Another early start, packed the bags in the VAN and headed out to Sea World, arrived by 9am.
No need to buy tickets here, it was part of the CityPass tickets we already had.
9:30 the park opened, first stop Starbucks in the park. None of us had breakfast. Nita suggested the Chai Tea Latte, that turned out to be the best coffee alternative in US for me.
Whilst we had a quick breakfast, Kids were playing with the fish in the nearyby ponds.
First stop of the day was the Manta Coaster. There were virtually no queues on that, we ending up going on it multiple times! This was a FUN roller coaster.
After a few rounds of that, it was time to head to the famous Killer Whale Show.
The stands had clearly marked SPLASH zones, where you could get wet, Dian, Pooja and Neha wanted to get wet and moved forward, they put on the Disney Ponchos just in case! Unfortunately there zone did not get much water all.
We then moved to the “Play with the Dolphin” area, hoping to get a chance to touch some. And we did get lucky!
Next to Sesame street, whilst Kids were enjoying the Sesame Street Abbey ride, me and Vik organised lunch, this would have to be the best lunch of all theme parks, they were cooking made to order Gourment Sandwiches, we ordered a few of these. Even kids loved it!
We finished the Park at 3pm, this was not ideal but we did not want to be driving in the dark and wanted to reach LA before nightfall.
Once on the freeway, I contacted our AirBnB contact, and informed her of our estimated arrival, she replied quickly with confirmation of someone meeting us at the apartment. Atleast this booking was good, did not need another booking stuff up.
Arrived at the apartment around 6:30pm, it was off Hollywood Blvd, one block to the Dolby theatre, location was perfect. The apartment was very nice, with three bedrooms, kitchen and the best part – we had a Washing Machine and Dryer.
Got out of the apartment around 8pm, first stop was the Sushi place in the same block on Hollywood Blvd. The Sushi rolls were very very nice, especially the Lobster and Crab variety, it was much better than what I have had in Brisbae. Neha and Pooja had the best time eating their favourite. Also tried their Spicy Chowmein – the spicy flavour was very good, it is so good to get proper spicy food!!
Next to see a bit of Hollywood Blvd, the walk of fame and the Chinese Theatre.
Being a Saturday night, there were lots of musicians and people performing on the boulevard. It was fun but also the kids were not used to these style of street performers, with some being a bit intimidating for the them! Neha did not like this place much, she was missing Disney . I guess Sat night on Hollywood Blvd is not really for kids!
Got back to the apartment around 10:30pm, time to get everyone organised for sleeping. Tomorrow was sightseeing and visiting Artesia (little India in LA).
Another early morning start. Loaded all bags in the VAN, were on the road around 8am headed for Legoland. Morning run was good, not much traffic on the freeway.
By 9:45am we were at Legoland, were there before the park opened!
Pooja was super excited to see the Heartlake City characters. She has been collecting these for the last couple of years.
It was great to see these life size characters made entirely of Lego!
They also had the set that was used in the LEGO movie, very cool that mini city!
Lady at the front gate had highly recommended the VOLVO driving school ride for the kids. Time to do that. This was so similar to the LEGO City sets!
Pooja was not following any of the road signs, the STOP and GIVEWAY did not make any difference to her, infact I do not think she used her brakes at all.
Neha was not too impressed with this, problem was everything was now being compared to Disney!
Next was the Egyptian ride, the only thing good about this ride was the activity they had for kids whilst waiting.
We waited for more than one hour for this ride, it was a shoot’em ride, not much excitement on it and definitely not worth it for waiting this long.
MiniLand was next, was looking forward to this.
Miniland would have to be the highlight of this place – replica’s of famous monuments made entirely of LEGO, it was very cool.
However my favourite was the Starwars Replica!
By 3:30pm we had finished the park, time to head out and make the most of San Diego.
My review of Legoland, it is missing the atmosphere of Disney, there is NO MUSIC, a small thing but makes such a difference. The park simply lacked the happy atmosphere. If we would have done this park first we may have enjoyed it more, however if coming from Disney & Universal, it does not stack up especially considering it has similar entry costs!
Drive to our Hotel was another hour, did not realise how far Legoland was from San Diego. Hotel in San Diego, was very close to Sea World. In the reception a surprise awaited us. They did not have our booking and were all full!! I had the printed vouchers, still no luck. We had used yeego.com for all our bookings and this was the first one with issues. Ringing Yeego.com, we only got an answering service!!
Well time to look for another place, just around the corner we found one – lucky did not have to look far!
Checked in, unloaded the VAN, quick freshen up and time to head out. Mitesh (Neema’s husband) had recommended “Fiesta De Reyes” a great Mexican restaurant in a place called OLD TOWN.
Arriving in Old Town, the place was so different to San Diego. The entire place is a Mexican themed town, lots of markets, food outlets and music. And it was very COLD at this time of the evening!
Roaming about the place, finally located Fiesta De Reyes.
This place was not just a restaurant, but another marketplace with other shops, cafes and the central Mexican restaurant. The restaurant had a wait of around 45 minutes, they were going to sms us once the table was available, time to explore this place.
Kids were having a fun time, we went into a store selling HOT sauces, Vik and me both bought a bottle each of their popular variety. Next found a CAFÉ with dessert and were looking at the cakes when the lady behind the counter approached us and went on about how good her coffee was and would guarantee we would love it, Vik was telling her how unimpressed he was with US coffee. Decided to give their coffee a try.
It was still not as good as OZ coffee, but was the BEST coffee we had so far. Would recommend this place to all, nice cosy spot.
It was about 1 hour before the table was ready, their mexican corn chips and dips were the best. Mitesh was soo right, the food here was amazing.
Finished of at old town close to 10pm, now to explore a bit of the city – just a VAN tour. Mitesh had also suggested a drive by of 5th avenue in the city to see a bit of the San Diego nightlife. So far it seemed like a quite place. Arriving closer to 5th Avenue, we realised this place was BIG and BUSY at night. The 5th Avenue place was more like Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, lots of PUBS, Clubs and loud music.
Vik suggested a drive by the harbour, why not. Was not much until we passed the USS Midway. I had that on my list of things to do, however our schedule had not allowed it, and now we were there! Massive Aircraft carrier permanently docked here and operating as a museum to the public. Wish I had one more day in San Diego, would have loved to go aboard this ship!
We were viewing the ship from the parklands opposite, next to the big FIRST KISS statue.
Above, USS Midway @ San Diego.
Headed back to the hotel, it was another long day, tomorrow was Seaworld!
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!
California Screamin Coaster–takeoff!
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
Exciting early morning start today, it was time for Disneyland. Kids were super excited, all ready and out of the hotel by 8 am. Took the Disney shuttle that seemed to come around every 15 minutes, ride to Disney was only about 10 minutes. Even at this early hour, droves of people were coming into the park! Picked up the hired stroller for Pooja and headed into Disneyland, we had done extremely well for time, it was only 8:30 am, and we were already here. This was mine and Nita’s third Disneyland experience and the second for the kids. So far we had done the Paris Park in ‘98 and Hongkong Park in 2011.
Kids were lucky to catch Mickey and Daisy Duck close by!
Pooja had a great start with two autographs already in her Disney Autograph book which she had purchased in Las Vegas Disney store just for this!! First stop was to get a Fast Pass for the Space Mountain ride, locked that in for 11am. Next was the Buzz LightYear ride, time to shoot the badies!
I came out happy, had the highest number of kills!! Neha was not too happy with me, she thought she had won and had the higher score, until I told her my score! Vik next suggested we complete the Fantasy land (mainly to do with Princesses). Going to that, we noticed the first PhotoPass Photographer. For anyone not familiar with that, these are Disney Photographers spread throughout the park and essentially are there for people with a PhotoPass. The Photopass itself is a creditcard sized card with a barcode you purchase, that allows, firstly the use of the Disney Photopass photographers and secondly all your digital prints are available on the Disney Photo Site, it also includes some of the ride photos. We showed our Pass to the photographer, and then he got about directing us to pose in all sorts of manner in front of the Disney Castle. This was great, we could get all 4 of us in the pic finally! He even mentioned at times, how my girls were natural at posing for pics….. LOL, only I know!
Next it was time to enter the Fantasy land, lots of kiddy rides here, lucky the queues were short and we managed to get through them all fairly quickly. The Merry-go-round was a must go.
The classic Cup Saucer ride had us all spinning around!
Finished off fanstasy land and headed back to the Space Mountain ride, using the fastpass, we were able to get to the front of the queue in no time! This was Neha & Pooja’s first roller coaster in this trip, the ride was GREAT, with loads of dark turns.
Time to grab a quick bite. Whilst at lunch @ Tomorrowland, the Star Wars Jedi Academy show started directly opposite where we were seating, had a great view of it. Obi-wan was selecting young Jedi’s from the crowd to tackle the dark side! This was a fun show, especially seeing the young ones take on the full size VADER and DARTH MAUL.
Post lunch, we split up with Vik, kids now wanted to cover of other areas of the park with more WILD rides, whilst Aaria was enjoying the fairy rides and attractions.
Next stop was FrontierLand, followed by the Tarzan Tree house (Adventureland)
On to the Disney train, our shortcut to Toon Town from New Orleans station @ FrontierLand.
Getting off at Toon Town station, the timing was super, Mickey and Magical Map show was just starting, were lucky to get seats in there.
Into Toon Town, the place was made of little cartoon structures, Neha & Pooja were more interested in lining up for the Roller coaster there! Lines were unfortunately long, with wait times now exceeding 30 minutes. (Too many kids in the park ,the last week of local school holidays was not helping us)
Post the ride, I left Nita and Neha in Toon Town and headed back to AdventureLand to get the Fastpass for the Indiana Jones ride. Pooja wanted to come along, she was not too interested in Toon Town, that also meant, I had to wheel her around the park, not an easy task when the park is absolutely crowded! This gave Neha lots of opportunities for pics.
Got the Indiana Jones fastpass for 8:30pm, we had loads of time to finish everything else, first another autograph opportunity for Pooja with Merida.
Next was queuing up for the Frozen show. We did not get a seat in the arena but were lucky to have the very first standing rows at the back. A funny take on the Frozen movie.
Post show, Pooja spotted Ariel, chance for another autograph.
It was now 5:15pm, time to head to the main street for the 6:15pm parade. Weather was not favourable, it was getting windy, cold and cloudy. Neha and Pooja found a good position to sit on the kerbside with front view of the parade! Was hoping it would not rain.
The Disney Parade is a must watch, highly highly recommended!! Parade finished around 6:45pm, Nita suggested we move quickly to the Finding Nemo ride, which earlier on had a queue time of around 2 hours.
Was she right!! Seems like most of the people were still at main street post the parade, we got into the queue which was only about 20 minutes wait!
Nemo ride finished just after 7:15pm, Nita was not feeling too well, but was adamant to complete the last remaining ride – Indiana Jones, we had covered all the other KEY rides. Our fastpass was not till 8:30pm, we tried our luck, by this time it had started to drizzle. The lady at the fast pass entrance did not mind us being 30 minutes early and let us through. Very lucky, the normal queue was over 90 minutes and fastpass allowed us to get through in under 15 minutes. This had to be one of the best rides of Disneyland a must visit for all!
Stepping outside, we walked into pouring RAIN!! And it was not light, this was heavy rain, not good at all, we had to rush into the side stores and buy ponchos for Nita and Kids, I had an Umbrella but not big enough to cover more than one person!
Making out way out of the park was not easy, seems most of the park visitors were now exiting due to the rain, which also caused a major bottleneck at the shuttle services, decided to skip that and go direct to the Taxi’s. It was not much better but going back was worse, a further wait of 5 minutes in the rain, finally got a Taxi to the hotel.
Reached the hotel around 9pm, had not had dinner yet, lucky the restaurant at the hotel was still open, ordered a couple of Pizza’s for room service and headed to the room. Time to dry up everyone, the ponchos did well, but our jeans and shoes were soaked. Pizza’s arrived soon after, they tasted so good, maybe because we were so hungry! Kids ate and were sleeping soon after, the day had taken soo much out of them, loads of walking, even Pooja who had sat in the stroller for most of the day was super tired!
Nita wanted to finish off the washing and we ended up staying up another hour to wash and dry the clothes, lucky this hotel had a self serve laundry!
Were happy we had managed to finish off Disneyland, tomorrow we would do California Park and hopefully have the last day to repeat the rides from both parks that we like!
Early morning start today, scheduled time was 6:30 am to leave the room and head out by 7am. Wanted to miss the outgoing morning traffic and get into LA before the afternoon Peak.
Vik had already organised for the bell boy to take the bags down – two trips for him, we had too many bags!! We were worried about it all fitting in the van, after all we had close to 16 pieces of luggage. The bell boy did a great job in fitting all the pieces in.
(Van fully loaded with all our bags)
Whilst Vik was organising the loading of the Van, I was completing the checkout process for both the rooms, at 7am we were all set and ready to farewell Vegas! This has been a good stay!
Exiting the Cosmopolitan car park, we made a couple of incorrect turns, finally figured it out and managed to get on the freeway, onto Interstate 15. Looking back in the Van, was surprised to see most of our passengers sleeping already, we had only been travelling for about 30 minutes! They had it so nice.
The VEGAS buildings were soon gone and the harsh dessert landscape was all around.
Vik had to hold on to the steering tight, the freeway had crosswinds and our Van being big with a large surface area was sliding around a fair bit. He did very well to handle the slide.
Around 8:30 am, we were nearing our breakfast stop, the famous 50’s style Peggy Sue’s Diner. Saw the sign only 9 more mins!
Finally got there, the place had such a nostalgic feel to it.
Breakfast was good, they made the most amazing pancakes, even Aaria who normally never eats out was eating these! And the Milkshakes were sooooo yumm! Breakfast with Milkshake goes so well. Would highly recommend this stop to anyone doing the drive between LA & Vegas.
Back on the road, the freeway was so straight, the drive could get very boring if not for the company in the car.
(straight freeway with not bends for miles and miles ……. )
(Pooja would not let her unicorn out of sight)
Around 11am we were entering LA, we were like wow we did it so quick, did not realise the traffic was going to cause a further delay. First stop in LA was Meeta’s mama Chandrakant(he also happens to be my mama!). Following the GPS, we took our first exit from Freeway we were on, the exit joined to another freeway, then another exit to another freeway and again, this continued for a further 2 – 3 exits, each exit putting us on another freeway, we could not get over the number of freeways this place had. And all the freeways were BUSY!
Finally arrived at Chandrakant Mama’s place. It was good meeting Chandrakant mama for the first time. He knew our entire family and so much info about us all. Even remembered everyone’s PO BOX numbers in Fiji, so impressed with his memory! Mama and Mami took us out for lunch at the local Pei Wei Chinese. Was a short drive to the place.
Mama knows his chinese, some very nice meals he ordered. Was a very good lunch.
Drove them back home, by the time we reached their place it was already 3pm, I guess we were going to meet peak hour traffic. Farewell’d mama and mami, now to Anaheim. The drive was around an hour to get to our Hotel, the Holiday Inn on Walnut St. Again a whole lot of freeways, until we finally took the Anaheim exit, onto Katella Drive, it was very touristy with loads of restaurants and hotels, all serving the Disneyland across the street. Street was nicely landscaped with rows of Palm trees.
Finally made it to the hotel, we were directly behind Disney but unfortunately not in walking distance. Got into our rooms, and what a let down, Cosmopolitan @ Vegas had spoilt us. Still not too bad since we will only be coming here to sleep, the next 3 days will mostly be spent at Disney which the kids were all very excited for.
For the evening we decided on Cheesecake Factory, which we had seen on Katella Ave. Dian had missed out on this in Vegas on the last day, so it was time to make it up to him – also no one was saying no to Cheesecakes!
Out of the hotel around 6pm, it was COLD outside, not expecting LA to be so cold. First stop McDonalds, time for Aaria and Pooja to be fed. McDonalds being directly opposite Disneyland entrance, we left the ladies and kids @ McDonalds, whilst me and Vik walked across to Disney to purchase the tickets for tomorrow, this would save us lots of time tomorrow. Even at this hour of the night there was a small queue at the Disney ticket office, bought our Southern California CityPass, which gave us 3 day Park hopper tickets to Disney and California Park, Seaworld San Diego and Universal Studios entry. Also hired a stroller for Pooja for Day 1 of Disney, had to do the same in HongKong disney! Back in the VAN, next stop Cheesecake factory. Parking this large Van in tight spaces was a challenge, Vik did very well with that, it did require me to get out and guide. We had happened to park next to a Subaru WRX which made our VAN look even bigger.
(for size comparisons, our VAN next to a WRX)
@ Cheesecake factory, had a wait of around 30 minutes if we wanted a table or we could go directly to the bar area and use the high tables which were empty. Took that option and soon we had ordered 6 cheesecakes! This was dinner! Vik also suggested a bowl of chips, apparently it is good to mix dessert with some salted chips. Unfortunately no food pics taken, we were all too tired, just wanted to have something to eat and go rest for the next 3 big days. Cheesecakes were very good, and surprisingly having the chips balanced out the sweetness well.
Headed back to the hotel, get as much sleep as possible, tomorrow was an early start to make the most of Disney.
Last full day in Vegas, today was a free day to roam about other Casinos. First off was Buffet Brunch @ Wicked Spoon in our hotel. Let the kids sleep in, today morning was just me and Nita!
Being fairly early in the morning, the queues were not overly long. Whilst in the queue reading the buffet menu, noticed how they also offered takeout options, which essentially was, you purchased a takeout container and filled it with whatever you could fit in – this would be perfect for Neha and Pooja, who were still sleeping in the room!
Finally seated, the buffet was huge, lots of variety. We ended up staying there for about an hour. Half way through Vik & family also came down to the buffet. Having had a bit of everything from breakfast to dessert, we were very well stuffed! Now to fill-up the takeaway for the kids, loaded it with their favorite pancakes, pastries and also added some gelato! The takeout also included takeway tea for Neha & Pooja. If only we would have known this earlier, we could have done this on the first few days here.
Back to the room, kids were still sleeping, wake em up, time for their breakfast. Both enjoyed their breakfast. Was so much easier to sort their breakfast in the room rather than getting them up, showering, getting ready and then ushering them down.
Our first stop for the day was the Venetian, another massive resort. Mum and Dad stayed here on their last visit to US, and they had been very impressed by it. Stepping into the place it was on a grand scale.
Moments: At the Canal, I was trying to get a pic of kids and Nita in the background on the bridge, soon after the guy next to her in the above pic, try’s to flirt with her, all the while me and Neha are laughing cause Nita was so in shock. The guy also offered twice a handshake and on both occasions Nita just stood there frozen. Was on the third attempt that she finally shook hands, and then quickly came over to where we were. First thing she said to me, “give me my hand sanitiser, I need to wash my hands, ewww!!”
Walked past the Godiva Chocolate Shop, where the ladies were preparing fresh Godiva Chocolates.
Left Venetian around 2pm, headed back, kids were getting tired from walking around. Dropped the girls & Nita at Cosmopolitan, then headed off to Walgreens pharmacy to pickup another prescription of Tamiflu – me and Neha were feeling a bit off, so taking no chances.
Afternoon plan, was to take our VAN and drive to Circus Circus, this was one of my requests, I had stayed there in 1986 when I came with my Parents & Bhavik, lots of memories attached to that!
Loaded the crew in the VAN and drove off. It was good having our own transport, everyone was thankful for limiting the walking, and all got too see the strip while relaxing in our personal LIMO . As we approached the Circus Circus area, Vik and Meeta were showing us where they stayed, during their honeymoon.
Entered the Circus Circus property, not sure where to Park, simply headed to the VALET and left it with them, so simple! Love how all Casinos here have VALET service for all types of cars, even VANS!
Unlike the strip Casinos, this place was so dated. The Casino did not feel quite in place with this decade. On a positive note though, the tables here had the best min bets, unlike the strip where minimum blackjack bets were around $15, here it was $2!!!, pity we were here to entertain kids so another sacrifice!!. Headed to the upper level where the kids fun park was. Stepping there, all the kids felt the rush of FUN, it was like someone had injected them all with Adrenalin! Time to have fun.
Also got to watch the circus acrobatic show which seemed to be occurring every couple of hours. After lots more playing, it was time to exit, Pooja wanted to have a go on the Unicorn game, she soo wanted the DespicableMe Unicorn. Luck was on her side, she got the Unicorn on her first go. Other bigger kids near her could not believe it, they had been trying a few times unsuccessfully and my little one does it in first go.
Headed out of there, next stop was Caesars Palace, we wanted to eat at “Trevi” the Italian restaurant next to the Roman fountains. At Caesars, parking was again via the VALET, however this time the guys asked us to park at the VIP park zone, the undercover Parking was not high enough for our VAN. Some luck for us, this parking was directly near the entry!
We were lucky tonight, the Italian restaurant “Trevi” next to the fountain had no wait, I guess not many ate before 8pm!
(Trevi Italian restaurant @ Caesars Palace – Food was A+)
Had a great night there, food was amazing, and we shared lots of good laughs, especially with Pooja’s Unicorn, Aaria and Pooja were having a debate with me on where the Unicorn got its CONE from. My theory was, it was a horse who was not sure where its mouth was and tried eating an IceCream cone, which accidently got stuck on its head!! Aaria and Pooja were arguing with me on this point all night!!
Time to head back, Veena Masi & Pravin Masa were also wanting to catch-up tonight, but first to a local petrol station to fill up for the long drive to LA tomorrow morning.
Arrived at Cosmopolitan around 11pm, kids were all sleeping by now, tucked them in bed, I went downstairs to the Casino to catch-up with Masi & Masa. Joined them at the slot machines. Finally I could play a few rounds without kids time pressures, must have been a lucky machine masi picked, my $10 resulted in $40. We ended up spending close to an hour on the machines. Around midnight we finished with the slots, and went up to my room. There our chats continued till 1.30am, about when we said our farewells, was so good to catchup with Masi and Masa. Now it was time to sleep, tomorrow (or today) was going to be a long day with the drive to LA.
Early start today, had to cover Hoover Dam & Grand Canyon and make it back before dark, did not want to be driving at night. We all had agreed to get out by 7am.
Woke up @ 5:30am, got the kids up, ready and quick breakfast. Knocking on the interconnecting room door around 6:30am, Vik was making sure we were up and ready. All good today, we all were down in the lobby by 7am, got the Valet to get our mini-bus, Nita & Meeta was impressed that we were using the valet service, they were thinking “wow it must be a nice big car!!”.
They could not believe their eyes, when the Ford E-350 pulled up, they were like – what the!!!
“ah Khataro ma apne jawana”!!! They could not stop laughing at the size of the VAN/truck and how we were going to drive this big thing! Kids on the other hand were excited to have such a big van with loads of space.
Vik took the drivers seat, I was co-pilot, making sure we were going the correct way and staying on the RIGHT side!
(our rental VAN, early morning start to Hoover Dam)
We were glad to be out on the streets before 7:30am, streets were empty which gave Vik more confidence to drive without the pressure of traffic. Made all the correct turns and were soon on the freeway (US-95) heading to Hoover Dam.
Vik was finding driving this big thing required more concentration than normal, the large surface area was a magnet for crosswinds and causing the VAN to drift sideways, he constantly had to have both hands on the wheel making fine adjustments.
Even with that, it was lots of fun to be travelling in our own space and being able to stop where ever we wanted. Also we now had our own music, something we cannot do without!
First stopover was at McDonalds for a quick breakfast. Coffee again was crap, no surprise there. Back on the freeway, we were seeing some amazing scenery and landscapes.
Getting close to Hoover Dam, we caught our first glimpse of Lake Mead, wow, what a sight. Nita was able to relate to the location, she had been following Varun Dhavan and Shradha Kapoors instagram pics of their upcoming movie shooting – ABCD 2.
(driving to Hoover Dam, view to Lake Mead)
By 8:30am, we had taken the Hoover Dam exit, we were doing great for time.
As we made the final few turns to the dam, we came across the posts for the massive Hoover Dam bridge, spanning the Colorado river. This thing was massive, and pictures simply do not do justice to this amazing structure!
Parked our VAN in the Public car park, Vik did very well to navigate the narrow curved ramps, finally time to get out, all were excited to view the magnificent Hoover Bridge & Dam.
This is an amazing structure and when considering it was built in 1935, it is even more impressive!! So many years back and such a massive structure, US just amazes me! We were all wowed by the sheer scale of this Dam & the Hoover Bridge. This was well worth visiting!.
Time to head back, next stop the Grand Canyon West.
Over the Hoover Bridge, we were now entering the state of Arizona!
The drive on this freeway very scenic and quite enjoyable.
Nita took a couple of short videos of the scenic drive.
Grand Canyon scenic drive 1
Grand Canyon scenic drive
Was not until 11:30 am, we arrived at the Grand Canyon West stop that was managed by the Skywalk company (I think). Entering the park required us to leave our VAN behind, purchase a ticket for each person and then board their buses to get to the Canyon and other attractions. Well these guys had the monopoly so nothing we can do to avoid that. The tickets packages were not too bad, they provided three stops and also included lunch for all.
First stop was the Hualapai Ranch, this was a western town replica and was serving Ribs & Chicken roast for lunch. Getting out of the bus, it was COLD here, was funny to see Pooja wearing a Beanie at midday on a day with clear sky, but it was soo required ! The old town replica was great, with a Bank, Jail, Post Office and the likes. However we really wanted to see the Canyon and there was no sight of that
We decided to have lunch at the Ranch, the Ribs were the best I have had for a very long time. Pooja who normally would not touch it, was getting right into it, she was absolutely loving the Ribs. Nita had the roast chicken, this was good but no where near as good as the Ribs.
On to the buses that drove past every 10 minutes, next stop was the Skywalk. Being the skywalk, I knew the Canyon was there, thinking it was going to be a long drive we all settled in our seats comfortably, however just after a couple of minutes we were seeing an amazing sight, the Canyon right before us! It was wow!!
First one near the ledge was Vik, he wanted to see how deep the Canyon was, but his steps were very small ensuring he had enough grip! At one stage I was holding on to his belt so he could lean a little bit closer to the edge!!
Enough of the selfies, time to do the skywalk, Neha and Pooja stayed back with Meeta & Aaria. Getting on the skywalk, we had to cover our shoes with protective shoe gloves, avoid scratching the glass, also no cameras, phones or backpacks were allowed on the walk, which was a bit of a bummer, we were unable to take our pics, other than using their photographers.
Getting onto the skywalk was initially a bit nerve racking, after a couple of minutes though, it was actually fun, the view from there was great, and seeing directly down was so cool.
The walk was great, what was frustrating was the inability for the three photographers to get to everyone who wanted their pics taken. It took around 30 minutes before we finally got the attention of one of the photographers, and all we got were a few quick snaps only!! Was very disappointed with that part of the skywalk, afterall, the pics are the memories we would have, they should have had a couple more photographers for these busy periods.
Time to get off the skywalk, caught up with the rest of the crew. Headed out to the bus for the final stop Eagle Point, which was apparently offering a better view of the Canyon.
And it was! Eagle point had an almost 270 degree view of the Canyon.
Eagle Point–Grand Canyon West Rim
It was 3pm, time to headback to our VAN, we had done a lot of good sights of the Canyon. Got everyone loaded and headed back to Vegas. We were all a bit tired. Did not take long for most of the passengers to nod off.
Nita took some more short videos of the drive back …
Back to Vegas from Grand Canyon West
Back to Vegas from Grand Canyon West
Arriving back at the hotel, handed the car to the Valet, plans for the night were to head to Caesars Palace, Pooja did not want to walk, so I suggested taking the VAN, by this time Vik was already tired of driving all day and was not too keen on that option. He had a better idea, he checked with Valet guys if we could get a LIMO to take us around for an hour – this is something we had discussed lots back in Brisbane but had slipped my mind, am glad Vik remembered. We got the largest Ford Limo on the strip (well that’s what we were told) for an hour. We had 30 minutes to get ourselves freshened up and back at the lobby for the limo pickup at 6:30pm.
Limo was there at 6:30 sharp, and it was a BEAST, very BIG. Kids could not believe it, they were going for an awesome ride.
Kids enjoying the limo
The limo ride took us around the strip for an hour, but most of the time, we were not looking out at all, just enjoying with the kids, having loads of fun. Limo dropped us off at Caesars Palace.
We headed to the buffet which Veena masi had highly recommended, and had to queue up, approx wait 30 minutes. Got a couple of beers to keep us company, whilst waiting, Ladies headed to the bar, cocktail time and ofcourse selfies
After waiting for 30 minutes, the hostess called us to explain the costs for the buffet, till this point we had no idea about this, turns out this place charges everyone who enters, Pooja and Aaria were not going to eat, and this was equating to a further $130 USD for those 2, the total cost for group was coming at $640 USD! Hmmmm, I was not expecting the cost to be this high !! We promptly exited and headed for other options. Ended up eating at the Caesars food hall, where the options were vast and all kids were happy. We had hoped for better, however with kids, there are lots of compromises.
Next was to explore this Resort, loads of shops, café’s all with a very Roman feel to it.
Got out of Caesars Palace and walked back to Cosmopolitan. Were lucky to view the Bellagio fountains on the way back – which we have viewed everyday from our rooms! It was however good with the music. Pooja and Neha were very tired by this time, headed back and we all crashed! What an awesome day .
Day 9, today was a visit to the downtown Vegas and Freemont area. Pooja & Nita still had the flu, however the painkillers were doing the magic and allowing them to move on. Getting Pooja and Neha out of bed was a task in itself. Quick shower and breakfast, then it was time to head out. Took 2 cabs to the Golden Nugget, this is where it all started (I think!!)
Arriving in downtown Vegas, could see the historic side of LV. The Casinos were different from the outside and in. The Golden Nugget, one of the famous ones, I remember it from a pic that I was in from 1986! Stepping inside, I could see the different style of the prior years. They did have a great outdoors area, kids were super impressed with water slide, I reckon this place would have been sooo cheap for accommodation and would have been more fun for the kids, but way way away from the strip! Also they tell us, downtown LV is not very safe at night, so definitely not staying around here with kids.
Stepped out to Fremont, a central mall with lots of shopping and other connecting casinos. Its roof is made up off of giant TV screens, unfortunately they were turned off during the day, we have however seen it in full action in “Ek Mein Aur Ekk Tu”.
There was a Denny’s Diner, time for a light lunch, unfortunately the place was too busy, and required a wait of 1 hour, why does all restaurants in US have these big wait times!!! It is soo frustrating.
We decided to head back to the strip for lunch, I suggested to Vik, the Earl of Sandwich @ Planet Hollywood, was longing for the Chicken Chipotle!
A healthy lunch, then we split up, Vik & family headed towards New York New York, Neha and Pooja were in no mood to do anymore walking, we decided not to pressure them (needed their energy for the evening “O” show). Dropped them both at the hotel, lucky the rooms were made, so hopefully no one will alert security on the abandoned kids!! Also put the Do Not Disturb on the door, just incase . Nita left her mobile with them, now time for us to explore other hotel casinos, first stop New York New York.
Got a Cab there, our legs were tired too. The place was very impressive and soo buzzing, Easter weekend had the entire Vegas strip packed. The interior was so different to Cosmopolitan, this place had more character and seemed more fun. They also had a Hersey’s Store, this was our first stop, lets get chocolates for everyone back home. Ended up getting a few kilos of chocolates!! Nita also picked up a Herseys Coffee Mug, her third Mug so far in this trip, not sure how many more to come!
Stepped back into the Casino and explored Time Square, the place was lined with small cafes, and restaurants, was very cool, I wish I had stayed here, the kids would have no trouble with food! Veena masi had selected the right hotel for her stay!
Next moved out towards MGM Grand.
(panaromic view of New York New York)
Met up with Vik just outside MGM, apparently there isn’t much inside MGM other than a giant Casino. Gave that a miss and all headed back on the strip, making our way towards Cosmopolitan. Had to stop at the Sketchers store, Nita wanted to get her shoes. Once she was sorted, Vik and me headed off to United Van Rentals for the MINI VAN that we had hired for the next 12 days. Needed to get the paper work sorted today as we required the VAN early tomorrow morning for Grand Canyon & Hoover Dam trip.
Arrived at the United Van Rentals office and got it all signed off. Asked Tony (the VAN rep) on the best option for picking it up early tomorrow morning, he suggested something even better, we could take the VAN now! We were nervous, the VAN was not the size we had expected, this thing was BIG!! It was a 15 seater and Tony had removed the last row of seats to allow for our luggage.
Vik decided to take the wheel, I was more than happy to allow that. Plus I was better at navigation and using the GPS. We headed back to the hotel. Driving on the right side of the road was different, and I had to keep reminding Vik when turning on intersections, just incase we drove into oncoming traffic. I think we did very well for our first attempt.
Drove it straight to the VALET @ Cosmopolitan and left it with them, did not want to risk scratching the roof or anything such as that in the small parking spaces!
Back in the hotel room, it was time to freshen up and head out to meet Veena masi, Pravin Masa and Meeta’s cousin Sanjana and her husband Dharmesh (same name!!). We were meeting them at Bellagio, we were booked for the “O” show there @ 7:30, so did not want to risk travel delays and asked all the family to meet us there. Was a nice coincidence that Veena masi was also in Vegas at the same time, the last time I saw her was in Sydney in 2001.
Veena masi is also related to Meeta’s cousin Sanjana, this was a good way to get us all together at the one place.
Meeta was already at the Polio Café with her cousin, we headed there and joined in. Soon after Masi and Masa arrived, was so good to see them, Neha & Pooja took an instant liking to Masi! I had told them that she was dadi’s sister, they were expecting someone just like dadi but were surprised to see the sister more modern. Neha continued hugging masi, I was surprised with her fondness towards masi, maybe she was missing dadi and was finding the same love with masi!
Had coffees and good long chats, coffee was as usual full of milk, not sure why the largest economy cannot get its coffee right!
Soon it was time for our show. Said our farewells and off to the O show. Neha & Pooja were super excited for this.
The Bellagio theatre was big and very nicely décor’d. It was on a grand scale. Show started and I could hear the laughter from Aaria and Neha. These two were enjoying the shows comedians. The acrobatic stunts were very good, the highlight was the ever changing stage setting, with huge moving backdrops, the stage floor changing from hard surface to a giant pool, it was very very different show to what we have experienced previously. We booked for this show nearly 2 months back and at that time most of the seats were already booked.
Show ended around 9 pm, massive crowd spilling out, we had to stop by at the O show store. Pooja always wanted to get any memorabilia, or was it, she just wanted to buy something.
(O show store)
Being around 9:30, had to find a place to eat so why not @ Bellagio, found a good chinese place, but again the wait was super long and kids were not too keen.
Decided to head out to Planet Hollywood and try Gordon Ramsays Burgr joint.
First though, time for more photos on the way out of Bellagio.
Got to Planet Hollywood, same problem here, the queue was 1.5 hour wait with no option for bookings, you had to stand! Why!!! This was @ 10pm, by this time Pooja and Aaria were very very tired and sleepy.
(Gordon Ramsay Burgr restaurant @ Planet Hollywood, too much wait time, will leave this for next trip)
Meeta suggested PF Changs that was in the same casino, this was supposed to be a fusion Chinese restaurant. Wait here was around 30 minutes, we decided to do that – time was already 10:30. Pooja was already sleeping on the floor of the restaurant lobby, she was soo tired.
Finally got seated, food was amazing, this place does very nice fusion chinese!
(at PF Changs, Planet Hollywood, unfortunately no pics of food, we were all too hungry and could not be bothered with taking pics, the food was the best)
Would highly recommend PF Changs!
Back to the hotel, everyone was super tired, next day was a early start for Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon and also the start of our Self Drive experience! Other than me and Vik, no one had seen the TRUCK we were going to be driving around in, cannot wait to see their reaction .
Not a good start today, Nita & Pooja both had flu symptoms with a temperature. Got them organised and headed out to the GP appointment at CVS (lucky I had made the appointment last night!). Left Neha in the hotel, and headed out with Pooja and Nita to our 9:30 appointment. Arrived @ CVS and was seen promptly by the GP, both were diagnosed with flu and required Tamiflu medication. Unlike back home where the government subsidies medication, US is very expensive with this, the tablets costs $152 for each person, speaking with the pharmacist, apparently even locals pay that price who do not have private insurance, and with insurance the subsidy is only around $20! What was impressive was the CVS store offering basic GP services and providing prescription medication on the strip!
Back at the hotel, Pooja was in no mood to go out again and wanted to rest, too tired from the walk to and from the GP. Vik and family had already headed out to the North outlet shopping. Me, Nita and Neha decided to hang around near the hotel and have a light lunch. Remembered Nickesh recommending a very good sandwich place @ Planet Hollywood, being directly opposite our hotel, we headed there, had no idea what the name of the sandwich place was! Entered the Miracle Mile arcade @ Planet Hollywood, and noticed a busy Sandwich place close by, “Earl of Sandwich” its slogan “Worlds greatest hot sandwich” big claim, maybe this was the place Nickesh had recommended?
Queued up and ordered the Chicken Chipotle and Avocado BLT sandwiches. Wait was only a few minutes.
The sandwiches did live up to the slogan, these would have to be the best sandwiches we had tasted to date! The Chicken Chipotle was our favourite! Neha who is normally not fond of sandwiches was also enjoying the Chipotle sandwich.
Post our quick lunch, I headed to McDonalds to get Nuggets and Chips for Pooja, Nita and Neha decided to hang around and do the Miracle Mile shopping! Heading back to the room with McDonalds, I received a call from the Hotel security informing me that Pooja was alone in the room! Informed them I was on the way with McDonalds for her. I got into the room soon after, Pooja had no idea what was happening. Asked her did anyone come by, it was the maids who make up the room, maybe they had raised the alarm of a child being left in the room! Couple of minutes later, I get a knock on the door, standing outside was a security guard, he was very surprised to see me in the room. Told him I was the father and had stepped out to get lunch for Pooja. He double checked with hotel security downstairs and got the all clear. Would have been interesting if I had not been there ! Wonder what there next step would have been?
Pooja soon finished her lunch, rang Nita and told her to meet me in the lobby, next stop for us was the North Premium Outlet mall, and Pooja was also coming with us this time, not having any more security issues! Got a taxi there, ride was only around 10 minutes.
This place was similar to Harbour Town @ Gold Coast, an open air mall.
Lots of good branded outlets, everyone ended up getting lots of shopping done. Before we knew it, the time was 6pm! Time to head back to the hotel.
Vik & family were already at the hotel when we arrived, time for a quick freshen up and head out for dinner.
Headed into Planet Hollywood to check the dinner offerings there. Of interest to us was SPICE Market Buffet, offering a variety of cuisines.
Vik and I ordered the unlimited drinks package, why not!
Food was good, I started off with cold seafood, surprisingly Pooja took a liking to cold shrimps, we both went through a few plates of that. Next was a bit of italian, American roast, Chinese and of course, loads of dessert. Kids also had a great time with dessert, they even had Candy floss – something for everyone! By the end, we all had over indulged a fair bit! Now to burn it off, time for more walking on the strip.
Headed to the next Casino, Paris. Kids were surprisingly in good spirits, maybe it was the desserts, well they were still smiling for the camera!
The Paris casino décor was very much like actual Paris with a great big Eifel tower in the centre.
Upon entering the casino, Pooja & Neha made an interesting remark, they had seen bikini models dancing on high tables between the gaming tables and had not liked that too much. They complained to me how inappropriate the place was and I should not be seeing all that! 😉
Quickly ushered them on to the Eifel tower, that would be more appropriate for the kids I guess! Vik and I got the tickets for the tower, wait was only around 15 minutes, not too bad.
Had not realised how tall this duplicate tower was until I was in the lift going up. It is a scary feeling being so close to the edge and so high up. It was very windy and cold up there, but the view was worth it.
Pooja and Nita soon left the top and headed down, it was too cold for them. I stayed with Neha and Vik & family for a few more minutes and soon the cold windy weather had won against us, we all were on our way down. Reached down and located Nita, Pooja was soo tired by this stage, she was sitting in the lobby against the wall almost nodding off. We quickly bought our photos the Photographer had taken and headed back to our hotel. Time to call it a night.
Nita and Pooja did well to cover off all this today in not the best health, did not give up!
. I guess Sat night on Hollywood Blvd is not really for kids!
. As we approached the Circus Circus area, Vik and Meeta were showing us where they stayed, during their honeymoon.
.
. Nita left her mobile with them, now time for us to explore other hotel casinos, first stop New York New York.
Dharma & Nita travel blog 