Planes , Trains and A lot Of Unexpected Adventures West Coast Updated Saturday July 2 Travel Home
 

I'm back in Ireland and already missing the California blue skies and sun. Wow what an adventure. Some amazing experiences and lots of unexpected adventures. Just as well I plan and research so much, and I am used to things going wrong. You really need to pack lots of patience when travelling now.

I'm going to do a full trip report here but I will do a separate report for parts of my trip, as it might be useful for others.

West Coast Food Review June 2022

Sunday June 19 2022
Travel from Ireland to USA

Monday June 20 2022
Travel part 2, finally arriving in Seattle

Tuesday June 21
Getting on the train

Amtrak Coast Starlight from Seattle To LA

Thursday June 23
Chill day in LA

Friday June 24
Meeting Friends

Saturday June 25
Michael Jackson death anniversary Forest Lawn Glendale

Sunday June 26
Santa Monica

Monday June 27
Transfer to Anaheim
Downtown Disney

Tuesday June 28
Disneyland Main Park

Wednesday June 29
California Adventures Park

Thursday June 30
California Adventures Park

Friday July 1
Disneyland Main Park

Saturday July 2
Travel Home To Ireland

Sunday 19 June

My day started early, arriving at Dublin airport at 7am. I wanted to get there early, as like everywhere, Dublin airport has been chaos over the last few weeks with staff shortages and long queues at check in and security.

It took about an hour to check my bag and get through security and by 8am I was getting breakfast in Starbucks. I drank my coffee but decided to keep my sandwich to eat at the gate area. After a wander through the shops, I checked the screens and saw that US Preclearance was open for my flight.

US Preclearance is a special security area that Irish airports have, which is US passport check by US Homelands Security Agents. It is located on a lower level of Dublin airport, after the normal security area and the restaurant and shopping concourse. It means that I get my passport stamped before getting on the plane, and that I arrive in USA as a domestic passenger.

US Preclearance was a bit busy but I got through the bag check in about 20 minutes. There was no queue for the US Homelands Security Agents as anyone with an American passport could use the self service kiosks.

After getting my passport stamp I found my gate area and had my Starbucks Sandwich. There were a lot of flights to USA leaving around the same time, so it was very crowded. There is very limited food options at the gate area so I was glad I bought my sandwich earlier.

The flight was delayed due to the incoming flight so we left about an hour later than scheduled. I wasn't too worried, as I had about 3 hours in JFK before my next flight.



Landing in JFK we were not that far behind schedule. As we had done the passport check in Dublin, I just walked off the plane, straight through the terminal and to bag reclaim. My bag came off quick and and then I was heading to my next flight.

I landed in JFK in terminal 5 so I had to take the Airtrain to terminal 4 for my next flight with Delta. I had watched YouTube videos so I knew the route and how long it would take. I had checked in online with Delta before I left Ireland, so all I had to do was go to the bag drop kiosks, print my bag tag and go to the bag drop desk.

When I got to the Delta check in area, I check the screens. OMG, really my flight is cancelled! Now what do I do? I found a Delta agent and asked what should I do. She said to go down to arrivals area and find the rebooking desk and that they would look after me.

I had no idea what was going on, but I followed the other people from my flight, down to arrivals and joined the big rebooking queue. I wasn't even thinking about food or restroom or what would happen to my hotel booking or even when I would get to my next destination, Seattle.

It was crazy in the rebooking queue. There was only 3 agents and a huge amount of people with all sorts of itineraries which needed to be sorted out. It took me about 2 hours to finally get to the top and talk to the agent. She was lovely and sorted everything for me. There were no direct flights to Seattle, so she rebooked me for the next day but I would have to go from a different airport and instead of direct, I had to connect. So my new itinerary was
Newark to Detroit - morning flight
Detroit to Seattle - afternoon flight
Delta gave me a hotel to stay the night at, $30 food vouchers and vouchers for a taxi from JFK to the hotel and in the morning a taxi from the hotel to Newark airport.

I was so glad to get sorted and to know that I was on flights and would have somewhere to stay. I made my way out of the terminal to the taxi pick up area. I was so hot and icky but finally I made it to the hotel and checked in.

I was in a Holiday Inn Express which unfortunately only had snack options for food, but by that stage I was so hungry I didnt care.

Once I had eaten and had a shower, it was time to sort out my itinerary.

I had to ring my hotel in Seattle to tell them that I would be a day late. As it was less than 24 hours, I had to pay for 2 nights, even though I now only needed 1 night. I can claim that on my travel insurance, so that's ok. It also meant that the room would be held for me and that I wasn't a no show, which was a relief.

I had a Hop On Hop Off bus tour booked in Seattle but I decided to leave that as a no show and claim that on my travel insurance.

I also rang the taxi company and booked my pick up from the hotel to Newark airport in the morning.

The last thing I did before going to bed was to repack my carry on bag. I was a bit nervous about the time between the connecting flights, that my bag might not make it, so I put extra clothes and moved some things from my checked bag into my carry on bag.

Finally I went to bed, and got some rest.

So glad you got sorted out with another itinerary - Delta did well in the end! Very stressful though and sad to lose a night in Seattle. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip :) :)

It was so stressful but I just stayed clam. So many people were getting angry or upset in the rebooking queue, but at that stage theres no point, you just have to accept that your original plans are gone and just go with whatever is next.

I learned a few days later that the whole weekend was a travel chaos weekend, the media called it Travel Armageddon. Between all the airlines over the weekend, over 3000 flights were cancelled, mainly due to pilot shortages.

The airlines scheduled the flights months ago, I booked mine in November, but then when the flights were due to go, there was no flight crews available, so they had to cancel last minute.

Also the taxi driver said that I was lucky I am international, as the domestic passengers didnt get the food vouchers.

Monday 20 June

I wake up in Holiday Inn Express, somewhere near JFK airport, not the city or time zone I was supposed to be at today, but oh well, lets just go with the flow.

The hotel does have breakfast but I have booked my taxi pick up before it starts. I manage to get a grab and go breakfast, not the best but at least its something.

My taxi arrives on time and its off on a new adventure, to Newark airport. As a bonus, the route is through Manhattan , so I get an unexpected sightseeing tour on the way to the airport.

I arrive at Newark in plenty of time, as it was early morning, the traffic wasnt too bad.

I check in and go through TSA with no issues. I have never been to this airport, so I had no idea about what food options or shops would be in the terminal and gate area.

The Delta terminal is small but there were some good food options. I got a Firehouse ham, egg and cheese sub for breakfast. I was a bit stressed out so I forgot to take a photo.

After having something to eat, I found my gate, and had a walk around the shop areas. I found the water refill station and refilled my water bottle.

About an hour before boarding, I went to Starbucks and got a coffee and a tomato mozzarella panni for on the plane.

This was my first flight of the day, Newark to Detroit and the plane boarded on time.

The doors closed and we started to push back from the terminal, but then we stopped. Oh no, really, whats going on? We sit there , in the middle of no mans land for about 15 minutes, the Captain announced a slight delay. But then a few minutes later the Captain came back said, many apologies, we have to go back to the terminal as there is a slight maintenance issue and we need to reboot the plane! Omg, Im not the only one with a connecting flight in Detroit and I could see most passengers looking at their phones and getting stressed.

So we get pushed back to the terminal, the back doors are opened and the Captain powers down the plane. The we all sit in a silent plane and then it reboots and things start coming back on. The whole process takes about an hour and by this stage I know I have missed the connecting flight to Seattle from Detroit.

Anyways , finally we get going and are in the air. The flight crew were amazing. They went through the passenger list and found everyone who had a connecting flight and got gate information for everyone. During the flight they made announcements for all the different destinations, some people like me going to Seattle had totally missed the connection and we were told to go to rebooking. Some people were told, this is your gate number, they are holding the plane for you, so run when we get to the terminal.

Landing in Detroit, and everyone raced in different directions off the plane. I followed the line of people to rebooking and round two, different airport, different city, same procedure. Luckily this time, they were able to put me on the evening flight. Again Delta staff were amazing. Once I was sorted, I explained that I am international and needed to contact my hotel to let them know I would be a late check in. The Delta staff let me use the phone at the desk. I also had to ring the airport shuttle in Seattle and see if my booking from the previous night was still valid.

After getting everything sorted, I started to relax a bit and realized that I had about 6 hours in Detroit airport before my next and final flight to Seattle. I went for a walk around the terminal, got some food and found my gate. There were a few flights before mine at the gate, so I spent the next few hours alternating between resting in comfy chairs in various parts of the terminal and walking around the terminal. This was not how I planned to spend this day, but there was nothing else I could do.

It was such a relief when my flight info finally popped up at the gate area.

The flight was uneventful, I was just so done with travel at that stage, that I just wanted it all done.

Finally landing in Seattle, I couldnt believe that I had made it. By the time I got to bag reclaim, my bag was already out, which again was a relief. It seemed so long ago that I had given it to Delta staff at bag drop in Newark.

I had found a video walkthrough from the airport shuttle company of where to find them and had written down the route, so it was easy to find the pick up area. My pickup time was 11pm and I got to the pick up area at 10.45pm, perfect timing.

It didnt take too long to get to Seattle from the airport, I was checking in at about 11.30pm.

It was a really lovely hotel and room, its such a shame that I didnt have the days I had planned there.

I stayed at Embassy Suites Hilton, Kings Street Seattle, which is right next door to Kings Street Train Station.

I had a room on the 22nd floor, which had a great view of the city.

Even though it was late and I was so tired I had to repack my bags again. I found an amazing YouTube Channel called Grounded Life Travel. They are a couple who for the last number of years have been travelling around America on all the Amtrak routes. It was from watching their videos during the summer of 2021 that I decided to book the Amtrak train from Seattle to LA. They did a great packing video and showed exactly what they have in their carry on bags on the train. So using their video as a guide, I repacked my carry on, diving my things into what I could leave in the room and what I needed to have with me at all times.

Eventually after showering and having some snacks it was finally time to relax and get some sleep.

Tuesday 21 June

Finally back on track, waking up in the right hotel and in the right city. I wish I had time to see the city but oh well at least I made it here for my train.

I go to the second floor to check out the breakfast. I forgot to take a photo of the buffet but I brought my food back to my room and took a photo. The buffet was really good quality, with both help yourself and made to order items.

I got scrambled egg, pork sausages, fried potatoes, yoghurts, melon and coffee. The melon I put into the take away coffee cups in the room to bring on the train, and one of the yoghurts was for the train too. I had planned to buy fruit snacks for the train in the famous Seattle Pike Place Market but this will have to do.

After breakfast it was time to check out and walk over to the train station. When I checked out I made sure to get a letter from the hotel to say that I paid for 2 nights but only stayed 1 night, so that I can claim on my travel insurance.

This is why I paid a bit extra and booked Embassy Suites by Hilton in Seattle, it was literally next door to the train station :)

That E on the left is the hotel, the building on the right is the train station


I went straight to bag check to check in and put my large bag in checked luggae. I was early so there was no queue and then I was all set and just had to wait for boarding.

I had a good look around the station, it is newly renovated and really nice and airy


Then I found my gate and waited to board



Thats all for now. I'm going to put the train journey in a separate post and link it here, as I'm sure many people will be interested and just putting it in here it will get lost :)

I have started a separate thread for my train journey
Amtrak Coast Starlight from Seattle To LA

This journey was an overnight 32 hour trip which went through 3 states
Washington
Oregon
California

All information about this train trip is on this thread
About the train
About the roomette
Food
Various stations along the route

I have now added day 1 on the train to my Amtrak Coast Starlight trip report https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1229702

Wow 😳

I could feel the stress from your travel tribulations and no wonder!

I agree all you can do is try and be chill and go with the flow but it is easier said than done sometimes!

Onwards and upwards hopefully, we had 48 hours in Seattle a few years back and liked the vibe (though not so much the area around the train station to be honest).

After a transatlantic flight, your brain is scrambled anyway, and having to deal with cancelled flights is not the best way to start a holiday, but it all worked out ok in the end.

I picked the hotel beside the train station for convenience and access to transport options. The hop on hop off bus and regular city tram are all nearby, so I would have had easy access to the main downtown tourist area.

Oh well, maybe someday I'll get back and see the city.