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Dinner at a Italian Restaurant
Decided to have dinner at this 'Stefano's Two Guys from Italy' restaurant (left photo below) which is located along Hollywood Boulevard. Ordered a spaghetti carbonara at USD 9.78 (right photo below). Taste was not good or authentic at all.
Back to hostel for an early rest after exploring Hollywood for about an hour.Anaheim
Anaheim is a city in Orange County and part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area in California State. It is the second-largest city in Orange County in terms of land area, and is known for being the home to the Disneyland Resort, the Anaheim Convention Center, and two major sports teams: the 'Anaheim Ducks' ice hockey club and the 'Los Angeles Angels' baseball team. Anaheim is located 40-km southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Train to Anaheim
Woke up early and took Metro from 'Hollywood/Vine' station to 'Union' station at 7.30 am. 'Union' Metro station is intersected with Los Angeles main train station. Managed to get Amtrak train tickets departing at 0830 hours and reached Anaheim station at 0909 hours. Each Amtrak train single trip ticket cost USD 14.
Once reached Anaheim station, I decided to take a cab to Disneyland at USD 12.05 instead of taking its shuttle bus. After several transfers, I finally reached the entrance of Disneyland Resort at about 10 am.
Disneyland Resort
Disneyland Resort is an integrated complex comprising of two separate theme parks: Disney California Adventure (left photo below) and Disneyland Park (right photo below), three hotels and a shopping, dining and entertainment district known as Downtown Disney.
Disneyland Park CaliforniaBought the admission ticket (1-Day 1-Park) online at USD 80 before my trip. It was convenient as no queuing required; just needed to show the printed e-ticket at the park entrance (left photo below) and a physical ticket would then be provided (right photo below).
Opened in 1955, this Disneyland Park is the only one designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Therefore, it is the oldest Disneyland Park in the world. This park occupies over 40-hectares and consists of nine themed "lands".
Main Street, U.S.A
The Main Street, U.S.A. is modelled after a typical American Midwest town of early 20th century. Several emporiums, shops, arcades lined along the sides of this street.
- The first building visitors would see is the train station (left photo below). The Disneyland railroad (right photo below) is 1.9-km and encircles the majority of the park with train stations in four different park areas. Each ride takes about 18-minutes to complete a round trip.
After the train station at the Town Square is the City Hall building (left photo below), which the Guest Relation office is located (right photo below). In this office, a small badge would be given to first time visitors upon request.
As it was during Halloween session, the Main Street (left photo below) and the Town Square (right photo below) were decorated with pumpkins and other festive banners.
Further down the street is the 'Partners' statue (left photo below). The 'Partners' is a 196-cm statue depicting Walt Disney holding the hand of the most popular character he created, Mickey Mouse. At the far end of the Main Street stands the Sleeping Beauty Castle (right photo below). The area where 'Partners' statue stands is known as the Central Plaza (or the Hub) which connects to several themed lands.
The Adventureland is divided into two sub-areas, one Arabian Village and other Caribbean Plaza.
- One of its oldest attractions is the Jungle Cruise (left photo below) which is a simulated riverboat cruise that travels along a waterway through areas with Asian, African, and South American themes.
The fancy façade of the Aladdin's Oasis caught my attention (right photo below). It is actually a restaurant and entertainment space that served Americanized Middle Eastern cuisine.
Frontierland
Frontierland recreates the setting of pioneer days along the American frontier.
- The Sailing Ship Columbia (left photo below) is a full-scale replica of Columbia Rediviva, the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. Passengers on board take a 12-minutes trip around the Rivers of American. The Golden Horseshoe Saloon (right photo below) is a restaurant and attraction that housed multiple stage shows.
Disneyland has been celebrating Halloween since 1959. During my visit, displays of Pumpkins together with orange and red flowers brought out the Halloween atmosphere (photos below).
Real pumpkins carved into tradition Skull Pumpkin and Pirates of Caribbean theme were on display (left photo below). Also added to the festive mood were the traditional decorations, including the skeletons and bright colored flowers, for the Mexican Day of the Dead (right photo below).
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland features numerous attractions that depicts the view of the future.
- The Innoventions (photos below) is a two-storey exhibit focusing on near-futuristic technologies.
Opened in 1993, Mickey's Toontown was inspired by the fictional "Toontown" from the 1988 movie 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'.
- This is small-scale attraction where visitors can meet the characters and visit their homes which are constructed in a cartoonish style (photos below).
Even the furniture and painting tools in the Mickey's House could be so cartoonish (photos below).
Fantasyland is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale films.
- One of its popular attractions is the 'It's a Small World' (photos below). It is a water-based boat ride through over 300 audio-animated dolls in traditional costumes from cultures around the world.
The Fantasyland Theatre is an outdoor amphitheatre opened since 1956 (left photo below). During my visit, the theatre was showing Disney Princess Fantasy Faire featuring 'Snow White and Prince Charming' (right photo below).
The main attraction is definitely the Sleeping Beauty Castle (photo below). The castle reaches a height of 23-meters and opened in 1955, making it the oldest, and ironically the smallest, among all castles in Disneyland worldwide.
Other attractions in Fantasyland include Pinocchio's Daring Journey (left photo below) and Matterhorn Bobsleds which is an intertwined steel roller coasters ride (right photo below).
- Saw this band performance in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle; where the band marched out from the castle (left photo below) and followed by the various Disney characters dancing in sync with the music (right photo below).
Mickey being the band conductor surely was the best performer throughout the show (photos below).
Disneyland Food and Snacks
- Bought a cheese hotdog bun, chips and drink at around USD 12 for lunch (left photo below). What I liked was the generous spread of cheese over the bun.
When in Disneyland, it is a must to have a churro (right photo below) as recommended by most of my friends. Therefore bought a churro at USD 3.50 from a food cart at Tomorrowland. In my opinion, it was not particularly delicious but worth to give it a try.
- Souvenir hunters definitely would not be disappointed by the varieties of souvenirs in Disneyland (photos below).
There were at least 25 coin-press machines located in the park with three to four designs for each pressed pennies, dimes and even quarters (photos below).
Perhaps it was a Saturday, the park was crowded and most rides or attractions had long queues; even Fast Pass queue was long. As I have been to three Disneyland before this trip, therefore this park was rather not attractive enough to me. Did not stay till late for fireworks and I left the Disneyland at around 5 pm.
Anaheim Resort Transportation
Anaheim Resort Transportation (ART) is a mass transportation provider in the Disneyland Resort area where the main destinations are connected by the system. Decided to take the ART to Anaheim train station.
Ticket machine (left photo below) was located at the Disneyland Resort and each ticket cost USD 4 per trip (right photo below).
Bus was modern in design and comfortable with the strong air-condition (photos below). The bus ride took about 30-minutes from Disneyland Resort to Anaheim train station.
Once reached the Anaheim train station, I then boarded the Amtrak train back to Los Angeles main train station.Hollywood
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles in California. Its name has become a correspondence for the US film industry and the people associated with it. Many of the studios such as Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures were founded there. In 1910, Hollywood was consolidated with the city of Los Angeles and soon thereafter it emerged as a prominent film industry where eventually becoming the most recognizable icon in the world.
Dinner at a Japanese Restaurant
Decided to have Japanese food, thus went into Kino Sushi restaurant located along Hollywood Boulevard. Ordered a seafood udon (left photo below) and soft-shell crab (right photo below). Total cost was USD 21.20, and the taste was delicious and authentic to Japanese food.
Hollywood BoulevardHollywood Boulevard is a major east-west street in Los Angeles where major tourist landmarks and the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame are located.
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
- It is a historic movie theatre opened in 1922 (photos below). The theatre is an example of a lavish movie palace with its exterior in Egyptian Revival style.
- It is a movie palace in exotic revival style and was opened in 1927 following the success of Grauman's Egyptian Theatre. The exterior of the theatre is meant to resemble a giant red Chinese pagoda with a Chinese dragon across its façade (photos below).
Among the theatre's features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear nearly 200 signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day. Among these concrete blocks are casts from Harry Potter (left photo below) and Tom Hanks (right photo below).
- The Kodak Theatre is a live-performance auditorium and has been the venue for the annual Academy Awards ceremony since 2002 (photos below). The Academy Awards is popularly known as the 'Oscars' and are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide.
El Capitan Theatre
- It is a movie palace owned by The Walt Disney Company and serves as the venue for a majority of the Walt Disney Studios' film premieres (left photo below). Next to the theatre entrance is the Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store (right photo below).
- Hard Rock Café Hollywood (left photo below) is located at the Hollywood & Highland Centre besides the world-famous Kodak Theatre. The Rock Shop in the café offers limited-edition merchandises (right photo below).
There is another Hard Rock Café located at the Universal CityWalk. However I noticed that the merchandises sold in this Hollywood Boulevard outlet had both 'Los Angeles' or 'Hollywood' name separately compared to the Universal CityWalk outlet had only 'Hollywood' name on its merchandises.
- Madam Tussauds Hollywood is a three-storey wax museum that features more than 125 wax figures of famous celebrities (photos below).
- The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed stars, made of terrazzo and brass, embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood (left photo below).
classic film camera representing 'Motion Pictures'
television receiver representing 'Broadcast Television'
phonograph record representing 'Audio Recording or Music'
radio microphone representing 'Broadcast Radio'
comedy / tragedy masks representing 'Theater / Live Performance'
The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background. A round inlaid brass emblem below the name indicated the five categories of honoree's contributions:
Probably the only exception is the Special Award of Excellence given to Disneyland (right photo below).
Following were the well-known celebrities I saw: Fictional Characters (left photo below), Music Contributors (right photo below), Movie Stars (bottom left photo) and World-famous People (bottom right photo).
Back to the hostel for a good rest after a tiring day.
Next day, checked out from the hostel at 8 am on a Sunday morning and saw two more iconic landmarks along Hollywood Boulevard.
Hollywood Boulevard
Capitol Records Tower
- Capitol Records Tower is a 13-storey building and completed in 1956 (left photo below). It houses the consolidation of Capitol Records' West Coast operations and is home to the recording studios and echo chambers of Capitol Studios. It has been described as the "World's first circular office building".
Hollywood Sign
- Hollywood Sign is an American landmark and cultural icon overlooking Hollywood situated on Mount Lee (right photo below). The white capital letters 'HOLLYWOOD' has a height of 13.7-meters and combined length of 106.7-meters.
