California Roadtrip - Anaheim & Disneyland

It took us about four hours to drive to Anaheim, California.  We drove through the hot desert and had to indulge in an icecream when we stopped for petrol.  The high temperature continued to hover over the deserts of Nevada and into the Mojave Reservation areas of rural California.  Thank goodness for air conditioning in a crowded car.  It was still fun though, with country music and then the playlist off Chani's ipod.  There was some fun grooving going on in the car!

The desert sped by.. especially being entertained like this!!

We once again climbed into the mountains, this time the San Bernardino Mountains, then descended into the great valley area of Southern California.  The thing I noticed first was the smog that settled like a hazy cloud overhead, along with the many palm trees and wide, wide roads.  The traffic was reasonable though and it wasn't too long before we were seeing signs of Disneyland on the sides of buses and street advertising!  Can you believe it?  Disneyland!  This is a childhood dream for a Gramma! Stepping out of the car, immediately the air is cooler, that is to say beautifully warm, slightly humid and a complete contrast to the desert dry heat of Las Vegas. Perfect!

The streets of Anaheim, complete with Palm trees and a Disney bus!!

We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn, which is in the shadow of the Disney Resort.  I didn't actually realise how close, until we walked home at the end of that first day (previously using the shuttle bus).  It took us about 7 minutes to walk!!

However, I diverse!  After settling into the Candy Cane Inn, we decided to find the beach.  Newport to be exact, it took us about 25 minutes, but what a sight!  I cannot describe how sweet the Pacific Ocean looked after all these months of not seeing the sea.  The smell of the sea was incredibly good!  Parking was tricky, but we managed a good spot and then spent the next hour or so, until the sun disappeared and it got too cold, enjoying and savouring the beach.  We enjoy the splendor of the mountains, but didn't realise how much we missed the beach.  Rick & Sarah went in search of something to eat, (fish 'n chips would have been so good at this point) and came back with a wood oven pizza that went down just as well! The one thing I had forgotten about was how the sand gets everywhere, still it's a small price to pay for the pure pleasure the beach brings, especially after days of driving. 

Very happy beach girls!

Such pleasure just sitting on the beach, watching it all happen!  The boys are in the surf there somewhere!

Now this feels great!

Palm trees, so typical of California



While we were in Newport, we had to drive past and look at the Temple, even though we were all very sandy.  But we are very glad we did, it's so very beautiful.  We all decided it was our favourite so far.  And being evening, it was all lit up, the gardens especially are luscious.  Very impressive!  (My photography doesn't do it justice!)




The girls walking around the fountains and water features.

Wednesday, 20th July 2011

DISNEYLAND!! 'The Happiest Place on Earth!'  How exciting to walk through the gates and into the main street of Disneyland.  Everything about it is pure childhood fantasy taking you into another time and place.  What a great place for families.  The whole time we were there, I kept thinking "Chloe & Zayla would love this, I want to bring them here!"

Tom took charge and directed us to take advantage of the 'Fast Pass' system, where you use your entry ticket to obtain ride tickets for a later time in the day.  During the specified time, you can bypass the long queue and get in very quickly.  So, that first day at Disneyland, we zigzaged our way across the park taking in the sights, but also enjoying the many rides. 

Main Street, Disneyland!!

Self portrait: All aboard, entering 'A Small World!'

Tom in th centre of Main Street.  In front  Walt & Mickey!

Rick & I on board the River Cruise - Frontierland

Chani in front of the Disney & Mickey statue (and of course the castle!)

By evening, we had covered alot of ground, but still hadn't seen or done everything.  In the evening, we were able to watch a sound and light show on the 'Rivers of America' in Frontierland.  What a spectacular show featuring Mickey Mouse as the magician.  His dream was portrayed featuring most of the Disney Characters including all the villans.  He takes control of his dream, banishes them and all the happy characters return.  It involved fireworks, and colourful water displays with animations projected against the screen of water.  Very impressive.  The crowd however, was crushing! So many people!  Our vantage point was poor, so decided to come back and see it another night.  From here, we hurried back to Main Street, as fast as a packed crowd could allow, to see the amazing fireworks over the Castle.  This is my favourite thing.  I fell in love with the Disney Castle as a little girl, and to be here at night seeing it all lit up with Fireworks cascading all around it, set to Disney music was amazing.  I just loved it!  My discription of Disneyland could be summed up in one word: "Magical".  

Thursday morning was our early pass to Disneyland, where we could go before the main gates officially opened and beat the crowds.  Rick, Tom & Chani took advantage of this, but Sarah & I chose the more leisurely start to the day!  By the time we caught up with the others they had been on numerous rides and felt they had 'seen' Disneyland, and headed over the the Disney Adventure Park adjacent.  This is mostly big rides in another very clever and picturesque setting.  Rick & I, left on our own, liesurely made our way around Disneyland filling in the gaps from the day before.  By about 1pm we also made our way to the Adventure Park too and stayed the rest of the day.

The only downside for me was the Screaming Rollercoaster.  The others all loved it, and after hearing my good friend Lisa-Jayne braved it three times, I allowed myself to be pressured, but it would have to be the most distressing few minutes of my life, so in future, I'll be happy to watch the others really enjoy it!!

In the evening there was the amazing 'World of Color' presentation of The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure.  Here a story was told using amazing fountains and walls of water as a screen that images were projected onto.  The colours, music and water displays were sensational, certainly rivaling what we saw at the Bellagio.  Very spectacular and a must see.  Again the crowd was intense, but we managed to wangle through and found a great position with no one in front of us.  I did take photos, but they don't do it justice, this has to be experienced!!

On Friday, after a very leisurely breakfast by the pool by Chani & myself (the Candy Cane supply a daily 'all you can eat' continental breakfast - Just love berry bagels with strawberry cream cheese!), we spent another final day at the Disney Resorts.  The crowds this day were even greater if possible, but we managed to see some shows that we missed. 

I think one of the highlights was the 'Hill Billies' shown in Frontierland.  It was shown in a showhall from the 1800's, so old school.  This group of four banjo, violin players performed a comical routine.  We had met up for this and Tom had a table right at the front.  Sarah caught the eye of the lead performer (2nd from the right) as she sat with arms folded and didn't initially clap.  He singled her out with funny comments and expressions until she finally gave them a clap!!  We were all pretty tired at this point, and Sarah just wasn't into their music, but it was so funny how she actually stole the show by being passive in centre front! 

Chani, Rick & I caught the 4.00pm Mickey's Parade.  It was fantastic!  I think everyone loves the Disney Characters, and the Parade brought them all to life. We had a great spot.  We ended up staying for the next parade at 6.30pm watching it again with Tom & Sarah, ate dinner and then headed back to the hotel for a needed rest.  We returned in time to catch the end of the fireworks and watch the late water show again at 10.00pm, and managed to see it better this time.  The crowds are unbelievable.  If we ever managed to come to California again, we would not come in the summer!! 

Finally, we ate dinner at the end of the day... 11.30pm!

Well after three full days here, we are completely exhausted, but intensely satisfied!  What a grand place, it is all so very well done with quality, clever props.  All the 'lands' are amazing and we had such fun exploring them thoroughly!

Tomorrow we move again, this time to central Southern California to a place called Escondido.