Disneyland and LA trip report. Updated with photos now.

[nursetina]

Day 6
Had a good and peaceful nights sleep following last nights problems. We caught the 10am shuttle and he dropped us off at the Metro station at the bottom 9f the hill by universal. We went to the ticket machines and purchased a TAP card each with 7 days travel, $2 for card and $12.50 for top up, this travel deal is currently half price so even though we won't use it for 7 days it's well worth the money. We then went 1 stop on the line to Hollywood/Highland which is where the walk 9f fame and Chinese Theatre is. We then got tickets for the HoHo bus, both loops and hopped on. We changed from the red loop to the yellow loop that took us to Venice Beach and Santa Monica.

We got off at Santa Monica Pier and walked the pier, Had lunch at Bubba Gumps then sat in the sun people watching until the next bus arrived. We then completed both the yellow and Red loops, finishing at 5pm back at the Chinese Theatre. The tour cost £37 each and took most of the day, along with 2 hour stop at Santa Monica. It was sunny but the wind was icy, I was frozen by the end of it. We then walked up to the little bridge where you can see the Hollywood sign, went into Sephora, had a look at all the feet and handprints at the Chinese theatre, looked at some stars on walk of fame, popped into Walgreens for snacks then hopped back onto metro. We then ordered a Lyft to take us back to the hotel which was about $10. We are now sat in bed eating snacks about to 2atch the last episode of the walking dead. Universal for us tomorrow.

[Rachaelwoolly]

Originally Posted by nursetina

Hi, glad you're all enjoying the trip report.
Yes it is the Garland we are staying at, it is right next to the freeway and our room is the side that overlooks it. There is a bit of traffic noise but I didn't notice it at all overnight tbh. You could always request a room opposite so overlooking the pool as that would be quieter?it really is a beautiful hotel and I would recommend it. Also so pleased with how they dealt with the issue of noise neighbours.

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Very Reassuring to hear
thanks !

[megaflyer]

Originally Posted by nursetina

Day 6
Had a good and peaceful nights sleep following last nights problems. We caught the 10am shuttle and he dropped us off at the Metro station at the bottom 9f the hill by universal. We went to the ticket machines and purchased a TAP card each with 7 days travel, $2 for card and $12.50 for top up, this travel deal is currently half price so even though we won't use it for 7 days it's well worth the money. We then went 1 stop on the line to Hollywood/Highland which is where the walk 9f fame and Chinese Theatre is. We then got tickets for the HoHo bus, both loops and hopped on. We changed from the red loop to the yellow loop that took us to Venice Beach and Santa Monica. We got off at Santa Monica Pier and walked the pier, Had lunch at Bubba Gumps then sat in the sun people watching until the next bus arrived. We then completed both the yellow and Red loops, finishing at 5pm back at the Chinese Theatre. The tour cost £37 each and took most of the day, along with 2 hour stop at Santa Monica. It was sunny but the wind was icy, I was frozen by the end of it. We then walked up to the little bridge where you can see the Hollywood sign, went into Sephora, had a look at all the feet and handprints at the Chinese theatre, looked at some stars on walk of fame, popped into Walgreens for snacks then hopped back onto metro. We then ordered a Lyft to take us back to the hotel which was about $10. We are now sat in bed eating snacks about to 2atch the last episode of the walking dead. Universal for us tomorrow.

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I love the HoHo bus - use it regularly

Great TR - thank you for sharing with us

[Mack151]

Really enjoying your trip report. Also stalking you on Instagram and loving the pics. We're in the Garland in June so glad to hear it's a nice spot. Looking forward to more trip report.

[nursetina]

Day 7
Weather sunny and a little warmer today, I wore shorts and a t shirt but took a hoody with me and I needed it as got very chilly in afternoon. Its OK if you are in the sun but cold in the shade!
We caught the shuttle to universal at 10am, park opens at 10.

Quickly through security and as we don't know this park just went with the flow and went straight to Hogsmede. 1st ride of the day 10 minute wait for forbidden journey.

Didn't do flight of hippogriff as 35 min wait. gutted that simpsons is closed for refurbishment so went on studio tram tours, straight on, we loved this, no spoilers but it is really good. Then we went down to lower lot and got some food, barbecue pulled chicken roll, it hit the spot. We decided to miss jurassic park as people coming off soaking wet and I was already feeling cold. We did the mummy, shorter than florida but still good, wait time 20mins, then onto transformers, wait of about 20mins. Back up to the top lot to watch waterworld, don't sit in seats coloured yellow or green! Then onto minions, said 20 mins but more like 30. Then we did the animal actors show, we are dog mad so loved this show.

Back to secret life of pets, great little ride, 25 mins wait. Then onto kung-fu panda, really good effects on this. We had an hour left till park closing so went back onto forbidden journey, 10 mins then flight of hippogriff 5 mins. Went to Starbucks on way out as I love their vanilla cream coldbrew, then went to wait for our shuttle back to hotel. This universal is small but just enough to keep us going all day. We do have tickets for a second day too. Tomorrow we plan a slow morning perhaps a dip in the hot tub, afternoon at The Grove and the farmers market and then we have tickets to see Hamilton in the evening.

[Rac20]

Sounds like a great trip out to Universal. 🤗

[nursetina]

Day 8
Ordered breakfast to our room and ate it sat on our balcony. Spent the morning by the hotel pool and in the hot tub, is was blissful. Got an uber down to The Grove and farmers market,

had a wander around here then walked to the LA County Museum of Art to see the Urban Lights.

Walked back to the Grove and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. This food was so nice, we got cheesecake to go as we were too full. Caught an uber up to the Pantages Theatre where we had tickets for Hamilton

.OMG this was amazing, such a great thing to do whilst we were here. Uber back to hotel and late to bed tonight at 11.45pm. Universal again tomorrow, if we can drag ourselves out of bed 🤣

[Lily8]

Really enjoying your report, sounds like you're having a great trip. We have a similar trip booked for the summer, including a stay at The Garland so lovely and helpful to read about your experience.

How long in advance did you book your Hamilton tickets? It hadn't crossed my mind to look it up in LA, this could be perfect for us as we're bigs fans and are celebrating a big anniversary this summer.

Edit: oh well, it's not in LA when we are hoping to be...

[nursetina]

Day 9
Slow start as a late night last night but still didn't sleep in. Caught the shuttle to universal, the weather was a bit warmer today, still a bit chilly in shade but warming up nicely.

Went on Forbidden journey, wait time 5 minutes, then went for an early lunch as it was 12 and we were hungry. Went for nachos with beef and a frozen strawberry Margarita and West outside to eat it. This meal was huge and we should have shared1. It was my sons 28th birthday today and he was out with his Dad for a steak at Miller and Carter so we gave them a video call on WhatsApp whilst we sat. We then went onto the studio tram tours, we loved this last time and it is now a firm favourite. We had a different tour guide so had some new information this time. We avoided getting wet too so that's a bonus. The fast and furious bit was not working today though so we just by passed that bit. We then went to the bottom lot. We looked to see how wet people were getting on the jurassic world ride and then decided we would ride it if we could sit in back few rows. Not a long wait and I asked for back row which we got. This is a good ride which is quite different from the one in Orlando. We didn't get wet and were glad we rode it. We then went on the Mummy, this was at 35 mins when we joined but went up soon after and we ended up waiting about 40 mins. The queue moved quite well and we were soon on. We decided to call it a day and catch the 4.15 shuttle back to hotel. We got changed and went in the hot tub. We stayed here until it started to get dark. Hotel so pretty with lots of fairy lights in the trees. We then just chilled in the room and were both asleep by 8pm.

[nursetina]

Day 10
Last full day today. We both slept really well, I had 11hrs, ithink it was a combination of the late night and the relaxing in the hot tub. We had planned to go to the Griffiths observatory to see the Hollywood sign but we changed our minds and got an uber to Lake Hollywood Park instead.

We were glad we did as so much closer to the sign. We took lots of photos and then ordered another uber to take us to Hollywood and vine metro station. We then went on metro to civic centre stop as we had reservation at The Broad. We found the Metro quite scary each time we used it, we have used underground's in quite a few countries and found LA the most daunting, more so than New York! It seems to be frequented by a lot of homeless people and people with mental health problems and was pretty scary at times for 2 women on their own. It isn't busy and it is cheap if you are on a budget but we decided it wasn't for us and we wouldn't use it again.
We walked to the Broad, this was the only place we were asked for our vaccination proof the whole trip.

We had a walk around and then went for our reserved time in the infinity mirror room. You get 1 minute in there but it was awesome and very instagramable.

We then got another uber back to the hotel and spent some time in the hot tub.

We ordered door dash for food and had some lunch poke bowls delivered. We then went and did our packing in readiness to leave tomorrow.