So I woke up this morning at around 7:40 - I wanted to make sure I was able to call for Ellen tickets as soon as 8:00 came around. When I had tried the previous Thursday and called around 8:30, the mailbox to leave a message for day-of tickets was already full. So, I had to be quick this time. I called right at 8 and was able to leave a message. The show is supposed to call you back if you'll have a stand-by ticket waiting for you. Problem is, they can let you know up until noon, and check-in for the show is at 1:30. AND, if you get a call, it's still on a first-come, first-serve basis. So I left my hotel around 9:30 and headed over to Warner Brothers, hoping I'd receive a call. I arrived shortly before 11, and still no call. I was quite bummed. But, while I was there, I figured I'd go ahead and do the Warner Brothers Studio tour (which proved to be quite fun - though I would have definitely preferred Ellen). They never did call from the Ellen show. Luckily, when I went to the tour, they were able to fit me on the next tour at 11 (other people had reservations).

We watched a short, ten-minute clip of a brief history of the studios. It had a lot of scenes from their famous movies (of course, the most famous franchise being the Harry Potter movies) and TV shows (again, the most famous being Friends). Then, we met our tour guide Tetris (his nickname for his real name of Tetron (or something similar to that). We got on our tram and began the tour. He was a great tour-guide, very informative. He said he'd like to think of himself as a mix between Ryan Seacrest and Will Smith, and I could see that. We were allowed to have our cameras out only at certain points of the tour. At others, we had to have them locked up under the seat of the tram - in the places, I suppose, it was possible to see celebrities. We did drive by Ellen Degenere's office where her Porsche was parked outside. Apparently, she was there, she just didn't want me to come to her show. ;) That was during a time a we weren't allowed our cameras, so I do not have a picture.

We started out mainly with the backlot - the outdoor sets with just facades or a very small exterior building (enough for someone to quickly step inside. Here's a couple that stood out:

This is an exterior wall that's seen in Spiderman. It's the wall where Mary-Jane and Spidey have their famous upside-down kiss. The "sewing 10c" sign was there so Kirsten Dunst knew where to stand.

This next picture is of a small (very small) outdoor square meant to copy-cat Central Park in New York. The most recognizable scene filmed here was a the Friends' episode where Phoebe runs crazily through the park. I could see the episode, especially by the way the trail curved.

Next up, we went into interior sets, just mock-ups of houses that needed to be used with outdoor sets consecutively - or just used quickly for a scene or two. This house was in the midwest section of the lot (set up to look like a midwest town), but our tour guide said it was probably the most famous interior set in that area (he's picture below). This is the house (and staircase) used for the prom episode of Friends.

After this, we ventured over to a soundstage (no pictures - boo). This particular soundstage was for Two and a Half Men. They apparently have a live studio audience (I did not know they still did that for sitcoms). We were able to view the kitchen and living room set from the audience level (no walking around). Those two sets stay up all the time, but if another set is needed it is built for the show during that episode's filming (for example Charlie Sheen's bedroom in the show is one of those sets that don't stay up all the time). They keep the set on the lot, ready to go when needed (the main structure at least). We saw a lot of these sets packaged up with notes of which set they were along the backlot.

After that, we headed over to a small car museum. In them were some (of the many) vehicles used in scenes from famous movies and tv shows. Among them, the charger from Dukes of Hazzard, the Batmobile from both the older and newer Batman movies, and the Harry Potter Ford Anglia pictured below. These were one of the actual cars used in the films/shows (they have several models for use), but they were cleaned up for display.

After this, we headed over to another soundstage. This time, it was for the TV show Chuck (yay, I like that show). We were able to actually walk on this set (they do not have a studio audience because they are an hour long dramedy). It was pretty cool seeing everything (the outdoor court, Chuck's apartment, Sarah's apartment, the back storage room of the Buy More). We weren't allowed to take pictures again. :(

After this, we headed over to the prop/dress room. This is where Warner stores all props that shows/movies can then rent out for use. A mock-set of the Friends Central Perk is in there. The set is actually made up from the actual props (including the couch). It just wasn't filmed in that room. We were allowed our cameras here and because we were a tame group without children, were allowed to walk around and sit on the couch.

After this room, we headed to the Warner Brothers museum (where there are costumes, wax figures and other props from the movies/shows). No cameras allowed, again. It was a two floor museum and Harry Potter encompassed the second floor. We were only allowed a little bit of time in there, so I mostly viewed the HP stuff, but I also saw some things from Batman and the Matrix.

The tour was then over. I decided I'd head back to Disney then. I took a detour and went to Hollywood and Vine Blvd (since it was close) to see if I'd like to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But it was really just a bunch of stars on the street, so I didn't feel like trying to find a spot to park and to walk around. Especially, since I would need to go to sleep somewhat early tonight for my flight in the morning.

When back at Disney, I headed over to Disneyland Park and went on Indiana Jones one last time, and had another Dole Whip one last time. I walked through Downtown Disney and decided to have dinner at an Italian place. I finally had my appetite back at the end of my vacation (or maybe it was because I didn't have breakfast or lunch?). I had a salad and a Margherita Pizza, and an Apple Tostada for dessert.

I didn't see any celebrities during my trip (boo) despite spottings by others (according to a Disney Park website) of Teri Hatcher and Johnny Depp. I wish I had seen them, or someone at the WB lot, but oh well. Maybe on another trip.

I went back to my room and watched the Bachelor while packing. I was asleep probably around 10:30 for my waking up around 3:45.

So ends my trip - only thing on Tuesday is a long day at the airport and flying, and back home to the oh-so-much amount of snow I've heard we've received.

THE END.

Well today I was a little more relaxed with my Disney experience. I just went around and casually visited what I could. Day five is Sunday, Valentine's Day, and the parks are packed (especially for this season of the year). So, I'm utilizing being alone and using single rider lines to get into rides that have an hour to an hour and half wait time (if not more). I started off the morning at California Adventure and arrived just before they opened. The park has the ride Toy Story Mania (which I've mentioned earlier, I think). It is fun, but doesn't have a fast-pass or a single rider line, so the wait time is always bad. I headed there straight off and waited only for about 10 minutes. One of the games wasn't working when I rode, so I received a pass to get right back in front of the line and ride again. After that, I headed over to Disneyland Park. I ate at the Carnation Cafe. I had a bit of a wait, but it was alright. I wanted to try the cinnamon roll french toast. Boy, that was yummy.

After this, I went to Pixie Hollow and waited in line to meet Tinkerbell. Tinkberbell doesn't greet guests at Walt Disney World, so I had never had picture taken with her before. She had a friend from the newest movie with her, but I haven't seen it yet, so I'm not sure who he was. The family in front of me was from Washington State and they seemed to know who he was. :) I'm wearing one of my new shirts with Tinkerbell on it. It has a cute twisted knot in the back that kind of forms a racerback top with holes on the sides. Nice.

After visiting Tinkerbell and friends - I headed over to Mickey's Toontown (where Mickey and Minnie have their houses and there is a more kid-size atmosphere with play gyms and houses that kids fit in a lot better. I hadn't been there yet this trip. While Mickey and Minnie's houses looked similar to WDW, the actual Toontown was bigger and had more buildings and fun stuff for kids. I waited in line through Mickey's house to see the Big Cheese himself. He had a cute Steamboat Willie outfit on (he wears his main outfit at WDW) and we posed in front of the boat.

Minnie was out on her front porch posing for pictures, but there was a long line (not as long as Mickey's though), but I didn't feel like waiting. You have to see Mickey when going to Disney (it's His park), but Minnie can be by-passed because I'd already met her.

After this, I headed over to Splash Mountain since I hadn't ridden yet and because it was the early afternoon and it was edging in the high 70's. I waiting in the single rider line for about 15 minutes (actual wait time for others was about 80 minutes). I didn't get too wet on the ride. Just a little bit on my shoes and legs (I was smart and wore flip-flops, because I knew I'd be doing the water rides - and I didn't wear my jeans either). After Splash, I headed over to Space Mountain to get a fast-pass (they do not have single rider lines), and then headed back to California Adventure. I was also going on their water ride - Grizzly River Run. This is more of a get yourself soaked water ride. It's make-shift white water rafting with a tall hill and big geysers that shoot up. I only got about half soaked, but it was refreshing with the weather. I headed back to my hotel to change clothes (since it's only a ten to fifteen minute walk back there).

I headed back to California Adventure to see the Pixar Parade. It was cute. Nice that it only had the Pixar characters. Jack-Jack's hair lit on fire and there were a bunch of people doing acrobatics on the floats. I video-taped the parade, so I have no pictures as of yet. Immediately after the parade I went to the Hyperion Theatre at the back of the park to see Aladdin - the musical. It's similar to the Beauty and Beast show as WDW, but a lot more elaborate (and performed on a larger stage - an actual theatre that has orchestra, balcony and mezzanine levels). I had a rather good seat (again being alone comes in handy sometimes). The performance took what it could from the Disney movie to fit everything into a 45 minute show. There was no Abu, and the carpet was played a girl dressed as one. That was good. The Genie was the best though. He cracked jokes the entire time that dealt with recent events ("No more wishing for more wishes - it didn't work for The Colts, it won't work for you"). Quite a few like that. He was obviously the audience favorite and received quite a bit of applause throughout the show.

By the time I had exited the theatre, it was dark. I headed over to the Paradise Pier area to get some pictures of the roller coaster and ferris wheel all lit up.

It was time for me to head back to Disneyland Park and go on Space Mountain. I did just that. Then, I headed over to the Indiana Jones ride and rode that on Single Rider, and waited in line to have a Dole Whip (my favorite! Pineapple soft-serve ice cream, basically - they need to sell that in Ohio). By this time, it was about 8:30, and I didn't want to be in the park for the fireworks, so I went to Hungry Bear restaurant and bought some french fries. Then, I headed to Coke Corner and got a hot dog and a cherry coke (which would turn out to be my last - apparently I took the last shot of cherry syrup - she told me they only had one shot to give me, and I said that was fine, and when I went back on Monday, they were out). I took my food back to my hotel room and ate there while watching The Holiday on TV. It was then that the Fireworks came on and I realized I had a perfect view from my room.

All done for the day.

I started off Saturday morning today with breakfast at Steakhouse 55. I know it doesn't really sound like a breakfast place, but it served it (it's at my hotel).

I had slept in a little while, and headed out around 11 to go do some hiking at Crystal Cove State Park (on the beach between Laguna and Newport). They had some more hills not directly on the beach, but they were closed (due to mudslides?). It wasn't too much hiking. But, I did get to see the beach, and also visited Newport Beach and Huntington Beach (I forget which one had the pier that I saw. I had a milkshake at a little shake shack on the highway - thought it was really thick and felt more like ice cream. It was just vanilla, but those little stops are just the best.

Not really too many pictures today. I took some of the beaches, but they kind of melded together.

After the beaches - I went and saw Avatar in the 3-D Imax theatre next to my hotel. It was a really, really good movie. It had came recommended from a lot of people - so I had high expectations. Luckily, it lived up to it.

After the almost three hour movie, I went back to Disney and watched the evening fireworks. I was pretty exhausted by this time, so I went to bed. I know, short day. Tomorrow is more Disney fun - and there will be more pictures :).

Found out this evening that I actually have a perfect view of the fireworks from my hotel room - pretty awesome considering I was bummed about other conditions of the room.

Night for now.

Well on Friday I tried to escape some of the LA traffic by leaving to go to Beverly Hills at around 10. It was still pretty busy. Took about an hour and 15 minutes for a 30 mile drive. Hmph. So there went that idea.

When I arrived in Beverly Hills I went to Al Gelato and had the Rigatoni and then the Apple Pie with Vanilla Gelato for dessert. I took a picture with my iPhone (because this pie is huge), but I haven't uploaded to my computer yet - so you just can't see it yet! ;)

After eating, I walked S Robertson Blvd. back to my car. There were tons of high-end shops here, including Kitson, Splendid, Chanel, etc. Supposedly the celebrities are more apt to shop in this area than the touristy Rodeo Dr., but I didn't see any. Well, I guess I wouldn't recognize any celebs unless they had the paparazzi following them, though. After that, I drove to Beverly Dr. and ran into Lululemon (again - just to see if this store offered anything different), and went down Rodeo Dr. quickly. I took a picture of the street sign (again on my iPhone) and got back in my car to drive back to Anaheim. I thought the traffic wouldn't be so bad at this time (2:30), but I was wrong, again. I wasn't back at Disney until about 4:15. I ran back up to my room to get my park tickets and such, and then walked to Disneyland so that I could get a good spot for the parade.

The parade didn't start until 6:30, but I needed a good spot for video-recording so I had to get there early. I rode into Disney on the Monorail, which unlike WDW, actually lets you off inside the park in Tomorrowland. I went to the Coke Corner to get another cherry coke and picked up some popcorn off the street cart. Then, I found a good spot for the parade and sat down for about 45 minutes.

While waiting, the kid next to me was sleeping under a jacket in his dad's arms. It wasn't until the parade started that I saw that he was dressed like Michael Jackson (and he danced a little bit like him too, during the parade. I caught some of his dancing on video during the parade, but also managed to snap this picture:

I know it's slightly blurry, but you get the idea. I took video of the parade because pictures would be difficult to take since it was already dark. That's okay, though. I'll be able to capture pictures from the video at a later date when I have more time to do so. But I caught this picture the night before when I was just walking by the parade and not actually viewing:

After watching the parade, I walked down Main Street and looked through the stores. Again, I didn't see anything I really liked (I was looking for a T-Shirt souvenir really). I then went to see "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." This is a show Walt designed is just about 15 minutes long. I know my mom and sister would enjoy it, though. As a bit of poignance to the whole experience, the day I went (Friday) was actually Lincoln's birthday (his 201st). So that was kind of interesting to see the show on the date of his birth. But, the show was really incredible. It starts off with a little video of the actor Royal Dano reading Lincoln's own speeches/writing through a montage. Then, the curtain goes down over the screen and a animatronic Lincoln comes up. He's real life size (his 6'4 likeness) and was actually pretty incredible. Thinking that they made this Lincoln back about 40-50 years ago with the technology at that time. I would have taken video, but you weren't allowed. I might sneak in later on my trip to get a picture, though.

After that, I just roamed the park a bit. It was really crowded and all the rides had extremely long lines, so I didn't really want to wait for something I had already seen. I took some pictures of the castle at night - but again, it's dark and without using a flash and not having a tripod it's kind of difficult to get a good picture:

I had about an hour before the fireworks started, so I picked up something to eat and found a spot for them. I actually ended up with a really great spot. Just in front of the castle is a round area with a statue of Walt and Mickey in the middle. I was just in front of that statue. So, during the fireworks, the statue of Walt and Mickey was in the foreground, the castle in the background and the fireworks overhead. So, when the light sky lit up just enough with the fireworks you could see all three - they'll make some really great pictures once I break the video down (but, probably not the highest quality).

After the fireworks, it was nearing 10, so I decided to walk Downtown Disney and head back to the hotel room. This time I stopped in a store called Vault 28 - where I found 2 shirts I really liked. I bought both. Luckily, despite not saying they accept my Disney Rewards card (where all the points I have earned from my Disney Credit Card can be used as cash), they were able to. The girls there said they'd try it and it worked. YAY! Not having to spend "money" for the shirts worked out even better. Okay, now I'm done shopping for the trip.... Hopefully I can still fit everything into my carry-on. I really don't want to check bags.

Alright, well I'm watching The Truman Show and I'm going to bed. Night.

At my arrival at the California Adventures Park, I took my picture in from of the mock Golden Gate Bridge (okay, someone else took it for me.

The lines for the rides here weren't too bad, either. I went to A Bug's Land, but didn't see "It's Tough to be a Bug" because I had already seen the show at WDW. However, I did take the picture below. I also took some pictures of the land - it had a lot of the characters from "A Bug's Life" and cute decor as where you're meant to feel the size of a bug.

After the Bug's Land I went on the Tower of Tower. The below picture is in the lobby area (in the queue for the ride). It didn't take long to get on this ride at all. After enjoying my 13 story drop on the tower, I ventured over to the Paradise Pier area of the park and had some ice cream at Cal-Freeze - a swirled vanilla soft-serve cone with a lemon twist.

The Paradise Pier area is home to the California Screamin' roller coaster. It was a rather good ride. I was able to get on quickly, despite a 30-minute wait time, because of being a single ride. Apparently coming alone to Disneyland does have it's advantages. Also in the pier area was Toy Story Mania. This is like the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland I rode earlier, but much more interesting and fun. I waited a good 25 minutes for this - and will probably try to go and ride again before my trip is over. The ride is like a big arcade game where you use a gun to score points by hitting targets (but you're in a car the whole entire time that takes you to different areas to play the games). I thought I did pretty well - earning just shy of 70,000 points. However, at the end of the ride the "best scores of the day" were shown and they were upwards of 400,000. So, that put me in my place.

I went next to Soarin' - which is a great ride, and also at WDW. And then I did a short Bakery Tour that shows how the famous Boudin sourdough bread from San Francisco is made. I skipped the Grizzly River Run ride (where you're supposed to get really wet) to save for later when I felt like a water ride (maybe Monday when it's supposed to be warmer). I also took my picture with Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars.

I headed over to the Muppet Vision 3D and watched that show, and also went through Monsters Inc., Mike and Sully to the Rescue. This is just a short ride with scenes from the film, basically. Then came my favorite area thus far for my trip. The area was in the Animation Academy Building. The picture below is of a still image of a Toy Story zoetrope. I took video as well, so I can show the full effect to people when I get home. But the point of a zoetrope is action produced as an illusion from still images (or sculptures in this case) that are shown to the human eye in rapid succession. The result is something that looks like a movie being shown when the actual sculptures remain still. You can see how the sculptures change (like when you flip through pages in a book that each have a small change, resulting in movement when flipped). It was very interesting. Also in this building was "Turtle Talk With Crush." I took video of this, too. You basically sit in a room with a giant "tank" where Crush from "Finding Nemo" comes and talks with the audience. This was probably my favorite because of the interaction. Someone (who knows how or where) is controlling the animated Crush, so he's talking to the audience and moving to what he's saying. The audience can ask questions, and he'll answer. For instance, when I was in there a little kid asked what he'd rather be if he wasn't a sea turtle, and his response included the girl's name, and that he'd like to be a human. It's a very cute interaction.

After the adventures in the Animation Building, I left California Adventure and went back to Disneyland. I hadn't really been to the Fantasyland area of the park, so I went. I went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, The Storybook Land Canals, Alice in Wonderland Ride, and walked through the castle. I need to make it, before I leave, to Pixie Hollow (to take my picture with Tinkerbell, who doesn't come out at WDW), and to Mickey's Toon-Town. After this, I went to New Orleans Square and had dinner at Cafe Orleans. I had wanted to try the Monte Cristo sandwich (I think Jenn would like it, it's ham, turkey and swiss cheese lightly fried and served with Pomme Frites (fries with parmesan cheese)). It was pretty good, though really rich, and again my appetite had just faded away this vacation. Hmph.

After eating, I went to the Coke Corner on Main St. to have a cherry coke. They apparently have their own special cherry syrup there that's only used at that restaurant in Disneyland (nowhere else in the world). That's pretty special, and the coke was really good. I'll have to get it again, soon. It was nearing park closing (8), so I left the park and went to World of Disney (the large store in Downtown Disney). I didn't see anything there I liked. Back to the hotel I went, exhausted and falling asleep quickly. Onto Day 2 tomorrow. Until then...

Today, I started off the morning with my Goofy's Kitchen breakfast reservation. I do not knowwhat is up with my eating habits, but I was unable to finish my meal (again - and it happens later this evening, too). Granted, I did stuff my plate rather full, but usually I can really fill myself up, especially at breakfast. No matter. My reservation was the first of the day, at 7am. I arrived just a bit early and waited until 7 to be seated. The restaurant is next to the convention center here at the hotel, so I did a little exploring. Before I was seated I took my picture with Pluto (who greets guest for a money-making picture at the front of the restaurant). I sat down and then went and picked up my food - here is what my meal looked like (aren't you jealous?):

First, Baloo came by and gave me a hug. Then, Goofy came by and sat down with me after he conjured that I was alone. He asked how his food tasted (he is the "chef" at this place), and I gave him the thumbs up. I also mentioned that the waffles and pancakes should be Goofy shaped which he was happy about.

After he got up, Cinderella came by and we took a picture. Then, Baloo came back and sat down with me, and Goofy again sat down with me. It's really difficult to understand the characters sometimes - they can't talk, so they give hand signals. I was guessing wrong a lot of the time. After they left, I finished my meal. However, Chip and Dale stopped by (separately), but no one was around to take a picture for me, so I couldn't have one with them. And, I didn't get one with them at the park, either. Unlike Walt Disney World, Disneyland doesn't seem to have character greeters (a person that walks around with a character to keep things under control and orderly, in a line for autographs, etc.). So when I saw them again at the park, there were bunches of kids just running up to the characters so I didn't want to interrupt the kids enjoying their moments, nonetheless ask any parent to take a picture of me. I'll probably go see Mickey for a picture in the parks because he is at his house, and he might have a more organized routine for pictures. Enough about that - after breakfast I headed back to the room before heading out to the park.

Once inside the park, I ventured off directly to Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage. This is the ride that I constantly read about having a long line. Since I was allowed early entry (magic mornings for hotel guests include an extra hour in the park on certain mornings, before other guests), when I made it there I didn't have a wait. Watching kids (on this ride and others) was just too cute today. I imagine seeing my cousin's kids on these rides and what their reactions would be. Can't wait until they're able to go (more likely to WDW though).

After Nemo, I went on Space Mountain (better than WDW's version), Buzz Lightyear's arcade game (forget the actual name), Pirates of the Caribbean (also better than WDW's version), Haunted Mansion, Winnie the Pooh. All of these rides were practically walk-ons. It takes a good 5 minutes to get through some of their queues (just walking), but I didn't really have a wait. I had gotten a fast-pass for Indiana Jones (which doesn't have a version of the ride at WDW) and returned there. This was the longest wait. I think maybe it was a half hour, tops. I overheard that a lot of the cars weren't running that day (or something to that affect), which caused the unusual slow down. I should have went in the single-rider line, which seemed to go quicker than fast-pass. I remembered that for later, though. I saw a group of down-syndrome kids get on the ride before me - I actually saw quite a few groups of kids with down-syndrome. Their smiles and joy is just so infectious. One kid was in line for Dale while I was watching on, so adorable his interaction. He kept asking for group hugs (with Dale and his siblings).

After the rides, I took some pictures around Sleeping Beauty's castle (the sun was in my eyes - so I look like I was crying, or at least squinting) and in the entrance to down Main Street. It was a little after noon by this time, so I headed over to California Adventure park (it opened at 10 and I had been at Disneyland park since 9). Well, that's all for today. I'm having trouble staying awake while posting this, part two of my day will be posted later. :)

Well I made it here! YAY! We had a slight delay leaving from Columbus, not due to weather (at least in Columbus), but due to waiting on a crew from a different plane that hadn't arrived yet.

Once in the air and through Phoenix, I made it to Los Angeles around 4:20 (about 25 minutes later than scheduled). No biggie. I made it here, right? The plane ride wasn't too bad - and I did manage to only use the bathroom when the plane had stopped in Phoenix (I hate getting up from my seat on the plane since I'm in the window seat). When I arrived at the airport it was pretty easy to find the shuttle for the car rental, so I hopped that and headed to get my car. Again, pretty simple picking up the car. They even let you choose which one you'd want at Alamo (within your specified car type). I had chosen compact, so I picked a Kia Spectra (the other choices were a Corolla, a PT Cruiser and some kind of Chevy). Out I went on my way to venture through Los Angeles traffic. :)

I had planned to go to Walgreens to pick up a few other essentials that I couldn't pack in 1 quart liquids bag (because I did manage to squeeze everything into my carry-on and small bag (personal item). I also went to Lululemon and Pinkberry. Pinkberry - ick. I can see it being good tasting for those that enjoy yogurts like Skyr (which I did not), but it was awfully tart. I guess I imagined to be more like the soft-serve yogurt at UDF...hmm. My expectations were wrong. No matter - I only had a few bites and now can say I tried it. I do love Lulu (of course). There's one in Beverly Hills that I'll probably stop by when I'm there. I picked up a shirt in a color I did not own yet, and a couple pair of tubular socks in pretty designs. The little mall area where all of the stores were at was really nice. It was an all outdoor version of Easton (I guess most malls here are). They had this huge sitting area with a fountain. I didn't have my camera out, so I didn't take any pictures.

Then, I headed out from there about 6:45 - I think. I made it to Disneyland around 7:25. I went a different way (the one that Tom-Tom pointed out, and not googlemaps). This shaved a good 40 minutes off of my "calculated time." Not too bad considering the traffic. I don't think I experienced the brunt of it, but it was a lot of stop and go. I don't think I made it up to the max speed limit of 65 except for one little stretch.

I checked into the hotel and then went to self-park and find my room. I'm on the 8th floor in a corner room - it has a standard view of the parking lot (which is what I paid for). Though across the street there are pretty lights and if I look to my right I can see parts of the theme parks.

I didn't unpack because I was so hungry. I hadn't eaten anything all day except parts of 2 muffins from starbucks. So, I went to Downtown Disney - which is about a 2 minute walk once I exit the hotel. I looked around and finally decided to go to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. They had a long wait, but bar seats were open, first-come, first-serve. I chose a small table and ate dinner. I actually had a mango daquiri first, and I don't know if that filled me up or something, but I was only able to eat about a fourth of my burger and two of the coconut shrimp that came with my meal. I'm not sure if not eating made my stomach just say, "fine you aren't going t be hungry anymore." Something like that. The pinkberry had really left a taste in my mouth that even after my burger, was still there. Boo. I boxed up the rest of my food and brought it back to the room (I have a refrigerator). The room is nice. A little small, but that's fine for me. I'm wondering if I got kind of the shaft - because online it says rooms are either two queens or one king, and I got one queen. It's just little old me, so I don't need two beds. And I don't really need the king. I just thought, if I paid for it like everyone else shouldn't I get one of those options. Who knows. I'm in Disney though, so that's all that matters.

By the time I made it back to the room it was about 9:30 and I was pretty tired (that's 12:30 Columbus time and I had been up since around 6). I didn't really sleep at all on the plane, either. I was able to rest. The sun was actually beaming so hard against my window that I started feeling like I was getting a sunburn on the top of my head when laying against it. I closed the shutter on it, but it still was hot. So that made it difficult to sleep. So, instead of unpacking, I actually went to sleep right then.

Right now it's about 5:30 and I woke up about a half hour ago. I'm going to unpack and get ready because I have a breakfast (yummy Goofy's Kitchen buffet) reservation at 7:00 and I need to get ready for the day because I'll be exploring Downtown Disney and heading into the parks when they open at 9. I'll be doing an all Disney day today, so plenty of pictures will accompany tomorrow's post. :)

That's all for today. See you real soon! :)