Fantasmic

We didn't get to the baseball last night as it was booked out for 'Memorial Day' (USA's version of ANZAC day). So we had no plans for the evening until there was another show similar to 'World of Color', called Fantasmic. The name didn't sound appealing but it was twice as good as World of Color, it was terrific!

This morning Bluey, Bailey and I got up early to be a Disneyland for the '1 Hour Power-Hour' and as we rocked up at the gates at 8:00 we were told the Power-Hour started at 7:00. Yeah well done. Because it was a Tuesday after the long weekend it was still pretty empty so we got all the good rides. After an hour their we left as Bluey had to go and get our hire car and Bailey and I needed some sleep.

The reason Bailey and I needed sleep is because we have tickets to the game tonight, best seats in the house too!

Keep a look out for the Aussie catching the ball in the stands (; Anyway, we are just about to go, updates soon.

~Riley.

Target

Why can't 'Target' in Australia be the same as the ones in America? Clothes, Sports, Food, Games, Electronics, you name it, they got it! Bailey got an authentic L.A Dodgers jersey, Lakers jumper, 4 brand name shirts, 'Cheetos', a pack of Twizzlers, a slab of Pepsi, Swiss Cheese & Crackers and 'Easy Mac'. And there was 3 more of us?

What was even better then the range of the store, was the the price and the quality! Official NBA jerseys, $15, 12 cans of Pepsi, $2.50, so good! Dad even bought $1 each 'Coronas' there! The best thing we bought all day though was the Cheetos, heaven in every bite.

Aside from my love for Target I really enjoyed the Disney Parade, first time I'd seen it and it was surprisingly good! Just about every Character from all Disney Movies came out and put on a really good show. Other than that, for the day we just tried to catch all the rides we hadn't done yet.

Bluey or I may not be able to post tomorrow night as the whole family bought baseball jerseys in anticipation tomorrow nights and Wednesday nights games, very excited!

~Riley.

World of Color

We finally got to the spectacular 'World of Color' show this evening at California Adventure Park. We had to get to the park at 10.00am to secure tickets for the 9.00pm show. Whilst we enjoyed the show, the view was very limited to how much we could actually see, and we were all taking it in turns of having Bailey on our backs to give him some chance of seeing anything. After the show, Bluey, Riley & Bailey went and had a run on the Toy Story ride which included some sort of shoot 'em up game throughout, which they came off raving about. It was as we were walking back around from this ride that we noticed that the 10.15pm 'World of Color' show was about to start. We were crossing over the bridge that connects the part of the park where we were, to the main part of the park, when we realised that we had stumbled on a fantastic view of the show. So, we stopped on the bridge and watched the show again and this time we could see everything - and it was spectacular.

Therefore, if anyone is reading this and plans to come to Disneyland resort in the near future - for this show, go straight to the bridge. Once you go in to California Adventure Park, you will see where I mean.

~ Gena

A Well Earned Day Off

Well, we had planned to be up early today and hit Disneyland again today but it just did not happen. After working our way around Disneyland and California Adventure last night, we got to bed around midnight. Bailey was snoring in no time. Next thing we know, the phone is ringing in our room, waking us all up........ it was 1.00pm!! Oops. Of course breakfast finishes at 10.00am, so we have messed up our own plans, plus, we have no food! Bad start to the day - you would think so, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The vote went out and the decision was made to have a day off from Disneyland - I had to clean my ears after hearing that from Bailey.

Instead we decided we would head back to 'The Outlets' in Orange for a look at everything we didn't see yesterday. By the time we had a look around it was nearly 6.00pm, so time to eat. We decided on a Sports Bar called Buffalo Wild Wings. I was in heaven - big screen TV's wherever you looked. There was 3 different Baseball games, Ice Hockey and Basketball all on at the same time....... plus the food was great.
After dinner, we walked past a bowling alley - why not we decided.

So, after a very hectic start to our trip today was a welcome change of pace.

~Bluey.

California Adventure

We spent the morning at California Adventure Park, and we worked out by using 'Single Rider Entry' we may not get on the same ride but you wait ten minutes instead of an hour and ten minutes! Bailey and I went on Hollywood Tower Hotel twice, California Screaming six times and as we were coming out, we decided the Grizzly Falls (a ride we waited in line one and a half hours for yesterday) looked good and got on that in no longer then 2 minutes.

Bailey on Grizzly Falls

Later in the afternoon we went shopping at a local outlet 'mall' so Gena could get in some retail therapy, (she has only been on two rides, sick twice...). Vans top price $50, Penny Boards $80, 'Levis' top price $50 etc. Gee I'm loving America!

Ran into a really nice couple from Jacksonville, Florida for the second time today, after meeting them in line yesterday. We hope to catch up with Bruce & Sonya when we get to Florida in September.


~Riley.

Disneyland

Did it live up to its name? Yes! Disneyland/California Adventure Park was awesome, Disneyland capturing us mostly with it's entertainment and sights while Californian Adventure was the best for adrenaline. We only stayed until about 5:30 since Bailey had us all awake from about 3.00am - though we plan to go early tomorrow morning. We will then leave for a bit in the busy part of the day and come back for the fireworks. One of the sights at Disneyland was the Disney Castle which of course we got a photo in front of.

Big day tomorrow so I'm off.

~Riley.

Breakfast

Just finished breakfast, hamburgers, fruitloops, buritos, bagels, but best of all I made myself one of these babies!

A 'Belgian Waffle', best breakfast I've had in a long time! A man from San Diego (Gary & his wife Sharlene) showed me the right way on how to make them and after chatting with Bluey and Gena, ended up offering for us to catch up with them while we're in San Diego and said he would bring us a surprise. Then they gave us 2 day passes to Disneyland, very nice people! We're are about to go and Bailey is jumping out of his skin, he was up at 3am in excitement. 

~Riley.

First day

Checked into our hotel, it is great! 

 After check in we went to a sport store down the road and it's more then half the price of anything in Australia!! I got a pair of Asics runners that would be $150+ in Australia, for $50! Then we hit up an Italian restaurant 100 metres from our hotel that was spectacular. We are all getting a good nights sleep tonight, to be ready to hit up Disneyland and Californian Adventure Park tomorrow, very keen to say the least!

~Riley

Flight

Well, what a huge day! We reached the airport yesterday at 8:00am to find we didn't have to go through customs in Melbourne but in Sydney where we were catching a connecting flight to, therefore arriving an hour and a half earlier than we needed to. We then found our connecting flight to Sydney had been delayed an hour meaning we could miss our flight to L.A. Virgin then transfered onto a direct flight from Melbourne to L.A and told us that our bags were ready to be collected and to check in upstairs and go through customs up there. But that was only the start of it! Only when we got up there, collected our bags and made our way to international check ins, we were told our flight had closed and the seats they had booked for us weren't valid.

For 30 minutes we were in limbo - along with a young family in the same situation as us -  while the employees tried to get us on the flight. It was soon apparent there were no economy seats available, forcing 'Virgin Australia' to bump us up into Premium seating. Gee,I'm glad that happened too - talk about flying in comfort!

After 13 hours of flying, 5 cans of 'Pepsi' for the snack bar, 9 toilet stops, multiple movies, and 2 three course meals, we have made it to America! I am writing this at the L.A Airport and will have updates & photos of accommodation etc. very soon!

And of course, true to form..... we can't go anywhere without Bluey knowing someone. Sitting in the same row as us, but in the next aisle was a guy and his wife that he knew from his Uni days. Bluey & Gena spent half the flight at the Bar with Rob & Kelly Turner, catching up on old times by the sound of it. We may be catching up with them when they get back into LA on Monday?

Loving it already, though this 26°C heat is making me miss Victorian weather!!

~Riley.

Nearly time to Fly

Only 2 sleeps now till we hit the airways. Bailey is virtually jumping out of his skin with excitement. I haven't had time to get excited yet, it is a busy time making sure everything is organised to ensure we can leave without having to think about things at home. I think we are nearly there!! If you look closely at the picture, you can see our proposed route (which I am sure will vary along the way) we are taking across the continent. If we stick to it, we will take in 26 States (USA) and 4 Provinces (Canada). We will try to upload as many pictures as we can as well. Okay, this will probably be my last post until we are on the other side of the planet - and from that point on, Riley will be taking over the blog. For those in the US & Canada, see you soon - for those in Australia, we will see you in October!!

Only 3 weeks to go!!

Okay, we now only have 21 days before we hit the skies. Things are starting to get exciting............. and daunting as the thought of being gone for 18 weeks sinks in............... especially having everything organised at home to keep things working and worry free whilst we are away!!

Our Minivan (8 seater) is organised and ready to be picked up on the 29th May. I am very happy we went this way as this means Riley and Bailey will have 3 seats each and shouldn't try to kill each other as we travel around :-)

Even though I have traveled to the USA on quite a few occasions, I still love the fact that after flying for 14.5 hours, we arrive there before we left!!

~Bluey