Summer Vacation - Part 2

Since we were all going to be at Disneyland on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, then Monday was going to be an open day for each family to do what they wanted. But we all decided we would travel on up to LA and go on a bus tour. On this tour you started at the Chinese Theatre and then you could stop off at different places along the way. You would have about 30 minutes at each stop or you could wait until the next bus arrived. Anyway, we stopped at the tar pits (very interesting), the farmer's market (the neatest place ever - wish we could have stayed longer but pressed for time) and finally stopped at the famous Pinks Hot Dog stand to eat their famous hot dogs. Dummy me forgot to charge my battery on the camera so I didn't get as many shots as I would have liked. Just think, I could have had 550 vacation pictures, dang. Ha.





The traffic getting there was awful. I've heard that it's normal.

We were in a rush to get our bus tour tickets so these were some of the stars around that area.

Hugh Jackman - he's hot.

Chinese Theatre - below

I just had to snap a picture of Stanley Street along the tour. - below

House of Blues - above



Shoot! Camera went DEAD! Crap.

Monday night after we got back from LA, we walked down to Disneyland to go ahead and pick up our tickets with my voucher so I wouldn't have to worry about doing it the next morning. Our rooms were about an 8 minute walk from the park but by the 4th day, it felt like an 800 minute walk. No tellin how many miles we walked. Man, I wish I was in better shape.

Across from Disneyland there is another park called Disney's California Adventure. If you buy a hopper ticket then you are able to go back and forth between the two parks. Being the planner that I am I purchased my 3 day hopper tickets online way in advance. My sister, on the other hand, waited til closer to time and took advantage of buying 5 day hopper tickets for the price of a 3 day. Oh, was I mad, but not for long because the sweet, nice lady at the window upgraded me. Yeah! We weren't able to go all 5 days but we did go 4!

My sister, Pam, and her family had been to Disneyland before so we just simply listened to her and followed her lead which made it so nice. She had purchased a book that told all about Disneyland secrets - for example, they had done some kind of study that proved you could ride certain rides in certain order and you wouldn't have to wait in line so long. I was really sceptical, but it really works. We would be in a line for a ride and I would be thinking that it was pretty long but when we would get off the ride the line was sooo much longer. I don't know how they know but they do. Also, we would get there at 7:30, wait for the gates to open at 8:00, stay til around 1:00 and then go back to the room to swim or rest and then go back in the evening and watch the beautiful fireworks. We had a good routine.

The following pictures are from day one. The blurry picture (sorry) below shows all the kiddos running to get to Disneyland. They were so excited.

Waiting for the gates to open. Silly Shane. - below

Yeah! I couldn't believe that we were finally here. Everything was so beautiful.

Paw Paw - he's so funny! - below

I definitely recommend a stroller for the little ones. Randal and Pam have a Disney Visa card and with that we were able to get 2 strollers at no cost everyday. It made is so nice.

All the kids had their autograph books ready for all the Disney characters to sign. We saw Donald right when we came in.

On this first day, we scheduled a breakfast with Disney characters. The guys didn't really care to go so they all rode rides while the girls and the kids went. It was an all you can eat buffet that was out of this world good. And seeing all the characters was such a treat for the kiddos. It was a little pricey, but worth it.

The fairy godmother was my favorite. I loved the way she talked and she was so friendly. I have a video of her if I can get it to download later.

And I must say that the rides were so efficient. They moved the line along so fast with the way each one was set up. Nothing like Six Flags.

Hayden and Ashlyn trying on hats. - above