Author Topic: Keepsmiling123's LA trip  (Read 7595 times)

Offline keepsmiling123

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Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« on: September 09, 2015, 05:09:15 PM »
My first TR...

So a few months ago we decided to make a trip to Anaheim and L.A. since my wife has never been (I've been 3 times prior to this trip) and a family member had an apartment which they weren't using in L.A.; and were getting rid of a few weeks after our intended trip. So with free accommodations in L.A. and enough AA miles to burn on Business Saver awards on the outbound and unprecedented First Class Saver availability on the return, the trip was a go. 07/29-08/02 (we were going to be using more vaca time 2 weeks later to go to Hawaii, so we couldn't make this a longer trip)

Day1:
We flew in J from LGA-DFW-SNA in the afternoon on the way there because we were going to be starting our trip with Disneyland. We made a pit stop at Centurion in LGA which I frequent on my travels from LGA. Left to our flight and it through security in under 3 minutes thanks to TSA PRE. The flight to DFW was uneventful and the AA FA's were very nice about heating up our double wrapped food from home. But the real highlight of the journey to SNA was the Centurion lounge in DFW. We were only there for 45 minutes or so since I wanted to daven Mincha somewhere quiet and wanted to check out the amenities they provide. They offer manicures, pedicures, facials and massages on a first come first serve basis. Unfortunately they were booked for the rest of the day, but if you happen to have a long enough layover in DFW during the day hours its definitely worth the stop. We went back to the gate to catch our flight to SNA. We got to SNA, rented a Toyota Corolla from Avis (they priced the cheapest for an underage rental being dropped off at LAX when I price hunted, even though I have status with National.) Headed to Hyatt Place Anaheim on my wife's Hyatt points and crashed for the night. Now we didn't really pay attention to this until post facto, but it's worth noting that the hotel is situated right across the street from the Toy Story parking lot for those not wanting to pay the $17 Disney parking lot fee and just want to walk from the hotel to the park.

Day:2 Disneyland and California Adventure
We got to the park at around 8:00, but purchasing tickets to the park (thanks #AmexSamsclub) at the gate took a while due to the long line. At around 8:45-9:00 we made it into the gates of California Adventure. For those planning a trip to the parks, grab fast passes to World of Color and Cars first as they are out of them fairly quickly. We headed from fast pass service to Soarin, one of my fave rides, which if your there early enough is practically empty (15 minute wait). Did the ride and as we were leaving the ride the wait time jumped to 2 hours, so do this ride first.
We did most rides in the park before 2PM and decided it was time for lunch and to switch to Disneyland. In this park we had to prioritize more because we went here second and many fast passes were filled for the day. We did Big Thunder, Space Mountain, Matterhorn, Animation Studio (we learnt how to draw Goofy, although mine looks nothing like him)... and a few other rides before switching back to California Adventure at 6:45 for the 8PM World of Color Show. The line starts packing in even earlier and the whole thing is standing so be prepared to be on your feet in line for a really long time (in addition to ride lines) if you want a good viewing spot for this firework/water show. After the show we were exhausted so I didn't want to drive to L.A. to our apartment. Instead we decided to use Hyatt points to stay at the Hyatt Place again and leave to L.A. early Friday morning.

Day 3: (Erev Shabbas)
We woke up at 5:00 AM to beat the traffic into LA. We ended up making it to the apartment around 7:30AM, my wife settled in, and I went to davening on LaBrea. After davening we went to Coffee Bean for Breakfast. Definitely my fave coffee spot and soars in my books in comparison to Starbucks. Next we were off to Ralph's and Abba's for Shabbas provisions. Abba's Yapsuch and chicken fingers were delicious as usual(although my grandmother makes the best Yapsuch ever but this is a close second) and the Raplh's food was also very good. We spent the afternoon on Hollywood Blvd, Rodeo Drive, and tried going to lunch at BHT but they were closed on Friday, so we went to Jeff's instead. We ordered the Steak sandwich and Western Burger which were awesome but the chili fries were not our thing at all. Went back to the apartment and went for a swim and got ready for Shabbas.

Day 4: Shabbas and Motzei Shabbas
After davening and lunch we decided to go for a walk to the LaBrea Tar Pits. Was pretty cool and a nice walk which I'd never done in my past trips to LA. After Shabbas we went for Pizza at Pizza Mayven. We ordered plain pizza which they were out of (never been to a pizza store out of regular pizza before) so ordered a veggie slice which we weren't impressed by but really enjoyed the Pizza Rolls. I agree with those that say pizza is not one of LA's specialties. Afterwards we went to Toppings for dessert. The yogurt there I thought was one of the best for soft serve I've had. After dinner we packed up for our departure the next day.

Day 5: Sunday
Sunday was pretty chilled. We went back to Coffee Bean for breakfast and then went to The Grove and walked around LA until lunch time. We wanted to go to La Gondola for lunch but they aren't open for lunch on Sundays, I was pretty disappointed (but luckily we went back to LA 2 weeks later for the day on way to Maui and hit it up then! Well worth the stop!!!) We instead went for lunch to BHT which I usually love, but found the Drunken Noodles a little off that day, but my wife's Thai Beef and the Thai Iced Tea were (unique and) very good. We headed to LAX, returned our car, and made it to the AA Admirals Flagship First Class Lounge. We stayed in the lounge until takeoff and relaxed until our flight about an hour later. Our flight was pretty awesome all around, had a nice rest and Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream! AA has a solid Transcon First class product and the staff was awesome.
Even though the trip was short we had a lot of fun! Wish we could've stayed a lot longer!

Offline Yaalili

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2015, 05:11:28 PM »
Nice. LA has some good pizza, u just went to the wrong place. Nagilla is much better, or if you go to the valley you got pizza nosh.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2015, 05:12:48 PM »
Nice to see so many people writing TRs. Thanks for your contribution.

Offline keepsmiling123

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2015, 05:16:59 PM »
Nice. LA has some good pizza, u just went to the wrong place. Nagilla is much better, or if you go to the valley you got pizza nosh.

I'm more of a meat guy, my DW loves dairy tho so we went based on the rating in the LA master thread. Guess I know for next time!

Nice to see so many people writing TRs. Thanks for your contribution.

Thanks, if I get a chance I'll do a write up one of these days of the BI and Maui!

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2015, 05:19:53 PM »
Nice. LA has some good pizza, u just went to the wrong place. Nagilla is much better, or if you go to the valley you got pizza nosh.
Just to clarify, Pizza Nosh is in Agoura Hills, CA in the West SF Valley. When most people refer to the "Valley" they're referring to the Valley Village area where you'll find Brami's and La Pizza, both of which are good options.

Offline Mech

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2015, 05:22:44 PM »

Nice. LA has some good pizza, u just went to the wrong place. Nagilla is much better, or if you go to the valley you got pizza nosh.
Or pizza world on Fairfax.

Offline Dan

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2015, 05:23:12 PM »
Or pizza world on Fairfax.
You like their pizza?
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2015, 05:25:26 PM »
You like their pizza?
You don't (knowing full well you're a Pizza Maven fan)?

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2015, 05:29:53 PM »
I always thought that it's among the worst in the world. Though TBH I haven't had it in well over a decade.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2015, 05:44:06 PM »
I always thought that it's among the worst in the world. Though TBH I haven't had it in well over a decade.
I had it about a year ago, and it was very different then when I tried it last (also over 15 years ago).

Offline Mech

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2015, 06:45:09 PM »

You like their pizza?
Love it! But I do end up in Pizza Mayven more, since it is closer to my house.

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2015, 06:46:32 PM »
Love it! But I do end up in Pizza Mayven more, since it is closer to my house.
Where as I haven't been to/had Pizza Maven in over 20 years, as Nagila is closer to my house.

Offline Mech

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Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #12 on: September 09, 2015, 06:48:00 PM »
Where as I haven't been to/had Pizza Maven in over 20 years, as Nagila is closer to my house.
Nothings changed in 20 years besides more white hairs in old man Olemans beard!! Same good pizza.

Offline coralsnake

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #13 on: September 09, 2015, 07:12:04 PM »
although my grandmother makes the best Yapsuch ever but this is a close second

+1  :)
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Offline E R K

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #14 on: September 09, 2015, 09:11:13 PM »

Offline Hatastah

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #15 on: September 10, 2015, 12:24:08 AM »

I always thought that it's among the worst in the world. Though TBH I haven't had it in well over a decade.
Nothing's changed. Haven't gone since my sibling found a cockroach baked in the pizza slice. True story. 

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #16 on: September 10, 2015, 01:18:55 AM »
great TR. next time you can try Ditmas after Shabbos. If you're not interested in a heavy meat meat, there are still great appetizers and drinks.
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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #17 on: September 11, 2015, 05:57:11 AM »
I always thought that it's among the worst in the world. Though TBH I haven't had it in well over a decade.
Mayven for pizza and fries and world for all the rest of the mexican stuff on the menu (like chimichungas!!)

Offline moish

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Re: Keepsmiling123's LA trip
« Reply #18 on: September 11, 2015, 07:00:30 AM »
Mayven for pizza and fries and world for all the rest of the mexican stuff on the menu (like chimichungas!!)
i much prefer the nachos at mayven. dont need all the guac, salsa, sour cream and refried beans. im perfectly happy with chips cheese and peppers