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Old 7th July 2020, 16:28   #1
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Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

"....And it all starts with a wish!"

The amount of entertainment that kids of today are exposed to is great! They can use this exposure to gain knowledge and also make them great explorers! It has been my daughter's wish to visit Disneyland since she was 5! I was to be blamed for this since I used to tell her tales of my escapades in the US. Her watching of all the Disney cartoons only added to this. I had promised her that I would take her to the Disneyland definitely before she turns 10. My wife and I also thought that it would only make sense to make her visit Disney before she outgrows that phase of being fascinated by the fairy tales and princesses!

But this promise of mine kept delaying until she turned 9 in 2018. Part of it is to do with us owning another home and spending on it. Once we settled down, we decided we should start planning for our US trip.

Having studied and lived in the US, I have a lot of friends there and hence whenever I think of traveling to US for leisure, it always involves trying to visit them which makes the trip quite long. (When I travelled with my wife and parents before, ended up staying there for 40days!!).

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-disney.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-lego.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-seaworld.jpg

This above pretty much is all this travelogue about!

The time of the travel was easy - it has to be during her summer holidays - April, ideally. Since we all had passports with validity, the first step was to start with the visa for my daughter. But before that, I had to come up with an itinerary. I just kept it simple.

>Land in New York(that is where my friend and partner lives)
>Spend about 3 days to get over the jet lag
>Travel to LA
>Visit Disneyland(3 days)
>Visit Legoland(1 day)
>Visit Sea World in San Diego(2 days)
>Visit my friends in the west coast(4days)
>Fly back to New York
>Spend a week in NY
>Travel back to Bangalore.

With this basic plan charted out, I started scouring the net for tickets for flights. I have a frequent flyer with Etihad and blocked my tickets for April 3 and return on April 30. I also spoke to few of my friends there who had been to these theme parks before to get an idea of how long to spend, what to visit, tickets, etc. The best bet according to my itinerary was the Southern California CityPass.

CityPass Link: https://www.citypass.com/southern-ca...body-container

It offered a package of 3days Disneyland+1day Legoland+1day SeaWorld with a validity of 14 days from the first date of visit. Additionally, these were park hopper tickets, which means, you can walk out and walk in to any of the Disney parks anytime. Plus, it offered one magic morning, which means we get to enter the park before the gates are opened to public. This would fit our plan perfectly, so I went ahead and bought these.

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I also bought the flight tickets to and fro LA for April 07 to 24. I did not want to book any hotels at this point since we might end up staying in friends' places and wanted to figure it out later.

With this basic itinerary set in, I applied for the visas in February . My wife and I had our 10 year multiple entry visa valid till August 2018, which meant we had to apply a new one only for our daughter. Drop box option was applicable and hence applied online, took appointment and dropped off her passport with supporting documents at the drop off location. And got our passport back with stamped visa in 4 days. So all set!

My daughter was super excited and started planning for her trip - by looking at stuff she would want to buy from there! She already told us she needs a suitcase just for her toys! By this time I had also started my research for a more detailed plan with stay options. I decided I will book them by last week of March.

So, things don’t always go as planned, do they?!

On March 13, I had a nasty twist on my right ankle while playing badminton in the society. I knew the feeling since I have had it twice on the same ankle before since I was pursuing professional badminton in my school days. In fact, that was the reason I gave it up since then I was advised that another fall would end up in surgery.

I couldn't walk back home, and was helped by friends. I just wrapped a crepe and slept off. Next morning, went to see my ortho friend. It wasn't fracture, and hence would only be a ligament tear. He put me on a cast and bed rest for 3 weeks. That is when I told him about our travel plans and he clearly advised that it is highly improbable, however, he said he will reassess in two weeks and then we could take a call. Still a ray of hope!

My daughter was surprisingly very understanding of the fact and never really expressed anything. This heart wrenched me further, I should have been careful! Hey, but then, it is not all in your control always!

Fast forward two weeks, went to the clinic, he checked on it and broke the news we were desperately hoping otherwise - it is not healed and would take at least 2 months! Since we had to do quite bit of walking, he advised to postpone our trip until I heal and strengthen completely.

Back home, I started exploring the possibilities of pushing the trip.

> CityPass had one year validity - No issues
> The NY to LA flights were booked on our business card points program and hence could be date changed/converted back to points for a fee unto one year - Minor damage
> Etihad flights could also be date changed for a fee, but the conversion was costing more than the cancellation fee - Major damage

So went ahead and cancelled the Etihad flights and paid the points conversion fee for the LA flights and left it at that. Then just focused on recovery.

My daughter had another 3 weeks of holidays in July and hence we were thinking of doing the trip then. However, with our visa validity only till August, we had to renew our visas as well. But more than this, I was not keen on visiting the US in July/Aug in peak summer. It would be unpleasant to do all that walking and touring in heat. So I proposed doing this during the Pooja holidays. There were debates since the holiday was only for 10 days which would mean we would overshoot it. So some deliberations resulted in me suggesting doing just the theme park trip since this was anyway meant for our daughter and we could always visit our friends later. So it was Bangalore-LA-Bangalore.

With this in mind, I first sent out an email to the school and got their approval. Both wife and I being entrepreneurs, no permission necessary!! Then started off with the plans. I came up with a shortened version of the itinerary:

> Leave Bangalore to LA on the 2nd of Oct
> Two days rest for jet lag
> 3 days in Disneyland
> 1 day rest
> 1 day in Legoland
> 1 day rest
> 2 days in Sea World
> 3 days for shopping
> 3 days to visit friends
> Fly back to Bangalore on the 18th of Oct


I wanted to keep a rest day between each theme park to recuperate from all the walking since kids would get tired. This was a key tip I received from all friends who visited earlier.

First step was to look for international travel tickets. With dates so specific, the best deal the agent could find me was with Cathay Pacific. Etihad was quite expensive for these dates for some reason. I have never flown Cathay before, but the agent assured me that it would be good. So I gave the go ahead and booked the flights.

Next the visa renewals for my wife and I. Used the same drop box option and got it approved. One thing I realized with this plan is that I could spare only one weekend for visiting friends and hence decided to stay with one and have others visit. With this, jotted down a clear plan:

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I did not want to make any plans in LA and kept it free assuming we will do a lot of shopping.

I made all the hotel bookings. I wanted to keep the budget of $120 average per night and most of the choice of hotels was driven by this as one of the factors. Of course, there are other major factors like proximity to what we wanted to do, facilities, etc. For instance, it was important to choose a hotel that would offer free pickup/drop service while booking near Disneyland since this would save a lot in parking and walking.

I was keen on my daughter having an experience of staying inside the Disneyland hotel. But, they were prohibitively expensive($600+ per night) and all the 'experiences' were additional. Hence checked out Legoland Hotel and found that comparatively better(still expensive I would say!) and had a deal going for a two nights stay, so sealed it.

I then started looking for rental cars. And I got a good deal for a Merc CLA or similar category with SixT through a portal and booked it from LAX airport from the time of landing to flying back. Organized all travel material into Google Trips.

Next came the detailed planning for the theme parks. All of us looked through the attractions list under Disney theme park and I asked my daughter to choose which ones she wanted to absolutely visit. Legoland is small and can be done in a single day. SeaWorld can also be squeezed in a day. But Disneyland is huge and it is imperative we make a clear plan of what to visit so we can optimize our time better. I have had friends do just Disney for 7 days and we had only 3 days planned. We did not do this exercise earlier when we were scheduled to travel in April. Gyan that dawned later!

I then tried to procure some basic stuff that would be required. We practice reuse-recycle as much as possible. So first of the list was to buy RO filter carry on bottles so we could do away with plastic water bottles. This meant we could just refill in any of the water fountains without having to worry about the water quality. I ordered two of these from Amazon:
astrea Water Filtering Bottle
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0784G7P2B/..._yalcFbJTE7068

They really came handy.

We decided to carry only 5 sets of clothes each and decided to buy more while there. Also, we planned to do laundry wherever possible. Next, basic medical supplies, a hand weighing scale for weighing the bags, tags for suitcases were bought.

I then applied for a forex card that can be preloaded with money and used as a debit card without any additional charges. This card can also be topped up as and when required. But the process although is online, was not seamless since it took about 24 hours for the loaded amount to reflect. So yeah, some bit of planning is required. Nevertheless, I found this is as a good alternative to using our Indian issued credit/debit cards since they attract transaction charges for every use.

Now was the wait for the day! I resumed my long walks in the evening to train the leg, and didn't even think of playing badminton! Still, 3 days before the date of travel, I got the viral fever. Went to the doctor, took medicines and rested completely for the 3 days. Thankfully, the eve of the flight, I felt better.

*Disclaimer: This is a first hand account of how I went through the trip. So all choices and opinions are strictly personal with no reference or promotional notion intended. Also, I take photographs only to keep track of memories and hence they will not be even close to good!

Last edited by luvurride : 15th July 2020 at 16:46.
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Old 8th July 2020, 18:24   #2
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oct 02, 2018:

With 3 large suitcases and 2 carry ons and a backpack, largely empty since we intended to purchase stuff in the US, we left home for the airport on the night of Oct 01 in an Uber. We reached the airport and went to the check in almost 2 hours to the flight. We were informed that the flight was delayed by a couple of hours. Since we could not checkin before 3 hours, we ended up waiting in the corridor. Eventually, the counters opened and we checked in our bags. Getting through Security and Immigration quickly, we went to the lounge for some much needed food and a nap!

An unexpected surprise awaited as I ran into my US college roommate and friend here. He had travelled on an urgent personal need for 2 days and was returning back to Canada. He was also booked in Cathay Pacific as well and it was good that we could travel together till Hong Kong.

And then boarded the Cathay Pacific to HongKong. My daughter was super excited as this was her first international flight! But she slept through the Hongkong flight mostly since it was her bedtime. I was busy chatting with my friend through the flight. We landed Hongkong uneventfully, bid bye to my friend, went through the chores and boarded the LA flight which was delayed by 30 mins.

A shot at Hongkong airport:
Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-hkg-airport.jpg

Now this was great for her with her own personalized entertainment! I had told everyone to try and stay awake most of the time and sleep once we reach LA so we could try and beat the jetlag! So all of us kept ourselves enagged with movies and food with minor naps. After a lonnnng 17 hours, we landed. Local time 10:30am.

Typical long queues at immigration ensured we were out after a good 2 hours. Grabbed sandwiches for lunch in the airport itself and waited for the SixT pickup vehicle. After another 15 mins of wait outside, we boarded the vehicle and headed to the rental center. This was located a mile away from the airport and the location was a bit shady with warehouses mostly. There wasn't much of a queue and we were allotted a vehicle pretty soon after completing the paperwork with my Indian DL. We got a Volvo S60 since that was only one available in the category I booked. When I took the keys and went to the vehicle, I realized that the boot was not large enough to accommodate all our luggage. So ended up putting one large suitcase in the back seat and we started off at 2:30pm.

Now, I did not opt for any roaming packs in my phone and intended to buy a prepaid sim over there. Airtel is pretty expensive if I opted for 20 days of International roaming, whilest you get unlimited packs for $70 there!

So I had downloaded the maps for the region I would be traveling and planned to use my phone as the GPS. But the S60 came with built in navigation in which I set the location for our stop - Carlsbad by the Sea Hotel, 90 miles away.

The initial excitement had waned and they both were fast asleep! I was driving enjoying the vistas and did not realize that Google took me via the I405 toll highway since that was the shortest and fastest. When I approached the toll, saw the flashes stating that it is an automated toll. Since I was not prepared for it, decided to push through. After seeing the signs that I can pay the toll later, I was relieved.

We reached the hotel by about 4pm. The lady at the counter was too patient and explained every single detail to us. It was a relief considering the world keeps going fast paced at everything!

This is a typical American hotel laid out across cast space and you could park your vehicles close to your room. So dragged all the luggae to our room from the vehicle, took hot showers and crashed!

I woke up by about 8pm with hunger pangs. So I just took the car out to a Jack in the box that was close by and got dinner. We ate at the room, watched some TV and slept again.

Oct 03, 2018:

All of us woke up at around 4:30am and realized we were jetlagged severely! I had kind of anticipated this since I always get jetlagged while flying West to East! And since we had taken the HongKong route, we flew West to East.

With nothing to do, we managed to stay in the bed till 5:30am, woke up, took shower, got ready and went for breakfast. The breakfast counter was setup in a lovely building next to the pool and we ate typical American hotel breakfast that we have to get used for the rest of the trip - Cereals, Waffles, Scrambled eggs, Sausages, Toast and Juice. Fruits and Yogurt thrown in as well. Not really a healthy one since most of these stuff are heated off packed food.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-carlsbad-sea.jpg

Now, one of the reason I booked this hotel is this is bang opposite to The Premium Outlet Malls of Carlsbad. So time for shopping!

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-carlsbad_premium_outlets_2.jpg

We had a blast of a time going through all the outlets and ended up buying shoes, clothes, etc. There was a Disney Store there and our daughter enjoyed every minute in it! Picked up some toys for herself. By 12, we were hungry and decided to go to a nearby Walmart Store for basic supplies(bath products, cosmetics, laundry staples, snacks, etc.) post lunch. The nearest Walmart Supercenter was in Oceanside, 5 miles north of Carlsbad. Since I also saw an Applebees next to it, the decision was made. We went there, had lunch at Applebees and then stopped by the T-Mobile store for a prepaid SIM. With that loaded, headed to Walmart and roamed around all isles. Our daughter had super fun going through the toy section and bought some she liked.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-walmart.jpg

But by 4:30pm, she was so sleepy we couldn't continue anymore. Still jet lagged! So we turned back to the hotel. I went out to the Subway nearby, picked up, had early dinner at 6 at the room and hit the bed soon. Before that, I made sure that I paid the missed toll online!

Oct 04, 2018

We were worried that the day was delayed since we woke up only at 6am. Waking up so early kind of made us feel we had a lot of time during the day. Anyway, it was breakfast usual and then check out. Our daughter was super excited since she was going to stay at the Legoland Hotel and was asking impatiently when we could get over to Legoland. I told her that check ins are at afternoon only and we had no other option but to wait. Since we had time, we decided to do laundry.

A personalized thank you note:
Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-carlsbad-sea1.jpg

After checking out, we headed out to a Vegan restaurant named Veggie Grill in Carlsbad itself and it turned out to be great. I could see them busy and obviously the vegan culture is picking up.

Post lunch, we headed to Legoland Hotel. Pulled in, and thankfully, there was a butler to help with the luggage. We had fully loaded them now since we have been shopping! The lobby was everything about Lego understandably and my daughter's joy knew no bounds! She was super excited and went to check it out. I completed the check in formalities and had to go and park the car in the designated parking area. Parking was included in the package.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel1.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel2.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel3.jpg

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It took a while to grab her to the room, and the first surprise was in the elevator. The elevator sang to the Legoland tune with disco lights! We were shown our room and it was really an experience! There was this master bed room and a children bed room with the toilet in the middle. The children's room had a bunk bed. There was also a treasure chest inside the room as a disguised locker. They had this concept of providing clues everyday and you have to identify the numbers based on the clues. The answer will be a combination of numbers that would open the locker. Nice! So we got our clue sheet while we checked in. They also replace the clue sheet everyday when they do the housekeeping. Really a great concept to keep the kids excited! We freshened up and went around the lobby for identifying answers to the clues. They were pretty simple for kids since they knew about the Lego concepts. Once we got the combination, we came back to the room and opened the locker to find this:

A small souvenir Lego set!
Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel7.jpg

She got one everyday we were there.

We then had a nap in the room, woke up at 6pm to head down to play more. We had dinner at the restaurant and settled in for the Legoland adventure for the next day.

Oct 05, 2018:

We all woke up excited at 6am. Got ready and went down for a sumptuous breakfast at the restaurant and headed out the back gate to enter the park.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel6.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel8.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel9.jpg

There wasn't much crowd since it was still 9am which is quite early probably. Since we had the city pass, entry was a breeze.

So this is the route we covered in the park:
Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland-map.jpg

As you can see, you can start your way in from either direction and go around. We started from left with Explorer island. We covered pretty much all the attractions there. Coastersaurus was the first ever thrill ride for our daughter and she screamed like anything. She is not a fan of adventure! Neither are we!! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh!

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland1.jpg

Next was Heartlake City, her favorite. She had multiple sets of them already at home and knew everything about it. Our job was to just follow her!

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland2.jpg

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Several photo shoots later, we were at Miniland USA which is LEGO sets of various cities of US along with few other attractions from across the world. There is also a boat ride that takes us through these.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland9.jpg

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Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland11.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland12.jpg

Post this, we walked to Pirate Shores. We had anticipated and carried a set of quick dry clothes in our backpack so we changed into those. We took the Splash Battle which is a zigzag ride where you can shoot water jets on other riders. Added fun is that bystanders and passersby can also use the guns installed at few places to shoot at you! We got wet and thoroughly enjoyed the fun. We went again, since there wasn't much of a crowd. We came out finally and did some damage from outside to the next set of riders!

We then took the Deep Sea Adventure ride which is basically a submarine ride, which was good.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland13.jpg

Next stop was Castle Hill where we took the Hideaways and Royal Joust. By now, it was 1:00 pm and we were hungry. Perfect since there was a food court with multiple options there. We had Castle Burgers along with Granny's Apple fries. We took our bio breaks as well here.

It was 2pm when we walked to the Imagination zone by skipping the Adventure Land, you know why! On the way, we stopped by the Model Shop since there was a mini competition of sorts where kids were asked to build a 4 wheeler and race against each other for fun! Our daughter also briefly engaged in it with her own assistant!

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland7.jpg

The crowd started to swell by now.

The first stop at imagination zone was Aquazone wave racers followed by Bionicle blaster.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legoland8.jpg

Post this, we headed to the 4D theater and watched a brief trailer of LEGO Movie2.

By now, it was 4pm and our daughter was tired and felt she had enough of LEGOland! So did we! We decided to head back to the hotel. We felt that Legoland was best for kids aged probably 4-8 who knew their Legos and did not have really much to offer to adults. That's just our personal opinion, but then, our daughter still says that she enjoyed Legoland very much!

At the hotel reception, we were told that there is a competition that starts at 6pm and the kids had to build their own Lego set under the halloween theme since it was halloween season. We went to the room, freshened up and came back to the reception lounge area where there was a Lego fountain replete with freestyle pieces which we had to use to build the set. After an hour, she had built her set. She made some friends as well. The competition began and the kids were asked to showcase their creation with an explanation. Our daughter had done a peacock themed set and explained the same somehow relating to halloween which I did not comprehend! But she ended up winning the first prize and got some LEGO currency for the same.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel11.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-legolandhotel10.jpg

She was elated nonetheless. We again had dinner at the hotel restaurant, a buffet, and called it a day.

Last edited by luvurride : 15th July 2020 at 16:58.
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Old 10th July 2020, 23:23   #3
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oct 06, 2018:

We woke up leisurely since we were tired from all the walk yesterday. We got ready, packed our bags and came down. After finishing our breakfast, we bid adieu to the Legoland Hotel. Our daughter was sad and said that she had one of the best experience there.

Our destination was Best Western Seven Seas at San Diego and we had no other plans than to just reach there and settle in as it was a rest day. So we just stopped by on the drive back to capture some views of the ocean. I managed to take some shots of the car.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-car1.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-car2.jpg

We reached San Diego uneventfully by around 12:30pm and wifey started longing for Indian food! She googled and found this restaurant Tandoor nearby our hotel. Headed there. being a weekday the hotel was empty. It was a basic buffet style fare, but the food was really tasty and of good quality. We checked in to the hotel at 2pm. I noticed dedicated parking for electric vehicles with charge points. Not just here, but this has become norm in most hotels and shopping arcades.

The room was nothing to write home about. It was small and hotel itself was looking a bit dated. It was still early afternoon and hence I started to explore what we could do for the evening. Reception had some pamphlets and I had taken some while checking in. Browsed through them and was intrigued by the amphibian vehicle that could take us on the land and sea! I called up the number and they said that they do have availability but I have to be at the Seaport Village by 4pm and buy tickets directly at the counter. We need to hurry!

Quickly got ready and headed out to the Seaport village through the downtown. It was beautiful. Once there, parked our car and headed to the ticket stand and bought the tickets. It was already 4:15pm and they had started boarding the vehicle. The seating area was tall, hence a portable ladder was used to board the vehicle. We hopped in as well and the tour started by 4:30pm. It was a different experience. There was a guide on board and was constantly narrating the key attractions - The Info center, The Star of India sail ship, USS Midway and the yachts!

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-sealtour1.jpg

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Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-sealtour4.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-sealtour5.jpg

It was a one of a kind experience to see the same vehicle get into the sea and float! We also got to spot the seals lounging happily! The wind was chilly and since we had carried jackets with us, we put them on.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-sealtour6.jpg

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We were dropped back at the Seaport Village by about 5:40pm. The Seaport village was a pier with eateries and shopping shacks. We bought some fridge magnets for collection.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-embarcadero1.jpg

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-embarcadero2.jpg

We just roamed a bit and observed that it started getting colder. So decided to return to the hotel. I ordered food from the restaurant attached to the hotel itself, a large salad with sandwiches. We watched TV for a while and called it a day.

Last edited by luvurride : 15th July 2020 at 17:02.
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Old 11th July 2020, 13:08   #4
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oct 07, 2018:

We woke up early, had our fill of the breakfast from the restaurant itself and headed out to Sea World. Being a Sunday, we got a taste of what to expect even before we could enter the Sea World. There was a long queue of vehicles just to enter the parking area. This wait lasted for 45 mins, by the time we reached parking, the slots available were farther and we realized that it was going to be difficult.

Sea World has their own app which will not only act as a navigator but also provide the timings of the various shows. I downloaded and simply followed it, was very useful.

Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-seaworld-map.jpg

It was halloween theme all around:
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We started off with the Orca viewing gallery where we can get to see the Orca whales up close behind a glass enclosure. Adjacent to it is the Orca Encounter where we can get to see the Orca whales in action from a huge open air auditorium.

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You can see the packed stadium.

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Next was the Shipwreck rapids where you sit on rounded tubes that will take you through a journey of ups and downs spinning and splashing around emulating the feel of experiencing the rapids. We did get wet, but was manageable.

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We walked back to the Dolphin point to view the dolphins. Now, all these special shows like the Orca Encounter, Dolphin encounter, etc. have special 'In park experiences' that you can purchase at the counters over there that will allow you to have a personalized encounter with them. For instance, you can get in to the water with the trainer and feed the dolphins. But the tickets aren't cheap for these encounters. We did not do any.

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We then walked over to Flamingo park - beautiful to look at in all their pink glory, but stink pretty bad!

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Next stop was the Otter & Sea Lion show. This is a scripted and staged show with live performance from actors that feature the otter and the sea lion themselves! A hilarious show that we all enjoyed!

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By then, it was time for lunch. So we stopped at the closest - Mama Stella's Pizza and relished some good pizzas.

It was time for the Dolphin encounter. A great experience viewing friendly dolphins performing stunts from a large open air auditorium.

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Next was Shark encounter where you walk under a dome of water that has sharks swimming! They also had a Megalodon teeth kept as a show piece. Since she was doing a school article on Megalodon sharks, she was pretty excited and thrilled.

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We then walked over to Penguin encounter where you get to see them in their natural habitat behind a glass enclosure.

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Next was the Wild Arctic where you can view polar bear caves, sea hippos and beluga whales. There was also a 4D movie on the same.

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We then came to the Pet theater where again in an open auditorium, you get to watch cats, dogs, monkeys put on a staged show with their trainers! We were super tired by this time from all the walking and it was almost 5 pm. Since we covered most stuff that we wanted to, we headed out. The long walk back to the car was excruciating for our daughter. Finally, waded out of the exit traffic, took out dinner from Jack in the box and settled in for the day.

Oct 08, 2018:

We woke up around 8:30am, when we got ready it was 10. So decided to go out for brunch. There was an outlet just outside the Best Western with an outdoor seating. I think it was Bunz Cafe. It was a relaxing atmosphere on a sunny day and we had our hunger satiated with omelettes and biscuits with gravy.

Since we had the whole of today as rest day, we did not want to do anymore sightseeing. So did the next best - shopping! All of us love shopping, yes, including myself! But before that, we needed to do one more thing - change the car as it won't fit any more luggage if were to shop more today. So I called up SixT customer care and explained them the situation and asked for an SUV as a replacement car. They advised me to visit the nearest rental center which was located at the airport and try my luck there. So off I went there myself. When I pulled up and explained the situation to them, they were apologetic since they did not have any SUV available for the day! The next best they could offer me was a Cadillac CTS. I looked in and found the boot to be larger than the Volvo, so I took it and came back to the hotel.

We went to the Target store first. That was located near the Mission Valley Mall, just a 5 min drive from the hotel. Again, shopped a lot of toys, clothes, and some others. By now, we realized that we don't have space in our suitcase any more. So decided to purchase a set of luggage there. Loaded them all and had a late lunch at the Cheesecake factory finishing up with those yummy desserts!

Then took a stroll along the Mission Valley Mall checking out all the stores - Macy's, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond. By the time we finished them all, it was 7:30 pm. Just packed some sandwiches from Chick-fil-a with those mouth watering nuggets and headed back to the hotel. Had dinner and thought of finishing up laundry. Since their laundry machines weren't working, I took to a self serving laundromat nearby. Back, settled in for the night.

Oct 09, 2018:

This day was just a drive to Disney and settle in. So we woke up and had our breakfast at the hotel restaurant. When we loaded the luggage into the car, we had a problem - Our luggage still won't fit in the car! With the additional stuff we bought, our luggage was 2 large suitcases, 2 medium, 3 carry ons and our backpacks. So we checked out, squeezed all the luggage in the car with our daughter just occupying the tiniest space at the rear seat and headed out to the rental center. I explained the situation again to the supervisor and asked him to check out the car himself. I told him I hate to have the car stuffed like this and drive. He rummaged around for a while and came back with good news - He could allott a Volvo XC60 for no extra charge! He told me to first make sure that all my luggage would fit in. I checked it out and found the space quite satisfactory and took the car. Moved all luggage into it and headed off to Anaheim. We loved the car. It was very comfortable and feature packed. The first time I was experiencing a lane warning system!

It was 12 pm already when we completed all this, so once off the city, we stopped for lunch at Subway.

Traffic was slightly on the higher side more so when we approached LA. We had to endure bumper to bumper traffic for the last couple of miles of I-5 until we turned off. We reached the The Fullerton hotel at around 5pm and checked in. We just carried two suitcases to the room and left the rest in the car. The hotel was well appointed with decent sized rooms and all amenities. We just rested for a while and I headed to a Thai restaurant called Munch Thai Food for take away. We had some fried rice, noodles and spring rolls and they tasted good. I enquired for the drop off shuttle service to Disneyland at the reception and we decided we will take the 9am shuttle.

Last edited by luvurride : 15th July 2020 at 17:08.
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oct 10, 2018:

We woke up at 7am, got ready quickly, had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and waited for the shuttle to take us to Disneyland. There were few other people waiting as well. The shuttle came and we boarded. It was just a 5 minute drive and we were dropped off at the shuttle pickup/dropoff point. We got down and took a long walk to the entrance. The queue was up already and it took about 20 minutes to get in.

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We entered Mainstreet and it was a dream land indeed! It looked magical from every angle. There was a carriage ferrying people and we hopped on to it to get dropped at the entrance of Fantasyland.

Disney also provide their own app which provides route guidance. It also lets you view the wait time at attractions and purchase MAXPass and PHOTOPass. These are interesting stuff one must know before visiting. FASTPass is a concept where you get a fast tracked entry to certain specific attractions that Disney believes would be of high crowd puller. This will allow you to skip the general queue. Similar to the Special Darshan tickets in temples. PHOTOPass is what lets you purchase the photos taken by Disney's professional photographers and automatic clicks at various photo op points. MAXPass is simple FASTPass and PHOTOPass put together. Of course, these are additional pay and purchase options. We did not buy any. You can still buy a-la-carte from all the photos that are taken by paying separately. But I believe it is $20 per photo!

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The first photo op point was in front of Fantasyland.

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We entered Fantasyland and this was probably the best place she enjoyed the whole trip. We went through all the attractions in Fantasyland. Besides, there were all her Disney princess characters - we could walk up to them, take a picture with them and also get an autograph from them! So yes, you would need a diary for that! Not to mention, there were long waits to meet each such characters. But the crowd was disciplined.

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It took almost 3 hours to cover everything. Just when we exited Fantasyland, we decided to grab lunch. Some hot dogs and slurpee from a cart.

By this time, we saw the famous Disney Parade starting. We joined the party and walked along, my daughter dancing in joy! She watched all her favorite characters pass by.

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We moved on to Tomorrow land. Buzz Light year was also one of her favorite from Toy Story and hence we did Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters and then watched a mini movie at the theater. We then did some shopping at the store. She bought only the Buzz lightyear character toy there since we could not find that in the Disney Store at Carlsbad Premium Outlets. Disneyland has a store at each of such famous movie theme based stores with all the related character toys and memorabilia. Smart marketing! Thankfully, our daughter is not the one that would whine and persist on buying stuff!

The next ride was Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. It was a very good experience going through a submarine and watching all the Nemo characters come alive. I can't figure out how they did it, but was awesome!

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Time was now 6pm, so we headed to Mickey's Toontown. This was certainly a magical feeling with all the realistic creation of the complete town. The dusk also created a mystical feeling of being transported to the Mickey World. We had a look around all the attractions and got to meet Mickey as well!

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It was 8pm and we decided to head back. All of us were super tired from the walking. My Fitbit app showed 10.8km. I am used to it, but this certainly was a lot for a 9 year old kid. We weren't done yet, since another long walk back to the shuttle boarding point awaited. With multiple sit down breaks, we reached the Fantasyland entrance hoping to get onto a coach ride till the exit. But, they were running full, and got into one after a 10 min wait.

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We had to again walk from the exit to the pickup/dropoff point. Managed to reach there finally. We waited there for some time, I called the hotel to check the status of the shuttle and they said that it should be there any minute. It did come and we reached back to the hotel. I took the car to go and buy dinner. I found a Chick-fil-A nearby so went and got takeaway. I don't think I have to emphasize I love their chicken!

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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oct 11, 2018:

We could not start early due to all the walk the previous day. So it was 10am when we boarded the shuttle to the park entrance. The crowd was more today, but since we knew where we were headed, we were instrumental in getting there.

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Our first stop for the day was Adventureland!

The Junglecruise was basically a trip through the Amazon forest in a boat. With animated animals and waterfalls, it was a good experience.

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Next was Indiana Jones Adventure. This was a thrilling ride in a jeep. There was a long queue, finally managed to score a ride after a wait of 30 mins. It was a really thrilling ride especially when the jeep enters darkness! Our daughter, not being a fan of any such rides, was literally screaming with her eyes closed!

Waiting to enter the adventure!
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We climbed the Tarzan's treehouse next. Tried some stunts for the camera.

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With her favorite - Moana
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Next, walked over to New Orleans Square to take the Pirates of the Carribean ride. However, the wait times were long and hence decided to proceed to Critter Country. This was Winnie the Pooh Land. We did the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride and also took pictures with the characters.

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I observed by this time that the wait time had reduced at the Pirates of the Carribean, thanks to the app, so we rushed back to it. This was a great ride - You feel you are transported to the world of the pirates!

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By now, it was 1:30pm and we had lunch at the Royal Street Veranda - bowl of soup in a large sourdough bread. Satiated, we took the Mark Twain Riverboat which was right across the dining area. This was a pretty long ride on the large lake called as Rivers of America on a two decked river boat around the Tom Sawyer island. Nothing much to do, but just to observe the vistas it passes through.

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Once back, we wanted to do the Haunted mansion. But, being halloween season, this was one of the most sought after rides among kids and hence was running long wait times. Now, there are also stations in front of such attractions where you can take a FASTPass ticket for free. The downside is you have to come back only during that time window. We got a slot for 7:00pm. It was only 2:30 and we did not know what to do until then. So we decided to go back to the room, take a nap and come back in the evening. That way, we could also stay back for the Fantasmic show.

Since we did not want to walk, we took the Disney Railroad which was again a open train that would take you around the park and you can hop on hop off at any station you want. We took a ride and got down at the Main Street station.

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We took the shuttle back to the hotel.

Took a nap and you know how it goes! Was too lazy to wake up, but eventually got ready by 6 pm. But this was a situation since the shuttle only runs at 1 hour intervals during odd times and the 6pm shuttle hasn't arrived back from the park yet. So I tried booking an Uber and got one quickly. We made it to the entrance by 6:30pm and rushed to the New Orleans Square. It is a long walk - from the entrance through the Main street and then onto the Haunted Mansion. But we made it just in time and the FASTPass really helped. Otherwise, the wait times were 60 mins! It was dusk and set the mood to get into the Haunted Mansion. However, it turned out as an anticlimax since it was not anything close to scary.

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We came out and thought of watching the first show of Fantasmic at 9 pm. It was almost close to 8 and we were hungry. We took some time to pick a restaurant to dine with a view, but found out that most of them were already booked. If you plan properly, you could pick a table and dine with a good view of the Fantastic show. Since we did not book earlier, we just grabbed dinner of Jambalaya and salad at the French Market Restaurant. But too long a line for the ordering ensured that it was almost 8:30pm by the time we could get our food on hand. When we came out, we observed that the entire area was taken up by people for viewing the Fantasmic show. I tried to see if we could grab any decent place, but no. So we decided to skip the 9pm show and watch the 10:30pm show instead by taking up a good viewing position.

We finished dinner, picked a place and settled down. It was getting cold and we just spent the time there cuddling.

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The wait was finally over, and the show started. It was one of the best performances! Fantasmic is basically a show of display of all Disney characters on the ship over the Rivers of America replete with amazing fireworks! Although it was late, it was worth the wait!

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It was over by around 11pm and we walked back to the exit. There was no shuttle this late back to the hotel so fell back on the saviour - Uber! The driver was a friendly woman whose entire family works for Disney! She was happy to know that we travelled from India just for this!

Once back, we settled in.

A good night shot-
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Attached Thumbnails
Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!-fantasmic4.jpg  


Last edited by luvurride : 15th July 2020 at 17:14.
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oct 12, 2018:

We woke up pretty late around 9am. I asked my daughter what would she like to visit today at Disney since we covered almost all of the attractions that we wanted to. She said she doesn't know. We did have admission to Adventureland as well, which is a separate entry right next to the Fantasyland. But she said she was too tired to visit anything for today and just wanted to rest. I asked her if she would like to go the next day after resting for today. But I guess she has had enough and wasn't interested! So we decided to check out and head to my friend's place in Fresno, a 4.5 hour drive.

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Since it was late, we stopped first in a Jack in the box for brunch, just out of the hotel.

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Then started our drive towards the mid valley. The vistas were beautiful, but after a couple of hours, I felt really sleepy to keep driving. So pulled over in a rest stop to take a nap. While Wifey and daughter used the rest rooms and the vending machines, a 15 min nap really helped and we resumed our journey. The Volvo performed effortlessly with all the luggage.

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We reached my friend's place by 4:30pm. He was home waiting for me. It was a good reunion after long. Family bondings were great and my daughter found company to play with his two sons, younger to her.

That night was simply spent in chatting up old memories with him along with good homemade food after a while!

Oct 13, 2018:

Again, a lazy start to the day was welcomed with yummy idlis for breakfast! The ladies had decided to take over the kitchen for the day to cook up some South Indian lunch. We did not complain! We played with the kids and watched some movies, called up our friends and spent the morning. After a good lunch, we wanted to go to Bed Bath and Beyond since Wifey and daughter loved their skin cream collection we had bought from San Diego. So the plan was to head out there first, followed by a visit to the Pumpkin patch and then dinner outside.

We started by 3pm and finished our shopping by 5 and went to the pumpkin patch. They put up this pumpkin patch during halloween season and sees crowd mostly on all weekends. It is basically a shack for buying the pumpkins, but they also make it a carnival with games and DJ. We had a good time there especially my daughter who set the stage on fire with her dance moves! The kids also enjoyed the games setup for them. We went through the giantwheel with them.

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Once done, we went to the restaurant Yard House, a large upscale bar with good food. We had our tummy full with drinks and some great conversation and got back home and called it a day.

Oct 14, 2018:

We woke up lesiurely and post breakfast, we started to set up the grill. The plan was to just chill out at home with barbeque and drinks. We did just that over some lively conversations and it was 3pm when we put it out.

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Took a nap, woke up and did all the laundry. The rest of the evening was spent in another halloween activity - building a Gingerbread house with the kids.

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We had dinner and put on a movie. My friend traveled to SFO for work every week so he leaves usually Monday 5am. My friend's wife also leaves by 7 and drops the kids at the daycare. So we bid our good byes to my friend's family since we had no plans of waking up early. The arrangement was that we would lock and leave the place and call up my friend who will activate the alarm remotely.

Oct 15, 2018:

We had cereals for breakfast at my friend's home itself and left. But first, we stopped by the Target store again to buy up more stuff! It was 1pm by then and we stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch! We then started our drive towards LA with the map set to Comfort Inn, Cockatoo near the LAX airport. The drive was uneventful with me stopping for some yummy burgers.

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Traffic snarls closer to LA meant we reached the hotel only by 6pm. The hotel was okayish but the neighbourhood was not that great. Thankfully, they had parking available at the nearby complex for free by entering a code. Since I did not want to risk leaving all the luggage in the car, we had to tug everything to the room. With luggage occupying most space, we hardly had any walking space left in the room! Again, I stepped out to the nearby Subway by walk and bought dinner. We watched some tv and settled in.

Oct 16, 2018:

We were in no mood to get up. Somehow pulled ourselves for some breakfast, post which did not want to head out. So again, stayed in bed for most of the morning, watched TV, and slept again. We woke up around 2pm and I headed out to an Italian restaurant called Pizza Show for some takeaway pasta and pizza since it had good reviews. Post lunch, I asked them what they wanted to do, not wanting to spend another day at the hotel! I started going through Tripadvisor for things to do other than theme parks and chanced upon an LA city tour that would cover most places in a coach. This would work well since we did not have to walk much! So I called up the number and confirmed seats. After this, daughter and I hit the pool for some afternoon siesta under the sun while Wifey did the laundry! Back, we decided to pack and make all the bags flight ready. This went for a good couple of hours with all the weighing and repacking. Finally, felt satisfied and kept them aside. Again, I walked to the McDonalds and got some dinner. We hit the bed since we had to be reporting for the tour the next day at 9:30am.

Last edited by luvurride : 15th July 2020 at 17:18.
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Old 14th July 2020, 17:05   #8
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oct 17, 2018:

We got up at 7am, got ready quickly, had our hotel breakfast and headed out to the Metro plaza Hotel in downtown where we would be picked up for our Half a day Los Angeles and Hollywood Tour. It took about 45 minutes to reach the location and after a little bit of fizzling around to locate the parking location, went and parked. The coach was already waiting there and we boarded it. It was a 10 seater Mercedes van and there were only 2 other tourists besides us.

The guide and the person conducting the tour is an elderly gentleman who is a retired Hollywood reporter himself. We promptly started off with him taking us through the downtown explaining the various theaters and how the Hollywood culture evolved over time. He knew a wealth of information, it was kind of hard to process all of that for us!!

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We were then taken to the Walk of Fame, before when stopped for a customary shoot of the Hollywood sign.

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He dropped us at the Hollywood Walk of fame at around 12pm and asked us to join back in 30 minutes. We just roamed for few minutes and spent some time at the memorabilia shop and bought souvenirs like typical tourists. We also grabbed pretzels from Wetzel Pretzel as a snack since our lunch would be delayed.

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TCL The Chinese Theater:
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We were then taken to the famous Sunset Blvd and showed some of the swanky and sprawling villas and mansions from outside.

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Finally, he took us to the Farmers Market for lunch at 2:30pm. He dropped us and told us to report back in an hour. Wifey being vegetarian, we went to the Veggie Grill(the same Vegan outlet we dined at Carlsbad) first. I was not in any mood for vegan, so we walked inside the market and I spotted a local shack where I had a great Philly cheese steak and my daughter, a hot dog. We then got back to the van and we were promptly dropped back at our pick up spot. We took our vehicle and another hour later, reached back to our hotel by 5:30pm.

After resting for some time, I decided to return the car. Although I had booked till the next day, our flight was at 12:30pm and did not want to take chances if we get delayed at the rental return. Also, this would mean we would have to load our luggage twice - once in our car from the hotel and then again into the drop off shuttle to the airport. So first, I grabbed dinner from Subway, handed it over and took the car, alone. It was a quick affair at the SixT rental car center since there wasn't any crowd. The only thing I was told is that I may not get a refund for returning earlier, which I was anyway prepared to let go. Once done, I booked an Uber and got back to the hotel.

That was the last day of our stay in the US and we called it a day.

Oct 18, 2018:

We got up with a heavy heart since our trip ends today and had to fly back. Got ready, had breakfast and brought all our luggage down. It was another effort to load them all in the shuttle. One of the primary reasons I booked this hotel is that it is closer to the airport and offers free shuttle pickup/dropoff to the airport. That served its purpose and we were dropped off at the airport. It took 3 trolleys to carry all our bags! We checked in without any issues since we took care of the packing properly with the weight restrictions. Then went to board the flight, not before grabbing our lunch at the airport Mcdonalds since we were already hungry and could wait till we get our onboard food in the flight. The flight back was uneventful with us watching movies and napping. We reached back to Bangalore on time, Booked a cab and reached back home at 4:30am.

Thus came to end a wonderful memory for our child, which she will cherish for her lifetime and I'm glad that the Almighty gave me the opportunity to provide it to her!

Thanks for reading!!

Last edited by luvurride : 15th July 2020 at 17:25.
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Old 16th July 2020, 05:10   #9
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 16th July 2020, 06:33   #10
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re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

A happy Child is worth Millions.

A great and memorable trip. Though with initial hiccups, all's well that ends well. Made me realise, I have a folder of Pics from Disneyland Florida. Hope to unfold and share here, later.
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Old 16th July 2020, 22:25   #11
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Re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Life's all about happiness not large, but small, smitten ones, that last a lifelong. Reminds me of a Facebook video of yesteryear of a girl's dream of Disney Land fulfilled with tears when her dad surprised her.

God bless!

Cheers!
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Old 16th July 2020, 22:33   #12
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Re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Oh this is very nice! Reminds me of when my parents decided to drive down from the UK by ferry across the channel and have a bit of a road trip around Europe. This was in 1997. Mum and dad somehow managed it with roadbooks, big old fold out paper maps and innumerable arguments between driver and navigator! I still ask them how they felt confident enough to do it considering they didn't speak French or Dutch - they just point out they were younger then and more willing to go out on a limb. I was barely 4 so I don't remember much. My parents do still remind me how little I cared for most of the architecture of Paris and even cried in Versailles but what little I do remember is from Disneyland Paris. Those damn folks at Disney sure know how to imprint a vivid memory in children, I think somewhere at home a hat from there might be kicking about and maybe an "autograph book" somewhere in the attic. Never got around to going to Legoland though (was so envious of a friend who had the "driver's license" issued from there).
So I'm sure your daughter will look back fondly at this trip when she's much older. She'll likely remember a lot more than I did!
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Old 17th July 2020, 06:12   #13
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Re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

It is surprising that this thread has had over 3,500 views till now and only three additional comments by viewers. When somone does a painful and arduous work of compiling a Travelogue, he/she is sharing information which may be useful for others. Writer has to sift through hundreds of photograph and prepare a relevant narrative.
My request is that the efforts of the writer must be appreciated and encouraged by adding a few words as 'New Reply'.
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Old 17th July 2020, 08:30   #14
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Re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Great pictures and narration accompanying the pictures which complete the flow very well. It is nice to see the smiles on the faces of the happy family and especially the little one. You have covered an incredible amount of details, even sharing brochure screenshots, expenses, etc and this will surely be helpful for anyone planning a visit to all those parks.

An interesting point you made about the Vegan restaurants' trend picking up in the west. I'm not vegan myself (I still love my dairy ) but sometimes I do try vegan dishes merely out of curiosity to check what alternatives they use to try and reach the original taste of the mimicked recipes (my view is they never will but that's personal). Surprisingly for India where there are a lot of vegetarian sects, I thought it would become a popular trend here too, but there are very few vegan restaurants even in the metros.
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Old 17th July 2020, 15:21   #15
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Re: Every child's dream - Disneyland, Legoland & SeaWorld - The LA Sojourn!

Quote:
Originally Posted by ads11 View Post
I was barely 4 so I don't remember much.
So I'm sure your daughter will look back fondly at this trip when she's much older. She'll likely remember a lot more than I did!
That's one of the reasons we kept delaying the trip so she can endure and remember the experience!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KarthikK View Post
You have covered an incredible amount of details, even sharing brochure screenshots, expenses, etc and this will surely be helpful for anyone planning a visit to all those parks.
Thanks Karthik, I had to stifle through a lot to plan this trip. Hence thought of providing a first hand account of details that could help future travelers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by KarthikK View Post
Surprisingly for India where there are a lot of vegetarian sects, I thought it would become a popular trend here too, but there are very few vegan restaurants even in the metros.
True, but then, probably lesser allergies to non vegan food compared to West could be the reason why India hasn't picked up on that. I myself was/am dwelling on the idea for sometime to consider this as a business startup!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amrik Singh View Post
My request is that the efforts of the writer must be appreciated and encouraged by adding a few words as 'New Reply'.
That's really considerate of you Amrik! Bow! But it could be because this is a pretty long narrative and it might take time for people to read through it. So let's cut some slack!
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