LA day three

Well I spent the day laid up in bed with a lousy back but Mum and Dad took off to explore LA on the Hop On Hop Off bus we'd booked. They seem to have enjoyed themselves but probably wouldn't recommend the bus tour for people who are contemplating it. I watching several episodes of Castle and worked on my poetry assignment. Dinner was flatbread pizza downstairs in the restaurant and brownie sundaes for dessert. Delicious! Well I finally seem to be up to date, so we'll see how long that lasts for!

Universal Studios

Our lovely concierge Sergio printed out directions to Universal Studios for us so the getting there wasn't too hard. Dad is still getting used to driving on the wrong side of the car and the road so there were a few moments I was slightly concerned but we got there in one piece.

We got to park in the Frankenstein parking lot and then it was time. I was so beyond excited that I could barely contain myself. Over to the guest services counter we hopped to get our Front of Line passes. Honestly, they were worth every penny. If ever you find yourself planning on visiting Universal Studios, I cannot recommend enough that you spend the extra money and get a Front of Line pass. If you remember the guy with the mullet skipping the line because he purchased his movie tickets online then it's just like that, only twenty times better. Wait times on some rides were ninety minutes and I think the longest we waited for a ride was five. You do the maths! They are only valid once on each ride but if you really love the ride I guess you could line up again. You also get priority seating at the shows which is pretty handy.

Our first stop was the studio tour as that was the one I wanted to do the most. Front of the Line meant we literally walked right up and onto the cart. Ours was the first cart of four so it meant we had the best view and could actually hear the tour guide. We started by heading down to their town which has several streets but is mostly used to depict New York City. There were places from Bruce Almighty, Back to the Future and Ghost Whisperer down here and New York Street can be used for New York from the 20's right through til now.

Next stop was skull island:

 



This was a 3D adventure that pitted King Kong up against a Trex or two. Peter Jackson himself helped design this and it was quite impressive. The cart moved as if we were being tossed about and I got sneezed on by a Trex, which was an experience in itself. Quite impressed.

After that it was time to drive past the car yard which had cars from movies like Back to the Future, Fast and Furious 2 and Jurassic World. Then onto Isla Nublar itself:

 

We then drove through the Wild West and Little Mexico, where we saw a flash flood simulation. This ride really is quite intent on drenching people! Quite interesting how they film it though. Apparently the water droplets have to be much larger than normal rain so the cameras can actually capture them.

Next was an underground subway station in which we saw a subway crash followed by another flash flood. They actually filmed an episode of Bones in there which was pretty cool.

Next stop, Amity:

If you look closely you can see the "monster named Jaws" they captured in the movie. Boy were they wrong! After pulling up next to the refuel station we see a poor police diver devoured by Jaws before all goes quiet. Next minute, Bruce appears:

 

 

Now Bruce actually is the name of this mechanical shark. Fun fact, the Bruce in Finding Nemo is actually named after this guy here. Now apparently Bruce was built and tested in this freshwater lake here but when they went to film the movie in salt water, he kept malfunctioning. This is why we don't see much of the shark in the movie. Did a great job of building suspense though!

 

 

Bit of a change in pace but still slightly on the topic of sharks, we were off to Wisteria Lane:

 

 

 

The original lane had to be expanded to add extra houses like Edie's after the popularity of the show and they are all still standing today. After that we swung past Whoville which quite creepily had dead bodies out the front. For Halloween they turn the park into a bit of a horror them after dark and the had turned this part of the tour into a maze with the them of 'The Purge' Totally explains my dream last night! We also swung past the Bates Motel and mothers house, where Norman was hanging out on the porch.

 

Then it was on to the disaster zone from War of the Worlds. They purchased an actual plane for this scene, which took nine weeks to set up:

 

 

It was in the movie for less than five minutes.

 

After this disaster zone we got a message from Agent Hobb letting us know were in grave danger but that we could hide out with his friend Dom:

 

 

 



This was another 3D experience, and quite impressive. This concluded the tour.

In other news, Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are coming to Universal!!

 

 

We needed coffee by this time so we stopped in at a little known town by the name of Springfield:

 

 

 



 

After quenching our coffee thirst in Cletus' shack, it was time to head down the hill to the rides! First stop: The Mummy.

Now my Mummy is not very fond of roller coasters but for some reason she chose not to read the signs that explained what this ride was so by the time she got in, it as too late. I still don't think I have been forgiven! The ride itself was really short, you basically go forward a bit, then go forward really fast, then do the whole thing in reverse. Nothing to write home about.

After that it was made quite clear there would be no more roller coasters for Mum so Dad and I went on to the Transformers ride by ourselves:

This was much more impressive than the Mummy ride. Optimus charged us with the task of protecting some sort of important device (yes that's how much attention I was paying) and we went on an adventure through the city to try and protect it. The ride itself was probably three times as long as the Mummy and much better theme wise and adventure wise.

The final ride before lunch was Jurassic Park:

A nice water ride slightly reminiscent of the rapids ride at Dreamworld, we saw cute little herbivores as we floated along (getting spat on a few times) before entering the carnivore area which of course is where it all goes wrong. The best way to escape is obviously through the water filtration plant so up we go, bypassing raptors along the way. The big finale is a Trex jumping out at you and a plummet down the waterfall. Pretty decent ride, everyone enjoyed it.

Lunch was in the Jurassic Park café where we all had overpriced salads. We then went off to explore a little more, where I had the chance to meet Bumblebee and Optimus Prime:

 

A quick conversation ensued in which Optimus (we're on a first name basis now) told me to throw a Decepticon on the barbie when I returned home. Nice guy actually :)

Back up the hill and time to go on the Minion ride. Another 3D adventure in which you are transformed into a minion, go through minion training only to be transformed back into a human at the end. What a waste :P

Time was running short so we went over to see the animals in movies show. It was quite interesting and included animals from Beverley Hills Chihuahua and The Proposal. I'm guessing these guys here are from G-Force?

 

 After a quick ice cream break and then a look through all the shops, it was time to head off. A really enjoyable day and highly recommended to anyone who is thinking about going.

 

 

 



Hotel Menage

Mum went to check in while Dad and I sorted out the luggage and valet. $12 a night for self park or $13 a night for valet. Umm, lemme think about that lol. SOLD. By the time we got inside Mum had managed to get us an upgrade from a room with a fold out sofa to a room with two queen sized beds. Except I'm pretty sure one is queen and one is king (not that I am complaining!)

The room itself is pretty standard. TV, bar fridge, coffee machine, beds and a bathroom. Clean and comfortable. The shower takes about five minutes to go from freezing to warm so theres a bit of standing around waiting and once you're in the shower it's definitely not the best in the world, but it'll do.

The restaurant downstairs is quite good and quite reasonably priced. Soup of the day with garlic bread will only set you back $7 in a cup, $10 in a mug. Turkey club with fries was only $12. Definitely wouldn't eat there every night but it's quite good for a short stay.

There is a Starbucks and a mini mart across the street so coffee and supplies are not far away for a short stay and there is a Walmart close by for longer stays. There's also a Taco Bell opposite here but I haven't been game to try that yet :P

By far the best thing about this hotel, and the main reason I booked us into this one, is the fact that every night you can see the fireworks display from Disneyland. It is over the freeway but not far at all so you actually get a free show! Winning!

LAX to Anaheim

Dad tried to download maps to his GPS before we left with little success so I was handed the map and told to get us to Anaheim. On dear, not a good idea handing me the map but with Mum as the other option, I decided to give it a whirl. So the freeways over here are all named as numbers so it makes it pretty easy to navigate. We had to follow to 105, or the 110 or something to the 5. I dunno. We made it to Anaheim fairly easily. The only trouble was that once we were off the main freeways, we had no navigation tools and were simply running on the fact that our hotel was close to Disneyland itself.

We decided to stop for dinner as we were all getting a bit tetchy. The first place we saw was Jack in a Box so in we pulled. Curly fries were an option that we could not refuse. We only ordered a medium but the drink was about the size of an Australian extra large. Strawberry Fanta though is quite good, especially when mixed with normal orange Fanta.

After that we thought we had a general idea of where we were heading so off we went. We got about a km down a road but the numbers were going in the wrong direction so we turned around and headed the other way. That didn't work out either so I chucked some credit on my phone and activated the GPS. Google Maps to the rescue!

We were finally heading in the right direction when suddenly we encountered a street parade in the making. People everywhere and the street we wanted had been blocked off. Grrrr. After about fifteen minutes of mindless driving around in what felt like circles, we were finally back on the road we needed and the hotel was in sight.

LAX, the place nightmares come from!

Deplaning was a relatively painless procedure and we then proceeded to hike what felt like a mile to immigration. On board the plane we were told that because we had an ESTA and had been to America since 2008 we could use the smart gates. We ask someone where we can find the smart gates only to be told we weren't allowed to use them. We join the very long queue of other foreigners waiting to gain access to the country and after ten minutes or so hear an announcement about the smart gates. We ask another officer if we are allowed to use them and after confirming that we fulfilled the requirements, told us of course we could. We leave the queue and head over to the gates only to be told they weren't working and we couldn't use them. So we begrudgingly rejoin the now even longer queue.

About fifteen minutes later, these smart gates magically start working again and we are finally allowed the express option through. I think they told us we couldn't use them to clear the American and Canadian arrivals before letting us through. They took our fingerprints, asked our intentions and took the most stunning glamour shot in history (note the sarcasm) before we had to join another line to speak to an actual human.

By the time we finally got through the luggage carousel had stopped moving! Didn't take too long to find our bags and then we lined up again, this time for customs. Nothing to declare so we were sent straight through.

The next step was to get to the car rental place. After waiting about fifteen minutes for a bus, we were on our way. There we joined yet another line to pick the car up. Mum and Dad decided to upgrade to a bigger car as they had brought body bags, I mean massive suitcases, as their luggage.

After signing all relevant paperwork, we were sent outside to pick a car. Yep, just pick any car in the area you've paid for. If there's not one there just wait, one will turn up soon. Ummmmmmm. Ok... We finally got a car, put our luggage in the trunk and were off into the scary world of driving on the left hand side of the road.

The flight

Not much leg room on this bad boy (Brisbane to Auckland) and my TV screen refuses to work. The All Blacks safety video remains hilarious (MIB parody) and some snooty so and so in front of refused to get off her mobile phone even after the air hostess reminded her of the law but other than that, it was a pretty uneventful for leg of the journey. Lunch was a pretty decent feed. A whole chicken breast with salad and coleslaw with a muffin brownie type thing for dessert. Not a bad feed for a three hour flight!!

After landing and clearing immigration (thank you smart gates) we popped through customs in about five minutes and met up with my uncle for dinner. Went to an Texas style restaurant (Aussies eating American food in New Zealand en route to America.... LOL!) where I had blackened chicken with spicy rice (sooooo good!) and everyone else had Apache fish and chips. Not sure what made it Apache but that's what it was called. Damn good feed and $3 coffees afterwards made this the best layover I've ever had!

Back to the airport, through security and immigration with time to spare so wandered around a bit before heading to the gate. Marched pretty much straight onto the plane where lo and behold, there were so many free seats! I prepped the parents into the art of switching seats so the second the fasten seatbelt sign went off, Dad was up and jumping into a free seat. Ahhhh, space!

Dinner was a chicken curry which was pretty damn good and dessert was ice cream. Om nom nom nom nom. The movie selection wasn't the greatest but I did binge watch seven straight episodes of Pretty Little Liars so I was happy. Sleep didn't come too easily and I woke up after a few hours and couldn't get back to sleep so ordered a milo and Cookie Time cookie (that's for the introduction Rachel) from my entertainment unit. And the flight attendant brought it straight to my seat! And it was free!!!!!!!!

Breakfast was served about two hours before landing. I had the scrambled eggs, baked beans and sausage and naturally picked all the baked beans out because they are gross. When I ordered my coffee I asked for it white with one and received a black coffee and sugar. When I asked for milk she gave me attitude saying I'd got what I had asked for. Does white with one mean something different in New Zealand or America coz I wanna order right next time!?!?!?

I may have fallen asleep again after breakfast but it was soon time to put up the window shade and prepare for landing. We were here!

The journey begins

A certain someone hadn't actually finished packing their bags when it was time to leave and people were starting to get frustrated and cranky. That certain someone was me who, as always, had left packing until the last minute and forgot to leave room for the chargers. Nonetheless, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare.

"Please check in at the kiosks" No whackas, I've got this! Jessica, check in done. Leanne and David, check in done. (I am flying out of San Francisco so was booked on a separate booking) Print out boarding passes and luggage tags. Houston, we have a problem. Guess who is sitting fifteen rows in front of everyone else on the Auckland to LA flight? Yep, it's me again! We very kindly asked the nice girl at check in if she would mind moving us so that we were sitting together. "Sorry, we can't get you a window though" As long as we are all seated together right? WRONG! I figured I must have done something wrong when I booked the tickets so we took our new boarding passes and toddled off to fill in our departure cards.
The more I thought about it though, the more I was certain I hadn't made a mistake so I got Mum to fish out our tickets that had been printed less than a week before and lo and behold we were meant to be sitting together. Now anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a window person and would do pretty much anything to guarantee a window seat. I was a tad peeved that I had been moved without notice to a different row so went up to the customer service desk and casually mentioned how I always book my clients flights properly and that as a travel agent I always forget to do my own stuff properly. Nek minut, window seat was again mine, with my parents next to me. Victory!

Security and immigration were about the same as normal and as usual my passport can't be read because of a corrupted chip (stupid staple) so I got to do the walk of suspicious eyes down to the office at the back for them to scan my passport again. One overpriced coffee and chocolate bar later, we were ready to board.