Finally the holidays are here...woo hoo
Day 1 - BrisVegas to Las Vegas
New York New York Hotel and CasinoSunday, 22 January 2012
We are 9/10 the way through our first day of travel.
It's 9am in Los Angeles and we are waiting at LAX to board our flight to Las Vegas, back in Brisbane it's 3 am on Monday morning so no wonder I feel like I'm in a dream...it's almost like I'm in the new mum stage and have sleep deprivation fantasies.
Qantas were fantastic, I am especially impressed that they offer Weiss mango bars for dessert and great little pizzas for midnight snacks, makes me almost glad I didn't sleep and miss out on those little treats. Bella and I had 3 seats between us so we could stretch our long legs out, and every time there was a little turbulence I felt her hand reach for mine...left over feelings from our flight back from Japan when we had a bit of a drop mid air.
The security at LAX is as bad as they say...but not as they portray it on TV. I always find a smile and a cheerful good morning is appreciated with some people and not with others. Taking shoes off and jumpers off and of course the liquids, lap tops and bags all make for very long lines to get through security checks. Ahh well it's all part of the traveling experience. We are just pleased we don't have too many flights this trip.
...next stop Vegas baby.....
Well we made it to Vegas...and boy are we all tired and cranky.
We were all amazed at how long the taxi line was and how quickly it kept moving...it was if we had done the 400 mt sprint by the time we got in the taxi...and we didn't get tunneled either !
We are meeting one of Greg's old sportsco workmates tonight for dinner so we have to stay awake...argggh it's not easy, I'm sitting here thinking this is the sort of town you could go to sleep exhausted at 4pm...wake up at 3am and go out and about for your breakfast or sightseeing without having to wait for everyone else to wake up.
The roller coaster goes by every 10 mins or so but as the sun is setting its makings the windows look extremely dirty so I can't take a sunset shot of the roller coaster . The lights are starting to come on ...Las Vegas night time is starting to twinkle awake, the dirty sidewalk is not looking quite so dirty and the dry arid surroundings are becoming muted grey tones at dusk.
We saw some interesting things on our short walk across Las Vegas Boulevard to Ross Dress for Less...Michael Jackson, a few transformers, a g string clad snake charmer and an Elvis statue that came alive to unsuspecting passers by among others. I also saw a fellow being taken away in handcuffs behind us on the escalators in our hotel...that freaked Bella out a bit and Greg was annoyed that he didn't actually get my meaningful glances as code for " grub in handcuffs behind me" because he was too overwhelmed by fatigue and the sights and sounds of "New York New York" to really take in anything else.
Just sitting here thinking how much more alive it looks when the lights come on.
Day 2 - Las Vegas day 2 - Shopping
Las VegasMonday, 23 January 2012
I'm sitting in my favorite spot in the hotel room watching everyone try on their purchases from today.
It was a slow start to the morning after a wonderful nights sleep. We woke at about 9am and Nate and I went down to get our free (not really free because we have a resort fee) newspaper and coffee and donuts for breakfast ( healthy right!) then we headed for the shops.
Greg won today's shopping challenge...he saved the most money with his purchases...Bella was second only because she finally listened to what Dad's suggested and bought from the clearance items. Nate bought what was on his list and was very satisfied with his new items and I came last because as mum I put everyone first ( can you hear the violin ?)
We caught the SDX to the outlet mall south today...used the coupon to get the coupon book but most of the coupons we couldn't use because the deals in store were better than the coupons....oh well
We also bought a bright green suitcase...hopefully will see it very clearly on the luggage carousel at the airport.
Broadway Burger Bar was our restaurant choice for dinner tonight, I had the Chicken and Brie with caramelized onions...delicious, one thing I do notice is though, the waitresses are forever asking you if you want a refill...working for that measly tip we give them, as Aussies I'd prefer if they ignore us a bit so I don't feel I have to give them a tip, it's just so strange to us.
Early to bed...early to rise...but 1am is ridiculous, I think that big coffee I had for afternoon tea was a mistake.
Day 3 - I think it's another shopping day
Las VegasTuesday, 24 January 2012
Another full day of shopping with many bags of goodies to show for it.
I am amazed at how the hawkers on the street and the bus ticket collectors just gravitate towards Nat..."oh my he's tall"... "you look like a boy who likes basketball"..." wow your a giant, would you like...blah blah blah"
I can't help but say G'day to everyone one who says hello...mostly shop greeters...they alway greet you in every shop and always offer to help...way more than we are used to, sometimes it can be quite annoying!
Had a lovely long soak in the tub this afternoon after a hard slog at the shops, and am sitting in my favorite chair and marveling at the beautiful red sky as the sun sets over the mountains in the background...photo doesn't do it justice so will have to take a memory photo in my head.
Day 4 - Bit of this, Bit of that
New York New York Hotel and CasinoWednesday, 25 January 2012
We started the day a little later than yesterday as we all slept in till 9:30am...it was what we all needed and it wasn't a day that we had to get out and do stuff.
We again started the day by going shopping....I think that's our usual thing to do on holidays...shop. We headed again to the south outlet mall and we all decided that that was our favorite . We all picked up a few more bargains and left happy at just before 2pm.
Heading to our rooms we thought we'd have a little break then head out again...but our rooms were just being made up, so we left our packages and headed out to the middle of the strip at the Bellagio fountains. I was surprised that it has taken us this long to see all the porn slappers on the streets...but I guess we don't head out late at night and stick to the areas that are safe. They were funny though they would go to hand Greg a card...then see Bella holding his hand and they would pull the card back in and start to offer the card to Nate...see he was too young and pull it back again. This happened at every porn slapper location...so basically every 20 meters or so.
The Bellagio fountains were lovely...we didn't have to wait long for our show and were a welcome break from the neon lights. We then headed back to the MGM Grand to see the Lion habitat...a section of the casino glassed off with 2 lions living in it...well until the 31st Jan when they tear it down to make way for a night club...I think the lions will probably be far better off going in to retirement to a zoo somewhere.
Back to our hotel, change for dinner and then head down to the New York deli for some dinner.
Tomorrow we head to pick up the car and drive to the Grand Canyon...hopefully we will have another day like today...beautiful sunshine and about 17 degrees.
Day 5 - Australia Day at Grand Canyon
El Tovar HotelThursday, 26 January 2012
While we are leaving Las Vegas this morning, Barack Obama was arriving, we drove past air force one on the way to the car rental center, and we saw about 16 police cars on the roads.
The car rental centre in LasVegas is a fantastic idea...all the companies in one place. Although I'm sick of them up selling everything...no we don't want the suburban we want our SUV...ok I'll give you the suburban for free...I think they wanted to palm it off on us as it had California plates and we were dropping off in Anaheim....cheeky buggers.
Pretty easy driving so far...very straight....very desolate. We saw a few places where we think cousin Eddie from the vacation movies might have lived.
After a long and mostly uneventful drive we arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park, then a short drive to El Tovar our hotel that is 20ft from the rim of the Canyon...even Greg wanted to get out of the hotel room quickly and see the sights.
WOW WOW WOW...it's as magic as I hoped it would be, our hotel is like a hunting lodge complete with moose and elk heads in the lobby, the room is cozy for the four of us but large enough to still be able to walk around the camp bed. You walk out of the front door and you can see the rim of the Canyon, you can sit on the porch swing and ponder your existence in the grand scheme of things...blissful. We had a refreshing beverage in the cocktail lounge with a sweeping view of the rim, then back outside to gasp in wonder again.
It's winter in the Canyon and the temperature is about 7 degrees, there is snow on the ground and beautiful blue skies. Nate and Bella loved throwing snowballs at each other and over the edge of the rim. I think if it was summer they would have said.."it's a big hole" but in winter with the added benefit of snowballs it's a big hit ( excuse the pun)
We watched the sunset with the changing hues of red, pink and purple before heading to the Bright Angel lodge for dinner where we were pleasantly surprised with the price, much cheaper than Vegas. A short walk back to El Tovar under the twinkling stars in very brisk weather and while everyone is getting ready for bed I am heading to the lobby to use the very slow WiFi.
Day 6 - Drive to Anaheim
Desert Palms Hotel & SuitesFriday, 27 January 2012
We started the day in darkness...stepping out of the hotel at 7am waiting for the expected sunrise at 7:20am...ahhh spectacular...the muted violet tones turn brighter and more vibrant with every minute to a rich orange red. The raising of the American flag and the sounds of the wildlife bring everything to life. What a remarkable way to start the day.
We didn't see all to see at grand canyon but we certainly whet our appetite to make a return journey and explore more of one of the seven wonders of the world, and we decided that winter is really a beautiful time to see it, without crowds and with an icing of white to make it look even more beautiful.
The drive to Anaheim is a long one...around 8 hours and it's a journey that is monotonous as well as so starkly beautiful.
You can see the road stretch out before you endlessly the same, surrounded by a sea of cacti broken up by land formations uniquely American in shape and tumbleweeds just waiting to be cast adrift.On one side of the road was canyon looking and flat rocks with sedimentary lines very clear the other side is rugged and misshapen .
There is an endless line of trucks in both directions and the occasional train that seems to be never ending.
I can imagine that this stretch of road has been used I countless movies, I will have to look them up when I get home.
Then you get closer to LA and the freeways become 6 lanes with merging and exiting non-stop. We had Peggy guide through all of the freeways with the back up from google maps, both were right on the money, and we glided into our car rental next to our hotel on the smell of an oily rag. ( we paid for the return empty option)
Greg did an amazing job of getting us here safely and we will relax tonight before hitting Disneyland tomorrow.
Day 7 - Disneyland day 1
DisneylandSaturday, 28 January 2012
After an early night and a delicious meal from Bubba Gump we woke at 7am and headed to the fifth floor for our free breakfast...grabbed a few Danishes to take with us and headed to the happiest place on earth, obviously no-one told Nat of this name because he wasn't in the best of moods, maybe Disneyland isn't the coolest place to be going for a man of 16 but the man of 46 loves it!
No long lines to get tickets or to enter the park and we head left first to notice the line to Indiana Jones is not long so on we hop... I was the driver of our vehicle and I hope all of those other rider appreciate how difficult it was to drive blind...without glasses AND in the dark. We hope to go back on that one...good fun 5 stars.
Next we head on the jungle river cruise...still the same jokes as 20 years ago but a nice cool river cruise....3 stars
It's a beautiful clear blue sky and headed for 28 degrees today so we opt to take the train to Toon Town and save our legs, I haven't seen toon town before so it was fun...goofy just goofing around for photos...Pluto being a mischievous dog and not stopping for long in one place...but we got him, cornered him for a photo..Bella takes after me in that regard...then after a refreshment we head to Tomorrowland and wait in the sun for 55 mins for space mountain...I must love my son because it was his choice and you all know how much I hate the sun! It was worth it though...5 stars.
Quick detour into Buzz Lightyears astro blast where the competition between the two top guns Greg and Nate heated up when the ride stopped and Greg was right next to a target so he could just keep on shooting it...before the stop Nat was winning but Greg won that round!
Back to the hotel for a rest then back to the park......
We arrived back at the park at about 5:30 just in time to join everyone else returning back it seems! One thing they don't tell you on trip-advisor is the park is dim in lighting and when it's crowded with strollers four abreast it's stressful trying to keep up with long legged family...so we just jumped in lines for rides...pirates of the Caribbean ...5 stars, Indiana Jone s again...again 5 stars, Autopia ... 31/2 stars the fireworks starting at the exact moment we finish Autopia ....priceless.
Slowly head to our hotel and grab Chinese and subway for dinner...long hot bath and bed...Universal tomorrow.
Day 8 - Universal Studios
Universal Studios Back LotSunday, 29 January 2012
Today was the Tinkerbell half marathon at Disneyland, I knew this from my research prior to our trip...so I booked a day at Universal studios tour!
My research does pay off, if the mornings traffic was anything to go by and I'm hoping that it's an adorable quirk of my nature and not as annoying as my family think!
We took the Greyline tour and although a bit impersonal, the bus driver was very informative on the way and the hour long trip to universal went quickly.
The backlot tram tour at Universal has changed a bit since we took it in 1992, a lot of it due to a whole slather of different movies and TV shows and partly because of a fire throughout the backlot area. The King Kong 3D experience was probably the most significant change, rather than the old animatronic gorilla there is now a 360 degree view of Skull Island direct from Peter Jackson's head and the tour bus gets tossed and stamped upon by various prehistoric creatures and King Kong himself...very cool 4 stars.
The tram as always goes behind where the action is without ever really seeing anything, however the information given and the new Jimmy Fallon sketches along with scenes from the various shows give you a great insight of some of the "Movie Magic". Some of the other highlights were the tomb of the Mummy, Wisteria lane and Bates Motel. Jimmy Fallon leaves you to enjoy the rest of the day with a little dity that stays in your head that he wrote when he was 5...Tramtastic day...
The rest of the theme park is a collection of souvenir stores, rides and restaurants all designed to part you from your money, although, the staff are helpful and willing to take photos with your camera with the characters...and we loved the characters!
The Simpsons were of course our favorite , both the ride, which was awesome!! And the real life characters, we all had photos with some, except for Homer and Greg was a little disappointed that Chief Wigam is not the major character he should be! Bella and Nate had a photo with Bart and Lisa and Lisa became quite smitten with Nate, it was cute how a big felt covered costume with no working facial parts could act coy and smitten, I had to remind her I might become her Mother in law so she had better have a photo with me!
We wondered the streets of Paris and London and the old west and had lunch and dinner as part of an eat all day deal, rode the rides we wanted to and saw the shows we were interested in, avoided the strollers as much as possible and had photos with as many "things" as we could. The highlights were the Simpsons ride, the trolley tour and the behind the magic show where they show some techniques of movie making.
All in all a busy day and we were glad to head back on that bus for the trip home where I sat there looking at the two teenagers in front of us thinking...Greg and I created those two beautiful kids, I love them so much and am so grateful they're mine.
We ended with an ice cream for the kids, a packet of Cheetos and a Perrier for me ( I might be cheap but I do have class) and the news that Greg will officially be a sergeant on his birthday which meant he had no reviews on his position...YAY
Day 9 - A day of relative rest...
DisneylandMonday, 30 January 2012
We needed a day of not doing much...
Start the day with our free breakfast, where Nat is becoming an expert waffle maker and Bella is helpfull with getting the OJ . The hotel's breakfast isn't remarkable but it fills you up enough that you can last until at least 1pm without anything else, important if you are heading out to Disneyland.
The first thing we wanted to do today was Star Tours in Tomorrowland, the suggested stand-by wait time was 45 mins or we could get a fast pass and come back at 12:30....we decided to wait. The interesting thing about waiting in line at Disneyland is you come across all types of people and their personalities become magnified, you have the patient people...that's what we are, you have the loud talkers...that's usually who we are standing near..grr you have the families with young children who are well behaved, or the families with young children who don't pay any attention to mum or dad and wander around and whine loudly. Or you have the most annoying people of all the 'I'm more special than anybody else' , they are the ones who don't want to wait with everybody else, they are the ones who see all the fast pass people go through quicker and decide that that's not fair and jump the queue to be told they can't so complain to the cast mate loudly and obnoxiously until they get let through, it's amazing the behavior you see waiting in line! Oh you also sometimes mistakingly think the tall man in front of you is your son and accidentally grab him around the waist and if you are lucky it's in the dark so no one can see how red you are!
Anyway we waited over an hour to see Star Tours...would we do it again..No, are we glad we saw it Yes...4 stars.
We then went into Innovations a look at the future, sponsored by Microsoft, HP and Honda!
Where's my Apple fit into this? ASIMO was amazing although the presentation was a little forced and a tad boring, but the 'robot' itself was incredible. Then when you enter the hall you get to play x-box, see yourself in the future, walk around a state of the art computer home and wonder if it will all happen sooner rather than later...2 stars.
Those two took over 2 hours of our time and we were all feeling a little hungry, so we decided to leave Disneyland, have a quick look at California Adventure park. The main entry to DCA is under renovation so you are ushered through the back way, the first ride we come to is Soaring over California, I know from my research that it is closing for renovations on Wednesday so I make sure we head into the line, Bella is given a little red disk that she has to give to the cast member at the end of the line to keep an accurate waiting time ( we waited exactly 30mins), another thing about wait times at Disney...they go quick, they house you in an area...then you go through to another area where you wait some more, and there is usually a pre ride story or something to look at while you wait, then you go through where the cast member asks how many in your party...and you wait some more. Finally you get to the area where you know you are next to get on the ride...yay. Soaring over California is a ride that lets you imagine you are on a hang glider over the beautiful scenery of California , it lifts you up and you fly feet dangling in the air, wind rushing through you hair . It's so real you think your feet are going to get wet or brush the tops of the trees (the mechanics are based on a kinnex set) it was fantastic...I even saw Nate smile!...5 stars.
We were hungry...so we headed outside the park to...wait for it...Maccas, yep it's the same worldwide except their regular is our large and you get to refill your drinks.
Back to our hotel to ring the free shuttle from shoe express ( thanks Alison for that advise) and for something completely different...shoe shopping, Greg is a far more committed shopper than I am, he wins again!
A very quiet afternoon and evening, ready for the Warner Bros tour tomorrow.
Day 10 - Nate's Birthday...Warner Bros VIP Tour
HollywoodTuesday, 31 January 2012
WOW what a day. First off a big Happy Birthday to our son Nat...16...he doesn't like a lot of attention focused on him nor is he a talkative chap, but he has a quiet strength about him that attracts strangers to him, and he makes me proud.
We booked a tour today with the Anaheim Tour Company ( anybody wanting to do tours from Anaheim remember that name!) the owner Tom was our driver today, it was just our family in a very comfortable Toyota 7 seater with electronic everything and Tom was such a attentive host, nothing was too much of a problem...well we didn't ask for anything out of the ordinary anyway..that's just not our way.
Tom knew it was Nates birthday as I had mentioned it in an e-mail so he got to sit in the front to start off with...our first part of the tour was driving through Beverly Hills and being shown various stars homes...we saw fences and gates and gardeners...a few houses and I did take photos of most of them but unfortunately I didn't write them down at the time and I've forgotten which house Marilyn Monroe lived in and which used to be Jimmy Stewarts house, or the house Michael Jackson died in...I can remember the bronze statues outside of Bill Cosbys house of children climbing fences and bums sleeping on benches and gardeners clipping hedges...but I didn't take a photo of that one so that just stays in my head.
We then stopped in Rodeo dr for a walk by of the shops I would need to get a bank loan just to walk in to, Nate had a photo with a Bugatti and we had a photo under the Rodeo dr street sign. We also went to the hotel where Julia Roberts stayed in Beverly Hills..the Wiltshire ...we used their amenities ( nice by the way, towels in wipe your hands and lotion to use as well) had a discreet photo in the lobby and hopped back in the car to head to Greystone Manor, a house and grounds owned by the Beverly Hills council and used in quite a number of movies ( as is everything in LA I guess) the house was amazing but I guess it says a lot about us in that we found the turtles trying to get on the rocks in the pond more interesting than the mansion.
Next we drove through west Hollywood and stopped at Carneys a hot dog stand that has fantastic chilli and sweet potato fries, Tom had organized a surprise for Nat and we all sang happy birthday when his burger came out with candles! Lunch was yum although not the healthiest!!
Back in the car and off to the Kodak theatre...30 mins there was enough it was like being back in Vegas...NO I don't want a tour...not I don't want that free CD, it was fun seeing how tiny stars shoe sizes are though and walking up the stairs where the academy awards are held...and seeing the Hollywood sign in the distance...That's not a good view says Tom...just wait I'll show you a good view!....and he did!
We drove off to head up to the hills...the Hollywood hills...Hollywoodland as the suburb is known, just above Lake Hollywood just past the dog park is a stretch of road that offers a fantastic view of the Hollywood sign...hop out take the obligatory photo then back in the car.
We then head to the main reason for the day...the Warner Bros VIP studio tour...another WOW for that one...behind the scenes look at movie making and sets, you get to hop off the cart and walk around the backlot sets , we got to see the mentalist set and the preserved set of central perk from friends...and shhh we got to sit on the couch!
Taylor was our tour guide and she was pleasant and funny and apparently we reminded her of her family as she is from a tall family too, I really liked the way she took ownership of the studio, when she explained things about the history she always said "our" or "we" and I think when you take ownership you are proud of what you do.
It's an amazing complex and to think of the amount of people it employs.....
Part of the tour is the museum and prop house where we got to be sorted by the sorting hat from Harry Potter...I'm officially Griffindor and Bella is Hufflepuff.
Again there were so many things we learnt about but I have forgotten a lot...information about which shows were filmed on which backlot and what stars worked where...and stuff like if a scene needs a winter tree and it's spring someone is employed to pull every last leaf off...or conversely if it needs to look like spring, leaves and flowers are zip tied on.
Nearing the end of our tour, Tom takes us to a couple of other hotels the Biltmore, home of the academy's in the 40's and the Westin where True Lies shot some scenes in the elevators...always parking just where he wants and discreetly handing over a fiver to the bell boy before we head on in to the hotel.
Back into the car for the hour trip home and being dropped at the Cheese Cake Factory for Nat's birthday dinner. Thanks Tom for making this day fantastic.
Cheese cake factory is portrayed on Big Bang Theory as a cheap and cheerful restaurant...the one in Anaheim looks a little fancier and it was hard to decide from the 200 or so items on the menu...Chicken Bellagio for me ( crumbed chicken on pasta with a basil cream sauce...mmm) Mexican for Greg , surprisingly a burger for Nat and calamari for Bella...yum yum all round and the pineapple mojito was tasty too !
All in all a wonderful day and next time we are in Anaheim we are going on the OC tour of all the beaches...or maybe the Desert Hills shopping tour...or maybe we'll just book all of them.
Day 11 - Disney California Adventure
DisneylandWednesday, 1 February 2012
It's great staying at a hotel close to the Disneyland parks...they open at 10 and we are a 10 minute walk away so that means we don't have to wake up too early. The hotel we are at provides a basic free breakfast so we can go up before or after a shower and take our time...no rushing and we just wake up when we wake up...it's usually fairly early because we are exhausted from the day before and we go to bed early...I can recommend Desert Palms Hotel and Suites to any family coming to Disneyland, great area with a 7/11 next door a subway and burger joint across the street, just down the road from Anaheim garden walk and a combination of rooms to suit any family configuration....anyway they are not paying me for promoting them so enough of that.
We decided today that we needed to explore DCA ( Disney California Adventure) we went of Soaring over California a few days ago so we didn't worry about that today we were heading straight to the Tower of Terror....ooooh are you scared? The thing I admire and love about Disney is the attention to detail the imagineers put into the ride and the area surrounding it. The uniform that the cast members wear is always appropriate to the ride, the staging of the waiting area is equal to the prop department of Warner bros and the holding areas a mass of detail that start the brain anticipating the ride ahead...the story of the tower of terror in a nutshell is a haunted elevator shaft...you line up...go in...get strapped in...doors close...and start screaming...well almost, as Greg says if it's going up it usually has to come down and this one when you come down you feel as if your diet has been working overtime as you feel weightless...5 stars
Then to the paradise pier area..we walk through a Bugs land from the movie A Bugs Life but this is obviously an area for little kids so we skip it. The pier area is set in the Monterey area of California and it has a very carnival type feel, we head over to the roller coaster California screaming, as we line up a sign say " make sure you smile as you scream...we take a photo" the line is short...yay we always like that! On we get and lower the shoulder belt you see the great big first hill in front of you and you think you have a bit of time to get used to the climb...wrong...it propels you forward at great speed, up the hill and down around , spirals, loop de loop , bumps and twists and turns...absolutely fantastic and heaps of fun 5 1/2 stars out of 5!
Then we hop on Toy Story Mania, another shoot 'em up arcade type game that you are transported through a giant video game...fun 4 stars.
Greg and Bella then go on the carnival wheel...not so tame as a ferris wheel and I have seen YouTube video of people on it so there was really no way I wanted to feel that scared...so Nate and I just waited...yep they thought it was scary and Bella agreed that is was probably best I didn't go on.
Then on to Goofys sky school...a bit of fun on a zippy spirally coaster 3 stars.
We were hungry so we went into the eating area, I found some Chicken and vegetable Thai coconut curry that was yummy...but no one found anything to eat in that area...oh well lucky me, to bad so sad I was happy!
As we walked through the rest of DCA we thought that is was mainly geared to the younger children so after enduring a few more rides that were a little young we headed to the Grand Californian hotel and on to Downtown Disney. A collection of shops and restaurants , Bella wanted to get her Disney presents today so we went to the biggest Disney store I have ever seen....a fair amount of money later and we hop on the monorail for an easy trip back to Disneyland...we quickly went on Nemo (2stars) Indiana Jones again, but today it was only a 3/12 star ride then onto Big Thunder Railroad which I loved 20 years ago and still loved today...woo hoo 5 stars.
We start to head home via the iHop (international house of pancakes) for dinner. Good service good food we all ate everything on our plates but all agree that The Cheesecake Factory would be our choice for a restaurant chain to come to Australia.
A bit sad and a bit glad that tomorrow is our last day, two weeks has been the perfect amount of time to have away this time around and we feel we have done and bought what we have wanted to.
Day 12 - Last Day :(....Disneyland
DisneylandThursday, 2 February 2012
A strange day today...I think we are all tired in our bodies and of one another.
We started the day again with our free breakfast, then the walk to Disney.
By this time we had actually done the rides we wanted to do so we were all asking one another what we wanted to do...Bella had been holding off on the haunted mansion but finally without a long line to contend with we thought we would head straight there only to find it hadn't opened yet...phooey...so we though we would get the train around Disneyland and come back, just as the train was pulling on the haunted mansion opened so we skipped the line and went in to be spooked...Disney style. We were on the first ride of the day...no lines no waiting. I knew Bella really didn't want to be on it and she found my hand to hold very quickly, I noticed Nat standing very close to me too be very cool about it. It was definitely not as scary as the haunted house in Kyoto and Bella soon relaxed and saw the humor to it...she has a long list of movies she wants to see after this holiday, and she added The Haunted House with Eddie Murphy to it...3 stars
Then to a ride around the park on the train...a good chance just to people watch.
We got off in Toon Town and had the idea to go and see Minnie in her house...line was too long so we missed out on Minnie, or should I say SHE missed out on us!
We decided to go through fantasyland and Bella felt sorry for me so she came on the tea cup ride with me...thanks Bella. Not a thrill ride but a classic none the less 4 stars for nostalgia alone.
We are walking aimlessly around fantasyland and at the front of the castle wee see a Disney photographer, a great thing about any of the photos taken on the photo pass is you can view them online...order a CD of the photos or just get a few printed out, it's also a good way of getting photos of all the family. Greg wanted me to get the photo I really wanted and the photographer was really good about it and did a few different poses.
We then head to adventure land where Nate spotted and element sweater at a good price..he wins today's shopping challenge.
No line at Pirates mean we basically walk right on in...yay. There is always something to look at on pirates, the detail is fabulous.
We decided to ten go over to DCA and ride Californian Screaming again and this time we thought to get a fast pass, we had to wait 40 mins until our ride so we go on Goofys sky school, the symphony of swings...twice, a ride on the non swing fun wheel, because I'm chicken, a look through the shops and then it's time...head on in to the first pass area and basically walk straight on to the ride, you feel a bit guilty walking past all the people in the stand by line...but hey the fast pass system is open to all.
I love that roller coaster it's a long ride and your heart gets the adrenaline it needs to put a kick in your step...as soon as we get off Bella and I get another fast pass to ride it again. By this time Greg wants to go back to the hotel and have a sleep before getting on the plane tonight...Bella and I take this opportunity to have photos with different Characters and go on some rides before we ease on into the fast pass line again for California Screaming....woo hoo
We decide to head back to the hotel via the Tower of Terror ride...this time it was Bella's turn to hold my hand! Made it back safe and sound to the hotel in time to have something to eat with Greg and Nate.
Bye bye Disneyland see you again sometime!
We book a private transfer to LAX which meant that we had to get two town cars...mainly because of the luggage (2 bags each) Nate and I had the first car...driven by a friendly Indian chap who didn't have a clue where to drop us...so as we left 10 minutes before Bella and Greg we were left at the wrong terminal and Greg had to come and find us...luckily the two terminals were next to one another so it wasn't too much of a run, and the lovely qantas lady looked after Bella and their luggage till we got back...well if that's the only piece of drama on our holidays we've done quite well!
Ticket check...bag check...person check and through to wait the two hours at our gate.
Airports are funny things...the organization involved in getting people to and from is staggering but I have to say LAX is running to try and keep up with the volume of people going through the gates...it desperately needs an upgrade.
The flight home was definitely not as good as the flight there...older plane and I hate to go against my own kind...but I really do prefer male flight stewards...they mask their crankiness better and seem to go out of their way to make your flight better...the sour puss broad we had on the flight back certainly did nothing to dispel my opinion. Bella was travel sick...as was I but we did manage to sleep a lot of the flight...off and on, in between sick bag interludes...charming I know!
I do have to admit though, as Dorothy says...there's no place like home...there's no place like home!
Sent from my iPad by My Vacation HD app (www.myvacationapp.com)
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