Jeffrey made me do it, but it’s almost free for our three!! **Updated 5/19** About This Page:

[ilovedisney0_0]

Holy cow, that was really cool!

[MBUS]

What an awesome trip report! We were at Disneyland in 2005 and reading this makes me want to go back to Cali!! Can't wait for more.

Beth

[NanaTink]

All caught up! I'm really loving some of the things you saw and did! And the interesting facts, like the "one tree type per street" and the Beverly Hills sign being trademarked! Wow!
Looking forward to more! Thanks for sharing!

[DrDolphin]

Getting all caught up since the cruise (hey what's a girl to do when she can't sleep?). Great video! Now hurry up and update my dear!!

[DyanKJ130]

for the compliments on my video, everyone! It’s so much fun to have friends to share them with!!

Originally Posted by bfth

Fascinating report...and we haven't even gotten to Disney yet!

Looking back on it now, I’m amazed at how much we got done in that first day!

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

(and I cracked up over the little girl dancing all over again )

I thought of you while I was editing that in, Sharon! Somehow I knew you’d get a kick out of it! She certainly has rhythm, that’s for sure!!

Originally Posted by disneydani

love how your 'other man Bronson' makes a couple of guest appearences!

I was cracking myself up when I thought of that!! I can guarantee it won’t be the last you see of him!!

Originally Posted by NanaTink

I'm really loving some of the things you saw and did! And the interesting facts, like the "one tree type per street" and the Beverly Hills sign being trademarked! Wow!

We really did learn a lot of interesting things. Whoever thought of the ‘tree thing’ knew what he/she was talking about. The streets looked so neat & pretty and, I believe, most of it was due to the uniformity.

Originally Posted by DrDolphin

Getting all caught up since the cruise (hey what's a girl to do when she can't sleep?). Great video! Now hurry up and update my dear!!

Terri! And, aboard!! Update coming right up!! (I can’t sleep either!)

[DyanKJ130]

Now playing: We head south to San Diego!

Sunday, February 17, 2008 – Day 3/Part 1

I was up WAY before the alarm, not to mention the SUN! The time difference definitely played in our favor this vacation! Getting up early wasn’t as much of a struggle as when visiting WDW, especially towards the tail end of a trip! I showered and then woke the boys up to get ready. Our plan was to arrive at the San Diego Zoo for opening at 9:00am. My hope was to leave at 7:00am, since we were about 1 ½ hours away. We left about 10 minutes later than planned, which wasn’t too bad.


Not long after we started driving, Jeffrey & Kyle decided that we needed to eat breakfast. I could have waited until we got closer or arrived at the zoo, but agreed to stop. Of course their choice was McDonald’s . As you can tell…not a place I would normally choose, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to eat quick so we could be on our way. So, I plugged it into the GPS and we got to the nearest McDonald’s only we ended up backtracking because we must have just passed one. Oh well. Service was fast and the food was…well, it was McDonald’s so you know my feeling on that! (In case you forgot ) Jeffrey & Kyle each had hotcakes, I had a McMuffin and then we started back on our journey to the zoo.


Traffic wasn’t too bad; I’m assuming because it was a Sunday. We really enjoyed the drive as we had views of the Pacific Ocean a majority of the way to San Diego. (Our original plan was to maybe visit a beach during the course of our stay, but that never happened. We live very close to the Atlantic Ocean, so it really wasn’t the beach experience we were looking for…just a peek at the Pacific was fine and we got that on the drive, so all was right with the world! )


We arrived around 9:30am, which was a little later than we had planned, but we didn’t dwell on that because it wasn’t something we could change. We purchase the Best Value Ticket, which was good for one day admission with unlimited use of the Guided Bus Tour, Express Bus and Skyfari Aerial Tram. The tickets were $34 each, but we received a discount with our AAA membership. I want to say it was 10% off, which – as my father would say – better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick! (Yeah…I know! At least you know where I get it from now! )





I had read that it was best to start with the guided bus tour to become familiar with the zoo. The buses were double-deck buses and we thought it would be best to view the zoo from the upper deck. When we got nearer to the loading area, we saw that the line for the upper deck was a bit longer. We were going to wait, but we asked one of the employees standing by the entrance to the queue which was our better bet. He told us that while most people take the upper deck, the lower deck actually gives one a better view. We were sold, so we moved into that queue and were on the 3rd or 4th bus to come along. The wait really wasn’t that long, as the time difference on my parking area photo and the first photo I took while on the bus is only 30 minutes.

The guided bus tour took around 30-45 minutes and covered about 75% of the zoo, so it was a good value. The driver was very knowledgeable and also recommended that everyone use the express bus system to view other areas of the zoo (which we did). While I didn’t take too many photos on the tour, I did think of the CLT when I was going through them just now.
(inappropriate a$$ crack! )

Just as we were pulling up to the disembarking area, we saw this. The driver told us to take photos , because even he didn’t see this very often. The zookeepers were walking a wolf – I forget which kind it was – arctic, maybe? Very cool!


After the tour, we walked over to the koala bear area, which are always interesting to watch.


From there we worked our way over to an express bus stop. Along the way, we stopped and I got a more appropriate photo!




We made a loop & a half around on the express bus, stopping to get off at least once. We spent quite a bit of time at the meerkat exhibit. Kyle just taking photos of them! They were so much fun to watch! Adorable! And, boy, did they nail them in The Lion King!!


The meerkat exhibit was also by one end of the construction zone for the upcoming Elephant Odyssey. That exhibit is going to be HUGE!!!


We eventually got off the express bus at stop #3 and took one of the escalators to the highest point of the zoo by the Skyfari ride. We didn’t ride because the line was super long, but I was good with that as I know we wouldn’t have gone back up & would have missed a bunch of worthwhile exhibits.

Going up!


More of the Elephant Odyssey




I held my camera up over the fence to get a shot of the construction.


We thought this sculpture was really neat looking! Kyle posed for a shot after having a conversation with some Red Sox fans!


At this point we decided to start making our decent using the walkway by the Birds of Prey.

This is probably a good point to break, so I will leave you with some of the photos Kyle took that morning. (And, there are lots more for the video! )












Up Next: Mesmerized by pandas and primates

[ilovedisney247]

Great update! I'm really enjoying your trip!

[chezp]

What great photos at the zoo Dyan! That elephant project looks so cool - maybe it'll be a good idea for us to do a return visit to the zoo after 2009, when it's all complete.

[JaimeandChad]

Yeah you updated!!! great smiley, I share your view on your breakfast. Are you done with school yet? So like maybe you would have time, to I don't know, finish this TR?

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures of the zoo Dyan More please

[CountryTink]

Awesome update. I have always wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo. This makes me want to go even more.

[Two4Disney]

Love the San Diego Zoo - so many childhood memories there. How nice you got to experience that.

[MyRapunzal]

Great pics! I have always wnated to go to the San Diego Zoo!

[disneydani]

Great zoo pics...it is such a wonderful place to visit!

danielle

[DawnDenise]

Love the pictures of the zoo! so far. I the meerkats too! Now, the inappropriate CLT style photo was hilarious!!! Looking forward to more!!!