Long Weekend in the Los Angeles Area II

For our last weekend of summer we decided to head to Los Angeles for a long weekend to enjoy our favorite place, Disneyland, and some places we had never visited even though we lived in the area for seven years, such as the Los Angeles Arboretum. We had a fun time spending a day at Disneyland, walking through the different nature areas in the Arboretum, locating some of our favorite famous people’s names on the Hollywood Stars, and seeing the white alligator at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Quick Tips:

It can be hot and humid (at least it was to me coming from Arizona where we have pretty much no humidity) during the summer here. We found that visiting the zoo and arboretum was unbearable after a few hours, although the zoo did not need any more time than that, but the arboretum would have been nice to stay in longer, however, despite what you may imagine there was not much shade in some of the areas. Sunscreen, hat, and water are a must to bring along with to any outdoors place.

Best Way To Get Around:

We drove to Los Angeles. Pretty much the only way to get to places here is to have a car. Traffic can really slow you down at times. Also, beware of road and exit closures. We were surprised on night when we were returning to our hotel to discover our exit was closed and no detour was suggested. After finally finding an exit that we could get off at and turn around we were able to get off at our exit coming from the other direction. Also, interstate signs sometimes tell you to go one way then they disappear and do not direct you to make a turn towards the interstate, which you probably will not find without turning. Best thing to do is just backtrack the way you came off it, even if you feel you are going away from your final destination at first, unless you know the area.

We visited the zoo on a Sunday, which was not the best idea, as it was very crowded. It was also a hot day, but there was plenty of shade to escape the sun in most of the park. Overall the zoo was worth seeing, but it only took us a few hours to get through it. One major annoyance for us was that at 11:30am the only place food place open was the ice cream stand, so we ended up leaving having seen almost everything and wanting something more than that for lunch.

When you first enter the zoo you find yourself right in front of the Sea Lion area (providing you notice it behind all the people crowded around it, especially when the zoo first opens). Unless you really want to see them first you can keep going and see them on your way out. Also, near the entrance during our visit was a small special exhibit with a White Alligator (really an albino alligator). I do not know how long it is supposed to be at the LA Zoo, but it was at least unique, I guess.

The rest of the zoo is organized to some extent by habitat. There is a section with Australian animals including koalas, cassowaries, and several species of kangaroo. There is also an African habitat area with camels and zebras. Overall I felt the zoo forced you to go in one direction and there was no skipping around to areas you wanted to actually see. I think this is due to the major construction going on throughout the middle of the zoo on new habitats for gorillas, elephants, and something else, which make the whole middle of the zoo inaccessible and forces you to go the long way around to get anywhere.

There is much to see on Hollywood Boulevard, but we were content to just spend the afternoon walking the Boulevard and reading the stars. We also could not resist stopping at the Disney Soda Fountain and Store, and having a giant Sorcerer Mickey Sundae.

One of the major things to walk through and look at is the footprints of famous stars that are in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Here you will find the footprints of stars such as John Wayne and Roy Rogers. You can take a short tour of the theater for $5 or see a movie here if you want to see the inside. Another option for seeing a movie is the El Capitan, which was recently restored by Disney.

Of course, the other major thing to see while walking the Boulevard is the stars in the sidewalk, that is if you can actually see them. I found it very frustrating when we were on the side of the street where the Grauman’s Chinese Theater sits, that there were so many star look a-likes that were trying to get money standing on all the stars making it hard to enjoy. However, if you walk past the block that has the Theater or on the other side of the street you just have to deal with other tourists, who for the most part are just moving over the stars and only momentarily blocking them. Some of the names on the stars include Julie Andrews, Walt Disney, Lassie, and Tim Allen.

We visited the Los Angeles Arboretum on a Saturday and still found it to be an entirely uncrowded place. Part of that has to do with its large size, but there were still probably less than 50 in the whole place including the staff. The biggest group we ran into was a small group celebrating a quinceanera. The place was the most enjoyable place we visited in Los Angeles because we could truly enjoy it without a crowd of people ruining it. I will admit the hot humid weather made it unenjoyable in some areas, such as the rose garden and desert garden areas, which had no shade, but it was an overall wonderfully relaxing experience. If only it did not close early because of an event it was holding. Normal hours of operation are 9am to 5pm. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors (62 and over), $5 for students with ID, $2.50 for children 5-12, and free for children under 5.

The Arboretum is full of different habitats and plants from around the world put together in beautiful landscapes. One of the gardens I found most unique was the Sunset Magazine Demonstration Garden. This garden was full of different plants and patio setups made for photographing and use the magazine. It is definitely a nice quiet place to relax and enjoy the plants harmonizing with the architecture.

Another one of my favorite areas was the African section, which was full mostly of different desert plants. The walkways through the plant areas offer interesting views of African plant life, but there is little shade making it a place you probably do not want to be for long on a hot sunny day.

There are several nice shady areas surrounding Baldwin Lake in the middle of the Arboretum. The collections in this area include the Tropical Forests, Cycad Collection, and Redwood Grove. There is plenty of shade here to escape the afternoon sun, but be prepared for some tough dirt paths if you have a stroller or wheelchair to push.

One of the last areas we checked out was the Meyberg Waterfall. It is supposedly famous appearing in many movies, ads, and paintings, but I sure did not recognize, so I am not sure how famous it actually is. I will say though that is rather beautiful.

Being a Disney fan I could not pass up visiting the park at least one day while visiting the LA area. Since we were only here one day we decided not to upgrade to the one-day park hopper, although in the end we probably should have. If you just go to Disneyland for one day with someone in a wheelchair it can get boring because you easily get on every ride you want and have you list done by noon. The only ride that we waited forever was Pirates of the Caribbean, which recently reopened with Jack Sparrow animatronics. That wheelchair line took us almost two hours, but it was worth it and I have no problem waiting the same amount of time every one in the regular line was waiting.

The first thing we did at the park was head to the VMK booth in Tomorrowland to turn in some quests I printed off at home and found the answers to online and do the ones that are handed out in the park, which I also had brought the answers from online with for. By doing any quest you get a glow-in-the-dark wristband and depending on the quest you get different cards that have codes that can be redeemed online for virtual items in www.vmk.com For each quest the prizes are awarded to every one in your party, as long as you have their park tickets with you, so do not worry about filling out five of the same pamphlet for you party unless the kids each want to have their own then definitely let each have their own fun finding the answers.

For most visitors one day in Disneyland is enough, especially if you stay from 8am to 11pm like we did. It really depends on the age group you go with. Some young kids can enjoy going on all the rides in Fantasyland over and over, but parents may get tired of that and sometimes the lines can be really long. Older kids may get bored if they are only into the thrill rides. If you park hop and are visiting during peak times than several days in Disneyland is necessary to do everything without becoming bored. Do not just ride the rides, but also enjoy the great parades, shows, and fireworks.