Los Angeles, Arrival date: 08 - 05 - 2023
Highlights video:
The Experience:
I always thought that Disneyland was in Los Angeles. Here, I learned Disneyland is, in fact, in Anaheim. Iris did some research and there are 2 RV parks close to Disneyland, Anaheim Harbor and Orangeland. Anaheim Harbor was full, so we booked at Orangeland.
On our way, we stopped at a T-Mobile shop to get an unlimited call, text and internet sim card before heading to Anaheim. This was around lunchtime, so we ate at iHop right next to the T-Mobile shop.
We continued to Orangeland right after I made a reservation with my new sim card. We came in around 2:00PM, so we settled calmly and jumped into the heated pool.
Orangeland was a terrific experience and just what we needed. James had the time of his life again with the kids there and played a lot at the playground. We swim together and hit the jacuzzi as well. We would definitely go back to Orangeland if the chance presents itself.
James was totally thrilled going to Disneyland. When we went to bed, he said to me: Daddy, tomorrow is going to be a beautiful day. Heart melt, right? Another fun fact, he can not say Mickey Mouse. Instead he says, Pickey Mouse. Adorable. Iris had purchased a beautiful Disney outfit at the Zara back in San Francisco for this occasion, so we dressed him up and got picked up by a RTA on-demand bus. Half way on our way Iris says to me: I can’t remember unplugging my hair styler. When we got to Disneyland, we couldn’t go back to with the same bus so we had to order an Uber. OMG, right!?
Anyway, Uber came, and our driver, James, was a really nice guy we got to talking. Our James was so impressed with the Tesla we were in. He stared at the panoramic roof of the car and said: Daddy, this car is really fast. Time flew away in the car. Oh, the hair styler was unplugged by the way.
Finally, we were in the park. We had the Disneyland app loaded with the map and found the food ordering service via the app really handy. The way it works is like this: You choose a restaurant, then your food, and then your timestamp. Your window is half an hour and when you get there you open up the app and hit: ”I’m here for my order”. This way, you don’t wait in line. So we would plan our attraction we want, check the approximate waiting time and enjoy our self.
We wanted to ease James in because, although excited, he can be a little shy and tensed about new things. So, the first thing we did was take the Mad Tea Party. You sit in a teacup and you can spin it manually. James liked it. He was not smiling or jumping with excitement, but we could tell. He was watching everything. His eyes and head went all directions to see what was happening.
After that, every other attraction we went to was easy, and he liked everyone of them except one. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. This attraction is exquisite because you go done in to the water in a submarine. But then there was a minor story that Nemo gets chased and gets lost. The music and everything made it a little too much of an action for James.
Remember the part we order our food in the Disneyland app? It was time to pick it up and watch the parade. Ones arrived at the restaurant, I opened the app hit “I’m here for my order” and minutes later we were eating a delicious meal and watched the parade afterwards.
Thanks to Iris' planning, our Disneyland day was a total hit. We enjoyed it to the maximum. The next day, resting and relaxing was necessary. We spend the day in the jacuzzi or in the pool.
From Orangeland to Hollywood RV Park. We booked this park for 4 nights. Los Angeles is huge and with a 3-year-old, our pace is a real slow. We were also told that public transportation is not that well oiled in LA, so I rented a car while we were there. That was a great idea looking back. We were because of that very mobile and could go everywhere we wanted. We even drove past Jennifer Aniston’s house and a couple of other celebrities who live there if we must believe google.
We went to the Hollywood sign, the Santa Monica pier, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills sign, etc. But the most fun for us was Universal Studios Hollywood. Again, we did all the kids attraction because James is our priority. But sometimes we missed judge the attractions because he found it scary. There was this Minion Mayhem attraction where you sat in a car and watch a gigantic screen. What we didn’t know was that the car moved simulating what we saw on the screen like a rollercoaster. It was like being in the movie. And the studio tour, also not for kids. For us it was awesome seing the sets and everything was a ride I’ll never forget being a film freak and all. But pour James got so scared that he wanted to go home. Oh, and I got to meet my hero to, Optimus Prime from the Transformers.
Universal Studios Hollywood has villages themed for The Simpsons, Jurassic Park, The Transformers, Secret Life of Pets, The Minions, Harry Potter, and Scooby Doo. The Secret Life of Pets was so beautiful and fun attraction that we did that twice. The second time was for James to recover from the Studio Tour experience. At the Simpson Village we got a super huge donut. Oh boy, that was really tasty. Highly recommend getting 1 to share.
The main attraction, Mario Land. Wow! That was really cool experience. The Mario Kart attraction was okay I guess. It was unique with 3D glasses on and the interaction totally the concept of Nintendo but a little too slow, maybe. It could be much faster. James again, loved Mario Land. He got a watch where you can collect coins like in the video game. Again, heart melt. Till this day, we had numarous times that Iris and I looked at each other and got emotional seeing James having so much fun.
After an intensive day of fun, we had a relaxing schedule for the next day. There was nothing to do at the RV Park, so we headed out to a children’s playground near Griffith Observatory in the hope we might visit that too, but we didn’t. We were all too exhausted, so we went back.
On our next adventure, Joshua Tree Park. We are so done with the city’s and excited to explore America’s finest National Park.
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