Very Casual Trip Report - updates on Page 4.

[WanderlustNZ]

Wanderlust, we went mid week early Oct. We did the Simpsons ride first (walk on) and then the backlot tour. In the afternoon we did the Lowerlot (Transformers/Revenge of the Mummy/Jurassic Park) and waited no more than 5 mins for any of the rides. A number of times we were able to walk straight on from around 3pm onwards, this included Transformers.

Thanks Caroline. We were going to go to Universal in the weekend since the traffic will be quieter, but your post has got me rethinking.

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks Caroline. We were going to go to Universal in the weekend since the traffic will be quieter, but your post has got me rethinking.

We went mid-week too (in early March) and had a similar experience. The longest we waited was 15 minutes for the Simpsons, and Jurassic Park and the Mummy were both walk-ons all day. Transformers wasn't around yet though, so can't tell you what that would be like.

 

[ExcitedSam]

Geat TR!

We did AG store last year with my two girls, needless to say the are obsessed. I order through the personnel shopper and its a lot cheaper in shipping than going through their website to Aus, although still exy!

I'm heading over again in Feb with a girlfriend and she wants to do the VIP tour, but I'm thinking we might give it a miss for the $$.....? We will be there on a Saturday so maybe we'll still get the Front of line pass. We want to do another tour WB or paramount, still undecided which one.

Look forward to more!

 

[Aussiefamof5]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

My DH isn't keen on doing the VIP tour for the exact reason you mentioned above. After reading your review, I think that I'm now okay skipping it also.
I've never seen parenthood or War of the Worlds, so those extra stops probably wouldn't mean much to me. My main reason for wanting the VIP pass is to ride Transformers over and over again, but that just doesn't feel like enough of a reason to justify the extra cost.

Great trip report i really should get on to mine lol

We went to Universal midweek way less busy, and yes riding transformers over and over and over again is worth the extra cost. My most favourite ride from our whole trip

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Great trip report i really should get on to mine lol We went to Universal midweek way less busy, and yes riding transformers over and over and over again is worth the extra cost. My most favourite ride from our whole trip

Lol. It is such a great ride. It was my favourite from our Orlando trip.
In saying this, my latest decision is that we might not go to Universal at all. My MIL and DH will probably end up sitting out many of the rides due to motion sickness issues, and I'm beginning to wonder if the time and cost could be better spent on something else such as another day in Disneyland.

Anyway, I don't want to hijack Kylie's TR anymore with my plans. But thanks everyone for your advice and thanks Kylie for such a fun TR. I'm looking forward to your Anaheim part.

 

[kylieh]

I was talking to DH this morning about our Universal experience, we both feel that we wouldn't have been as disappointed if we got to go to Town Square/Clock Tower. We also missed a lot of the general atmosphere stuff.

OK, moving along with the trip report, posts up next are some shopping, a visit to the Space Shuttle, and I had at driving to Anaheim

 

[kylieh]

Friday.... shopping day. It didn't start out this way, we were originally heading to a TV show taping for a show on Nick, but two days out we received an email that the taping was cancelled :-(

So DH and I decided to go shopping We drove down to the Citadel Outlets. We had a few ideas of what we wanted to see/purchase. DH purchased 6 shirts from the Van Huessen shop for under $100 (he has a casual workplace, most wear jeans!) The shirts will probably keep him going in work gear for most of the year, perhaps more. He also grabbed a couple of polos.

We went to a few other stores along the walk around. In the ladies bathroom, behind each toilet there was a parcel shelf. Couldn't resist taking a pic to show you - I obviously don't get out much!

Here is a bargain What a shock price reduction

Wasn't a lot of choice for lunch, we went to Panda Express. I'm sure the Chinese takeaway in our local shopping centre does a lot better job.

We wandered around a little more. Best sale of the day was at Coach. They had a one-day 50% off their normal outlet price type sale. I purchased a new handbag for around $130. The same bag is still on sale in Australia for around AU$700. Feeling generous we purchased MIL a similar one for her Christmas present.

We went to Gap outlet. Purchased heaps for DD and DH. For whatever reason apart from the bag I didn't really see anything I wanted or needed.

Went to the Disney outlet and purchased a Perry ornament, there were a few good specials, but nothing to get overexcited about.

The Toys R Us outlet, wasn't much of an outlet - we had seen similar prices as Target in the days prior. But we did spot the Nerf Rebelle Cross Bow in blue for DD for under $20, so we grabbed it and DD received it for Christmas. Blue is a hard colour to get in the Rebelle for girls stuff.

And that was that day. Pretty quiet compared to the days prior, but we were a bit tired after Universal. On the way back we did hit some traffic, but nothing worse than Sydney peak hour.


Tomorrow - it's a visit to the Space Shuttle.

 

[kylieh]

I just realised - I head back to work tomorrow, after 5 weeks off....

...

For the Saturday I booked tickets in advance to see the Space Shuttle. It's in the California Science Centre, which is a bit like Questacon, but free. http://www.californiasciencecenter.org/Exhibits/AirAndSpace/endeavour/endeavour.php

Parking was $10. The Science Centre has a McDonalds and a cafe with normal prices.

We did need to pre-book a viewing time, and the only time available when we did was a Saturday. There was a $2 handling fee per person. Our time was 10.30am. When we wandered in there was a queueing system, but we "walked in" and wandered about why we needed to book. In the way out, perhaps an hour or so later, the line was really really long.

Back to the shuttle - well worth it if you're interested in space or the like. It was a highlight for DH. It was big, really big, and you can walk under it to get a good view.

Here are the pics (taken on the wide angle lens)

DD holding up the shuttle. I know, convincing

Here are the tiles - they didn't clean them off, so I guess there is some space dirt in there!

And the Earthquake Control System (from my phone) I don't know why it caught my eye!

We grabbed something to eat, looked at a few other exhibits, then headed up to Burbank. DH wanted to go to Best Buy.

No pics here... we went to Michael's Craft Store which is a bit like Spotlight but with a lot more stuff. Though, last week I was in Spotlight here and I wouldn't say that Michael's is that much bigger physically, just a larger range.

DH went into Best Buy as planned, he said it was just as he thought it would be. One of his favourite TV shows was Chuck which in part was at the "Buy More" The Buy More is modelled on a Best Buy.

Headed into Nordstrom Rack Store. I picked up a couple of pairs of shoes - some Calvin Klein ballet flats, and some Nikes, in total around $70. They were good value.

Went back to Target, didn't get a lot, but did find some hair ties for DD really cheap. Purchased perhaps 2 years worth, as for some reason they tend to disappear really quickly.

And that was it, we headed back to the house to pack up as the next morning we were heading to Anaheim!!

 

[kylieh]

This is our first day at Disneyland, and I don't have any pics for the day! Sorry. But some stories...

After leaving the house around 11am, we couldn't get into our rental in Anaheim until 4pm, so we needed to kill some time. The car was really full too, so we couldn't really leave it unattended.

DH and I decided to take the coast road to Anaheim. This was a really nice drive.

The first stop was Cam and Mitchell's home from Modern Family. There were people home and coming in and out so we didn't get out and take pics, that would have been a step too weird so we spent a minute or two looking from the car. DD was really excited about this - she loves the show and was really hoping to see this house. Here's a reference from a fan blog: http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2009/12/08/mitchell-and-camerons-house-from-modern-family/

Headed towards to the coast, and stopped at McDonalds for lunch. Not exciting. Headed along the coast road, past the airport and looking at the beach. We stopped at some little beach and parking area for a leg stretch and I decided it was time to drive. Yes, I finally did it. I drove for about 30 minutes or so. The roads in that part of town were really quiet, single lane each way. Nothing to really scare me.

As we headed closer to Anaheim and the lanes increased to 4 each way I started to worry, so handed the driving back to DH.

We grabbed a coffee at a Starbucks, helped a fellow Anzac with directions, and were on our way.

We arrived in Anaheim around 3.55pm, so we decided to go in the house anyway. Here it is on VRBO: http://www.vrbo.com/402762 The house was fine, beds were comfy. Best for a small family as there was only one main bathroom. Plus an additional toilet downstairs. It worked well for us.

OK, this night was freezing. About 5c. No joke, it was being reported on as cold in the news and in the middle of their cold snap.

We headed over to DL around 5pm I guess. It was 5 minutes only to the tram, about 500 metres. We're slow walkers!

Because of the cold and being on heavy duty cold tablets, this night is a bit of a blur... but I picked up the 10 day pass. You do that at the ticket booth now, 3 years ago it was a guest services. Headed into DL, and because of the Candlelight Processional it took ages to get to Guest Services inside to get our tickets for Fantasmic viewing - they wouldn't let us pick them up outside either.

I will say the Candlelight Processional is very beautiful. We saw perhaps 15 minutes of it just getting in the gate! After we got the Fantasmic seating we headed down Main Street to get the Photopass Plus.

In total, tickets, ticket pick up, Photopass Plus, and getting down Main Street was an hour and a half. It was crazy. And cold.

I went and waited to get our seating for Fantasmic, was about 5th in line, so we got Front Row. DD went and rode Splash Mountain 3 times, but with Poncho. They came back and collected me after getting the tickets and we went on Pirates, then back to the seats.

I had a crazy cold, DH had a cold, and it was freezing, so our enjoyment level wasn't as high as it good be. We didn't stay for the fireworks, headed back to the house for a fresh start in the morning.... where I'll have better trip report and pics

 

[PrincessInOz]

Love the pictures of the Space Shuttle. Looks like a mixed day?

Have a good day at work.

Looking forward to the next update.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

What a shame the taping of your show was cancelled.

There was quite a bit of talk on the Dis about that cold day in Anaheim and also the crowds the Candlelight Processional was pulling in. If nothing else, it sounds like the day was very memorable. I hope you started feeling better the next day.

 

[NoIdea]

Really enjoying your TR, can't wait for the rest of it