Showing posts with label disneyland hotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disneyland hotel. Show all posts

Monday, March 27, 2017

Star Wars Light Side Arrival and Expo 2017 vlog (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Hey guys - finally got all my videos from the Star Wars Light Side Half Marathon Weekend edited together.  I separated them into shorter videos so that they were not too long to watch at once.  I had fun editing these together, so I hope you have fun watching.  First up is my arrival to Disneyland and the Expo.

Here are the links to the posts about each part of the trip.





Make sure you check out my vlogs about the 5k and Disneyland!

Have you ever stayed at the Disneyland Hotel?  Have you ever eaten at the Jazz Kitchen?

Enjoy!


Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Universal Studios Hollywood 2017 Part 1 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

So it's been another boring week for me, so instead of hashing out those details, I thought I would get into the last day of my trip after the Star Wars Light Side Half.

If you want to catch up on the previous posts, here are the links.


I left the Disneyland Hotel on Sunday night and headed to Universal City.  I found a hotel, El Royal Hotel, less then a mile from the park and got an Uber there.  I got to the hotel and they told me that I didn't have a reservation.  What?!?  I had my reservation email printout with me.  They said that they did have a smaller room and they would knock some off my bill and buy me a pizza for dinner.  I asked to have the pizza the next night since I had already eaten at the Catal.

The hotel was nice, and my room was tiny.  Like enough room for a bed and a desk with not a lot of room to walk around the bed.  I didn't mind since I was really just there to sleep.  I got my plan together about what rides to hit when and what is a not to miss.

The park was open at 9 a.m. and since I bought my ticket online I got early admission.  I could get into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at 8 a.m.  The only time I have ever been to an amusement park when it opened was when I went to Disneyland a few days earlier.  There people were lined up an hour early and they let us in to wait on Main Street for 30 minutes.  I assumed it would be the same at Universal so I got there about 7 a.m.  Boy was I wrong.


I took an Uber to the park even though it was less then a mile away from the hotel.  My knee had been hurting all weekend from my fall and I knew I was going to be walking a ton throughout the day.  I got to the front of the park and there was no on there.  At all.


I wandered around and found the gates and where I would need to be.  Then I wandered down to City Walk.  I was hoping that something would be open, like a Starbucks to get something to eat.  No one was around and nothing was open.  This sure was not like my experience a few days earlier.  It was odd.


I had been to Universal Studios once and City Walk once on a different trip.  The first was when my friend was getting married and one evening we all went to Universal.  They had a bunch of front of the line passes and we rode a handful of rides.  I don't remember much of the park except maybe the Mummy ride as I was just following everyone else around.  The time I was at City Walk, I was there with the same friends for a premiere of a movie.  Maybe I'll do a Throwback Thursday about that, as it was a lot of fun.

I got back to the front gates and sat on one of the walls and waited.  Slowly a few people showed up and finally they let us through security.  Then we had to wait some at the front gates.  I talked a little to the lady as I was still first in line (weird, right?)  She exchanged my printout ticket for a real ticket and my front of the line lanyard.  About 20 till we were allowed to head in.  But like Disneyland they stopped us at the end of "Main Street".  When it was about 8 a.m. they walked us to the entrance of  The Wizzarding World.


I made a beeline to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  I have been to Universal Studios Orlando twice and this is the same ride that they have there.  It is an indoor ride.  Through a seated ride, it takes you through the Hogwarts Castle and over the grounds.  It uses a ride you sit in like a roller coaster but incorporates the 3-D screens to make you think you are in a different place.


The line getting to the ride was really cool, it had a lot of stuff you would expect to find in the castle like the moving pictures, Dumbledore's office, and the sorting hat. 


This ride is great, I ended up riding it 4 times in a row since I knew that after that the lines were going to get long.  I didn't even use my front of the line pass, just the single rider line. The only thing I did not like about the ride was that it spit in your face.  In fact all rides I went on, except 1 spit water in your face.  It's irritating and gross.  They are trying to incorporate that 4-D crap and really that's not worth it.


After that I headed to the only other ride in the Wizarding World, Flight of the Hippogriff.  It also is a ride at Universal Studios Orlando.


It's more of a kiddy ride, and is a real roller coaster outside.  It was still fun, but only a one time ride.  The best part about this ride was that it didn't spit on me.


By this time it was about the time the park was opening for others and you could tell it was getting crowded.  I decided to get some breakfast at the Three Broomsticks Restaurant.  I had the french toast and it was good.  I tried Pumpkin Juice for the first time and I have to say that stuff is sweet.


I went into all the shops.  Everything was like you were in the Harry Potter world.  There was also Ollivanders where they pick a kid from the audience and had them pick out a wand.





And there was the Hogwarts Express.



I decided to get a Butterbeer as I walk to the next ride.  Mmmmmm is that stuff good!


I headed down to what they call the lower lot.  You take 4 sets of stairs (or escalators) down.  Down in the lower lot are three more rides, the Mummy, Transformers, and Jurassic Park.


I do have to say the views are amazing. 


I went to see the Mummy first, I remember this not only from my one other time there, but also from Orlando.  It's a fun ride.  It's a roller coaster type ride inside.  It includes some fire special effects which was different.  And guess what, it spits in your face.


As I headed to the Transformers ride two of the Transformers were having a meet and greet.


The ride is also inside and it is a car like coaster which also uses 3-D technology to think you are helping to blow up and save a city.  I believe that it's the same ride as the one in Orlando.  And yes, the ride spits on you.


I then headed to the Jurassic Park ride.  I was a bit hesitant on riding this as it was a water ride.  It was getting warm and I was hoping not to get too wet.


I didn't get too wet and some of the robotics for the dinosaurs were really cool.  This ride really doesn't spit, but you still do get somewhat wet.


I decided that I was done with the lower level and started to head back up.  As I was getting to the stairs one of the dinosaurs was coming out for a meet and greet.  It looked like someone in a puppet type suit and was really life like.  They even played at the fact that he was dangerous and needed chains to keep from killing everyone.


This post is getting really long, so I'm going to split this into two.  I'll have the second half up next week.  Please come back to hear how I wrapped up the day and my trip to California!

Read it here!!

Also, check out my vlog about my day at Universal!

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Star Wars Light Side Half 2017 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

My week has been good.  I have been loving this weather.  The next week will be up and down on cool and warm days.  I got in three mid-week runs and a long run.  I feel like I'm really getting back on track.  This week has been too boring, so I'll finally get around to recapping my Star Wars Half Marathon from last month.  Perfect timing as it's Princess Weekend.  Hope everyone that ran it had a great time.

If you want to catch up on the previous posts, here are the links.


After the 10k I really wasn't sure about the half.  But after getting some sleep, I felt like I could tackle the half.  I was a little worried since I had barely run in the month before.  My last long run was on Christmas Eve and it was only 10 miles.

We ended up standing behind two guys with these shirts on.  It's a saying from the new Star Wars movie, Rouge One.  I ended up seeing them several times on the course.  I took my 5 Hour Energy and I knew I was ready to go.


The race started off heading into Disneyland.  I'm not sure, but it seemed to be a lot of the same course as the 10k.  We made it to the castle and around to Main Street and there were the horses again.

I don't remember his name but he was so cute.

Chad from the 10k was out again.

I got to the beginning of Main Street and they were offering this photo op.


Above the bridge Captain Phasma from The Force Awakens was there again.


We made it through California Adventure and about half way through the 4th mile we headed out of the parks.  While I do enjoy running through the parks, running through Anniheim is just as fun.  There are tons of spectators, a lot of bands and cheerleaders, and of course the Cos Players and the 501st Legion.

About the half way point I found this photo op from Mouse Planet.


I happened to see this street sign, for those non-Star Wars fans, it's the title of the first movie done in 1977.


Here was a fun little car with an R2 unit, like the X-Wing Fighters.


And of course the second cutest robot, BB-8.


My knee was hurting a little, but nothing like it was for the 10k.  I was really starting to enjoy running again.  Especially seeing the 501st Legion.

 
 
 

After the 501st Legion we hit mile 9.  Just 4 more miles to go and I was truly having a blast.  I saw the shirt guys again.


There were more bands and cheerleaders.  I always have a blast high-fiving the cheerleaders.  We turned down Katella Avenue, I knew we were almost done.  I was glad to have the run almost over with, but I knew that it was just as much fun as I had last year.  Running might not be as bad as I thought it had been.

I crossed the finish line and the runs for the weekend were done.  I made my way and got some ice for my knee.  It still was bothering me, but I knew it would be fine in a day or two.  I got back to the hotel and met back up with Kelly.

 

We showered and rested for a little bit.  Kelly had a special surprise of afternoon tea.  At the Steakhouse 55 restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel they started an afternoon tea.  We were served a pot of tea (or more) with scones, tea sandwiches, and deserts.  This is something that I would defiantly do again.  It was the perfect amount of food for the afternoon after a half marathon.


We went back to the hotel room to rest some and for me to finish packing.  I was heading to Universal City so that I could hit Universal Studio first thing in the morning.  For dinner we headed to Catal Restaurant in Downtown Disney where we had a couple of drinks and a great celebration dinner.  We were seated on the balcony and had fun watching the crowds.



Check out my vlog for the Half.

My next day was spent at Universal.

Have you ever had an official afternoon tea?  Did you run Star Wars?  Or Princess this weekend?




Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Star Wars Light Side 10k 2017 (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

Honestly I really can't give myself a great grade for my running in January.  I did 3 training runs and ran 3 races, then took 2 weeks off.  I'm starting to get back to the love of running.  It just has taken me awhile.  So instead of going in depth of almost nothing, I'll post more about my trip and races at Disneyland.

If you want to catch up on the previous posts, here are the links.

So we woke up early again for the second race of the set.  I was tired.  Like really tired.  And grumpy.  Like really grumpy.


Kelly and I were in different corrals, I was in E and she was one ahead of me.  I was so far back that I could see the construction of the Star Wars Land.  

 
We couldn't hear anything that was going on in the front and on top of that there were no video screens further back.  So none of us really knew what was going on up front.  They didn't start moving till the corral in front of us was about to start.  It was really odd to not start moving the corals up as the others went on.

When we got up to the start line, the new guy (I don't know his name) did a rap from the top of his head.  It was actually really entertaining.  I wish we could have heard or seen what was going on earlier in the morning.

Soon after that we were off.  I still was in a bad mood, so most of the first couple miles really were not memorable.  Once we got into the parks, I was starting to have fun again.  We entered in Disneyland and we were able to see the "It's a Small World" ride all lit up.  It was still a little dark, so it was really pretty.  From what Kelly said, the lights automatically had gone off right when she passed.  They must have been on a timer and someone had to scramble to get them back on for when I passed.



My knee did start to hurt again.  And as with the day before, I still wasn't sure if it was because it was my bad knee or that I fell on it during the 5k.  Again, probably a bit of both.

As we went by Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Mad Tea Party, both were on and running with no one riding.  It was fun to see that.

As we came out of the castle and made our way to Main Street, there were horses out.  These looked to be two different ones.  And if I remember correctly, it was Dallas and Chad.  They were both really sweet and Chad even gave me a kiss.  My mood really picked up after seeing those hansom guys.

Dallas
Chad

When I got up to the front of Disneyland I wanted to make sure I looked up to see if there was a character there like Boba Fett was there during the 5k.  And there was, this time it was Captain Phasma from The Force Awakens.



There was a point somewhere in the race were everyone was trying to take a photo of a mile marker.  The people were out in the middle of the course.  As I ran by I called out for everyone to move over so that runners could get by.  Some chick behind me said three times loud enough for me to hear "Someone is cranky".  Yes I was cranky that morning, but this wasn't the first time in the race that people were out in the middle of the course in the way of runners.  I'm all for people stopping and taking photos, but be aware there are others around you.

We made our way through California Adventure again and saw the sights there.  I didn't stop for any characters as the lines were too long and I just wanted to get done.  My knee really was hurting towards the end of the race and I was very worried about having to run 13 miles the next day.

I was so glad to be done.  I stopped and had them ice up my knee.  I decided to take the way back to the hotel past the finish line and it took forever to get around the crowds and race.  I was getting cold and my knee really hurt.

I was so glad to get back to the hotel and to take a real hot shower.  We rested for a bit and then headed down to our breakfast reservation at Goofy's Kitchen.  We have gone there every year.  I think that it's a lot better then Minnie and Friends in Disneyland.



We of course saw Goofy before we were called to our table.  Then we saw Pluto, Minnie, and Chip.  Somehow we missed Dale.



For the rest of the day we hung out in the hotel room watching TV, playing on our iPads, or sleeping.  By the time I left for dinner I was feeling much better resting up.  I really needed to rest. We did head back to the expo so that I could return some things. After looking closely at what I got and how much I spent I was glad to return some things. I also had to get some more glide as what I brought ran out.

For dinner we headed to Naples Ristorante in Downtown Disney.  I had been there after the Tinkerbell Half a few years ago and remembered the cheesy bread to be very good.  We of course ordered it.  The pasta I had was a little underwhelming.  Kelly and I agreed that if we do a pasta dinner before the half we would go back to Marri's Pizza and Pasta where we ate the night before.

We headed back to our hotel to get ready for the half the next day.

Click here to read about the half marathon.

You can also see my vlog for the 10k.

Have you been to Goofy's Kitchen?  Where do you like to go for carb loading at Disneyland?