This has got to be the most addictive online game ever. It's like Disneyland online with a whole bunch of quests and mini games. You can chat and trade items with other players. There are loads of costumes and gadgets you can win in game. You can dress your character and make them look how you like.
Also we were given about 5 different quest cards for the Disneyland park. As we completed the real world treasure hunts, we were given rewards for the Disneyland computer game. Also when we bought a set of golden mickey ears from one of the Disney shops, they gave us the digital version also so our characters could wear the same in game.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Disneyland
Yay we're here! For those of you who have never been, Disneyland is like stepping into a cartoon. All of the buildings have a very painted look about them. There are many areas, each based on a certain theme such as Tomorrow Land or Storybook Land. Get ready for it, here's the rundown...
As we entered on Main Street the decoration was mesmerizing to the last detail. You could smell the cookie dough in the air. All the shops boasted toys, posters, artwork, statues, of all the Disney characters.
As we walked further up the street a parade was starting. There were loads of floats with the Disney characters dancing to music. Each float was crafted to give an overview to each cartoon. There was a Lion King float, a Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty and many more.
Further up we seen the Disney castle which is at the centre of the park. This is a lot smaller than the EuroDisney version and you can't go inside.
They had a few different modes of transport to get around the park such as a train, a cartoon style fire engine or a horse and cart. They had a little cinema there where you could watch cartoons (we figured we can watch cartoons until the cows come home when we get back, and so we moved on).
In Fantasy Land we first tried out 'Pinocchio's Daring Journey' which was like a ghost train ride which very quickly took you through the story. Pretty much the same for the Roger Rabbit, Snow White and Alice in Wonderland rides. Quite entertaining and full of nice artwork.
Next came 'Storybook Land Canal Boat' journey which was a bit dull. It had a bunch of miniature houses from Disney films. They could be anything as far as I could see. I think they could have done a lot more with this.
We went to meet Mickey Mouse at his house which was pretty cool although we were surrounded by mostly children.
Frontier Land had a nice boat called Mark Twain that took us for a tour around Tom Sawyer Island. This is the island where they perform some of the shows such as fireworks shows etc. There are a lot of the usual shooting galleries and other such games here.
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was pretty cool. It had loads of atmosphere with cannons going off and the animatronic characters.
Indiana Jones ride was good fun. All of the booby traps were going off around the carriage, poison darts, rolling boulders and all.
The Jungle Cruise was a little boring. It was just a tour down a river with a bunch of wooden animals plonked here and there. I guess the magic is spoiled when you have done the real thing.
The Tiki Room was great fun. It was filled with animatronic birds who would all sing and put on a performance for us. It was a good laugh and had some terribly catchy tunes.
We walked into Tomorrow Land where everything was based on the future. We went on a 4d ride called "Honey I Shrunk The Audience". This was good fun and again surprised us that the 4d rides are always so unique and offer so many little differences in the show.
We went on a tour ride called Innoventions. It introduced us to a load of new gadgets in the home such as ovens that would start cooking when the owner returned. It was all good although our greatest discovery was VMK, see next post!!
Disneyland was great, offering loads to do. We got a three day pass and were still kept busy. Food was pretty expensive mind. We went to a Mc Donalds there where they only sold fries and drinks. I guess Disney didn't want them stealing all the business. A great few days though.
As we entered on Main Street the decoration was mesmerizing to the last detail. You could smell the cookie dough in the air. All the shops boasted toys, posters, artwork, statues, of all the Disney characters.
As we walked further up the street a parade was starting. There were loads of floats with the Disney characters dancing to music. Each float was crafted to give an overview to each cartoon. There was a Lion King float, a Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty and many more.
Further up we seen the Disney castle which is at the centre of the park. This is a lot smaller than the EuroDisney version and you can't go inside.
They had a few different modes of transport to get around the park such as a train, a cartoon style fire engine or a horse and cart. They had a little cinema there where you could watch cartoons (we figured we can watch cartoons until the cows come home when we get back, and so we moved on).
In Fantasy Land we first tried out 'Pinocchio's Daring Journey' which was like a ghost train ride which very quickly took you through the story. Pretty much the same for the Roger Rabbit, Snow White and Alice in Wonderland rides. Quite entertaining and full of nice artwork.
Next came 'Storybook Land Canal Boat' journey which was a bit dull. It had a bunch of miniature houses from Disney films. They could be anything as far as I could see. I think they could have done a lot more with this.
We went to meet Mickey Mouse at his house which was pretty cool although we were surrounded by mostly children.
Frontier Land had a nice boat called Mark Twain that took us for a tour around Tom Sawyer Island. This is the island where they perform some of the shows such as fireworks shows etc. There are a lot of the usual shooting galleries and other such games here.
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was pretty cool. It had loads of atmosphere with cannons going off and the animatronic characters.
Indiana Jones ride was good fun. All of the booby traps were going off around the carriage, poison darts, rolling boulders and all.
The Jungle Cruise was a little boring. It was just a tour down a river with a bunch of wooden animals plonked here and there. I guess the magic is spoiled when you have done the real thing.
The Tiki Room was great fun. It was filled with animatronic birds who would all sing and put on a performance for us. It was a good laugh and had some terribly catchy tunes.
We walked into Tomorrow Land where everything was based on the future. We went on a 4d ride called "Honey I Shrunk The Audience". This was good fun and again surprised us that the 4d rides are always so unique and offer so many little differences in the show.
We went on a tour ride called Innoventions. It introduced us to a load of new gadgets in the home such as ovens that would start cooking when the owner returned. It was all good although our greatest discovery was VMK, see next post!!
Disneyland was great, offering loads to do. We got a three day pass and were still kept busy. Food was pretty expensive mind. We went to a Mc Donalds there where they only sold fries and drinks. I guess Disney didn't want them stealing all the business. A great few days though.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Hollywood Sign
This is another one of Americas' famous places. It's funny that it was first just a sign for the housing estate, Hollywoodland. I wonder where the rest of the sign went?
Anyways, it was pretty usual, wasn't all that. It was pretty much just a sign on a hill. There was however a nice viewpoint further up the road where we could see the sign and also looked out on LA.
Anyways, it was pretty usual, wasn't all that. It was pretty much just a sign on a hill. There was however a nice viewpoint further up the road where we could see the sign and also looked out on LA.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Too Friendly?
Another example of friendly folk, we were at a stall and some guy realized we were British and immediately asked 'Oh how is the weather there' because after all, that's all us Brits care about eh? Sadly Paul misheard him and thought he'd said 'How are the women out there' to which he looked puzzled and replied 'Er ok I guess although thankfully I don't have to worry about that as I am happily married'. The guy looked really embarrassed. Paul on the other hand thought 'Ah that'll be my brain and mouth not working properly again, best get my ears cleaned out'.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Universal Studios
This was a groovy day out, almost like visiting Disney land. There were loads of rides and activities. We also got a digitally altered poster of Van Helsing with our faces on the characters. Great fun, Universal Studios is definitely on the recommended list.
Waterworld ride:
Just in case you missed it from the title, this one gets you really wet. It's a show where they cover the audience with water by exploding things, creating waves in the direction of the audience with a jetski, and if you're really unlucky, one or more of the actors will take a dislikance to you and spray you wit their water gun. So many people were literally soaked to the bone. This is one to try at the start of the day so you can dry off in the sun. We sat next to a disabled old lady, hoping for some mercy but still got soaked.
Backdraft ride:
We made the mistake of going on the Waterworld ride when the sun was going down. We decided to go on the Backdraft ride to dry off. This seemed to work and the ride was good enough, lots of things collapsing, burning and bursting into flames.
Shrek 4d:
This has to be one of the more impressive 3d rides we have seen. The cool characters, artwork and humour of the Shrek movies.
Terminator ride:
This was another 3d glasses ride which also had a bunch of actors running around shooting and driving motorcycles. It also had three separate screens that robots ran around so that it really gave a sense of atmosphere. Thumbs up for this ride also, it was pretty good fun.
Van Helsing ride:
I really enjoyed the movie but the ride was pants. Not worth going in even if there is no queue. It's like a lame version of London Dungeon.
Visul Effects Tour:
This gave a behind the scenes look at certain films special effects. It was presented in a fun way with two hosts interacting with the audience, performing special effects wizardry on volunteers. It was a pretty good laugh.
Studio Tour:
One area had cars from films such as the Fast and the Furious, Back to the Future, Magnum PI and more.
There was one teeny water pool area where scenes from Jaws and Vanhelsing were filmed. It had this naff painted backdrop.
There was a street area that is apparently used in loads of films such as Spiderman. All of the building were made from foam like material instead of brick. They had huge prop areas that would grow if for example someone wanted a bunch of different lamp posts for their film.
We seen gigantic sets for films such as War of the Worlds and the Grinch. We also went past the street where Desperate Housewives is filmed. There were countless other buildings where TV series such as CSI were being filmed.
We seen a whole bunch of other people in costumes such as Spiderman and Shrek. The park in general had loads going on. We really tried hard to cram everything into one day. Two thumbs up for Universal.
Waterworld ride:
Just in case you missed it from the title, this one gets you really wet. It's a show where they cover the audience with water by exploding things, creating waves in the direction of the audience with a jetski, and if you're really unlucky, one or more of the actors will take a dislikance to you and spray you wit their water gun. So many people were literally soaked to the bone. This is one to try at the start of the day so you can dry off in the sun. We sat next to a disabled old lady, hoping for some mercy but still got soaked.
Backdraft ride:
We made the mistake of going on the Waterworld ride when the sun was going down. We decided to go on the Backdraft ride to dry off. This seemed to work and the ride was good enough, lots of things collapsing, burning and bursting into flames.
Shrek 4d:
This has to be one of the more impressive 3d rides we have seen. The cool characters, artwork and humour of the Shrek movies.
Terminator ride:
This was another 3d glasses ride which also had a bunch of actors running around shooting and driving motorcycles. It also had three separate screens that robots ran around so that it really gave a sense of atmosphere. Thumbs up for this ride also, it was pretty good fun.
Van Helsing ride:
I really enjoyed the movie but the ride was pants. Not worth going in even if there is no queue. It's like a lame version of London Dungeon.
Visul Effects Tour:
This gave a behind the scenes look at certain films special effects. It was presented in a fun way with two hosts interacting with the audience, performing special effects wizardry on volunteers. It was a pretty good laugh.
Studio Tour:
One area had cars from films such as the Fast and the Furious, Back to the Future, Magnum PI and more.
There was one teeny water pool area where scenes from Jaws and Vanhelsing were filmed. It had this naff painted backdrop.
There was a street area that is apparently used in loads of films such as Spiderman. All of the building were made from foam like material instead of brick. They had huge prop areas that would grow if for example someone wanted a bunch of different lamp posts for their film.
We seen gigantic sets for films such as War of the Worlds and the Grinch. We also went past the street where Desperate Housewives is filmed. There were countless other buildings where TV series such as CSI were being filmed.
We seen a whole bunch of other people in costumes such as Spiderman and Shrek. The park in general had loads going on. We really tried hard to cram everything into one day. Two thumbs up for Universal.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
It's world famous and the one place you'd expect to be soooo glam, the walkway of the stars baby! Sadly this isn't really the case. The floor is indeed scattered with loads of stars with peoples names on but the street its self is pretty poor and grubby looking. It ain't as glam as you'd expect. There's one area where a bunch of stars have placed their handprints which is a little more up market but not by much. It's one to see just to say that you've seen it but as far as I see I could say you can keep it! Oh and the subway is poor, too few trains.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Celeb Spotting
Downtown Beverly hills is a great place to go celeb spotting so they say. We checked out Rodeo Drive where there were a load of designer shops for the rich people to spend their cash, and there were a lot of rich folk judging by the cars parked outside.
We didn't see anyone famous although we did see some woman being photographed as she strutted around luvvy style.
The highlight of the street was a little gallery with the most amazing oil painted caricatures of the Rolling Stones. They were wonderful paintings.
We didn't see anyone famous although we did see some woman being photographed as she strutted around luvvy style.
The highlight of the street was a little gallery with the most amazing oil painted caricatures of the Rolling Stones. They were wonderful paintings.
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