We booked this tour through taketours.com because of the opportunity to visit the West Rim of the Grand Canyon and the additional "experiences" offered at the ranch: live country & western music show, wagon riding, experience & participate the Cowboy's games, stunt shows (Gun flight & rubbery) and camp fire party.
We were picked up at Bally's casino at 2pm on the 28th. We joined the rest of the group who had travelled from LA that morning. Our tour guide, Timothy, was very knowledgeable, great fun and spoke very good English.
Our first stop was an Asian buffet for lunch, $13 including drinks, yummo. Then a stop at Ethel M chocolate factory (quick walk through as nothing really to see).
On the way to the ranch, Tim informed us of the tipping "etiquette" at the ranch for tea, $1 for the singing cowboy, $1 for the person handing us the food, leave $1 on the table for the person who cleans it after us, $3 for the room cleaner, then the same tips again in the morning for breakfast.
We had been allocated room #6, but upon arrival, Tim told us there had been a cancellation and we would be staying in room 20, a bigger room for people with disabilities.
The cabin was simple, yet clean and well appointed. The cabins were built so that you could see the sunrise from your cabin verandah.
Meals were included, evening meal was ribs and some mashed potato and chicken pasta salad, breakfast was scrambled eggs and bread, slightly toasted one side. The bacon was not ready before we left.
Next morning, we headed off, Col took the helicopter and boat ride through the Grand Canyon, I took the free shuttle to Eagle Point before meeting up with Col at Guano Point.
Scary but spectacular.
Overall, this was a great tour with some amazing experiences, it was quite expensive and for the price, I probably would advise to stay in Vegas and do a day trip.
The most disappointing aspect of this tour was that the included activities did not happen - no wagon riding, no evening campfire, no cowboy games or gun shows.
Disneyland.
Good morning Anaheim, thank you for the rainy welcome but you will not ruin our plans to visit Disneyland today.
Ticket voucher in hand - off we go. Before we left home I bought a 4 day park hopper pass, on special for Australian tourists - pay for 2 days, get 2 days free. The walk from our hotel is relatively quick, probably just over a kilometre. There's a huge number of people walking in the same direction as us, we round the bend - OMG, the lines are huge already - and this is just the security lines.
We get through the bag check then we are ushered through the metal detectors (not everyone has to go through this section, they just select random groups as you walk through. Then on to ticket collection, relatively quick and easy but I did have everything I needed, including my passport.
Now to get in the Disneyland, so we wait in another line. Again, reasonably quick, photo taken and we are through!!!
Our thoughts:
It's DISNEYLAND so it's immaculate, fun (you seriously can't not have fun here), expensive if you want to buy heaps of stuff and involves lots of walking.
Download the Disneyland app- before you go. Helpful as a map but also great for wait times and fairly accurate. You can also purchase a Maxpass - gives you access to fastpasses through the app and all of the photos taken at the photopass stations for $10 each - so worth it. (https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/maxpass/)
Our rides: Autopia, Finding New Submarines, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones. We lined up for few and used fast passes for the rest, never waited longer than 20 minutes in line.
We usually stake out our spot early for the parades and the fireworks but we were not expecting the crowds, so we did not really end up with great viewing positions. The Pixar Parade was not our favourite, the fireworks and show were Impressive and worth the wait.
Food was surprisingly good, chowder bread boat and funnel cake - yummo. Bring a water bottle as there are lots of water fountains.
Great fun and can't help but get in the spirit when you're here - it's not just for kids, we loved it!
When you think of San Francisco...the Golden Gate Bridge immediately comes to mind! It is even more impressive up close and in person.
We caught the Hop On/Off Bus to tour around San Francisco and this morning we chose to hop off and spend some time in and around the bridge.
Lots of photo opportunities and walking on the bridge was an amazing experience.
We were going to walk part way across the bridge, turn around and head back to the bus and take it across the bridge to Sausilito. Once on the bridge, we just kept walking, taking photos and enjoying the experience. We ended up walking the whole way across the bridge.
It is 1.7 miles long and it is so distinctive due to its colour, International Orange.
Do not miss this experience if you are in the San Francisco area.
