The Great American Southwest (Part 1): The Famed Theme Parks, Universal Studios and Disneyland

Prologue:

- After I had my US visa approved for my October trip to the American northeast (i.e. New York and Washington D.C.,) my family decided to have theirs processed as well, and decided to go to the US for the Christmas holidays. Since I just came from the northeast, they decided to go to the southwest so we could all experience something new together. (Click here for part 1, here for part 2, here for part 3, here for part 4, here for part 5, here for part 6, and here for part 7 of my October trip to the American northeast.)

- An ideal trip abroad, at least based on my experiences, is a trip arranged and planned by myself. In that case, I can customize my trip based on my budget, interests, speed of traveling (I walk fast, for example,) and other preferences might I have. However, the trip was more or less confirmed around the time I came home from my New York-DC trip, which only gives me around a month to organize our December trip. Since I did not have much time to organize everything, I just told my family to book a package tour (something I will not normally suggest,) and probably just extend a couple of days more, if schedule permits. I think package tours are usually the best for my family because the pace of the tours are usually slower (as compared to my speed.) My family also wanted to go to one state to another, which made joining a package tour more ideal; had it been only one state, or one city, I would've been able to organize everything within the one-month preparation time that I had. (It took me three months to organize my New York-DC trip.)

- Our package tour was a land-arrangement tour, so we had to book our plane separately. For the land arrangement tour, we had a different guide and a different set of tourists for each leg of our whole trip. Later on, we found out that the travel/tour agency that was to handle the majority of the legs of our tour in the US was a Chinese travel agency based in the USA. Most of the participants/tourists (and obviously the main target market of the agency) were all from the mainland, with a few like us from other countries. Because of this, the tour guides hired (all ethnically Chinese) are all bilingual Mandarin-English speakers, and conduct the tours bilingually as well, so everyone would understand.

- Our trip to the US was a journey to three states - California, Las Vegas, and a day trip to Arizona. These southwestern states (together with other nearby states like Colorado and Texas) were historically inhabited by some indigenous American groups (i.e. different kinds of "American Indians") and were eventually part of "New Spain" during the European domination of the rest of the world; later on, they were absorbed as states of America. Incidentally, the "cowboy" tradition that is strongly associated with the USA came from the Spanish conquistadors who passed on the cow-herding tradition in many parts of New Spain. The "vaqueros" (from "vaca," or cow,) who were cattle herders, always mounted on horses when doing their job.




The trip:

- December 19-21, 2015, Saturday to Monday.

- As soon as we reached Los Angeles International Airport (aka LAX,) we were driven to Howard Johnson Inn Fullerton to spend the night. Fullerton is a city within metropolitan Los Angeles (and so it is not part of Los Angeles City;) it is quieter there compared to the more urban downtown, but it was far less as quiet and eerie than Poughkeepsie in upstate New York (click here for my trip to eerie and quiet Poughkeepsie.) California also had a light drizzle that night, which is strange because it rarely rains in California. To think we left Manila raining, and reached California raining as well; the rain must have followed us.

Party in the USA!!

- It was early winter in California, and temperatures were around single-digit (Celsius) at the lowest, and around 10s at the "hottest" time of the day. It rarely snows in Los Angeles, but strong winds are frequently experienced at this time of the year. Since my body is more accustomed to the cold (which is weird since I spend most of the time in the Philippines where I live,) I only wore light clothes with vests, a regular pair of pants, socks, and shoes. I enjoyed the cold weather, though my skin would easily become dry. Like Elsa, the cold never bothered my anyway (unless, of course, the extreme Siberian-level cold which I have yet to experience.) My parents and my sister, on the other hand, are not as welcoming of the cold, and are wrapped up in layers for each day that we were in the US.

- Another thing I noticed was the low-level establishments in California. Not seeing regular high-rise buildings expected of cities in LA creeped me out a bit (I consider Fullerton to be semi urbanized.) We were told by our driver that this was because California is earthquake prone (around 10,000 earthquakes annually,) and so to minimize casualties, houses and other buildings needed to be built with fewer floors. In lieu of more floors, more land was needed to horizontally expand bigger establishments like hotels or offices. Downtown LA, however, looks more like a regular city with high-rise buildings; this was because newer buildings were built in the downtown using newer building technologies, allowing earthquake-proof high-rise buildings.

- On our first whole day in the US, we went to Universal Studios in downtown LA. Built in 1915, this is the first Universal Studios built in the world. Apart from the famed theme park, Universal Studios California also has actual studios being used to film shows and Hollywood films (hence, the word "Studios" in the name.) The only other Universal Studios with actual studios is the one in Florida; all other Universal Studios are just theme parks.

The globe is smaller than you think.

Tada!!

- We first caught one of the earlier studio tours offered for the day. The studio tours is one of the highlights of Universal Studios because it allows you to see the actual filming locations of many shows and films. At certain points, some performances and other special-effects attractions can be experienced; Universal Studios also guarantees that the special-effects attractions (experiencing a simulated earthquake, flash flood, fire, etc.) are controlled, and so they can do and repeat everything without harming anyone.

Stage 12 - where they film "The Voice,"

Fake street.

Everything looks so real, but there's really nothing inside; some of them are just facades.

The same kind of coach we were on.

Bridge used for filming.

Many famous cars.

Flinstones' car!!

The cars used in Jurassic World.

Tank.

Jurassic Park anyone??

Another Jurassic Park scene.

Hello!!

Simulated flood (they recycle the water, don't worry.)

Jaws!!

The actual lake/pond/"sea" where they filmed Jaws.

The Grinch!! How appropriate for the Christmas season. 

Bates Motel....Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho anyone??

Airplane crash scene using an old airplane.

This was used in War of the Worlds and other films/videos.

I felt like I was driving through a real airplane crash.

Warner Bros. Studios seen from far far away.

- For lunch we went to Moe's Tavern, similar to the one found in The Simpsons. I got to try Duff Beer, which wasn't all that spectacular actually (I don't really like the taste of beer to begin with.)

IT'S REAL!!

Just like in the cartoon!!

With a view of Springfield above Moe's. 

AND IT HAS A KWIK-E-MART BESIDE IT!!!!

Hello Milhouse!!

Krusty Land!! Look at Krusty eat all those people!!

- After lunch we attended the Special Effects Show; it only had a few shows per day. The show was actually a demo lecture on special effects being done in shows and films. The lecture/show tackled topics like film technology, sound effects, special effects (like setting people on fire,) stunts, and more. Apart from the studio tours, this was my second favorite thing about Universal Studios because I found it very relevant to my profession. I used to be a Communication major, where we talked much about mass media; now I'm teaching film seminar classes and popular culture classes as well.

Our emcee.

Showing early animation.

Actual sphinx used.

Stuntmen.

Famous horror figures.

Setting people on fire (safely.)

- After the show/lecture, we went on a Transformers ride that I didn't really enjoy. To be honest, I'm the worst person to drag to a theme park. I don't really enjoy them apart from the "theme" of the park. I usually just spend my time taking photos and looking around in souvenir stores (if there's anything interesting that is,) because I don't like going on rides. If ever I'd go on one, I go on the tame ones. However, the long lines usually discourage me from going on any ride, so I end up not riding anything at all. Again, I don't enjoy too much motion.

- We walked around Universal Studios for the remainder of the afternoon, until we had dinner in Moe's again. After dinner, our tour bus waited for us at the parking lot, and we departed around 6pm for our night tour.

Why hello.

Bello!!

MY FIRST SPANISH TEACHER OMG IT'S REALLY YOU!!!! 

I have a soft spot for dinosaurs.

Harry Potter shop.

The Harry Potter attraction will open this April 2016.

Hogwarts.

What magic is happening in there??

Neon sign outside the theme park.

- We had a night tour around Hollywood, though I didn't enjoy it that much for a number of reasons. First, most of the us in the bus were tired from spending the day at Universal Studios, so many of us slept while the guide/driver drove us around the Hollywood area. Second, the "tour" was just a drive around Hollywood, and we didn't really get to get off and take photos. The only place where we were able to do that was near the TCL Chinese Theater (aka "Grauman's Chinese Theater," and "Mann's Chinese Theater.") The only reason we were able to do so is because there was a Hollywood souvenir shop nearby, and the bus driver/guide had to stop there so those interested could buy some Hollywood souvenirs. Since we were given an hour to do that, and I didn't have to shop for a lot, my sister and I walked to the TCL Chinese Theater and took photos. By the way, the TCL Chinese Theater is known for many movie premiers, including Star Wars in 1977; for 2015, Star Wars VII also premiered in the same theater. In front of TCL Chinese Theater is the Hollywood Walk of Fame (which goes on for a couple of blocks on both sides of the street,) and we were able to get photos of some stars too.

Kapow!!

TCL Chinese Theater.

MEMORRYYYYYY~ all aloneeeee in the moonlighttt!!

Disney's pride.

Annie are you OK, are you OK, Annie??

Magic!!

Elvis Presley and his car.

The horror master.

- We got back to the hotel, still quite sleepy and tired, and had to prepare for another whole-day "fun day" the day after. Of course, what better way to have fun than doing it in the "happiest place on earth" - Disneyland.

- The Disneyland theme park in California is the first Disneyland ever built. It was built in 1955 in Anaheim, another city in metropolitan Los Angeles, and just around a short 10-minute shuttle ride from our hotel in Fullerton City. This original Disneyland, however, is not the first Disneyland that pops into people's minds, but the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. This is because the iconic castle shown in Disney films resembles the one in Orlando more than the one in Anaheim. Apparently, there are two distinct castles in all Disney theme parks around the world: the Cinderella Castle (the one in Orlando and Tokyo) and the Sleeping Beauty Castle (in Anaheim and Hong Kong.) The Cinderella Castle is the pointer and more iconic one, while the Sleeping Beauty Castle is wider with flatter/shorter spires.

Sleeping Beauty Castle.

With me.

- Being a theme park, Disneyland is another bore to me. However, one thing I find charming about Disneyland is the variety of parades and performances that they regularly show. It's the one thing that makes me "happy" in "the happiest place on earth." The only thing that disappointed me, though it may be a small thing, is that I wasn't able to find anything Heimlich related in the theme park. (Heimlich is the fat green caterpillar in "A Bug's Life," and is one of my favorite characters.)

Parade's starting.

Everything's so Christmasy.

Chip and Dale.

Pooh and his gang. I wonder where Piglet went.

Eeyore seems happy??

OMG IT'S THE FROZEN GANG!!

HI ELSA!!!!

She waved at me!!!!

Goofy and Pluto.

Cinderella's stepmom and stepsisters.

And of course the Disney princesses.

Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen in front.

Sleeping Beauty and her prince.

Ariel who was once a mermaid.

Belle and the Beast.

"Reach for the sky!!" - Woody.

LGMs.

Santa's reindeer.

AND THERE'S SANTA!!

- After having lunch in one of the jampacked restaurants of Disneyland, we went to watch a theatrical storytelling performance of "Frozen." In the small theater, my family and I were seated with plenty of little girls and their parents. I had no regrets since the storytelling performance was not like any other, and the creativity of using minimalist but effective props and costumes amazed me (being someone with a background in theater.)

Saw Mary Poppins on the way to the theater.

Our storytellers.

A mini puppet show before introducing....

Anna and Elsa!!

Puppet Sven.

Olaf the snowman. I'm actually quite sad that Oaken the shopkeeper wasn't featured. (Hoohoo big summer blowout!!)

Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.

Anna completely frozen.

Singing Let It Go.

Final bow.

Thank you all for making me feel like a child again.

- In the late afternoon, my dad requested the family to hop on the Mark Twain Riverboat. Since I like slow rides, I agreed to go as well. The slow and leisurely boat ride went around an artificial river that showed mannequins of Lakota people (i.e. one of America's indigenous groups) portraying the traditional lives of the Lakota people, models of moose pretending to graze and drink water from the river, and other animals that commonly live with the Lakota people.

On the top deck.

Captain's cabin.

Lakota people.

An elder Lakota telling stories to the young Lakota.

A good ol' steamboat.

- After the slow boat ride, we had a turkey-leg dinner, and caught the evening parade. The evening parade was different from the day parade since the evening one had a totally different set of characters, performances, and songs. The evening parade also used a lot of neon lights were also made to dazzle the park.

My turkey leg.

All the performers were lit up.

Fairies.

Tinkerbell!!

Peter Pan!!

Larger than life Tigger and Genie.

Larger than life Genie and Lumiere.

Sulley!!

Lightning McQueen at night.

Neon-lit Mack.

Ariel's the only real person here.

Can you see Woody on top of Slinky Dog??

LGMs as always.

Belle looks like a cake ornament.

Rapunzel from Tangled.

Yes Cinderella, a dream is a wish your heart makes.

ANNA AND ELSA AGAIN!!!!

Olaf.

Minnie.

Finally, Mickey as the sorcerer's apprentice.

- The finale of the night was the firework display, accompanied by a light-and-sound number of the usual Disney songs. However, only one thing ruined the night - rain. Just when we thought that it wouldn't rain anymore in California after our arrival date, the rain decided to "rain on our parade" that night, and the only way to see the firework-light-and-sound display was in the open air. Everyone got wet, but at least we still enjoyed the whole fanfare.

Celebrating 60 years of Disney!!

There go the lights.

Now for the fireworks!!

- Drenched by the rain, we went back to the hotel and packed our bags for the second leg of our trip the following day - Las Vegas and Arizona. (Don't forget to read parts 2 here, 3 here, and 4 here!!)