Dharma & Nita travel blog

Last full day in LA today, not much planned other than a visit to Boyd St, a tour of Downtown LA and then the Science Museum.

Pushpa kaki (Nickesh’s mum) had told Nita and Meeta about Boyd st, apparently the place had a great little store that sold very good kitchen pots/pan/utensils and everything kitchen at amazing prices. Both the ladies wanted to go there!

We left the apartment just before 11am (slow start today), drive to Boyd st was only about 15 minutes!
First impression, what is this place, the place was old and not clean, loads of boxes/packaging lying on the street side, stores were more like mini warehouses. We found a street parking around the corner, walking to the Boyd St Kitchen store, we passed loads of stores selling soccer gear! This place was like a wholesale market, with each street specialising in a particular department. Reached Boyd st, and yes, it was stores selling Kitchenware and did they have everything from Pots to big outdoor stoves (like the mandal style stoves) to every other kitchen stuff. Nita and Meeta were like, OMG, this is soo good, we should get this, look at that and on and on!
Left them to sort out their shopping, me, Vik and kids headed to a shoe shop next to the kitchen place. Kids shoes were unbelievably cheap, picked up a pair each for all the little girls – more luggage!

Ladies needed around an hour to complete their shopping, in the end they had collected a fair bit of stuff, me and Vik could not get over how much they had put aside. We did not have that much space in our luggage!

(kitchenware shopping by the ladies)

The guy at the store was very helpful and upon our request packed it all in two boxes ready for check-in at the airport.

Loaded the boxes in the VAN, headed off to Downtown LA. Drove around a few key blocks. No one wanted to get off, just a drive by was good. LA downtown was not so great, not much at all when compared to San Francisco.
Then headed off to Figueroa St, location of the Staples Centre. The place was massive, it also had some good eateries, time for lunch.

lunch time, awesome burgers here

For lunch we decided on SMASH BURGERS, it turned out to be a great choice. The place had amazing burgers and the sweet potato fries were sooo good!

Walked around the place post lunch. Had not realised the Staples Centre is the venue for the Grammy Awards!

Back to our VAN, next stop was the California Science Centre, this was something my work colleague Amy had highly recommended, especially to view the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Parking in the carpark, the first sight was wow, a massive US Airforce Spy Plane the A-12.

Stepping inside, there were some great exhibits, started off with the space exploration area.

whose rocket can fly first

Space toilet

Endeavour Shutte

This place had too many cool exhibits, and lots of things you could play, kids were having a ball with it all. The earthquake exhibit was very good, Neha enjoyed that heaps and was able to relate to her recent assignment on how the buildings are now designed to handle earthquakes! The place even had an interactive model showing what happens to the ground during an earthquake, some very cool stuff.
The Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibit was the highlight, we were amazed at the size of it. We spent close over an hour at the Endeavour exhibit! Was very cool learning about how the shuttle worked, how the two disasters occurred. Also had not realised, but it is only the FRONT NOSE section up to the cockpit where Astronauts liveable area is during the mission. The rest of the entire Shuttle is CARGO zone! Pooja wanted to try Astronaut ICE CREAM, essentially dry ice cream not requiring any freezing, this is the same product used by Astronauts. We tried that, not bad!

It was already past 4:45 pm, time to make our way out of here.

Time to head back to the apartment. Kids had a great time here, none of us were expecting this place to be so good!

Heading back, first stop was the large Supermarket on Sunset Blvd. Had to buy Hershey’s and Twinkles for family back home! Supermarket visit was another 45 minutes, it was interesting exploring the aisles, package sizes were much bigger and prices much cheaper! Shopping done – more luggage, now to dine and head back.

On Sunset Blvd, came across a busy Thai restaurant, well we had tried lots of other cuisines but not American Thai, why not! Luckily there were no wait times and we were quickly seated. Unfortunately food was average and nothing to rave about.

Managed to get to the apartment before 9pm! No one was going out tonight, kids were ushered to sleep, whilst the 4 of us got busy with the packing! This was very time consuming. Lucky Meeta had her portable scale, ensured all bags were limited to 23Kg or less.

It was a long night, by the end of it, we were all sorted and ready for tomorrow.

(Lots of luggage)

A relaxed schedule today, mainly sightseeing around the place and ending @ Santa Monica.

Kids were not rushed to wake up, me and Vik headed down to Hollywood Blvd Starbucks to get our morning Coffees & Chai Latte fix. Back in the apartment time to get everyone sorted and ready for the day.
Like every morning in this apartment, Vik had bollywood music running on the TV, it was great having ROKU TV, every morning a different hindi filmi stream.

Me and Meeta worked out the optimal route on google maps on what sights to see and in which order – this was essentially the same itinerary the other tour operators were using, since we already had our own BUS there was no need to use them!

(kids ready to go, Pooja with her Unicorn!)

First stop of the Day, the Griffith Observatory, it had a good vantage point to view LA and the Hollywood sign.

The Griffith Observatory is sitting on the south facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It was about a 30 minute drive from our apartment.

(LA, viewed from the Griffith Observatory)

With a clear day, it was a perfect setting for viewing Downtown LA and the Hollywood side of LA. Stayed up there for over 30 minutes.

Next on the list was Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. Driving down from the Observatory, Vik took the scenic route, a bit longer but much better views. It was well worth coming here.

(on Sunset Blvd heading to Beverly Hills)

Navigated our way to Sunset Blvd heading towards Beverly Hills. Aaria & Pooja were getting a bit hungry, stopped by at McDonalds, we all decide to grab a quick bite there.

Back on the road, drove through a few suburban Beverly Hills streets, lots of large houses with manicured gardens and lawns. It did put my lawn to shame  . And then it was Rodeo Drive.

Did not hang around there too long, could not risk the ladies going shopping here !!

Arrived at Santa Monica just after 2pm. Drove around for a bit to get our bearings and the best place to park.
Found a car park that had a clearance of atleast 8feet! Vik drove the Van in and moving on to the second level I noticed the ceiling significantly lower that what it was when we entered, not a problem for normal cars but definitely an issue for our oversized VAN. Quickly stopped and looked around, there was a sign stating ahead was only 6 feet clearance! U –turn in a tight spot, Vik was having fun maneuvering our large vehicle , heading down again, we were in luck, someone in the lower levels (in the 8 feet clearance area) was just vacating a spot, parked in there!  Now to explore the place.
First to the Third Street Promenade, an open air mall for foot traffic only.

Ladies got excited with the opportunity for more shopping, me and Vik along with the kids headed our own way. It was visiting candy stores, Converse stores to see how you can order you own custom printed shoes, Guess store and finally at the Apple store, Vik wanted to check out the apple watch, still not sure what the big deal about that watch is. At the Apple store we noticed a new tool which our Soccer boys may be interested in!

(improve your kicking skills with the smart BALL!)

(Neha and Pooja mucking around at the Guess store)

Met up with the ladies, the Promenade was done, now to head to the Santa Monica Place (another mall) for afternoon tea and cakes! Found a small french patisserie in the open area – UGO Café, had an amazing Chai Latte and Cheesecakes! Just the right afternoon pick-me-up! Kids opted for the Gelato. Ladies were soon gone to explore more shopping opportunities….again! Me and Vik hung around with the kids, roaming about.

This also gave the kids a good break before our walk down to the Pier. Ladies joined us just after 5pm, we all headed down to the Pier. We were hoping to have dinner on the Pier @ a Italian restaurant recommended by Deepa Jamnadas.

Onto the Pier, it was a Carnival atmosphere, lots of people, stalls, rides, food and surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The Italian Restaurant was open which we were hoping to go to, made a reservation for 7pm, giving us an hour to explore the Pier.

one of the ladies had photobombed another pic, asked her to join in, all her friends got interested!

Looking out to the Pacific Ocean

time for a ride on the roller coaster for the kids.

Headed to the restaurant, was so good to simply walk in and not have to wait! Restaurant was called “Ristorante Al Mare”.

Got a great table with views to the ocean and the Sunset!

Food was very good, everyone enjoyed it that night!

Time to head back, tiredness was creeping into kids

(Santa Monica Pier at night)

Loaded everyone back into the VAN, headed back home via Sunset strip, we wanted to do a drive by and see what it was like at night.
Passing that, it was quite a let down, not many people and not many restaurants/pubs, in comparison our apartment was in a more buzzing area! From all we had heard, the Sunset Strip was supposedly a very buzzing place!

Back in the apartment, it had been a good relaxing day, not much running around, this time our VAN was doing all the running around!
Tomorrow our LAST FULL DAY in LA

Kids were settled in the apartment, headed out to Hollywood Blvd for another good night. It was my 41st!

We were surprised to see Hollywood Blvd closed off, opp the Dolby Theatre with fencing and red carpets lining the road, yet only minimal crowds around. And staff were rolling up the carpets! Did we just miss something!

Asking around, found out it was the World Premiere of Avengers the Age of Ultron. If only we had been here about 2 hours ago!

Headed to the upper levels of Mall attached to the Dolby Theatre (Hollywood and Highland), lets explore the dining options there.

Settled for Mexican @ “Cabo Wabo Cantina”. Me and Vik ordered the waiters suggested Margarita, Nita wanted a creamy cocktail – nothing on the menu so asked him to make the Dharma special – LOVE ON THE BEACH, Kahlua Malibu & Cream. Meeta ordered the same. Not everyone does this right, however this place must have had a good bar-man, he made them spot on.
Food was good but not great, the San Diego OLD TOWN Mexican was still the best so far.

It was after 10pm we left the place and back on Hollywood blvd. The red carpets were gone, the fences were still there and rows of Black Audi limos were now parked on both sides of the blvd. A few people had gathered at the Dolby Theatre street entrance. Asking around, apparently the world premiere was about to conclude and the celebrities would be coming out anytime.
Why not hang around – well that is what our ladies wanted to do. With nothing else planned for the night, that is exactly what we did. Most of the crowd were outside, we along them, however the cold weather was making it difficult, me and Vik decided to just go in the Dolby Theatre building and wait inside, was much better inside.

It was approx another 20-30 minutes before we saw someone we recognised.

Samuel L Jackson

Neal McDonough (Captain America, Agents of Shield)

some tv star…. not sure who?

Then a few members of the crowd ran out, apparently the celebs were exiting a different route…

Crowd building outside!

Ming Na-Wen (Agents of Shield)

Aaron Taylor Johnson (played Quicksilver in Avengers)

Chris Hemsworth (played Thor in Avengers)

James Gunn (Director- Guardians of the Galaxy)

Jon Favreau (Tony stark’s driver in Iron Man)

Brett Dalton (Agents of Shield)

Clark Gregg (Avengers, Agents of Shield)

Paul Bettany (the voice behind JARVIS – Tony Starks Computer in Iron Man, Avengers)

Chloe Bennett (Agents of Shield)

It was around 12:30, decided to call it a night, had seen enough celebs – Me and Vik would have loved to see Scarlett Johansson and Nita, Meeta similarly were longing to see Robert Downey Jr, unfortunately not this time, they will have to wait till the next trip!

Officially 41 today, but still feeling like 30!

Our final theme park for the trip today – Universal Studios, another early start. The apartment was great, organising breakfast was so much easier, the Wagh Bakri Masala Tea Nita brought along was working out well, needed a good cuppa to start the day.

All loaded in the VAN and headed out, could not believe when we arrived at the Studios in under 7 minutes. Well still had over 45 minutes before the park opened. What else but take pics.

Through the gates around 9:50am, then a further few minutes of wait inside until the 10am open. Vik had the scheduled sorted, first up, to head to lower level to finish off the key rides whilst crowd levels were low. Did not realise how low the lower level was until we came to the Starway, connecting the upper level to the lower level. We were around 200 –300 metres above the lower level! And connecting the levels were 4 BIG escalators.

We went on the Transformers ride, Mummy coaster and the Jurassic Park ride – which had a good chance of getting wet! Queue times for all were minimal, max wait time was around 10 minutes!

All the three rides were brilliant, The Transformers had so much realistic 4D feel to it, the Mummy coaster was quick and Jurassic park was FUN.
Fun fact for Jurassic Park ride, if riding with kids, make sure you do not sit with them in the same row if you have a big tummy or if they are super slim!! Each row can seat 4 people with a single handle bar securing all. For my row and the same with Vik’s, the handle bar stopped at our tummy (12 pack), which also left the kids with a fair amount of gap between them and the handle bar leaving them not too secure! Not a big problem, but on the last fall their bums were a fair bit off the seats , kids were not too impressed! Dian and Neha were very mad at us!

Great start to the morning, Time to head back to the upper levels, for more fun.

Finished off the special effects show, was very interesting on seeing the tricks that are possible with the Camera lens! Neha enjoyed that heaps!

Caught up with Betty Boop, lovely girl she is! As soon as she found out it was my birthday, she fetched a Birthday tag, wrote my name and left her lovely kiss on it !

Now for the Waterworld Show. This was the same set that was used in Kambakht Ishq movie.

This was an awesome show, especially the climax with the plane! Thoroughly enjoyed.

More exploring in the park

Next we headed to the Hollywood Studio Tour. This was in a 4 car tram driving us through the sets of TV shows, movies and also giving us a bit of hollywood action!

The King Kong 3D experience was brilliant, lots of Dinosaurs running around us!

KingKong 3D experience wa s brilliant

the famous cars used in movies…

the famous cars used in movies…

the famous cars used in movies…

the famous cars used in movies…

flash flood, hollywood style

flash flood, hollywood style

flash flood, hollywood style

flash flood, hollywood style

flash flood, hollywood style

flash flood, hollywood style

Vik very interested with this billboard

Drove through Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives, Nita and Meeta knew these very well.

On the sets of “War of Worlds” plane crash scene

The one hour tour went too quickly, it was very very good and loads of fun! This is sooo highly recommended for anyone coming here!

It was time for me & Vik to catchup with Marylyn

Next to explore the Simpsons Ride, another 4D virtual ride. In the queue, came across a name I know!

A bit of Sholay, Yeh Dosti!!

yeh dosti

Pooja: Neha I am chilling, just drive

Best buddies!!

kids are off….

selfie time

future director

future director of LONDON PARIS NEW YORK 😉

assistant director of LONDON PARIS NEW YORK 😉

Girl power

We had completed the park and all the key attractions in good time, it was approaching 6pm, we had done well to finish it all. Time to make our way out.

But first some shopping. Pooja wanted her Magic Unicorn, she had been crying for that!

On the way out, LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

Lights Camera Action !!

two directors of this blockbuster vacation

It had been a very good day at Universal Studios, very very enjoyable, Nita was rating this theme park very high, even higher than Disney!

Outside the park, explored the Universal CityWalk, a three block shopping, dining and entertainment precinct.

None of the dinner options appealed to us (well not with kids), decided to get takeaway Pizza for Dian, and Sushi for Neha & Pooja. Then to our VAN.

What a sight, our big VAN all by itself in the car park. One perk of an extra large vehicle, we get to park very close to the entrance, no need to park in the big multi-level car parking for cars – which is always a fair walk away.

(hurray – we have done all the theme parks for this trip!!)

Headed to the apartment. Kids settled in, now for the four of us to head out
…..night birthday party with celebs continued on next post!

Today was a visit to Artesia, having lunch at Surati Farshan and then to Citadel outlet mall for some shopping therapy for the ladies.

Last few days had all been early starts, today was not one of them, bit more relaxed. At 10:30am we were still in the apartment just chilling, well getting kids organised to leave.

Arrived at Artesia around midday just in time for Lunch. Made our way to Surati Farshan Indian Veg – this place is apparently always busy, and it was the same for lunch today. Lots of food options. We ordered lots of Chaats, Dosa, Chana Bhatura & Nita ordered a THALI – she had been longing for a good veg meal! Food turned out very good. Then it was time for Gulab Jamun, kids were loving it.

After lunch we spent around an hour just walking around the place to see other stores in the area. We came across an eye brow threading place, Nita was – why not.

It was then off to Citadel outlets, got there around 3:30pm and were there till almost 7pm! More shopping done by all. Kids were very tired by then, Got back to the apartment, it was a task to carry all the shopping up!

(so much shopping, ladies in overdrive!!)

Once in the Apartment sorted kids meals with room service (well me and Vik were the room service waiters and delivery boys!). Dian had a Pizza whilsts my girls had sushi again.

By 9pm there they were all good and none of them wanted to come out with us, left them in the apartment with a phone and the 4 of us headed out. It was my birthday in Australian time zone and I had already got lots of birthday wishes from that size of the world, so why not celebrate it a day earlier in US.

We decided on Hard Rock Café, but before that I had to have a pic with the Hollywood Female Cop!

(very friendly the US cops!)

HardRock food was good, settled for a couple of burgers shared between each couple leaving enough capacity for desserts.

Vik had also arranged a surprise birthday dessert for me, thanks mate!

It was a great night and very very enjoyable one, this was the first time we 4 were out on our own without the kids and it felt so different and hassle free!

Great finish to the day, tomorrow was Universal Studios!

Two big days of Disney had left us all very tired. Just one more day to cover of the remainder. Got to the park by 8:30am. Headed to DisneyLand, wanted to finish the Small world and take pics with Mickey & Minnie. First got a fastpass for Space Mountain, then to explore around.

(Photopass Photographer in action)

Photos done, now time for small world.

Next headed to Toon Town, we had not done that well yesterday, now to explore each of the small houses. We were in luck there, Minnie and Mickey were at their houses!! Neha and Pooja were in the queue for Minnie, time for Pooja to get Minnie’s autograph.

Next to visit Mickey. Queue for Mickey was a bit long, during the wait times, noticed Goofy was also in town, Nita held our queue place, whilst me and kids ran off to meet Goofy and to get his autograph.

Next it was time to make the most of the zero length queue at the Toon Town Coaster, kids went on that 3 times!

Time to get Pluto’s autograph.

Neha had seen a few people with Disney lanyards and pins, she managed to find one in a store nearby. She got a starter pack with extra pins for trading. Now she was asking random people in the park if they wished to trade! She did get lucky a couple of time!

It was getting close to 10:30 now, I could get our second fastpass (one fastpass is allowed every two hours), left Nita and kids to explore and meet back at Space Mountain, whilst I hurried over to California Park to grab fast pass to Cars Ride. I got there just past 10:30, could not believe all the fastpasses for the day were GONE! Headed to California Screamin coaster to grab a fastpass to that – was in luck.

Back at Disney, met with the family @ Space Mountain, one last time on that ride. It was around 11:30, time to head over to California Park.

Off to California Park.

It was past midday, time for a snack, walking past the Pier @ California Park, saw Ghirardelli and decided to do an Ice Cream LUNCH. We had missed this in San Francisco, this would make it up for that! Me and Nita ordered a Sundae, kids had a Milkshake each, and Nita also ordered an EMPTY waffle cone dipped in Chocolate – she loved these Waffle Cones!

We could see the California Screamin coaster from where we were, noticed there were no carts travelling on it! The ride must be closed! Decided to rest around a bit more, kids were all tired. Left them to rest and headed to the Grizzly River ride to grab fastpasses to that.

Headed to the California Screamin coaster after 30 minutes, ride was now operational, used the fastpass for quick entry and were on the ride again! Lots of fun here!

Now to Grizzly River Run ride. On the way, we passed the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail for kids, involved solving a few puzzles and navigating an obstacle course. Neha and Pooja were up for that, enough walking for rides, they wanted to have some FUN!

Neema joined us soon after 2pm. Neha and Pooja were super excited to see Neema foi! Time to go to the next ride, the Grizzly River Run, this was a River Rapids ride with a very good chance of getting wet & Nita did not want to get wet. Good chance for Neema to join in. We did not have our ponchos from the first night with us for protection, instead we put on our warm jackets, this should be cover enough from the water!

River rapid ride was great, Me and Pooja came out quite wet, lucky for out jackets.
Headed off next to the Cars Land.

Pooja was needing some snack by this time, Neema suggested trying the Bacon Cheese Mac sold at the Cosy Cone in Cars Land (Cheese Macaroni with Bacon). Got one, Pooja absolutely loved it, had to go for a second cone for Neha.

Did the Mater ride next, a long queue for that.

Then it was time to move to hollywood area in the park, had not done the Monster Inc ride.

Was getting close to 5pm, now to buy some Disney Souvenirs and Pins for Neha. Using Neema’s annual Disney pass, we saved a fair bit of the purchases. Called Vik, and told him we were all done with Disney and now heading to Downtown Disney to do some final toy shopping for Pooja, and maybe also eat there. He was going to join us there.

Pooja got her Tangled Rapunzel House and Neha had lots and lots of Disney Pins!

Met up with Vik & family around 6pm in Downtown Disney, unfortunately most restaurants here had long wait times. After searching around unsuccessfully, we decided to get out of Disney and head to PF Changs! We had very much enjoyed that in Vegas, were longing for that food!

Neema was great, she called Mitesh to not come to Disney instead head directly to PF Changs to book a table for us, she also took Neha and Pooja with her to PF Changs. Me, Nita, Vik & family took the shuttle back to the hotel, we were going to drive to PF Changs in our VAN.

By the time we reached PF Changs it was already 8pm, Pooja was sleeping in Neema’s lap, Neha was having a good laugh with Mitesh, she was getting very fond of her Mitesh fua! Did not realise that Mitesh had been waiting at this place for over an hour!! Poor guy was here for so long for us! Finally got our table. All seated, Vik suggested soup, top idea that!! Soup was sooo good. All other dishes were just as good. This place is highly recommended.

Throughout the night, Neha and her Mitesh fua had an absolute ball! Neha was so enjoying his company.

It had been a great night and was so good meeting up Mitesh and Neema, for the last 2 nights they had both given us a great time, loads of memories in a short span. Hoping to see them soon back in OZ.

Time to call it a night, tomorrow morning we are heading to San Diego for LegoLand.

Another early start today, to make the most of the day and do as many rides as possible. Unfortunately Dian was not feeling too well, Meeta decided to stay in the hotel with him for half a day to better recover him. Vik and Aaria were going to the park.
At the park we split up and headed to California Park, Vik wanted to take Aaria to the Finding Nemo ride early @ Disney to avoid the queues. Today we were also meeting up with my cousin Neema and her husband Mitesh – they have yearly passes which makes it easy for them to drop by. The last time we met each other were in 2005 in Brisbane, when they came over for a holiday.

California park’s theme was different, had splashes of the states highlights and was themed around movies. The first stop of the day was breakfast, so whilst Nita and kids were lining up at the Starbucks café in the park, I ran off to the Cars ride to grab the fastpasses. I got there just after 9am, and the fastpass was available for after 6:30pm!!! This must be a very popular ride.

Met up with Nita @ Starbucks, quick Coffee & tea, kids were all settled, now to explore the park.

Got to the Cars Land, and it looked so much like the movie. Pooja so wanted to explore that now, took a bit of convincing that it was to be left for the afternoon.

Headed towards the Paradise Pier, designed much like the Santa Monica Pier and Fishermans Wharf all combined together.

First ride of the day was Mickeys Funwheel – the sliding Ferries Wheel. Queue for this was already over 30 minutes. Nita wondered around at the souvenir shops whilst me and the kids stayed in the queue.

Mickey’s Wheel was fun, next to California Screamin coaster. Getting there we found out the ride was closed, and the person at the gate would not provide an approximate time of ride opening again. This was the premier ride of this park and we did not want to miss it, also with the ride being closed, they were not letting anyone queue up. Seeing this as an opportunity, we decided to hang around, if the ride was operational the queue wait times would be atleast 60 minutes or more, and if we hung around, we could possibly be the first few to get on. Whilst Nita and kids were waiting around, I grabbed some churros for all, these we so yum. The wait paid off, the guys indicated to a few kids nearby that the ride was about to open up and they could queue up. Nita was instantly there with Neha. After another 10 minutes, we were on the California Screamin – this has to be the BEST ROLLER COASTER we have EVER been on. It is super quick to take off, and it is not a short ride, this thing lasts for a LOOONG time. So worth it.
Getting out of the ride, we could not believe the queue was now well over 60 minutes!

(California Screamin – the best rollercoaster!!)

I was so proud of Neha and Pooja, Neha had been so nervous getting on this, and post that she and Pooja so wanted to go on it again!!

Then to Goofy’s Sky School coaster – mini coaster with loads of extremely sharp turns. This had a wait of around 45 minutes! Another fun coaster! Rides in this park were so much more fun than Disneyland. Today Neha & Pooja were so enjoying all their rides!!

It was past 1:30pm, time for lunch, walking past California Screamin, saw the ride was again closed – we had been sooo lucky to have done it!

Across the Pier bridge, decided to eat at the Cove Bar, this place did not server main meals, rather entrees, which worked out great for us – no mood for a heavy lunch. Views were so good from here, overlooking the Paradise Pier with all the rides that we had earlier finished.

Food was very good here, had Buffalo wings, Chicken Pizza and Nachos, was surprised and impressed with Pooja, she enjoyed the Buffalo wings heaps, not bad for first time!

Out of there and Pooja had a chance for another autograph – it was time for Donald Duck!

It was now time to head to Cars Land – Pooja’s favourite!

Nita kept thinking about how Veer should be at this place and how he would go nuts in this CARS LAND….. Pooja was already going nuts!

After spending a fair bit of time in the souvenir shops, headed out of the Cars Land and through the Bugs Land – this place mainly had rides catered to little ones, Neha and Pooja were not keen on these.

Headed next to the Hollywood Tower of Terror. Queue was atleast 45 minutes, Neha all along was a fair bit nervous and at one stage even walked out of the line, a lot of convincing had to be done to get her back. Pooja was a classic, when we were finally seated in the LIFT, the guy asked us if we had any questions, to that Pooja asked, “does this go fast”, his response, “the speed of a failing rock is based on gravity, this thing will fall FASTER than that”, and with that he quickly shut the gates and let us go.
The ride took our LIFT up in total darkness, then suddenly the doors in front opened and we could see the entire park, wow, then a giant DROP!! Lots of screaming, LIFT was pushed up again and again another drop, this continued for about four times before it concluded. Quite an intense ride, Neha was not too happy with this ride and did not want to do it again at all!

Getting out, we saw everyone lining up the street sides for the afternoon Parade which occurs @ 5:15pm, Neha and Pooja were quick to find a kerbside view.

Unlike the Disney Parade focused on the traditional Disney characters & princesses, the California Park was more about the Pixar movies and their Characters – the new Disney additions! Neha and Pooja enjoyed this more, they could relate to all the movies they grew up watching.

Finished the parade and noted directly behind us was the Hyperion Theatre, hosting the Aladdin Musical Spectacular Performance. Show was starting in 30 minutes. Quickly lined up for that. Got in with a very good seating! This was a big theatre, just like the Vegas theatres.

The show was very very good, with the flying carpet done so well! This is a must watch. Neema sms’d me during the show, she was in the park, told her to meet us near the cars ride, we had to get there before 7:30pm to use our fastpass and it was already 6:50pm.

Quickly got to the Cars land, the place was looking so good in the dark with all the neon lights. Could not believe the wait times for the non-fastpass people, it was at 150 minutes! The record for that ride was 240 minutes!

Even with our fastpass, the wait was over 30 minutes, and the weather although clear was getting very very COLD! Whilst in the queue, Neema had arrived at the Cars ride gates, we just managed to see her before moving ahead with the queue.

The ride was soo much fun, it was basically two full sized cars racing each other – fast!

It was 8pm when we got out of the ride, finally got to meet up with Neema and Mitesh, she had not changed at all! Was so good to see her. Neha and Pooja took an instant liking to her.

The park was open till 10pm, but we were getting fairly tired, decided to call it a night and get something to eat – but light. Neema suggested a good sandwich place @ Downtown Disney, am so glad she came as we would have missed the Downtown part of Disney!

On the way out of Cars Land, there was a street party happening with dancing, Pooja was first to jump in, Neha followed soon after.

(The Cars Land looked so good at night!)

On our way out, near the main street, saw a Photopass Photographer, good opportunity to take a few more snaps.

Out of the park, to Downtown Disney, first stop was the Frozen Disney Store, Pooja had to get a couple of Dolls, decision was made even easier to get it with Neema getting 20% off all purchases in the park and in downtown Disney with her Annual pass!

Next stop was light dinner @ Earl of Sandwich – our fav. Mitesh found a good outdoor seat (near the heaters) which allowed us to see the Disney fireworks in comfort! It was a great finish to the day.

Tomorrow Neema was free and wanted to join us again around 2pm, Neha and Pooja were very excited and happy that their Foi was coming again. Mitesh dropped us off at the hotel, funny enough, our daily shuttle pass was only being used for single journeys for the last two days!
A long and tiring but very fun day