Trip Report The "These people don't get us" Disneyland trip!

Well, our trip to Walt's park has sadly come to an end. We arrived in late last night after a very eventful (read, stormy) flight. And my attempt at another trip report is beginning. I'm going to try to do it on Word this time, so maybe it will go a little easier than having to worry about being kicked off the forum in the middle of a post. I took over 1,000 pictures (literally) so we have lots to talk about lol. And we're off!
I had originally planned this trip for only myself and my oldest son, Brett. My hubby started a new job in May, and so vacation time was not an option for him this summer. We had been booked at the end of July for a long World vaca, but that had to be canceled. So I asked him how he would feel about Brett and I going somewhere over the 4th weekend, and he and Lucas staying home. He said that would be fine, and asked where I was thinking. To which I replied "ummmm, Disneyland?" and he said "Wow. Ok." It was booked the next day
My cousin Jordan (or as she is known around our house "Looloo" graduated (as Valedictorian I might add!) from high school this May. My aunt and uncle sent her with us for a (fantastic) graduation present. I had us booked for 4 nights at the Fairfield Inn (which I changed at the last minute to the Anabella with a great deal), 4 day hoppers, and a Starline tour. We were going to see it all!!!

My vacation actually starts with a traditional trip to Cracker Barrel with my BFF Stephanie. Even though we weren't going together, the CBB had to be done. So on Wednesday Lucas and I went down to her house (which is about 30 min away) and I started my vacation with some pecan pancakes

My MIL came to pick up Lucas around 8:30 so he could stay the night and be with her Thursday while my hubby was at work. I may have cried. Ok, I did. I have never been away from this little man since he has been born. I had packed nearly nothing by that evening, but had things sort of laid out (and my ridiculous check lists ready) so I was done by 10:15pm! Not bad!!

Someone was not very happy that this was all going on. My poor Lucie. She was pretty sure she was being abandoned (like every time I leave the house!)

It was after midnight before I got to sleep. So 4:30 came suuuuuper early! The nearest airport to us is almost 2 hours away in St. Louis. With a 9:20am flight, we needed to leave by 5:30 to get there on time. My mom and my aunt were dropping us off, so we didn't have to drive, park, and all that jazz. Plus, I hear they did some shopping that afternoon AND ate at the Cheesecake Factory, so that also may have played a part in the decision........
So what do you do when getting up at 4:30am to go to Disneyland?? Load yourself up with caffeine out of Mickey's butt of course!!!

Wait, is that weird??? Oh well.
They commented that I was talking a lot on the way to the airport. Um, HELLO. Did anyone hear me say DISNEYLAND??? How many people are going to Disneyland today that you know? 3? Ok. That means I am one out of THREE people you know going to Disneyland. I *may* or *may not* have been excited. (And they were just jealous anyway
So, dressed in our matching "I'm Going To Disneyland" t shirts I had made (well, except Brett's wasn't glittery, and had a pirate Mickey instead of a castle. So I guess that means they didn't REALLY match, huh?) We checked our bags, said our goodbyes, and made it through security in about 15 minutes! Score!!! It's a good thing too, because I barely had time to walk across the terminal for my bagel before boarding time! At 8:32am I was walking from our gate, and boarding time was at 8:50. Before I knew it, we were off!!!!
Can I just say I looooove these flight trackers?? Such a great idea!

I had planned on sleeping, but I was hopped up on Pixie Dust and that wasn't happening. So we enjoyed the beautiful sights along the way.

It was clear and perfect the whole way there! Everything was great until about an hour left, and I got horribly sick. Have you ever had that "ican'ttalktoyouorstandupbecauseiknowiwillpassout" cold sweat feeling? Yeah. Came out of nowhere. I could barely even make it to the bathroom. And Brett, bless his heart, was saying "mom, are you ok? Are you sure? What's wrong? Are you going to be sick?" and on and on until I finally snapped at him and then felt so bad. But talking was making it worse. I finally got my head laid down and felt a lot better. Only one other time I remember feeling like that, on a crowded MetroLink in downtown STL after a Cardinals game. I think it's because I'm so clausterphobic, and combine that with motion sickness on a plane after 3 hours, and it doesn't mix well. I was glad to be on the ground.
Our flight was scheduled to land at 11:20am (4 hour flight, and we were landing only 2 hours later. We had entered the twilight zone!!!) But, true to SWA form, we landed a little early. The DRE bus was scheduled for pickup at 11:45, and I thought we would have to wait until the 12:45 one. But we (finally) got our bags at 11:43, RAN outside to the bus pick up island, and there was the 11:45 bus pulling in 30 seconds later! We would have been earlier if the bags hadn't taken For. E. Ver.


For those of you that are interested, the insides of the buses are just like the DME ones. And they also have TVs, but nothing plays on them (booooooo). It didn't play Disney music either, but 80s tunes. Lol.

I am going to take a second and say I was very disappointed in LAX. It was dirty and depressing. Maybe it is just the Southwest terminal? But I thought that such a huge airport, that close to soooooo many rich and famous people, would be nicer. I have no idea why I think that should make a difference, but I did. And I was disappointed. It was just downright gross.
But it was a necessary stop on my way to Disneyland, so I beared it lol.

 

[meganw1985]

We dropped off at the Disneyland and Paradise Pier hotels first, then our home for the next few days...



Check in was easy and fine (although a time share guy tried his best to suck us in), and we got to our room fine. The room was also good. Plenty of room (Casitas Suite which had a queen bed, a separate room with a daybed, bathroom, decent sized closet, vanity room, 2 TVs, and a mini fridge) and was clean. It was also as close to the Disneyland hotels as you can get without actually staying in one. We were right across the street from the back side of Paradise Pier in California Adventure. So the Grand Californian was very close. Everything was good. But let's be honest. It wasn't a Disney hotel. And I can't even put my finger on the difference. I tried to pretend I was at the Coronado Springs. I really did. But it wasn't the same. It was great, I have zero complaints, but it wasn't Disney. And that made me sad lol.




Sorry for lack of room photos. I laid my stuff down and started looking for my phone to make a call, and it was nowhere. I reached into my Vera duffle, into what I THOUGHT was a pocket, and realized it was not. It was a strap. So I left to go retrace my steps, praying that I found it. A maintenance man stopped me and asked what I was looking for, and I told him "a white Donald Duck iPhone?" and he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He said he found it laying in the middle of the parking lot. Thankfully it was not hurt at all. Just had shut off in the fall I guess. Phew. I love that man lol.

I unpacked, and got all the snacks in the fridge, and we took off. It was about 3ish by this time. We decided to walk down past the convention center, and up Harbor Blvd. to the main entrance, thinking this was the only (or at least easiest) way to get in from our corner of Katella/Disneyland Drive. (Thank goodness we found out we were wrong!) Harbor Blvd. is also depressing. When I am "in Disney" I do not want to be surrounded by sketchy-looking motels and "4 for $10" t shirt shops! Not to mention that the main entrance is extremely underwhelming. Plus, this was a looooong walk! By the time we set foot in Disneyland, I was worried I had made a huge mistake...






Now this is starting to feel a little more like "home"


The train seems short. Like at Disney World, it feels so much higher off the ground. And at Disneyland it seems miniaturized. Idk if this is true or not, but it looks that way. So do a lot of things at Disneyland.
I never got to go in here, even though I really wanted to.



And now the part that always makes me sooooo happy when I get to Disney. That turn onto Main Street to get my first glimpse at the grand, beautiful Castle!



Um, hello? Castle? No, but seriously. It is small. But it is so quaint and adorable. And just goes to remind you that when Walt opened this wonderful place, there were not funds (or a lot of space) to build a grand castle like Cinderella's, but it was a big deal back then! Where else could you see a castle in Southern California?! It is beautiful in its own way, and I love it. Plus, it's pink, which gives it extra credit in my grade book!

 

[Californian Elitist]

In regards to the castle, Walt Disney never wanted it to be tall. If you look at the concept art, SBC is not tall, but stretches out in length, just like it is now.

You took some nice photos.

 

[joshsprincess921]

On board, excited to hear more!!!!
Love your shirt

 

[meganw1985]

In regards to the castle, Walt Disney never wanted it to be tall. If you look at the concept art, SBC is not tall, but stretches out in length, just like it is now.

You took some nice photos.

I love that concept art! I think the castle is very beautiful. And the longer I was there, the more I fell in love with it. Thanks about the pictures! I have never been a very good photographer, but I got a new camera before we left and it helped a lot!

On board, excited to hear more!!!!
Love your shirt

Thanks! A lady down the street has some sort of machine and she can make anything I want!

 

[steph88]

1. I'm pretty sure you are not going to Disneyland again without me and Lily. 2. Dont feel bad about the Disneyland bus not playing a movie because the Disney World one is now lame

 

[meganw1985]

We did a little wandering, we were so excited to be there! We really didn't have a "plan of attack". I knew enough (from some things I had read and shows I had watched) to know what was popular, and kind of what we wanted to do, but I figured at 3pm there would be no way. I mean, at Magic Kingdom at 3pm in July, there would be no way. So we just kind of wandered, with a plan of finding something to eat. We went to the hub first, then making our way through the castle to get a glimpse of a completely different Fantasyland, and to maybe eat at Pinocchio Village Haus.





We checked out the menu there, and it wasn't very appealing, so we went back through the castle to the Jolly Holiday Bakery. This was a fabulous choice! I had the Caprese sandwich with homemade chips.




Who would have thought that a tomato and cheese sandwich could be sooooooo good?! Yum. The other two had some sort of 3 cheese grilled cheese, which I tried, and was also good.

I took this picture from our table. I call it: "Jolly Holiday Bakery: The Alternate Universe Crystal Palace". We kind of felt like that all week. When we would be talking to our mom's trying to explain where we were, we would say "you know where _______ is in the Magic Kingdom?" and they would know right where we were talking about lol.



While we were sitting, I looked at my wait time app and was stunned. <20 min on just about everything. Except Indiana Jones and Matterhorn. So we came up with a plan.


First things first, Indiana Jones FP! Oh, paper FP, how I will miss you. I think at this point it was around 3:30 or so, so we had plenty of time to do some other things! Tarzan's treehouse was right around the corner, so we walked through. I took this beauty from the top:



And also this one





Tarzan sure has a lot more to look at in his tree house than the Robinson family, but I do love me some Swiss Family Robinson. If I have to rank though, I would put Tarzan above Swiss Family mainly for the views from the top. Beautiful views of the Rivers of America. So Tarzan wins this one for me!

 

[meganw1985]

Pirates was right next door, with a posted wait time of 10 min. So we decided to do it. If we could ever find the entrance In case you don't know, it is under the bridge that you walk over out of Adventureland.
*Side note: Adventureland seems really small without Pirates there. It has the same amount of attractions as it's World sister land I think (Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Tree House) just missing the Magic Carpets (well I wasn't lol). But it still feels significantly smaller. This is a theme in Disneyland though.*



The line for Pirates (like most everything here) is mainly outside. Also, the load and unload area is the same place (also like most everything else). Those two things are very different than what I'm used to. I'm used to seeing empty boats floating up to me to get in. Once you get inside, you can see the people coming around the corner from the end of the ride. You load, go through the Bayou section (where the Blue Bayou is) and then the fabulousness of Disneyland Pirates begins! I cannot begin to express how much more this ride has to offer than its World counterpart! By the time you get to the Davy Jones mist (which I understand is now Blackbeard mist) where the World Pirates begins, you have already been on the ride for like 5 minutes. As a matter of fact, I could probably only ride the beginning of DL Pirates, getting off at where World Pirates begins, and be satisfied. The grotto (cave?) section is so awesome. And the drops are fun. I seriously <3 this ride!!! As there is no flash photography, I have no pictures. But I highly recommend checking it out on YouTube! So DL Pirates > DW Pirates x 100!

We walked down to Haunted Mansion which had a 5 min posted wait time.



The line here is also mainly outside. We didn't have to wait in it. You walk into the building, into the library, and then the stretching room. The load area is better than DW I think. I didn't feel as cramped, and it seemed to move more quickly. The stretching room is the same, as is the ride, except it was missing the beginning stairs scene. The main difference here is the facade and ride building. The atmosphere at DL HM just isn't as creepy to me. It's a beautiful building, and it fits into New Orleans Square better than DW HM would, but it just isn't scary. Everything is well maintained, and just isn't the same. So DL HM<DW HM.

Next, we headed across to Critter Country. Decided to try Splash single rider, as the posted wait time was like 30+ min and it's not like you have to sit by a stranger since it's a single line flume type log.




To get to the single rider line, you go in the exit, across a bridge, and a CM puts you where they need to fill a space. Brett and Jordan actually got to ride together. I sat in the very back of my log. The ride is pretty much the same. I felt as if the AA's were MUCH better in this ride (they were actually working!) and the lighting in the Laughin' Place was better. However, I felt it was kind of short? So idk what was missing? It was also physically short. And the view from the top was not nearly as great as DW. So with all those factors, I would say there is a tie here. Splash is one of my all-time favorite attractions, but one just isn't that much better than the other.

Pooh had no wait, so we went across the way to ride it. I love the ride vehicles and the "rustic" look of the ride building here! I feel like it is more appropriate than its DW counterpart.



The ride is the exact same I think, and to be fair, I haven't ridden DW Pooh in a couple of years since they refurb'ed the line and all. So I don't really feel like I can give it a fair ranking. But I do really like the atmosphere of DL Pooh. So right now, it has a slight leg up. (I will re-evaluate after my December WDW trip

We made the looooong trek back around the Rivers of America to Big Thunder. Once again, line and loading are outside. Wait was not long, maybe 5-10 min. It was fun! The special effects at the end were creative. I will give DL BTMRR > WDW BTMRR but only by a small fraction. Mainly because of the special effects, and the new refurb job makes it look much "fresher" than WDW's. Plus, the town at the end is TOO CUTE!



Now, with Splash being in Critter Country, BTMRR is it for Frontierland. The Golden Horseshoe is there, and a couple of restaurants, but no more attractions that I know of. And it is odd to walk around the corner and be dumped out into Fantasyland.

We took a potty break, and walked through to Matterhorn. Indiana Jones, Radiator Springs Racers, and Matterhorn were my top 3 Disneyland must-do's. It had a 30ish min wait, so we did single rider again, getting the right, or red, side. I was so excited!




Boy, was I disappointed. I felt like I had been in a car accident. Whiplash central. It was slow, jerky, and not very exciting. Plus they need to offer free chiropractic care at the end. I had a headache immediately. I realize it is very old, and was probably "the ride" back in the late 50's. But it doesn't seem like they have done much to it since. And it's such a shame. It's a beautiful mountain. Just like Everest is. The waterfalls are beautiful (and work!) and I feel like so much could be done with it. It needs to go a little faster, and it needs a good drop in there somewhere. We all felt the same. I may get blasted for Matterhorn blasphemy, but I was expecting so much more. There was no way I was getting on that puppy again!

*Spoiler alert: I did. Twice. Lol*

There really isn't anything to compare it to at WDW. Everest maybe, but solely because it is a snow capped mountain with a yeti. The rides are nothing alike.

We wound around through Tomorrowland, passing up the Nemo subs that are down for refurb (*sad face*). Space had a pretty long wait, so we grabbed some FP's for later in the evening (like 8:25 I think), and we made our way back to Adventureland for our Indiana FP time.

This was the longest line we would wait in all week. The FP doesn't have a full separate line. It just runs alongside the regular line for a little while, then dumps you into it. We waited about 25 minutes, which was close to the posted wait time. No worries though. The queue is great! Lots to look at, and special effects. (A guy in front of us shook the bamboo post.) This ride is AWESOME. I am not a fan of Dinosaur. It scares me. (Yes, I am a chicken apparently). So I was a little nervous about something jumping out at me from around a dark corner. The temple/bridge part was so awesome. The audio was great. Everything about it was great! It beats Dinosaur by 1000%!!!

 

[meganw1985]

At this time, it was like 8pm at home. I had been going non-stop since 4:30am. It was time for a pick me up. We stopped at the Starbucks on Main Street. I know people complain about Starbucks in Disney. It blends so well though. And I get to have a caramel frappaccino, so it's a win-win in my book.

A certain 11yo had been asking continually since we arrived "when can we ride California Screamin? Now? What about now?" He actually thought we would get to go to California Adventure BEFORE we went to Disneyland park. SMH. Does he not know me AT ALL?! So I thought now would be a good time to check it out. We had our Space FP's for later, and planned on trying to check out the 4th of July fireworks at 9:25, so we had a couple hours.

Now comes the very best part of Disneyland. A way in which Disney World will never compare, and can do nothing about it that I can tell. The walk between the parks. Literally < 2 minutes. The Esplanade is maybe the length of a football field, maybe less. You have to go through bag check before you enter the Esplanade, so once you are in, YOU'RE IN!!! We walked straight across, scanned our tickets, and viola! There we were on Buena Vista Street like 3 minutes later. This is an invaluable asset to Disneyland tourists!!! Yes, the entrance looks like Hollywood Studios. No, I did not feel like this was a problem. I can see how the huge CALIFORNIA sign could have seemed out of place. Going in, I did not think I would like California Adventure much. Well, definitely not as much as I planned on liking Disneyland.

*Spoiler alert: I LOVED it! As much, if not more than Disneyland! Beautiful park. I'm so glad I didn't have to see the ugly days!*




We made our way back to Paradise Pier and hopped in line for California Screamin. It was about a 10 min wait. And so much fun! I guess I can compare it slightly to RNRC (even though it's outside). But it was much more fun! The hills were great. The music was fun and appropriate to the theme. And the fact there was not a 70+ min wait made it even better. So DL > WDW here.




We followed our noses to the turkey leg cart. (Seriously. I smelled it, and started walking one way, and Jordan said "No, it's coming from this way!" And she was right!) It was delicious. Sorry, no pictures, I was starving! We also stopped to get a drink, and wound around through Pacific Warf and the back entrance to Cars Land.




It. Is. Beautiful. The back entrance is even better than the front entrance! The Cadillac Mountains are just real. There is no other explanation. The CM at the front of the line didn't know how long the single rider line would be, but we got in line anyway. I think we waited for about 15 minutes. The posted wait time was somewhere around 50. The line is outside (surprise!) but is very well themed.






The ride is fantastic!!! Driving around the bend, to see that waterfall, it's just like the movie. If you aren't familiar, you go tractor tipping with Mater, almost get hit by Mack, almost shredded by Frank, and then either get new tires from Luigi or painted at Ramone's. I got painted. And then you race! My car won I think, even though we were single rider, Brett and Jordan got to ride together again. It didn't seem to go as fast as Test Track, but everything else was off-the-charts better! I haven't ridden TT since it's futuristic re-do, but Brett says it stinks now, so I'm going to go with that. SO RSR > TT x 1000!!!

 

[Californian Elitist]

I'm honestly very shocked the wait times were that short during your stay. Looks like you went at a great time.

Again, great photos!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

I took this picture from our table. I call it: "Jolly Holiday Bakery: The Alternate Universe Crystal Palace". We kind of felt like that all week. When we would be talking to our mom's trying to explain where we were, we would say "you know where _______ is in the Magic Kingdom?" and they would know right where we were talking about lol.

This was our ongoing joke when we went to DLR. It's so similar yet so different; almost like a dream. I think it was one of the reasons I liked DCA more than DL. I'm loving the TR!!

 

[meganw1985]

After Radiator Springs Racers, we walked around through Bug's Land with our eye on a certain hotel in Hollywood Land.....



The wait time was posted I think at 20 minutes, so we got in line. We still had a little time to kill before needing to head back for Space Mountain. It's only a 2 minute walk you know



Now. As far as DL ToT vs. WDW ToT: I think that DL has a slight edge. I felt that the audio was significantly better. And having a view of Disneyland Park all lit up from the open doors is a major +++. My other 2 travel partners disagree with me. Because of the set up of the building (I think that's why) you don't have to travel forward to get to the open doors and drop. So this does make the ride a little shorter. But to me, the better audio (it felt like he was sitting in the elevator with me!) and the view from the top outweigh the "driving elevator". The atmosphere of the hotel and the queue isn't quite as elaborate as it's WDW counterpart, but that also doesn't cancel out the good for me. So, DL ToT > WDW ToT for me. But I was outnumbered 2 to 1 on that vote.

We walked through Hollywood Studios to see what the Mad T Party was all about. It was....odd. And looks funny in the day time. I'm really not sure what this is all about. Don't get me wrong, I could dance my socks off and have fun here, but I just don't get it. Monster's Inc. was down, so we decided to head out, walking through Elias & Co. on the way.




We headed back to Tomorrowland to use our FP's for Space. Even with our FP's, we still waited for like 25 minutes.




The queue here goes on the outside/top of the building. Which is cool. But the rest of the queue is not. I love the queue at WDW Space. I love the music, the "bubble" windows, the sneak peek into the ride, all of it. DL Space seriously lacks here. The ride itself was fun. I liked the side-by-side seating cars. And I didn't feel quite so beat up after. And the speakers in the cars made the soundtrack so much better! I think this ride could use a good drop or 2. I kept feeling like there should be one, and it never came. But, it was still really fun. I'm giving WDW Space a better "score" here though, not because I like either ride better than the other, but because I would just rather go to the WDW one more than DL. I just like the feeling I get better. I can't explain it any better than that lol.

I'm thinking it was going on 9pm at this point, so we made our way back to Main Street to grab spots for the 4th of July fireworks (even though it was the 3rd, they were having them). We got a pretty decent spot in front of the Astro Orbitor, on the right side of the Hub.






They were good. Nothing like the snippets of the 4th fireworks I caught at Magic Kingdom last year though. Like, not even comparable. It was nice to not have to get a spot hours ahead of time though. But WDW is just so much better.

The fireworks were over around 10ish. The park didn't close until 12am, but my brain was still running on CST, and had been up since 4:30am, running on 4 hours of sleep. Plus, we had to be at the bus stop at 8am the next day, so we figured we better call it a day. Not too bad for our first day though! I had already ridden my top 3, plus sooooo many more, seen fireworks, and that was all after 3pm! I fought my way across the Hub to the bakery to get a fruit tart for breakfast (racking up my 3rd 20% off merch coupon of the day! SCORE!) And we headed out to the transportation center. We bought 3 day ART passes, and waited about 20 min for the bus to pick us up. And another 20 min on the bus (with a driver in training I might add! EEK!) before we were dropped off. I was seriously hoping there was a better way to do this, but had no idea what.

*Spoiler alert: We found one. Thank goodness!*

Up next: 4th of July Hollywood Shenanigans, and the (sing it with me!) 9 hour tooooooour!!!!

 

[meganw1985]

I'm honestly very shocked the wait times were that short during your stay. Looks like you went at a great time.

Again, great photos!

Thanks! I was shocked as well! "They" knew I was coming. LOL! But especially during the 4th weekend. The longest we waited the whole time was at Indiana Jones with our FP's.

This was our ongoing joke when we went to DLR. It's so similar yet so different; almost like a dream. I think it was one of the reasons I liked DCA more than DL. I'm loving the TR!!

Yes. Disneyland really is the alternate universe Magic Kingdom! Or maybe the other way around since DL was first? But either way, it's like I felt like I knew where I was, but I didn't.

 

[meganw1985]

I guess I should take a sec and explain the title of this report. The whole time we were there, I just didn't get "that feeling" I get at WDW. You know the one. That you are with your people. That everyone around you is just as insanely in love with everything Disney as you. I of course had heard that DL is more of a locals' park, and it really must be. But I guess I still expected there to be more hardcore Disney fanatics like me (who only packed Disney clothing for the whole trip I might add). Every once in a while, though, we would run into someone who we just KNEW would get us. Like the guy on Splash Mountain wearing a vest covered in hundreds of Disney pins. Or our friend from Boston that we talked to on Grizzly River Run who had WDW AP's and decided to try out the "original" park like we did. And the lady sitting on Main Street in front of us who talked incessantly to the lady next to her about all things WDW while we waited for the fireworks. The rest of the time, I just kind of felt alone in my Disney mania......

 

[BWK05]

Really enjoying your report! I have the same feeling about Disneyland...we went several years ago and really enjoyed the rides(completely agree about POC) but missed "the Feeling" that you get at WDW. Every year we talk about our vacation and I bring up about going to DL and my kids are like ok and then we always change back to WDW it's just magical.

 

[meganw1985]

Really enjoying your report! I have the same feeling about Disneyland...we went several years ago and really enjoyed the rides(completely agree about POC) but missed "the Feeling" that you get at WDW. Every year we talk about our vacation and I bring up about going to DL and my kids are like ok and then we always change back to WDW it's just magical.

Yes. It's just the Disney World magic! And I feel like DL is not very much about characters either!

 

[meganw1985]

Friday, July 4
IT'S TOUR DAY!!!! When I first planned this trip, I didn't plan on doing a tour. Then my mom said "Isn't it weird that you will be SO CLOSE to Hollywood, and not go there?" And she was right. It was weird. I have to start with a disclaimer that I am a Real Housewives nut. I watch them all. Beverly Hills is my favorite. Also, trashy shows on E! and E News and all that jazz. I love me some good, trashy "reality" TV. My husband hates it. But I can't help it lol.

So I started researching ways to get there. I thought about renting a car and driving up and all that. First, I hate renting cars. Plus, I heard the traffic is terrible there (It really wasn't that bad. No worse than trying to drive around here in the summer with road construction, or around the square at noon). And add to that I would have NO idea where I was going, with an 11yo, in Los Angeles. It was a recipe for disaster. Then I found Starline Tours.

They picked us up directly at our hotel, took us to the ticket center to get our tickets, and then on our tour, dropping us back off at the end of the day. It was GREAT. Plus, they have so many tours to choose from! I went for the whole shebang, the Grand City LA, Hollywood, Movie Star Homes, and Beach Tour. It was about $60ish +/- for an adult, and like $40 something for Brett. So we booked it.

*Note: You don't have to book ahead of time, but it's a good idea because our bus was so full, someone had to sit by the driver and I didn't even get to sit with Jordan and Brett part of the time*

The bus was to pick us up between 8:20 & 8:40 (depending on traffic and other pick ups). We went around the corner to another hotel (Ramada maybe?) past the convention center to the Starline office and got our tickets, and off we went. For the ENTIRE DAY!!! Jeanette, our driver/guide, was awesome and hilarious! She was from Louisiana. If you can get her, DO IT!

It was non-stop sightseeing and information all day. I took tons of pictures, but I'm not sure what some of them are. I will post them, and if anyone knows for a fact, PLEASE let me know! Here we go!

I know what this is a pic of. MMMMMMMM!!!


The view from outside our hotel


We went out to the bus stop. The bus was a little late, but no biggie. Around the corner (Harbor) to get our tickets, and then we were on our way! (I had to sit in the back row, right smack in the middle of 4 other people. Newlyweds on one side, and two sisters on the other. Everyone was nice, but I couldn't see hardly anything, and Brett had to sit at the very front of the bus.)


We drove down the freeway, passing Knott's Berry Farm, over Compton, and the LA Canal (where they filmed the race scene at the end of Grease, among other films I had recognized-I have a pic somewhere. I'll find it). She also pointed out Century City. I can't remember the exact backstory, but something about the company going broke and having to sell their backlot. Not sure. We then headed downtown to see a few things.

Staples Center:





Nokia Center (where they have the Grammy's maybe?):


They were having some anime convention at the convention center down there. Saw all kinds of weird things (but not as weird as the convention we would see next to our hotel later!):


Yes. I believe that is a TV on her head.

 

[meganw1985]

Walt Disney Concert Hall:


Supposedly, Lillian donated oodles and gobs of her own money to fund the building of this, and it has some of the best acoustics in the entire world.

Tunnel where they filmed "The Dark Knight". I love this movie. She said some other things too (Transformers, maybe?):


We also drove by some Air Force museum or something, the museum of Natural History, the seriously MASSIVE convention center (with anime weirdness winding around the whole outside), and a few other buildings that either meant nothing to me, or I was unable to get a picture of, due to the people surrounding me on all sides.
We then trekked out to Santa Monica for about an hour and a half.






It was just exactly how I imagined a pier to look! So cute!



I may have gotten a little too excited when I saw the Nathan's hot dogs umbrellas. But, to my defense, YUM!


Apparently this is the end of the road for Route 66!

 

[disney4life2008]

WOW top 5 TR - love the photos and details. BTW, LaGuardia NYC is just as bad if not worse than LAX. It has no dining, dirty, and old. Did you try In n out burger?

 

[meganw1985]

WOW top 5 TR - love the photos and details. BTW, LaGuardia NYC is just as bad if not worse than LAX. It has no dining, dirty, and old. Did you try In n out burger?

Thanks! I took a lot of pictures so I have lots of details to share!
Yuk I have no desire to go to LaGuardia then! Lol. I didn't see a single In N Out burger! I've heard about them though. I did see a Carl's Jr. (around here they are Hardee's). I have a hard time believing In N Out could compare to Five Guys though!