koohii_cafe, posts by tag: vacation - LiveJournal

So! Yesterday had an interesting start. Mom bought our three day park hopper pass before we even left for vacation, so that part's been locked in for awhile, that we were going to Disney. We weren't too excited about it though, because Disney doesn't really have nearly as much as we're used to. At least not the one here. After awhile though, we got a late start out to the park, to 'Disney Downtown' to pick up our passes. Mom went in, they told her she had to actually go to the park proper to pick them up. Dad, hubby and I drove the car around to the parking lot while Mom went to get the tickets. Ticket people at the park told her she needed to get the tickets in Downtown Disney. Mom... was not happy. Stormed back there, and finally got out tickets. Came back, and we headed into the second park, California Adventure, since we didn't have a full day.

The woes just continued at first. Mom got ticked because they didn't automatically hand out maps and information things, one of the workers was rude to her, it was so small... Seriously, the entirety of 'California Adventure' is about the size of Coney Mall in Kings Island. Maybe a little bigger. Maybe. We couldn't get tickets to the World of Color show that was happen after the park closed- just missed them because of how long it took to get our tickets. Then, we got on our first ride... and it broke down. With us on it. >.<

After waiting about half an hour, they got us off the ride, and we moved on. Things got better after that. Going on a Monday in September meant that it wasn't crowded at all. The longest we waited for a ride was maybe about half an hour, on Tower of Terror. We wandered the park, rode just about everything, had a really satisfactory lunch for not a bad price. All in all, not a bad day. I got a little burnt, nothing too bad, and tired from pushing Dad around all day in his wheelchair. Then we went home.

We're going back today, to finish off some of the shows we missed, and then we're heading out to San Jose. Catch ya later! ^___^

So another full day yesterday. We didn't actually end up going to see Wayne Brady, since my mom noticed the fine print on our tickets said that we'd be there for four hours. o.o So.... yeah. Instead, we started out the day with some sight seeing! Headed out of the hotel, to go visit the Hyperion instead! Which is actually Los Altos Hotel and Apartments, and really is gorgeous to see in person! Took some pictures, then headed to our next destination, the cemetery they used to shoot the Buffy graveyard scenes in. Ironically, it's called 'Angelus-Rosedale cemetery.' XD What a name! Walked around a little bit, tried to find any familiar headstones, took a few pictures, then headed out.

Our next location was supposed to be Angel's mansion, but there was some street parade blocking off the way we needed, so instead we went to see the Halliwell house from Charmed. Nestled nicely in the middle of a quiet neighborhood, it was instantly recognizable. Amusingly enough, the last digit of its address had been scratched off the house. I can't remember if it was that way in the show or now, but Mom figured it might have been so people wouldn't find it as easily? The house next door was for sale. I pity the person who would move in without realizing what was next door. XD We were good though, just took a few pictures from across the street, and left.

Next stop was Chinatown, and we spent a few hours there, mostly just wandering from shop to shop. I picked up an authentic Kung Fu outfit to use as my Ranma costume for my next con (XD), and a couple souvenirs for the girls back home. We ate Chinese for lunch too, at the same restaurant where they filmed part of the first Rush Hour. One of the ladies working had been there for the filming too! ^___^ Mom was totally excited over that, Jackie Chan fan that she is. Wandered a little bit more after lunch, then took our leftovers back to the hotel. Dinner for later! Yum!

Next up, we made our way to Angelus' Mansion for real, and it was absolutely friggin' GORGEOUS! The view! lkjfhkahdf! Took lots of pictures, of course, then... Mom realized we were in Bel-Air. XD So, she grabbed our Map To The Stars, and off to Leonard Nimoy's house we went! Coincidentally, he was having a party! o.o There was a huge line of cars up and down the street, and security people at the door, who laughed when we asked if we could take a picture. XD Then, to Harrison Ford's house, and then out to nearby Torrance, to see Buffy's house, and Sunnydale High. As a note, Buffy's house looks COMPLETELY different! The owner has grown up the yard a LOT, filled it with bushes and other garden type stuff. It's almost unrecognizable, which of course, was probably the intent. ^^; The house was also less than a mile away from the high school, which actually was recognizable.

When we were done there, well... It'd been a long day. So back to the hotel, and to bed we went. At least, I did. XD Apparently being in Cali actually gets me to bed early!

Anyway, we're headed out to Disneyland today, so woot! Gotta go get ready!

So. California trip is go! As I type, I'm sitting in our hotel room in LA! ^___^ And I am sooooo, dead tired, but that's beside the point. XD It's been a busy past few days.

We left Cinci Friday afternoon, via Delta airlines, for the flight to the LA airport that lasted four hours and four minutes, according to the pilot. Not a horrible flight at all, although flying doesn't agree with me exactly. Ginger pills to the rescue! XD Mythbuster tested, Raven approved! Got to LA, took about an hour to get our rental van, then drove to our hotel... which seemed rather seedy. Rodeway Inn in the middle of what looked to be kind of a kind of ghetto neighborhood. So... we drove around the corner to have dinner at Subway, talked to the locals, and found out that the Clarion across the street was a lot better. So! There we stayed! Checked in, aaaaand... collapse. XD Tired!

Woke up the next morning around 8 our time, 5 LA time. Couldn't get back to sleep, puttered around a bit, checking out what we wanted to do locally, got a hotel for when we go to San Jose tomorrow (We're going to the Winchester mansion, WOOT!), and then off we went, sometimes around 11 local time! Our hotel is within walking distance of downtown, so we checked out some of the local street stuff (there was also some street fair going on), spent a little time at Macarthur Park, and I got a cute new denim skirt at some street store where the guy barely spoke English. XD My mom got a couple shirts too, and cuuuuuuute! Afterwards, we had lunch at a small food court nearby, since we were all starving. Mom and hubby had Subway, Dad and I had some place called Oishi Teriyaki. XD Yummy! ;P

Once we were done, we loaded in the van and drove down to Grauman's Chinese Theatre, checked out some of the walk of fame (I got piccies I'll upload later! XD), the handprints in the concrete, and picked up a few souvenirs in a local shop. I even got to see the church of Scientology! XDD That amused me so much I took a picture, that I'll share later. We got to take a 30 minute walking tour of the Chinese theatre, and we got free tickets to be in the audience of 'Let's Make A Deal' with Wayne Brady! Then, with all our feet aching, we headed to the nearest Wally world to pick up food stuffs.

I can officially say that I've been shopping in the LA 'hood, according to the cashiers, and the only WalMart that's inside a shopping mall. XD Got our food, got back to the hotel, and I literally shoved everything off the bed, crawled under the covers, and collapsed, contacts still in and all. ^^; Tiiiiiiiiired! Hubby woke me up to take out my contacts, and then I was out again.

Getting up now, getting ready to go be on Wayne Brady's show (WOOT!), and then? Who knows. We're going to go visit the Hyperion at some point (yes, I am a dork), as well as Angel's mansion, Buffy's house, and the Halliwell house. XD So! I'll post piccies later (maybe tonight, depending on how out of it I'll be), but I gotta run for now. Wish me luck!!