Day 5 - Behind the Orange Grove

Another 7:00am day and another character breakfast, this time at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. An interesting collection of characters again - Goofy (of course), Pluto, Alice, Gippedo and Jasmine. As soon as Goofy was going to sign my shirt, a song started playing so he left. I wasn’t sure what was going on at first, until Quinn informed me that it was time to dance, and that we had to wait for the song to be over, or we could go dance with him. Would Katie and I ever pass up an opportunity to dance, let alone with Disney characters? Of course not. There was a semi circle of kids just watching, so Katie and I busted through and started dancing with Goofy and the gang. We didn’t really care what people though - we had a grand ole time.

The brunch buffet had a variety of food, including peanut butter and jelly pizza which I didn’t get a chance to try and cupcakes with chocoalte Mickey's on them. We got our shirts signed, and many pictures - during which Jasmine showed us the Princess pose.

It was off to California Adventure! We entered through our hotel - it had its very own entrance to the park. Again, we got to go into the park before anyone else. As we were waiting for our next destination to be ready for us, we took a quick restroom break, put on sunscreen etc. During these activities a horrible thing occurred - Quinn broke the sign. I was hoping they would auction it off - Katie and I would have offered big bucks for that sucker. After the shock of the broken sign, it was time to go to our next destination: Soarin Over California.

We split into our two groups and watched the safety video. The other group's door opened and they boarded the ride. I figured once they were done, we could go on, but when the last person in the Mickey group walked through the door, Michelle said "Ok, come with me." Ooo a surprise! We were headed down stairs, around corners and into a door where we were under the screen for the ride. It's a metal mesh so we could see the Mickey group on the ride, but they couldn’t see us. It's mesh so that the sound from underneath can pass through - there were some big speakers. It was really cute to see everyone swinging their legs and react to what was going on. We then go to experience the ride. It was pretty incredible - I even ducked at one point, it felt that real. The ride ends with a Disneyland scene with fireworks, it was pretty awesome.

After Soarin' Over California we walked through the empty park to the Animation building they had where we did Turtle Talk with Crush. It was pretty neat how he could interact with the audience. There was a feud going on amongst some adventurers over which was better - Disneyland or Disney World. I liked both - I haven't been to Disney World in awhile so I couldn’t make a fair judgment, but I had fallen in love with Disneyland. Anyway, one of the Katie's asked Crush which he preferred - he chose not to answer. But it really bothered me when she said "I hate Disneyland." If it hurt me, imagine how Quinn and Michelle felt. She celebrated her birthday while on this trip and was receiving a lot of special treatment. Even if those were your feelings, have some respect - these people have tried to make your experience magical. It just really bothered me, sorry.

After talking with Crush we learned out to draw Mickey. Katie received all the visual artistic genes - I like to think I received more of the performance artistic genes, even though Katie dances as well - so hers looked amazing. But I was quite proud of mine - I named him Math Major Mickey. His left side was appropriately larger than his right - and I didn’t even do that on purpose! We were cut loose after out drawing lesson.

We thought we should head over to the new Toy Story ride, which opened about a week before we got to California, but we were informed the line was already over an hour long - apparently they allowed peopled to get in line before the park opened. So we decided to do Tower of Terror first, a favorite of ours. Afterwards we found a map and walked around embracing California Adventure. We wondered into the Bugs Life town, where Flik was signing autographs - we ran up to him but he was on his way out. This happened about two more times; we never did get that autograph.

We wandered around trying to find the entrance to California Screamin, and ended up walking around the whole park. We rode one of those rides that’s up high with sudden turns (I can't remember the name). I generally freak out to the point where I am screaming so hard that everyone in a ten mile radius can hear it, but I was proud - I controlled myself. We finally found the entrance to California Screamin and enjoyed the ride. We made a quick call to our guides to see if Ariel's Grotto was going to be part of our surprise - it wasn’t, so we headed over there.

Ariel's Grotto is a character dining place featuring princesses. We found out we had to come back in 30-40 minutes to put our name down. We planned to go watch Muppets in 3D but we got distracted by Stitch along the way. As I was having Stitch sign my shirt, I hear someone asking if they could sign it too. It was Jeremy - a photographer for Disney. As he was asking, Stitch gave him this death stare, it was fantastic. He said he was Jeremy the Jamaican Prince haha, so I said why not and had him sign it along with two other cast members. We made Jeremy's day - he even showed our shirts to Mickey and Minnie saying he signed it, they were very excited for him. So we got pictures with the Jamaican Prince as well. We chatted for awhile, and he told us Ariel's Grotto fills up fast so we headed over there to get our name down ASAP.

We waited about 20 minutes, and luckily we made it in. We headed down the stairs and met Ariel, who was wearing a dress! She asked me if we had left our princes behind, I told her I sadly did not have a prince. She said it was the year of a million dreams, so I might find my prince in Disneyland. She was gorgeous and I loved her hair - it made me miss my full red head.

We were seated outside, with 3 or 4 other groups. It was a nice few of the lake in the middle of the park, along with some of the landmarks in the park. Another huge lunch, but it was delicious. Belle came around first, looking stunning in her yellow dress. I asked her if the Beast was as handsome as he was on TV (seriously, when the Beast transforms into a human, he’s not a bad looking cartoon character). She said he was, but what is on the inside that counts. We talked about Gaston and how I've known a couple Gaston's in my day - Belle and I bonded.

After Belle it was Snow White! She was so honored to meet the Princesses of Baltimore. Yeah, we are princesses; we made crowns for ourselves and everything. I wore it around the rest of the day - it was a good conversation piece. Next was Jasmine, who changed for us. We told her about Adventures by Disney and she said she wanted to join the adventure. I told her we were meeting at the Hyperion theater later if she wanted to join us - she was performing there so I didn’t think she could make it. Saved the best for last: Aurora - my favorite princess. I told her I loved her castle and that she was my favorite - I know I'm a dork, whatever haha.

We enjoyed our relaxing meal since we were burned out from all these long days. We headed over to Muppets in 3D and then back to the hotel because we weren't really feelin California Adventure. We bought some postcards at the gift shop and headed back to the room to relax for a little over an hour until it was time to meet back with the group for our farewell dinner.

We were led backstage into a large room with many nicely decorated tables. I think this is where cast members could get food, but those areas were closed. We had a buffet of a bunch of different food. We all went around the room saying out favorite part of the trip, and this is when it all started to really sink in that it was almost over. My favorite parts were the creature shop, the castle, and getting away from the stresses at home. By this point I had already started to choke up. I was really fighting off this cold from taking complete control (and I was doing a good job) but being ill makes me more emotional.

They showed a slide show containing pictures that they had taken throughout the week, by the end I had shed a tear or two. Then Mickey and Minnie came out so we could take pictures etc. They even danced for us at the end. It was incredible. The feeling that you get at Disney is one you never get elsewhere. I guess it's that Disney Magic. There was also an artist at the dinner who drew a character for each family - we chose Chip for he is crazy but cute (just like us haha).

We stayed and mingled for awhile after the dinner had wrapped up. We talked to Oz and Alex about how we all want to work there, and if we up and move we intend on telling each other so we can all be roommates. We talked to Michelle about how we realized how much happier we are there and how much we love it. She told us how we have to just go for what we want, even if it is scary. It was definitely an emotional evening.

Katie didn't want to go to the fireworks, so she was going to go shopping while I enjoyed the last display in our VIP seats. First we thought about riding Splash Mountain before hand but decided to do California Screamin since it was colder at night and being wet + cold + already kinda sick = not good at all. The ride at night was awesome - we could see the electric light parade, it was just awesome. We caught more of the parade as we tried exiting the park. We had to wait for a break in the parade. I'm running over to Disneyland to make the fireworks, I end up entering where the buses are instead haha. I made it into Disneyland and asked every cast member where my group was. After a phone call and wandering around, I finally found my group. It was quite stressful, but I made it through and enjoyed the show.

I found Katie at World of Disney - it was about 10:00 now. The store was ridiculously packed. I had to get my shopping done, so that’s what we did that night. We spent most of our time in World of Disney but ventured into the other stores of Downtown Disney until eventually making it back to our room where we had to pack up some of our stuff since it was our last night.

Day 4 - Walt's World

We met in the lobby at 7am, and ventured into Disneyland, again through the exit. The park wouldn’t be open for another hour, so we had it to ourselves. Walking up Main Street with it completely empty, having a perfect few of the castle was…..well…..perfect. We all got pictures in front of the castle (with the sign of course!). We saw Snow Whites Grotto, which apparently is quite popular for marriage proposals. After taking in the emptiness of the park and taking as many pictures as possible, we headed back to Main Street for a character breakfast at the Plaza Inn.

As we walk in we're greeted by a collection of characters, including Minnie (it was her breakfast), Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Chip and Dale. This breakfast was so fast, it was insane. We were in a small area, so it was hard to get in and out for food, but even harder to play with the characters. But I didn't really care. Brer Fox and Hook made appearances as well - it's nice seeing hr more obscure ones.

We chose out seats, and headed for the buffet, which Tigger escorted me to. I ran into Pooh, who was handing out little things of honey, so cute. But I told him how Katie married us 9 years ago, and we hadn't been reunited. Although now that I think about it, we may have seen each other on my last trip, but I don’t think so. Anyway, he gave me a great big hug and I asked him if he would sign over my t-shirt over the heart later. He excitedly agreed :)

Eggs, Mickey Mouse - well Minnie Mouse since she made them - waffles, fruit, french toast, bacon - you name it. It was really great food, and the characters entertained us. Chip and Dale loved Katie's shirt, since it featured them, and got quite excited. We tried to get pictures and autographs of everyone, but it was so crazy we missed out on Brer Fox. The characters had lots of fun which was very entertaining. They locked each other out, did famous moves as the elevator, canoe and escalator, and called each other crazy. It really was a great breakfast.

The sign called - so we fallowed. It took us to the Indiana Jones Ride where we got to go backstage. We saw how the car works, and learned more on how the ride operates. Then through the exit we went and onto the ride! It was cool riding the ride after learning how it all works. I thought it would take away from the magic, but it didn't.

We went to the Big Thunder Ranch, which was currently closed off to the rest of the public - people were jealous. We learned about the animals kept at the park, and how they're even showing some of their horses. We met Figaro, - a lovely donkey, a cow, and many goats who we got to feed. Most of the goats were named after Disney characters and wore a charm that displayed it proudly around their neck. After spending time playing with the animals, it was time to continue our adventure.

We headed towards It's a Small World - which is currently closed for repairs. Tons of thoughts rushed through all of our heads, would we still get to ride it? I didn’t think so since the flume was getting replaced. We entered a door close to the ride and we were officially backstage at Disneyland. You always here that there's a whole city under Disney World - which may be true, but it definitely is a whole 'nother world backstage at Disneyland - it definitely feels like you're backstage at a production. We saw a float close up close and personal and saw where all the performers get ready for the parade. We saw where the fireworks are set off, learned of the technology they use, and how if you live near Disneyland, you have to sign something that says you understand that fireworks will be set off nightly. We saw all the horses that live at the park, and learned how they train them to resist all distractions so they will behave during parades and such. They back silver balloons in their pen along with metal plates so they get used to that feeling if they were to step on one. After walking around backstage, it was time for lunch!

We headed into New Orleans Square for a delicious lunch. We even had a visitor - a pirate. I later coined him "our pirate". He was perfect in the part - we even bonded over the fact that we would much rather find treasure than chase Peter Pan like Hook. He said to one of the other Katie's on the trip that they "were going to go cheese" meaning they were going to take a picture. He was fantastic. After lunch he made us take the oath of a pirate, and then told us we were going on a rigorous journey. We followed him out of the restaurant and for about 15 more feet until we got to the exit of Pirates of the Caribbean. He said it wasn’t long, but we made it! As we boarded the ride, he told us to say hello to his brother for him. The ride is different from what I remember in Disney World, there's a couple more drops and I actually got wet.

After Pirates, it was time for us to split into three groups. Our group first went on the Lilly Bell, which is named after Walt's wife. It was Walt's VIP car - it's very nice with couch like seats and artwork. There's also a light and fan inside the car. We took a trip around the park in style. There was a smoking jacket in the car that Michelle modeled beautifully for us. After our ride we went into a theater and watched a video on the 50th anniversary starring Steve Martin, who got his start in the Magic Shop on Main Street. Oh and it also starred Donald Duck, you can't forget him. After the short film, it was time for our group to see Walt's apartment. Since he was spending so much time in the park working, he built himself an apartment above the firehouse. It was small with one main room functioning as a living room and bedroom with a small counter functioning as the kitchen, and then the bathroom that had a nook for a dresser. The apartment was quite classy and included the famous lamp which is always lit. You could always tell when Walt was in the apartment, for the lamp would be lit in the window because that was where he was working. It now stays lit all the time to represent him. We each got a candle pin to represent this, and we could light it up whenever we needed some inspiration. A few of us got choked up, not gonna lie.

After taking a step into Walt's World (it was the theme!) it was time for the parade, which we had VIP seats for right in front of the train station. The floats were incredible, I especially liked the Little Mermaid one, and the performers were fantastic. The parade was a nice break from walking around all day, especially since I was feeling symptoms of a cold coming on.

After the parade we headed towards Fantasyland. We first rode the Matterhorn since it was completely new to us. I enjoyed it, but Katie expected more. We rode all the major storybook rides including Snow White's Scary Adventure, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (where I swear I saw Figment in the end) and Peter Pan's Flight. After completing Fantasyland we had our five Fastpasses to use. We headed to the Roger Rabbit ride, and then explored Toon Town. Toon Town has Mickey's house, Minnie's house, Goofy's house and Chip and Dale's Tree House.

We went back to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain again. I was more prepared for the photo. We headed back towards Splash Mountain, and had planned to get food along the way. We got distracted by a 1 minute wait for Haunted Mansion and various shops. We got in line for Splash Mountain and was soon informed it was broken.....again. So we hopped out of line and decided we should get food. By this time fireworks were going off like crazy, so we went into one of the shops to escape the noise. We traded pins with some very friendly cast members, who also informed us all food was closed. Uh oh!

We wandered back to Main Street and got our silhouettes done for our mom since we've had them done every other Disney trip. By this time it was past 11. We wandered back into the hotel, running into some other adventurers who gave us some tips on food. We asked the front desk for tips as well. We ventured back out into Downtown Disney.

We decided to get Wetzles Pretzels since it was right outside our hotel. It was a pretty good dinner - I also got a strawberry slushie drink that was very soothing to my throat. My back was seriously killing me by the end of the day, but it was so worth it. I curled into bed and slept for a very short amount of time until it was time to get up for Day 5!

Day 3 - Making Magic!

7:00am morning, and it was breakfast at Twist (the restaurant inside our hotel). Unfortunately my stomach was still feeling the sugary dinner from the night before so I couldn’t enjoy the food too much. But I enjoyed the conversation with some fellow East Coasters. Janeen also studied business so we chatted about that which I'm sure bored her kids. After breakfast we met back in the hotel lobby to say out final farewells to the Hollywood Renaissance hotel. We boarded the bus and headed to our first stop - Imagineering, basically where all the magic for the parks happens.

We walked down the hall, tuned a couple corners until we reached a room where we were given a brief history on the company and Imagineering. We also got free journals! We were surprised at the end of the presentation when Lucky the Dinosaur was revealed behind a black curtain. We all got to pet him and take pictures etc. It was pretty cool since I had seen stuff about him on the travel channel, he was famous (and I kissed him too, apparently I have a thing for non-humans).

The first stop for our group was to the sound room where, again a man who you could tell absolutely loved his job, told us about how it all works and how its evolved over time. We then got a sample of what sounds can do – how it can make you really feel immersed in the scene and sometimes you can actually feel what’s going on. After the sound room, we went into the sculpture room, where we saw tons of Disney characters made out of clay that never dries, so the room was pretty cold. Also inside the room were the original pieces of Snow White’s grotto. Snow White is actually the same size as the Dwarfs. There’s a story that has been told for years about how they came about, but we heard the real, less magical one haha. So I won’t post it here :-)

We walked through where some Imagineers were working on attractions for the new Cars Land which will be included when they redo California Adventure. We saw some animatronics up close and personal. There was one full body one, the main act – Joe Cocker, and three heads that were his backup. We saw how many wires it takes to make him move, and how hard it is to keep it hidden.

After our tour, we were set loose in Mickey’s of Glendale which is where cast members can shop. We were each give a coupon for 40% one regularly priced item. I browsed, and let it all sink in. We went to lunch at the Disney Café there and then returned back to the store to make our purchases. I spent less than $60, I'm so proud!

We boarded the bus to go to the Walt Disney Studios. As soon as we pulled up we saw a bunch of trailers, so I was immediately on celebrity watch. The studios also had a college campus type feel, although I wish my campus was as cool as these studios. We saw a bunch of sound stages, the Animation building and the icons: the Legends courtyard, and the building dedicated to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (I think it’s a generic office building, I’m not sure, we didn’t go in). We couldn’t go into too many buildings, but we saw the stages where Mary Poppins was filmed, along with the business strip used in a lot of TV shows and movies – like “Felicity”!!

We got back on the bus and had a nice relaxing ride, watching part of “Dr. Dolittle 4”, to the Disneyland Resort. It didn’t seem that long of a ride, before I knew it we were at the Grand California – which would be hour home for the next three nights. We got our hotel keys and headed up there to relax until we all met up for dinner. We had a view of the center of the hotel, which included the monorail line. Katie called Adam and I as well caught up with the East Coast while examining the hundreds of pictures I had taken so far. After out chill break, we met the group back downstairs in the lobby. We also met one of the Disney ambassadors – she told us how important we were and welcomed us to the resort. We even recorded a video saying “we’re adventures by Disney!” I felt pretty awesome, not gonna lie.

We took a short walk to the Disneyland Hotel. Let me comment on this now - everything was in walking distance. Disneyland, California Adventure, the hotels, Downtown Disney - it was fantastic. I didn’t have to worry about making the bus like in Disney World. So anyways, we walked to the Disneyland Hotel and went down the stairs into the Wine Cellar where they had wine tastings (grape juice for us youngins) and snackies. There was also a guy playing guitar in the corner - he played very well, and it was nice relaxing music. A couple drinks later (I had two glasses of my white grape juice, woo, you should have seen me) we went upstairs for dinner at Hooke's Pointe. Everyone at our table got the chicken, except Quinn - he just haaaaaaaad to be different. It was a very good meal, with a nice view of the Peter Pan themed pool. After dinner, were taken for a surprise. There were many guesses, but I knew it couldn’t be anything extreme - we just ate!

We walked through Downtown Disney and then to the gates of Disneyland. Since we were very, very important people (which we were told by the Disney ambassador) we entered through the exit of the park. Following the sign, we were led through Main Street, and of course catching a glimpse of the gorgeous Sleeping Beauty's Castle. I had been wanting to see that castle for years, and it is breathtaking - even if there’s a ton of people in front of it. I couldn’t stop long for the sign was moving - we were led to the Haunted Mansion! I was so excited, I guess because it was our first attraction in the park. We went through the Fastpass line - you could tell the people in the stand by line were not amused that a group of 39 just went ahead of them. It was thrilling - even the Haunted Mansion can make you cheery - I guess it’s the song, grim grimmy ghosts come out to socialiiiize.

After making it out of the mansion a-ok, we were escorted to our VIP seats for Fantasmic. For those of you who don't know, Fantasmic is a show Disneyland puts on every night on the water. It's a combination of fireworks, pyrotechnics, stage performers, water, lights and film. It focuses on Mickey's dreams and nightmares. It's a pretty big deal - they have specific jackets for cast members to wear while directing traffic before, during and after the show. The show was amazing, I was in awe for most of it. Five minutes after Fantasmic, the fireworks started. We didn’t get the whole effect since the front of the show takes place at the castle, which was behind some trees. But we heard the music and saw the fireworks and again I was in awe. I had never seen happy face fireworks before - I felt like a little kid poking Katie while screaming "LOOK!"

Another surprise after the fireworks - we were each given a Fastpass good at any ride that night. We thought long and hard and decided to go on Splash Mountain - we thought it would be a nice view at night. Unfortunately Splash Mountain had broken down, so we went to my favorite mountain - Big Thunder. As going through the line a very nice gentleman named Brain or Danny - I really am bad with names, looked at our Fastpass and said "Oh, it's one of those special ones, go ahead and use it again" while handing me back my Fastpass. It warmed my heart - everyone at Disney is just so kind. Big Thunder Mountain was amazing at night - the twists and turns, the view. I loved it. We still had that Fastpass so we ventured over to Tomorrowland. On the way was basked the beauty of the castle. It really sunk in that we were finally in Disneyland. After many pictures were taken, we rode Space Mountain. Another fantastic ride. It’s amazing what they can do with lights. Being the space dork I am, I really enjoyed it haha. I was startled at the end by the strobes flashing directly into my eyes. Apparently one was a picture flash, so the photo caught me in mid exclamation of "My eyes!"

It was pretty late by then, so we decided to head back to the hotel to catch some Z's for we had another early, long day ahead of us. When we walked into our room we were surprised by Katie's bed, for it had been unmade! Turn down service! My bed had too much junk on it haha. I unloaded my pictures, changed my desktop to a fabulous picture of the castle and then drifted off to sleep.

Day 2 – Lights, Camera, Adventure!

7:45am was our call time, which would be the latest morning we would ever have that week. We met again by the restaurant and made our way back through Hollywood and Highland to the main strip of LA. We got to see all the landmarks again without the crowd of people blocking everything. We saw the hand and footprints in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater and heard some stories behind them. Marilyn Monroe wanted to dot her eye with a real diamond, since I believe she was promoting "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend". They knew it would get stolen, so she took one of the fake stones from her earring and dotted the eye with that. Overnight the gem was stolen - but you can see it's place. We went through the Kodak Theater (where the Academy Awards are hosted, yay award shows!) and learned how the steps were built to be high heel friendly. It's nice to see architects are thinking of us ladies. The Kodak Theater actually had some stores - it wasn't just the auditorium. We crossed the street to look at some more of the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and then browsed the lobby of the El Capitan Theater until the Soda Shop was ready to serve us breakfast.

I have to say, this was the best breakfast of the entire trip, food wise that is. The place was cute, with a small Disney store within it. When we sat down, Katie and I were at the outcast table in the corner, but we where soon joined by Rachel and her family. We each had a fresh fruit cup waiting for us as we took our seats, and we could choose from eggs or Mickey Mouse waffles, so Katie and I shared. Sharing is Caring. In between bites and trivia games - which Katie rocked at again, I talked it up with Rachel about all things Disney Channel like High School Musical, Hannah Montana and Camp Rock because well yeah….Yes I like Disney Channel. After a scrumptious breakfast, we headed back into the El Capitan for our tour.

We walked into one of the theaters, and as we walked down the aisles an organist was playing on stage. We learned how organs were used to provide sounds to silent films, and now the organist plays before every show at the El Capitan. It was pretty neat – it had tons (I remember 2,000, Katie remember 200, so 2 and some amount of 0’s) pipes to make various sounds. There was a round of name that tune, but sadly I did not win. We saw the sound system, and got to go up on stage. I just like being on stage, so it was pretty cool. We also learned that the crowd for the Hannah Montana in 3D movie concert made so much noise it ranked pretty high. You can’t beat crazy tween girls.

After the El Capitan we ventured a couple buildings over to Jimmy Kimmel Live. As we walked inside the doors, my heart leapt for it listed Regis Philbin as a guest for that nights show. I was later crushed when I asked if that was true, and was informed that he was on last week. We started our tour by watching a clip video that gave the basic premises of the show. Then two producers, Kelly and Chris continued to show us around. We went into the technical room, seeing all the knobs and sliders that control, well everything. We went into hair and makeup, which was smaller than I would imagine it to be. We saw where the dressing rooms were and toured the green room. We saw some people working on editing bits for the show which was pretty neat. One of our guides told us about some ghost sightings (I appropriately was wearing my TAPS shirt, I had worn it in honor of our next stop, but I'll get to that). Our guides led us into the theater where we got to take pictures at Jimmy's desk, and also where Quinn informed us that they had ten tickets to hand out if we were interested in going to the taping and were over the age of 18. Katie and I put our names down, even if Regis wasn’t the guest. If he was, I may have done anything in my power to meet him. Ok, I guess I should tell the story - I wrote Regis when I was three - telling him how I broke my leg and also telling him how awesome he was. I first received just an autographed picture in return, but I later got a personalized one, saying "Maria, You'll be up in no time!". So yeah, we go back. Anyway, Katie and I figured we'd never really get the chance to go to a taping again, so why not! After touring the theater we went outside (which on the way my glasses leg broke off) to see the concert stage and then boarded the coach bus to go to our next location: The Jim Henson Company Studios.

OK! Last summer, the season final of "Ghost Hunters" took place in California. The first half investigated the site where the Manson murders took place (best segment I have ever seen) and then the second half was at the Jim Henson Company Studios. They did catch a thermal of a woman on the soundstage (which we went on!) and there were a few personal experiences from the team (which is TAPS aka The Atlantic Paranormal Society). I didn’t want to interrupt peoples days with "HAVE YOU SEEN ANY GHOSTS?!?!?" so I decided to wear my shirt to see if any of the employees at the studios would notice and tell me some of their experiences, unfortunately that didn’t happen.

A short drive and sighting of Kat Von D's tattoo shop later we arrived at the Henson's studios. It blended in with all the other buildings except for little Kermie dressed like Charlie Chaplin (who built the studios in 1917). No one is allowed to tour this place but us, so I felt pretty powerful having the gate open for me. The studios felt like a mini campus. There were a few buildings that everyone walked to. The atmosphere was laid back – employees could bring their dogs and kids to work if they wanted to. We saw a short video Muppets through the years and how its evolved into digital puppets. Then we got to go into The Barn aka the Creature Shop. The host of the Jim Henson podcast gave us a tour. This is where all the Muppets are made – we saw Roy’s head from “Dinosaurs” along with Baby Sinclair (highchair and all!!). We all saw Big Al’s head. Apparently each hair for the furry Muppets is individually punched in, which is pretty remarkable. Some of us were allowed to try puppeteering, so Katie and I tried our best, and we weren’t too bad haha. After leaving The Barn we went into a theater where they showed us the best video ever. It was about the history of the grounds – how it was originally an orange grove etc etc. The video was hosted by Bobby and Samson (two fabulous Muppets) and it brought me to tears with laughter. I’ve tried finding it on their website, but no luck. We went on the soundstage, where they were filming for Sid the Science Kid. It’s a digital animation short so all the actors are in these black suits with white balls on them. We then had lunch on the studio grounds and got to take pictures with one of the Muppets. We kinda fell in love.

Back on the bus for a surprise! It was off to Griffith Park, where they opened up Walt’s Barn and train for us. Walt absolutely adored trains and had a mini one in his backyard. The barn was decked out with Disney train memorabilia, and the tour guide really knew his stuff. It was nice to see someone so passionate about their job. They gave us a train ride which was quite relaxing after a long day of walking.

Back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for the Jimmy Kimmel taping! While in life we got to know some more of our fellow adventurers, and even one of the Jimmy Kimmel workers (she was from the East coast as well). I was even asked if I wanted to go into the green room – but I was honest and said I was under 21 so I couldn’t go. Oh well. I was flattered to be asked!

When we finally got into the theater and into our seats, a friend of Jimmy’s came out to pump up the audience. There was a show of talents from various audience members for t-shirts and I was bold enough to try my hand, well ear, at name that tune. I won a beat up NBA finals poster (obviously taken down and ready to be thrown away haha) for knowing Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” (who was performing the next night across the street! Unfortunately we would be in Anaheim). Katie thinks they played that since I mentioned the ghost story of the lady in the wedding dress seen around the studio (I still had my TAPS shirt on so it made for conversation haha). I kept my eye on the camera during taping, and we made it on. As I sit here typing this, the episode is airing and you could here my “Oh My God” in reference to something obscene on Sesame Street. So yay for us – we made it on national television. Be jealous. ;-)

After the taping, we went back to the Soda Shop for some ice cream. We sat at the counter, which was pretty cool. It’s the little things. We got the pin traders sundae so we added another pin to Adventures by Disney collection. Ice cream for dinner was a fantastic idea until a few hours later when all that marshmallow fluff started hurting my tummy. It was good though!

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to see if they knew where I could get my glasses fixed – they recommended the mall, which closed at 10, which was ten minutes away. I rushed around Hollywood and Highland and eventually found Oakley, where two wonderful men helped me and temporarily fixed my glasses. Thank you Oakley!

Day 1 - It All Started With a Mouse

I got up at 4:15am after about four hours of sleep. Did some last minute packing and was out the door. We got on the plane quite excited. After 5 hours, 1/2 bottle of water and one cup of coffee later, I really had to pee. We hurried to the baggage claim, and met our driver and our first guide Quinn. I immediately felt comfortable for I believe I said something along the lines of "Hi, I have to pee.”

We chatted with Quinn while waiting for our bag and walking to our car. I loved him instantly haha. Katie and I got into the town car waiting for us (super cool, I know right?) I was in awe the 20 minute ride to our hotel. Palm trees everywhere, signs for places I knew only from the TV. It was finally happening. I was in California.

We ventured into our hotel, and met our second guide Michelle. Just like Quinn, she was full of energy and I knew we would get along. Katie and I had some free time so we decided to walk around near the hotel. We walked outside and were in awe. Pretty much everything LA is known for was right there. We went up and down the block, admiring the buildings, the walk of fame, the hand and footprints - stopping to shop along the way. We also got harassed by a collection of street performers like belligerent Spiderman who was yelling at everyone that we could take a picture with him for free. And then Scarface screaming various curse words at the top of his lungs and occasionally wondering away from the rest of the characters making it a bit awkward. After walking around for about an hour, we were ridiculously warm and the three hour time difference was starting to catch up to us, so we waiting in the hotel lobby for a little bit until our room was ready. The room was quite awesome and we were surprised with lots of goodies! We could see the Hollywood sign from our window, it was pretty unreal.

After cooling off, we headed back into the 97 degree heat (contrary to my belief that it was supposed to be lower 80s, and thus the reason I was wearing capris). We caught the subway, and while on it we witnessed a digital animation ad for Wall-E which was pretty neat. We headed for City Walk, which reminded me a lot of Beale Street with all the shops and big neon signs. We got lunch at Hard Rock Café since it had been almost 10 hours since we had last eaten and we knew we should, even if we were getting dinner in three hours. We shopped, took pictures, you know continued to be a tourist (fanny packs and all), and then we headed back to the hotel to clean up before meeting our new adventure group.

We came back to the room and realized our bags were still not there. So we wandered to the front desk and met a very nice man (and very handsome!) who's name I didn't remember since I was too busy being girly. He called up to the room later to find out more information about the bags since they were still missing. He later tracked us down in the hotel restaurant to tell us he found most of them, and came back again to tell us he found them all and they were up in our room. This all happened in 45 minutes. So thank you handsome nice man whose name I think begins with a D. You are awesome (and I wrote something along those lines on our comment card too).

As I mentioned above, we all met at the hotel's restaurant. We each got a lanyard and an awesome name tag in the shape of the ones Disney cast members where - we were quite excited. It was mingle time before the formal introductions started around the room. Soon the group headed over to this fabulous Italian restaurant in Hollywood & Highland which was right next door to our hotel (we had a door that led out into it). Katie was one of the four trivia masters who competed, but before the game we chatted it up with a few of our fellow adventurers. I could freely talk about my guilty pleasures without feeling, well guilty. The ice with everyone was instantly broken, we were all laughing together within an hour of meeting each other. This was the first time Katie was mistaken for a Junior Adventurer (which is 11 and under). The waiter tried to force her to order off of the kids menu. After the appetizers, trivia was on! The host was fantastic and Katie put up a good fight, coming in second behind Randy who was a plethora of Disney knowledge. Dinner winded down and we were all given our first pin – we ended up getting one each day representing the theme of the day. Before we knew it, Katie and I were the last ones there talking with our guides. When we parted ways with Quinn and Michelle, I said something along the lines of "we're going to be best friends."

After dinner we were quite excited, maybe we were hyper from the tiramisu or loopy from the time difference but we were filled with energy. We went back out into the mall and headed into Hot Topic (our second of the day!) and then back to the room to head to the pool. The pool at the Hollywood Renaissance is on the fifth floor, on the roof. We went around sunset and the image is just etched in my head. There is nothing like swimming right near the archway for Hollywood and Highland, and with the Hollywood sign in site. We wanted to bring out camera back up there, but it got too dark, and the pool was closed the next night do I don’t have pictures of the amazing view but it is etched in my memory. Haha sucks for you! Just kidding, I just have to go back and take picture =P

After the pool, I pulled out my laptop to unload the pictures from the day and tried to get online. Well the hotel charges $9.95 for 24 hours, and I wasn’t havin’ that. I noticed uWink Bistro kept coming up on my wireless, and I remembered seeing that out in the mall, so we took a field trip. Success! I was able to check my email, tell everyone I arrived and was having a blast. It was nice to sit outside, enjoy the atmosphere and still be connected home. It was kinda funny since I was sitting outside a club on my laptop. After our successful search for free internet we went back to the room to get ready for bed since at this point we had been up for 20 hours.

Preparing For The Trip

Katie (my awesome older sister) and I booked this trip ages ago, so it didn't really sink in that we were going until a few days before. We wanted to go to California last summer but time and money didn’t allow us to, so we intended to go this summer. I worked my tail off all fall and winter break in order to raise the funds. It came time to plan the trip but we were both extremely busy with school and work that we never really sat down to talk about things. We then caught wind of “Adventures by Disney”. It was the Backstage Magic tour – 5 nights, 6 days in Los Angeles and Anaheim. It hit all the major stops that we were interested in seeing. I skimmed the itinerary and said “done”. Hotels, tips, tickets, most meals and transportation were all taken care of. It was the perfect vacation for two busy students

I didn't really pack until 8 the night before we left....we had a 7am flight. I had the brilliant idea of an autographed t-shirt, so Saturday also involved a last minute trip to Wal-Mart. Saturday was a bit scrambled. The entire trip was planned for us, except for packing.