California, Part 6

This is the last segment, seriously!

Tuesday, September 22nd

This was our last full day in California, and all we had planned is to go back to Disneyland. We got up early and drove back to Anaheim.

Parking at Disneyland is much different than at WDW, and by different, we mean worse. It took over 30 minutes for us to park, and it was probably a good hour before we were actually inside Disneyland.

Our first attraction of the day was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, one of our reasons for wanting to go to Disneyland in the first place!

It definitely is a classic, and it’s too bad they no longer have it at WDW. After Mr. Toad, we went on the Pinocchio ride and then went over to Adventureland for the Enchanted Tiki Room. From there, we headed to New Orleans Square for an awesome lunch at the Blue Bayou. Blue Bayou is this iconic restaurant inside of Pirates of the Caribbean. You sit at candlelit tables in the dark, with boats from the ride going past you through the swamp on one side, and a giant manor sits across the room. There are lanterns strung above your heads...you're inside, but feel like you're outside at night. It is a great atmosphere.

After lunch, we eventually got dessert at the Golden Horseshoe, and watched the show while we waited in the very long line.

Then we went over to Critter Country to ride Splash Mountain. And at Disneyland, it definitely lives up to its name! We were totally drenched, and weren’t very happy about it. After that, we rode the train over to Main Street and after looking in a few stores, parked ourselves in the sun to dry off. We got some delicious iced mochas from the bakery and then went over to Tomorrowland. We rode the Matterhorn again, and went on the Mad Tea Party, and then It’s a Small World.

Next, it was time for an undersea voyage with Nemo. It’s a cool attraction that replaced 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Our last ride of the night was Thunder Mountain. The line queue is all outside, making it a bit different from WDW.

The park was closing when we got off the ride, so we headed down Main Street and left Disneyland, but not without stopping at a few stores in Downtown Disney. Finally we got back to our car, and found a restaurant (Mimi’s Cafe) on Harbor Blvd. It was exactly what we needed, as we were ridiculously thirsty. After dinner we went back to our hotel and began packing. Our time in California was almost over!

Wednesday, September 23rd

We got up somewhat early and finished shoving everything into suitcases. We ended up with quite a bit of extra stuff, and I realized we would need to check an extra bag, boo!! Eventually we got it all situated and checked out of the Hyatt. I was determined to find a beach and stand in the Pacific Ocean before we left, so we headed west. We got a little lost on a small island that appears to be inhabited by millionaires. Eventually we found a beach/state park, but they wanted $15 for parking! Nevermind! So we drove south on PCH and finally found a little beach (in Laguna Beach) that had meters to park at. It was exactly what I wanted, with cliffs and rocks and whatnot. The opposite of a Florida beach! We walked down the stairs and made it onto the beach. It was very foggy, which I think made it even better!

We looked around for a bit, and I stood in the ocean - very cold!

The waves can get very big and their size changes rapidly. You can think you're standing in a safe spot, and then all of a sudden a wave is coming at you!

I was so happy we got to stop at a beach before our flight, but after 30 minutes or so, it was time for us to leave. We programmed the GPS and headed towards Ontario. We drove through Laguna Beach, which quickly turns from beautiful beach to arid desert! The drive to ONT took about an hour, and I was kind of surprised to see that it was kind of in the middle of nowhere, out in the desert! It was very hot, and we were very close to the mountains. We dropped off our Altima (easier than I thought it would be!) and boarded a shuttle that took us to the terminal. Ontario International Airport is TINY. We checked our bags on the first floor, and then the security checkpoint started at the bottom of the escalator. There's not much more to the airport than that, and I saw no shops or restaurants before we got through security. After we were securly in the terminal, we grabbed lunch at Friday's and then waited for our plane. It showed up a few minutes behind schedule, and we took off a few minutes late. It was an uneventful flight, minus the last few minutes where they asked if there was a nurse or doctor on board. Luckily, another woman volunteered her services before I had to. She ended up kneeling in the aisle during our landing, which really would have scared me. The person needing medical attention was taken off the plane in a wheelchair before anyone else was allowed to get off, which delayed us a few more minutes. We only had a 50 minute layover in Dallas, which made us a little nervous. By the time we got off the plane, our next flight was scheduled to leave in less than 30 minutes. Luckily we only had to walk a few minutes to get to our gate, so we had time to use the bathroom, but that's it. We quickly got in line and got on the plane - this one had wifi! It was a little bumpy at first, but it went quickly, and we landed in Tampa just after midnight. We were exhausted and glad to be home!

California, Part 5

Considering that a month ago, we were actually in California, I had better start wrapping things up! I'm about finished making my photo books, now I just need the money to have them printed! Anyway, it's time for part 5 of our trip report!

Monday, September 21st
So, we checked into our hotel (Hyatt Regency Newport Beach on Jamboree Road) late Sunday night, and finally had a chance to sleep in on Monday. It was a much needed respite! Around 1 or 2pm we left the hotel to go explore the LA area. We stopped at a large outdoor shopping complex (The District at Tustin Legacy) and had lunch at Red Brick Pizza. Then we made a very important stop at Best Buy for a new camera, as I absolutely could not stand the other one any longer. We also went to Whole Foods and Target. Once our errands were done, we headed west to the Pacific Coast Highway and then drove north towards LA.

We drove along the coast, past Huntington Beach. Eventually we got on the freeway to go to Hollywood.

Traffic wasn’t too bad considering it was rush hour, and we easily found the area thanks to our GPS. We drove up into the hills, and randomly followed a park ranger’s SUV, thinking he could be going somewhere good. It turned out to be a good decision, as he drove to a dog park situated right under the Hollywood sign.

After taking loads of pictures with our new camera, we left the hills and found Hollywood Blvd. Turns out there was a premier that night at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, so they had the red carpets out for the event!

We gawked for a bit, and then went into the Hollywood & Highland Center to find dinner. We found an interesting place called uWink, which had touchscreen monitors in the tables that you order everything from.

After dinner, we walked back to the car, stopping to gawk a bit more. Luckily, the premier was ending and we were able to catch a glimpse of John Hodgman.

So that was cool that we could see a celebrity, even though it was from across the street.

We left Hollywood after that, and drove through Beverly Hills and down Rodeo Drive.

The Beverly Wilshire - the setting for Pretty Woman!

After our tour down Rodeo Drive, we headed back to our hotel, which was much further away than we remembered leaving it! I think it took an hour or so to get back to Newport Beach, and that was with no traffic! We had a good time, even though we only had a few hours to do it in!

California, Part 4

Sunday, September 20th

We got up early to pack and got ready to hit the road. We had a good breakfast with Andra at the Sierra restaurant before we left, and then we were on our way back to civilization!

We had been planning on going to Disneyland for months, and so Ji and Yuliana bought their return tickets to leave from LAX. I had been thinking that their flight left at 8pm, so I figured we would drop them off around 4 or 5 and then Mark and I could go to DL for a few hours. Apparently there was some confusion as to what time their flight actually was supposed to leave, or it got changed, or something, but in the end apparently it was to leave at 11pm, and they wanted to go to DL too. So we left for LA earlier than originally planned, and they arranged for an airport shuttle to pick them up from the park. Unfortunately though, we got stuck in some traffic and didn't get to DL til 3:30, and the shuttle would pick them up at 8, so they decided it wouldn't be worth the ticket price to only go in for a few hours. So they went to Downtown Disney while Mark and I went to the park.

It gave us some real cognitive dissonance actually! Main Street looks very similar to WDW's Main Street, so at some times we would get the feeling we were in Florida!

All we had to do is look at the castle (Sleeping Beauty's house) and we would know that we were DEFINITELY not in Florida! The DL castle is much, much smaller than WDW's, but still very pretty.

Mark and I wandered around for a bit, somewhat in shock that we were actually at DISNEYLAND! Our first ride was the Matterhorn, something unique to DL! It was a lot of fun!

We got fastpasses for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin and then went on It's a Small World, which is about 10 times better than at WDW.

We went back to Roger Rabbit, and then went on the Alice in Wonderland ride.

I was sooo dehydrated by this point and felt terrible. LA is a desert. We headed back towards Main Street and had a quick dinner at the Carnation Cafe. Great baked potato soup! I drank about half a gallon of water/apple juice, and felt a lot better. We met Ji and Yuliana outside and went back to the car with them so they could get their stuff and meet the shuttle. It took the shuttle a while to figure out where we were, but eventually they got on board and made it to their plane on time.

Meanwhile, Mark and I went back in to DL. We went on Buzz Lightyear (better in FL) and made our way to Main Street to watch the fireworks. The show was called "Magical" and it was great! Dumbo flies around the castle, which is totally awesome. After the fireworks, we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, which is totally AMAZING. So much better than at WDW, and we spent a while trying to figure out why they would make it shorter when there is so much more space in FL. We're not sure.

We checked out most of the rest of the park, and tried to go on Splash Mountain, but it was shut down. We did the Winnie the Pooh ride, which had a really random ending, and then watched Fantasmic around the Rivers of America. I liked it more than the one at MGM. It was really cool!

After Fantasmic, we had time for one last ride on Pirates of the Caribbean. On the way out we stopped in a store that was about 75% Nightmare Before Christmas and 25% Haunted Mansion. Mark freaked out! The cashier said that Tim Burton had been in there a few weeks prior. Too bad we don't have a store like that in FL!

We made our way back to the car and drove to our hotel in Newport Beach. We were exhausted and ready for our "free day" on Monday!

Part 5 tomorrow!