California Spring Fling, 2001 - Day 2
About This Page:

Little Mermaid · 12-29-2002, 05:20 PM

Cast of characters:

Little Mermaid - me, a 38 y/o SAHM who's in desperate need of some R&R
Greg - my DH, a 40 y/o kid at heart, who's happy to be going somewhere OTHER than WDW for a vacation
Stephanie - my 7 y/o daughter, who's very excited to be going to Disneyland
Mark - my 6 y/o son, who'll go anywhere on an airplane at any time

Before I go any further, I have to say that Greg dictated the notes for today's trip report. In listening to the tape, I heard him comment several times that he cannot understand why I need him to include all the nitty-gritty details…he just doesn't GET it, does he?

Rise and shine everybody, because it's our first full day in Californ-I-A! Woohoo!

We were definitely still on Minnesota time, as we woke up ridiculously early this morning. I woke up at 2 a.m. (and never really did get back to sleep), Greg woke up at 4 a.m., and Mark at 4:30. Stephanie woke up shortly thereafter, but we forced ourselves to stay in bed until 6 a.m. We packed up our bags for the move to a new room later in the day, and the front desk made arrangements to move our luggage for us, which I thought was a very nice gesture. We went to the hospitality room shortly before 7 a.m., and were one of the first in line for the complimentary deluxe continental breakfast.

The deluxe continental breakfast was wonderful! There was an assortment of HUGE bagels (some of the best bagels I've ever had, I might add), several different kinds of cream cheese, croissants, muffins (the chocolate/chocolate chip muffins and blueberry muffins were especially yummy), toast, huge oranges, apples and bananas, three kinds of cereal, coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice and apple juice. Greg was a little disappointed that they didn't have donuts, but Stephanie proclaimed it the best hotel breakfast she ever had! She said it was even better than what was offered at the WDW Polynesian concierge lounge (not that that's saying a lot, hehehe...we didn't have the best experience there [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] !).

After breakfast, we returned to the room to freshen up a bit, and then headed out for the day. Our first stop was Target, to stock up on bottled water, soda and snacks for the coming week. $75 later, we were done. Stephanie commented that one of the things she loves about vacation is that we tend to indulge in more goodies and junk food than we do at home…that's what vacation is all about, right? Right!

With our stockpile of snacks and beverages safely in the trunk (thanks goodness it was a cool day), we headed for Downtown Disney. Well, we THOUGHT we were headed for Downtown Disney. The map I was using wasn't very detailed, and we actually ended up pulling into the parking plaza for Disneyland/California Adventure. I asked the gate attendant for directions to Downtown Disney, and then he gave me a pink slip of paper to put on the windshield of the car so that we could be directed to the "turnaround for lost tourists who didn't mean to come to Disneyland" . Apparently, this pink slip of paper is a "code" to the CM further up the parking lot to direct you to the turnaround so that you can exit! It's nice to know we aren't the only ones who don't know where we are going!

We finally got our act together and made it to Downtown Disney at approximately 10 a.m. We parked in one of the satellite lots, and rode a Double Decker bus to Downtown Disney. The kids really got a kick out of this, and it gave us all a very warm and fuzzy Disney feeling. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day…sunny and cool, and about 65 degrees, which felt warm to us. Downtown Disney is, in a word, GORGEOUS! Granted, it's all relatively new, but we were VERY, VERY impressed. The grounds surrounding the Disneyland Hotel are gorgeous, and the huge Sorcerer's hat outside near the entrance to DTD makes for a great photo opportunity. There was a huge ESPN club, with stone figures on the outside around the top, and the heads moved back and forth. Stephanie got quite a kick out of that. The Rainforest Café is also very impressive looking…quite different from the others I've been too…it has an Egyptian theme going on. We spent a little bit of time at the Lego store, but for the most part, we just walked the length of Downtown Disney from the entrance near the Disneyland Hotel to the Entrance Plaza for Disneyland and California Adventure, and then back again. I can't begin to say how totally impressed we were with Downtown Disney…it is just so gorgeous. Even Greg was impressed, and that is saying a LOT. Shopping centers/areas don't usually impress him! The landscaping is incredible, and everything is immaculately well-kept, with great attention to detail.

After we finished our stroll through Downtown Disney, it was just about time for our reservation at Rainforest Café. This Rainforest Café is a 2-story establishment, and our table was located on the second floor. As luck would have it, we were given a table right next to the animatronic elephants…this seems to happen to us a lot a RFC. It worked out well, because the elephants kept the kids entertained, with their moving trunks and blinking eyes. Our server's name was "Summer", and as with most everyone we met on this trip, she was incredibly friendly. We even teased her a bit about her typical California-girl name, and she confided in us that she used to be a blonde, but actually preferred being a true brunette, because there were too many blondes in Southern California! The food and service were both very good. Greg had his usual Rainforest Burger, and the kids had their usual Jurassic Chicken Tidbits. I decided to try something a little different and opted for the Shrimp Scampi. It was "okay", but I wish I had gone with my usual Mogambo Shrimp.

After lunch, we left Downtown Disney and headed for Character Warehouse. This Character Warehouse was nothing like the ones in Florida…it looked very run-down, with a relatively small selection of merchandise. Greg did find a Disneyland T-shirt that he liked, so at least we didn't walk away empty handed.

At last, we were off to Hollywood! We encountered a fair amount of traffic (bumper to bumper at some points, which surprised us for a Sunday) on Interstate 5, but we finally reached Hollywood Boulevard. We also caught a glimpse of the famed "Hollywood" sign (it's not as big as you'd think). We drove the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard that runs from 101 to the Chinese Theater. As I had heard, it does look quite run-down. But, there were tourists everywhere. We passed the Pantages Theater, which is currently running The Lion King, and saw several huge stretch limos waiting in front of the theater. We parked in a pay-lot next to the Chinese Theater, and with cameras and cam-corder in hand, took off down the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Right outside of the Chinese Theater were several people dressed as legendary Hollywood stars and movie figures. We saw Charlie Chaplin, Superman, Marilyn Monroe, Batman, and Elvis. We also saw someone called "Captain Niagara"…I have no idea who this is, but he was dressed in something resembling Underoos. I also have no idea why he felt the need to look down his pants while he was standing there in front of everyone! Very peculiar!

We stopped for a few moments to get pictures with Batman and Elvis. Batman was a big hit with Mark, and Elvis tried to flirt with Stephanie, who hid behind me. Elvis and I exchanged a few pleasantries, after which I said, "Thank you, thank you veramuch" in my best Elvis voice. Both Batman and Elvis were notably impressed .

While checking out the various celebrity footprints and handprints, we noticed a group of Japanese tourists looking at Clint Eastwood's signature. We couldn't understand what they were saying, as they were speaking Japanese, but it was apparent they weren't sure who he was. The tour leader came over to them and spoke to them in Japanese. Again, we couldn't understand what they were saying, but we did hear the words "macaroni western" used in the description! That's spaghetti western ! I also stood in Harrison Ford's
footprints! Oooh--aaaah. Ooh la la. :lol

Stephanie spotted both Mickey Mouse and Snow White's stars during our stroll up and down Hollywood Boulevard. We stopped in one souvenir shop to pick up the requisite ridiculously overpriced postcards, and made one other stop at the dirtiest McDonald's I've ever had the displeasure of visiting.

After leaving Hollywood Boulevard (which Mark thoroughly enjoyed), we headed south a few blocks to Wilshire Boulevard, which would take us to the Promised Land, Rodeo Drive. On the way, we drove past Paramount Studios (where "Friends" and "Frasier" are both taped…it's in a very run-down area of the city…ick) and CBS Television City. If it hadn't been a Sunday, I would have liked to stake out a spot in front of the parking lot at CBS Television City to catch a glimpse of Shemar Moore from "The Young and the Restless". Ooh la la!

The drive down Wilshire Boulevard became much nicer the closer we got to Beverly Hills. We drove post the Beverly Center, a huge mall in the heart of Beverly Hills (mental note to myself to include a stop there on our next trip ). Palm trees lined the roadway, and I felt a bit like Eddie Murphy in the scene where he drives into Beverly Hills from Detroit in the first Beverly Hills Cop movie! (in fact, Greg and I started humming the Axel F song!). It was absolutely gorgeous! Rolls Royce's, Mercedes and Jaguars were parked up and down the street…this is definitely the land of excess my friends! From Wilshire Boulevard, we turned onto Rodeo Drive. Although it was a Sunday and most of the stores were closed, there wasn't a parking spot to be had anywhere on the street. We went a block or so north of the end of Rodeo Drive parked near a small park. I had to laugh when I saw the "Beverly Hills Neighborhood Watch" sign!

We strolled down Rodeo Drive, and I noticed a huge stretch limo parked in front of the Louis Vittone store. A uniformed chauffeur was leaning against the limo, but we never saw who the limo belonged to….it would have been fun to see a celebrity (yes, I'm the starstruck kind). Most of the stores were closed though; I wish I had thought to schedule this excursion the day before, when the stores would have been open. After we walked the length of Rodeo Drive, we took the little cobblestone walk up Via Rodeo, and walked past Tiffany and Co, and Versace. Darn…if only the stores were open! Rats! As we walked back up Rodeo Drive towards our car, Greg laughed when he noticed an Ice Cream truck parked right in front of Gucci! We also saw something we thought was pretty amusing in front of Cartier. A man pulled up in a vintage 1940's gold Jaguar, and parked. Before he got out, he put "The Club" on his steering wheel! :lol Why didn't he just have a security system installed? There was something about seeing a Jaguar on Rodeo Drive in front of Cartier Jewelers secured with "The Club" that struck us as hilarious. We laughed all the way back to the car. We also noted several shops that had gone out of business, and one shop having a "going out of business" sale…I guess not everyone can hack it on Rodeo Drive!

We headed down Santa Monica Boulevard to the 405, passing the Century City shopping center on the way Hills (another mental note to myself to include a stop there on our next trip as well). The drive back to Anaheim went fairly quickly this time, as there was little traffic. The freeways in LA aren't nearly as bad as what we expected. Of course, it did probably help that we were just so excited to be there, and that it was an absolutely gorgeous day. We could see the mountains in the distance in just about every direction (except west, of course).

We stopped at McDonald's for a quick bite to eat on the way back to the hotel. We checked into our new, MUCH bigger room and unpacked our bags. The room that we moved to was wonderful. It was at least 5 feet longer than our previous room, and probably a foot wider. The vanity counter was much larger also. The room was definitely on par with rooms at any of the Disney deluxe resorts (with the exception of a balcony) both in terms of size and amenities. The beds were queen sized, with fluffy down comforters and attractive shams. I had even brought from home some Mickey toiletries we had left over from our last trip to WDW to "Disney-fy" our room. The only complaint about the hotel that I had was that they do not have extra coat hangars available. The 4-5 hangars that are in the closet are all you get

The kids crashed fairly early, and Greg and I were in bed by eleven (it would have been earlier, but we had to unpack). We wanted a good night's rest before our first day at Disneyland!!!!

Coming Next - Day 3 - A ride packed day at Disneyland Park!

[ 12-29-2002, 05:26 PM: Message edited by: Little Mermaid ]

ILuvDisney · 12-29-2002, 05:28 PM

Yea!! You started part 2! Great report, keep it coming [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[ 12-29-2002, 05:30 PM: Message edited by: ILuvDisney ]

Bert & Sully · 12-29-2002, 10:34 PM

Ok where did you wind up staying again? Also how did you decide on that place? We are planning on going in the next year or so and are just curious.

Really enjoying your report.

<<<<Heeeeeeeeeeey GREEEEEEEEEEEG!!>>>>>>>>&g t; Great attention to detail! [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Elaine

Little Mermaid · 12-29-2002, 11:58 PM

We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn on this trip (April 01)on the recommendation of a good friend. For Christmas '01, we stayed at Candy Cane again. For July '02, we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. BUT, we just got back from 10 days at DL for Christmas '02, and we stayed at the new Embassy Suites South Adjacent to Disneyland, and it totally ROCKS! Two thumbs WAYYY up for that hotel. The price was unbelievably low for such a first class, first-rate hotel. I don't think we'll ever stay anywhere else! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[ 12-29-2002, 11:59 PM: Message edited by: Little Mermaid ]