Well, it’s been 9 years since we last visited the Magic Kingdom, and the cost is so much, it’s sometimes hard to justify the cost. But with winnings from the contest I entered (and won) from SpeeDee Oil, it covered our trip, so we went!
We tried planning this trip for several months, and with Meghan in Utah, and just starting a new (second) job, and Marissa graduating from High School, and school ending, and moving, the trip just got put off. And now with Marissa going to go to school in Utah the end of June, our time to pull this off with everyone going was getting less and less. This was going to be our last chance (most likely) together as a family to go on a vacation.
We finally found one week…one week from April thru June that would work, IF and it was a big IF Meghan could take a week off, including her new job she just started, AND her current job, then we thought we could make it work. So, with less than a weeks notice, Meghan was able to get the week off, then it was Marissa’s turn to get a week off from her TWO jobs, and she got it. That the was the hard part. So we got a train ticket for Meghan to get her on Saturday afternoon, and we would leave Monday at 4am, get back home Friday night around midnight, and Meghan back on the train at noon Saturday. We made it work and it happened!
Welcome home Meghan!
You know us, we couldn’t just go to Disneyland and that’s it. Plus, we timed it between the busy times and before the end of school rush, so we thought we would only need one day at Disneyland and one day California Adventure to see it all, especially if we went mid-week – we wouldn’t need five days there.
Our first stop, Monday, was Six Flags Magic Mountain – the biggest and best for thrill rides. It was perfect. No crowds at all! Most rides were walk-ons or at the most a ten minute ride. It was great!
Our new favorite is Tatsu – where it rotates you back so you are laying down, facing the ground. It’s supposed to simulate you flying. The last three times we’ve been there, it’s either been closed or over an hour wait and we didn’t ride it. This time, 10 minutes. It is SO SMOOTH! And SO FUN!!
We also love the drop ride – up 40 stories (world’s tallest) and then drops reaching speeds of 85 mph.. It’s on the same structure as Superman (which goes over 100 mph straight up and then back again) and the tower is designed to sway with the wind and/or the roller coaster vibrations. It can sway up to 2-3 feet when the two rides are in sync. Well, when we went, they were in sync, and as we were riding up to the top, and the few seconds sitting there at the very top, the tower was swaying and it was a little scary!
Here is a video (not shot by me obviously) but shows the ride in action, and also the two rides together.
The next day was California Adventure, which due to Cars Land is much more popular than it’s ever been. Most of the crowds were only in Cars Land. Most of the rest of the park was un-crowded, and lines were really short. Only Cars had a line of an hour to 1 1/2 hours, but we never waited more than 10 minutes, usually less than 5 and we went it many times. The secret? SINGLES LINE! What a great idea Disneyland! You just fill up any single seats. In most cases, two of us were in the same car anyway. It was great!
Car’s Ride – (not filmed by me)
The Grizzly River Run was very fun. And it wasn’t until I saw the ride from afar, that I noticed the rock outcroppings are shaped like a grizzly bear! Leave it to Disney to do something like that. Up close, you can’t tell.
The Aladdin show was EXCELLENT! Not to be missed! We loved it! And it gives you a chance to sit down and rest for 45 minutes.
The World of Color show was awesome as well! Not to be missed! It’s done with fountains, and lasers and lights. Very very well done and worth the wait!
The next day was Disneyland. Again, crowds were pretty low and we were able to do everything we wanted, multiple times with a little planning and it worked out great. Very very fun, and we loved every minute of it!
The next day was California Science Center. They have the Space Shuttle there and it was very cool to see it.
Here is Jacob standing next to some of the landing gear that was used.
Here is the actual toilet they used, they even have a video showing how it’s done, as things are a little different in space.
We saw glow in the dark blue jellyfish and lots of schools of fish.
The next day was Santa Monica beach. It was a week day, and not crowded at all. Maybe it had something to do with the weather..wasn’t the warmest of days, but good enough to enjoy the beach. I mean, it’s the beach!
We found a geocache and put in one of our travel bugs, which was promptly found the next week, and some vacationers took it to Austria.. So our travel bug is now travelling around in Austria!
The next day we visited the two Getty Museums in SoCal. Both are free and both are top notch and beautiful! You could spend all day at just one of them, they are HUGE! J. Paul Getty was an oil tycoon who was obsessed with collecting ancient things. He wanted to share his collections and set up a trust fund that would make sure his two museums would always be free and open to the public.
The first one is the Getty Villa. It’s in Malibu overlooking the ocean. The Villa was where one of Getty’s houses was and he built the Villa to be an exact replica after the ancient Roman Villa dei Papiri, in the city of Herculaneum in Southern Italy, which is said to be the house of Julias Caeser’s father-in-law. It was covered in volcanic ash in AD 79 and recently being uncovered.
In the Villa, Getty has his collections of Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities – over 1,200 pieces, most are dating from 6,5000 BC to AD 400 – most are original pieces. Including one of the few life size Greek bronze sculpture to have survived in modern times.
These silver vessels held wine, and if you look close enough, you can see the spout at the bottom where the wine would be come out. The description of these reads:
“Wealthy people used and displayed expensive silver and gold vessels, rather than ceramics, to indicate their status. At drinking parties, the wine was diluted with water, strained, and then ladled into metal pitchers, bowls and cups. Luxury vessels were not only used in the home, but in sanctuaries where the liquid was offered up to the Gods. Most luxury vessels that have survived were found in tombs, where they were deposited as offerings to the dead.”
It was very fun to see all the items here.
On the way to the next Getty museum, we stopped at Paramount Ranch, hidden in the Malibu mountains. It’s owned by Paramount Pictures and it was built and used for Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman TV series, and before that was used in many movies made between 1927 and 1997. There was nobody there when we went..It was like a uh….. ghost town!
Then it was on to The Getty Center, which is perched up high in the Santa Monica mountains overlooking downtown LA. It’s nestled between the mountains so well, you can’t even drive up to it. You have to park at the bottom and take a monorail like tram up to the top. Once up top, it’s a beautiful place! No expense was spared building this place.
The Getty Center is paintings, manuscripts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance, sculptures, furniture, gardens.
After our busy day, it was time to drive home, sadly our vacation was over. But we did do a lot of things and we had a wonderful time together! The next day (Saturday) we said goodbye to Meghan again, as she boarded the train back to Utah.
Thanks Speedee Oil for allowing us to have this wonderful vacation! We had a GREAT time!!!!!
