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Old 24 Sep 09, 08:10 PM  
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travelmam
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Thumbs up California On A Shoestring - Sept 09 - Day 0

Day 0 - Journey to Heathrow
Sunday 6th September


Cast

Me (41) - Phil - Chaffeur, tour guide & timekeeper

DW (42) - Mandy - Trip planner, chief ironer, generally goes with the flow

DD (18) - Natalie - Vegetarian, fussy eater, self conscious

DS (14) - Nathan - loves to eat & never stops talking, loves all theme park rides


Woke this morning at 08:00, DS was already awake, hardly surprising as he has not stopped talking about it for the past god knows how long. DW & DD got up shortly after 08:30, then we had a leisurely breakfast. I then downloaded a couple of apps onto DS ipod touch, followed by some music onto DD mp3 player.

Then followed the ritual final cleaning of the house, hoovering, dusting, polishing etc, before ensuring all domestic supplies were turned off.
A final check to ensure all passports, driving licence and documents were in hand, we were ready to roll.
We initially planned to leave at 11:00 but decided it was to early, so finally left at 13:00hrs, but first a short visit to the mother in laws, so as DW could say goodbye, also to give last minute info on the house, as they only live around the corner and were going to keep a check on it.

Finally left for the journey south at 13:40 hrs, via M6, M42, M40, M25 and finally M4 before arriving at the Park Inn at 15:50 hrs, after a smooth uneventful drive, just how i like it stress free and relaxing until we pulled into the hotel car park, there were more cars than on the M25 and parking spaces were like gold dust. Eventually a space was found at the extreme rear of the hotel, but this was on double yellow lines, although there were other cars parked on them to. On nearing the front of the hotel DW spotted a car just pulling out of a space, so DW ,DS & DD were instructed to guard the space with their lives and move for no man at any cost Lol, while i ran back to fetch the car, Yes I did run, god i didn't realize i was so unfit, must be my age, Lol.

Car parked in it's home for the next 2 weeks, we checked in which was another smooth process, mainly i feel due to DW booking and paying online for a Quad room with 14 days parking for the sum of £89 not bad eh!

We were given room 5206 on the fifth floor, which was directly facing heathrow affording us an excellent runway view, I think we probably spent the next 45mins watching the planes taking off, getting extremely excited when a Virgin Atlantic A340-600 taxied up to take off, thinking a few more hours and that will be us, big kids at heart really





The room in general was to a good standard, although the beds were in a state of repair, with both beds having a broken leg, we didn't bother to change rooms as the pro's outweighed the con's, what with that excellent runway view, sorry no pic's of the room, to preoccupied watching the planes.

Now i forgot to mention DW had checked in online prior to leaving home, but unfortunately could not print the e-ticket boarding passes, so decided to use the hotels internet/computer facilities when we got there to do this, so we thought. On enquiring at reception about the computer facilities we were informed the server was down due to technical difficulties and would possibly not be back up till the next morning Panic!.
This was short lived by the kind gentleman at the concierge desk, who overheard us talking about what to do. He said try my system, because apparently it was on a different network, so DW logged onto the Virgin Atlantic on-line check, and within minutes had printed out the e-ticket boarding passes, Result!.

By this time DS & DD were moaning they were Hungary, so we ventured out across the Bath Road, where directly opposite the hotel sat the Three Magpies Pub, which from outside looked nothing to write home about, but inside was traditional, cosy and quite busy to boot.



I ordered, steak & ale pie with mash & peas, DW, whole-tail Whitby scampi,chips & peas, DS, chicken tikka Marsala, half & half with naan bread & poppadoms as extra, ever the weight conscious DD, had jacket potato with cheese & beans plus side salad, with drinks the bill came to a respectable £35.43, with the service & quality of food being good.
I've added some pic's below, so you can try and judge for yourselves, but it sure beats paying the ridiculous prices charged at the hotel restaurant, and would gladly recommend it to anyone stopping in nearby hotels.







I forgot to add DS, was not content with his feast, so had a mega ice cream sundae for the sum of £3.95, which he payed for himself, aren't i miserable .



We made our way back to the room, contented with the meals we'd eaten. Where DW ironed over the clothes we were going to wear tomorrow.
We managed to get in room wi-fi through Wayport for the cost of £14 per 24hrs, So DD went on Facebook for a while.

Once DW had finished ironing, she went online to pre-order some travellers cheques and currency from Thomas cook in terminal five due to having serious problems loading her Fairfax card, which is another thread DW is going to add on her return:angry:.
Travellers cheques and currency ordered at the rate of $1.58, not to bad for an airport exchange i suppose.
I know this means an added trip across to Terminal five after bag drop tomorrow, but hey it will give me a chance to have a look around as I've never seen it before.

Finally we retired to bed at 23:30 hrs, ready for the big day tomorrow, alarm was set for 06:00hrs, but bound to be up before then.
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1996 All Star Sports (Florida) 1998 Sheraton Anaheim (California)
2001 Carousel Anaheim (California) 2007 Disney's Port Orleans Riverside (Florida)
2009 Sheraton Park, Anaheim (California)

2009 - California On A Shoestring - Trip Report
2012 Azul Sensatori, Riviera Maya (Mexico) 2013 El Dorado Seaside Suites, Riviera Maya (Mexico)
2015 All Star Sports (Florida) 2016 Anantara Hotel & Resorts (Dubai)
2016 Azul Sensatori, (Jamaica)

Edited at 08:20 PM.
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Old 24 Sep 09, 08:34 PM  
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Wow great view from our hotel and kudos for running to get the car - hope mandy had her best scarey face on to protect the space.

Would totally kill for one of those sundaes right now - yum!

Can't wait for the rest of your trippies. x
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Old 24 Sep 09, 08:50 PM  
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simba
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Fab view!
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Old 24 Sep 09, 09:27 PM  
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donnakirby
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Hotel Reviews: 2
A great start - i am looking foward to reading day 2
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Old 24 Sep 09, 10:56 PM  
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Great start!
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Old 24 Sep 09, 11:22 PM  
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Dizzy
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What a great view and a great start... Feel like I'm getting on the plane with you in the morning
Looking forward to the next part.
Thanks for the report
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Old 24 Sep 09, 11:48 PM  
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anji
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Great start! We're doing the same next year with DS17 and DD21 so will be really intertested in your trip. Park Inn is definately a good tip too - off to investigate parking ...
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Old 25 Sep 09, 09:35 AM  
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pinkcandy
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Great start, love the view from the hotel!
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Old 25 Sep 09, 07:03 PM  
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travelmam
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Originally Posted by treacle View Post
Wow great view from our hotel and kudos for running to get the car - hope mandy had her best scarey face on to protect the space.

Would totally kill for one of those sundaes right now - yum!

Can't wait for the rest of your trippies. x
Thanks for reading, you couldn't have asked for a better view, especially when you 're looking forward to flying the next day. I thought the picture of her in the pub was a scary face.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the trippies to come!

Originally Posted by simba View Post
Fab view!
Thanks, like I said above, couldn't have asked for better. enjoy reading.

Originally Posted by donnakirby View Post
A great start - i am looking foward to reading day 2
Hope you stick with us and read all the reports. Thanks

Originally Posted by tinkerlink View Post
Great start!
Thanks.

Originally Posted by Dizzy View Post
What a great view and a great start... Feel like I'm getting on the plane with you in the morning
Looking forward to the next part.
Thanks for the report
Thanks, was a great start to the hols, I wish we were getting on the plane again in the morning, notice you go soon, maybe i get on the plane with you, Lol.

Originally Posted by anji View Post
Great start! We're doing the same next year with DS17 and DD21 so will be really intertested in your trip. Park Inn is definately a good tip too - off to investigate parking ...
Thanks for reading, hope you manage to read the rest of the reports, maybe giving you a few helpful hints along the way.

Originally Posted by pinkcandy View Post
Great start, love the view from the hotel!
Thanks, I think everybody staying over night before flying would love a view like we had, really gets you in the mood.
__________________

1996 All Star Sports (Florida) 1998 Sheraton Anaheim (California)
2001 Carousel Anaheim (California) 2007 Disney's Port Orleans Riverside (Florida)
2009 Sheraton Park, Anaheim (California)

2009 - California On A Shoestring - Trip Report
2012 Azul Sensatori, Riviera Maya (Mexico) 2013 El Dorado Seaside Suites, Riviera Maya (Mexico)
2015 All Star Sports (Florida) 2016 Anantara Hotel & Resorts (Dubai)
2016 Azul Sensatori, (Jamaica)
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Old 25 Sep 09, 07:21 PM  
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huneybunny17
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wow what a view. and hasn't your DS got lovely blue eyes. xx
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