Some other traveler's experience: Southern California.
Jul 1st, 2001, 02:40 PM
#1
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Some other traveler's experience: Southern California.
Sunday:
Arrived at Orange County airport (SNA) from Seatac (SEA) just after noon on Sunday, got the rental car and drove to the hotel in Anaheim. If you rent a Lincoln Town Car, for a better ride be sure to open the trunk and turn on the load-leveler switch located on the rear wheel-well. Check-in time for the Hawthorne Suites is 3pm, but I had them check if the room was available... it was, and in we went at about 1:30pm. After unpacking and settling in, we grabbed our cameras, jumped in the car, and drove up to Sunset Blvd. I figured Sunday afternoon would be the best time for this, because we didn't really have any plans for the remainder of the day and traffic would most likely be at a minimum. Other than the classic tie-up around LAX, I-405 was moving okay (took Garden Grove Freeway 'till it runs into I-405). We took Sunset Blvd. to the beach (Will Rogers'), and drove up and down the coast (PCH) for a short distance (first time seeing the Pacific for the rest of the family), then went back into Beverly Hills and Hollywood. We caught site of the Hollywood sign, saw the stars on Hollywood Blvd., and noted how typically urban the city looked. My wife said she felt ill and wanted to go home, there was trying to take in too much information and was over stimulated (she gets that way). Once we were back on the freeway, she began feeling better. On the way back to the hotel, I got off the freeway at Golden West and headed for the beach. Once again on PCH, what I remembered as dirt-shoulders and free parking, is now manicured grass-shoulders and paved walkways lined with palm trees, and now a quarter gets you ten minutes of parking time. We parked and stayed for about 1/2 hour and got our feet wet, with plans to return to Huntington Beach on Tuesday.
Arrived at Orange County airport (SNA) from Seatac (SEA) just after noon on Sunday, got the rental car and drove to the hotel in Anaheim. If you rent a Lincoln Town Car, for a better ride be sure to open the trunk and turn on the load-leveler switch located on the rear wheel-well. Check-in time for the Hawthorne Suites is 3pm, but I had them check if the room was available... it was, and in we went at about 1:30pm. After unpacking and settling in, we grabbed our cameras, jumped in the car, and drove up to Sunset Blvd. I figured Sunday afternoon would be the best time for this, because we didn't really have any plans for the remainder of the day and traffic would most likely be at a minimum. Other than the classic tie-up around LAX, I-405 was moving okay (took Garden Grove Freeway 'till it runs into I-405). We took Sunset Blvd. to the beach (Will Rogers'), and drove up and down the coast (PCH) for a short distance (first time seeing the Pacific for the rest of the family), then went back into Beverly Hills and Hollywood. We caught site of the Hollywood sign, saw the stars on Hollywood Blvd., and noted how typically urban the city looked. My wife said she felt ill and wanted to go home, there was trying to take in too much information and was over stimulated (she gets that way). Once we were back on the freeway, she began feeling better. On the way back to the hotel, I got off the freeway at Golden West and headed for the beach. Once again on PCH, what I remembered as dirt-shoulders and free parking, is now manicured grass-shoulders and paved walkways lined with palm trees, and now a quarter gets you ten minutes of parking time. We parked and stayed for about 1/2 hour and got our feet wet, with plans to return to Huntington Beach on Tuesday.
Jul 1st, 2001, 02:41 PM
#2
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Monday;
On Monday, we closed out Disneyland. After getting ourselves together in the morning, we went for the "free" hotel breakfast, then caught the shuttle over to Disney. The shuttle runs every 1/2 hour to 1 hour, depending on the time of day and it is "free" as well (funded by Disney and the hotels), parking at Disneyland is $7/day. Our hotel was a few blocks from Disney on Clementine and Katella, a little too far to walk comfortably (although we probably walked that distance 50 times over inside the park), but there's not much use in driving a couple blocks just to pay $7. We stood in line about 45 minutes to buy tickets ($43 a pop) and entered about 10:30 am. After too much walking between rides, due to poor planning and the fact that the Fast-pass system only allows one ride reservation at a time, we got our hands stamped and took the shuttle back to the hotel for dinner at about 7:00pm. We had a suite with two bedrooms and living room, three separate beds, a small refrigerator and microwave, so we went to the Food-4-Less grocery on Katella and Euclid, and made dinner for ourselves. We re-entered Disney at about 8:30pm, and I began getting cranky. First, our little girl had wanted so much to go into Sleeping Beauty's Castle, but I kept telling her Fantasy Land would be much better at night. As we entered the park, we watched the Character Parade on Main Street (got some good photos), then headed toward the castle... which was now closed and roped-off for some special event... so she missed it. Then, we threaded our way through all the people waiting to see Phantasmic... for which there was no remaining space... over toward Splash Mountain. We had intended on Fast-passing Splash Mtn. after dinner (it was closed for awhile during the day), only to find out they had closed the Fast-pass and the wait was 75 minutes. We had no desire to wait this long, and headed for the train station to go to Fantasy Land. We just missed the train, and had to wait a 1/2 hour or more for the next one (although the "conductor" said it would be 10-15 minutes). It was almost 9:30pm when we finally made it to Fantasy Land, so we waited by the "It's A Small World" ride until the fireworks began. We had a great view of the fireworks, and then a mere 3 minute wait to get on the ride. We went on a couple more Fantasy Land rides and then went back to Tomorrow Land. We closed out with the last ride on Space Mountain and then the very last ride on Star Wars -- they closed the doors behind us. We made it back to the hotel at about 12:45pm via the shuttle, that arrived late. A long day and a longer evening for a six year old, as well as the rest of us.
On Monday, we closed out Disneyland. After getting ourselves together in the morning, we went for the "free" hotel breakfast, then caught the shuttle over to Disney. The shuttle runs every 1/2 hour to 1 hour, depending on the time of day and it is "free" as well (funded by Disney and the hotels), parking at Disneyland is $7/day. Our hotel was a few blocks from Disney on Clementine and Katella, a little too far to walk comfortably (although we probably walked that distance 50 times over inside the park), but there's not much use in driving a couple blocks just to pay $7. We stood in line about 45 minutes to buy tickets ($43 a pop) and entered about 10:30 am. After too much walking between rides, due to poor planning and the fact that the Fast-pass system only allows one ride reservation at a time, we got our hands stamped and took the shuttle back to the hotel for dinner at about 7:00pm. We had a suite with two bedrooms and living room, three separate beds, a small refrigerator and microwave, so we went to the Food-4-Less grocery on Katella and Euclid, and made dinner for ourselves. We re-entered Disney at about 8:30pm, and I began getting cranky. First, our little girl had wanted so much to go into Sleeping Beauty's Castle, but I kept telling her Fantasy Land would be much better at night. As we entered the park, we watched the Character Parade on Main Street (got some good photos), then headed toward the castle... which was now closed and roped-off for some special event... so she missed it. Then, we threaded our way through all the people waiting to see Phantasmic... for which there was no remaining space... over toward Splash Mountain. We had intended on Fast-passing Splash Mtn. after dinner (it was closed for awhile during the day), only to find out they had closed the Fast-pass and the wait was 75 minutes. We had no desire to wait this long, and headed for the train station to go to Fantasy Land. We just missed the train, and had to wait a 1/2 hour or more for the next one (although the "conductor" said it would be 10-15 minutes). It was almost 9:30pm when we finally made it to Fantasy Land, so we waited by the "It's A Small World" ride until the fireworks began. We had a great view of the fireworks, and then a mere 3 minute wait to get on the ride. We went on a couple more Fantasy Land rides and then went back to Tomorrow Land. We closed out with the last ride on Space Mountain and then the very last ride on Star Wars -- they closed the doors behind us. We made it back to the hotel at about 12:45pm via the shuttle, that arrived late. A long day and a longer evening for a six year old, as well as the rest of us.
Jul 1st, 2001, 02:43 PM
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Tuesday/Wednesday:
We planned Tuesday for the BEACH, and so packed some sodas, cookies, and a large watermelon. I took Beach Blvd. to PCH and we parked there at the State parking lot -- all day for $3. Needless to say, everyone got sunburned, although my wife and I used lotion and didn't get it quite so bad as her mother and the children (who put up a big fuss and refused to wear lotion). At one point, I went to the snack bar and bought some strips 'n sauce, bringing back memories of hitch-hiking to the beach with only a dollar, or less, in my pocket. Strips, sauce, 'n sand, and occasionally some raw clams, was typical soup de jour in those days for teenagers without money. I caught a few good waves during our one day visit, it was pretty washed out with no outside waves. If you plan on visiting the beach in the SoCal area during the summer, always do so on a weekday. The weekends are not for the timid.
We had no definite plans for Wednesday, I figured maybe Knott's Berry Farm, but after driving through and seeing how much they've spoiled the once quaint place, I scratched it off the ticket. In trying to compete with Disney, the Knott's company has spoiled the niche they once had and just become another ride park (the wooden roller-coaster is a complete eyesore). I have been to Universal Studios in Orlando, and I didn't feel like driving up to LA during the week, so that was also out. On a somewhat spur of the moment, I headed the car for San Diego and Sea World. I had never gone to Sea World, although I did go to Marineland once or twice as a child and have rather vague memories. The parking at Sea World is the same as Disney, seven bucks per day. And, they wouldn't take pennies ($6 and some change, whatever happened to "Good for all debts public and private?"). The ticket prices were almost as high as Disney, with less wait, but I felt about the same way as I had felt at Disney the evening before. The key to Sea world is to look at the map -- duh! -- and make sure to look at the back of the map for the show times. We were walking all over the place trying to figure out the show times and where/when to go, and I was getting pretty cranky over the way the place was laid out. We saw Cirque de la Mer and then the Shamu show, then walked a lot more and were ready to eat. We purchased the tickets that include a meal within the Park (extra $5), but it is worth it considering the food prices. Because we took time to eat, we missed the Dolphin Show, I thought there was another show at 8:30pm but that was for some special event. We did see the comedy Otter show, then we left. We were there from about noon to 8:30pm, and it just wasn't worth it. The traffic to and from was okay, it took a little over 90 minutes each way on I-5.
We planned Tuesday for the BEACH, and so packed some sodas, cookies, and a large watermelon. I took Beach Blvd. to PCH and we parked there at the State parking lot -- all day for $3. Needless to say, everyone got sunburned, although my wife and I used lotion and didn't get it quite so bad as her mother and the children (who put up a big fuss and refused to wear lotion). At one point, I went to the snack bar and bought some strips 'n sauce, bringing back memories of hitch-hiking to the beach with only a dollar, or less, in my pocket. Strips, sauce, 'n sand, and occasionally some raw clams, was typical soup de jour in those days for teenagers without money. I caught a few good waves during our one day visit, it was pretty washed out with no outside waves. If you plan on visiting the beach in the SoCal area during the summer, always do so on a weekday. The weekends are not for the timid.
We had no definite plans for Wednesday, I figured maybe Knott's Berry Farm, but after driving through and seeing how much they've spoiled the once quaint place, I scratched it off the ticket. In trying to compete with Disney, the Knott's company has spoiled the niche they once had and just become another ride park (the wooden roller-coaster is a complete eyesore). I have been to Universal Studios in Orlando, and I didn't feel like driving up to LA during the week, so that was also out. On a somewhat spur of the moment, I headed the car for San Diego and Sea World. I had never gone to Sea World, although I did go to Marineland once or twice as a child and have rather vague memories. The parking at Sea World is the same as Disney, seven bucks per day. And, they wouldn't take pennies ($6 and some change, whatever happened to "Good for all debts public and private?"). The ticket prices were almost as high as Disney, with less wait, but I felt about the same way as I had felt at Disney the evening before. The key to Sea world is to look at the map -- duh! -- and make sure to look at the back of the map for the show times. We were walking all over the place trying to figure out the show times and where/when to go, and I was getting pretty cranky over the way the place was laid out. We saw Cirque de la Mer and then the Shamu show, then walked a lot more and were ready to eat. We purchased the tickets that include a meal within the Park (extra $5), but it is worth it considering the food prices. Because we took time to eat, we missed the Dolphin Show, I thought there was another show at 8:30pm but that was for some special event. We did see the comedy Otter show, then we left. We were there from about noon to 8:30pm, and it just wasn't worth it. The traffic to and from was okay, it took a little over 90 minutes each way on I-5.
Jul 1st, 2001, 02:44 PM
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Thursday/Epilogue:
We saw "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" at Disney, and "Pirates 4-D" at Sea World, these are both worth watching if you are there -- my wife totally freaked during the Disney show and was repeatedly screaming in my ear -- yeah, really great -- "rats" is all I will say. At Sea World, she had a better idea of what to expect and was a bit calmer. The six year old closed her eyes during Pirates -- it was a bit more scarier for her -- "spiders and bumble-bees" is all I will say.
Scheduled to leave on Thursday afternoon, I dropped them off at the Buena Park Mall for a couple hours shopping while I went to visit an old friend. I mentioned the hotel had grease ants, he said every place has those very small black ants... they go after water, sugar, grease, anything to make a home. I pointed out the silly conglomeration of Spanish style architecture that was beginning to pervade the area... he said yeah, they're trying to make it all look like Irvine. We ate at two places, once at the Shipwreck Cafe at Sea World, and once at Del Taco on Beach Blvd. near the GG freeway. The Shipwreck had good salmon and chicken. My wife particularly liked the quesa dia at Del Taco. I remember that Del Taco always had great quesa dia's and taco salads, but I had the Macho Burrito instead. Otherwise we made our own meals, or ate junk food, but we started each morning with the "free" breakfast at the hotel. Our miniscule attempt at saving was done through meals, although considering the 3X price inflation at Disney and Sea World, maybe the savings weren't so miniscule after all, between the five of us. Although, a week earlier I spent over $200 on us for a late lunch at the Space Needle.
In all, it was a pretty good 4 days, but next time I think we'll just spend more time at the beach -- with plenty of lotion -- and, maybe a day at Disneyland for the rides we missed... with a visit to Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
We saw "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" at Disney, and "Pirates 4-D" at Sea World, these are both worth watching if you are there -- my wife totally freaked during the Disney show and was repeatedly screaming in my ear -- yeah, really great -- "rats" is all I will say. At Sea World, she had a better idea of what to expect and was a bit calmer. The six year old closed her eyes during Pirates -- it was a bit more scarier for her -- "spiders and bumble-bees" is all I will say.
Scheduled to leave on Thursday afternoon, I dropped them off at the Buena Park Mall for a couple hours shopping while I went to visit an old friend. I mentioned the hotel had grease ants, he said every place has those very small black ants... they go after water, sugar, grease, anything to make a home. I pointed out the silly conglomeration of Spanish style architecture that was beginning to pervade the area... he said yeah, they're trying to make it all look like Irvine. We ate at two places, once at the Shipwreck Cafe at Sea World, and once at Del Taco on Beach Blvd. near the GG freeway. The Shipwreck had good salmon and chicken. My wife particularly liked the quesa dia at Del Taco. I remember that Del Taco always had great quesa dia's and taco salads, but I had the Macho Burrito instead. Otherwise we made our own meals, or ate junk food, but we started each morning with the "free" breakfast at the hotel. Our miniscule attempt at saving was done through meals, although considering the 3X price inflation at Disney and Sea World, maybe the savings weren't so miniscule after all, between the five of us. Although, a week earlier I spent over $200 on us for a late lunch at the Space Needle.
In all, it was a pretty good 4 days, but next time I think we'll just spend more time at the beach -- with plenty of lotion -- and, maybe a day at Disneyland for the rides we missed... with a visit to Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
Sep 6th, 2001, 02:35 PM
#7
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I love your reference to "the silly conglomeration of Spanish style architecture"-- out here I call it "California Cheeseball Mediterranean" (I live in one that we are trying to make look legitimately Spanish!).
BTW, ants are an ongoing problem for residents, but I NEVER see them in a public place like a restaurant or hotel, except maybe on an outdoor patio. That was a failure of your hotel to keep on top of the problem-- he should't have been so casual about it.
BTW, ants are an ongoing problem for residents, but I NEVER see them in a public place like a restaurant or hotel, except maybe on an outdoor patio. That was a failure of your hotel to keep on top of the problem-- he should't have been so casual about it.
Feb 28th, 2003, 03:28 PM
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Just adding a tag, speaking of California beaches...
The water really isn't really that bad and everyone knows Frankie & Annette don't go in the water, it would ruin their hairdo's. The only time I turned blue (literally) was after staying in about an hour in 56-58 degree water while surfing sans wetsuit.
The water really isn't really that bad and everyone knows Frankie & Annette don't go in the water, it would ruin their hairdo's. The only time I turned blue (literally) was after staying in about an hour in 56-58 degree water while surfing sans wetsuit.
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