Day 1 - 1st time Anaheim!

[parisdisneyfan]

Well after a whirlwind decision and booking - we are last minuters but not normally such a big trip the day was on us!

Woke up way too early, but at least it means I might be able to sleep on the plane. Last few bits of packing and tidying round, dd was staying at home but I work on the premise that if I leave it tidy then she will make sure it is the same on our return After a little bit of discussion we decided to only take 2 cases as we had plenty of room in them, this would prove foolish on our return! Anyway we said our goodbye to dd and were on the road by 7.10 am.

Our flight wasn't till 11.35 and we are only an hour from Heathrow but had to factor rush hour traffic on the M3 into the trip. I had done OLCI the day before and had all our boarding passes, we were in the bubble and I wanted to be in plenty of time to make sure we didn't get reassigned by being late. Anyway the journey to T3 was uneventful although it took 3-4 calls to Stressfree meet and greet to get our driver Ron to arrive. I did have a slight panic attack when one of the patrolling policewoman came to check why we were still there after 10 mins and thought that Stressfree had gone bust or weren't allowed to operate on the airportbut she had got muddled as Ron appeared just at that moment - panic averted!

We checked in our bags, through security and found a seat. Ds went for a wander, later discovered dh found him showing his card tricks to staff! Anywy dh tried to get his phone sorted for the US. Once he had done his I went for a wander and got mine sorted too. Well I hope I have, deal with vodafone seemed to good to be true and I will await the bill

The gate was called at 10.15 and we started to board Tubular Belle shortly after that! Loved going up stairs for the first time even though I was stopped from walking right to the front Definately an improvement on downstairs though, a lot quieter and seemed to be smoother to me, but its over 4 years since I flew long haul and anything seems smooth after the little flybe things up to Edinburgh!

Anyway unfortunately we were delayed for an hour while they checked a fuel seal leak (I think) but books out and it soon went. We finally took off just before 1pm with Captain Lothian advising us of a journey time of 10hrs and 23 minutes. Drinks and pretzels were served, then lunch - we had a choice of shepherds pie, chicken in leek sauce or veggie pasta. dh and I had chicken and ds had pasta. Starters were a nice fresh salad of tomato and red onion and a roll, followed by a Gu mango cheesecake. Mid afternoon, ice creams came round followed by a sausage or cheese danish a little while later. A tea box of cheese sandwiches and a cake was served about an hour before we landed. Films watched included The Hunger Games (dh as he didn't see it with us) Sherlock (ds) We bought a zoo, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (me) Probably have to watch all of them again though as swapping seats to see the icebergs as we flew past the tip of Greenland, mountains as we flew over Denver, Las Vegas in the distance and the Grand Canyon. Couldn't believe how big LA is, what a sprawl Dh said we also went out over the Pacific but that was on his side so I couldn't see.

Landed just after 3 pm local time, good thing about the bubble is we got off after upper and pe so there wasn't a huge queue in front of us at Immigration. However ds, having not taken our advice to sleep, drink and to have the odd walk around, passed out just as it was our turn so we had to wait a bit. Staff didn't seem bothered at all, did get him some water which they would regret 1/2 hour later as he then threw up! Oh well they let us in anyway and we were out to get the bus to the car hire place by 5pm, ds looking pale but ok, luckily both bus and car hire were air conned and I think the walk through the airport got his blood pumping again!

We upgraded the car and Whitney was, I think, the nicest car hire person I've ever dealt with! Luckily the Alamo Virgin queue was non- existent so we were out fairly quickly and then about 1 1/2 hours down to Anaheim and the hotel. Freeways were clogged, well what did we expect on a Friday afternoon, we also managed to miss a couple of exits but arrived safely at the Sheraton Park just before 7pm, with me perked up after seeing the Disney entrance

They only had low floors available, she did try to persuade me to accept a 6th floor facing the pool but I said I preferred the 4th floor facing Disney with a balcony, even though it is facing the car park. This proved to be the right choice as the pool was open till 10pm and was quite noisy. The balcony had 2 chairs and a table and we could see the back of the new Cars land, and off to the left we could see the ferris wheel at Paradise Pier. 2 further bonuses where then revealed - free parking which would have been $16 a day! and a $200 hotel food and drink card. This covered 1 evening meal and 3 or 4 breakfasts (add up yourself as I do the reports! )

After investigating the room, v clean, bathrobes, nice towels and bedlinen etc we went downstairs and due to our bodies thinking it was 4am we decided we couldn't face a big meal but got pizza, chick burger and chick salad from the Starbucks/Deli in the foyer called Cafe Fasia. We ate this on the balcony while reading leaflets etc I had picked up in reception. We discovered the fireworks were at 9.30 and just about stayed awake for them, watching them from our bed.

[Pussycat Doll]

Great start! I really must plan a proper West Coast trip - its been too long! Pussycat

[Guest]

Ooh I'm looking forward to reading the rest! Great start! When did u go?

[parisdisneyfan]

Glad you are enjoying it, as a typist I forget how much I'm writing

We went 2 weeks ago on Friday 10th August and flew back overnight on Saturday 18th arriving home on the 19th

dh bought tmobile sims with a daily charge, think it was $2 for ds and $3 for dh so he could get data too, it meant if he didn't use the phone then there was no charge made! He loaded $20 on each sim, the lady in the shop was really helpful and he does this at work so understands it all. He did look at trac phones but you can't put data on them anymore. He also did something that made his phone a hub (or something, I'm not techy)and my iphone (which I switched off data)piggybacked so I could fb or google. I think he said the sims were $5 each plus whatever we loaded on. He will use them again next year.

[Guest]

That sounds like such a good idea! I'll defo have to look into this!

[Hannikins]

great start! we love sitting on the balcony at night too

[KarenG]

What a great start -looking forward to reading more.

[Gill635]

Fabulous start, hotel sounds lovely

xx

[WileyCoyote]

Oh your poor DS - not a great start at immigration poor thing - that LA traffic , just car madness ! Sounds like you had a lovely view from the hotel

[parisdisneyfan]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Oh your poor DS - not a great start at immigration poor thing - that LA traffic , just car madness ! Sounds like you had a lovely view from the hotel

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Hopefully he will listen to us next year. I would have preferred to just get a taxi to the hotel and pick up the car when next day, but DH likes to have a car at all times and as he was driving then I let him choose!