West Coast Theme Park Weekend: NYC to LA Adventure

Intro

🎢🌴 Weekend vibes at the West Coast theme parks! 🌟 From the bustling streets of NYC to the sunny shores of LA, join me on a whirlwind adventure. 🚀

Flying out from JFK, I grabbed a Shake Shack bite before boarding my Delta flight to LAX. The view of NYC from above was breathtaking! Touching down in LA, I hopped in an Uber to Del Taco for some local flavor, then settled into BLVD Hotel & Spa in Hollywood. 🏨

The next days were a blur of excitement: Universal Studios, CityWalk, and indulging in treats at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Voodoo Doughnut. 🍩🎬 Ending the trip with fireworks at Disneyland and sipping piña coladas on my birthday at Trader Sam’s—pure magic! ✨🍹

From JFK to LAX

It was my Birthday!!!

And to celebrate, I was going to spend a weekend in my favorite Theme Parks of the West Coast: Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

The journey was starting here, at the JFK Airport in New York, and was going to take a Delta Flight (bougie!!!).

After Customs, I got some Shake Shack for the long flight, and my plane was waiting for all passengers to board.

And there I was leaving New York City for just a long weekend of Birthday fun!

The plane did some twists and turns during take off that let us see the beautiful skyline of New York City, the best in the world!

After almost 6 hours of flight, we landed in LAX, Los Angeles International Airport, and now the mission was to find a Del Taco restaurant. And for that we explored to take an Uber.

Del Taco

I had seen Del Taco in previous trips to the West Coast, but was never interested until I saw it on the Keith Eats Everything series of The Try Guys.

Most of the things he liked from the menu where not available, but the Fish Taco was, and this was my dinner for today. I gotta say that I did not fully love it, if it was my choice I would have picked any other protein.

It was already very late, and it had been a very long day for me. I decided to take another Uber to my hotel, very close to Universal Studios in Hollywood. The BLVD Hotel & Spa was a good option, especially for just one night. I would move closer to Disneyland for the other days.

Universal Studios Hollywood

I really like this park. It was like nothing for me before, but I actually love it so much, especially after the addition of Jurassic World and Super Nintendo World. I love that the giant Minion is just looking from the park.

The second day of this trip was about to start… with a red carpet even!!!

You can read where it continues here:

Ultimate Birthday Adventure: Exploring Super Nintendo World & Universal Studios in LA!

After a while I decided to leave and go into CityWalk, a more condensed version of the one in Orlando.

Visited the newly opened The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen at CityWalk Hollywood. I did not eat because I was so full from the day at the park, but I thought it is a good addition to this city.

But the one I could not miss anytime was the Voodoo Doughnut at CityWalk Hollywood. I got to try my favorite donuts, and got some new ones only available on this coast.

After a full day in the park and CityWalk it was time to go. And after picking up my suitcase from the hotel, I got to take the train to Disneyland.

From Universal Studios Hollywood to Disneyland Resort

There are many ways to go from Universal Studios in Hollywood, to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim:

• You could Uber
• You could drive (rental car)
• You could buy a transfer
• You could take the bus

But what I decided to do was to combine the Los Angeles Metro with the Pacific Surfliner. This train would go from Union Station in Los Angeles Downtown, to Anaheim in record time. So I got to the Union Station…

…and waited for the Pacific Surfliner train.

When I arrived to the Anaheim Station, there was a Monster Jam event lol. It looked very fun.

Also, I was in shock at how nice this station in Anaheim is, wow, amazing!

My Birthday Night!

It had been a long day, and a long night was going to start since it was my birthday!

The fireworks were setting when I arrived to my hotel, and then to the Disneyland Esplanade.

To celebrate, I got a reservation on Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel. It was kind of incredible I could just walk in there without a park ticket, since in Orlando it is located inside of the parks.

I got a Piña colada, and let me tell you, it was one of the best Piña coladas I have ever tried. Nice work from Disney.

Downtown Disney

Used to call it Disney Springs, now I was in their counterpart of the West Coast. The decorations for the 100th Celebrations were very present.

The view of the Monorail was amazing. The next day I adventured into Disneyland:

Exploring Disneyland California: Magical Adventures and Whimsical Attractions!

Something I had to try in Downtown Disney was the Disney pickle corn dog from Blue Ribbon Corn Dogs. It was a choice, but it was not as good as the other pickle item in EPCOT, the Pickle Milkshake.

The Starbucks here is just amazing, full of items that you could only find in this specific one.

And to finish, I got to go to Disney California Adventure as well, just across the Esplanade:

Disney California Adventure: Marvel, Pixar, and More in Disneyland Resort!