Chris's USA Trip - Year 2007

01. The Start of the USA Trip (Mon 05-11-2007)

We left Sydney, Australia at 3:30pm Australian Time & arrived to Los Angeles International Airport by 10am and left there by 11am to arrived to Anaheim by 12pm. We had to wait to get our rooms settled at the Anabella Hotel so we’ve decided to go to the Coco’s Bakery for lunch. I was sitting next to Amy in the photo above. After that we’ve decided to unpack our stuff and Sonia & Elona were booking the tour attractions such Disneyland, Universal Studios & SeaWorld.

02. Disneyland (Tues 06-11-2007)

We left here to go to Disneyland and we went on the Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones in Adventure land. Then in New Orleans were went to the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and then to the Disneyland Railway. We had rode the train all around Disneyland where we saw the “Zip-A-Dee Lady” showboat which is the giant paddlewheel that’s inside the Splash Mountain ride which is located at Critter Country. Then we saw the dinosaurs that are near the Space Mountain on the way to the Main Street USA. I have been on the splash Mountain ride where I’ve got wet when I was singing to Zip-a-Dee-do-dah and the Tomorrowland for Star Tours and the Innovations when I was playing the games on the new XBOX 360 and I was amazed at the graphics that’s on the screens.

03. Disneyland (Wed 07-11-2007)

We went to the rainforest café for breakfast and then back into Disneyland where a photo of us was taken in Toontown near the fountain where some of the group went to Mickey’s & Minnie’s house taking their autographs & photos. We went into Fantasyland and Storybook land for the Canal Boats and Mad Tree Party rides. It’s a shame “It’s A Small World” wasn’t working but in Tomorrowland I have been on the “Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters” 3 times and emailed a photo of the ride that many times. This happens between other things like Mark Twain Riverboat and after all that I’ve bought a Disneyland souvenir book and a DVD Video called “Mickey Saves Santa” (Region 1 – NTSC) and outside Disneyland I’ve also bought a Mickey Mouse for me and Minnie Mouse for my niece, Imogen.

04. Anabella Hotel (Thurs 08-11-2007)

We got up about 9am to have breakfast at the Tangerine Restaurant. Shortly we organized our clothes to be washed and then we send postcards to be sent to our people. After that we had lunch at the subway at the Anaheim Resort Centre and then we went over to the souvenir shop just across the road called ABC Market to buy 2 T-Shirts that says “Los Angeles California” the blue one & “Anaheim California” the brown one which was small by Alstyle Apparel & Active wear. After that we back to the Anabella Hotel so that I can write this down and listening to my music to 7:15pm as we’ve got to ready to go out for the Chinese restaurant at the Anaheim Resort Centre tonight in Harbor Blvd.

05. California Adventure Park (Fri 09-11-2007)

After we come in from the outside of the Disney’s California Adventure Park that we arrived at the Monster’s Inc inside the park by 10:41am after we had just been on the ride. After that we saw a show at the Hollywood Backlot stage and we went to the Disney Animation which includes the Sorcerer’s workshop & Animation Academy. Then we had lunch from the “Award Wiener’s” and then we left the Hollywood pictures backlot to go to the “Soaring over California” at the “Golden State”. After that we went onto Grizzly River run and we explored the other areas of the park until we saw the “It’s tough to be a bug” show and the “Tuck and Roll Drive’em buggies” at the “A Bug’s Land”. We then left the park to go to Goofy’s Kitchen for dinner that night to take lots of photos & get lots of autographs.

06. Magic Castle - Hollywood

(Sat 10-11-2007)

We left our hotel to go to the Magic Castle in the photo above to watch the magic tricks. After that we went to the famous stars on the ground to take lots of photos of the stars & the famous characters. Then we went to the souvenir shop to buy my star making set and then we went back to the Magic Castle to go back to the Hotel. It seems like it took us a long time to get back mainly because of the traffic and we got a bit lost. As soon as we arrived back to the hotel we had dinner at the Tangerine Grill & Patio restaurant and then we back to our rooms to discuss about our tomorrow’s activities.

07. Citadel Outlets (Sun 11-11-2007)

We arrived at the Citadel Outlets by around about 10am after we had breakfast at McDonald’s which is located on Harbor Blvd. That’s where our group bought lots of stuff from the Guess Warehouse. After that we had lunch at another McDonald’s (Address: 1705 PACIFIC COAST HWY LONG BEACH, CA 90810) where we’re got lost mainly because Bill doesn’t know how to go to Long Beach by the wharf only its surrounds. As soon as we left this other McDonald’s that some of the group wanted to buy some US (Region 1) DVDs from Target just south along the Harbor Blvd. After that we went back to the hotel to go to Coco’s for dinner and into our rooms by 9:30pm to get ready to go to bed.

08. Santa Barbara (Mon 12-11-2007)
We got out of bed around about 9am to have breakfast at Tiffy’s family restaurant and we came back for a swim. That’s when we did the washing and we had lunch by the pool. After that I’ve used the internet that costs $6 for 24 hours while I was waiting for Elona & Sonia to go to Downtown Disney to take a photo of the main entrance of the Disney’s California Adventure Park, World of Disney eastern side, World of Disney western side, the Lego shop & Darth Vader inside the shop. After that we bought some chocolates to take back for the rest of our holiday makers. After that we went to the Coco’s Bakery Family Restaurant for dinner that night and we went to the hotel to get ready to go to bed as we’ve got to get read to go to the Universal Studios Hollywood.

09. Universal Studios Hollywood

(Tues 13-11-2007)

We had to get up early at 6am to get ready to go to the Universal Studios Hollywood. As soon as we arrived that some of us went on the House of Horrors and then we all went to the Jurassic Park ride via 4 escalators, gee it’s along way to go down. While we’re there we saw the special effects show & the backdraft. After that we had lunch from the Louie's Pizza & Pasta and then off we go to the Studio Tour taking lots of photos. We had leaved the area to see the Terminator 2-3D by 3:30pm but we failed so we decided for some of us to come back later and for the meantime we went to see the water world show. Some of us wanted to see the Terminator 2-3D by 4:30pm was only Bill & me. As soon as we left Universal Studios that we had dinner at the Tangerine Grill & Patio restaurant and then we went to bed.

10. Inside Room 1120 (Wed 14-11-2007)

As you can see here that this above is inside room 1120. This is another free day for Elona & Sonia to label other’s peoples souvenir and then Elona help to fix up my diary so that I can know what’s safe to put on to the internet via the ACES blog. She then read some of my stories and we had lunch by the pool. After that some of us did some souvenir shopping at two shops, I’ve bought two T-Shirts. The one from the other shop is the 2007 California Disney T-Shirt & another shop not far from there which is the ABC Market is where I’ve bought a packet of Disney cards. And the extra large brown Anaheim T-Shirt mainly because I’ve bought a small one since Thursday, 8th November, 2007 and soon after this we had dinner around about 7pm at the Pizza & Italian shop which is at the Anaheim Resort Centre and then we come back to the hotel to go to sleep that night.

11. Seaworld at San Diego

(Thurs 15-11-2007)

We had to get up early just as we did on Tuesday expect after breakfast we went to SeaWorld. As soon as we have arrived to SeaWorld that some of us wanted to go on the “Journey to Atlantis” ride and then we all went to see the “Sea Lion and Otter Stadium”. After we went to the “Dine with Shamu” as VIPS where we had our lunch and then we went to the “Shamu Stadium” taking lots of photos of the killer whales whilst there I’ve got drenched. After that we went to the “Pet’s Rule!” to watch the pet show and then some of us went back to the “Journey to Atlantis” ride because some of us really enjoyed it. We went over to the “Games Entertainment Centre” for a lit bit of fun and then we head for the exit where we bought some souvenirs and then we went back to our hotel to have Chinese for dinner that night in our rooms.

12. Medieval Times (Fri 16-11-2007)

We’ve slept in as this another free day by the pool. This is where I can catch up writing about what we did at the SeaWorld Adventure Park and Sonia had a look at the photos from 1 to 165 and I’ve taken some more shortly after that. By lunch time that Sonia and I went to buy the lunches from Subway at the Anaheim Resort Centre for everyone at the pool. After that we gave gifts to Bill and Sonia and then went on the bus that has the peanuts characters like Snoopy, Charlie etc that’s on its sides. We went to the Medieval Times Castle. That’s where we’ve watched the tournament and we had to eat our foods using our fingers. This is what is advertised on our hotel keycards. Whilst at the castle I’ve bought a souvenir & a group photo for $20. After the night out we went back to our hotel to go to bed that night.

13. Going home from USA

(Sat 17-11-2007)

We had to get up the next morning to have breakfast at the Tangerine Grill and Patio restaurant and get all our stuff packed. By 11:00am Elona & I had to get the Manicure done at the Bella Nail/Hair Salon & Spa by 11am and after that we went to the movies where I saw “The Bee Movie” at the AMC 12 Theatres Downtown Disney District. After that we had to go back to the lobby in the photo above at the hotel at around about 4pm to be picked up from there by 4:30pm to go back to the Los Angeles International Airport. We had Chilis for dinner shortly after we had to check in our luggage. After that we had to get to our gate to be ready to aboard the plane by 10pm for the QF12 flight. The plane was leaving a bit late and I was feeling jet lagged heading west so much more then when we were heading east. With that I didn’t feel like using the Qantas Entertainment System very much. I went to sleep so that I could feel better. As soon as we’ve got off the plane I’ve bought “The Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whisky” for my father and then we had to go back to the TNC (Tuesday Night Club) House. As soon as we arrived my parents thought it’s better to go back home to Port Macquarie to my lovely bed instead of going back to my sister’s (Joanne’s) place at Windsor. That way I can recover from some of my lost sleep. On the way home I did not feel well so mum put me in the front seat. I felt better then.