USA Anaheim Holiday Day #10 - Los Angeles and home

On our last day, we decided to book a half day tour of Los Angeles, and be back in time to get our stuff ready for departure. We were dreadful in that we kept the buses waiting as we were late, because we were trying to check out of the hotel at the same time.

I had heard a lot about Los Angeles - people told me not to expect much because it was rather dingy compared to what you thought it would be.  And for the most part, they were right.

We stopped first at a few famous sporting venues.

Then we headed down to Hollywood to check out the typical touristy areas such as the stars on the Hollywood Boulevarde.

The Chinese theatre

And the Dolby theatre which is where they do the Academy awards.  I was surprised this wasn't a more dressed up part of town!

Then we took a look at the various streets and suburbs

And Beverly Hills.  Around Beverly Hills things looked rather posh.  We finished up with lunch at Chipotles which was a rather nice mexican place.  It seemed rather popular.  J fell asleep as we were trying to eat so he was passed around between hubby and HK so they could both eat their lunch.

Then it was the long flight home.  I would definitely recommend the Disneyland resort express - from our hotel it took us back to the Disneyland Hotel where we caught the express back to the airport.  It's $38 return so I think it's good value - though a cab with seats for children would be good too!

A wonderful trip and one I would highly recommend to people with children, even small children.

USA Anaheim Holiday Day #9 - Outlet Shopping at Citadel

I was all tuckered out yesterday from theme parks so I decided to go outlet shopping at Citadel yesterday instead.  Most of the things I bought were for the kids.    Gymboree clothes were so cheap!  I think I got 16 items of clothing for just over US$100 which is great value.  I also went to GAP to get some clothes and we got lots of shoes from Skechers.  J screamed his head off because he hates new shoes, but E had fun choosing her shoes, and she got the Twinkle Toe ones which are very sparkly and she loved them.

One thing that made the shopping easier was the hiring of a car trolley. The kids loved sitting in the little car and being pushed around.  It made life so much easier.

We went out to Roy's for dinner, which is a Hawaiian fusion cuisine restaurant at the Anaheim Garden Walk and as usual we were STUFFED FULL after eating our appetisers and entrees (which is funny because entrees are mains in the US).

Some appetiser nibbles came out for us to munch on before our ordered meals came out.

Mixed appetiser

Bim Bim Bap

Tempura vegies

Stuffed Peppers with Bonito shavings

And the we had our SIZEABLE mains!  I don't think any of us could finish it all!  The kids meals looked quite tasty as well..

Anaheim special - Butterfish and ribs

Rib eye

Kid's meal chicken teriyaki

Miso Butterfish

Red curry chicken

Chocolate Souffle

It was a great meal, for our last full night in Anaheim.   I couldn't even finish my food!  On our last day we plan to do a tour of LA.  I hear that that stuff though is a bit of a dump, hope it's not too disappointing.

USA Anaheim Holiday Day #8 - Disneyland

There are two parks here in Anaheim - Disneyland is the original park and is larger than California Adventure. We couldn't finish Disneyland in one day - but fortunately the kids had seen everything because we covered what they had missed when they went on Saturday with my friend and her daughter whilst we were at Blizzcon. Christmas has taken over here at the park and there was a Christmas theme everywhere, in the decorations, the rides, the parades and even the fireworks!

We started in Tomorrowland first, which had all the Star Wars and space things (Buzz Lightyear) and went on the Star Tour, Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Autopia and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

We also went to Innoventions which had a show which we missed TWICE, and we lined up to see Thor props and ended up seeing Thor as well, and Ironman props. We then headed to Fantasyland (the entrance of which is Sleeping Beauty's Castle) which had a lot of the original 1955 rides, most of which my youngest child could ride.  We rode Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Mr Toad's Wild Ride, King Arthur Carousel, Mad Tea Party and Alice in Wonderland.

Our last stop was Mickey's Toontown, which seems more Disney to me with the cartoon-like houses.  Here was the only rollercoaster for little kids (Gadget's Go coaster) so we did that.

We backtracked to go to It's a Small World - one of the most famous original rides, and also where the parade was going to start.  It was decorated in Christmas stuff, and the ride itself showcased all the different cultures doing their Christmas or similar celebration.

When we finished the ride we found a spot to see the parade and watched as the street lit up for the parade at dusk.

It looked pretty amazing at night.  The parade was also Christmas themed - my son slept through it again! When we were done we caught the Disneyland Railroad back to the main street where we caught the parade again LOL.

And we stayed for the fireworks.  Main street was packed and the fireworks were lovely with the accompanying music - something you can't really appreciate from our hotel room even though we can see the fireworks there.  Sleeping Beauty's castle looked gorgeous after the fireworks were done.

I had great fun at Disneyland too, though I was a little disappointed we didn't see more.  But, I think after 4 days of theme parks, I've had enough of theme parks - no San Diego for me on Thursday!  I think we shall have to take it easy and just go outlet shopping.  So of the two parks, which did I enjoy more?  It was hard to choose, but I think that California Adventure had a more impressive parade and the World of Colour was amazing.  I also liked that we could finish that park in one day and the kids got to see almost everything (and Cars Land!).  I didn't think I would like Disneyland but I think the whole experience was truly unforgettable and I would highly recommed it to anyone - even if you don't like Disney (gosh, I love Disney though, so maybe I'm biased), it's very hard not to get wrapped up in the excitement.  Where else can you walk around wearing Mickey ears and it's totally normal?

USA Anaheim Holiday Day #7 - Disneyland California Adventure

The kids had already been to the parks with Nanny M, so I was hoping they wouldn't be bored, and they weren't.  We started out our day with breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, where you can meet the Disney Princesses: Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.  Breakfast was a lavish American Breakfast with pastries, fruit, and a choice of waffles, hot breakfasts or granola/yoghurt/muesli. Our table had a combination of all.

After breakfast we explored and rode the rides at Paradise Pier, including Mickey's Fun Wheel, Toy Story Midway Mania, King Triton's carousel, Jumping Jellyfish, Ariel's Undersea Adventure, Golden Zephyr and Silly Symphony Swings.

Bug's Land was really great for smaller children with most rides there good for J.  We rode Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, and Tuck and Roll's Drive 'em Buggies.

Car's Land was my favourite.  It's just like it's straight out of the Pixar movie!  The street layout, the signs, the scenery - it was awesome!  We rode Mater's Junkyard Jamboree, Luigi's Flying Tires and Radiator Springs racers, and ate at Flo's V8 Cafe and at the Cozy Cone Motel. And at night, it was lit up, just like in the movie.

Mike and Sully to the Rescue was quite a good kid's ride, and Soarin' Over California was a surprisingly enjoyable as well.  Whilst HK and I went on that, hubby took the kids on Ariel's ride 5 more times!

The World of Colour turned out to be an unexpected highlight of the day.  I have never seen a more amazing water, sound and light extravaganza!  The use of water spray as a screen projector was really something different to me, and the music complimented the show so well - it IS Disney after all, and I do love all the Disney animations.  Each piece of popular and beautiful music was woven into the show - including the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Brave, Toy Story, Bug's Life, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pocahontas, Lion King and Wall-E.  The kids watched it all too, even though they were tired.  I was totally blown away, and even moved almost to tears because it was so beautiful!  It was a beautiful end to a magical day - and I have to agree that Disneyland does pretty well in saying that it's the happiest place on earth.  I think it outdid my expectations!