13th Week in Canada/USA (Disneyland)

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Adam's Blog:

We arrived in LA after a very hasty ride on the freeways and the taxi driver getting up to 80mph!, whilst listening to the World Cup at full volume and Mexico losing (his expletives being heard by all)!!, then deciding to ring his mates on the mobile(cell) and tell them how he felt - oh and in one case driving with no hands! he got no tip.
We stayed at the Hyatt at Anaheim and it was verrry nice after a recent reno job, just 10 minutes down the road on a free shuttle to Disneyland...being first timers our eyes were pretty wide open and those that have been will know what we mean...Despite it being flat for miles around, smoggy and in the city - it felt like a holiday oasis on its own....everyone there for the same thing - hence kids running around or more to point running amok...but hey dreams to do come true. We had 5 days here - 4 to be spent at Disneyland. We found a neat little bar in the hotel for a bite and watched the World Cup which to our benefit was being enjoyed by many Americans/Latinos as USA were still in it up to that point....the coverage was pretty good too. The kids were well provided for by the friendly staff......Gracie and Kit had instant friends on tap. Side Note: You could imagine that after 3 months of keeping ourselves entertained that when the opportunity comes up for Al & I for adult conversation with others we jump at it.....we have had many brief chats - "Where are you from? How long are you here for? blah blah....but it has been good from time to time to chat with the guy at the bar, the ladies in the lifts or shops....people are very friendly, especially service people if they think a tip is coming their way. Anyway back to Disneyland, if you don't want the full blown, 4 day,u-beaut coverage skip the next bit.

Day - 1
Despite Al & Kit feeling a bit unwell from the cruise(slight head cold) - we landed with the throng at the entrance....and doesn't it look a lot like Dreamworld on the Gold Coast (except Mickey Mouse is plastered everywhere). The comparisons with Australia's largest theme park kept coming and having been 25 yrs old to Disney's 55 yrs you could see why....basically Disney is bigger, has more people - bucketloads, more corny stuff - really corny and the rides and queues are longer - but the main rides are the same at both parks...that said you have to come to Disneyland to Experience it. Disneyland is broken up into 3 areas - we started with the oldest, quaintest bit - Disneyland Park where Sleeping Beauty's castle is. We covered the jungle cruise in Adventureland and the boat host - Safari Don - (ie a 22yr old disenchanted guy) was actually quite funny....as we rounded a turn and saw a large elephant - his comment "Now there's something you don't see everyday...........actually then again I do, every 7 minutes, same thing every single day........and..... kids did you wake up this morning and cry cause you were coming to Disneyland?....(kids nodding)....yep so did I, so did I.....back here again.....kids this is why you go to Uni".

We ventured onto the Haunted House - a great replica of a typical ghost house - only problem - as soon as we entered the dark room poor Gracie got very scared and burst into tears and screaming she wanted to get out........great parents we are - bring her to Disneyland and within an hour she wants to go home.....(Kit was laughing at the ghosts missing the whole scary part).....we made up for our booboo taking them to Tarzan's treehouse and they did their best interpretation of the jungle cry... Now all the good adult rides seemed to be a bit old for the kids so Al & I took turns....we loved the Indiana Jones ride and the Pirates of the Carribbean water ride - the sets for both were amazing. We did Splash Mountain aka Log Ride then took the kids to Mickey's Toontown where they met the big fella himself along with Don, Min and some Goofy guy. We took a spin through Roger Rabbitt world and said g'day to Tigger and Pooh....many kiddie friendly things to do and after 1 day (7hrs) we had seen 1/2 of Disneyland Park. Needless to say easy to get the kids to bed that night.

Day - 2
Back up early to go through the rest of Disneyland Park - we enjoyed tomorrowland - Space, Star Wars, Monorail etc and probably the coolest ride - Buzz Lightyears Astro Blaster where you sit in cars on a monorail and shoot laser beams at targets ala laser tag...plenty of action. We pushed our luck and took the kids on Space Mountain an inside roller coaster ride mainly in the dark and boy was it moving....and did we get a reaction???yep two kids walked off the ride crying and shaking - losing complete trust in their parents - sooo we took them to the arcade games and they were fine again in 10 minutes.....this pattern of behaviour reoccurred a number of times but hey 'dreams do come true' as they say - eventually.

We spent the afternoon at Fantasyland - home of all the storybook & nursery rhyme characters - going through 'it's a small world' which is sung over and over in umpteen languages until it is imprinted on your brain...then it was off to the big ride of all.......the tea cup ride - everyone has to do the tea cups....Tip: Do not video tape when you are on the tea cup ride! Dad got off very dizzy, yukky....the kids gave me that look - touche! Ok time to go back to the hotel again. We had done all of Disneyland Park in 2 days.

Day - 3
Al was after a break so Ad & the kids went to the newer park - Disney's California Adventure Park - a bit like a large Luna Park (Seaside Theme Park) with those Wooden style roller coasters, ferris wheel along with more modern Disney characters from Toy Story, Bugs Life etc...keep the merchandising money rolley in. We got off on the wrong foot here...the crowds were angry that day my friend - it was hot, damn hot and the queues for the best rides were long....but hey you could get a fast pass allowing you to come back later and jump the queues - however today you had to come back 5 hours later - blow that...so we decided to line up for Toy Story Mania - 45 minutes later the kids and Dad were over it...the ride was good but hey it was 1pm and we had been on 1 ride in 3 hours. We headed to Bug's Life Land - playground for the littlies and had plenty of fun there in the cool shade so that made up for it...then headed to Aladdin's magical carpet musical show...very good with the actors on a (make believe carpet) flying above the crowd. Pretty impressive even if it has been done to death in any Backstreet Boys concert. We also covered the Hollywood backlot to see the interactive talk with Crush the Turtlre from Nemo and the Monsters Inc ride with Sully & Jake.

That night we decided to go to Disney's Downtown area for dinner and a great choice it was...not that old, an adult styled action/entertainment zone we sat outside the House of Blues club restaurant - eating jambalaya and cajun creole listening to a jamaican blues band...certainly re-energised us...at 9:30 we then headed back into Disneyland Park and watched the fireworks spectacular over Sleeping Beauty Castle - that was impressive....we even stayed on for a few more rides including the tea cups again under japanese lantern light (strange) - but great visual, this time without the video camera.

Day - 4
Our last day at Disneyland, we didn't rush on in, preferring to go in the early evening (BIG TIP) - get there around 4-5ish - as less crowds - all the toddlers are tuckered out, screaming so get taken home...as the sun starts going down and the lights come on in the resort its a great visual, its cooler as well and the resort stays open till midnight and is very safe.
(2nd BIG TIP) - Purchase a secrets to Disney book or look up on internet, We got Zagat's guide and it gave a great plan on what to see, where to go and a rating on kids & adults enjoyment factor....it even had the top 20 most popular rides across all areas.....Hence we looked at our list and by now had done pretty much all but 4. We weren't going to do the Large Rollercoaster....no repeats with of the HH thx, nor the Tower of Terror - similar to Dreamworld, but we did do 'Soarin over California' which is a chairlift ride with all the effects and a great tourism advert for California - you feel like you are hang gliding over wineries, surfers, golfers and canyons. Then last but not least we went on the Grizzly River Run - the rapids tube ride and at night it added to the drama - plus they stopped our raft at the top of the large ride for extra thrills.....needless to say we got drenched.....the kids loved it so we did it again.....it was a great way to finish off Disneyland and as we strolled towards the exit, kids running around with flouro bubble guns - we knew we had restored ourselves to the top of their list.

Hope you enjoy the photos.....

PS One funny aside were the people you see and there are many interesting characters - if you want to see the American demographic, come to Disneyland.....On the whole a great insight but some observations that took our attention:

* The 'boys from the hood' - gangster style rappers in their colours and tatts - are big kids too or fathers that love to look after their princesses.....seeing them on the caterpillar ride with a big smile - is somehow out of place to the image they portray.
* The number of ride - on wheelchairs for basically obese or lazy people.... we know this because while you are lining up in the queue they get to go to another much shorter queue, park their vehicle, and walk onto the ride hassle free....
* The girl in the monorail cabin who got in after us then looked at us and said 'Are you getting out at next stop, cause I want to bring my friends in here?' - we said 'no we weren't' we then had a chat to each other about which stop we would get off until she broke in on the chat saying 'Well are you getting out at this stop or not' - she got the look from us. - back off
* The queue jumpers - gotta say it - mexicans - they have it down to an artform...line two up in the snake queue then just as they enter the door to the ride...wammow - out of nowhere come a dozen others pushing though the pack, with food or drinks saying they had to get through.....got a bit tiresome after awhile.

but that didn't take away from a great experience we had and 4 days was plenty to do it all......

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