Day 1: California Vacation, LA and Anaheim.....Off we go
Well todays the day, we booked our holiday over 2 months ago to go California, were staying in Anaheim just down the road from Disneyland at the Days Inn Maingate, we have hired a car and plan to go to Disney for 3 days, Universal Studios, Hollywood and a few beaches along the Pacific coast highway. I had changed my money and was taking $700usd that cost me $750cdn.
I stayed a Jaynes overnight and we were up at 5am, i was bit groggy as i has been out for some jars the night before with the boys but i was home by 11pm. Jayne made us a coffee and tea to take with us in the taxi who was waiting outside Jaynes building at 5.45am...ouch !
We got to the airport for our flight at 8.30am and checked in and filled in all the forms for US immigration whilst in the huge line. We got our duty free and Jayne got a muffin and we sat at the gate for our flight to Las Vegas where we would change planes onto Santa Ana Orange County Airport.
The flight was good and quick it only took about 3hrs 45 we arrived in vegas 45 mins early, most of the people were getting off at begas but we had a 2 hr wait for our connection, it looked hot hot hot outside ! the airport was a bit dingy and small for Vegas i thought, we got some food for our lunch and had over an hour to wait, our connection was on time which was good, they had slots in the terminal (of course its vegas!) so we decided to play a bit, we both put $5 in, Jayne blew hers within 5 mins but i managed to win $10 so we split it and made our money back, we decided to put that money back in and didnt win anything else, oh well $10 down aint bad wont break the bank.
We waited at our gate and boarded to Santa Ana, John Wayne Airport, the plane wasnt quite full and it was only a short flight to OC, we had touched down within an hour and we got inside the airport, it was a small airport and there was no hussle or bussle we quickly got our cases and went to the desk to check in for our car rental, we had to pick it up in the underground parking place, as we stepped outside for a fag the heat hit us, wow was it hot, not very humid just roasting hot !! great weather, probably hotter then Florida 2 yrs ago. We picked up our car downstairs , they gave us a free upgrade and we got a Silver Jeep Patriot instead of a bog standard economy car...bonus !!
I had printed off lots of google maps directions so we could find our way around and not get lost, Jayne was driving safe on the highway ( i wasnt going to drive out here) and we took our time, we got a little lost on the way to the hotel but only like 2 mins out of our way and we managed to get there in the end without to much trouble,
the hotel looked nice and seemed about a 15 min walk down the road from Disney, by now it was 2pm and the desk guy told us that check in was 3pm, so we walked down the road for a bit and asked where we could get a drink at bar, we decided to pop over the road to the Double Tree Hotel Suites (posh place) to their bar and we sat outside and had a vodka/lemonade each relaxing in the sun and toasting our holiday, finally we were here and we were happy.
We got our room an hour later it was nice, we had a huge king size bed instead of 2 queens, it was clean and we had a fridge and microwave, we were on the ground floor in the corner where there was less noise from the street, room 127 to be precise and a stones throw from the pool area, it was a no smoking room so we had to fag it outide which we didnt mind,we decide to check out the pool area, no one was around it was very quiet si decided to go for a swim (i'd forgot my swim shorts so had to wear some shorts that passed for swimmers), the pool was tiny but nice it also had a hot tub that was nt very "hot". Jayne didnt come swimming she just dangled her feet to cool off, it was nice to cool off as it was baking outside. after a while we had ahad enough and decided to dry off and pop over to the petrol station right next door to grab some snacks as we hant eaten since the morning (the plane didnt feed us), the petrol station sold everything we wanted, buttys, burgers, crisps, chocs even beer and coolers !!! we got some doritos and picked up some smirnoff ice black so we could put them in our fridge in the room, a god send this would be and regular occurance hehe, we had a couple of smirnoffs and scoffed the crisps before getting changed to go to Disneyland for the evening for a while, we decided to use one of our day hopper passes as we were only going to disney on 3 occasions, there was a free shuttle from the hotel so we hopped on it at 6.30 and it took us straight there, very handy 2 mins up the road.
We got dropped off right at the gate and made our way in through the security checks, Disneyland is layed out different than florida's,
as you enter the main square to your right is Disneyland and to your left is Disneys California Adventure, we chose to go to California Adventure tonight and do a few rides and check it out, we took some pics in the main square and went in, by now it was 7pm and the park was thinning out it didnt seem to busy, we walked straight on Soarin' over California (they have the same ride at Epcot in Florida)
after that we walked round to Paradise Pier, they have a huge lake surrounded by rides and a pier, the big photo point is the California Screamin rollercoaster and the sun wheel big wheel ride, looks really nice all lit up at night, we made our way round to Screamin, Jayne wouldnt go on, but i couldnt wait, the line wasnt too bad and only waited like 10 mins, as it set off it stops on the straight and after a 54321 countdown it blasts you off on the straight and uphill into a drop at the top, the ride was awesome and long, nearly 4 mins apparently, i loved it !!! i couldnt wait to get back to Jayne to tell her how good it was, i'd say its my 2nd fave coaster behind the hulk at universal orlando !
By now it was getting dark and we decide to go on the sun wheel , there was 2 choices for cars, a swinging rocking one or a stationary one, we choose the stationary one, good choice as the ones that rocked REALLY rocked, yikes, it took a while to load up and for us to do around 3 revs, we took some pics up at the top it was pretty hairy being up so high stuck at the top, we were glad when we got down.
Straight away i went on the Mailiboomer which is a tower that that launches you straight up and then back down again , Jayne was no way coming on this, i walked straight on it, oooooh it was high and fast but good especially when when you get to the topa nd come down. When i got off the electric light parade had started and Jayne was watching it, there were some great floats and we took lots of pics, after this was over it was now nearly 9ish and the park was closing so we made our way out, the shuttle was due to pick us up at 9.30 so we made our way to the pick up point and the fireworks were going off in Disneyland which we could see, by now we were tired and the shuttle got us back by 10pm to our hotel, we popped to the petrol station to grab a bite to eat, i got a steak rib sandwich jayne got a pizza, we took it back to the pool area and got a couple of smirnoffs from the fridge and chilled round the pool for a bit before heading to bed, it was a very long day we were in bed by 11.30 with another early start in the morn to come. footnote: the bed was a kingsize and was huuuge i used to laugh with Jayne cos i called her "Faraway" cos she really was !
I stayed a Jaynes overnight and we were up at 5am, i was bit groggy as i has been out for some jars the night before with the boys but i was home by 11pm. Jayne made us a coffee and tea to take with us in the taxi who was waiting outside Jaynes building at 5.45am...ouch !
We got to the airport for our flight at 8.30am and checked in and filled in all the forms for US immigration whilst in the huge line. We got our duty free and Jayne got a muffin and we sat at the gate for our flight to Las Vegas where we would change planes onto Santa Ana Orange County Airport.
The flight was good and quick it only took about 3hrs 45 we arrived in vegas 45 mins early, most of the people were getting off at begas but we had a 2 hr wait for our connection, it looked hot hot hot outside ! the airport was a bit dingy and small for Vegas i thought, we got some food for our lunch and had over an hour to wait, our connection was on time which was good, they had slots in the terminal (of course its vegas!) so we decided to play a bit, we both put $5 in, Jayne blew hers within 5 mins but i managed to win $10 so we split it and made our money back, we decided to put that money back in and didnt win anything else, oh well $10 down aint bad wont break the bank.
We waited at our gate and boarded to Santa Ana, John Wayne Airport, the plane wasnt quite full and it was only a short flight to OC, we had touched down within an hour and we got inside the airport, it was a small airport and there was no hussle or bussle we quickly got our cases and went to the desk to check in for our car rental, we had to pick it up in the underground parking place, as we stepped outside for a fag the heat hit us, wow was it hot, not very humid just roasting hot !! great weather, probably hotter then Florida 2 yrs ago. We picked up our car downstairs , they gave us a free upgrade and we got a Silver Jeep Patriot instead of a bog standard economy car...bonus !!
I had printed off lots of google maps directions so we could find our way around and not get lost, Jayne was driving safe on the highway ( i wasnt going to drive out here) and we took our time, we got a little lost on the way to the hotel but only like 2 mins out of our way and we managed to get there in the end without to much trouble,
the hotel looked nice and seemed about a 15 min walk down the road from Disney, by now it was 2pm and the desk guy told us that check in was 3pm, so we walked down the road for a bit and asked where we could get a drink at bar, we decided to pop over the road to the Double Tree Hotel Suites (posh place) to their bar and we sat outside and had a vodka/lemonade each relaxing in the sun and toasting our holiday, finally we were here and we were happy.We got our room an hour later it was nice, we had a huge king size bed instead of 2 queens, it was clean and we had a fridge and microwave, we were on the ground floor in the corner where there was less noise from the street, room 127 to be precise and a stones throw from the pool area, it was a no smoking room so we had to fag it outide which we didnt mind,we decide to check out the pool area, no one was around it was very quiet si decided to go for a swim (i'd forgot my swim shorts so had to wear some shorts that passed for swimmers), the pool was tiny but nice it also had a hot tub that was nt very "hot". Jayne didnt come swimming she just dangled her feet to cool off, it was nice to cool off as it was baking outside. after a while we had ahad enough and decided to dry off and pop over to the petrol station right next door to grab some snacks as we hant eaten since the morning (the plane didnt feed us), the petrol station sold everything we wanted, buttys, burgers, crisps, chocs even beer and coolers !!! we got some doritos and picked up some smirnoff ice black so we could put them in our fridge in the room, a god send this would be and regular occurance hehe, we had a couple of smirnoffs and scoffed the crisps before getting changed to go to Disneyland for the evening for a while, we decided to use one of our day hopper passes as we were only going to disney on 3 occasions, there was a free shuttle from the hotel so we hopped on it at 6.30 and it took us straight there, very handy 2 mins up the road.
We got dropped off right at the gate and made our way in through the security checks, Disneyland is layed out different than florida's,
as you enter the main square to your right is Disneyland and to your left is Disneys California Adventure, we chose to go to California Adventure tonight and do a few rides and check it out, we took some pics in the main square and went in, by now it was 7pm and the park was thinning out it didnt seem to busy, we walked straight on Soarin' over California (they have the same ride at Epcot in Florida)
after that we walked round to Paradise Pier, they have a huge lake surrounded by rides and a pier, the big photo point is the California Screamin rollercoaster and the sun wheel big wheel ride, looks really nice all lit up at night, we made our way round to Screamin, Jayne wouldnt go on, but i couldnt wait, the line wasnt too bad and only waited like 10 mins, as it set off it stops on the straight and after a 54321 countdown it blasts you off on the straight and uphill into a drop at the top, the ride was awesome and long, nearly 4 mins apparently, i loved it !!! i couldnt wait to get back to Jayne to tell her how good it was, i'd say its my 2nd fave coaster behind the hulk at universal orlando !
By now it was getting dark and we decide to go on the sun wheel , there was 2 choices for cars, a swinging rocking one or a stationary one, we choose the stationary one, good choice as the ones that rocked REALLY rocked, yikes, it took a while to load up and for us to do around 3 revs, we took some pics up at the top it was pretty hairy being up so high stuck at the top, we were glad when we got down.Straight away i went on the Mailiboomer which is a tower that that launches you straight up and then back down again , Jayne was no way coming on this, i walked straight on it, oooooh it was high and fast but good especially when when you get to the topa nd come down. When i got off the electric light parade had started and Jayne was watching it, there were some great floats and we took lots of pics, after this was over it was now nearly 9ish and the park was closing so we made our way out, the shuttle was due to pick us up at 9.30 so we made our way to the pick up point and the fireworks were going off in Disneyland which we could see, by now we were tired and the shuttle got us back by 10pm to our hotel, we popped to the petrol station to grab a bite to eat, i got a steak rib sandwich jayne got a pizza, we took it back to the pool area and got a couple of smirnoffs from the fridge and chilled round the pool for a bit before heading to bed, it was a very long day we were in bed by 11.30 with another early start in the morn to come. footnote: the bed was a kingsize and was huuuge i used to laugh with Jayne cos i called her "Faraway" cos she really was !
posted by joeintoronto at
9:17 PM
