Day 7-
Up at 6.30am this morning, in order to get down to breakfast while it is quiet as advised by the Hilton. The hotel is Full of small children & families, somewhat expected in this area with Disneyland just down the road. The breakfast was bluck, have to say which is a disappointment as many of the Hiltons are good (although the one in Papeete, Tahiti wass really bad!). But no biggee really as we are only here 2 nights.
We walked next door to the giant parking lot and caught one of the shuttle buses up to Disneyland. We are doing this park today and California Adventure park next door tomorrow. No big queues really at 8am surprsingly - dont take a selfie stick if you go btw- saw a family lose their very flash one as they are not permitted in the park.
We wandered around getting our bearings as this place is Huge. It is all themed and the streets are a wonderful looking-glass into the fantasy land Walt Disney wanted it to be and remain as. It is certainly a park for families with young kids, not at all like universal studios which is a lot more action packed with its rides. The rides at Disney are very sedate and suit probably the 7-13 yr old age group the best.... tall UIKeyInputDownArrenough to be able to go on the rides & not terrified of the dark or sudden frights. But there are adults of all ages here too (most wearing mickey mouse ears) and it is easy to enjoy this place and the delight you see on all the faces, as well as ours!
The sign as you enter Disneyland
Enjoyed the Indiana Jones rides & Splash Mountain was heaps of fun & very, very wet in the first 3 rows we found!! Haha. By then it was getting pretty hot though so it was a welcome relief but Graeme especially was completely soaked! It is yet again another clear blue sunny day, although it got super hot as the day wore on and waiting in line in the sun was taking its toll on everyone.
At disneyland, you cant buy the express passes to go through first, they have an fastpass system where you go and take a ticket which tells you when to come back for your ride and when you do, you go through quicker. A lot of the rides here are interactive in the waiting line and you move along pretty well. The wait times got to an hour in the afternoon, so we wandered through the streets & stores where it was cooler instead.
Once we got back to the hotel we decided to wander down the road for dinner and tried a taco bell. Was ok but pretty sloppy and not as good as the ones you make back home! Graeme tried all the chillie sauces and yes the black one was hot!
Diablo- the hottest!
aH- YEP!Day 8
We were through breakfast and out the door by 8 am this morning. Graeme said he notices that everything in the hotels, food and drink-wise are all cooked and starchy- waffles etc and the fizzy and juices are so incredibly sweet. The fizzy drinks come in 590ml sizes, basically everything is super sized so you have to watch it a bit or you will grow in size too!! At the theme parks, the food is mostly deep fried & there is a lot of young obesity in the touristy places at least - many using mobility scooters around the parks. It is a lot of walking though, think we did 15,500steps in 1 day!
It wasn’t so hot and humid today thankfully, was about 27C but not sticky like yesterday at Disneyland. Funny thing is – a whole summer wearing jandals in Australia and no jandal suntan, but after a week in California all 3 of us have them lol!
California adventure park next door to Disneyland has more of the thrill rides and Danni was hanging out for a good roller coaster, so we went to the back of the park first where the wait was only 5 mins. Yeehah that was sh*t your pants material! It was awesome. Quite a decent length and a full loop in the middle. Got off, lined up again and went around a 2nd time, this time not so much screaming as our throats were sore haha! Later there were ridiculous wait times, so we were glad we had done it first.
Wandered around for a few hours and went on a couple more rides. There was one about aviation that was amazing. Dad you would have LOVED it. You sat in rows of seats with your feet dangling in front of a huge curved screen. They start a movie of travelling around the world showing the wonders of the world while they lift you up high, so you actually feel like you are flying free. They also have vents which they blow different scents through – like warm grass and dirt as you fly over wild elephants in Africa and frangipani flower scent as you skim the ocean over Fiji. Would have done the ride over and over if the queues hadnt been long as that is the closest you could get to the sensation of gliding with nothing holding you up!
Day 7
We were through breakfast and out the door by 8 am this morning. Graeme said he notices that everything in the hotels, food and drink-wise are all cooked and starchy- waffles etc and the fizzy and juices are so incredibly sweet. The fizzy drinks come in 590ml sizes, basically everything is super sized so you have to watch it a bit or you will grow in size too!! At the theme parks, the food is mostly deep fried & there is a lot of young obesity in the touristy places at least - many using mobility scooters around the parks. It is a lot of walking though, think we did 15,500steps in 1 day!
It wasn’t so hot and humid today thankfully, was about 27C but not sticky like yesterday at Disneyland. Funny thing is – a whole summer wearing jandals in Australia and no jandal suntan, but after a week in California all 3 of us have them lol.
Wandered around for a few hours and went on a couple more rides. There was one about aviation that was amazing. Dad you would have LOVED it. You sat in rows of seats with your feet dangling in front of a huge curved screen. They start a movie of travelling around the world showing the wonders of the world while they lift you up high, so you actually feel like you are flying free. They also have vents which they blow different scents through – like warm grass and dirt as you fly over wild elephants in Africa and frangipani flower scent as you skim the ocean over Fiji. Would have done the ride over and over if the queues hadnt been long as that is the closest you could get to the sensation of gliding with nothing holding you up!
Wandered round through the shops and bought a few things – they think of Everything theme wise!! Then we caught the shuttle back to the hotel and got the transfer we had arranged with the Hilton hotel to the Wingate by Wyndham hotel at LAX. We planned to take Danni to the airport as she flies home to Melbourne tonight at 10.15pm.
Checked-in and Danni had a shower and we had some quiet time, then we got dinner in and caught the hotel shuttle to LAX and got her all checked in. She is on the top deck of the plane which is good as a lot less people and only a small economy section up there. Definitely worth paying a little extra for a 15 ¾ hr flight. We had a drink in the planet hollywood bar, although they wouldn’t serve danni alcohol, even with us there, so she got an old fashioned lemonade! Then she went through…. goodbyes are hard especially when your children are flying alone but as a travel mad kid, its good experience and she was fine.
We went back to the hotel and to bed. This hotel is interesting, it looks a bit tired around the edges but the room was big, the bed extremely comfy and it had double glazing. We were all disappointed with the Homewood by Hilton we stayed at in Anaheim- staff were great but there was no sound proofing and Dannis first bed had springs sticking through it! We moved after the 1st night though and the 2nd room was better. The Hilton did offer however a free drinks and limited buffet type meal Mon to Thurs also free, which was wonderful especially for those with young kids.
We were through breakfast and out the door by 8 am this morning. Graeme said he notices that everything in the hotels, food and drink-wise are all cooked and starchy- waffles etc and the fizzy and juices are so incredibly sweet. The fizzy drinks come in 590ml sizes, basically everything is super sized so you have to watch it a bit or you will grow in size too!! At the theme parks, the food is mostly deep fried & there is a lot of young obesity in the touristy places at least - many using mobility scooters around the parks. It is a lot of walking though, think we did 15,500steps in 1 day!
It wasn’t so hot and humid today thankfully, was about 27C but not sticky like yesterday at Disneyland. Funny thing is – a whole summer wearing jandals in Australia and no jandal suntan, but after a week in California all 3 of us have them lol.
California adventure park next door to Disneyland has more of the thrill rides and Danni was hanging out for a good roller coaster, so we went to the back of the park first where the wait was only 5 mins. Yeehah that was sh*t your pants material! It was awesome. Quite a decent length and a full loop in the middle. Got off, lined up again and went around a 2nd time, this time not so much screaming as our throats were sore haha! Later there were ridiculous wait times, so we were glad we had done it first.
Wandered around for a few hours and went on a couple more rides. There was one about aviation that was amazing. Dad you would have LOVED it. You sat in rows of seats with your feet dangling in front of a huge curved screen. They start a movie of travelling around the world showing the wonders of the world while they lift you up high, so you actually feel like you are flying free. They also have vents which they blow different scents through – like warm grass and dirt as you fly over wild elephants in Africa and frangipani flower scent as you skim the ocean over Fiji. Would have done the ride over and over if the queues hadnt been long as that is the closest you could get to the sensation of gliding with nothing holding you up!
Wandered round through the shops and bought a few things – they think of Everything theme wise!! Then we caught the shuttle back to the hotel and got the transfer we had arranged with the Hilton hotel to the Wingate by Wyndham hotel at LAX. We planned to take Danni to the airport as she flies home to Melbourne tonight at 10.15pm.
Checked-in and Danni had a shower and we had some quiet time, then we got dinner in and caught the hotel shuttle to LAX and got her all checked in. She is on the top deck of the plane which is good as a lot less people and only a small economy section up there. Definitely worth paying a little extra for a 15 ¾ hr flight. We had a drink in the planet hollywood bar, although they wouldn’t serve danni alcohol, even with us there, so she got an old fashioned lemonade! Then she went through…. goodbyes are hard especially when your children are flying alone but as a travel mad kid, its good experience and she was fine.
We went back to the hotel and to bed. This hotel is interesting, it looks a bit tired around the edges but the room was big, the bed extremely comfy and it had double glazing. We were all disappointed with the Homewood by Hilton we stayed at in Anaheim- staff were great but there was no sound proofing and Dannis first bed had springs sticking through it! We moved after the 1st night though and the 2nd room was better. The Hilton did offer however a free drinks and limited buffet type meal Mon to Thurs also free, which was wonderful especially for those with young kids.
2 comments:
Sounds like Disneyland is a mix of their old and new features. Some are icons. I am sitting at your dining table typing this. A foggy morning with a bit of light rain. My flight was on time last night and all went very well.
Disneyland sounds like a mix of old and new features - some are very enduring and real icons.
Danni couldn't keep away from Melbourne Airport and was back there again last night with Poppa to pick me up. We stopped off at a Servo on the way home so Dad & Danni could have a McDonald's for tea. I had eaten on the plane, although a bit disappointed with the meal as it wasn't great, and everything was very cold. However the flight was on time and I whizzed through immigration etc. Only downside were extremely pushy and rude Chinese men (older business types) shoving and pushing at the baggage claim carousel. After getting shoulder-shoved for the 4th time I shoved back! There was a nice Australian lady next to me and she was telling them in no uncertain terms to get back behind the yellow line. I told one to stop shoving but he didn't understand Engrish & I sure didn't know what he replied!! Can imagine though! On the upside, one young Chinese guy helped get my suitcase off the carousel and was very courteous. Nice.
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