Jackie & Brett

Jacko42

Jackie & Brett

Busy parents who loves to travel but hate setting up Blogs!



North America » United States » California » Los Angeles September 21st 2012

Friday... the final day of five days at the theme parks. Plan was to hit California Adventure Land and attempt to get a fast pass for Cars as we found out the day before that the fast passes for the whole day were sold out in the first 20 minutes. We did all the right things, we got there early (9:30am), raced through the gate and queued about five minutes for the pass and found out most were already scooped up with the next available time being 5:30pm! We decided to take a different tact and we went to the entry which was showing a time delay of 75 minutes and so we entered the single rider entry. This was definitely a good call as 20 minutes later all four of us had been on the ... read more

North America » United States » California » Los Angeles September 20th 2012

Day four of five of theme parks and I think this was one of of best days yet! Started by using our "Magic Morning Pass" to enter Disneyland at 9am, an hour before the general public. This enabled us to go on the rides we hadn't had time for on the Monday, including Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Buzz Light Year Astro Blasters, Pirates of the Caribbean and then the Haunted Mansion (decked out already in preparation for Halloween). We then went to California Adventure Land where we spent the rest of the day. Started with the Tower of Terror, where the wait time was only 15 minutes, then proceeded on to Paradise Pier to go on California Screamin' (a giant roller coaster) followed by Mickey's Fun Wheel ( a massive ferris wheel), Silly Symphony Swings, and ... read more
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North America » United States » California » Los Angeles September 19th 2012

Day three and still going strong though the kids starting to show the odd sign of weariness, as you will see from the picture. Thankfully the daily buffet breakfast re-energised them, so by 8am they are ready to go again! We went to Universal Studios and were completely blown away. The rides and shows were amazing. Having determined our assault plan the night before, we started the day in the lower of the two lots and hit the main attractions before the crowd really poured in. This included the Trans Formers ride 3D, Revenge Of The Mummy (Sarah's favorite... NOT! Em and I nearly peed too!!!), the Jurassic Park water ride and looked at the props etc from NBC - Universal shows/movies. The Transformers was incredible and Bretts favorite so we had to do that one ... read more
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Em and Sar on the Red Carpet
WaterWorld Set

North America » United States » California » San Diego September 18th 2012

Day two of themeparks, and we decided to head to San Deigo to go to Seaworld. We left Anaheim at around 9am and arrived around 10.30am which we were very happy with as we were not sure what the traffic would be like. We managed to see every single show, and take in all the rides including the new Manta roller coaster seven times (thanks very much kids!!!) which we forgot to photograph! Queues at Seaworld really were not any problem at all and for the first time we felt we were seeing the impact of the recession on the local economy. Great for our ability to move around the park with ease, and eliminate wait times, but sad to see. Here's hoping it is only because we visited midweek and it is not school holidays ... read more
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North America » United States » California » Los Angeles September 17th 2012

Today the Hjorth Family hit Disneyland - hard and fast! We got there before the gates opened, nice and early and the kids were off!!! We did four rides in the first hour including the big ones being Space Mountain, Star Tours and Matterhorn Bobsleds. We then went on to do Splash Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Its a Small World, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Tea Cups of course and we covered just about all of Disneyland. Fantastic day for all the rides to be honest (12 in total with some of these more than once) as we never thougth we would do anywhere near as much as we did... YAY US!!! Then to finish off, we took in the parade which was amazing!!! Kids had a blast as did Mum and Dad and day one was ... read more
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Lego Emma with Emma and Sarahh

North America » United States » California » Los Angeles September 16th 2012

Another relaxing day for the Hjorths again today. Stayed by the pool in Palm Springs until around lunch time and then drove to our hotel in Ananheim, where we familiarised ourselves with the pool there! Our GPS, now officially known as Susan (as we discovered she actually has a real name), again did a stella job at directing us to our location, with no wrong turns, and Brett displaying his superior driving skills as he navigated the highways and off ramps with ease. Found a Best Buys just down the road from our hotel, and Emma managed to purchase the I Pod cover she was after, and we were able to pick up a few things too. Tomorrow we are off to Disneyland, which should prove to be a busy day as we try to pack ... read more

North America » United States » California » Palm Springs September 15th 2012

We spent today doing not very much, which I have to say was a welcome and much needed break. The morning saw a leisurely start to the day, followed by 4 hours poolside, swimming with the kids and relaxing in loungers as we saw fit. Visited the shops in the afternoon for a few hours, before stopping for a look at the 8 metre Marilyn Munroe, and returning to the pool. Palm Springs is quite a neat town. The main shopping area looks like something out of the 60s with a hint of mexican influence. Many of the streets are named after famour stars, like Bob Hope Drive, Ginger Roger Drive, Frank Sinarta Drive. A great stop for a relaxing break.... read more
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North America » United States » California » Palm Springs September 14th 2012

After breakfast we hit the road again , but not before a quick stop at a sporting goods shop that we saw having a big sale. Managed to pick up a few bargains to add to our suitcase, with Brett being the main winner today! We didn't take the most direct route to Palm Springs as we wanted to stop and see a bit of The Joshua Tree National Park along the way. Made it there by around 2pm and stopped in at the visitors information centre to grab some maps etc. The ranger was fantastic and gave the kids a book each to fill out on things they observed and complete various activities. Kids love it and earned themselves a junior ranger badge when we left the park three hours later. Joshua Tree National Park ... read more
A Joshua Tree
Cactus Garden - Joshua Tree National Park
Williams - Route 66

North America » United States » Arizona » Lake Havasu City September 13th 2012

In order to catch the sunrise from Yaki Point we rose at 5am (a much more agreeable time than 4am as would have needed to do in Death Valley). Yaki Point is only accessible to the free shuttles around the park, so we headed to the Visitor Information Centre, and caught the shuttle from there. Observed an interesting phenomena in the sky, and we are still not sure exactly what it was. Emma thought it might have been a shooting star and made a wish just in case, but the bus driver thought it looked like an exploding fuselage from an aircraft. Not sure exactly, and pray that is not the case, but if it was what the driver thought, please don't worry Mum - we were not on it. Perfect weather today, so the sunrise ... read more
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Another big driving day for us as we travelled from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon. After a last go at the The Orleans Breakfast Buffet, and another quick stop at the outlet mall (where Brett and I had a turn shopping) we headed off, stopping at The Hoover Dam on the way. A pretty amazing feat of engineering, though I think Brett as an ex-surveyor appreciated the finer details more than the female members of the Hjorth clan. We have decided that Americans do everything big - from dams, to valleys and national parks, meals and vehicles, and as we found out today, canyons. We have all seen pictures of the Grand Canyon before but absolutely nothing can prepare you for your first glimpse over the rim. Absolutely breath-taking, and words nor photos can do it ... read more
View from Mather Point with Condor
Hover Dam
View from Mather Point




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