Marci's Grand California Adventure Trip Report!!!!

[Marci]

Hello friends!!! What a trip report I have in store for you! If you want to go back and read the pre-trip report you can find it here: http://www.beourguestpodcast.com/for...read.php?t=771

I have a TON of photos and info for you and please, if you have questions along the way, ask and hopefully I can help you with them! I'm going to do a full trip report of my time in California.. but I will put a link up to just the disney stuff (once I write it out) so if you want to skip ahead to that you can..... but honestly, probably at least 50% of the trip was Disneyland. I hope I can remember everything in order and keep all the details in... with the time difference and being so excited and trying to fit in a ton of things in one week.... I'm pretty exhausted, not to mention that I was operating on typically about 5 hours of sleep a night! lol...
so... if you are ready to proceed.. then get on board!

Day 1: Thursday morning:

I had called a cab to come pick me up at 4:15 am because Tim was out of town for work... I had my bags packed and all I had to do was wake up, get dressed, and put on a coat of mascara and go... well, 4:15 comes and goes and still no sign of the cab... I'm pacing around my living room waiting.. calling the cab company and getting their answering machine over and over... and by 4:30 I realized I was just going to have to drive myself to the airport and leave the car in the overnight parking.. I didn't want to have to do this but in the end it turned out not so bad since Tim would be home on Friday night and could go get the car out of parking. I drove myself to the airport, checked in, got on the plane, and the rest of the morning went pretty smooth... typical travel day... I rode in one of those tiny, tiny planes from NY to NJ and then on the flight from NJ to California I met a nice older couple who were going to Vegas .... we chatted and I took this picture from the plane:



my flight landed around noon and I was hungry, tired, and had a headache... but happy to be in california! Rosa picked me up at the curb and we headed out.. let me tell you, the weather was perfect! blue skies, not too hot or too cold, just great! so we decided to go eat at a raw food place that was near by called Au Lac. I was familiar with it and Rosa was willing to be experimental and try something new...

We drove up to the place and got a seat right away:


it is vegetarian/raw food.. we ordered pistacio bread (which was really more like a nutty pate):



and appetizer called "cream cheese" (that had no cream cheese in it! rosa liked these)


and for lunch I had the humanese soup which was an avocado/coconut water based soup with some mushrooms and other stuff in it.. totally yummy!


Rosa went vegetarian with curry and noodles.. guess I didn't get a pic of that... then for dessert we had "donut holes" which were warm with a gooey liquid center and a durian smoothie... lol.. if you don't know what a durian is... well, it's a fruit.. but there's a lot more to it.. it's a story for another time really:

the "donut holes" (which were great) and the durian smoothie (we left half of it there and I drank most of that half, rosa did not like it):







the owner/chef came out to make sure we were enjoying everything and I remembered that I had heard that he had taken a vow of silence 7 years ago! it was so neat, he didn't speak, but through hand gestures we could understand and communicate with him.. he was sooooo nice and warm and friendly and he gave us a free piece of raw chocolate pie that was awesome! I didn't get a picture of it though

after lunch we went to Rosa's apartment and just relaxed and hung out chatting in the living room for a few hours... we ended up meeting up with three guys that I'm friends with down at a bar and spent the entire night talking and laughing.. I think we got back to Rosa's apartment maybe by 1 in the morning or so.....

I slept on the couch (did so for the entire trip unless we were in a hotel) .. which wasn't too uncomfortable, but wasn't super comfy either... but hey, what are you gonna do right for free room and board?

ok, next morning... downtown disney tour....

[Becca]

Woohoo!! I've been so excited to hear about this Great so far!! I don't think I could ever drag Patrick into somewhere like that... He'd demand to know where all the steak was!

[Marci]

Day 2 - Friday

Woke up early, around 6, even after going to bed at 1... I think I was too excited. I knew Rosa had to work this morning until around noon and I think she expected me to just sleep in while she was gone but I had different plans...

"why don't you drop me off at downtown disney and pick me up when you get off work at noon?"

after she got the shocked look off her face over the fact that I was even up at 6 when I didn't have to be: she decided to let me drop her off at work and drive myself to downtown disney. I was a bit nervous as california has awful traffic but she gave me good directions and I found my way there.. I parked in the downtown disney parking lot, got my camera, and headed in.. it was probably around 7:30 and it was so peaceful and quiet around there... as I walked in a security guy saw me, nodded his head, and said "good morning princess"... it made me smile so big.. I had never been called princess before, in all of my trips to disneyworld... it's funny how a small comment like that can make a huge difference...

so I took pics of the stores from the outside since none of them were open just yet:

Basin, every girls dream store: soaps/shampoo/lotions:


studio 365, not really sure what this is? maybe a tween makeover type shop? I never went in there.



candy shop:


they have to wake up early to get the candy apples ready for the day:


candy apples:


jazz kitchen: I love the decor/feel of this place!


more of the jazz kitchen - so cute!


stepping into the restaurant, they were closed but I peeked my head in..


the "fountain" up close:


con't on next post......

[Marci]

some more downtown disney shops:

vault 28: hip, trendy shop:


little miss matched: cute shop for little girls/clothing:


socks from little miss matched:


tortilla jo's: the fountain in front shot out water every so often, I tried to get a picture of it:


monorail station: you catch the monorail at downtown disney and it takes you into disneyland and drops you off near the nemo submarine ride. The monorail is sooo cool here! I rode it at night and it has these blue lights that glow on the inside.... I don't know if it's a new monorail or what, but it's really neat! Also there are windows inside it that open up a little to let the air in.. I don't think the ones at WDW have that right?


la brea bakery.. at the end of downtown disney on the right side.. last place to get food before entering the parks:


and I bought a la brea crossaint for breakfast.. I got it from a small cart outside and it was pretty good, but I wonder if I bought it from inside the actual place, maybe it would have been fresher:


world of disney:


nightmare before christmas windows at world of disney:




earlier I had passed the entrance to the Disney's Grand Californian resort and spa and decided to head inside the resort to take pictures once I finished my croissant... the entrance is right in the middle of downtown disney... little did I know I was about to fall in love.. so much that later in the week I would actually be booking a room at the resort...

ok, I must sleep so I will continue the next installment later tonight or tomorrow... coming up next ... Grand Californian photo tour.....

[Ray]

Originally Posted by aurora1982

Woohoo!! I've been so excited to hear about this Great so far!! I don't think I could ever drag Patrick into somewhere like that... He'd demand to know where all the steak was!

Marci, I am afraid that I would have been like Patrick and wanted to know where the meat was. I am adventuresome a lot of time with regards to eating, but I don't think I could done that. It looks interesting but I don't know.

Great report so far. It is neat to walk down in Downtown when every thing is close. Nice and quiet. A couple of years ago we stayed at Paradise Pier and because we were use to Texas time we were up early and would walk around Downtown Disney early (And yet we never took a step into the stores while there). How nice they have a candy store named after you Marci. It looks really good. Waiting for more.

[angel783]

Yay! You have started your report! Looking forward to the DL part... enjoyed all your facebook updates while you were there!

[Jillian (Jillybeaner21)]

k great report so far!!! i unfortunately can't see the pics until i get home (stupid work!) but it sounds like you had an absolute blast and I can't wait to see the pics!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. WELCOME HOME!! we missed you!

[Nicole]

I am glad you got home safe and I will be looking for more info on the trip.

[cassandra]

Originally Posted by Marci

Rosa went vegetarian with curry and noodles.. guess I didn't get a pic of that... then for dessert we had "donut holes" which were warm with a gooey liquid center and a durian smoothie... lol.. if you don't know what a durian is... well, it's a fruit.. but there's a lot more to it.. it's a story for another time really:

ohhh no, Marci! Durian! Yuck! Honestly I can't go very near the stuff. The smell is horrid! I stay away from that and natto! ewww! Getting goose bumps just thinking about it!!

Great report! Love the photos!!<3

[Marci]

Originally Posted by aurora1982

Woohoo!! I've been so excited to hear about this Great so far!! I don't think I could ever drag Patrick into somewhere like that... He'd demand to know where all the steak was!

I'm sure most people would probably be a bit nervous to try raw food like that... even the most adventerous eaters! thanks for reading along!

Originally Posted by Ray

Marci, I am afraid that I would have been like Patrick and wanted to know where the meat was. I am adventuresome a lot of time with regards to eating, but I don't think I could done that. It looks interesting but I don't know.

Great report so far. It is neat to walk down in Downtown when every thing is close. Nice and quiet. A couple of years ago we stayed at Paradise Pier and because we were use to Texas time we were up early and would walk around Downtown Disney early (And yet we never took a step into the stores while there). How nice they have a candy store named after you Marci. It looks really good. Waiting for more.

how was Paradise Pier Ray? that's the only Disney resort I never made it to on this trip.

Originally Posted by angel783

Yay! You have started your report! Looking forward to the DL part... enjoyed all your facebook updates while you were there!

thanks!

Originally Posted by Jillian (Jillybeaner21)

k great report so far!!! i unfortunately can't see the pics until i get home (stupid work!) but it sounds like you had an absolute blast and I can't wait to see the pics!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. WELCOME HOME!! we missed you!

aww, thank you.. I missed all of you!

Originally Posted by Nicole

I am glad you got home safe and I will be looking for more info on the trip.

hopefully I can post an update at least once a day.. I'm feeling a bit sick right now so I might be a little slow at updates, but I'll definitely try!

Originally Posted by cassandra

ohhh no, Marci! Durian! Yuck! Honestly I can't go very near the stuff. The smell is horrid! I stay away from that and natto! ewww! Getting goose bumps just thinking about it!!

Great report! Love the photos!!<3

lol cassandra! I keep trying durian in different ways .. .frozen, popcicles, smoothies, and each time I don't really like it... so I think I'm done with it. What is natto?