Anaheim, CA Trip - 06/23/09 to 06/29/09
Having been to two National FBLA conferences over the past two summers, I couldn't miss out this year, even if I'm no longer a student! I went along as a guest with my friends Curt and Miranda. Joining us from Jersey Shore (and competing in events!) were my friends Seth, Jeremy, Erica, Cortney, Ian, Nate, Luke, and Kyle.
06/23/09 - Day One
I slept for about 30 minutes and drove over to Curt's house around 3am. We waited for Seth and Miranda to show up, then left for the State College airport. Our flight to Detroit was around 6 in the morning. Once we arrived in Detroit, we were able to get some breakfast and relax for awhile before our flight to Los Angeles.
We arrived at LAX around 11am PST and headed straight for Huntington Beach on charter buses! Since it was a Tuesday, there were not many people there. We had a free lunch and played some beach volleyball. Most people also went swimming for awhile... I had left my swim shorts on the bus and could not get all that wet.
After a quick 2 hours at the beach, we boarded the buses and rode the 45-minute ride to our hotel in Anaheim. (We would later find out that it takes about 2 HOURS to get to the beach by public transportation...) Once we relaxed for thirty minutes or so, four of us--Seth, Jeremy, Curt, and I--went to watch the Angels vs. Rockies baseball game. The Angels won, and we actually stayed for the entire game this year... although, after only getting about an hour of sleep on the flights, I was quite exhausted by the end of the day.
Our hotel was not as nice as the one in Atlanta, but it was cool that we had our own courtyard on the 5th floor! It was also convenient that the pool and hot tubs were also on our floor.
06/24/09 - Day Two
I had the most amazing six hours of sleep in my life. We had an early meeting (7:30am) and then an entire day of sightseeing.
Our first stop was to the Crystal Cathedral, which was located down the road from our hotel. It is where the "Hour of Power" is filmed every Sunday. It was a really nice start to our day, and I'm glad we went there. Santa Monica Pier was okay, but I would have rather spent less time there so that we could have had more time on Hollywood Boulevard. After the pier, we had roughly a half hour to walk around Hollywood and take pictures. I managed to take a picture of Michael Jackson's star the day before he died!
Other than those three stops, we also spent a lot of time riding around on the charter buses. We saw quite a bit of Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Los Angeles. Like in the past two years, we also stopped and had lunch/dinner at Fogo de Chao! I will miss eating at that place... what an amazing steakhouse.
By the time we arrived back at the hotel, it was already past 6:30pm. We all decided to chill around the hotel for the rest of the night. Curt, Erica, Luke, Jeremy, and I ended up walking to the Anaheim GardenWalk, an outdoor mall close to the hotel. Also close to the hotel, we discovered a 7-11 that was basically our lifeline throughout the rest of the trip.
It was cool that we could hear/see the fireworks that Disneyland puts off every night. The hotel that we stayed at (the Anaheim Hilton) was directly across the street from Disneyland property. We were definitely in a nice location.
06/25/09 - Day Three
Day three in one word: DISNEYLAND! (...and California Adventure)
So, we spent $90 per person for a one-day park hopper that allowed us to go back and forth from the hotel, California Adventure, and Disneyland the entire day. We got to California Adventure around 10am when it opened. Since we didn't have quite enough time to see everything, we only got on the more "thrilling" rides at both of the parks. Most of the group had an opening ceremony meeting to go to that night, so time was a little tight.
At California Adventure, most of us rode the Tower of Terror, Soarin', a water raft ride type-thing, California Screamin' (a fast roller coaster), and a big ferris wheel. We walked over to Disneyland in the afternoon and waited over an hour to get on Space Mountain... which we never got to ride because it closed down for maintenance when we were about ten people away from getting on. At least they gave us FastPasses so that we could get on other rides faster.
After our Space Mountain fail, the group split up because some people wanted to get back to the hotel early for the ceremony and such. We were hungry by then, and those of us that stayed behind ended up eating pizza at the park. A full pizza cost us $35!
We then rode some more rides like the Indiana Jones Adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean, and a roller coaster in the theme of an old railroad train. By far, Pirates of the Caribbean was probably my favorite ride there just because all of the displays are so lifelike. I felt as though I were in an actual movie scene. (I ended up riding it again later that night.)
Most of us decided to head back to the hotel for awhile. Miranda, Curtis, and I did not have to go to the meeting. Miranda and I ate some Coldstone Creamery ice cream and rested in the hotel for an hour or so. It was at this point during the trip that I discovered my laptop had epically crashed.
Later that night, I rode some more rides back at the park (a bobsled coaster ride, the Haunted Mansion, etc.) Erica, Luke, and I were going to try to ride Space Mountain again, but didn't want to wait another hour in line when it was already past 11pm.
All in all, another amazing day.
06/26/09 - Day Four
Friday was an interesting day. Most people had their competitions to worry about, so I was able to sleep in. Some of us made the journey to Newport Beach in the late morning. Kyle, Luke, Erica, Curtis, Miranda, and I had our first public bus experience. It took over two hours to get to the beach, mainly because the bus driver had to call the Orange County sheriff. There was a crazy guy that was also on our bus. Good times.
Newport Beach was not as nice as Huntington Beach. We stayed for a couple hours (and got sunburned pretty badly). We didn't want to risk public transportation again because a few of the group had to be back for another meeting that night. We decided to take a taxi. It "cost" us over $60, but the guy was nice and gave the ride to us for $45 because it had been an estimated $40 cab ride. It probably didn't help that the driver took us the looong way back to the hotel. It was to our advantage that Kyle talked to him the entire ride or else he would definitely not have subtracted money off the bill.
For dinner we ate at Carl's Jr, a popular fast food restaurant in the west. It was great food. Upon leaving the facility, we noticed a sign hanging that mentioned that there were chemicals used in the food products that may cause cancer and other defects. It was quite hilarious because it was the first time we had seen these signs, but they were honestly posted all over California so we weren't overly concerned for our health.
Once back at the hotel, we went in the hot tub for awhile and went to bed. We found out that the Digital Video Production team had made the final 12, so most of us wanted to wake up early to watch them perform again on Saturday!
06/27/09 - Day Five
We watched the DVP team perform in front of the judges, and then we decided to go back to Huntington Beach. Again, the bus rides (and waiting for the buses) probably totaled over six hours. Saturday was a much busier time for the beach, but it was still great. Some of us walked along the beach to the pier and watched part of a street show.
We ate at another fast food place for dinner, In 'n' Out. The choices for dinner were rather simple--you either got a double cheeseburger, cheeseburger, or hamburger. You could also get fries, a drink, or a milkshake. "Get your food, then get out!"
06/28/09 - Day Six
Sunday was another relaxing day. We walked to Downtown Disney and went into some of the shops. Even Mr. Miller, our adviser, traveled along with us. We also went back to the Anaheim GardenWalk. Erica, Luke, Curt, and I ate lunch/dinner at the Cheesecake Factory!
Sunday night was the awards of excellence program. The Virtual Business teams placed 4th and 9th. Digital Video Production placed 7th, and Erica placed 10th in Business Communications. I especially enjoyed the free pie afterward. :-)
06/29/09 - Day Seven
Monday was our travel day. We left at 9am for LAX. Our flight was at noon. I had dinner at the Detroit airport and arrived back in State College at 11pm EST. I didn't make it back to the house until 12:30 in the morning. I haven't gone to bed earlier than 3am since I got back... I blame it on jetlag.
Do I miss it? Yes. I cannot wait to go back... yet another summer that I will always remember.
06/23/09 - Day One
I slept for about 30 minutes and drove over to Curt's house around 3am. We waited for Seth and Miranda to show up, then left for the State College airport. Our flight to Detroit was around 6 in the morning. Once we arrived in Detroit, we were able to get some breakfast and relax for awhile before our flight to Los Angeles.
We arrived at LAX around 11am PST and headed straight for Huntington Beach on charter buses! Since it was a Tuesday, there were not many people there. We had a free lunch and played some beach volleyball. Most people also went swimming for awhile... I had left my swim shorts on the bus and could not get all that wet.
After a quick 2 hours at the beach, we boarded the buses and rode the 45-minute ride to our hotel in Anaheim. (We would later find out that it takes about 2 HOURS to get to the beach by public transportation...) Once we relaxed for thirty minutes or so, four of us--Seth, Jeremy, Curt, and I--went to watch the Angels vs. Rockies baseball game. The Angels won, and we actually stayed for the entire game this year... although, after only getting about an hour of sleep on the flights, I was quite exhausted by the end of the day.
Our hotel was not as nice as the one in Atlanta, but it was cool that we had our own courtyard on the 5th floor! It was also convenient that the pool and hot tubs were also on our floor.
06/24/09 - Day Two
I had the most amazing six hours of sleep in my life. We had an early meeting (7:30am) and then an entire day of sightseeing.
Our first stop was to the Crystal Cathedral, which was located down the road from our hotel. It is where the "Hour of Power" is filmed every Sunday. It was a really nice start to our day, and I'm glad we went there. Santa Monica Pier was okay, but I would have rather spent less time there so that we could have had more time on Hollywood Boulevard. After the pier, we had roughly a half hour to walk around Hollywood and take pictures. I managed to take a picture of Michael Jackson's star the day before he died!
Other than those three stops, we also spent a lot of time riding around on the charter buses. We saw quite a bit of Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Los Angeles. Like in the past two years, we also stopped and had lunch/dinner at Fogo de Chao! I will miss eating at that place... what an amazing steakhouse.
By the time we arrived back at the hotel, it was already past 6:30pm. We all decided to chill around the hotel for the rest of the night. Curt, Erica, Luke, Jeremy, and I ended up walking to the Anaheim GardenWalk, an outdoor mall close to the hotel. Also close to the hotel, we discovered a 7-11 that was basically our lifeline throughout the rest of the trip.
It was cool that we could hear/see the fireworks that Disneyland puts off every night. The hotel that we stayed at (the Anaheim Hilton) was directly across the street from Disneyland property. We were definitely in a nice location.
06/25/09 - Day Three
Day three in one word: DISNEYLAND! (...and California Adventure)
So, we spent $90 per person for a one-day park hopper that allowed us to go back and forth from the hotel, California Adventure, and Disneyland the entire day. We got to California Adventure around 10am when it opened. Since we didn't have quite enough time to see everything, we only got on the more "thrilling" rides at both of the parks. Most of the group had an opening ceremony meeting to go to that night, so time was a little tight.
At California Adventure, most of us rode the Tower of Terror, Soarin', a water raft ride type-thing, California Screamin' (a fast roller coaster), and a big ferris wheel. We walked over to Disneyland in the afternoon and waited over an hour to get on Space Mountain... which we never got to ride because it closed down for maintenance when we were about ten people away from getting on. At least they gave us FastPasses so that we could get on other rides faster.
After our Space Mountain fail, the group split up because some people wanted to get back to the hotel early for the ceremony and such. We were hungry by then, and those of us that stayed behind ended up eating pizza at the park. A full pizza cost us $35!
We then rode some more rides like the Indiana Jones Adventure, Pirates of the Caribbean, and a roller coaster in the theme of an old railroad train. By far, Pirates of the Caribbean was probably my favorite ride there just because all of the displays are so lifelike. I felt as though I were in an actual movie scene. (I ended up riding it again later that night.)
Most of us decided to head back to the hotel for awhile. Miranda, Curtis, and I did not have to go to the meeting. Miranda and I ate some Coldstone Creamery ice cream and rested in the hotel for an hour or so. It was at this point during the trip that I discovered my laptop had epically crashed.
Later that night, I rode some more rides back at the park (a bobsled coaster ride, the Haunted Mansion, etc.) Erica, Luke, and I were going to try to ride Space Mountain again, but didn't want to wait another hour in line when it was already past 11pm.
All in all, another amazing day.
06/26/09 - Day Four
Friday was an interesting day. Most people had their competitions to worry about, so I was able to sleep in. Some of us made the journey to Newport Beach in the late morning. Kyle, Luke, Erica, Curtis, Miranda, and I had our first public bus experience. It took over two hours to get to the beach, mainly because the bus driver had to call the Orange County sheriff. There was a crazy guy that was also on our bus. Good times.
Newport Beach was not as nice as Huntington Beach. We stayed for a couple hours (and got sunburned pretty badly). We didn't want to risk public transportation again because a few of the group had to be back for another meeting that night. We decided to take a taxi. It "cost" us over $60, but the guy was nice and gave the ride to us for $45 because it had been an estimated $40 cab ride. It probably didn't help that the driver took us the looong way back to the hotel. It was to our advantage that Kyle talked to him the entire ride or else he would definitely not have subtracted money off the bill.
For dinner we ate at Carl's Jr, a popular fast food restaurant in the west. It was great food. Upon leaving the facility, we noticed a sign hanging that mentioned that there were chemicals used in the food products that may cause cancer and other defects. It was quite hilarious because it was the first time we had seen these signs, but they were honestly posted all over California so we weren't overly concerned for our health.
Once back at the hotel, we went in the hot tub for awhile and went to bed. We found out that the Digital Video Production team had made the final 12, so most of us wanted to wake up early to watch them perform again on Saturday!
06/27/09 - Day Five
We watched the DVP team perform in front of the judges, and then we decided to go back to Huntington Beach. Again, the bus rides (and waiting for the buses) probably totaled over six hours. Saturday was a much busier time for the beach, but it was still great. Some of us walked along the beach to the pier and watched part of a street show.
We ate at another fast food place for dinner, In 'n' Out. The choices for dinner were rather simple--you either got a double cheeseburger, cheeseburger, or hamburger. You could also get fries, a drink, or a milkshake. "Get your food, then get out!"
06/28/09 - Day Six
Sunday was another relaxing day. We walked to Downtown Disney and went into some of the shops. Even Mr. Miller, our adviser, traveled along with us. We also went back to the Anaheim GardenWalk. Erica, Luke, Curt, and I ate lunch/dinner at the Cheesecake Factory!
Sunday night was the awards of excellence program. The Virtual Business teams placed 4th and 9th. Digital Video Production placed 7th, and Erica placed 10th in Business Communications. I especially enjoyed the free pie afterward. :-)
06/29/09 - Day Seven
Monday was our travel day. We left at 9am for LAX. Our flight was at noon. I had dinner at the Detroit airport and arrived back in State College at 11pm EST. I didn't make it back to the house until 12:30 in the morning. I haven't gone to bed earlier than 3am since I got back... I blame it on jetlag.
Do I miss it? Yes. I cannot wait to go back... yet another summer that I will always remember.
Labels: My Life
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