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Old 5 Aug 19, 10:29 PM  
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#31
speedmum
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Sat 3 Aug- Day 8: LA

Today we were heading to LA. In theory this should only be about 2.5 hours drive but having heard how awful the LA traffic is we knew it would take longer!

We enjoyed our final breakfast at the Hyatt. The hotel had a very different feel this morning as it appeared to be full of conference goers and much busier. In hindsight it perhaps wasn’t the best hotel choice but we had managed to gey a bit of down time and relax.

We set off for LA and our first stop at The Grove shopping centre and farmers market. As expected the traffic was hideous and caused our first real fallout of the holiday whilst trying to navigate our way. The car satnav wasn’t always the most reliable but the phones couldn’t keep up with where we were... we did use the car pool lane for one stretch which definitely improved our time!
We eventually arrived at The Grove at about 1pm so almost 4 hours after leaving... This had been a specific request of the girls as apparently this is where the celebrities shop and it also had a Brandy Melville store which they wanted to go to! We didn’t spot any celebs but they did spend ages in the store whilst hubbie sat outside and people watched! Once they were satisfied they’d tried everything on and bought what they wanted we were all starving so headed into the Farmers Market for food! Here we were overwhelmed with choices and eventually settled on sharing a pizza & water between us before heading back to the car.

Next on the itinerary was the Beverley Wilshire hotel & Rodeo Drive to see where Pretty Woman was set. (I’d forced the girls to watch this when we booked the trip and they loved it in spite of its age!) Rodeo Drive was crazy busy and we crawled along in the car which meant we had plenty of time to see all the shops! At the end of Rodeo Drive we turned right and stopped at the Beverley Hills sign for a photo opportunity!
We were staying the night at the Loews Hollywood hotel so headed here next via a few of the Beverley Hills streets to admire the massive mansions, past the Beverley Hills hotel and along Sunset & Hollywood Boulevards.
We parked in the Hollywood & Highland shopping centre car park after reading a tip that parking is only $17 overnight here rather than $40 at the hotel!
We went to check in with just our handbags and then went back for the cases once we knew where we were going. It was actually very easy as there is an entrance to the hotel from the shopping centre just near the lifts! We had one room for the 4 of us with a view of the Hollywood sign (another sight ticked off the list! ) After dropping our cases we headed out to see the walk of fame, Chinese Theatre, handprints etc... it was chaos with tourists, street sellers and tour operators everywhere... I didn’t feel unsafe but it reminded me of central London in the middle of summer but without the english reserve! we walked the full length of Hollywood Boulevard and back. We popped into CVS for some drinks & snacks and then headed back to the room to freshen up for dinner. We’d pre-booked a table at the Hard Rock cafe for 8.15 and were pleaded we had because when we got there it was a 45min wait. We were obviously hungry as we demolished a starter of nachos! The girls then both had burgers and hubbie & I had chicken Caesar salad as I was craving something green!
We were finished just before 10 and headed back to the hotel to bed as it was a fairly early start for the Warner studio tour!

We all agreed our taste of Hollywood was sufficient!
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Old 5 Aug 19, 11:24 PM  
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#32
speedmum
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Sun 4 Aug - Day 9: Warner Studios & Disney

Today was a very exciting day (well for me & the girls - hubbie not so much!) first we were doing the Warner Bros studio tour and then we were off to Disneyland!

Our tour was booked for 9am and the information said to arrive 30mins early. In theory it was only a 15min drive from the Loews but we decided to allow at least 30mins to be safe! So the alarm got is up at 6.30am and we washed, dressed & repacked. The worst part of sharing a room is the amount of time it takes to get everyone ready in the morning! But eventually we were off via the hotel coffee shop for coffees and pastries to eat in the car! Not surprisingly the traffic on a Sunday morning was quiet and we got there with plenty of time to spare. We were given our tour cards (group G) and waited to be called. There were 14 in our group and our tour guide was pretty good. Am not sure he had the most knowledge when listening to some of the others but he was easy to listen to and not shouty! I was a bit nervous that doing a weekend tour would mean it lost some of the atmosphere of looking round but I’m not sure we could have seen much more! The girls were excited to see sets from PLL, the inside of the Gellers house from friends (used for the prom flashback if you are Friends fans!) we also got to go into the Ellen set and take photos. There was lots of Aquaman displays which we weren’t interested in but also lots of Harry Potter! The prop store was amazing! At the end we got to go through the permanent display of the Central Perk and Big Bang theory sets where you could have your photo taken. The Friends one were happy to take a photo with your own camera but Big Bang was only the official photos. Then there was a green screen where you could be videoed flying a broomstick in wizards robes or some Batman thing (I think!) weirdly the photo opportunity with the sorting hat was in the shop at the end and not an official photo... It was very unclear how much the photos and videos were to buy and we ended up spending about $100 dollars for everything including digital copies... however we all agreed it was a great morning!

Before leaving we shared a sandwich and cold drink in the central perk themed cafe. The girls insisted on keeping the plastic cups as souvenirs (although as I write this I’m not sure where they ended up!)

We finally left Burbank at about 12.15 and headed to Disney!

As this was likely to be our once in a lifetime trip to Disneyland we had splashed out and were staying 2 nights in the Grand Californian hotel with 3 day park hopper & maxpass...
Clearly we arrived at peak check in time as the queue was huge but very friendly and efficient. Within an hour of driving into the hotel we were walking through the gates by Main Street station

Sunday afternoon was hot and sunny and busy and it was rather disconcerting to be somewhere which looked familiar but also very different. We kept getting lost! We checked the maxpass to see what fastpasses were available and started with buzz lightyear. We then booked thunder mountain and whilst waiting for that decided to go on the Nemo submarine which was great. Our plan for the 3 days was to do our favourite rides from Florida and ones that don’t exist there...
We headed over the thunder mountain which felt longer and noisier than WDW. We them booked Splash Mountain for much later and headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. We all agreed we much preferred this version. By now we were flagging so shared some Mickey beignets (via mobile ordering!)
Before leaving home I had been very excited to book Ogas Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge. Now I must confess that none of us are particular Star Wars fans and the new ride didn’t appeal as I don’t like Star Tours or Mission Space, but I did want to see the new land snd wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get in without a booking... as it turns out there were no restrictions on access to the land and we managed to join the queue to Ogas Cantina about 20mins early! Inside it was very noisy and sadly we were allocated a space at the bar and not a seat at a table so we didn’t stay very long. However my blue Jedi cocktail was very tasty!

After this we were all feeling hungry so headed to Bengal Barbecue for some tasty skewers which we shared.
Eldest then spotted the wait time for Indiana Jones was only 15mins so we joined the queue. As we boarded hubbie was concerned that it looked like the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom which makes him feel queasy but he wasn’t going to wimp out so rode it anyway. We concluded afterwards that this ride was smoother and less sick making so got a big thumbs up!
It was now time for our Splash Mountain fast pass. As we joined the queue we noticed that some people looked quite wet but thought we’d be ok. We should have known better! We all came off absolutely soaked! It was now getting dark and much cooler so there wasn’t much chance of us drying off! However we still had one fast pass left - Matterhorn Bobsleds! Wow! This ride was fast and shaky but so much fun and the park looked pretty at night from it!
Once we’d ridden this we agreed we were too cold, wet & tired to watch the parade and headed back to our room where we could see the fireworks from our balcony!

A great but long tiring day. Tomorrow an early start for Extra Magic Hours for California Adventure!
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Old 6 Aug 19, 09:14 AM  
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#33
samhartwell
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Sounds fab! Enjoying your thread as we will be doing Grand Cali and Loews on our trip next year

Sam
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Old 7 Aug 19, 03:08 AM  
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#34
speedmum
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Mon 5 Aug - Day 10: California Adventure

Today we had Early Magic Hours at California Adventure so we were up at 6am for 7am entry. We’d all slept well in our room and it was a struggle to get everyone up and out! We joined the queue and waited our turn. Security seems much more random here. Today they were very strict and wouldn’t let people without bags go through separately...
It was great to walk from the hotel straight into the park.

We walked past Soarin so went in and were on the first flight. They were showing the Soarin over California film which we had seen in WDW about 12 years ago and brought back memories!
We then headed to Incredicoaster while hubbie booked Fast Passes for Guardians of the Galaxy. We all loved this coaster & the theming and rode it again immediately!
We then went on Toy Story Mania to recover and hubbie won as usual!
By this point it was 8am and so we marched to Radiator Springs and managed to get there just before the crowds from normal park entry. Hubbie booked another FP for it to start at 9... we were enjoying the convenience of the Max Pass and the ability to book a second fast pass once your wait time was over. The girls and I then rode Guardians of the Galaxy using our fast pass whilst hubbie sat it out. He doesn’t like Tower of Terror so decided he wouldn’t like this either (& he was right! it seemed even more bouncy than ToT!
We then headed back to Radiatior Springs for our fast pass (& went on the other track & won our race!)
By now it was 9.30 and we were all flagging a bit so we headed to Starbucks (Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe) for some much needed coffee and breakfast! Whilst sat there we booked another Guardians fast pass for the girls and a Soarin one for hubbie & I. Off we trotted on our separate ways. Its the first time we’ve ever really done this and it felt strange to be walking through the park without children (albeit old ones!) After Soarin and whilst waiting for them to return we booked another Fast Pass for Grizzly River Rapids. After our drenching on Splash the day before we were hoping we’d stay drier but we still got soaked! Fortunately this time our feet were dry and it was hotter to dry us out.
We had another FP booked for Incredicoaster but as we headed that way we received a notification that it was down and we could use the FP on another ride or at any other time during the day. We all agreed to use it later in the day when the ride was rerunning...

As we were on Pixar Pier we decided to go on the big wheel but in a non swinging car as looking at the swinging ones made us all feel ill! Unfortunately it took ages to load but the view at the top was fab!

It was getting hot & busy in the park so we headed back to the room for a drink and a rest! Whilst the others slept I caught up on my trip reports!
After everyone was feeling suitably refreshed we headed back into the park and our first stop was Ghiardellis for ice cream sundaes!
We then returned to Carsland to see the theming and the girls and I rode :Maters Junkyard Jamboree which really made us laugh!
We then headed into Pixar Pier to ride Toy Story with a fast pass, we then rode Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind and Silly Symphony Swings. We ended our time in Pixar Pier using our Incredicoaster fastpass.

The girls headed off for one final ride on Guardians ( can you tell what their favourite rides were?)

Then it was time to leave the park for our dinner reservation at Naples Italian restaurant in Downtown Disney. Although we’d requested outside seating we were put inside which was a bit noisy but being British we didn’t complain! We shared a bruschetta to start and then youngest had a small 10” pizza, Hubble had some pasta and shared a Large20” pizza with elder & me! The pizza was really yummy but did defeat us at the end. Our waitress was lovely and friendly and asked about our trip and recommended visiting Solveng which is already on my list!

After this the girls wanted to look for pins and then we headed back to the room to watch the fireworks! We all agreed that we had loved California Adventure park and that it had a great feel and some fab rides.

We were all asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow before another early start tomorrow...
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Old 7 Aug 19, 08:28 AM  
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samhartwell
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sounds like a fab day in cali adventure! our kids love the mission breakout (ToT) ride too. sounds like using the maxpass well too! We enjoyed Solvang last time it’s different
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Old 7 Aug 19, 03:00 PM  
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speedmum
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Originally Posted by samhartwell View Post
sounds like a fab day in cali adventure! our kids love the mission breakout (ToT) ride too. sounds like using the maxpass well too! We enjoyed Solvang last time it’s different
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Maxpass was great for us - we definitely managed to book loads with it and I think I preferred it to the WDW system of booking a month ahead. Meant we could go with the flow a bit more rather than rigidly planning our time!
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Old 7 Aug 19, 03:20 PM  
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Buggles94
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Loving your report so far! Our California Adventure was a couple of years ago but we didn't get to Yosemite, Palm Springs or Las Vegas on that one so loving your descriptions. We are heading back to Disneyland later this year so loving hearing about the MaxPass - definitely sounds worth it! Also staying at Grand Californian so can't wait Thanks so much for sharing!
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Old 7 Aug 19, 03:30 PM  
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Rabel
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Great report, thanks for writing
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Old 8 Aug 19, 01:40 PM  
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GandL
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Really enjoying this trip report!

So sad about your start but I am sure that is now a distant memory considering how amazing your trip has been since!
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Old 8 Aug 19, 05:32 PM  
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speedmum
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Tues 6 Aug - Day 11: Disneyland & Santa Monica

So today was Extra Magic Hours at Disneyland and also checking out day so we had to be up early & packed before heading to the park. Security was a breeze and we were lining up by the gates at 6.30. We chose a queue that didn’t look too bad without realising that the two people in front of us were both waiting for their extended families... 10 minutes before the gates opened 20 extra people joined the queue in front of us! Cue muttering from the rest of the queue behind us! Family #1 immediately in front of us were clearly Disney veterans with matching tshirts and tickets at the ready. Family #2 however spanned 4 generations and didn’t really seem to know what they were doing or who had tickets! Fortunately the cast member was on the ball and took all their photos before the gates opened so we could get in a bit quicker...
Once in we headed to Matterhorn Bobsled only to discover it was down so then we headed round to Hyperspace Mountain & joined the queue... loved this ride and the star wars overlay! Fortunately we weren’t Star Tours fans so avoided that and instead rode Buzz Lightyear. Hubbie beat us as usual!
Then we headed back to Matterhorn as it was up and running & showing a 10 min wait however as we got there the wait time jumped to 30mins.
At this point I wasn’t really feeling the love for the park...
Instead we headed to the front of the castle and joined the crowds waiting for the entrance to Frontierland to open... whilst waiting we grabbed a fast pass for Matterhorn bobsled for 8.05.
At this point both the early entry people and the normal entry people were all waiting together with a thin rope separating us! We were about 15-20 people back from the front. At 8 am they let us through and 99% headed left towards Galaxys Edge. Great news for us as it meant we were first onto Big Thunder Mountain!
Tip for anyone doing early morning & then Galaxys Edge - don’t queue by Fantasyland as that entry doesn’t open til 9am at the moment and then you have to walk further round to join the other queue...

After Big Thunder we headed back to Matterhorn Bobsled but the queue was now so short we didn’t need our maxpass so changed it for Indiana Jones. This time we rode a different track and all agreed we felt much more thrown around!

By now we were in need of coffee and food - 2 cinnamon buns & 2 ham & egg sandwiches later we were ready to keep going!

We stopped off at Pirates of the Caribbean and this time didn’t get too wet! Then onto Indiana Jones - we left hubbie outside as he was worried about his back after the bobsled and he booked a hyperspace mountain Fastpass whilst waiting for us!
On our way back to Tomorrowland we stopped for some obligatory family photos outside the castle. The photographer was good and took about 10shots.

After riding Hyperspace it was almost 11 and time to check out. The girls were happy they’d ridden all they wanted to. (I could have stayed longer but then I always feel like that when leaving the parks!)
We agreed we liked the smaller layout of the two parks here and having the hotel and Downtown Disney all together. However we’ve never stayed on site in Florida so it may be an unfair comparison. But Florida will always be our home!

Anyway we checked out and waited in reception whilst hubbie trekked to get the car from an overflow car park across the road.

At midday set the satnav for Santa Monica which was only meant to be 45mins away, however the lovely LA traffic meant we didn’t arrive until just after 1.30... just outside Santa Monica the petrol warning alarm went off which caused panic but fortunately there was a gas station near the hotel.

We were spending one night in the Doubletree hotel. Again I had read that the public car park opposite was a cheaper option than hotel valet so we parked there and took our cases in! We were only here 1 night in one room with the girls on a sofabed... the view from our room looked towards the sea and we could see the car!

We dumped our stuff and walked down to the Pier. It was only about 10 minutes walk. Naively I thought a Tuesday afternoon would be quite quiet but it was heaving! People everywhere on the pier & the beach. We found the end of route 66 sign & sat watching the world go by. I was impressed to see a stand with SPF30 sun scream dispensers on the pier (like you’d get with hand sanitizers) and loads of people slapping it on (us included!)
Then we spotted a sign- 20th Century Fox were filming on the pier for a disaster movie- cue huge excitement! We watched them filming a crowd scene but no sign of any celebs! Eventually they finished and we headed off the pier towards Muscle Beach. We watched the body beautiful strutting their stuff for a bit and then headed back to the room to chill (catch up on writing my trip report!) and get ready for dinner.
Eldest discovered that Matt Damon had been i. Disney the previous day and concluded we must have walked past him and not noticed! 🤣

We’d booked a restaurant called North Italia which was about 10mins walk away just past the pier. We admired the sunset on the way and found the restaurant a block or so back from the seafront. It was great- fairly small & independent with a mix of tourists & locals. We shared the best calamari ever and then all had different freshly made pasta dishes. The portions were good but not ridiculously massive like some places. We even had room to share some tiramisu and Italian donuts with lemon sauce!

After this we headed back to the hotel & fell into bed before a long drive tomorrow...

Edited at 08:11 PM.
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