French Polynesia
French Polynesia 2015
There are certain milestones in your life that are pretty significant; that time you become a teenager, when you were old enough to drive, when you were old enough to legally drink (18 or 21 depending on where you live), and crossing the 30 boundary. 2015 is a big one for both of us, the dreaded big FIVE OH! I was determined to remove the dread, and make it a milestone of another kind, a celebration that would tick another item off of my bucket list... I have always wanted to stay in a tropical place in those huts on stilts over water.
I did some research, OK, I did a lot of research, and found the area that had the best overwater bungalows in the world, Tahiti and the French Polynesian islands. It's a little overwhelming the variations of resorts, hotels, and different islands, so after consulting Tripadvisor I reached out to the folks at Custom Tahiti Travel. They were awesome, Stewart at CTT got back to me right away with all kinds of info about the islands and resorts, some suggested itineraries, and what the costs would be. After asking lots of questions, researching the info provided and some back and forth with Stewart, we had it all planned out.. In our 50th year, we were going to 3 French Polynesian islands.
We would fly down to L.A., then direct to Tahiti. From there we are ferried to the island of Moorea for 5 days, a small puddle-hopper flight to the smaller island of Huahine for 3 days, and after another short flight we finally end our trip in Bora Bora for our last 3 days.
Even though it is our 50th year, we are still young at heart. So I made arrangements to arrive a few days early in L.A., that means that we get a couple days to hang out in Disneyland before our long flight to the tropics.
If you want to skip the Disney portion, you can jump right to the French Polynesia part of our trip by clicking HERE.
DOWNTOWN DISNEY
Arriving around dinner time in L.A. means we get to spend the evening wandering around the entertainment and shopping area known as Downtown Disney. I'm always blown away by the LEGO displays at the LEGO store.
After a nice dinner at the Catal Restaurant & Uva Bar, we watched the fireworks from the central fountain area. There is a lot of Star Wars stuff at DL these days, including Yoda backpacks, so we did a little shopping and headed back to our hotel to rest up for the next day.
DISNEYLAND DAY ONE
It's been a couple years since we have been to Disneyland & California Adventure, and the Cars Land was just being built in CA when we were last there. Knowing it would be busy, we made the Cars Land and Radiator Springs Racing our first destination as soon as the park opened. Turned out that was a brilliant plan, as the rest of our time at Disney lineups were well over an hour for the ride, and Fast-Passes were gone by around noon.
Cars Land is actually one of the most unique and beatiful areas in the park, with old time diners, and a style straight out of the movie, we knew we would have to come back to see it lit up at night with all it's neon.
I don't want to give anything away, but the Radiator Springs ride is a blast, a great mix of the Cars story and a thrill ride.
Having seen the new rides... Cars Land, and the "It's a Small World" like Ariel's Undersea Adventure, it was time to hit our favourites. First up, the scary Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. It's a winding presentation through the hotel to get to the ride, and Norine picks out the kid that won't make it to the ride. As soon as Rod Serling does his Twilight Zone intro, "I don't want to be here", "I DO NOT WANT TO BE HERE", "I WANNA GO, WHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!". Yep, she called that one! His parents didn't get to go on the ride either...
Before heading over to the Disneyland side, you can't leave California Adventure without riding the California Screamin' Roller Coaster.
One of the horrors of California Adventure was the thousands of cheerleaders in the park, apparently it was the Nationals competition inside of a theatre in CA. Thousands of young girls all in their cheerleader outfits, screaming, giggling and taking selfies. Escaping the cheerleaders, we headed over to the Disneyland side of the park where we had reservations for lunch inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at the Blue Bayou restaurant.
Our time on the Disneyland side is all about our favourite rides... Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Thunder Mountain Train ride. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the measles scare, maybe it was all the cheerleaders, but we never waited more than 20 to 25 minutes to get on any rides. The other current horror of Disneyland is the Measles scare, some anti-vaccer decided Disneyland was a good idea and it spread like wildfire. As I see kids acting out, climbing on rails, pulling that rope in the Indiana Jones ride, I keep commenting to Norine... "Enjoy your measles", "you know what you get when you pull that rope? Measles".
Sadly the Matterhorn is closed for renos, so we head into the brain numbing It's a Small World ride.
Our timing at Disney couldn't be better, as we exited the ride, the Character Parade starts right beside us.
As it turns to dusk, we head into the Ironman exhibit before heading back over to Cars Land to see it at night.
Just as we are heading back into California Adventure, a bunch of Characters go past us, no waiting in lines for us.
California Adventure's beachside theme is always pretty at night with the Coaster and Ferris Wheel all lit up.
But, the Cars Land at Night is even more unique with its old town of neon.
We had obtained priority seating for the Fantasmic night show, but 1 hour before it started the rains began. Even with the purchase of Disney ponchos we were soaked to the skin, and the show was RAINED OUT. So we sludged our way back to the hotel for an early start on Sunday morning.
DISNEYLAND DAY TWO
Sunday would be Disney cookies for breakfast and re-riding all of our favourite rides.
Frozen has taken over the park, so we joined a Frozen sing-a-long. Norine is surprised by my knowledge of the Frozen songs, apparently she doesn't spend as much time on Facebook and Youtube as I do.
I may have beat her in the sing-along but Norine's shooting skills are 3D based, as she beat me in the Toy Story Midway ride, but at least I won both matches of the Buzz Lightyears Astro Blaster.
Once again we were passing Disney Characters, without waiting for them, as another parade goes right past us.
After a quick cruise on the Jungle Cruise, it seemed only fitting to finish Disneyland, by heading to the Enchanted Tiki Room before we have to head to the airport for our flight to Tahiti.
Gotta hand it to old Walt, he sure knew how to create a fun place to keep us young, even if it may be hazardous to my health. After watching how the kids are touching every single thing, it's no surprise that Measles spread so quickly here. Vaccinate your kids folks, we got our Measles booster shot before we left, better safe than sorry.
We drive up to LAX, and board our overnight flight to French Polynesia. I'm looking forward to getting off my feet for 8 hours.