Week 4 (19–24 Dec) Disneyland, Universal
Studios & LA
We got the red eye to Disneyland which was
great as it saved a night’s accommodation.
Of course arriving in LAX at 5.20am with little to no sleep and a day
ahead of us at Disneyland wasn’t something I’d want to do everyday. By 7am the Disney Express pulled in. It
happened to be a guy and a white minivan with a dodgy sticker on the side and
not the Disney character adorned bus we’d been expecting but having waited 90
minutes we were just happy to be on our way.
We stayed on site at the Grand California Hotel because we had a 3 day
ticket and only 2 night’s accommodation so needed to be close to the action.
Wow what a grand hotel it is with an amazing lobby a bit like a ski resort but
due to the season adorned with these amazing Christmas decorations, tree and
santa (see photo). I just loved it. I just wish the staff were a bit more
attentive as they left us to struggle with our backpacks which really wasn’t
cool. In fact I’ve found that a
lot. It seems that if you wheel your
luggage into a hotel, the porters rush to your aid, but when you carry it on
your back they’ll happily rest back and watch.
Maybe porters are going soft as well as the rest of us! This aside, I highly recommend the hotel if you can
afford the extra per night as I think it is the most expensive of the 3 on-site
hotels at around $400 per night. Get a
room overlooking the California Adventure Park (one of the two parks at Disney)
as you get a great view of the park with a massive Mickey Mouse ferris wheel in
full sight and it’s really quiet at night.
We stayed in 4322 which had a great location. The Grand California is also very easy to
access both Disneyland, the California Adventure Park and Downtown Disney
(which is a bit like a pedestrianized street filled with restaurants and shops). There’s not much to add to this blog about
Disney that most people won’t know, but those newbies (like me) you must go on
the following rides: California
Adventure Park – Hollywood Tower of Terror,
Screama, Sourin and Ariel and Disneyland: Spacemountain, Star Tours and
Indiana Jones. I’m sure there are others
but we didn’t get to all of them as we co-ordinated our trip with the park’s
busiest days. We get on these one though
and they were great, especially the Hollywood Tower of Terror, Sourin and
Screama. Make good use of the FastPass
system as it can almost double the amount of popular rides you can do if you
plan it well. Also if you get a ticket
to Mickey’s Toowntown Madness you must go.
Middle and Little A both loved it and went crazy to meet Mickey, Minnie,
Donald, Goofey and Pluto in their homes.
It really was a lovely morning and if you have a special ticket you get
in before the crowds – which was nice.
We didn’t really savour the restaurants in
Disney as we just ate when we were hungry however whatever it is, if it’s busy,
expect to wait in line for a table – even when there are plenty of vacant
tables inside. The American’s it’s fair
to say LOVE to form a line and seem more than happy to wait 5 to 15 minutes to
be seated in a restaurant that’s almost empty rather than be taken to the table
straight away. We don’t get it.
We left Disney on the 22nd and
hired a car to drive to LA. We stayed at
the Best Western Sunset Plaza on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood in room 119 which
opened up onto a lovely pool and grecian themed courtyard. The front of the hotel was covered with
follage and it really is one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed at for the price
($220 p/n). We stayed on “the strip”
however everything felt a long way away – too far to walk with a couple of
princesses anyway. We drove to Universal
Studios and had a great day there although I’m sure it’s because we didn’t try
to fill the day. If you go you must do
the Studio Tour and go on the Simpson’s ride and House of Horrors (even our
extremely brave Middle A who has been on the Claw and Buzzsaw at Dreamworld,
and loved them, was terrified). We
didn’t do much else as I think we were theme parked out but there was plenty to
do and we all even got to play in the snow in Whoville with the Whos and get a
quick photo with Spongebob Squarepants.
On our way back to the hotel we drove down
Hollywood Boulevard and past the Kodac and Grauman’s Chinese Theatres and
Hollywood Walk of Fame. As an avid
watcher of the Oscars it was cool to see where all the action is broadcast
from. It’s funny as while we were in
Disney we asked a local from LA what was good to see in LA, she said “nothing”
and I asked her if she’d ever seen a celebrity and she said “no”. Having driven around for only 2 days I can
honestly say that I see what made her so negative about her home town. LA in general is an ugly city. It seems that the glitz and glamour is really
reserved for small pockets of the massive sprawling town and even around
Hollywood Boulevard the roads, buildings and landscape have been severely
neglected. We even drove past Chateu
Marmont (where I nearly booked us to stay as it is such an icon) and from the
street line it did not nearly match it’s reputation.
That evening we headed to The Grove to the
My American Girl shop and Farmer’s Markets.
The Grove at Christmas time was just spectacular with the a huge tree at
the entrance and all the trees covered in fairy lights. It was so magical and beautiful to walk
amongst.
Big A will cover off his experience of the
My American Girl shop but for me (apart from the challenge of how on earth we
are going to carry these things) it was wonderful seeing the girls finally get
to choose their dolls, get their ears pierced and pick out a special outfit for
them. Anyone who has “invested” in the
Baby Born dolls knows the kind of $$ these “special” toys command and the My
American Girl is no different . They
even have a hospital and grooming section where you can pay up to $20 to have
your doll’s hair styled or cut. But you
can acutally choose a doll “just like you” which makes them very special and
Middle A and Little A are both overjoyed by their new little babies.
We put them away for Christmas as the girls
bought them with the money they got from their grandparents so at least they’ll
have something to look forward to on Christmas day.
The Farmer’s Market was a great surprise as
I wasn’t sure it would be open. It is an
open air food court with fantastic food from oysters to ribs. There is also a butcher and deli there which
would be great if you were staying longer in a self catering apartment. We had the BBQ chicken and ribs which cost
around $22 for two meals and more than enough for 4 of us. It was just nice to feel like you were part
of the local community and not in an overglossy tourist area for a change.
The next day we had to head to Vegas and
decided not to go down Rodeo drive in case we got caught in traffic (we already
had a 4.5 hour drive ahead of us). On
the way down Sunset Boulevard we saw the Hollywood sign and stopped to take a
photo. The chance sighting was kind of
cool and for me a bit like every time I drove past Buckingham Palace when I
lived in London (something I never took for granted). Turning onto the I – 101 South we were on our
way Barstow/Las Vegas.
Big A’s perspective:
Having lived in Orange County for a number
of years back in the early 90’s I wasn’t overly looking forward to returning to
California. However, the girls (all 3) were so excited about visiting
Disneyland and although I don’t particularly enjoy vomit-inducing theme park
rides I took to Disneyland with them with added gusto.
For me Disneyland is sooo
American…everything is bigger and better in America…and I genuinely thought
Disneyland was exceptional. The attention to detail is amazing. The buildings
and rides are just wonderful.
Nothing is left to chance…they tell you
where to line up, where to stand and they have more disclaimers than an ad for
Viagra!
And speaking of lining up…wow…you line up
for everything…the ‘fastpass’ is a must but it stressed me out…I was constantly
thinking about the ways I could avoid the ‘standby’ lines and fastpass those
rides we wanted to do to ensure we minimized the wait times…it meant rushing
from one fastpass ‘distributor’ to the next and one ride to the next for the
whole day!
Somehow the girls managed to get me on the
Space Mountain and Tower of terror and whilst these rides do not compare to
those at Dreamworld they were enough to ensure I didn’t feel hungry for the
rest of the day after having to swallow my own vomit!
The evening World of Colours was
extraordinary…wow.
The Grand Californian was great…my ratings
: room – good size 7.5/10, price – expensive 4.5/10, location – perfect 10/10,
facilities – great 9/10…so overall about 8/10.
We hired a car for the trip to LA having
paid $80 for the trip from LAX. Given we had to get to Vegas and wanted to tour
LA it worked out at least $200 cheaper than mini buses and doing the tours etc.
However, it is quite intimidating driving
in peak hour in LA in the dark without a GPS…so after just over 90 minutes we
had managed to travel about 35 miles…suffice it to say the kids were not happy!
The Best Western Sunset Plaza was a welcome
surprise after the awful Best Western Waikiki even if finding the car park was
an exercise in frustration.
My ratings are: room – good size 8/10,
price – not the cheapest 6/10, location – pretty good 8.5/10, facilities –
decent breakfast, nice pool area (not that we used it)- but crap internet AGAIN
8.5/10…so overall about 8/10.
Universal Studios has changed a bit since I
was last there….about $80/person and $15 parking and less focused on the studio
and more on the rides. The studio tour was still interesting and the rides were
pretty good……but life in California is about lining up…so be prepared to wait…a
long time! I endured the Simpsons ride with my eyes closed to avoid a repeat of
the Disneyland experience….judging from the screams of the people around me and
the agonising groans from the dad behind me I made the right call. I did open
my eyes 3 times on the ride and each time shut them just in time to avoid
embarrassing myself and my kids…awful!
The House Of Horrors was a win for
Daddy…somehow I managed to escape any of the antics the other 3 were subjected
to …ha….the other 3 were scared, especially middle A (who just happens to be
the bravest rider I know).
We headed back to Sunset via Hollywood Blvd
where every serious crackpot should aim to perform……it didn’t disappoint.
We decided to ‘hit the town’ that evening
and caught a cab to The Grove. The lights and stores were just beautiful…very
Christmassy.
And for any Dad wanting to waste 2 hours of
their lives is a dolls shop for people with to much money and no life…go to the
American Girl store at the Grove. Why did we spend a fortune on a 18inch doll
for each of the kids when we are travelling around the world with our packs on
our backs?....read the Child Bride’s comments and you might find out….I have no
idea and the whole excursion was the most frustrating part of the trip so far
and made me question what we were doing….dedicating a huge department
store-sized shop to a bloody doll offended me!
Still smarting over the doll purchase we
headed to the Farmers Market….lively, bright, good food and drink….this was
great and provided some respite.
The next day we headed off to Vegas…as it
was Xmas and we had been told the traffic would be horrendous we decided not to
venture to Rodeo Drive first…..although we did stop off to view and take photos
of the famed Hollywood sign.
LA is not on my shortlist of places to go
back to….maybe because I’d lived there…maybe not…..I just don’t see the value
in wasting your life in lines…you just can’t seem to avoid them wherever you
go!
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