ON the Panama Canal

Today J and I got up and went bird watching at 6:30 am as the sun was rising. Lots of parrots and birds in the trees, but foliage was plentiful so it was difficult to see them!  A refreshing walk just the same!

That speck of Orange is John's shirt. E and P appreciated being able to sleep a little longer this morning. 

After breakfast we met at the bus to drive to the Panama Canal just down the road and 10 minutes away from our Gamboa Rainforest Resort. This is where we boarded a 300 passenger 2 story boat to ferry us along the Panama Canal for an hour before we entered the Pedro Miguel locks. Lucky for us, Caravan passengers were allowed to board first and we got front row seats on the second level. It was HOT In the sun and we were dripping sweat!!  E had a couple of seats a few rows back in the shade so we rotated back there to join her. 

The Pedro Miguel lock drops 31 feet in 8 minutes. 26 million gallons of fresh water is drained out of the lock in the process. The equivocal 42 Olympic sized swimming pools. 

The six foot wide doors are pictured opening after the water level dropped in the Panama Canal!  

We passed through the Miraflores locks too. 

Seated from the left is P, then E and J with lock wall in background. At this lock 36 million gallons if freshwater is drained in 8 minutes.   We spent about 5 hours total on the water and I was stick with sweat!

The pool was very inviting when we got back to the resort!

Even Grandma got in the pool but pictured above is fellow traveller Margo with J and P after a game of soccer!

Supper was preceded by some local entertainers dancing. 

The dancers even got P up on the dance floor and he held his own with some disco moves!

We were given a bottle of Jacques champagne by the Gamboa Rainforest which we shared at 10 pm to ring in the New Year. E said she didn't believe this bottle was really 11% alcohol!

Another great day in paradise!

Gamboa Rainforest

Well what a stunning view I have off the balcony of my room to type this!

That is my balcony railing with just a hint of the hammock in the lower left corner. Talk about paradise!  But I get ahead of myself. We spent about 2 hours travelling through the countryside to get from Panama City to Colon. Colon is Spanish for Columbus, as in Christopher. If you have visited Panama by cruise ship and stopped at port - it was in Colon. 

This is a Seaborne cruise ship docked in front of the Radisson hotel in Colon - the safest place in Colon!  

Caravan began tours in Panama about 6 years ago. For the first four months they stayed at the Radisson in Colon for a two night stay. Our guide said every single night he was helping guests file reports with the police about thefts of wallets etc. 

Gerardos said they used to beg guests not to leave the resort property. They revised the tour to include two nights at the Gamboa Rainforest and am I glad they did!  It was interesting to see Colon - the second biggest city in Panama. Clearly the barbed wire atop all the fences speaks to the poverty and crime of the city. Many holes in roofs and in my 14 year olds words, "it was nasty, dirty and sketchy".  Oh but for the grace of God go I - thanks be to God for being born in Canada. 

We then visited the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side of Panama. We got a much closer view of a ship transiting through the canal. 

I tried to take a picture of the lock gates after they closed; they had people walking on them and give you a great perspective of their since!

After the Gatun Lakes locks we continued our drive to the Gamboa Rainforest Resort where we had lunch with a stunning view. We turned around and took a fast motorboat up the Chagre River, onto Gatun Lake to see Monkey Island. J and P sat in the front row of one boat (and saved us seats but we were busy changing Grandma's life jacket from a child size to an adult size!). E and I sat in the third row of another boat. E found the high speed part of the boat ride really loud with her hearing aids so she covered her ears for the fast parts. 

We stayed on our boats as we toured around Monkey Island. We saw Capucin monkeys first, then Howler monkeys and then Tamarind monkeys. Amazing views encouraged by guides putting grapes on the front deck of the boats. 

This is a Capucin Monkey pictured above.

We then returned to the rainforest resort to Check in. We were assigned rooms 310 and 311 - both with stunning views of the rainforest, pool and river beyond. We have a large size verandah with two chairs and a sturdy hammock too. I am swaying in the hammock typing this in the dark at 9:30 pm and it is still 30 C!  This is pretty idyllic right here in this spot. J leans over his balcony railing to chat too!

After supper we watched a portion of a documentary on the making of the Panama Canal , but we had to leave early to catch a night safari bus. The guide has a big spotlight roaming through the trees to spot wildlife. We spotted a capybaras sp? A big rodent with two babies, a few sloths in trees and a snake. 

It was such an exciting day - it has been hard to summarize!  J and I plan to get up to bird watch at 6:30 so must sign off. What a glorious day it was!

Panama City to Colon to Gatun Locks

This morning we packed up our bags and had them outside the door at 7 am. A porter came along and collected them and we ate breakfast. As I ventured over to the boys room I met another caravan traveller. She was hauling out her second suitcase outside and said "I hope this is our earliest start of the trip!"  Glad we packed our bags last night. That is one of the challenges of bus touring rather than cruising - we are constantly re packing bags!

We loaded onto the bus by 8:30 am and lose wifi - so wanted to post letting you know our plans. Today we visit the Gatun Locks and cruise on Gatun Lake - the huge lake man made for the Panama Canal!  Then off to the rainforest tonight!

I like this picture of P and his Grandma with Panama City in the background. 

Panama City Day 2

Today we our guide showed us the sights in Panama City. It is a metropolitan city with a population of 1.3 million. We visited Old Panama (Panama Viejo) mostly just ruins now.

This is a Panama tree growing amidst the old ruins. 

Here is my family with the old Cathdral - one of the few ruins still standing.  Old Panama was founded in 1519. 

We then drove to the Old City - downtown Panama in the heart of the city - with lots of character. Poverty amid the high rise condos. We visited Casco Viejo  the area where you can find San Jose church with its gold altar. 

The gold altar extends up the entire wall. After visiting this Catholic Church we then walked to the Plaza Herrera. J had sweat pouring off his brow as we walked - it was 31 C and very humid! I bought a tropical guava and pineapple juice to try something local. It was 500 ml, cost 65 cents and was super sweet like kool-aid! I did feel perfectly safe on the streets. We periodically saw National Police in pairs keeping a watchful eye on actions. Our guide told us not to return after midnight!

Must show you one of the many striking buildings in Panama City. I call it the corkscrew building!

It was completed just two years ago and has the letters BBA atop it!

We then headed back to the hotel for a buffet lunch and 40 minutes of downtime.   One of the women on the trip is wearing a pedometer she reported we walked 5500 steps and my 84 year old Mother in Law did just fine keeping up!

Today is my Dad's 87th birthday!  I hope your other daughter helps you to read this to let you know I am thinking about you and wishing you a very happy birthday!

Once aboard the bus again, we headed to the Miraflores and Gatun Locks on the south side of the canal. That is the Pacific ocean side. Fascinating to see two ships move through the canal. The entire canal measures 80 km in length and was first operational August 15, 1914. It is 100 years old this year. 

The locks had a museum and 10 minute movie in English telling of the struggles to build the canal. The French spent 20 years and gave up countless lives to malaria and yellow fever before they gave up. Fifteen days later the Panamanians signed a deal with the USA. It took another 10 years to complete the canal. It really is an unbelievable feat of engineering!

A cargo freighter moving through the canal. 

P seeing the sites and learning about the operation of the lock system.

Once back at the hotel J and I scooted to the supermarket in the mall next door to buy some snacks. I was able to buy some freshly vacuum packed sugar cane in the produce section. A real treat for P and it cost $1.21!

After supper we called our eldest (JG) with the Vonage app (for free!  Get the app!). My blogging mentor who writes the Yellow Fish cruises blog, told me about the app, so I loaded it on my phone before I left home. Conversation was as clear as a bell and probably 20 minutes long!  For free in a mobile phone on a call from Central America to Canada!

Good night!

Panama City

We have a arrived in Panama City!  As we drove over the bridge to downtown Panama City it felt like the scene from the Hunger Games movie where Katniss and Peeta are rising the train and entering the city of Panem!  It was a majestic site to see with some amazing architecture for its modern buildings!

I was scrambling to power up my phone in the taxi to capture the scene but was way to close to the city by the time I launched the camera. 

But I digress. We did manage to partake in breakfast offered at La Quinta before our free shuttle to the airport. Standard fare with the addition of hot waffles but we didn't have time to eat them, having discovered breakfast was available just 25 minutes before our departure. 

On the shuttle we met a Calgarian - she is a second year Med student who is travelling to the Honduras. Very interesting person who has spent time in Haiti and is with the military. Hope she has safe travels alone. 

The Houston airport was a busy place.  Long line to process through United aiines bound for Central America but no lines at security. Hardly any wait at all at our gate before we boarded. I walked on early with E to get settled on this big 737. 

We were pleasantly surprised to see a wheelchair waiting to meet E as soon as we exited the plane. Juan, our porter spoke not a word of English, but whisked us to the front of the lines processing through immigration, then customs and meeting our caravan van transport to the Martiott Courtyard. 

The Caravan tour we are taking includes everything - meals, tourist sights, beautiful hotel rooms and tips for everybody except our guide and bus driver. E & I share a room and J & P share a room. Each room has two double or queen beds. 

Once settled in our rooms, J, P and I went for a swim while E sat in the 

shade.   Our buffet supper had tasty food and a reasonable selection of gluten free options for my Mother in Law. 

We had a meeting at 8 pm with our tour guide Gerardo Morena. 32 guests on the tour and we four are the only Canadians. Two are from St Martin's and the remaining are from the USA. 

P is posing here at the welcome meeting. To to you tomorrow!

Overnight in Houston

Our flight on Air Canada to Houston was uneventful. Frederic our flight attendant was very personable and good at his job. He taught me to pull out my apple headphones from the armrest ever so slightly to properly hear my movie. R (enjoying peace and quiet at home) will appreciate that I watched three episodes of Master Chef Canada.

Something else Frederic mentioned is that Air Canada is beginning to offer direct flights from Toronto to Panama. That wasn't an option when I was booking flights for E coming out of that region!

Connections to Panama City are poor from western Canada and make for a long day of travel, so we were happy to stop in Houston. Once we claimed our luggage we called the La Quinta Hotel to catch the complimentary shuttle to the hotel. It arrived 15 minutes later. James escorted our family to the hotel in a matter of minutes. What we were a bit unprepared for was the cool weather.   When I had been checking in on the hotel just yesterday the weather was an expected 21 Celcius. When we arrived here it was below 10 and wet!

The hotel offers breakfast with our room rental but we will be catching the free shuttle back to the hotel at the exact time breakfast food service begins tomorrow morning. 

We decided we were willing to walk to "Good Eats" at the Holiday Inn for supper.  James happened to be parked out front and offered to drive us to the restaurant. We gratefully accepted - not because we were unwilling to walk but because we were cold!

P and J shared fried chicken and ribs, E had mesquite chicken and I had pot roast. A delicious meal for $50!  We braved the elements and walked the 10 minutes back to the hotel in the wind and dark cold weather. 

J and his Mom happily awaiting dinner!

J asked if anybody was willing to go for a hot tub. We all opted for hot showers instead (as the hot tub meant braving the elements outside)!

I was able to check in for tomorrow's flight using the one computer and printer at the business centre in the hotel. I even scooped 4 cups of tea and delivered them upstairs to my family!

Six AM will come early so I better head to bed!

Panama - Here we Come!

Today my husband (J), his Mom (E) and my son (P) are catching a plane bound for Houston!  It was too long to fly to Panama in a single day, so we have chosen a hotel with shuttle service near the airport, in Houston, where we will overnight.  The end goal is a Caravan Bus tour beginning in Panama City tomorrow evening.  For now, we await the taxi to take us to the airport!

Universal Oct 2, 2014

Today I caught a cab to the Premium Outlet mall to take advantage of some good prices! Gave myself just one hour to shop so I was very focused!  P and I were scheduled to take the 11:45 am free shuttle to Universal so that was the deadline I worked towards.

We ate Universal Studios as soon as we arrived - P had pizza, I had nachos - one of our cheaper sit down lunches!  Then we headed to Ripsaw Falls where we got very wet on this log ride!  This was the ride that was shut down two days ago due to lightning as we were about to step into the boat.  One more ride on the boat through Jurassic Park before we headed to Hogsmeade in Harry Potter land.

That is Hogwart's Castle in the background - what an impressive sight!

Of course no visit to the Three Broomsticks is complete without the amazingly delicious Butterbeer!  I wish I could replicate that at home!

We then took the Hogwart's Express the other direction today - from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley. Different sights (movies) to see out the window from the reverse direction. 

This is P posing outside Honeydukes Sweet Shop with some oversized Every Flavour Beans!

We enjoyed the amazing ride Escape from Gringotts.  Rain followed us again today - not as heavy as last time at Universal - but it still required a raincoat to keep dry!  

We headed home on the bus and ate supper on the patio - roast turkey dinner for me and buffalo wings for P.  He then did some math and science homework (with a few minutes of help from J while he was in the room).

Now we are watching Survivor and will need to pack up our belongings tonight!  We will catch a taxi to the airport tomorrow morning!

Disney Sept 30/2014

So P and I caught a shuttle to Disneyworld today and Hollywood Studios was our destination.  Our longest line was Toy Story Mania (and all the Fastpasses were taken for it, so we toughed out a standby line)  It was posted as 55 minutes, but in fact only took 25 minutes.  The picture of Mr. Potato Head is party of the waiting area that provides interactive entertainment!

We visited Star Tours, the Aerosmith Rock n Roller Coaster (twice) and the Hollywood Tower of Terror.

Lunch was at the 50's Prime Time Cafe.  Peter had fried chicken and I had pot roast - delicious!  It showered a bit while we were eating lunch.  While watching the Indiana Jones Spectacular (stunt show) it began to rain in earnest!  We were better prepared today.  I had a raincoat; we both were wearing sandals (P's runners still haven't dried out from yesterday's downpour).

P did me a favour and watched the Beauty and the Beast Musical with me.  It was partly due to the fact that we organized a 4 pm return shuttle and the timing worked out to see it.  (Toy Story's standby entrance was 75 minutes long and we only had 60 minutes to spare).

Private little Meers van transport back to the hotel.  P then worked on his social project creating a new law for the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Dinner consisted of chicken noodle soup and a toasted bagel.  J went out to a fancy restaurant for dinner and P and I chilled in the room - me watching TV, and he, watching netflix on his iPad!  One day left!

Universal Studios

Today P and I planned to travel light and fast. I had heard Universal Studios was very strict about carry on items on rides - so I put my phone and wallet in zipped pockets and went without a bag. Our hotel, the Rosen Shingle Creek, offers a free shuttle service to Universal so P and I hopped on the first available bus at 9:45. 

We started the day with the new Despicable Me ride: Minion Mayhem. As a new ride - it had a long line 60 minutes posted. Don't you think P looks good minion goggles?

I was totally annoyed when the first staffer at the Rip rocket ride told me the phone in my zipped pocket was not allowed. "Say what???"  I didn't forfeit carrying a bag to be turned around to and forced to use a locker for a phone in my pocket !  So I told P to go on the ride without me while I waited for him at the exit. Universal Studios is probably legitimately worried about loose change and the like flying off the ride and injuring somebody else. After Transformer's and Revenge of the Mummy we decided to head to Harry Potter's Diagon Alley. 

What was really cool was there was no signage to Diagon Alley - we came upon King's Cross station and the Knight's Bus. I looked on the map and found  the ride "Escape from Gringott's" - I headed in that general direction. After walking around a brick wall we were faced with Diagon Alley in all it's glory. We felt just like Harry Potter the first time he saw it too!

The detail in the Escape from Gringott's ride was amazing. The chandeliers were opulent and the goblins were very lifelike as we entered the bank!  The ride was a better mix of real movement and green screens for me. Universal uses a lot of green screens in their rides and those tend to make me motion sick. We decided to eat lunch at the Leaky Cauldron - p had banger's and mash and I had a chicken sandwich.   It was accompanied by the requisite Butterbeer of course!!

Time to board the Hogwart's Express at King's cross station, platform 9 3/4 of course!

It was a real train ride from one Universal Park to another but it had images projected on the windows as if we were travelling g from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade. Cool. Once arrived we rode on the Forbidden Journey. A stop at Honeydukes sweet shop was fun but we didn't buy anything. 

Time to cook down with a Jurassic Park water ride, twice - I forgot just how wet one can get on that ride!!  So after that P decided he wanted to head back to the hotel and do his religion homework and go for a swim. 

But the rain had other ideas!  We forfeited our run for the shuttle bus and hung out under a patio umbrella while it poured rain (P ate Dip'n Dots). Since we missed the first bus we decided to go for a log ride (Dudley do right's Ripsaw Falls). Once we were about to step onto the ride the attendant told us Ride was shut down due to lightning. We hung out for 15 minutes hoping it would open. No such luck. 

So we ran through the rain- list of it for 20 minutes to catch the next bus!  We were soaking wet and cold by the time we boarded the bus and returned to the hotel. 

Supper homework and now a late night swim for all three of us!

Disney Day 1

So J did arrive safely at our room last night at 12:30 am. P and I were sleeping so quickly dropped his his bags and joined us. Seven am was a wee bit early for Peter so we snoozed till 7:30. After breakfast we dropped our bags at luggage services and were walking to a shuttle to take us to Animal Kingdom. It was then that one of realized realized they were not wearing their magicband - which acts as both room key and park admission ticket.   Good thing we weren't already standing at the Animal Kingdom

gates after our bus ride.

Once we acquired said magicband, we took a shuttle to Animal Kingdom arriving 30 minutes after the park opened instead of our usual 30 minutes I'm advance!  Our first ride was Kali River Rapids and I got soaking wet - as did P!  So good that it was humid and 30 C to help dry us out!

Expedition Everest is a roller coaster that goes backwards and forwards in the dark and outside.  We then visited Kilmanjaro Safaris - my favourite, because it is like a real safari in Africa - something that is on my bucket list.  I dragged my boys to see "Finding Nemo" the musical and we squeezed in two visits of Dinosaur (Like the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland) before lunch.  Lunch was eaten at Flame Tree barbecue - I had the salad, J the turkey sandwich and P a half roast chicken.  Tasty.  We visited the Kali River rapids again to get wet and cool down in the heat of the day.

By 4 pm we were tired out and decided to take the shuttle to Downtown Disney to have table service dinner.  We were thrilled to find the Tratorria Italian restaurant.  P had gnocchi, J a pasta dish and I, the mahi mahi.

Another shuttle back to the Pop Century hotel and we collected our luggage.  Then boarded a taxi for the Rosen Shingle Creek conference centre where we are staying for J's conference.  Lovely hotel - John says the beds are comfortable.  I must retire for the night!

In the first picture - P is posing with the Ghiradelli chocolate sundae that we all shared for dessert after supper.
I am posing in picture 2 with P to show just how tall he is at age 14!  But I really like the intricate carvings in the tree in the background.

P's favourite ride, "Expedition Everest"is seen in the background of P & J in picture 3.  In picture 4,  J & P are acting like monkeys seen right behind their heads!

Orlando Here We Come!

Today P and I will be joining his Dad in Orlando for a fun escape. J has a conference in Orlando and I thought that was just too fun a destination to pass up!  As JG is now a first year university student,  is being responsible and staying home!  I think living alone for a week will be a good life experience  - like he was living on his own for real! JG - "No wild parties, do you hear?"

So we only packed carry on bags for this trip. I LOVE my little carry on with 4 wheels!  It is strong enough to take the load of my personal item too ( loaded w books and a computer for P to do homework) while I push it all over the aiport!

We hopped on the Magical Express coach as soon as we got off our flight. This is a complimentary shuttle service to take you to any of Disney's resorts. It is a great value added for us that we appreciate. J is arriving on a later flight so he will be taking a later coach. Disney might be losing money on this deal since we are only staying at the Pop Century resort for one night!

So we checked in to a small room in the 90's building. Rooms start in the 50's and work up each decade to the 90's. This is where Disney made up their money with us as we were in the farthest building from check-in. Lovely warm night air and lots to see enroute made for a delightful walk. See some of the pictures.  We walked back to the main building for dinner just as the fireworks were bursting forth. P has cheese pizza and the deluxe brownie for dessert !  I had chicken and pasta and raw carrots. 

Happily settled in our room now awaiting J to join us late tonight.

Final Disney Days

So this post is prepared one week after it actually happened - but I wanted to give a reader's digest summary.

We spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the President's day weekend at Disneyland. Each morning we got up at 6 am so we could be in line at Disney for 7:20 am. Lining up at the gates 40 minutes before official opening pays off with no lines for the first few rides.  Disney processes you through the gates about 20 minutes before opening time. Then you walk to the end of Main Street and you are held up with a rope and a few staff members until the official opening hour.   Saturday we lined up for Space Mountain, Sunday we lined up for the Matterhorn bobsleds and Monday we lined up for Peter Pan's Flight first thing in the morning.  Each time we were rewarded with no wait in line.  After Peter Pan we raced to Indiana Jones and rode it three times in a row!  The third time we didn't even have to get out of our jeep!  There was nobody in line so staff just asked us if we wanted to stay seated and go again!

Saturday for lunch we ate at Blue Bayou - the the dining ride right inside the Pirates of the Caribbean. P enjoyed the beef ribs, R thought the chicken was okay ( not a good enough review for a $33 entree!). I did not enjoy my monte cristoe sandwich - deep fried way too much and sprinkled with icing sugar. Oh and we were nowhere near the boats and the water - we were situated in the back corner near the kitchen ( they told us to wait another hour if we wanted a better table).  I would not recommend this restaurant for the price we paid for lunch. 

I would highly recommend Wine Country Trattoria for lunch ( in Disney's California Adventure).  We paid $30 a plate each for a 3 course menu. That price included a prime standing room section for the evening show of World of Color. Soup and salad were both excellent, main course of gnocchi and a fabulous dessert plate with 4 desserts each!

Each day we left Disney in the middle of the afternoon to head back to the hotel for some R & R. After supper outside the park -two days at the Cheesecake Factory (awesome and affordable  at about $60 for the 3 of us), we headed back to the parks for the evening. One night we watched the fireworks, the other we watched the world of Color. Both really were top notch outdoor shows. 

This 6 night excursion was a welcome reprieve from the cold of winter as we got to enjoy 25 C temps in our shorts and t-shirts every day!

 

Universal Studios

We booked a Gray Line bus tour to Universal Studios (US) on Valentine's day. We were lucky enough to get the front seat of the top deck of a double decker bus. Great views on the drive!  And the bonus of the front row seat was P didn't feel nauseous!

The drive to Universal was about 1 hour and the return back at 6 pm was 2 hours. It was the Friday night of President's Day weekend and we had to go through LA to get to Anaheim. 

So US is set on a steep hillside and has stunning views of the California landscape when moving on four escalators from the upper and lower lots!  The lower lot held Transformers - amazing!, Revenge of the Mummies and Jurassic Park - all first rate throng worthy rides. We road them before the crowds gathered. US had electronic signs erected throughout the park telling you the wait times of all the big rides - Disney could learn from that!

I really enjoyed the studio tour where you saw and experienced sets from movie and tv shows (including Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives). During the one hour ride where we had 6 quiet zones where filming was happening at the time. 

We took a pass on the Simpson's ride knowing it made both P and I sick in Florida.  The Waterwold show was amazing with fire and stunt action!

For supper, we left the park and walked right outside the gate to Citywalk. We enjoyed dinner on a patio on this pedestrian walkway that was teaming with activity. It felt like New York City's time square less the cars!

We got a caramel covered apple cut up to share on the bus ride home. I sure wouldn't want to endure long weekend traffic in LA on a regular basis!  Thank heavens I wasn't driving !The bonus was we got to be the first stop on the hotel drop offs once back in Anaheim.  We returned to the hotel a little after 8 pm and called it a night!

This picture is part of the pyrotechnic display of Waterworld !

The Citywalk street!

California Adventure

JG and P and I headed down to California for the February long weekend. J isn't much of a Disney fan so he stayed home. We flew in Wednesday evening to LAX. So wonderful to leave -20 C behind and arrive to see palm trees 3 hours later!

We checked in to the Candy Cane Inn. It is reasonably priced, includes breakfast and is walking distance to Disneyland, though it has a dedicated shuttle bus if you want to use it!

Thursday morning we headed to Disney's California Adventure (DCA). We followed the touring plan from the "Unofficial Guide to Disneyland".  We grabbed fast passes to "Radiator Springs" in Cars land - the newest, busiest exhibit in DCA, then followed the day's plan.  I think our favourite ride was "Soarin'Over California". JG had just been talking about what it would feel like to fly and that is what you do in this ride - fly over the beautiful sights in California!

We returned to our hotel room in the late afternoon for some R & R. We decided to take a cab to the food for less grocery store .  There we grabbed some hot chicken and a veggie plate for supper. We also picked up some berries, yogurt and treat drinks to keep in our hotel room fridge!  Probably a healthier and definitely cheaper meal (even when factoring in he taxi) than going to a restaurant. 

We decided to go to Disneyland (DL) after supper to visit Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion before calling it a night!