also enjoyed, but she said it had way too much dressing on it, so perhaps order the dressing on the side. We split the Tesoro Island Chicken (I think it was called). It was quite nice, although it was probably one of the meals we were served in America that I could have eaten a whole one of.
It was nearly time to head over to DCA to see Aladdin, so we wandered through the shops on Main St on our way out.
Everything I had read suggested that we be at Aladdin about ½ hr before show time, so we were, but there was literally no one else there. So we decided to check out DCA a little and come back closer to start time. We looked around and ended up at Paradise Pier. Almost as soon as we got to Paradise Pier the rain had stopped and we caught our first glimpse of the famed Californian sun! We decided to have a go on the swinging gondola on Mickeys Fun Wheel. It wasnt as scary as I thought, but definitely dont do this one after eating! We got back to the theatre about 10mins prior to show time, and there was a bit of a line at this stage. They were only filling the orchestra level of the theatre, and even that wasnt completely full. But the show, wow! I really was not expecting something of that calibre going in.
We park hopped again over to Disneyland, only to find the park is now closing at 8pm, not 11, due to the rain. A bit of a shame, but what can you do? Instead of wasting park time eating, we decided to do a few rides again and eat at Downtown Disney. I had wanted to do BTMRR again, but some of the track had flooded so it was shut down! We tried to find the entrance to the Monorail to take us to DTD, but couldnt find the proper entrance, instead we found a lift and that took us up to the track. I still have no idea where it was!
We decided on ESPN Zone for tea. What a place that is. I had a go at counting all of the TV screens I could see, I got to 32 and lost count. And thats only in the restaurant area. We had a nice meal there, but didnt get to check the whole place out since we had another early morning.
So the next morning we woke up to rain, yet again. We were going to spend half of the day at DCA. We went straight to Soarin. Only a couple of mins in the queue and we were hearing Puddy walk us through everything. What an amazing ride! We were in the last row, and thank goodness, I did get a little queasy and had to close my eyes and look at the peoples feet above us to remind me it wasnt real. But wow! It really feels that you can touch the trees. I cant even imagine what the world one is going to be like.
Next A was determined to get me on Screamin. I promised her Id go on it once (reluctantly). I really dont love rollercoasters (although I think that might have changed now- dont tell anyone) so had watched the ride on You Tube a couple of times and kept repeating to myself Its only 2 mins, its only 2 mins. Honestly I dont remember the queue at all, all I know was I was sitting in that seat and we took off the launch bit. I was already screaming and it hadnt started yet! The next 1.5min or so was the scariest of my life. I screamed the whole time. I knew my eyes would be closed the entire ride so I asked A to tap me on the shoulder when we were going to go upside down. I had already thought wed done it when I got the tap. I did open my eyes once about ¾ into the ride, but then we took a scary corner so they sealed shut again! When we got off the ride, my legs were jelly, my mouth was wide open from the screaming, and tears were streaming down my eyes. I still dont know if I was laughing or crying!
Still a bit wobbly, we joined the line for TSMM. This, along with Matterhorn was one of the longest lines we had, probably 15 mins. But it was well worth the wait. I think it is much better done than Buzz. Oh, and I won by the way! We had another go around of Mickeys Fun Wheel, the swinging gondola again. It started to rain again, so we got some food from the Farmers Market (I think), and sat down under some shade and watched the rain pour in. We were hoping to wait for it to die down, but it kept getting harder and harder. We stood in a doorway of a shop for a bit trying to wait for a break in the rain. But there wasnt any. I had never seen rain like that in my life, where it was once clear, there were now huge puddles. Exhausted, we decided to go back to the hotel to dry off a little and then come back a bit later.
When we got back I turned on the TV and the news was reporting that there was a tornado warning for the Orange county area and that it will still be in effect for another ½ hr! They were reporting huge floods, some guys car got flipped over from the wind. It was crazy! Anyway, after a bit of a nap, we got up and there was no rain! A bit more optimistic we headed back to Disneyland for our last few hours there. And what better welcome to our last night at Disneyland than a welcome from Mickey and Minnie, posing for photos at the top of Main St. I told A to get in line for photos while ran to City Hall to change back some of my Disney Dollars. One of the Cast Members in City Hall mentioned that she had lived in Orange County her whole life and there had never been a tornado warning- that made me feel special. Anyway, as it turned out Mickey and Minnie had to get ready for the parade so they closed off the line to A, oh well, it is still pretty magical walking into DL and seeing Mickey and Minnie there!
On our last night I hoped to finally do MHTP, but it was still closed because of the rain. But we did get to do BTMRR again. We also did Finding Nemo- good for kids, I guess; Innoventions- honestly, a bit lame and Astro Orbitor- I thought was more fun than Dumbo, but I did have to steer with my feet because Im guessing its designed for an adult and a kid!
With a tear in my eye, we left Disneyland. We went back to DTD and despite A wanting to go back to ESPN Zone, we decided on the Rainforest Cafe. We were told a 40 min wait, which I was expecting, so it was ok. We went to check out the shops of DTD while we waited for our table. I think it was Ralph Brenemans that had something on because there were a few drunk people walking around creating a bit of nonsense. It is strange being in a Disney environment, but having idiots like that walking around. Whatever, even they couldnt spoil the magic too much. After shopping up a storm at World of Disney, we headed back and got our table. As we sat down though a thunderstorm broke! Our waitress gently explained to us, though, that this happens every ½ or so. After a great meal, in a way cool restaurant, we finally had to leave. We walked through the deserted DTD, through the entrance area of Disneyland, all with the music playing.
I just a couple of words about Disneyland before I move onto the rest of our time in LA. Even though it rained every day, when I do eventually go back it will probably be in (their) winter. Im sure the rain had an effect on the crowd levels, but even at night when there were more people out, the wait for rides wasnt bad at all. Plus DCA was looking rather empty, in a sad way. Another thing, Disneyland was spotlessly clean. We always saw people sweeping, cleaning, picking up rubbish. One bad point, well disappointing more than anything, we had our picture taken with Mickey & Goofy and gave the photographer our card and they swiped it, but when we went to get some pictures, it wasnt on there. Luckily we had a picture taken on our camera too, so we werent photoless, but just a warning that technology blips do happen.
Ok, if you are still with me, Ill breeze through day 3 & 4.
On the Thursday (day 3) we went to Universal Studios. They forecasted the most rain for the week on this day. There were evacuations of some neighbourhoods due to mud slides. Just nasty weather. But nevertheless, we were going to try and have a good day. We got a ticket through Greyline (possibly) that included a bus to Universal and tickets into it. We got there just after opening and picked up a map. As it turns out they have special maps for wet weather that points out dry locations and dry rides, quite handy I thought. We decided to do the studio tour first thing, while the rain held off (which it did for part of it). Even though it is scripted, it is pretty fascinating, showing the effects, sets, etc. After the studio tour, which goes for quite a while, we went on The Simpsons Ride. I will state this now; this is the best ride at Universal. We ended up doing this one again before we left. We grabbed some lunch using a coupon I found online and ate under some shelter while the rain bucketed down. We did the Terminator ride (very loud!), Shrek (very violent!) and saw the performing animals show (way cute!), and the Blues Bros show. The Blues Bros, I am really not an expert and dont like critiquing things I know nothing about, but they were bad. I mean they could sing, but I dont think their heart was in it, the acting was very shoddy. Another good thing about Universal in the rain, they had opened up a big theatre area and were offering free coffee and hot chocolate and playing Madagascar on a big screen. It was quite good, you could come in, sit down at one of the tables they had there, dry off, warm up and then head back out again. We used this a few times. Just as we were leaving for the day we walked past the House of Horrors. There was a person standing outside saying that its still open if anyone wants to go in. Originally I was adamant I wasnt going to go through, I knew that it had people jumping out and scaring you and both A & I dont like that so we werent going to do it. We walked past and I thought I had done so many things I was afraid of, whats one more. So A agreed and we went back. We got the spiel, there are performers in there dont touch them, they wont touch you. We were a couple of meters inside when I heard someone else come in behind us. I stopped and we let the man go ahead of us, as a kind of buffer. I was at the end of our little group so thought I was safe but when things come after you with a fake knife, it doesnt feel too safe. I think we did that attraction in record time. It was scary and Ill be forever thankful to our knight who protected us
.After a big, wet day at Universal, we jumped back on the bus to Anaheim. Oh, one other thing about Universal, its set way up in the hills, and we only caught glimpses of the view, but what we saw was beautiful. Anyway, it took much longer getting back to the hotel, about 2 hrs, compared to 40 or so mins getting there. We were dropped off near Mimis, and though what a better time to try there infamous food. I think it was my favourite meal of the trip. I had some kind of pork chop from their smaller portions menu. It was good to have some healthy, home style food, with veggies! If we were staying longer, wed definitely go back there.
Now for our last day in LA, and we were headed to Hollywood. We had a hop on hop off bus tour booked, so just needed to get there. I had planned out our bus and train routes, but it is still a little nerve wrecking to see if everything is right. But I neednt have worried, because it was all really easy. We got to Hollywood and went to pick up or HOHO tickets, only to be told that the HOHO bus tour was cancelled. We were offered a number to call to get our money back or we could go on a celebrity homes tour. With nothing else planned besides the HOHO bus, a little disappointed, we did the other bus tour. Originally I didnt want to do a celebrity homes tour because I felt it too intrusive, plus these celebs have so much security around their house, so what can you see anyway? But as it turns out there was really not much celebrity in this tour. Sure we went past some famous houses, but I more enjoyed looking around the neighbourhood and at houses you can actually see. Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, they are stunning neighbourhoods, plus we got to cruise down Rodeo Drive. All in all, it was, unexpectedly, a good tour. We went for lunch in Hollywood & Highland at a place called uWink. Its a cute place, unlike anything in my hometown anyway, where you have your own individual screen and you order your drinks and meals from that. You can also play games against people from your table or anyone in the restaurant. After lunch we went and booked in at the Kodak theatre for the next tour. The tour of the theatre is quite short, only ½ hr, but it is a nice theatre. We also had a look at Madame Taussades. It was our first time to one of these so was a pretty cool experience. Some of the sculptures are really real, some are pretty far off, some come off well in photos, and others not so well. Totally exhausted, and having done just about all we can, we decided to cut our day short. So we hopped back on the subway, then onto the train, and then to the bus again.
Back at the hotel, we were working out what to do for the rest of the evening, when I remembered Wal-Mart was open till 10. So I Googled the bus route and worked out a pretty easy way of getting there. So we went outside into the cold and waited for the bus. Before long the bus was coming, and went straight by us. As it turns out we were waiting at the ART stop, not the OCTA stop, oops. So we waited another 20mins for the next bus. I always wanted to go to Wal-Mart, it seemed very American. But once there, I really wasnt that impressed. Dont get me wrong, its massive, at least the Buena Park one was. And they had a lot of different things, but not much variety, if you know what I mean. Their supermarket section was cool though. I picked up some Pop Tarts to take home.
We went outside and waited for the bus. And almost like a final kick up the bum from LA weather, a storm started. No kidding, we were huddled under this tiny bus shelter and it was raining, there was thunder and lightning, and then it started hailing. By the time we got off the bus in Anaheim though, the ground was dry. There had been a storm in Buena Park, but nothing in Anaheim.
I had booked a car with LaFleur Limos to pick us up at 4.15am the next morning to take us to the airport for our flight to NY. We were checked out and waiting in the rain. 4.15am came and went. No car. I had the guy at the desk call us a taxi, and thankfully he let us wait inside. The taxi came, and after a more expensive ride than I was expecting, we were at the airport. Luckily I had allowed enough time, so we werent late. One highlight at the airport though, was we did see Tommy Lee and kids go through security next to us.
Ill leave it here and wont go into the NY part of our trip, because honestly, if you are still with me you deserve a medal. Or at least one of my Pop Tarts!
Suffice it to say, we had an amazing trip. I cant wait to go back to Disneyland one day, hopefully sans the rain, but even if it does rain, who cares, Disneyland is magical!
I loved it, and am still talking about it. There's a reason that it's such a huge success, and if you haven't yet seen it, SEE IT! We also saw Wicked and The Lion King. Both were amazing productions, but Jersey Boys is still by far my favourite.
