To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[DopeyBadger]

Sunday, January 14th, 2024 - HM, Disneyland, California Adventure (Part 4)
Before we made it to Pixar Pier, we stopped at Turtle Talk with Crush. It's a bigger theater than WDW. We had a good crowd. Another quick witted CM that did a great job with the group.

It was about 3pm when we made our way into the Pixar Pier area. G wanted to ride the Jumpin' Jellyfish again.



We headed over to the San Fransokyo are because G wanted to meet Baymax. The line was closed when we came by, but the CM said he'd be back in 20-30 min. So we kind of bummed around the area, and then got in line like 10 min after that. And good thing we did because the pre-line pretty much filled the entire queue of the line and they cut it off. So important on getting pics with Baymax to be there early. There was a teenager not in line that was overly emotional when Baymax came out. Like she was balling when he told some jokes. Took a while to finally get to see him. Might have been one of our longer waits all trip. But it was worth it.



We got lucky because Hiro was out too. He wasn't always out with Baymax every other time we saw them.



G really wanted the Mei Mei ears, gloves, and tail. So she wasn't going to be denied that outfit.



They had a phenomenal 4-Town drawing, but it was like $200 because multiple colors and so many characters.



It was around 4:30pm by this time, and we headed into Cars Land. G and Steph wanted to ride Mater's ride again, but I took a pass. I went in search for a license plate for our new vehicle, but we still haven't found anything we like.

After Mater's Steph really wanted to ride Guardians. The wait was close to an hour, so G and I just bummed around for a bit. This is where we encountered our longest wait of the trip. It was supposed to be around an hour, but Genie+ had been down during the day. So the Genie+ line was wild. Steph said that when she was near the end of the queue and waiting to be slotted they would take 3 cars full of Genie+ people and then a single group of normal people. It was getting so bad that a CM came over the intercom and said, "Please don't be rude to me, I'm doing the best I can." Eventually Steph turned to the people behind her and was like, "Hey, want to be a group of 5 so we can all get in sooner?" They obliged. At one point when Steph was practically next, someone from the regular line jumped the barriers of the line and walked through the exhibits to get to the CM and then asked the CM what the distribution being used was and they said 10:1. And the person called BS. Then a guest from the Genie+ line chimed in that if you didn't like waiting in lines then making you need to fork over extra money for Genie+ like they did. The guest chipped back that there was a lot of entitled people around here today. So yea...

While Steph was dealing with that, G and I bummed around Avengers Campus. We saw the Dr Strange show was going on and were going to wait for the next one. G asked the CM who was cleaning up the space after the show when the next one was, and he said it was over for the night. So then we did a little shopping and then sat on the structure that the Dora Miljae show happens on. While we were waiting there, the CM came up to us and said, hey if you're interested you should go check out the Guardians dance party. So we headed that direction and got a prime waiting spot because the show hadn't started yet. So showing up about 5 min before the show was solid. It was a good show overall and G had a good time dancing. Star Lord looked at G as if she was cosplaying at Rocket because of the Mei Mei ears. After the dance party, we saw Loki walking around so we went and joined the line to meet him.

The line took maybe 10-15 min. I told G she should thank him for his sacrifice and that she was really proud of him. Or that she was a Rocket variant. She froze up and didn't do either. But they had a nice long chat.





He was a good Loki. Really too bad that Marvel can't be in Disney World and they don't have roaming characters. Because Avengers campus really is an awesome place to meet several characters in short order.

In all Steph waited about 90 min in total for Guardians. Afterwards, we headed towards Cars Land. G and Steph wanted some ice cream. We saw Mater driving around.



We decided to eat dinner at Flo's because it seemed safe. The food was decent enough.



After Flo's we were getting ready to call it a night. So we made our way to the exit. But before we did, I finally convinced G to press on the keypad outside the entrance to Avengers campus.



To me it just screams hidden mickey type situation. There's got to be a special code or something on one of these keypads. I thought "616", and tried a couple of other Marvel numbers but it didn't do anything best I could tell. Wasn't able to find anything on the internet even mentioning it. I feel like we can't be the only ones playing around with it. Anyone know anything?

We finally called it a night and headed back. We made it from HM wakeup at 2am, rope drop at Disneyland, and lasted until 8pm. So not half bad. Next up was a trip out to Universal Studios Hollywood. We were interested to see how it would stack up. The last time we've been to Universal was our honeymoon in 2010.

Sleep - 6:12 hrs
RHR - 49 bpm
Steps - 46,234 steps
Miles - 27.8 miles
Body Battery High - 48
Body Battery Low - 15

Next post - Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood

 

[DopeyBadger]

Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood
Alright, we were up at 6:00am and ready to get going. The goal was to make Universal's rope drop because it's a little less of a thing than at Disney. Universal does offer an early entry for an hour for like $30 a person. We considered it, but didn't bite. According to some research I read online as we made our way there, we should get to the parking structure about 45 min or so before the park opened. Then it would take 15 min or so to walk to the entrance. The drive from our hotel was easy. Maybe 45 min or so. We got there at 8:12am. Parking was a racket though $$$. You could choose one of three levels, with the most expensive being like $75! That's nuts. We got the cheapest and honestly wasn't that bad of a spot. Probably because we were so early.



We got through security and was waiting at the gate by 8:30am. They opened the gates, but didn't let us in until 8:45am or so. They scanned our tickets and then we were in. The goal was Super Mario Land. They held us until maybe 8:50am on their Main Street. Then they walked us through Simpsons land to the escalators that took us down to Super Mario Land.





It was interesting to look at, but just wasn't quite Disney level theming.

Once it was 9:00am, then they guided us down the stairs and escalators. There were multiple levels of stairs/escalators. Some thought they could go down the stairs faster, but the CM were holding people up. So there was no advantage to using the stairs or escalators. Once we got to the bottom level, then the CM moved out of the way and people walked hurriedly towards Super Mario Land.



Hard to soak it all in as you're rushing to get to the Mario Kart ride, but it was a wow moment when you first walk in.



They did a good job in a small space to really make it look really strong. So we jumped in line right out the gate. I think we waited 45 min or so.

Here's the thing. Disney does a fantastic job immersing you when you're in their parks. You typically can't see much of other lands when you're in one. It's really enveloping. So a view like this is not like something Disney would do.



Like we're one more level of clouds or something to cover up the escalator and the upper Simpsons level of the park. It feels like you just barely missed that complete immersion.

G and I got a picture with the outdoor Bowser statue.



Like they really did go all out on some parts, and then just others just missed.



G and I got our picture with the indoor Bowser as well.



Like Mario Kart is my jam, so this was a really awesome queue. There was a lot to look at. Lots of different call backs to former games and characters all over. Once we got inside, they had some race uniforms for the characters which were cool.



Next post - Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 2)

 

[DopeyBadger]

Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 2)

So the Mario Kart ride uses Augmented Reality. You get these fun Mario hats.



I'm really glad I got the pilar cysts removed (especially the one at the front) because I would never have been able to comfortably wear this hat. Once you get seated in the ride vehicle, there's a set of glasses attached to the car and you attach them to your hat. It's a nifty 1-2 step process and cut down on making extra augmented reality glasses that people could lose/break.

The scoring works in two ways. The first is that everyone in the car has a wheel. When the turn signal appears in your view, then you have to turn the wheel that direction. The more people that do it in the 4-person car, the more coins you score. Then there are enemy and friendly karts driving around. You turn your head to see them. And you aim with your vision by looking at things. And then you press down both buttons on the wheel to shoot green shells. It's challenging to get used to. You've got the wheel going, the vision to aim, and the buttons. But don't move your head towards the buttons because then your aim is off. My biggest gripe was the lack of ammo. You'd get more shells when you hit the "?", which is realistic in the game, but it felt really limited when playing this game. Anyways, keep your head on a swivel because there's a lot going on above you and to your sides. We did well. The goal was to score over 100 and then Mario's team wins. I had the highest score out of the 8 people playing at the same time as me. They also have a "power band" that you can do challenges for and it probably helps you in the game some way. Somewhat like the Spiderman droid thing. Honestly, I'm not a fan of that part. It's a major, we got you in the park, but if you want to do all these things you have to spend more money. Disney has that Spider-Man thing across multiple parks, but Universal has it at Mario land and Harry Potter land (wand spells). Not cool. Overall the ride is an A+. Really unique and fun.

This caution sign is epic.



If you know, you know.

We considered getting the powerbands, but the lines for each of the activities was insane. So like you'd spend an extra $X just to stand in a bunch of extra lines to do some other activities. They looked fun, but ehh.





We saw Toad scoot out and figured we had to wait to get a picture with him.



Whoever is inside that costume is tiny.



G wanted a photo op at one of the "?".



The Transformers ride was just outside Super Mario Land, so we decided to do that one.



G had a breakdown in the line for this one. I tried to convince her that it was likely not that bad. But the warning sign posted in the line listed all the people that shouldn't ride it, and based on that it must be "horrible". So she really really wanted out. I couldn't be 100% sure what the ride was like. So G and Steph bailed on the ride and I stuck it out. It was a fine ride. Pretty tame overall. Said it was bad for people with motion sickness, but it was nothing. Not even a hint of illness for me. It just moved you in front of a few screens and shook the ride vehicle around. I don't know that G would have enjoyed the ride, but she would have tolerated it just fine.

After I rode Transformers, we were done with the lower level and made our way back to the upper level. Steph took a picture of the WB Studio in the distance.



According to Sheldon, they have that WB posted towards Universal because "We're Better!".

G was really excited for Harry Potter land.



Next Post - Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 3)

 

[DopeyBadger]

Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 3)
G wanted to go to Olivander's Wand shop. She was really hoping that she would get chosen for the presentation. We tried to explain to her that only one person gets chosen in each group of 15-20 people. So don't get her hopes up. The Olivander looked around, looked right at G, and chose her. She absolutely geeked out about it.



Of course, her wand ended up having Unicorn hair in it. Good guess Mr. Olivander.

After buying the wand, she went and tried one of the magic spells, and then we made our way to the Forbidden Journey ride.



They've got lockers for your stuff. Use them! When we went in 2010 for our honeymoon, I didn't use the lockers for my phone, wallet, and camera. This was back when people carried a camera and not just your phone. So when the ride flipped upside down and shook us, it removed my camera from my pocket. It flew behind us in the ride vehicle and was rolling around back there. Everyone else in the ride vehicle was trying to capture it. But then it came dislodged during one of the rotations and was flying in the air in front of the vehicle. Time slowed down, and we could all see it drifting away. Then the stranger next to me reached out and just happened to get their finger through the loop mid-air. He caught it. We all cheered for him. I ended up giving him $100 once he gave me the camera after the ride was done. So I wasn't making that mistake again. Lockers it is.

Steph was worried about the ride, but we convinced her it would be fun. We told her she can't worry about it for an hour while we wait. She ended up trying it and liked it. So win for trying something new! I got a little ill from it. Told G afterwards that if she liked/tolerated that ride, then she would have been 100% fine on the Transformers ride.

We saw the Tri-Wizard tournament participants out for pictures. So we stopped to say hi!



G had a good one there.



We were getting hungry so I looked at our options and the Minions cafe seemed like the best choice because it had "chicken fingers". I put that in quotes because yea... that was bad... More like breaded chicken-like patties. Steph had the chicken nachos which had a gross liquid on the bottom, and I had mac and cheese which was horrendous. Hands down some of the worst food I've ever eaten. Like below school cafeteria level. Bottom 5 worst meals of my life ever probably. Honestly, there weren't any good options inside the park for a picky-eater. Post-trip we read the best strategy is to leave the park, eat at the downtown Universal area, and then go back in. And that actually makes a lot of sense. I figure they don't put a lot of effort into their food because that really is just right there. Another cost saving measure. Like Disney has that closeness too, but they don't skimp like this.

After that disgusting meal, G saw the carnival area and REALLY wanted to win the unicorn from Minions. I tried to convince her it wasn't worth it like the Disney one. At least the Disney one was $5 and had auto winners. This truly was a game of chance, AND IT WAS $15 PER PLAY! I did my best to talk sense into her, BUT DAD IT'S THE UNICORN. It's so FLUFFY! I was like, but I'm sure they sell one in the store that's better than throwing away $15 on the game of chance. Like there was a legit 1/120 chance of the unicorn. And you get like 7-8 throws. And of course, she didn't win. But then they try to play on your emotions and offer a reduced rate for a second game. Such a money pit.



After the carnival, we found some Minions!



We decided to do the backlot studio tour based on wait times. The queue was ridiculous. Like you were never standing still. It was essentially just us walking from end to end in the queue over and over. I'd much rather just stand still and then be let in. Whatevs.



We were interested in comparing the Warner Bros. studio tour to the Universal Studio tour. Best way I can describe it is that the Universal Studio is like an entertainment ride with some studio explanations. Like the focus is on big splashy things and less about actual learning about how things are done. The WB tour is WAY more informative about the process. There really isn't a comparison in my mind. The US is like a bunch of rides strung together. It's just not the same. We did see the Back to the Future court house though.



After the studio tour we headed back towards the Minions and Secret Life of Pets area. We saw Hello Kitty all by herself and so G jumped in line for her. She had gotten cat ears so it was perfect.



We rode the Minions ride. It was interesting, but it seems like there's a major safety oversight. You sit in ride vehicles in a large room with other people and watch a screen. But the ride vehicles raise up out of their spot. And then don't make you put your bags anywhere other than next to your feet in the ride vehicle. So if something rolled out of the vehicle, then it could fall into the hole where the ride vehicle is. How do I know, because it almost happened. A water bottle came out of Steph's bag and was headed into the hold. Pretty sure it wouldn't go well down there.

And wasn't a surprise to everyone, that when we exited the Minions ride there was a giant themed unicorn for sale. My oh my, imagine the shock on my face to seeing that...



That kid...

Next post - Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 4)

 

[DopeyBadger]

Monday, January 15th, 2024 - Universal Studios Hollywood (Part 4)
We rode the Secret Life of Pets after Minions. It took a while to get through the line, but there's definitely a lot to look at. So the time passed well. The ride was cute, but it shutdown multiple times while we were on it. Although when it stopped one time it stopped when I was being puppified. So normally you get like 3-4 seconds in front of this camera. But since the ride broke down right here, I got to play around with it. You can wave your hands around and stuff, and then it does too. But I learned that if you lean down, then the puppy leans down and sticks it's butt in the air. It was funny to do to see the tiny dog butt sticking up. Good ride overall.

We made our way back to the Wizarding World. G wanted to do some spells with her wand.



G decided she liked the Forbidden Journey so much that they did it again. Afterwards, we caught the whole Tri-Wizard show. And then she got a picture with the train. The CM was quite good and obliged the photo op of her casting a spell.



He jumped in the air at the right moment to make it look like she made him float. Now that's a WDW CM moment. He crushed it. And after that we made our way towards the exit around 5:15pm. So we were in the park from 9:00-5:15 and feel like we did everything we'd want to.

G got some good pics outside the park as it changed to night.





It took about 75-90 min to get back to Hotel Indigo. We tossed around a few ideas for dinner, and Steph wanted easy, so we just ate at the Cheesecake Factory. It was expensive, we were tired, and the food was alright. We got some cheesecake to go, and then we headed back to the hotel.

So our thoughts on Universal. We probably wouldn't do it again. It felt like a lower level in terms of theming compared to Disney. The food was atrocious. I didn't like being nickeled and dimed with the power band and wand. The studio tour is subpar compared to Warner Bros. Oh I forgot to mention we did see a star on the Studio Tour though. At one point the CM pointed out a group doing a photo scouting. Then when we pulled up and passed by, she was like, oh BTW looks like that was a famous person from The Voice. The photographer tried to tell us as we passed by, "She's famous!", but I thought he was joking. Turns out it was Camila Cabello. But all in all, it's a no for us. Good to experience once. In bed by 9pm for an early flight.

Sleep - 8:49 hrs
RHR - 50 bpm
Steps - 15,185 steps
Miles - 7.9 miles
Body Battery High - 55
Body Battery Low - 32

Next post - Tuesday, January 16th, 2024 - Flight home

 

[DopeyBadger]

Tuesday, January 16th, 2024 - Flight home

Up at 4:30am. I had already gotten the bags all packed, so all we had to do was shower, get ready, and then we headed out. I just had a PB Bagel for breakfast. We left some time so we could get the rental car filled up with gas. Turns out there aren't a ton of gas stations around the Long Beach airport, and one of them on Google just legit didn't exist. So we lost a little time there. But we managed. Stressful for a little there.

Found where we needed to park the rental, which was not the original place because they were resurfacing the parking lot. Then we went in and checked our bags. Steph had a freakout because she couldn't remember if they out a transfer tag on one of the bags. Went through security, which was interesting because they didn't want to see our tickets. Just the ID. Went through the scan and Steph's bag got scanned because she forgot the Nintendo Switch.

Made it through that and to the gate. Hit up the bathrooms, then got some snacks, and then boarded the flight. They were boarding the front and back of the plane, so we headed to the back entrance. Got the last three seats together. Easy flight.

Had a layover in Dallas. Was worried about the weather because it was cold, but thankfully no precipitation. Hit up the bathroom and then go some burritos from Moe's. They were passable, but nothing special. I wanted Chik-fil-a, but the line was too long.

Got on the flight and got lucky with the seats again with some of the last three together. Easy flight home. Didn't land until like 3-4pm. Drove the 75 min back home. And then the trip was over. I had planned to run that evening, but it was late and I was tired and I didn't. As I was on the plane I contemplated my training plan towards the marathon in April. I seriously considered I needed to pull the plug. I'm overburdened with responsibilities in the next few weeks/months, and my MIL's health has turned. So I don't think it's smart for me to commit at this time, but that's a convo for another time.

Sleep - 7:39 hrs
RHR - 50 bpm
Steps - 5,590 steps
Miles - 2.9 miles
Body Battery High - 70
Body Battery Low - 34

Next post - Trip Review

 

[DopeyBadger]

2024 Disneyland Weekend Trip Review
All in all a good trip out to California. It was my first time in adulthood, and G's first trip ever. We got to experience a bunch of different things that we don't normally do on a traditional FL Disney World trip.

Highlights
-The Warner Bros. tour was an absolute repeat, and we may do it at the highest level next time. Might need to search out other similar opportunities like this one. Be sure to do it on a Thursday/Friday though.
-Meeting some new and old DIS faces on the trip. Been close to 4+ years for some and it's like we were long last friends.
-The Haunted Mansion overlay, Radiator Springs, and Mario Kart were probably the best rides we did on the trip.
-Golden Horseshoe and Carnation Cafe were solid Disneyland meals. Paty's was also solid outside of Warner Bros.

Lowlights
-Disneyland 5k. The lack of photopass photographers compared to Disney World made it not worth the money to me. We've already been considering changing focus from runDisney to the Halloween party, but this really pushed us over the edge. I'm not sure when we'll be back again for runDisney. Never say never, but we don't have anything on the schedule nor planning for it.
-Universal Studios in-park dining. That food was atrocious!
-Many of the other meals were passable, but cost more than they were worth.
-Universal Studios was ok for a one-time thing, but definitely not something I feel like I'd need to do again. It's been 14 years since the last time I went, and another 14 years before going again would be fine with me.
-Hollywood Sign and Griffith Park. It was a little on us because we didn't time it right.
-Travel days to CA can be exhausting.

We'll see about going back to CA. If I had to choose between Disney World and Disneyland, then it's hands down WDW with little hesitation. We'll see how the next few weeks play out, but there's a trip to WDW scheduled for March and possibly October as well. We're just trying to keep everyone's emotions looking forward to things to enjoy to keep us going.

 

[azrivest]

Thanks again for the honest reviews. I hope you find the balance you're looking for this spring

-Universal Studios was ok for a one-time thing, but definitely not something I feel like I'd need to do again. It's been 14 years since the last time I went, and another 14 years before going again would be fine with me.

Do you think it would be worth it only for Super Mario World? It's J's dream to go there to experience the Mario Kart ride and to play the games. Based on your description and your pictures, it looked pretty crowded, so I don't know how much fun he'd have if we spent an entire day there.

 

[jmasgat]

Great reports (no surprise there) I enjoyed the WB Studios as well--but this was a while ago, probably 10+ years when my son was at USC. And I'll raise your Hollywood sign photo (A slightly different perspective!)...


Better start saving your pennies (and dollars) now to support G's ambitions--LA is a spendy place.

 

[nancipants]

Great trip report. Sorry the 5k ended up not being as enjoyable for you and G. The Halloween party is super fun so I totally understand wanting to go back. We’re planning on taking our 4 year old for the first time this year. He LOVES Halloween, so it’ll be fun. We did a Halloween Disney cruise last year and he had a blast.

Also sorry to hear about your MIL. Thinking of you and your family.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Thanks again for the honest reviews. I hope you find the balance you're looking for this spring

Thanks! I don’t get sponsored for my content. So only honest stuff here. Nothing click-baity and nothing handled with kids gloves either. Just how I honestly feel about my experiences.

Do you think it would be worth it only for Super Mario World? It's J's dream to go there to experience the Mario Kart ride and to play the games. Based on your description and your pictures, it looked pretty crowded, so I don't know how much fun he'd have if we spent an entire day there.

It’s certainly possible. I did some light reading as we headed to US and the expectations were that Super Nintendo World usually has a virtual queue, and the wait for Mario Kart is usually 90-120 min. So I think we actually went on a slow day. The wait was usually 50-80 min and no virtual queue for the area. If you want the full experience, then you’ll definitely need to plan on the power band. But I could imagine myself as a 8-10 year old just riding Mario Kart over and over. It’s a different kind of ride because the augmented reality means if you’re not looking at something then you won’t see it. Like in Toy Story Midway Mania, everything is in your field of view. So something could catch your eye and you’d see it. But with the augmented reality setup you have to turn your head to see things. So at one point there was a floating pirate ship above you and if you didn’t look up, then you wouldn’t see it to fire at it. So I think the ride has a lot of replay ability because you’re not going to see everything on a single play. They also have meets with Mario, Peach and Toad. And I’m pretty sure if you beat all the power band games you get access to a special room.

Great reports (no surprise there) I enjoyed the WB Studios as well--but this was a while ago, probably 10+ years when my son was at USC. And I'll raise your Hollywood sign photo (A slightly different perspective!)...

Now that’s a view. I feel like I remember seeing something similar on an episode of Bosch. Is that an open to the public road?

Better start saving your pennies (and dollars) now to support G's ambitions--LA is a spendy place.

Yea, we’ve shared with G that the list of big actors that come from modest backgrounds isn’t a long list. It’s tough to break in without some family finance. But we will see where this adventure takes her.

 

[nancipants]

Also wanted to ask - have you and G considered hitting up a convention near you? Since she likes to cosplay, that could be super fun for her. And a great place to get ideas for future costumes!

 

[jmasgat]

Is that an open to the public road?

Not for cars. We hiked up there, I think on the Hollyridge trail or Brush Canyon Trail

 

[fatmanatee]

Do you think it would be worth it only for Super Mario World? It's J's dream to go there to experience the Mario Kart ride and to play the games. Based on your description and your pictures, it looked pretty crowded, so I don't know how much fun he'd have if we spent an entire day there.

I can speak to this! I was out there in August in part to go to SMW. Really cool area, gets very crowded in normal hours. If you're game for it, I can't say enough about early entry. Got there in time for early rope drop, immediately went to the ride once, then knocked out all the mini games. Had enough time for a second ride before the flood came in. Obviously it's an annoying extra expense (not unlike G+) but given how crowded it gets it was worthwhile IMO. What you can do in one hour with early entry probably takes at least three once it gets crowded.

As @DopeyBadger mentions the mini-games require a power band. One consolation is that if you ever plan to go to EU you can continue to use it there.

Did not attempt to get a reservation for Toadstool Cafe but my feeling is that getting a spot is like getting a VQ, goes very quickly as soon as it becomes available.

The rest of the park is neat, probably half-day-ish. Not that many rides, including repeats from Orlando. Studio tour is fun.

 

[sandam1]

Do you think it would be worth it only for Super Mario World? It's J's dream to go there to experience the Mario Kart ride and to play the games. Based on your description and your pictures, it looked pretty crowded, so I don't know how much fun he'd have if we spent an entire day there.

I'll weigh in on this one. We went to UH on our first day in California and I can't see spending an entire day there. Admittedly, I am not a Mario fan, but I am a big Universal Orlando fan and, even with exploring all of the nooks and crannies for differences, we struggled to find things to fill our day with the entire park. When they say UH is small and a one-day park, they mean it.

We did the early entry (it was $20 each on the day we went) and were able to ride Bowser's three times before the wait times started to build. And yes, the land is small and gets very crowded. I couldn't imagine spending the entire day there.

At this point, I would hold off another year or so and wait until Epic Universe opens next summer. It seems like UH is just a taste of the six-course meal that is going to be at Epic.

 

[dis_or_dat]

It was wonderful finally meeting you and your family. Loved hearing G give her opinions on different rides and experiences. Those were her early thoughts, curious to hear what she thinks now that she's had time to digest.

DL is a very "locals" heavy place - depending on how early I was able to get out and how bad my night was, I would sometimes drop by after call. Lots of local HS/college students work there. Interestingly, I was talking to someone at WDW and he said WDW was very much a locals place and people would come by for a few hours (after 2pm).

Great job hitting up so much in SoCal! We still haven't done Universal Studios with the kids yet. Would you say G enjoyed the WB backlot experience more than DL? Does the Volume in Manhattan Beach also do a tour? It would be interesting to compare the two - one is old school with great set design and the other is basically high tech green screen. Highly recommend Abbott Elementary, it's family friendly - more like Parks and Rec than The Office.

Saw the Maui hook in the HM corral and recognized you but got too shy to say hi. Figured you would be mentally preparing for a fast run vs my slow pace.

LA is certainly rife with entertainment industry opportunities - NY too. My friends and I have no interest, but still have been in stuff. Lots of running into celebrities at random places, but I don't recognize them unless they're trailed by paparazzi or being extra and trying to get noticed. Funnily, Bieber was at DL and walked by me and I only knew because of the enormous group of screaming girls running after him afterwards.

 

[xjillianpaige]

So in summary, this studio tour is a homerun. We'd 100% do it again, and would consider doing the highest cost version. The insights are incredible, and really gives you a view into the entertainment business. The only change would be to go on a Thurs/Fri because of the higher likelihood for seeing filming of properties.

I did the WB tour during my November 2022 trip! It was SO much fun and I would do it again because I feel like you'll never get the same tour twice. And it's kinda cool to be in a golf car at a studio. When I was there in 2023 we did San Diego instead of staying local, but at that time the writers and actors were on strike so a tour would have been crossing the picket line. I did see them picketing outside the studio when I drove by, though!

Porto's Bakery and Cafe

I went here on my last day (a different location, though). The food was PHENOMENAL. We went in the morning and it wasn't very busy. I got a spinach and cheese empanada and ate it the next day at work and I wish I had bought 10. Also a churro croissant that I ate on the plane that was messy but worth every bite.

So we took a quick pic as we were driving by.

Hollywood sign was part of my August 2023 trip! We got pretty close, probably near where you stopped because the angle looks about right. It's odd because you do pull off to the side of a windy road. When I'm there I'm with two Angelinos so they drive like it, but I drive like a Bostonian so I can hold my own on the highways.

Got off JC and headed to IJ. G had a freakout about the ride for most of the time we were in line because she feared it. She was practically crying when she was getting strapped into the ride vehicle. It wasn't terrible, but G definitely didn't enjoy it. Likely had her eyes closed and buried in Steph the whole time. I thought it was fun, but not necessarily something I'd have to do. G definitely didn't want to do it ever again. But at least she tried it to know she didn't like it.

Is G a fan of Dinosaur in AK? I believe the ride vehicle mechanics are the same, but IJ might be a bit jerkier. I like this ride SORT of, but I don't like things that pop out at me so sometimes this ride makes me nervous from the standpoint of like, what's going to be around that corner?

G wanted to go to Olivander's Wand shop. She was really hoping that she would get chosen for the presentation. We tried to explain to her that only one person gets chosen in each group of 15-20 people. So don't get her hopes up. The Olivander looked around, looked right at G, and chose her. She absolutely geeked out about it.

Ollivander picked me in 2010! Except I was a 20 year old adult

 

[RunWI1265]

I lucked out with the MacBadger car.

View attachment 828947

It's like it was designed just for Wisconsinites.

 

[Naomeri]

You guys definitely had a better day on Monday than my grandma and I did at Knott’s!

 

[RunWI1265]

Great recap of your entire trip. Seems like you did a really great job of packing as much as you could into the trip. We never left DL property which was a mistake considering how much longer it takes us to get out to CA than FL. Hard to break the mentality of wanting to stay in the bubble. My husband didn't even like the walk from DTD to the staging area.

G sure does seem like she's fit for LA or NYC. Now that she's participating in theater has there been any interest in going to see some shows in Chicago or NYC? Maybe you've already done that and I missed it.

I'm sorry to read about your MIL's current health status. Keeping your family in my thoughts.