Theme Park Heaven
Let me start by saying that we were extremely lucky to come at this time of the year. This is the first two weeks after the school summer holidays in the US and as a result the parks were practically empty. In addition the weather at this time of the year is almost Perth in April, without the vicious weather that appears from time to time. Every day in Anaheim (the "city" where Disneyland is based) while we were there was between 24 and 28 degrees celsius. In effect we had perfect weather and no lines. Over the whole 7 days that we visited theme parks we did not line up for more than 20 minutes for any ride - and that only happened twice. Read between the lines - travel take note - this is the time to advise people to visit Disneyland.
One of the early highlights of the holiday was Seaworld - and sitting in the "soak zone" of the stadiums, which is where the animals (dolphins, seals and killer whales) have developed very advance audience splashing techniques. Soaked was absolutely right, however I have no photos, as I was too busy trying to keep the camera dry. Lunch with Shamu (the name for the killer whales - they have 4 in the show) was great - thanks to Harry for the recommendation, you sat pool side and chowed down while the trainer bought the whale right along side for photos.
The dolphin discovery show and the killer whale shows are an absolute must - and as said definitely sit in the soak zone, it is half the fun, but be prepared to get wet.
As a footnote to my earlier post on Legoland - don't bother unless you have children under 10 years old. The park is definitively run down, once you have the chance to see how it is supposed to be done. Kids under 10 however will love Legoland.
From here we spent a couple of hours at San Diego Zoo. I was very impressed, it is a great zoo and we got to see Pandas, Tigers (including two very playful cubs) and Gorillas very close up. It was great to also note that Perth Zoo is no laggard by comparison - a few less headliners, but I think that most of the displays and enclosures were at least as good, and in some cases better.
We did not spend as much time here as a would have liked, but you can't do everything!
Then it was on to Disneyland (and Universal Studios). We spent 1 day at Universal and 3 days at Disneyland. There is no doubt that when it comes to entertaining children (and the adults that accompany them) Disneyland is king. Absolutely everything is thought of.
We started the second half a little rough, as our girls are very girly and a little"fragile" when it comes to thrill rides. Unfortunately this meant that the Universal Studios "Studio Tour" was a bit too full on for both of our girls, at the end of it we had them both sobbing uncontrollably (started by the shark, followed by the subway and then topped off by the mummy set). The result of this was that any ride with a minimal thrill level (and any darkness) was almost too much. At the barely acceptable level was the "Snow Whites Scary Adventures" and "Pinocchio's Daring Journey" and unfortunately (as we found out through testing) Splash Mountain did not pass - it was also too much (we only "burned" Grace on this ride).
However before we started to traumatise our children we got to meet a few characters, including Shrek, see the picture (I am the one on the right and Shrek is in the middle - in case it is hard to tell...). This was at Universal. Even though the children were a little scared of the big rides I was still able to give most a go. On the first afternoon at Disney the kids were a little exhausted, so Deb took them home and I did all of the big rides, my personal favourite was Californian Screaming, which saw me doing a full loop - but I am assured by all of the hardcore rollercoaster aficionados that this is lightweight compared to the rides at Knotts Berry Farm (we did not make it to there). I did like the Twilight Zone in the Hollywood Hotel, which simulates a escalator free falling in the dark - definitely recommend having a go at this one.
Overall everything about Disney was magical, and every time we ordered food they had plenty of gluten free options for Millie - if the server wasn't sure whe went and bought out the chef who more often than not made food specifically. Really great service, and just one small example of how well Disney do the details.
It was easy to see why this is a worldwide favourite, my girls lost the art of walking, they literally skipped everywhere they went - seriously! it was so cool to watch their inescapable joy. At the end of day two Grace even complained that her cheeks hurt because she had been smiling too much.
Of the many characters we met, Eeyore was Millie's favourite (Max - Goofy's cousin was a close second) and Mickey remained a sentimental favourite for Grace.
Grace tried to take out King Arthur's Sword - no luck I am afraid, but she certainly gave it a good go!
So onto the work stuff...
Tomorrow I start. I am not really sure what is planned for me yet. I will be meeting with my contact first thing in the morning and going with the flow for the day. I have noticed that there have been several recurring meetings already booked for me, so I have no reason to fear any loss of my daily meeting fix....
At this point it is kind of strange, I am in that I have just been on holidays state of mind and I need to get back in to "work brain", except this time I have the added challenge of a new place of work, a new culture and new job (and no team to do the work for me.... Insights & Ed watch out for the incoming requests). I am pretty excited about the idea of a fresh start, with the usual fears of whether I will be up to the standard, but like Grace going for the sword, I know that I am going to give it everything I have got!
Well time to cut my hair, iron a shirt, and generally get ready for my first day. I will start to write more regularly reporting back on all the new things I find.
No comments:
Post a Comment