It's hard to believe that our holiday is nearly over....today is our last day before Samara and I head home in the morning, I can't believe it has gone so fast.
The last time I was in LA (apart from two weeks ago and our bus trip to the beach) it was as a transit flight on my way to San Diego so I only saw the airport.The time before that was an almost 10 hour stopover on the way to NY and my mum and I did a tour of LA and the movie stars homes.
And the time before that was....wow...back in 1985 and that was only a quick 2 day stopover on the way to Europe.. a chance to say that I had been to LA and had gone to Disney...I was excited to see Disney then, and I was today too. There was no California Adventure Park in those days (yes it was probably being thought about but was nowhere in sight)
Times have changed but Disney hasn't....yes there are some new rides (and a new park)....but the feel is the same and I love it.
We got a one day hopper pass so we could go back and forth between the two parks, but as we'd been to the one in Tokyo and had done some of the rides Japanese style we thought we'd head to California Adventure first.
It's funny how different it is....it really does have a California feel to it...and although there were a couple of rides not operating we had heaps of
fun....the Mickey's Fun Wheel was a lot more fun then it looked, as it has static seats which go on the outside and the seats that swing and drop (which of course we chose to go on,) It's funny because it's something so simple but if you swing it a little (even though you're not supposed to) it's fun :)
You can't help but feel like a kid when you go on the Monsters Inc ride or
walk around the Bugs Life playground. Thank goodness for the express passes because it was only early and already the queues were getting long on some rides so we'd get express passes for the busier rides and than head over to a ride with a shorter queue until it was time to go to on the rides. Tower of Terror was great, and I love the lead up to it when the story draws you in and then once you're on it you wonder if the brakes are going to hold on the ride, and both times the ride was different.
After a bit more wandering and snacks of course, and another pair of Mickey ears for Samara we headed out of the park and into Disney and made sure we did all the big rides first. We watched the crowds go in and head to the right so we went to the left and made our way around that way.
It was awesome getting all the rides done, all the ones we did in Tokyo and more, with Indiana Jones and Star Tours (which is supposed to be different if you go on it again) and the water rides because it was warm and we didn't mind getting wet. As I said express passes are awesome because you don't have to spend as long waiting in queues and you can get on with other things, walking the park is fun, listening
to the bands watching performances, eating, just people watching.
Both Samara and I are glad we're here in winter, and not when it's vacation time because it was busy enough as it was, and even with express passes the queues were pretty long.
We shopped for more souvenirs, rode rides,tried to figure out what we had missed (some of the smaller rides) but we made sure we did all the BIG ones.
We left the Disney Park just before the parade started as we did that in Tokyo and I know it's
probably different to the one there but the World of Color awaited in California Adventure and you need to get a good vantage point, which we got and the show was fantastic. Water and music and lights sounds so simple....but it was wonderous and well worth shivering in the cold (with the sunset also came a chill wind).
The lights around Paradise Pier even before the show started
were amazing and once the World of Color was over we took one last stroll around.
Once outside the park we walked down Disney Downtown...initially looking for somewhere for a late dinner, but also to soak up the last of the Disney experience. We grabbed snacks for later, but decided that we'd go back to Mimi's one last time as we won't be able to come for breakfast because we'll be on the airport before it opens...french onion soup to die for and pot roast....(love restaurants that are open late)
Our last day in the US was great, a fun day in Disney. I still can't believe that the trip is over....and wow what a trip!!!!
Hot choccy again, finish squeezing that last thing in the suitcase, another FB post and sleep because it's going to be a long time before I get into bed again!!!!