Anaheim California Trip
Disneyland*Sea World*Universal Studios*San Diego Zoo
During our first year of marriage in 1997, before we had kids, my husband and I traveled out to Anaheim California for the week between Christmas and New Years. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Anaheim, which is now called the Hotel Menage. When we stayed at the Holiday Inn ten years ago, it wasn't the greatest hotel. It was very basic and not that elaborate, although we didn't have that much money back then, so that was probably the best we could afford. The hotel was pink stucco and all the levels of rooms had outside access doors. This didn't make me feel as safe as I would have liked. The room was big enough, but dark and dingy feeling, especially since we had to leave the curtains closed so people walking by couldn't peer in. There was an outdoor pool and hot tub, although the weather was cool that week and we didn't use it. The hotel did provide a shuttle to Disney, which we took sometimes. We also drove our rental car to some of the attractions. The location of the hotel was decent. It wasn't an extremely large drive to get to where you wanted to go. As I said before, this hotel is now called the Hotel Menage. Besides changing names, it looks to have been remodeled. The outside has been painted tan and the rooms look like they have been remodeled. Before booking this hotel, read other reviews on trip advisor and compare other hotel options before making a reservation.
During our trip in California, we went to Disneyland. We spent about 2 1/2 days at the Magic Kingdom. Disneyland is just like Disneyworld in appearance, except for a few different changes. The castle is different than Cinderella's castle in Disneyworld and some of the rides look slightly different. Basically the lay-out of the two parks are the same. The ride we loved the most at Disneyland was the Indiana Jones ride. We rode it twice and waited extremely long in line. The ride took us off guard how good it was. It was awesome. Overall, I like Disneyworld in Florida better. I just felt the cast members where friendlier and there seemed to be a higher percentage of people there on vacation versus people on a day trip.
On another day we went to Sea World. This was my second time to Sea World and my husband's first time. Sea World was just like the one in Florida. There was the typical Shamu show, other animal shows, and the shark exhibit, where you stand on a moving sidewalk and go through the clear tunnel in the shark tank. The best part about Sea Word was that we were able to see a young gray whale on exhibit that Sea World had rescued and was rehabbing. Later in the year, we saw the news coverage as Sea Word made the special journey to transport the whale and return it back to the sea. Seeing the gray whale, that up close, was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.
We traveled from Anaheim to San Diego for the day and went to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo was large and we walked through most of it. The thing I remember seeing the most was the Koala bears. This was the first time I had seen a Koala bear in a zoo or up close. While we were in San Diego, we also stopped to walk along a boardwalk along a beach. It was cold and windy. San Diego was a good haul from Anaheim. It took a couple hours to get there. I remember driving back from Anaheim and about 2am my husband and I were super sleepy and couldn't keep our eyes open. It was kind of a scary drive to get back to the hotel. My husband had to stop to get a caffeinated drink and to do jumping jacks outside the car. We were driving with the windows down and the radio turned up load. It was horrible.
The last attraction we went to on our California trip was Universal Studios. Universal Studios is much different than Disney. At Universal Studios, you really have to be up for going on thrill rides. I would not recommend it for little kids, only teenagers and up. My favorite ride was the E.T. ride, where you got to ride a bike and fly like the characters do in the movie. That ride was nice and calm. We went on the Back To The Future Ride. It was a simulated ride that felt like you were on a roller coaster. It was wild. There is the Jurassic Park ride, which we waited in a long, long line and then I chickened out at the last minute. I don't like steep drops and the Jurassic Boat plunges down a huge, dark drop at the end. My husband went by himself. We went on the back lot tour at Universal. I liked that. On the tour you ride on a train type vehicle. You get to see where the sound stages are at. You drive through a street scene and they tell you all sorts of information about how they make movies and how they make the street look real. You also get to drive by the fronts of well known houses from famous movies and popular TV shows. While sitting on the train during the tour, you will experience a flash flood, an earthquake, a crazy tunnel, and be surprised by jaws and Godzilla. On the day we were there, they weren't doing the Godzilla part of the tour. In another area of the park we got to go through an attraction where you are on a movie set where they created explosions and fire. At Universal, there are also shows to see. We saw the Water World stunt show and a show with trained movie animals. Throughout the park there is lots of places to take crazy pictures, such as in front of the Hollywood sign, with Jaws, or running in action with celebrities in thriller scenes.
Our California trip was fun. We got to do some things that we couldn't do now with little kids. Before going to any of these attractions, take in consideration how old your kids are, check the height and weight requirements before you go, and take into consideration the time of year you are going and what the average weather is like during that time.
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