Given Anaheim is a good hour without traffic away from Hollywood, and we had tickets but no transfers, we did a deal with a maxi taxi to take us to Universal and pick us up there in the late afternoon. The alternative was the public bus which would take a minimum of three and a half hours one way!
We had a lovely day at Universal, where the weather was quite warm and we are slightly sunburnt. We did the Shrek 4D show, Waterworld show (much more impressive than the movie it originated from), and others, and Grandpop, Ross, Tim and Abi rode the Jurassic Park ride several times (I wimped out after reading it involved an 84 foot almost vertical drop). But the highlight of the day was definitely the hour long studio backlot tour, which included getting up close to the Psycho house, Jaws and Wisteria Lane, but also included a 4D visit to a dinosaur/King Kong battle which was amazing.
We didn’t get home until 7.30, then walked down to where the grandparents are staying at the Sheraton. They were given a $150 restaurant voucher with their accommodation, so the 10 of us enjoyed a substantial dinner (costing $128) there. The meals are SO big here, I don’t even feel stingy making all the kids share.
Now for things I am struggling with:
1. The long days at theme parks make it difficult for an obsessive compulsive mother to make sure everyone is getting enough sleep (they are just not);
2. The lack of Internet access and lack of knowledge how to use our new phones means we haven’t been able to let anyone at home know how we are, or send any blog posts. I haven’t had time to sit down and work out how to connect (….and for reason why, see point 1); and
3. The side of the road Americans use. They not only drive on the right but walk on the right. After years of teaching the kids to walk left and stay over to the left, I am now calling out the opposite, so will have to train them here and then retrain when we get home!!