Across The USA by Dodge

The first week in the good ole U.S.A. was spent in Los Angeles where I went on tours to various places.

Anyway, I went to Disneyland (the Happiest Place on Earth) which was really great. I wasn't too fussed about going there when I was organising the trip as I thought it was just a place for kids -- but it's for big kids too. I got a two day pass with the plane ticket so why not enjoy it.

Some of the rides are great such as "Star Tours" which is a "Star Wars" spin-off. You're strapped into a simulated spacecraft for a flight to Endor with R2D2 navigating and it is extremely realistic as you dodge meteors and go hurtling across the surface of the Death Star like a demented Luke Skywalker. I went on it four times. When I got back home one of my friends said it was his favourite ride and he'd also gone on it multiple times when he was there a couple of years ago.

"Captain Eo", a 3D movie starring Michael Jackson was OK although I'm not a Wacko Jacko fan, "Space Mountain" was a top rollercoaster ride in pitch darkness, and "Splash Mountain" is also very good - it's a water flume ride where the final section drops fifty feet. Guess who got to sit in the front seat and got drenched?

Some people call it "Disneyline" because you have to wait so long for the rides but I didn't find it too bad. A couple of times I had to wait for half an hour but generally it was only a ten-minute wait. The place is open from 9 am til 1 am and after about 10 at night you can hop on virtually any ride straight away.

The prices for souvenirs and food are quite reasonable which was a bit of a shock. You'd think they might hike up the prices seeing they have a captive audience, so to speak. I bought back a load of Mickey and Donald "memorabilia" for the nephews/nieces (and myself!). The food tasted pretty OK. I remember eating this huge turkey sandwich with the works on some weird looking bread (I've forgotten the name already) with chocolate coloured swirled across it -- one of my first tastes of America. [I arrived on Saturday afternoon, this was Monday.] Very enjoyable.



Do I look like Al Yankovic? I don't think so, but the first day I was at Disneyland I was walking towards a bunch of young guys (18 or so) when I heard one of them say to another "Hey, there's Weird Al Yankovic." I looked around to see if I could spot him too when the guy says to me "Can I have your autograph, Weird Al?" Huh? In my best Australian accent I told him "Sorry mate, my name's not Al." Bizarre or what?





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