August 17th -Day 4 - Hooray for Hollywood!

Today was the day Pat was taking us to the Imagineering Building, Disney Studios and The Disney Soda Shop. We had breakfast down at Tangaroa Terrace. I had the french toast with bananas and banana sauce. It came with 3 strips of bacon and was SO good!  One funny thing that happened was, as we were sitting there a bird on the wire above me decided to relieve himself on me.  Luckily it was easy to clean off my skin and did not land on my clothes. We picked up and moved away from the area with overhead wires.  The very next table was open; it was so pleasant to sit outside in the morning; the sun was burning off the haze and it felt great.

After eating, we gathered up our things for the day and headed out. The DVC Preview Bldg. is right next door to us so we walked over there and they let us in to the Aulani model. Since someone was viewing it, we were allowed right in.  These rooms are absolutely gorgeous!  Because it is in Hawaii, you get a rice cooker in the room! Here are  some pictures:

A bed comes out of the cabinet below the TV

We then gave up our great parking space and headed out for Imagineering. We had some GPS malfunctions but we finally got there and found a space on the street.  Pat had to sign us in and we got GUEST badges.  This is a really neat place, has a cafeteria and a cast store. We got a drink and sat outside in the courtyard which was filled with imagineers talking about projects. It was a very casual atmosphere and looked like a great place to work. We were not allowed to take a single photo but I did take a picture of my ID that they gave us.

After Imagineering, we were going to visit the original Disney Studios that Walt built.  I have always wanted to see this.  We had some more GPS malfunctions, the goofball guy was taking us in circles but we finally did find the Zorro Parking Lot which is directly across the street from the ABC Building.  We parked in Zorro and headed out to the Studios Lot.  It was bustling with activity all over the place.  Right next door is the St. Josephs Hospital which is where Walt died.

We found the commissary and had lunch there before walking the lot at our leisure. We are all totally amazed that all we had to do was show an ID (pat) and we could literally walk around this lot anywhere we wanted. It just seemed to lack security.  I took a picture of Pluto's paw prints in cement. It is located right at the base of the famous Mickey Avenue sign.

We walked over to the executive office bldg. which I call the Seven Dwarves Bldg.  The courtyard in front of that has all the Disney Legend Plaques and also the Partners Statue.

We also walked in to the Archives Bldg and saw some exhibits. They were getting ready to take things over to the Expo so some sections were closed. We did see the original multi plane camera there. Also some hats that had belonged to and worn by Walt.

We shopped in the Cast Store, buying a few things that you cannot buy anywhere else.  It was so cool to walk thru the studios. Lots of shows are taped here and at the ABC Studios right across the street.

It was time to drive to Hollywood; we wanted to check out the Disney Soda Shop and other things on Hollywood Blvd.   This was a crazy funny area with all kinds of characters. Tour buses were driving by, people were handing us flyers for tours.  We got seated immediately at the Soda Shop and we all got sundaes.  The El Capitan Theatre is right next door and then next to that is the Jimmy Kimmel Show; it is really pretty.  The Kodak Theatre is right across the street. We made our way over there to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and checked out the hand prints and then wandered all around the Kodak Theatre Mall. We went all the way to the top and got to see the Hollywood sign.

We decided to head back to the car; we were parked in the Kodak Theatre garage which was only $2 for the two hours!  We were heading out of the area in the middle of rush hour. We were amazed that even though the traffic was backed up for a long time and moving slowly, motorcycles were zooming up the middle between lanes. Talk about stupid.

I noticed some amusing billboards on the way home. One was the legalized marijuana convention and the other was Dr. Tattoff for goofballs that realize getting a tattoo probably wasn't the smartest idea they'd ever had, lol.

When we got back to the room, our small lot was full so we had to park across the street at Paradise Pier.  We hung around the room for an hour or so and then decided to walk down to Trader Sam's and get some food and drink.  This place is new and just opened. It is sort of like Adventurers Club meets Tiki Room at the Polynesian.  As we walked out of the hotel, the geyser was going off!

We ordered some appetizers and some drinks.  I had a Hippopatomai'tai. Holy cow, this had two shots of rum and it hit me like a brick wall!  Every once in awhile, someone would order a Volcano drink and the lights would glow red and everyone would yell. It's a really fun place; a little on the small side.  There is outdoor cushiony couches and entertainment with tiki torches all around.

We finished eating and took our drinks out by the fireplace. We talked and laughed for a little bit and then headed upstairs to watch the fireworks from our window!  We can literally lay in our beds and watch them with the music perfectly timed on ch. 47.  Wow, another fun day with a perfect ending!