2001-12-03 - 6:33 p.m.

The California Chronicles -- Two Theme Parks in Two Days

If you look out the right side of the monorail, you'll see part three of the California Chronicles.

For easy navigation, here are all the chronicles:

• The California Chronicles Begin -- San Diego, casinos, and BarkingMan
• The California Chronicles -- Day Two in San Diego and Implements of Torture
• The California Chronicles -- Two Theme Parks in Two Days
• The California Chronicles -- Oh What a Night
• The California Chronicles -- Coastal Highway, Winchester House, Alcatraz
• The California Chronicles Ends -- A Rainy, Rainy Day in the City By the Bay

Ah Disneyland.

I mean, what more do you need to say than that?

Disneyland.

eRommate had never been (which would be grounds for being excommunicated from my family) so we skipped the California Adventure, and just did Disneyland. PenPal was going to join us, but had to babysit a brother with a broken bone instead.

Here's a little tip for you. If you want to do Disneyland right, and don't mind being just a bit cold, go the week after Thanksgiving.

There was *nobody* there. I mean *nobody*.

The longest line we waited in was like twenty minutes, for the drive the little cars thing, and I think that was just because nobody could figure out how to drive them. We rode Space Mountain four times (it's only like my favorite ride in the world). We rode every roller-coaster-resembling ride at least twice. We did it all, and still had time to spare.

eRoommate took a picture of me outside of Space Mountain, pointing to a Wait Time display that read "0 minutes".

I think that about says it all.

Late that afternoon (we're up to Tuesday now, I think), we drove up to Hollywood to our next hotel. We were pretty freaked out about rush hour traffic in LA, and it was pretty bad by Denver standards (made worse by the Kansas-sized blind spot in the Pregnant Yak), but we got there without too much trouble. This hotel was actually on Universal Studios property (travelling with eRoommate has its advantages).

We were hoping to meet up with PenPal for dinner, but again real life got in the way. So we fell prey to habit and sat in our room and watched Buffy. Then we walked over to City Walk (Universal's version of Downtown Disney), only to find that all the restaurants closed at 9. Damn Buffy and her feminine whiles.

Undeterred, but unwise, we decided to stop off for a few beers at a dueling piano bar, before scrounging food. It turns out that this was Karaoke night at the dueling piano bar (sounds odd, but the guys at the piano were very forgiving, and would often go back and pick up another verse when someone got lost). It was pretty much your average Karaoke scene, with a few obvious regulars, some people with surprisingly good voices, and then a bunch of drunk people struggling their off-tune way through songs.

Guess which category I fell into?

Yep, I got up and sang. Early in the evening, I figured what the hell, it's not my town, I won't ever see these people again, and besides, what counts most is enthusiasm, right?

By the time I got up there, I'd filled an empty stomach with beer. I'm not saying I was drunk, but I was. I did the world's worst version of "Blister in the Sun" with about a ton more enthusiasm than talent.

Now, I've told you this tale, because I'm all about being the faithful observer. But let's never talk about it again, shall we?

Thanks.

We staggered back to the hotel, ordered room service and crashed.

The next day (Wednesday), we did Universal Studios. Again, I was seduced by eRoommate's desire for the better things in life, and splurged on the VIP tour. So totally worth it. We did the usual studio tour that everyone gets (including the stupid little earthquake simulator, and the Jaws bit, and all that crap), but we also would stop, get off the bus, and do extra tours that no one else got to do.

We toured the set of Providence (I've never seen it, so I may not have been suitably impressed), a Foley Studio (where they do all the sound effects), the Props Warehouse (so cool I can't even begin to describe it), and some areas of the back lots (including the set of "The Scorpion King", the upcoming sequel to The Mummy).

The VIP tour also let us skip the lines at all the attractions (not that there were huge lines, but it was pretty cool). We did every ride and show in that park, and we did it right.

So after two theme parks in two days, I was pretty bushed. Ah, but Wednesday night was the capper of it all.

Read on.