The Last of California

Overall, we had an awesome time in Cali.  It was so nice to get to hang out at Jessie's home with her little family for  a few days, and it was fun going to So Cal after that.  We flew into San Diego to go to Sea 'aWorld.  Just a heads up for all y'all...the Sea World in Orlando is a lot better.  The extra inconvenience of traveling from San Diego to Anaheim just for Sea World was not worth it, but some times you have to learn things the hard way.  We stayed in a super ghetto hotel that first night and the continental breakfast consisted of 2 pastries and a muffin with flies all over them.  So we went to IHOP instead.  Sea World was decent, but it was nothing compared to the Orlando location.  I was surprised that they were so different.  It was quite hot that day, and the sun was beating down.  Me and Leah took Audrey on the only roller coaster there, it was a mild coaster, but Audrey didn't like it.  Jess let Phoenix pet the stingrays in the meantime.  Phoenix really loves sting rays.  He draws pictures of them all the time.  He was in heaven.  We hit up the dolphin and the orca shows.  The dolphin show in Orlando was so amazing, this one was cheesy and disappointing (to be fair, my expectation was really high).  We had a good time overall though.  We were glad to head out to Disneyland.  When we got to our hotel we were so glad that it was nice.  Everyone that worked there was really helpful and friendly.  They treated us like VIPs.  I have a funny story.  When I was checking in at the front desk the guy told me that the parking rate was $12.  I asked if that was for the whole time (even though I knew that he meant it daily), he felt bad when he told me that it was the daily rate.  Then I asked if there was a free breakfast (even though I knew there wasn't), and once again, he told me no, but he gave me a coupon for 20% off.  Then I asked if there was a free shuttle to Disneyland (once again, knowing that there wasn't).  He again told me no.  Later on that night I asked for a few extra towels and that same guy brought them out to the pool for us, and he told me that he took the parking charges off of our account and he gave us complementary breakfast for our entire stay, for ALL of us!  He said he felt bad that the answer to all of my questions was no, so he decided to do something about it.  So, the moral of the story is:  sometimes it pays to play dumb.

We hit up both Disney parks in the next two days, and on Friday we went out to lunch and went to see Maleficent.  It was SO good!!!  I loved it!!  It was so nice to have a morning to sleep in, take our time eating our (amazing) breakfast, hangout at the pool, and just relax.  We left at noon the next day.  Another word of warning: NEVER rent a car from Fox-rent-a-car.  We had horrible experiences with them both at San Diego and in Santa Ana.  The only rental car drama that I have ever had.

It was an amazing trip, and Audrey always says "I wish we were getting ready to go to California again", and I always say "so do I".