Soarin Over California: Complete! Disneyland, Hollywood and San Diego!

We spent a few hours running around the Midway.

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Looks pretty cozy to me!

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Do you guys have those couple of pictures that are just like...why did I take this??

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It pays to have a higher rank

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Master Chief! I love Halo (the videogame)

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Brian loves penguins

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It was a pretty good time, most of the ship you just explored on your own, but there is a guided tour for the command center of the ship. One warning here: there are some pretty tight and steep staircases you must ascend/descend. If that could be an issue for you, you might want to skip this part.

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Captain's Quarters are pretty nice

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The only bad thing was the school group that was exploring the ship as well. There was one little girl we continually ran across who decided it was a cool thing to act afraid of all the 'mannequins' and scream real loud if she saw one. Yes little girl, so cool.

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Yes, maybe a little frightening. But not 'shriek so loud you ruin everyone's hearing in a 5 mile radius frightening'

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There were a couple planes available for photo ops

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I always wanted to be a fighter pilot when i was little. I think I coulda handled this.

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And this.

I think we tried to wrap up around noon since our flight was at 2. I highly recommend the USS Midway as a good pre-airport activity, it is about a 5 minute drive away. Brian was interested in one shirt in the gift shop, it was a green button down with some of the popular air force pictures you could see on the planes (wow, that was a good description), but it was $70! So we passed.

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Goodbye and Good Luck USS San Diego!

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We found a gas station along the way to top the car off, then we dropped Lil' Miss off at her home and took the shuttle to the airport. I was so happy to see the airport! Mostly because I hadn't eaten anything today yet, but yeah.

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Random city shot

Also, thank goodness we brought an empty suitcase, and thank goodness Southwest is an awesome airline that allows 2 free checked bags each. Because of the purchase of a new sleeping bag and all the souvenirs, we barely got everything to fit and ended up having: a giant checked suitcase that was right at 50 pounds, a garment bag that we checked for the flight back because we didn't care anymore if our good clothes got wrinkled, a 40 or so pound sports duffel bag, and a stuffed to the gills yet lighter duffel. Then we carried on a stuffed backpack, my red Puma bag and a grocery bag with breakable souvenirs. Ugh.

We had about an hour wait til we got to board and take off, during which time we had some very over priced quiznos. Yay over priced airport food!


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I think we can see our hotel!

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I love looking out the windows of planes at the landscapes, I think its very interesting

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We switched planes in Phoenix, we were only going to have about an hour layover but it got pushed up to around 2 or 2.5. Only bad thing about that is we were originally scheduled to get into Columbus a little after midnight, now we wouldn't be back until 1 or 2 am. Ugh.

We spent the flight watching Game of Thrones and trying to sleep...I was exhausted yet I still couldn't sleep because of vacation keyed up ed ness. I should have brought some Nyquil or something.

The plane landed in good old Columbus around 1:30 am. We got a taxi for the short trip to my friend's apartment where my car had been safely living. I think the taxi was around $30 with tip. My friend dropped us off on our way to vacation, but there was no way I was even going to try to stretch the goodwill of my friends to pick us up after 1 am on a Wednesday night.

We were finally home! We stumbled into bed with all our bags and souvenirs and the other detritus of the trip strewed around us. It had been a great time.

UP NEXT: Nothing. Just an empty void of working and surviving until my next vacation. Hahah. But no really, I will write a vacation wrap up post.

QUOTEABLE QUOTES: 'Are they any scary fake people in this next room?!' 'Blood curdling shriek'. Ugh, little girl, get over it.

LOWLIGHTS OF DAY 10: the amazing shrieking wonder mentioned above

HIGHLIGHTS OF DAY 10: the pride all the retired military volunteers working on the Midway showed toward the new USS San Diego
 
:wave2: Just realized I never did my trip summary.

Final Thoughts on Trip:

I love love love California. Loved the weather, love the nearness of the ocean, love all the landscape (in PA/OH we don't have beautiful red wild flowers growing by the highway).

Next time...I definitely need to slow down. If there was a bad part of the trip, it was usually because we were exhausted and run down. I just need to convince myself that sleeping in or hanging around the hotel pool isn't a bad way to spend some time while on vacation.

Speaking of next time, there will definitely be a next time. I've decided that I would like to spend my 30th birthday in California. More specifically, in Disneyland. Even more specificer (made up words are awesome) in Trader Sam's.

My birthday is March 2, so I am hopeful that we'll just beat the Spring Break crowds. We really loved all the places we went last time, so we are going to try to hit them up again to see what we missed.

So we'll start out in San Diego, probably stay at Loew's Coronado again, hit up the San Diego Zoo, probably go to Old Town again, and hopefully find the time to fit in some water/ocean activities.

Then we'll head to Anaheim where i am hopeful to book the Disneyland Hotel Fantasy Suite (just for one night, my actual bday). We'll spend a few days at Disneyland, then head up north to Hollywood to repeat the Magic Castle club. This time, Brian wants to take some cheesy Hollywood bus tours (I agree). We loved our tour of Paramount Studios so we may try the VIP of WB. We are also hoping that Big Bang or The Price is Right will be taping at this time.

Anyway, thanks everyone for reading! :flower3:

Even more thanks for everyone who joined in and posted! You lurkers best come out next time pirate: (or my weird pirate will get you).
 
I really enjoyed reading your trip report, nice job. We took our kids to San Diego last year and thought the highlight was the Midway tour. Thanks for sharing.
 


Saw your post on a WDW TR, and decided to click on your link. Enjoyed the "ride". Bet you're surprised after all this time people are still dropping in. Spent yesterday and today reading through it all. See you in March!:surfweb:
 
Saw your post on a WDW TR, and decided to click on your link. Enjoyed the "ride". Bet you're surprised after all this time people are still dropping in. Spent yesterday and today reading through it all. See you in March!:surfweb:

This is so funny, I haven't checked this trip report in ages and decided to click today to see if anyone had responded.


Yes, I am surprised lol. I was just thinking of my return DL trip in March (most likely cause I just got back and am having the vacation blues). d

Glad you enjoyed the read :thumbsup2
 
I started reading your TR days ago, I was intrigued by the title, because it sounds like the California trips we've done, lots of hopping here and there! I'm a HUGE Disney fan, so of course we go there, but we have also done San Diego, Universal Studios, WB tour, and by the way, the tour we took through anaheim411.com was great!! We did an all day tour that included the VIP WB tour. I highly recommend it! It also brought us to Greystone Manor, Celebrity home tour, Rodeo Drive, WB Studios and more~it was very personal and we got to get out and walk around a lot. We don't drive in CA, so we normally take Amtrak, we have taken it to SD, we took it to LA and then up to San Luis Obispo where we rented a car for a day and drove to San Simeon and then took a tour to Hearst Castle! ;) This past spring, my husband flew down and met me (I was at a week long seminar) we celebrated our anniversary, went to Palm Springs/Indian Wells, and then the final part of our trip was DL & then to LA to take Amtrak all the way up the coast to Seattle! We had such a good time. Before he came down, I took the Lux Bus to Vegas, stayed there for a week with my cousin, and then I took Amtrak from there to Denver, where I stayed with my niece for a couple of weeks!! It was so much fun, I'd do it again in a heartbeat!! Im from Alaska, so everything down there excites me~!!

Thanks for all the laughs, you have a great sense of humor! I loved all the pictures, and getting to see Joshua National Forest was really neat! Have fun on your next trip! Kelly ;)
 


Thank you for sharing! I will be spending a day in DL for the first time this spring, after many trips to WDW. Your TR was just the info I was looking for. And very entertaining too :goodvibes
 
I saw your signature link a couple of days ago on a post you wrote and decided to read your trip report.

Very nicely done. I love your sense of humor and found myself laughing out loud. I live here and have never gone to Joshua State Park, so found your notes very interesting (I usually go to Sequoia or Yosemite). Thanks for taking the time to write it out and to write your post notes. I love reading summaries (call me weird... no, not really), and yours did not disappoint.
 
I started reading your TR days ago, I was intrigued by the title, because it sounds like the California trips we've done, lots of hopping here and there! I'm a HUGE Disney fan, so of course we go there, but we have also done San Diego, Universal Studios, WB tour, and by the way, the tour we took through anaheim411.com was great!! We did an all day tour that included the VIP WB tour. I highly recommend it! It also brought us to Greystone Manor, Celebrity home tour, Rodeo Drive, WB Studios and more~it was very personal and we got to get out and walk around a lot. We don't drive in CA, so we normally take Amtrak, we have taken it to SD, we took it to LA and then up to San Luis Obispo where we rented a car for a day and drove to San Simeon and then took a tour to Hearst Castle! ;) This past spring, my husband flew down and met me (I was at a week long seminar) we celebrated our anniversary, went to Palm Springs/Indian Wells, and then the final part of our trip was DL & then to LA to take Amtrak all the way up the coast to Seattle! We had such a good time. Before he came down, I took the Lux Bus to Vegas, stayed there for a week with my cousin, and then I took Amtrak from there to Denver, where I stayed with my niece for a couple of weeks!! It was so much fun, I'd do it again in a heartbeat!! Im from Alaska, so everything down there excites me~!!

Thanks for all the laughs, you have a great sense of humor! I loved all the pictures, and getting to see Joshua National Forest was really neat! Have fun on your next trip! Kelly ;)


Alaska? That is where I wanna go next! I really want to see the Northern Lights. We were thinking of doing a guided tour next time, we definitely want to do a touristy bus tour of Hollywood. But we were also thinking of doing a studio VIP tour, so maybe we should look into Anaheim411? Thanks for reading :)

Thank you for sharing! I will be spending a day in DL for the first time this spring, after many trips to WDW. Your TR was just the info I was looking for. And very entertaining too :goodvibes

Haha, glad I could help someone :thumbsup2

I saw your signature link a couple of days ago on a post you wrote and decided to read your trip report.

Very nicely done. I love your sense of humor and found myself laughing out loud. I live here and have never gone to Joshua State Park, so found your notes very interesting (I usually go to Sequoia or Yosemite). Thanks for taking the time to write it out and to write your post notes. I love reading summaries (call me weird... no, not really), and yours did not disappoint.

Aww that is a very nice thing to say about my trip report. Sequoia and Yosemite are on our list, but we were thinking of doing a northern Cali trip sometime in the near future. Hit San Francisco and then basically spend the rest of the trip in the national parks. I like to read summaries too...and um, you did read my trip report, didn't you... so if you are weird, you know I'm right there with you :wave2:
 
I think I forgot to talk about this before, I know a lot of people are scared to drive in LA traffic. It didn't bother me so much, I didn't feel like the drivers were any more aggressive than they are in Ohio, the only thing that did bother me was the motorcycles who made lanes for themselves and drove on the white line in between the traffic lanes. The first time one drove by we were both terrified and thought someone was about to crash into us from behind. But, seriously motorcycles? Wait with everyone else, geez.

Hi, I know I'm late on board reading you're trip report, but I started reading it and I really enjoy it so far.

Anyway, I had to chuckle a little bit at this comment. Is the law different in Ohio? Here in California motorcycles are allowed, maybe even encouraged, to zoom past all the other cars. Perhaps it is a way for the state to encourage more motorcycling, which would ease up traffic congestion. I think they also are free to move in and out of car pool lanes; I don't know if they're allowed to do that in other states.
 
Hi, I know I'm late on board reading you're trip report, but I started reading it and I really enjoy it so far.

Anyway, I had to chuckle a little bit at this comment. Is the law different in Ohio? Here in California motorcycles are allowed, maybe even encouraged, to zoom past all the other cars. Perhaps it is a way for the state to encourage more motorcycling, which would ease up traffic congestion. I think they also are free to move in and out of car pool lanes; I don't know if they're allowed to do that in other states.

I'm not the OP, but another reader jumping in.
Lane splitting (motorcycles driving between lanes) is illegal most other places in the US. From Wikipedia: "In most US states throughout the United States, lane splitting is illegal with one notable exception being California. Additionally, the legal restrictions for lane splitting in each US state for motorcycles generally apply to bicycles as well. However, in some states such as Nebraska and Utah, lane splitting is prohibited specifically and only for motorcycles and is therefore legal for bicycles." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting

It freaks me out when I see it too!
 
I'm not the OP, but another reader jumping in.
Lane splitting (motorcycles driving between lanes) is illegal most other places in the US. From Wikipedia: "In most US states throughout the United States, lane splitting is illegal with one notable exception being California. Additionally, the legal restrictions for lane splitting in each US state for motorcycles generally apply to bicycles as well. However, in some states such as Nebraska and Utah, lane splitting is prohibited specifically and only for motorcycles and is therefore legal for bicycles." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting

It freaks me out when I see it too!

Ya, even the cops on their motorcycles will come zooming in behind you, weaving all over the place. It actually still does freak me out a bit when the creep up on me when I didn't see them in my mirrors, but I bet it could really scare some people from out of state who aren't used to it haha.



By the way, to the OP, just finished you TR, and really enjoyed it. And especially all the nerdy references! Battlestar Galactica! Game of Thrones!! even the obscure Caprica! I love all that stuff
 
Hi, I know I'm late on board reading you're trip report, but I started reading it and I really enjoy it so far.

Anyway, I had to chuckle a little bit at this comment. Is the law different in Ohio? Here in California motorcycles are allowed, maybe even encouraged, to zoom past all the other cars. Perhaps it is a way for the state to encourage more motorcycling, which would ease up traffic congestion. I think they also are free to move in and out of car pool lanes; I don't know if they're allowed to do that in other states.

I'm not the OP, but another reader jumping in.
Lane splitting (motorcycles driving between lanes) is illegal most other places in the US. From Wikipedia: "In most US states throughout the United States, lane splitting is illegal with one notable exception being California. Additionally, the legal restrictions for lane splitting in each US state for motorcycles generally apply to bicycles as well. However, in some states such as Nebraska and Utah, lane splitting is prohibited specifically and only for motorcycles and is therefore legal for bicycles." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lane_splitting

It freaks me out when I see it too!

Thanks for clearing that up for me! Californians, what are you gonna do :drive: (no, I don't really know what I mean by that)
 
Ya, even the cops on their motorcycles will come zooming in behind you, weaving all over the place. It actually still does freak me out a bit when the creep up on me when I didn't see them in my mirrors, but I bet it could really scare some people from out of state who aren't used to it haha.



By the way, to the OP, just finished you TR, and really enjoyed it. And especially all the nerdy references! Battlestar Galactica! Game of Thrones!! even the obscure Caprica! I love all that stuff

It sounds like we would be best friends. Don't forget Star Wars, Doctor Who (basically anything on BBC like Torchwood and Sherlock).
 
I just spent all morning catching up on your TR and really enjoyed it! I have to agree with you totally about San Diego Safari Park - I was so disappointed when we went in September (my DS19 & I had moved to live with DS30 in Culver City the end of June and we visited the Park in September before DS19 decided to move back to VA - he didn't like the LA area at all - too crowded). Anyway we had all visited AK's safari and felt you had much more animal views and interaction plus we got lost several times on the trails trying to find the tiger exhibit (which we never found). We did see the Cheetah run which was sort of cool but way too crowded and hot that time of year.

Love your pics of Universal Studios! Still haven't ventured up there yet - your pics have gotten me all amped up to go visit soon :) I got a little lost in your DL part of your TR in the abbreviations for places but finally figured them out lol I'm so dense when it comes to that - will have to visit DL soon too! and Trader Sam's :thumbsup2 What a fun place! You made excellent choices in your hotels and the rates were amazing! The Magic Castle Hotel experience was amazing - so jealous! I drove past that once and really wanted to stop somewhere and take pics somehow. Your car rental was so cheap! Next trip to anywhere I'm going to hire you to do our planning ;)
 
I just spent all morning catching up on your TR and really enjoyed it! I have to agree with you totally about San Diego Safari Park - I was so disappointed when we went in September (my DS19 & I had moved to live with DS30 in Culver City the end of June and we visited the Park in September before DS19 decided to move back to VA - he didn't like the LA area at all - too crowded). Anyway we had all visited AK's safari and felt you had much more animal views and interaction plus we got lost several times on the trails trying to find the tiger exhibit (which we never found). We did see the Cheetah run which was sort of cool but way too crowded and hot that time of year.

Love your pics of Universal Studios! Still haven't ventured up there yet - your pics have gotten me all amped up to go visit soon :) I got a little lost in your DL part of your TR in the abbreviations for places but finally figured them out lol I'm so dense when it comes to that - will have to visit DL soon too! and Trader Sam's :thumbsup2 What a fun place! You made excellent choices in your hotels and the rates were amazing! The Magic Castle Hotel experience was amazing - so jealous! I drove past that once and really wanted to stop somewhere and take pics somehow. Your car rental was so cheap! Next trip to anywhere I'm going to hire you to do our planning ;)

Yeah, I think my big deal about the safari is this: At AK's safari, there is a lot of natural vegetation and dividers and you can't really see what is coming up next. Most of the animals are in their own little confined areas, even if you do drive by very quickly. The SD Safari park...it is kind of just one big open plain. You can see most of the animals that are coming up. Don't get me wrong, Africa does have some big open plains (I was fortunate enough to have been taken on a safari by my dad), it really isn't like the SD park. I just think AK gives a more authentic experience.

We ditched before the Cheetah run, just couldn't make it that long.

Sorry about the abbreviations :sad: I actively try to use less abbreviations than lots of people on this board because I get confused too, but I can imagine I used a lot while trying to get through the trip report.

And I love to plan vacations and search for good deals. My work isn't always that interesting....so I may or may not do a lot of vacation planning from work...:listen: (that is me hoping work never reads my computer goings ons).

Oh, of course. Definitely consider myself a Whovian.

That settles it, best friends ahaha.
 
If anyone still checks back or is reading this for the first time...I have an announcement! I am ready to begin a brand new exciting thrilling pre trip report!! The aforementioned birthday trip has been decided on! Now if I could only decide on a trip report title...when I come up with one I will post a link here. I would love for everyone to come talk/plan with me on it!

In my head the 'Prince Ali' parade song from Aladdin is playing...I don't really expect anyone else to be 'make way for Prince Ali' excited...but I am :thumbsup2
 

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