We saw a lot of Disneyland in our three days there. Absolute highlight was watching the fireworks at night in front of the Fantasyland castle -sound and light show extraordinaire with "When you wish upon a star...", Tinkerbell flying across the sky and it truly made me believe dreams really DO come true!

After purchasing a GPS -our new best friend, the trip out went smoothly but much longer than expected and we saw a lot of freeway and nothing much of L.A. We stopped in Santa Barbara for dinner - a fantastic seafood restaurant right on the harbour called Brophy Brothers - picture sunset, boats, great clam chowder, prawns, fish and chips and a welcome relief from Captain Kidd's Buffet that had become our dining room in Anaheim! ($8.49 all you can eat) We are totally impressed with the American service and helpfulness. We finally made it to San Simeon about 11pm -don't know how we will ever get the kids back in to school friendly sleeping patterns -they have learnt to sleep in till 10am!

FM

Agreed.

Disneyland highlights: Rollercoaster in Frontierland - a cross between a Road Runner cartoon come to life and the set of F troop - in and out of mine shafts, tunnels, prospectors' picks and shovels lying around, lots of use of those fabulous words "critter" and "varmint". Jungle cruise in Indiana Jones style was great. The fireworks display was FANTASTIC. Even the corny things won me over - great attention to detail, amazingly well kept gardens, everyone smiling, waving and infectiously friendly. The cheesy claim "the happiest place in the world" might not just be a slogan - there were thousands of visitors loving it. An amazing concept to bring to reality, and a mind-boggling business to run!

Quote of the week: "Eat your fries - that's lunch!" (Disney Day 2 )

In the last 24 hours, we've had Tinkerbell fly overhead, been shopping at the mall, driven 3 hours at 20mph (or less) bumper to bumper on the dishevelled concrete madness of LA freeways; and ended up at sunset at Brophy's, chock a block full of perfect teeth and Ivy League sense of entitlement. With great clam chowder.

Love to you all

PW