We left straight after breakfast and headed to Anaheim. The traffic wasn't too heavy once we passed the city and we arrived in just over an hour.
Last year we saw the new Cars ride called Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure. The wait time was 3hrs so we didn't go on it. We went there first today only to find it was temporarily shut down due to a technical error. One of the staff said we could stay in the vicinity but she couldn't say when it would be running again. While we were deciding to stay or come back, we heard the cars moving. It opened again a minute later so we got in the queue that was already there. We waited just under an hour but it was a fun ride. Our car won the race!
Then we went straight over to Magic Kingdom and went to the Matterhorn ride. That was fun but bumpy. It was a hot day so we went to It's a Small World because it is always cool in there. Next was a quick spin in the Teacups before stopping for lunch. After lunch we went into Frontierland and into Adventureland but the wait time for Indiana Jones was 50mins. We wanted to go to Downtown Disney which is the shopping strip next to the parks so we didn't wait for Indiana Jones - there is always next year!
We left Anaheim about 4.30pm to head back to LA. We didn't know what the traffic would be like and didn't want to be late for the basketball which was on at the Staples Centre.
We got to the car park about 5.30pm but there were plenty of people arriving at that time. We walked over to the centre & then found a massive complex across the road which was full of restaurants. The Grammy Museum was also there so that is another thing for next year! We found a bar and had a mojito.
We went across to the stadium about 6.30pm. Our tickets were premium ones which meant we had a VIP entrance rather than lining up with the general riff-raff. When we got to our seats, a man came & introduced himself as our server for the evening. There was a menu in the cup holder so we could order anything off it and it would be delivered straight to our seats! Very cool.
It was a pre-season game between the LA Lakers & the Golden State Warriors who are from Northern California. The fans still came - families all decked out in the teams's colours. It was a fast paced game but still took 2hrs to complete a game with 4 twelve minute quarters. The Warriors led from the start & won 120 - 105. They were a very good team & there was even an Aussie in there. Kobe Bryant played for the Lakers. He is so good but wasn't on for the whole game. He scored plenty of points but couldn't get a win for the Lakers. It was good to see the professionals in action.
The atmosphere was similar to the baseball. There is plenty of music & clapping. There were even Lakers Girls who came on and danced every time there was a time out. There was a live band high up in the stand who played at half time. There were lots of brass in it - they were excellent.
It is sad that the holiday has come to an end. It is always nice to go home but it is awesome being on holidays!