Brad (Mark's brother) got to Arizona on Friday morning and left today. Since we just didn't think the 4+ hours he spent on the
plane was enough traveling for one day, we planned to drive to Anaheim,
CA on Friday after I got off work to go to Disneyland and California Adventure on Saturday and to Knott's Berry Farm on Sunday.
We had been talking about going to Disney but when we actually looked
into tickets, we realized one-day park hopper tickets were $125 each.
Ouch. So then we thought we might just go to Universal Hollywood.
Tickets to Universal were only $80 and if you bought one day, you got
one day for free. But, there weren't any roller coasters and let's face
it, I LOVE DISNEY! So on Thursday night, Mark got on Craigslist and
found someone in Tempe (south side of Phoenix) who had 3 one-day park
hopper passes for sale at "make an offer." The exact number of tickets
we needed! He sent him a message and offered $250. The guy said he'd
take $275 which put the total $100 off the regular price. Done. Next up,
a place to stay. Mark got on Priceline and got us a nice room at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel just a little over a mile from the park, and it ended
up having a shuttle to Disney!
Mark went to work at 5am on Friday so he could leave in time to pick
Brad up at the airport at 10am and they had lunch then picked up our
tickets. We were some what concerned whether they were going to be valid
since we bought them on Craigslist but the kid told us what happened
and Mark met him at his parents house so we believed him. And he wasn't
lying, they worked! However, we did make Mark get his scanned first :)
And I went to work too of course. After telling my boss what we were
doing this weekend, I quickly learned he also LOVES Disney. He proceeded
to give me the run down on what was different and similar to Disney
World. After lunch when he warned me about the craziness going on in the
park since they did a reopening of California
Adventure on Friday for their news Cars Land. He also suggested I visit
one of the branches in the afternoon and head home afterwards so we
could get on the road a little earlier than if I left at 5. Awesome!
Even though I left work a little early, we still didn't get on the road
until close to 6 and we got to the hotel at 11:45. Mark can now say that
he has driven across the entire country. Unfortunately my camera did
not cooperate when I tried to take a picture of the welcome to California sign :( Oh well there will always be next time!
The park opened at 8 and the first shuttle left the hotel at 7:10
followed by another one at 7:40. We decided to aim for the earlier
shuttle thinking it would be more crowded right before 8. We had decided
to go to California Adventure first since that
is where Cars Land is. We were standing in line at the gate by 7:25 and
at 7:30, the staff started counting down and let us in at 7:30! We
stopped at the first Disney Starbucks for breakfast and coffee then
headed towards Cars Land where we proceeded to stand in line for 30
minutes to get a Fast Pass to ride Radiator Springs Races to come back
between 2:10 and 3:10. Needless to say, they didn't have Fast Passes
available for that ride for very long! Next up, California
Screaming' roller coaster a couple times, the Buzz Lightyear ride/game
and Mickey's ferris wheel. We decided to then head over to Disneyland
since we were going to have to come back around 2 for Radiator Springs
Races. On the way out, Brad and I got on Soaring' Over California.
Once in Disneyland, we got Fast Passes for Star Tours (the Star Wars
ride) and then got in line for Space Mountain. It wasn't quite like
Florida because it had 2 people per row but it was still fun. By the
time we got out, it was time for Star Tours followed up with some
shopping of Star Wars Stuff for Brad. At this point, he decided Mark and
I also needed Mickey hats so I started looking for a Tigger Mickey hat
which they DO NOT make but we finally agreed on Mickey/Minnie hats. We
even got to take a group shot with Mickey...he was pretty excited about
Mark's hat!
Disney Starbucks Cups - Unfortunately Brad did not get a discount at this Starbucks
Me and Mark on our way to our first ride in California Adventure, that blue roller coaster back there, California Screamin
Riding Mickey's Fun Wheel, the ferris wheel from the above picture
Mark and Brad (you'll notice a thumbs up trend in some of these pictures)
Main Street, USA, Disneyland
Brad in an R2D2 Mickey hat and his newly acquired Chewbacca backpack. He got a lot of "did you know you have something attached to your back" but the best was when a kid came by and asked twice if it was a kid or a toy on his back (granted the second time was to prove it to his friend)
The little castle in Disneyland. Turns out it is Sleeping Beauty's castle.
Mark and Brad with Mickey's Fun Wheel
Brad, Mickey and Walt Disney
Mark in Mickey ears, Me in Minnie ears, Mickey, and Brad in R2D2 Mickey ears
Waiting to ride Space Mountain
mmmmm Watermelon
When we finally made it back to Cars Land
Radiator Springs Racers - 110 minute wait although I hear it took much longer than that
In our car and ears
Gene Simmons racers
California Adventure entrance
Mickey's Fun Wheel lite up at night
Tower of Terror in California Adventure. You'll notice I'm screaming in fear and the boys are having fun making faces at the camera.
I won't tell you every single ride we rode but in the 15+ hours we spent
between the parks, we did manage to ride every ride we wanted to ride
at least once, see the World of Color light show and watch the
fireworks. We must have gone back and forth between the two park 5 or 6
so it's a good thing we got hoped passes. Anyone who is thinking that is
crazy, it really isn't. The parks aren't spread out anything like they
are in Florida. I'd say they are about a football field apart so it was
quick and easy to go back and forth. And Downtown Disney was right there
too.
We didn't close down the park because we were just exhausted but we were
there until 10:30/11. There were so many people waiting for the
shuttles, we decided to walk the 1.7 miles back to the hotel.
Sunday we slept in a little later since Knott's Berry Farm didn't open
until 10. This was Mark's day for the thrill rides that Disney didn't
have. We got there a little after 10 and headed to one of the big roller
coasters. After the second line we waited in, we decided to make the
additional purchase for the Fast Lane wrist band which basically let us
cut in front of everyone else! From then on, getting through all the
good rides went fairly quick. We decided to call it a day at 4pm. And
since Mark and I had never seen the Pacific Ocean and we were only about
10 miles away, we decided to drive to Huntington Beach Pier. We couldn't
find a parking spot so I just hopped out and got a quick picture so we
could get on the way back to Phoenix because it was back to work for
Mark and me on Monday.
A guy with a mullet at Knott's Berry Farm
Huntington Beach Pier
Kind of blurry, sorry
Wind farms near Palm Springs, Ca
Lines of Wind Turbines
It was a LONG and exhausting weekend but definitely worth it!
Back in Peoria this week, we didn't do too much except for last night on Brad's last night we decided to go to the lake. Mark was excited to finally have 3 people on the boat so he could wakeboard again. Brad had never wakeboarded but decided to give it a shot and he got up! I've got a video of one of his longer rides for your enjoyment. Be sure to watch until the end to see his graceful fall :)
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