TR w/4000+ Pics/Disney on Ice w/184 Pics!!

[DizNee Luver]

On our return trip to Hollywood, we ended up driving by the Warner Bros. Studio again:

We drove by the Hollywood Bowl:

A look around Hollywood:

Naptime!:

Look what I see!!!!:

More sights:

Ripley's:

McDonalds......cause God knows, we've never seen one of these before.....lol:

Mel's Diner again:

Tomorrow will bring the arrival to Highland & Hollywood!

 

[kaoden39]

We have a Mel's Diner in Vacaville. It is good.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Those onion rings look so good. I love good onion rings, I can make a meal out of good onion rings.

The twins were smiling so cute at the table in Bob's.

Me too!! Love onion rings!!

The twins were pretty happy at this meal.....Michayla stayed in the high chair for the whole meal!!

I must say, Laurie - the food pictures in this entire TR are out of this world!! Each and every set of them is making me so hungry! From Goofy's to Ariel's (which I never even had any interest in eating at until looking at your photos) to Knott's to Bob's Big Boy, and on and on... I have even eaten at Carnation Cafe for breakfast and didn't care for it that much - but your photos make the food look so much better than I thought it was!! And Bob's - like Knott's - is another place I haven't eaten at since childhood, but I remember loving their burgers and, most importantly...the HOT FUDGE CAKE!!! It was insane!!

You and Michele were discussing the palm trees. I know what Michele means about the palms being messy. The palm frons fly off of the trees and land all over the place. After a really windy day, it is a mess in the streets!

Funny you guys mentioned the trees - that's another great detail that I love in DLR. In front of the Paradise Pier Hotel, there are big palm trees to support the whole beachy/sunny SoCal theme of the PPH.

However, it's a different world across the street at the Grand Californian Hotel, which is hidden behind fir (or are they pine?) trees, indicating that you have, perhaps, stepped into a lodge in NorCal somewhere. So you get both ends of California represented in the trees on Disneyland Drive!!

We didn't splurge on dessert at Bob's because we were keeping room for ice cream at the Disney Soda Fountain.

Oregon typically doesn't have palm trees....I kinda thought they were more of a southern Cali thing. I think most trees are messy when the wind belows.....lol We either get leaves everywhere or cotton off the cottonwood trees or needles......kack.....hate cleaning up after wind storms & fall!

Disney themes things so well. The landscaping even shows that.

It was definitely Disney when we arrived at the studios!! They put so much thought into every detail....the only thing missing (or at least out of sight from the outer fences) was shaped topiaries!

 

[Tablefor5]

This report is so great! It only took me 2 glasses of wine to get caught up
Your family is beautiful and it looks like you all had a blast! I hope my son will enjoy Disneyland when he's older like yours do.
Can't wait to see more...

 

[DizNee Luver]

This report is so great! It only took me 2 glasses of wine to get caught up
Your family is beautiful and it looks like you all had a blast! I hope my son will enjoy Disneyland when he's older like yours do.
Can't wait to see more...

lol.....thanx for stopping by & all the nice compliments!! Still need to finish our Hollywood day, 2 more Disneyland days & 2 travel days home!! So please fill your glass & come back tomorrow!!

 

[kelmac284]

As always LOVING your latest entry. That is one thing we have never done is just driven around to see the various sights. I have seen a LOT of that stuff just by going around LA for various reasons but not all and I LOVED seeing the Disney studios. I only wish they had a tour of it like a lot of the other studios do. In fact when we were in NYC last summer we REALLY wanted to tour the NBC studios but just didn't have enough time. I love to do that kind of stuff.

I see you made it over to the Kodak theater area. We took Katy to the Disney theater there and saw the Santa Clause 3 a few years back. Her birthday is on New Year's eve so I bought one of their packages. It is REALLY fun to see a movie there because they have an organ and they have little skits before hand with characters and usually have props from the movie that is playing or from other Disney films in the lobby. It is a beautiful old theater and of course the soda fountain is next door. We had dessert after the movie and opened gifts. We then had dinner at that shopping center across the street (the one that you got the pictures of with the egyptian statutes, forgot the name of it). And we toured the Kodak theater. That was DEF a highlight. LOVE the academy awards and it was a really interesting tour!!

I really need to do more of that next time instead of spending ALL our time at Disney but I love it so it is hard to break yourself away sometimes LOL.

And I know ALL too well about the stupid palm trees. We have them linning our driveway. We have 8 of them and YES every time the wind blows we get TONS of those stupid fronds everywhere and they have sharp thorns on them and they are huge and heavy and just a mess!!

Am off to work today but look forward to coming home and reading more! I will be sad when your report is over cuz I have SO enjoyed reading this!! You are just going to have to go on another trip now to keep us entertained!

 

[DizNee Luver]

As always LOVING your latest entry. That is one thing we have never done is just driven around to see the various sights. I have seen a LOT of that stuff just by going around LA for various reasons but not all and I LOVED seeing the Disney studios. I only wish they had a tour of it like a lot of the other studios do. In fact when we were in NYC last summer we REALLY wanted to tour the NBC studios but just didn't have enough time. I love to do that kind of stuff.

I see you made it over to the Kodak theater area. We took Katy to the Disney theater there and saw the Santa Clause 3 a few years back. Her birthday is on New Year's eve so I bought one of their packages. It is REALLY fun to see a movie there because they have an organ and they have little skits before hand with characters and usually have props from the movie that is playing or from other Disney films in the lobby. It is a beautiful old theater and of course the soda fountain is next door. We had dessert after the movie and opened gifts. We then had dinner at that shopping center across the street (the one that you got the pictures of with the egyptian statutes, forgot the name of it). And we toured the Kodak theater. That was DEF a highlight. LOVE the academy awards and it was a really interesting tour!!

I really need to do more of that next time instead of spending ALL our time at Disney but I love it so it is hard to break yourself away sometimes LOL.

And I know ALL too well about the stupid palm trees. We have them linning our driveway. We have 8 of them and YES every time the wind blows we get TONS of those stupid fronds everywhere and they have sharp thorns on them and they are huge and heavy and just a mess!!

Am off to work today but look forward to coming home and reading more! I will be sad when your report is over cuz I have SO enjoyed reading this!! You are just going to have to go on another trip now to keep us entertained!

I enjoyed driving around & snapping pics....even if a lot of them were from a moving vehicle. There were so many places I would have loved to stop & gone in.....but oh well.....next time!

As much as I love Disneyland (and you all know that I do!!) I actually enjoy a day or two to recharge, take in some of the area & then I get back to Disneyland all fired up & ready to go. (and you also appreciate all the details Disney puts into everything a little more)

I guess I haven't gotten close enough to a palm tree to realize they can be so messy.....I just figured an occassional branch would fall off......lol

Don't see a trip in the near future.....maybe I should start a blog......lol "The Daily Adventures of the Ecks" that would be a snore fest (sometimes....)

 

[DizNee Luver]

We finally arrived at Highland & Hollywood & parked in their facility.

Since we had the strollers, we had to wait for over 10 mins for an elevator. People are so rude......they would come up....long after we'd been standing there & jump on in front of us (the strollers take a bit of room)....so we had to wait for virtually an empty one before we could get on. The rest of the group took the escalator. Once we hit the street level of the mall, this is what we saw:

On the walls are pillars listing out all the Best Pictures over the years. This is just one of them. (would have taken the rest of the day to actually photograph each one):

We've made it to the street:

Here's a few of the stars we saw:

Next post: More touristy pics!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

The Hard Rock Cafe:

The Kodak Theater:

The El Capitan Theater:

The Disney Soda Fountain:

The ceiling into the entry of the El Capitan Theater:

A couple more pics of the Kodak Theater:

A few more stars:

Looking up the street:

Next up.....the start of the Disney Soda Fountain!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

The Disneyland star sits right in the doorway of the Disney Soda Fountain:

The soda fountain & windows:

The napkin:

The menu.....see anything you like??:

We were seated at the counter & were able to get some pics:

Next up will be some more of the interior.

 

[DizNee Luver]

So we spotted 4 familiar characters in the ceiling tiles:

M*I*C......K*E*Y M***O***U***S***E:

The movie vault:

The filmstrip went around the entire ceiling:

I thought this was a cute statue:

Soda fountain employees....starting our order:

Next up.......FOOD PORN!!

 

[srauchbauer]

never been to the Mickey soda fountain looks like a fun spot to stop and grap a bite to eat.

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

I am loving your report!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Here's the soda fountain worker again:

Addy got the Pirate Sundae. One scoop of ice cream, 1 topping, whipped cream & a cherry. She chose vanilla ice cream with M&M's:

Anthony also got the Pirate Sundae & went with Cookies & Creme ice cream & gummies:

Derek got the Black & White Sundae. One scoop of vanilla ice cream, a layer of hot fudge, a scoop of chocolate ice cream & topped with marshmallow creme, whipped cream & a cherry:

Tyler & Mike both got the Pin Traders Sundae. 2 scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow creme, Mickey candy confetti, whipped cream & a cherry:

Nick got the Chocolate Covered Frozen Banana:

I got the Peppermint Sundae. 2 scoops of peppermint ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow creme, whipped cream & a cherry:

Betty got the Hot Fudge Sundae. 2 scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow creme, whipped cream & a cherry:

All Gone.........

We found the Disney Soda Fountain to be fun & whimsical with all the characters shown in the filmstrip. The service was friendly. The sundaes were oh so good!! Very good.....like even though you're stuffed, you have to keep going until you see the bottom. We enjoyed our time here & after we were done, we took some time to look around the small little store. My only complaint was that they didn't have shirts with their logo on it. They had a petite womans shirt with it on it....but ummmm, don't think that would have worked for me....lol We did pick up a few pins & I got a fridge magnet with the logo....so that will work! I wish this was located in DTD instead of Hollywood.....but it will give me a good reason to go back to this area!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

never been to the Mickey soda fountain looks like a fun spot to stop and grap a bite to eat.

We were trying to figure out how we could have possibly missed this when we did the Walk of Fame back in 2005....but soon discovered this trip that it was because it was under construction when we were there & hidden behind plywood walls.....lol

Very good & just loved the colorful filmstrip with the animated movies & characters. The ice cream was very good & that marshmallow creme was the bomb!!!

I am loving your report!

Thank you so much!! More coming up!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

After we left the soda fountain, we decided to head back towards our van.....people were starting to drag & wanted to return to the motel. I took some more pictures as we walked up the street. Here's Mann's Chinese Theater from across the street:

A couple Limos as we waited to cross the street:

Roosevelt Hotel:

We actually stopped at Mann's this time. In 2005 this area was covered with people dressed in costumes. If you tried to take a picture of them....they say it will cost you. Anthony was 4 & saw Superman....I had to shell out $5 so he could have his picture with him......It really made me mad....kids don't understand that.....but it was great this time.....not one single costumed person in sight!!! So here are a couple pics I got:

Tyler & Addy waiting to head to van:

Back on the road:

I thought this was very pretty.....we took an off ramp to get gas (and try to find a spot to get a pic of the Hollywood sign) & saw this beautiful flower on the cement wall:

Next post will conclude our Hollywood day!

 

[DizNee Luver]

So we were in search of a spot to get a picture of the Hollywood sign. The first place we stopped we ended up with a palm tree in the middle of our view:

When we stopped at the gas station, I was able to get a clearer view:

Back on the road again:

The twins in the car....they were being silly:

I thought the way the Hard Rock packaged their classic shirts was cute.....like a record album (for those of you that remember what an album is.... )

We made it back to the motel around 7pm. I decided I needed to do another couple loads of laundry.....yuck! I was sitting in the basement when Betty came down & said Mike needed my help. Shyann had projectile vomited all over our room...... gross!! Housekeeping came up & tried to deodorize the carpets...but woof....it didn't work too good. I went back down to finish the laundry as the kids all went to bed. Shy got sick a few times that evening......so now I'm questioning whether or not Ty's illness a few days ago was too much sun or we had a flu bug running thru our family. (Derek was sick somewhere along this time as well....just can't remember what day it was).

This concludes our Hollywood Day.......next up we'll be back at Disneyland!!! Time to go organize pics!!

 

[joyfulDisneytears]

I haven't commented in a bit, but I just wanted to let you know I'm still here following along and enjoying your TR immensely!!!

I want to go to the Disney Soda Fountain! I was unaware that place even existed. Good call on the peppermint sundae...I peppermint ice cream!

 

[kaoden39]

How awful about Shy being sick, it is so hard with kids. Wow the traffic in Hollywood is so fun isn't it? Not! And the smog? It is always so bad.

 

[DizNee Luver]

I haven't commented in a bit, but I just wanted to let you know I'm still here following along and enjoying your TR immensely!!!

I want to go to the Disney Soda Fountain! I was unaware that place even existed. Good call on the peppermint sundae...I peppermint ice cream!

I'm glad you're still hanging around!!
I love peppermint as well & the hot fudge & marshmallow made it very dreamy!

How awful about Shy being sick, it is so hard with kids. Wow the traffic in Hollywood is so fun isn't it? Not! And the smog? It is always so bad.

Well Shy was number 3....I was getting concerned we all were gonna be out of commission!!

The smog is something else.....I swear Disneyland pumps something in the air to keep it clear over their park!! We have never had a smog filled picture from there....but as you could see.....even on a sunny day in Hollywood....the sign looked like it was in the clouds.