Our first trip to DL has been booked!

[dabecs]

Sounds like a great start.

I'm on tenterhooks.....did the hotel meet with your expectations?

Loving the hotel PiO It feels quite faraway after a day at US (LA traffic makes everything feel further away) but the space in the hotel room is really good, the breakfast is varied and yummy and it's close to Target, In 'n' Out, Chipotle etc

 

[dabecs]

Day 3: Shopping/Rest

Today after a slower morning start and another good hotel breakfast we headed off to the closest Target store to do some shopping

We managed to buy some clothes, toys and a whole lot of groceries! I love the variety of foods, especially finding things we don't have at home. Pickled cactus anyone? Breakfast sausage wrapped in pancake on a stick?

We bought Reece's on cups, peanut butter m&ms, flaming Cheetos, goldfish crackers and pumpkin spice flavoured marshmallows. We also bought lots of food to take back home as gifts.

Pretty easy to tell we are tourists when we spent nearly 2 1/2 hours in there!

Then back to the hotel for a swim.

After that we went to Barnes and Noble (Daniel was on a comic hunt) and had Chipotle for dinner.

It was good to have a quieter day and the girls loved shopping even more than we did!

 

[dabecs]

Day 4: Universal Studios

This morning we had an early start, we ate breakfast at our hotel and left for Universal at 6:30. The park opening hours were 8am - 10pm and we wanted to be there for rope drop. We arrived at 7:30 to find they were already letting guests in so we walked straight to WWOHP and to FJ. We ride three times - walk on! Then we did some magic spells around Hogsmeade, went on The Simpsons Ride (5 minute wait) and then lined up to go down to the lower lot which was opening at 9.

Once down the Starway we went straight to Jurassic Park and rode it twice (less than 10 minute wait) went over to The Mummy and rode it three times (less than 10 minute wait) and then Transformers (10 minute wait). At this point it was only 10:30 and we had done everything we came to do!

We met two transformers, met a raptor and decided to ride Jurassic Park again.

We went back to the upper lot for lunch and saw the wait times for FJ had ballooned to 150 minutes!

For lunch we had Krusty burgers and Chicken thumbs with chips. The food was all good and we were lucky to find a nice table in the shade to relax.

After lunch we looked through the shops, bought a Lard Lad big pink donut and decided to leave the park.

For the afternoon we went and saw Beauty and the Beast at the CityWalk cinema (loved it!) then looked around the shops before heading home.

By the time we got home it was 7:30 - a 13 hour day! I think tomorrow morning will have to be a slow one

We loved all the rides today, but seriously how amazing is FJ? It made me excited for Star Wars land because Disney are really going to have to bring it to compete!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Just read about your first few days.

It sounds like you took those flight delays in your stride and have got your trip off to an awesome start. Enjoy!

 

[dabecs]

Just read about your first few days.

It sounds like you took those flight delays in your stride and have got your trip off to an awesome start. Enjoy!

Easier to take delays with grace at the beginning of the trip I think than at the end! I was just happy we made it on the same day we had originally planned - I had prebooked tickets for US on the next day!

 

[Our Aussie six]

I'm enjoying your updates so far, can't wait to keep reading.

 

[dabecs]

Day 6: Rest and a Play

Today was a nice slow day. We woke up late and had a leisurely breakfast - each day the hotel has toast/bagels, a few hot offerings (waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, burrito mix) as well as oatmeal, cereal and fruit.

After breakfast we came back to our room and while the girls caught up on Disney channel we tidied up and organised and got a load of washing done.

Next we headed out for some clothes shopping - Banana Republic and their 40% off sale! Daniel bought himself lots of new clothes

In 'n' Out burger was calling our name for lunch - and this time we tried some of the 'secret menu' variations. I had a double double with grilled onion, the girls had mixed shakes (strawberry/vanilla and choc/vanilla) and we had a serve of cheesy fries. They all got the thumbs up!

Back to the hotel to get showered and changed and then we we off to see Daniel's cousin. She has lived in LA for about 25 years and her daughter was in her high school play which we were going to see. So we drove the hour and a half (the traffic here!) and had a quick dinner before going to the school. It was fun being in a real American high school - although this was a private school so not the big high schools of the movies.

The musical was great and the drive home was much faster!

 

[dabecs]

Day 7: Hollywood!

Today we drove to Hollywood. Checked out Mann's Chinese Theatre, the handprints and the stars along the street. Then we went to Ripley's Believe It Or Not! museum and the Guinness World Record museum. We were both disgusted and amazed! The museums were very much geared to kids, the girls loved them both

We drove past the hotel we had originally booked (Magic Castle Hotel) and decided it was too close to the touristy part of town for us. Thanks again PiO!

For the afternoon we drove to Manhattan beach where the girls played amongst the waves and Daniel and I enjoyed people watching and picking our dream house along the coast

It was another full, busy day so we had a quiet evening while I started packing for our move to Anaheim!

 

[viaggiamo]

loving your TR, thanks for the info on the AirNZ sky seats...

So how many days would you suggest for US with kids?

Loooove Banana Republic! Miss USA so much.

thanks for sharing xo

 

[lffam]

Enjoying your trip report. After a bit of a shakey start with the flights it's sounds like you're having a great time. FJ is such a great ride though I certainly wouldn't wait 150mins for it or any ride so you did really well being able to ride it so many times. Look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

 

[BecBennett]

Enjoying your TR! I'm reading along and I've got a Yankee Candle car air freshener beside my computer (Audrey pulled it out of my car and I haven't put it back yet) anyhoo, it's a scent that I first discovered on our first trip to DL, and I grab a few more candles/air fresheners/wax melts/room sprays every time we head to the US. So combining both your TR and that scent and it's really like I'm back there

yeesh... I must be sheltered

 

[dabecs]

loving your TR, thanks for the info on the AirNZ sky seats...

So how many days would you suggest for US with kids?

Loooove Banana Republic! Miss USA so much.

thanks for sharing xo

We had 2 days at US and for us it was perfect. We rode everything we wanted to more than once and never felt rushed.

 

[dabecs]

Enjoying your trip report. After a bit of a shakey start with the flights it's sounds like you're having a great time. FJ is such a great ride though I certainly wouldn't wait 150mins for it or any ride so you did really well being able to ride it so many times. Look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

I would never wait that long for a ride either, in fact 40 minutes would be my absolute maximum and I prefer less than 25.

 

[dabecs]

Enjoying your TR! I'm reading along and I've got a Yankee Candle car air freshener beside my computer (Audrey pulled it out of my car and I haven't put it back yet) anyhoo, it's a scent that I first discovered on our first trip to DL, and I grab a few more candles/air fresheners/wax melts/room sprays every time we head to the US. So combining both your TR and that scent and it's really like I'm back there

yeesh... I must be sheltered

It's ok, this is a safe place to share those sort of confessions

 

[dabecs]

Sorry I have got behind - I've been in a DisDaze!

It's 11pm so I will be brief and will fill in more details later. So far we are loving Disneyland and DCA - but the crowds are cra-zee! We have been lucky to visit WDW during quieter periods and I think the geographic size of WDW helps mask the crowds better too.

We had breakfast at the Plaza Inn with Minnie and friends today. I loved the look of this restaurant and the character selection was great (more characters than I was expecting too). The food was yummy - it was an all round winner!

I read somewhere (or heard someone say?) that DL is charming and I think that's the perfect description.

Some of the rides here are better - I prefer this Small World and Pirates. I thought Storyland Canal was so sweet and Indiana and Radiator Springs are both fantastic rides.

I'm bummed The Matterhorn is closed, and the new Guardians ToT looks amazing from the outside - pity it seems not open till Summer!

I'm putting pics on Instagram (atnumbernine) I have a private account but just pop in a request if you are interested

 

[aussie shaz]

Loving your report. I agree 2 days is better for Universal. We did the VIP tour and could have had another day to explore and do some of the rides again.
We also hate waiting in lines for rides. With our use of fast passes and Ridemax, we've been lucky not to have long queues. People were waiting for 300minutes for the Dinosaur ride at USJ! That's 5 hours! Lucky we got Express Passes.
And don't be disappointed with Matterhorn being closed. It was closed the first time we went, so I looked forward to riding it the next time. I would never ride it again! It was horrible and just so uncomfortable. I couldn't wait to get off. LOL