Happy birthday, B!

Happy birthday to the amazing father of my children, the man of my dreams.

I love you!

Vacation recap, Day 5.

Tuesday, July 18

We woke up early, did R's factor, loaded up the car and left K&D's house by 5:45 a.m., on our way to the Happiest Place on Earth.



We arrived around 7, bought B's ticket and made use of our early entrance passes. It was great to first see Disneyland not quite so populated as it would be for the rest of our visit.

Anxious to ride something, our first stop was the Astro Orbiters. After that fun raise-and-lower jet ride, we took on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. This was perfect for the gamers among us! As we rode, we used the blasters attached to our cars to attack shape targets along the way. At the end of the ride, we could compare our scores. Great fun! But then again, EVERYTHING we did at Disney was great fun!

Before we left home, I had signed up for RideMax, a computer program that helps you plan your day at the park most efficiently, minimizing your wait times. After we hit those two attractions in Tomorrowland, we crossed the park to get on our printed schedule. First stop: Indiana Jones. This ride was pretty rough since we were loaded into jeeps that bounced through Indy's adventures. We had to face snakes, fire, and of course, a giant boulder. Whew! We also rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a mine train-type ride.

From there we made our way to Mickey's Toon Town. Many of the attractions in this area were for kids under 48" tall, but our main reason for going was this: Mickey's House!

Yep! We got to meet Mickey! We also toured his house, which provided a nice, air-conditioned break after waiting a bit to see the Big Mouse. Down the street from Mickey's house was Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, another spinning ride.

We knew we wanted to ride Splash Mountain later in the day, so I headed there to collect our Fastpasses. Fastpasses are amazing little tickets that make the day so much more pleasant! And unlike other parks that charge a premium for front-of-line passes, Disneyland allows anyone with a ticket to use Fastpasses. When I arrived at the Fastpass distribution area around 9:45, a sign let me know that a Fastpass would allow us to return between 11:30-12:30 that day. That ended up working perfectly! By the time we returned to use the Fastpass, the wait for Splash Mountain would've taken us 50 or more minutes. With our Fastpasses, we just waltzed up a separate line and walked right up to the ride.

Anyway, that morning we also toured the Haunted Mansion, which was one of my favorite attractions.

Because of the short wait and the cool spooks (and AC), it was a perfect stop for us.

Since we were there in New Orleans Square, we ate lunch at the French Market. I was especially impressed with the kids' meals served in Mickey plates.

After lunch it was time to use our Splash Mountain Fastpasses and zoom to the front of the line. This flume ride took us through the story of Brer Rabbit (from Song of the South). When Brer Rabbit says, "Please don't throw me into that briar patch," you'd better hang on!

A great hat shop is right next door to Splash Mountain, so K bought her first (but not her last) Mickey ears.

Splash Mountain didn't soak us as much as we'd hoped, but we did get cooled off enough to prepare us for one of the longest waits of the day: Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates had been closed while new features from the movies were added, so even Disney vets were itching to see this attraction. Even though the line seemed to go on forever, it moved quickly. Some purists may not like the Jack Sparrow additions, but we gave the experience four thumbs up.

Before leaving that side of the park, we boarded the Mark Twain steamboat for a leisurely circle of Tom Sawyer Island.

After that, it was time for the 50th anniversary Parade of Dreams. Nobody throws a parade like Disney!

Even though it was only about 2:30 in the afternoon, we had worked our way through almost all of that day's scheduled activities on our print-out. That meant we were free to venture back to Tomorrowland and try more rides like Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear (again), and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Then we took on our favorite ride in Tomorrowland: Space Mountain!

We loved this roller coaster! It's been improved since I rode it in '78, and we agreed that all coasters should come with theme music. Having a speaker right next to our heads to pipe in appropriate music made the ride that much better.

Before day was done, we rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Back in the day ('78), I used my E-ticket on Space Mountain, which means I didn't get to ride this attraction, much to my disappointment. It was great to finally get to try it!

We also stayed long enough in Fantasyland to ride the Carrousel (even though I still don't know why it has two R's in the name), the famous teacups, and It's a Small World. We also had a decent spot to see the amazing fireworks show, complete with Tinkerbell flying overhead.

By the time we left the park and found our hotel (which, thanks to construction, had no parking available), we were pooped!

R's Superparty.

What a decade!

We interrupt reliving our vacation to bring you this important message:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, R!

I can't believe my baby boy is 10 years old! How did that happen? It seems like just a few weeks (OK, maybe months) ago he looked like this:

We loved him so much the day he was born. How could we have known how much more we'd love him now? He's our hero, too. He goes through so much because of his hemophilia, but he never stops fighting, never stops trying, never gives up. He's tougher than people realize because he also has the sweetest heart. I still get a little teary when I think of R in the exam room a few years ago, in horrendous pain from a bleed, asking ME if I was OK.

R, you are a child of God and one of the two biggest blessings He's given us. No matter where you go or what you do, Mommy will always love you!

Vacation recap, Day 4.

Monday, July 17

On Sunday we saw the theme park version of a movie studio. On Day 4 of our vacation, we got a more realistic look at what goes on at a studio when we took the Warner Bros. VIP tour. This tour didn't come with roller coasters or special effects shows, but it was really interesting--and full of surprises.

While we waited for our tour to depart, we got to see some costumes on display, such as Harry Potter's:

and Neo's from the Matrix movies:Once 9 o'clock rolled around, we started out by watching a short film about the history of Warner Bros. Then we boarded large golf carts (each held 12 guests) and entered the backlot. For this part of the tour, we were allowed to take pictures, so we snapped away while our guide showed us several city street sets.

In one section of the backlot, designed to look like Anytown USA, work was underway to turn the city into Stars Hollow for Gilmore Girls. Filming was set to resume the following week, so plenty of workers were dressing the sets to tailor them for that show. Notice all the bicycles. Everybody seemed to use bikes to get around the huge backlot!

Our guide tried to tell us several places we may have seen each building or facade. This one, for example, has not only been used as Stars Hollow High School, but it was also the Hazzard County Courthouse in The Dukes of Hazzard.

This alley is famous for its fire escape. The upside-down kiss scene from Spider-Man was filmed here.


It was neat to see different houses from movies and TV shows we've watched, but I may have been most impressed just to see the studio in action. There were people everywhere: painters, construction workers, electricians, etc.

Our guide explained that most of these buildings don't have signage or light fixtures attached because those elements really date the places. By adding streetlamps, trees and signs, set decorators can make a generic building look like it belongs in a specific time and place. He pointed out holes in the sidewalks where parking meters, lights and other items can be bolted into place.

He also demonstrated how portable these set pieces are when he asked a lovely volunteer to lift a "heavy" fire hydrant:
We also got to see this set, used as the outside of County General for ER. (You can see just a little of the elevated track, too.)

In one building, we got to see several show cars that are on display. We saw the General Lee (from the new movie), the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, as well as a couple of Batmobiles, like this one from Batman Begins:

and Ron's car from Harry Potter:


For the front lot part of our tour, we had to lock up our cameras. We passed soundstages used for a variety of TV shows and movies (including the Friends stage), and we walked through the props, art and metal shop departments. In one huge building we saw artists painting a giant mural (what we would've called a matte painting way back when; now they call it a backing). The ship scene will eventually be used in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie (at least that's what they told us).

A special treat was to visit the soundstage where they film ER. We walked through a door, and there we were--right in the middle of County General! We walked through the different exam rooms used, saw the (partial) staircase, stepped inside the fake elevator. In the middle of one room, our guide pulled down the glass chart where they list which doctors are assigned to which patients. It was too cool! I only wished R&K were more familiar with the show so they could appreciate what they were seeing.

Before the tour began, I had mentioned to B that while Friends was still filming, visitors to this studio could see the Central Perk set. I knew that the set had been struck after the last episode, but I thought it would've been cool to see the old coffeehouse. Imagine my surprise when our tour guide opened a door to a little room and presented this:

Now I know that many set pieces and props went home with cast and crew, but this re-creation was just too cool! We were allowed to get our cameras out for this part of the tour (obviously! I didn't sneak these photos!), so I happily soaked it all in, taking picture after picture.


Our guide showed us the order pad used by the actor who played Gunther. He would write himself notes to help him remember his cues.

The only disappointing part of the tour was the ridiculously short period of time we had to tour the WB museum. The two-story museum was filled with costumes and props from WB productions, and the entire second floor was all Harry Potter-related items. I think we had a total of EIGHT minutes to spend in there, so we flew through the two floors, the kids spending most of their time upstairs with Harry Potter. Considering all the other things we did get to see, though, it's hard to complain too much about the tour!

After that, we drove around Burbank FOREVER, just looking for somewhere to eat! We ended up at a Subway. We knew we wanted to return to K&D's before it got too late, but we also wanted to sneak in one more visit to the beach. We missed our turn for Venice Beach (I still don't know how that happened!), so we ended up returning to Santa Monica. It was still every bit as beautiful as it was on Friday, but the waves were MUCH higher!

Can you find K's blonde head as she's getting pummeled by a wave?

This shot is SO Baywatch!It was great to get one more chance to see the Pacific Ocean. It was also nice to head back to K&D's house mid-afternoon to do a little laundry and get some rest before leaving for Disneyland. This was our last night at K&D's, and we enjoyed a taco dinner together in the gazebo and a little bocce ball before heading to bed. It was hard to get to sleep because we were excited about Disney but also a little sad about having to leave our gracious hosts.

Vacation recap, Day 3.

Sunday, July 16

This was our day at Universal Studios. We had a great time, but after all the driving we did on Saturday, the best part for me may have been staying in one place all day!

We enjoy theme parks anyway, so this one, with its movie twist, was perfect for us. We could easily ride and see everything we wanted in a day, and the electronic signs scattered throughout the park let us know which attractions had the shortest wait times.

We started our day at the Van Helsing attraction, which is basically a haunted house. I'm not a fan of haunted houses, but I have to admit that this one, with a mix of movie scenes and live actors, was pretty good. From there, we went down the Starway (an extra-long series of escalators) to the Lower Lot, which was just opening for the day. We were among the first in line for Mummy: The Ride. Now THIS was my idea of a roller coaster!

It begins slowly, showing you recreated scenes from the Brendan Fraser movie, but once you're "cursed," the ride takes off--in the dark! It was wild, and we ended up riding it five times before the day was done.

We also enjoyed Jurassic Park, a water ride. The combination of narration, animatronic dinosaurs and the JP theme music gave us the sensation of being in the movie. The big splashdown at the end didn't leave us soaked, but we enjoyed getting at least a little wet!

While in the lower lot, we also saw an I Love Lucy exhibit with a few of Lucy's dresses and items from her home. We watched the Backdraft pyrotechnic display, and then we caught the Special Effects show.

In this show, our hosts demonstrated various effects like green screen, and special guest stars from the audience (like K!) helped show how foley artists add sound effects to scenes.

Back in the upper lot area, we rode the Back to the Future Ride, saw Shrek 4D, experienced Terminator 2: 3D (BIG thumbs up from B) and gave the kids a chance to cool off in the Nickelodeon Splash Zone.

Next to the water rocket and the obligatory giant bucket that dumps gallons on people, a Wild Thornberries play area gives kids and adults a dry area to let off some steam. In that area, kids could play with thousands of foam balls, throwing or shooting them in a million directions. Or, as was the case here, dump them on unsuspecting parents.

Of course, we also had a few character sightings.

We also caught the Waterworld show, which from what I can tell, was more entertaining than the Kevin Costner film!

For lunch we left the park and visited Universal Citywalk, the adjacent shopping and dining district. We ate at the Daily Grill, which was a perfectly good restaurant. Its main draw, however, was its air conditioning! Citywalk had some interesting sights of its own, too.

Back in the park, R was excited to see all the Jaws-related stuff. He is the world's biggest Jaws fan, you know.Besides the fake shark and the souvenir penny machine, Universal also includes Jaws as part of its backlot tour. Seeing the mechanical shark lunge at us in the tram was certainly a highlight for R! (I was glad to see it, too, since the Jaws lake was drained on my previous visit to Universal Hollywood way back in 1978!)

For the tour, we boarded at tram and headed toward the backlot. (Back in '78, this was pretty much all there was to do at Universal Studios!)

Other sights from the tour:

Plane crash scene from War of the Worlds:

The Psycho house:

Wisteria Lane and the homes of the Desperate Housewives:

(This DH home was also used as the Munsters' back in the day.)

Several show cars, including these from Back to the Future:

We also got to see the old New York and European street sets (used in old monster movies), a flash flood (as seen in Big Fat Liar), part of the Grinch set, and a few staged "events" like an earthquake and a King Kong attack.

Before heading back to our car, we walked through Citywalk again, having Ben & Jerry's ice cream for dinner (only on vacation!) and checking out Things from Another World, a comic book store.

Universal Studios has changed quite a bit in the 28 years since I first visited! It really was a fun day. As a Six Flags junkie, I was impressed with the ways the rides were packaged to tie them into their movies. The cleanliness of the park was refreshing, too. So thumbs up all around! And we weren't through touring studios! There was one more tour scheduled for Monday, but that report will have to wait for Day 4.