What does it mean to live in and love Los Angeles? Last June, my wife, teenage kids, and I spent the a few days in LA/Orange County. We drove down early Friday, walked along Swarthmore Avenue in Pacific Palisades (before the big Caruso Project took out the entire block), spent some time in Westwood and at UCLA, saw the La Brea Tar Pits, Urban Light and Levitated Mass, and drove down to Orange County. Saturday, we spent a full day at Disneyland and the Disney California Adventure. We lived in Los Angeles for a five years - when my kids were much younger. Now, our time there is just as visitors, seeing friends or cherry picking a few fun things to see and do. But if you're more than "just visiting" - what does it mean to live in and love a city like Los Angeles? Sunday morning, on our way back home, we decided to visit Pacific Crossroads Church, meeting at Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica. I visited Pacific Crossroads Church in 2009, back when they were meeting at University High School. Great experience. Currently, Pacific Crossroads Church meets Sundays in two different locations: 9am and 11am in Santa Monica at Santa Monica High School. 5:00pm St. John's Episcopal Cathedral (near USC, just south of downtown to Los Angeles). Above: Sunday evening service meeting at St. John's. Pacific Crossroads has also launched two new churches in the San Gabriel Valley and Long Beach. Every local congregation has a beginning. Pacific Crossroads was a church plant of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City. In a similar fashion, Pacific Crossroads Church is committed to historic Christian doctrines - and to embracing what it means to live in a major urban city. Driving up from Orange County on Sunday morning: the clown ballerina greeting us at the border of Venice Beach and Santa Monica. This is at the corner of Rose and Ocean in Venice. Parking for the church is located at the city garage at 4th and Olympic in Santa Monica. We parked the white family mini van. We just reached 200,000 miles. We weren't exactly sure where to go ... ... we just followed everyone else. Lots of signs and friendly greeters helped. A bit of a walk, but really worth it. The church uses the Santa Monica High School's black top, setting up numerous pop up tents, with info on opportunities to serve in the city and connect in small groups during the week. Similar to other churches renting space in public schools, a crew of volunteers set up and tear down everything every single week. The church service is in Barnum Hall - the school auditorium. A small book table outside the entrance. I like the saw horses. Underneath a tile mural of the school's mascot, the Viking is a passage from the New Testament: "From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Ephesians 4:16 The church meets in the school auditorium, with contemporary - but not overwhelming - worship and music. Senior Pastor Rankin Wilbourne is gifted speaker, with a rare gift of the brilliant intellect, and challenging biblical teaching. Outstanding sermon. I mentioned that Pacific Crossroads is committed to both loving God and loving the City of Los Angeles. Several years ago, Rankin went through a unique Sunday morning sermon series called "How to Live In and Love Los Angeles." Obviously, I loved that title - and the series as well. Here's a link to one of the messages from that series called "What Does It Mean to Love the City of LA?" Even if you don't consider yourself particularly religious, it's worth listening to. The Sunday we visited, Pastor Wilbourne was just about to leave on sabbatical. He and the other pastors took time to commission the lay leadership of the church. While Rankin is back, regardless of who is speaking, the sermons are relevant, engaging, and challenging. The church, including the lay leadership, really reflects the mult-ethnic nature of Los Angeles. Heading out, another look at the small book table near the entrance. Similar to when I visited many years ago, I highly recommend Pacific Crossroads, whether you're a Christian or just curious what it means to follow Jesus Christ. The church offers numerous for personal growth and support --- as well as living out the gospel in the surrounding community through acts of mercy and justice, coming alongside the under served and needy, and living in and loving Los Angeles. Here's a link to the Pacific Crossroads website.
My wife, kids, and I have been fortunate to enjoy a once a year "day at Disneyland" - including this past June. We had a chance to spend the day at both Disneyland and the adjacent Disney California Adventure (pictured above).
Of the hundreds of posts on this blog, I think I've only written about Disneyland once before. As we're "experiencing Los Angeles" - I've tried to focus on either day-to-day experiences or special things that are either free or inexpensive. Disneyland is fun. But it's not free or inexpensive.
Throwback photo: this was from our last year living in Los Angeles at the entrance to Disneyland. Our situation has been unique, as we've been fortunate to have a friend who who signs us in for free once a year. He works as an imagineer - that is, someone who actually designs the rides and attractions. How cool is that? If you're one of the one million "annual passholders" - you might want to skip this post - or leave a comment on something we missed. If you're looking for jaw dropping photos, you might want to try here. But, if you're an occasional visitor looking for some tips on how to maximize a day (or two) there, and are OK with our average family photos, here are our: Top Ten Tips for Doing Disneyland Tip one: Go early. What does that mean? Well, buy your tickets on-line ahead of time, eat a big breakfast before you go, and plan to be arrive before the parks open. You get the idea. Tip two: Disneyland offers something called "Magic Mornings" -- allowing guests staying at one of their three hotels to get into one of the two parks an hour early. Unless you're staying in one of the Disney hotels,find out what park is NOT doing the "Magic Morning". Why? The park not doing "Magic Mornings" will be empty when you show up. You'll want to start there first. On the Saturday we went, Disneyland offered the "Magic Morning" -- so we started next door at Disney California Adventure. Tip three: plan on being at which ever park you're starting at 30 minutes before it opens. For us, that meant being there at 7:30am. If we get two teenagers out of bed early, you can too. Tip four: start with some of the most popular attractions. The ones that get very busy later. By the middle of the day, Radiator Springs Racers can have a 90-120 minute wait. But when the Disney California Adventure opened at 8am, it was a walk on. We also enjoyed Toy Story Midway Mania, plus a few other favorites in California Adventure, before walking over to Disneyland. As an aside, I've lived in both California and Florida. The Disneyland Resort has two theme parks: Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. In contrast, Walt Disney World is a massive 43 square mile resort with four theme parks: The Magic Kingdom (most similar to the original Disneyland park) EPCOT Disney Studios Disney Animal Kingdom. Interesting fact: despite being so much larger, Walt Disney World actually has fewer rides than the Disneyland Resort. Not shows, movies, displays, but rides. The four parks at Walt Disney World have a combined total of 50 "rides" - while the much smaller Disneyland Resort with just two parks has a combine total of 57. If you're looking for rides - you know, what most people go to a Disney Park for, in my opinion the Disneyland Resort really offers more show for the dough. Of course, if you're on the East Coast, a visit to Walt Disney World makes a lot more sense. But if you you have a choice between the two, remember that in addition to having more rides, the Disneyland Resort has better weather, especially in the summer. And the fact that it's much smaller - more compact - makes getting around easier. The entrances to Disneyland and California Adventure are about 100 yards apart. Obligatory family photo in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle. The "bling" on the castle last summer was for the 18 month long 60th anniversary celebration. Eleven years earlier this was back when our kids were just 5 and 2 1/2. And the year we moved to Los Angeles. Tip five: start collecting and using Fast Passes early! Believe it or not, we ended up with more than we could actually use. Which is not a bad thing. Here's a link to a short article from one site on all you need to know on using Fast Passes. Hate waiting in line? Use Fast Pass. Want to go on more rides? Use Fast Pass. Want your kids to have a more enjoyable experience? Use Fast Pass. Want to get more bang for your buck? Use Fast Pass. Yes, of course, we still had to wait in some lines. But thanks to Fast Pass, were were able to see and do much more. On the one day our family went, a fairly crowded Saturday in late June, thanks for getting there early and using Fast Pass, we were able to enjoy over 20 different rides and attractions. My teenagers on Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, located in Tomorrowland. These next two tips are about saving a bit of money:
Tip Six: bring some snacks to munch on late morning, and then plan for a big lunch around 2:00pm. The restaurants are certainly less crowded in the afternoon. And Disneyland has some great food options. Skip the corndog, spend a bit more $$ and you'll get a real meal. We've enjoyed the French Market in New Orleans Square, but are especially fond of the Plaza Inn, at the end of Main Street. Our lunch was huge - we weren't even hungry at dinner, were happy with a late snack. Tip Seven: Unlike other amusement parks, Disneyland is OK with you snapping a photo of their attraction photos. This was Splash Mountain. You could splurge and pay $39 for Disney PhotoPass. Or, you could save that cash for something else ... just sayin'. By the way, the wait time for Splash Mountain was over a hour. With our Fast Pass, we waited less than five minutes. Even on a very busy day. During one of the parades, they were sending boats through "It's a Small World" with few, or even zero, people. Our family got our own boat. So, tip "seven and a half" might be going on "It's a Small World" during the parade. Speaking of saving money, what about purchasing an Annual Pass? We lived in Los Angeles for five years and never considered annual passes. Having a friend who could get us in once a year for free was part of the reason. An annual pass always seemed like an "all you can eat dessert bar" - too much of a good thing. If you spend hundreds of dollars on annual pass, you want to get your money's worth, right? It was (and is) fun to go once a year - and make it a special time. As parents, we wanted to limit the "Disney influence" on our kids. Kind of like trick or treating: fine once a year. More than that, maybe not so good. "If you find honey, eat just enough -- too much of it, and you will vomit." wrote King Solomon (Prov 25:16). Obviously, people - including some close friends - have different views on this. I would say, if you live in Los Angeles there's a lot of other ways to spend your money and your time - much of which is free, or very inexpensive. Tip Eight: Get and use the Disneyland Appon your phone. The App includes maps of both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, with ride wait times and Fast Pass return times. "It's a Small World" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" are both high capacity rides. On busy days, their long lines can move fast. Meanwhile, Peter Pan, the popular 60 year old dark ride, has very low capacity - with notorious long waits. Use the App to find out what lines are shortest. And, of course, use Fast Pass. Tip Nine: Expect, but try to avoid, crowds. Disneyland is in a metro area of 16 million people. 1/8th of the US population lives in California. And Disneyland has ONE MILLION annual pass holders. There are days when literally 50% of the people at Disneyland are annual passholders. Here's alinkto some suggestions of times to go when it's not as crowded. Of course, if your traveling from out of town, you might not have a choice of when you can visit. That said - DO NOT go during Christmas.The two weeks around Christmas can be so crowded that Disneyland literally closes it's gates and will not allow anyone else in. Trust me, during Christmas it is wall to wall people, with long lines for everything, including the bathrooms. Avoid going the two weeks around Christmas at all costs. Yes, the Saturday in June when we went it was crowded to watch the fireworks. Some folks were waiting for 2 or 3 hours in front of the castle for prime viewing. Wow. Really? No thanks. Main Street is still crowded, but we were able to show up 15 minutes before the fireworks and still see the fireworks AND the cool projections on the buildings. If you're planning on putting your kids on your shoulders, please try not to block someone else's view. After the fireworks, we found a spot across from the Matterhorn (near Alice in Wonderland) to view the "Paint the Night" parade. We ended up staying until midnight when Disneyland closed. As an adult, my favorite time is between 11pm - midnight. Of course, that didn't work when our kid were little. Now they're up for it. As an aside, during the summer Disneyland use to stay open until 1pm. THAT was fun. Poking around the internet, I found this link to some additional tips on maximizing your time there. Enjoy. Tip Ten: It's about the people you're with. In this vintage 1963 interview with Fletcher Markle of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Walt Disney shares his initial dream of creating a place "where the parents and the children could have fun together.”
Last June, my wife, kids and I were back in Los Angeles. We took a little extra time to see the sights, including what our kids remember from our time living in L.A. Above, is the world famous La Brea Tar Pits, located in the Miracle Mile district of midtown Los Angeles. The La Brea Tar Pits contains the largest collection of ice age fossils in the world. Incredibly, it's in the heart of a huge city - literally along Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles voters just approved funding to cover the cost of extending the Purple Line Subway along Wilshire all the way to UCLA, meaning the subway coming within feet of these massive tar pits. Wow. What looks like a pond is really an inch or less of water trapped on the surface of the tar pit. Prehistoric animals - including Mammoths, similar to these large fiberglass models - would come get trapped in search of water, sinking into the tar. Our kids remembering going here when we lived in L.A. - and seeing it on a short family vacation during Spring Break 2013. Methane bubbles continue to surface as you look out across the tar pit. It's really incredible and worth stopping and seeing. The Page Museum is located on the grounds, featuring displays and and hundreds of ice age animal skeletons. The Page offers a free day the first Tuesday of every month (except July and August). Plus it's free every Tuesday during the month of September. Here's a link to their website. Right next door is Chris Burden's Urban Light, the outdoor sculpture outside of the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). LACMA offers a free day the second Tuesday of every month, but you can walk around this impressive display of historic street lights any time free of charge. They also offer a free day the last Saturday of January (here's a link to when my son and I took advantage of this last January). Urban Light is great during the day ... photo credit collectingseminar.wordpress.com
