jabead
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2000
Cast - DH, 3 kids (ages 6, 9, 12), and myself
Dates - June 21 - July 3, 2002
Day 11 (7/1)- We were up early today so that we could get to the park at opening, which was 9:00a.m. We had breakfast in the concierge lounge at our hotel (Hilton-Univ Studios) which was very good (I especially loved all the fresh fruit that they served, like watermelon, canteloupe, honey dew melon, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, etc.). We walked from the hotel to the park (very short distance but some uphill walking). We had no problem entering the gate with our Getaway Today voucher (Free child's ticket with every Adult ticket purchase). We quickly decided to do the Studio Tour first and were able to board immediately. We thought the tour was okay (learned a few interesting tidbits of info). Next came the nearby Back to the Future Ride which was fun. Then we went down to the Lower Lot (via about 3 or 4 escalators) and did the E.T. ride (similar to the Peter Pan ride at Disney we thought) and Jurassic Park (which was your typical water rapids ride except when it seems like you are going to be swallowed up by a very large dinosaur, LOL!). We then decided that we were hungry so went back up to the Upper Lot to eat at Doc Brown's Fried Chicken. Our meal was fine, typical counter service (the chicken tasted much like KFC original recipe). After lunch we went to the shows - Terminator 2:3D, Waterworld (which had a fun but possibly wet pre-show entertainment, depending on where you were sitting, LOL!), Rugrats Magic Adventure (the kids love those Rugrats) and Animal Planet Live. We had originally intended to return to the Lower Lot to see Backdraft and the Special Effects stages but decided to return to our hotel for a break instead. When we reached our hotel it was time for the hors doerves to be served in the concierge lounge so we went to check it out. We found the selection of foods to be excellent and very filling. I especially enjoyed the cobb salad (delicious)! We then went back to the room to rest for a bit before heading back to the park. We returned in time for the Spider-Man Rocks show at 7:35. This is a new Rock 'n' Roll musical show featuring Spider Man and we all enjoyed it. Next came our walk thru the Mummy Returns Chamber of Doom. DD2 is a big fan of the Mummy movies so had been begging us all day to do this. I thought it was going to be kind of boring but it was "surprisingly" spooky and fun. It was then almost time for the Blues Brothers show (the stage was right by the exit from the Mummy) so we got our seats. This show was very fun (and I'm not really a BB fan) and afterward the kids got a couple of pics with them. We then decided that we wanted to get something to eat and took a vote - Hard Rock Cafe won! So we exited the park and walked thru the CityWalk area to HRC. This was about 9:30 on a Monday night (CityWalk was much less busy than it had been the night before) but the wait for a table was 30 - 40 min. Luckily I had remembered to bring my HRC "All Access" card with me so we were seated immediately. The kids ordered from the Kid's Menu and DH and I shared nachos. The food was good, as usual (same as at the other HRCs that we've been to). It was then time to call it a day and return to our hotel.
Day 12 (7/2) - Today it was time to do some major packing (for our airplane trip back to Chicago) so I had to get up at the crack of dawn.
I then woke the others and we got ready and went to the concierge lounge for breakfast, which again was very good (love that fruit!). We left the hotel around 9:00a.m. and began our drive back to San Diego. At this time of day the traffic was not too bad so we made it to downtown San Diego by about 11:00. We met DH's aunt & uncle at Antony's Fish Grotto for lunch. This restaurant was right next to the water (watched the sail boats and a cruise ship while we were eating) and had both an indoor sit-down restaurant and an outdoor cafe with counter service. I shared a fish and shrimp combo with DD1 and it was pretty good. We also got to taste two of their specialties, fish tacos and chowder (can't remember if they called it seafood or just crab). I didn't really like either of them, but at least satisfied my curiousity about fish tacos. Anyway it was a very nice last lunch except for one problem, the birds. First DD2 got pooped on (we had to do a quick change of clothes before leaving for the airport) then while I was helping her clean up in the bathroom, DS got hit. Luckily he was wearing a jacket so his clothes were saved. For the remainder of the meal, I ate with my jacket hood on, LOL! After our lunch it was just a very short drive to return our rental car (National) and then took their shuttle to the airport. At the airport they allowed families to board early so we were among the first to board the Southwest plane and choose our seats. Unlike before though, this flight was completely full so we didn't get the extra seat. Anyway our return flight was almost uneventful, with the exception of flying through a thunderstorm which caused a few moments of anxiety for the kids. Our plane got to Chicago Midway on-time at around 10:30p.m. I was very glad that we had reserved a room at the nearby Hampton Inn for the night as DH and I were way to tired to make the almost 2 hr. drive home. We took the hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel (where we had paid $70 to park our van for the 13 days of our trip) and immediately went to bed.
Day 13 (7/3) - DH was anxious to get home so he was the first one out of bed this morning (at about 6:00a.m.). This was really funny since throughout the trip he was usually the last one out of bed, LOL! We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel (their complimentary continental breakfast with the usual offerings), packed up our van, and drove home. DH did have a surprise though when he went out to the hotel parking lot to get our van. He was certain of where he had parked it (had carefully chosen a shady spot) but alas it was not there. After a few very anxious moments, he spotted our van on the other side of the parking lot. Come to find out they had moved all the vehicles from that area of the parking lot some time during the previous week to do some work on the parking lot. During our drive home we discussed and rated the 4 theme parks which we had visited on our trip. Here are the results:
#1 - Disneyland (everyone's #1 choice except for DH who preferred Sea World)
#2 - Sea World (DD1 and DD2 chose DCA as #2, but were outvoted by the rest of us)
#3 - DCA and Universal Studios (tied)
Dates - June 21 - July 3, 2002
Day 11 (7/1)- We were up early today so that we could get to the park at opening, which was 9:00a.m. We had breakfast in the concierge lounge at our hotel (Hilton-Univ Studios) which was very good (I especially loved all the fresh fruit that they served, like watermelon, canteloupe, honey dew melon, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, etc.). We walked from the hotel to the park (very short distance but some uphill walking). We had no problem entering the gate with our Getaway Today voucher (Free child's ticket with every Adult ticket purchase). We quickly decided to do the Studio Tour first and were able to board immediately. We thought the tour was okay (learned a few interesting tidbits of info). Next came the nearby Back to the Future Ride which was fun. Then we went down to the Lower Lot (via about 3 or 4 escalators) and did the E.T. ride (similar to the Peter Pan ride at Disney we thought) and Jurassic Park (which was your typical water rapids ride except when it seems like you are going to be swallowed up by a very large dinosaur, LOL!). We then decided that we were hungry so went back up to the Upper Lot to eat at Doc Brown's Fried Chicken. Our meal was fine, typical counter service (the chicken tasted much like KFC original recipe). After lunch we went to the shows - Terminator 2:3D, Waterworld (which had a fun but possibly wet pre-show entertainment, depending on where you were sitting, LOL!), Rugrats Magic Adventure (the kids love those Rugrats) and Animal Planet Live. We had originally intended to return to the Lower Lot to see Backdraft and the Special Effects stages but decided to return to our hotel for a break instead. When we reached our hotel it was time for the hors doerves to be served in the concierge lounge so we went to check it out. We found the selection of foods to be excellent and very filling. I especially enjoyed the cobb salad (delicious)! We then went back to the room to rest for a bit before heading back to the park. We returned in time for the Spider-Man Rocks show at 7:35. This is a new Rock 'n' Roll musical show featuring Spider Man and we all enjoyed it. Next came our walk thru the Mummy Returns Chamber of Doom. DD2 is a big fan of the Mummy movies so had been begging us all day to do this. I thought it was going to be kind of boring but it was "surprisingly" spooky and fun. It was then almost time for the Blues Brothers show (the stage was right by the exit from the Mummy) so we got our seats. This show was very fun (and I'm not really a BB fan) and afterward the kids got a couple of pics with them. We then decided that we wanted to get something to eat and took a vote - Hard Rock Cafe won! So we exited the park and walked thru the CityWalk area to HRC. This was about 9:30 on a Monday night (CityWalk was much less busy than it had been the night before) but the wait for a table was 30 - 40 min. Luckily I had remembered to bring my HRC "All Access" card with me so we were seated immediately. The kids ordered from the Kid's Menu and DH and I shared nachos. The food was good, as usual (same as at the other HRCs that we've been to). It was then time to call it a day and return to our hotel.
Day 12 (7/2) - Today it was time to do some major packing (for our airplane trip back to Chicago) so I had to get up at the crack of dawn.
I then woke the others and we got ready and went to the concierge lounge for breakfast, which again was very good (love that fruit!). We left the hotel around 9:00a.m. and began our drive back to San Diego. At this time of day the traffic was not too bad so we made it to downtown San Diego by about 11:00. We met DH's aunt & uncle at Antony's Fish Grotto for lunch. This restaurant was right next to the water (watched the sail boats and a cruise ship while we were eating) and had both an indoor sit-down restaurant and an outdoor cafe with counter service. I shared a fish and shrimp combo with DD1 and it was pretty good. We also got to taste two of their specialties, fish tacos and chowder (can't remember if they called it seafood or just crab). I didn't really like either of them, but at least satisfied my curiousity about fish tacos. Anyway it was a very nice last lunch except for one problem, the birds. First DD2 got pooped on (we had to do a quick change of clothes before leaving for the airport) then while I was helping her clean up in the bathroom, DS got hit. Luckily he was wearing a jacket so his clothes were saved. For the remainder of the meal, I ate with my jacket hood on, LOL! After our lunch it was just a very short drive to return our rental car (National) and then took their shuttle to the airport. At the airport they allowed families to board early so we were among the first to board the Southwest plane and choose our seats. Unlike before though, this flight was completely full so we didn't get the extra seat. Anyway our return flight was almost uneventful, with the exception of flying through a thunderstorm which caused a few moments of anxiety for the kids. Our plane got to Chicago Midway on-time at around 10:30p.m. I was very glad that we had reserved a room at the nearby Hampton Inn for the night as DH and I were way to tired to make the almost 2 hr. drive home. We took the hotel shuttle from the airport to the hotel (where we had paid $70 to park our van for the 13 days of our trip) and immediately went to bed. Day 13 (7/3) - DH was anxious to get home so he was the first one out of bed this morning (at about 6:00a.m.). This was really funny since throughout the trip he was usually the last one out of bed, LOL! We ate a quick breakfast at the hotel (their complimentary continental breakfast with the usual offerings), packed up our van, and drove home. DH did have a surprise though when he went out to the hotel parking lot to get our van. He was certain of where he had parked it (had carefully chosen a shady spot) but alas it was not there. After a few very anxious moments, he spotted our van on the other side of the parking lot. Come to find out they had moved all the vehicles from that area of the parking lot some time during the previous week to do some work on the parking lot. During our drive home we discussed and rated the 4 theme parks which we had visited on our trip. Here are the results:
#1 - Disneyland (everyone's #1 choice except for DH who preferred Sea World)
#2 - Sea World (DD1 and DD2 chose DCA as #2, but were outvoted by the rest of us)
#3 - DCA and Universal Studios (tied)
