I think we’ve learnt a few things…. we’ve learn’t that we need to organise our own transportation with so many people and so much luggage. So before leaving San Francisco, I booked a Super Shuttle Blue Van to pick us up and take us all the way to Anaheim. Anaheim which is where Disneyland is….is quite a distance from LA…40 miles…or about an hour away. Everything goes smoothly…the weather is beautiful…the shuttle is on time….our luggage fits….we’re comfortably seated and get to our motel safely. We’re staying at the Islander Inn which is a 10 min walk to Disneyland….there are lots of food places to choose from, we’re walking distance to 7-11 and another small supermarket….which is really important to us…because since leaving Australia, we’ve been drinking bottled water. And for 6 people….that’s a lot of water we go through.Our motel room is spacious…..which is great because we’re here for a week. The two older boys share a bedroom which has two double beds. DH, Jeromel, MIL and myself share the other bedroom which has two queen sized beds. We have a microwave, fridge, coffee maker, small dining table & chairs and a desk. Certainly not luxurious, but it’s clean and comfy and the staff at the motel are sooo nice. There’s also a pool…but it’s just too cool for us to swim. For our first day, we did nothing…we caught up on sleep, we relaxed, we did laundry (lol), we ordered food in, and we did research on what we wanted to do while in LA and DH made some phone calls to track down his cousin and an old friend. Doing research, the reality of our location dawned on us…..while we are in Anaheim which is nice and close to Disneyland….we’re actually very far from other LA sights that we want to see….so transportation again becomes an issue…..an hour taxi ride will be very expensive and not many taxis seat 6 people!! So I was ecstatic to find that this particular tour company does free pick ups from the Anaheim area and their tour starts in Santa Monica…another place to tick off our list!!We pick their most popular tour….tour # 7 Los Angeles Grand Tour & Movie Stars’ Homes!! It took us to Hollywood, Beverley Hills, Brentwood, Beverley Hilton, Movie Stars’ homes along the way, Sunset Strip, Mullholland Drive (where the big Hollywood sign on the hill is), LA Beaches, Mann’s chinese theatre (handprint and footprints of stars), Walk of Fame (stars on the pavement), Kodak theatre (home of the oscars), Universal city walk, Olvera Street, Chinatown and the famous Rodeo Drive. It was a really long tour….about 8 hours…and with the travel time to anaheim….it was late evening by the time we got back. Utterly exhausted but totally fantastic…camera sure worked overtime!!! And it was such fabulous value….$61 for each adult and $51 for Jeromel!!
Two days later, we booked for this tour company to take us to Universal Studios. If we made our own way there…we would have to pay a cab fare to and from Anaheim..and pay $99 at the gate. With the tour company, they pick us up and take us there…give us our tickets and we enjoy our time there and then they pick us up and take us back to our hotel…all for $94 each adult. It was a bargain and oh my….we had an absolute ball there!! Jordan and Jarryd ditched us not long after we arrived…they wanted to go and do their rides first so we organised to meet up for lunch at a designated place. The rest of us started off by watching the Shrek 4D show which is absolutely hysterical….sooo funny….the chairs move…when Donkey sneezed….we got squirted with water too! We caught up with lots of characters and took lots of photos…stopped for a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (yummo) and went on a few small rides and before we knew it…lunchtime with the boys. After that….while heading down to the lower section of the park where the bigger rides and shows are…we managed to lose DH!! So Jeromel, MIL and I went on the Jurassic Park ride which was fabulous and we caught the special effects stage show and backdraft show (that one was hot and scary), animal actors show which was just hilarious and we finished off with the Waterworld show which is totally totally hilarious. They re-enact the movie and the audience gets splashed with water…it was totally fun and a great way to finish off the day. Poor Jarryd copped the water from the jet ski and his top half was totally drenched. They did announce before the show started that there were very wet zones, wet zones and dry zones. We chose to sit in the wet zone for some fun. People in the very wet zones copped heaps of water. There was a tour group from China who obviously didn’t understand that they might get wet and they complained so loudly when they got soaked and this poor old chinese man got his pants soaked…..totally looked like he peed his pants. HEHEHE
To catch up with Joseph’s cousin and friend, we had to hire a car to get there…so the night before…we made our way to an electronics store to buy a GPS system. That was top of Joseph’s to buy list while in the states….so armed with our GPS…we bravely booked a car. It’s not easy driving in the states…the steering wheel is on the left hand side of the car and the Americans drive on the right side of the road. It’s a lot to wrap one’s head around….very challenging for me. DH drove on the way there…and half way there ….we realised that while we have charged the GPS in the motel….we forgot to bring the car charger….oh yes…u know what happened don’t you??? The battery died ….oh yes it did….lol….there I was….navigating and relaying instructions to DH when it blinked low batt….then died. OMG…there is nothing worse than being on a very busy highway and then not knowing which way to go…we had to take the first exit and stopped at a restaurant and get the address and call Leo who came to our rescue. LOL…truly an experience we will never forget! We had a fabulous day with Leo and that night there was a fun little party at his house and we got to catch up with his cousin Gigi who was the best man at our wedding. Joseph brought a big bottle of Fundador which the men got stuck into which meant that I had to drive back. Luckily we managed to charge the GPS while at Leo’s house….so while we were right for directions…..a very nervous me had to drive back….very nerve wracking…but I got us back intact. Yay!!
L-R, Gigi and Susan Cui, Eddie Siacor, Leo Alegado, Rowena and Charito. Our last two days in Anaheim were spent at Disneyland. For those who haven’t been….Disneyland is just one park in Anaheim….there is also Disneyland California Park. For DH, Jeromel and myself, we bought a 2 day park hopper which means that we can go to both parks. MIL was a bit tired and feeling a bit under the weather…so she chose to rest one day. Jordan and Jarryd are really only interested in the big rides and not in meeting the Disney characters or seeing shows…so they opted to go on one day. Both parks are absolutely amazing and truly magical. Totally a dream come true for me to go to Disneyland….I could hardly believe that I was there…..so I was just like a little kid….totally enjoying the rides, ate fairy floss, enjoyed the fabulous Aladdin and High School Musical shows, was sooo excited when I got to meet Mickey Mouse. And the absolute best bit was the parade during the evening…..totally awesome and spectacular!!
Sharing a few….just a few photos from Disneyland
Got the magic feather to go on the Dumbo ride!!! This was so much fun. Jeromel controlled whether our dumbo would go up or down. He liked making it go up and down quickly….which his mother did not appreciate at all.
Finally get to Toontown where Mickey Mouse lives!!!
oooh….don’t let Goofy catch you doing that Jeromel!!!
Jedi Training Academy
The Parade of Dreams is absolutely fabulous…..it’s during the evening just before Disneyland closes and it’s very full on..the floats are just gorgeous, there is lots of dancing, music etc. They don’t just wave and go past on their floats….they dance, they entertain. We actually had a very good position and got some great pics!!
Then it was time for one dizzying ride for Jeromel and Jarryd before we had to leave Disneyland.
It was sad to leave Los Angeles…everyone had such a fabulous time there…..but the bright neon lights of Las Vegas were beckoning to us….so we packed up our bags and headed off on our next adventure!!
