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Old 13 Oct 18, 09:54 AM  
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bambikate
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The 1200 Mile West Coast Adventure - August/September 2018: Day 1: Blaze 'n' Champagne

Day 1: Blaze 'n' Champagne
Monday 20 August 2018

Travel Day - Flying to LAX, Griffith Observatory and Universal Citywalk

Index

Andy’s first alarm went off at 4am. I hopped up and grabbed it to turn it off and realised I had 30 minutes of snoozing before I had to get up 😁.

30 minutes later it was time to actually get up. Izzy woke up with the alarm but it took a bit of persuading to get Imogen up too.

Eventually we were all up and by 5:25am we were all showered, dressed and packed and we quietly headed downstairs.

We were originally going to check in our car with meet and greet then get breakfast but as we were earlier than expected we decided to have Costa at the hotel first which is open 24/7.

Unfortunately they didn't have any sausage and caramelised onion toasties 😭 so instead Andy and I got a bacon roll each and the girls shared a breakfast sandwich.

I got small skinny hazelnut latte and Andy a medium skinny latte. The girls had a small Tropicana each. Total came to £18.90.









We sat in the lobby and ate our breakfast then checked out and made our way to the car to drive to the meet and greet at about 6:10am.

After some to-ing and fro-ing we eventually got our bags back into the boot and followed the directions for terminal 3 short stay car park.



We received a text to say the pick up was now on level 4 but when we got there we drove to level 4 and there was a guy directing everyone back to level 3 saying they hadn't changed over yet!

We dropped our keys off at the desk and got our return ticket then headed down in the lifts to departures.

We headed straight to bag drop to collect our boarding passes and drop our bags off. The queue only took a few minutes and now we only had one piece of hand luggage to contend with each Easy!

We headed straight to security and joined the queue. It was fairly quick but two of our bags needed extra screening, one because of all our camera equipment needed an extra check and the other because Imogen accidentally put the toothpaste loose in her bag rather than back in the liquids bags 🙈 all was fine in the end and we re-packed then went for a browse in duty free.



We chose a bottle of champagne and then chilled out in the main departures area waiting for our gate to be called.





The girls played on their iPads and we all popped to the loo. After about 15-20 mins our gate was announced: Gate 18.



We started to walk down then joined the queue. It went very quickly and we were soon handing over our boarding passes.





The girls got given backpacks and we were told we could board straight away. This was great because no one formed a big queue everyone just slowly went into the plane.

Here she is! Dream Jeannie!



Our seats were 46K, J and H (economy delight) and 46G (economy classic) we booked prior to the different economy classes changing but had paid for our seats. They were extra legroom and we really liked them.







We were all on board and for some reason I couldn’t text or use data even though it said I had 3G. I called my mum instead but had to bypass the usual Facebook airport check in 😂

Look at the wifi selections



The captain advised us that the flight would be approximately 10h 40mins. We left around 9:40am (scheduled to leave 9:20am)





the girls were absolutely buzzing with excitement.

After a little while they handed out a Sky Quiz for the kids to do. It was pretty entertaining





Soon it was time for good old sour cream pretzels and a drink. The girls had some lemonade, I had a gin and slimline fever tree tonic and Andy had a coke zero as he would be driving when we got there



Playing loveballs with Imogen



Not long after it was lunch time!



Andy and I had the Chicken makhani with pesto pasta side salad and a gu passion fruit pudding.



The girls had the pasta bake. Imogen LOVES pesto and said "oh my God this is amazing!"

I have to say, they did feed us A LOT on this flight! A few hours later we were given this:



A cheese and tomato chutney sandwich, honey butter and sea salt crisps and a chocolate nutty bar. I have to say, I liked the idea of the honey butter. I usually love sweet and salty and I love butter but they were gross.

A little while later, they gave out some mini twister lollies:



And later on... a steak pasty!





Thumbs up from Immy!

To be fair, it was over an 11 hour flight!

Movie wise, I watched the Overboard remake with Anna Farris, Blockers and Game night. I really enjoyed all 3 but my favourite was definitely Overboard, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it!

We loved the cool new window dimmers. Rather than the blinds you just pressed darker button and it would dim to this dark purple colour!



The girls watched Jaws, Coco and The Greatest Showman and played with their iPads (loveballs and Disney Crossy road). They also managed a couple of naps!

Look what the cabin pressure did to our crisps...



The girls have a couple of the "Boo" dogs from previous trips and were excited to see which type of "Boo" they had this time in the duty free magazine. He was £10 and dressed as a little aviator! Adorable

The trolley came round when Imogen was asleep but we missed it and Izzy went all the way to the end of the plane to ask for the dog because she wanted to surprise Imogen when she woke up. We paid for him and Izzy balanced him on Imogen. She was so excited for her to wake up and see him!



She absolutely LOVED the gift and wouldn't stop cuddling him. Izzy also loved surprising her. So cute!

How is this comfortable?!





The mountains as we approached our destination looked so impressive from the plane!

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Old 13 Oct 18, 09:55 AM  
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After a great flight and feeling very VERY full, we landed at 12:40pm local time. We had originally planned to have lunch when we landed but were still so full so we didn't need to!

We disembarked and managed to get off just after UC and PE as we were right at the front of economy

The other bonus was that we were the only plane landing! We walked through to immigration and were directed to use the auto machines by a rather brusk immigration officer. Izzy said to me she seemed a bit grumpy but I just explained her job was very serious and important and she was trying to keep people moving to speed up the queue.

The electronic booths were super easy and you literally just follow the instructions on screen, scan your passport and select if you have an esta / visa etc then they take your photo and it prints out a voucher which you take to the TSA agent.

Our TSA was so friendly. He asked us if were going to Disney and if we were planning on going to In-N-Out burger when were here (which we were!). He told us it would be the best burgers we've ever eaten. We answered a resounding yes to both and he stamped our passports and said "4 cheeseburgers to go!"

We waited around 10 minutes for our bags. They were all there!

Next was to pick up our car! We booked through Alamo via rentalcars.co.uk. This would be our first ever time collecting a car from an airport. Previously we had always used caronthedrive service in Orlando.

We specifically chose Alamo because of their excellent customer service and the fact you could choose your own car and they didn't try and up-sell when you get there.

At LAX all the car hire locations are located off site and you have to get shuttle buses to get there.

Annoyingly, there was loads of roadworks and it meant that bus stops were closed and none of the staff seemed to know where to direct us. We got directed in the wrong direction a few times and dragging massive heavy cases back and forth with tired kids was a bit of a pain in the butt.

Eventually we chased down an Alamo bus and started to queue. It was rammed and there wasn't enough space for us so we waited for the next one, which came along about 2 minutes later No standing for us!

This trip we both had O2's new package which included unlimited Data and texts and calls in the USA for free which was amazing! (Used to be £5 a day!) Honestly it was a complete game changer. We never once felt lost and could google stuff straight away without waiting to find WiFi!

When we pulled up at Alamo we headed inside to the check in desk. There was a choice of the manned desks or self serve kiosks. There was no queue at either but we chose the self serve as it was right in front of us!

There was even a member of Alamo staff helping to use the machines so she did it all for us! Even easier!

There was no pushy upgrades and it was super quick and easy. We picked up our sat nav (which in hindsigt we didn't really need) and were in the car park choosing our car within 15 minutes of arriving.

We had booked a "Chevrolet Tahoe or Similar". We had originally booked a "Hyundai Santa Fe or Similar" but decided the boot space wouldn't be enough for two weeks of travelling. I'm glad we upgraded.

The member of staff in the car park looked at our ticket and said that we could have the Nissan Armada that just came back and popped the trunk for us to have a look. She told us to come back if we were not happy with it.

As we walked over I had a pang of disappointment. I had really wanted the Tahoe but I couldn't see any in the car park so I was willing to give this one a try.

We had a look and initially said it would be fine but it was so ugly!





It was also quite dirty inside and out and covered in scratches.



We had started loading our luggage in and I just was't happy with it. Andy and the girls said it was fine but when I got in the front my legs were touching the glovebox and that was the straw that broke the camel's back as I was already tired and grumpy. This lead me to having a a rant about the "stupid ugly car". It just didn't feel like it was worth the price we had paid and I started crying

Andy said he's not having me not being happy the whole holiday so we got out of the car and unloaded all our stuff and walked back over to the desk in the car park.

He explained we were't happy with it and asked if they had any Tahoe's. One had just pulled in and was being washed. It was no problem to switch it over and I just wish we had done that at the beginning instead of falling out.

Anyway, the Tahoe was gorgeous and clean and had that "new car smell". It felt so luxurious and had lots of room for all our bags in the boot. Happy girl! Happy family! Let's go!





I plugged in the sat nav and Andy did a bit of practising around the car park to get used to driving an automatic car again before we left it to venture onto the open road. With only minor whiplash we left the carpark a few minutes later

We only had a flying visit in LA so there was no time to waste! If we wanted to see LA we would have to go on the way from the airport to the hotel! No rest for the wicked.

We set the sat nav for Griffith Park Observatory and off we drove! We were fully expecting heavy LA traffic so it didn't come as a surprise when we were stuck in it! It only took 40 minutes to get there in the end, which we didn't think was too bad.







Look at that traffic light!





The homelessness problem was very evident everywhere you went, particularly in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The girls had a little power nap en route. It felt surreal to be driving around LA!



The Observatory itself was closed on Mondays (which we were aware of) but we wanted to see the views so decided to head up there anyway. Parking was $8 and card only, which is a lot for the 20 minutes we were there but we were on holiday!





The views were spectacular and the pictures just don't do it justice!















After taking in the sights we drove to Universal City to check in to our hotel for 2 nights, the Hilton! We were very excited to be staying here. We paid a little bit more to have a Universal view room which meant it was on one of the top floors.











We had booked a refundable rate via Expedia many months before and were pleased with the price we got.

One major expense during our two weeks was parking Jeez Louise! Our first two nights cost $28 a night plus tax self parking.

The car park was located underneath the hotel and we parked and emptied the boot and headed to the lift to check in.

We checked in at around 5pm. They put an automatic $50 charge to cover incidentals (refundable). Check in was easy and the staff were lovely.

We were given our room key and we found a lift and went all the way up to our room.

The room was amazing and the view was out of this world!

There were two queen size beds and a lovely bathroom with a small desk area, a little dining table area and lots of storage and a safe.











You could see Minions, Super Silly Fun Land, Citywalk and of course Hogwarts!



The girls were over the moon and so were we! What a great choice!

We quickly freshened up and got ready to head straight out to Citywalk as we were getting hungry.

One of the massive draws about staying here was the close proximity to Universal Hollywood and Citywalk, which was an easy 5 minute walk, going over a bridge.
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Old 13 Oct 18, 09:56 AM  
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We saw Vin Diesel in the lobby



There was no contesting what dinner would be tonight... pizza! And not just any pizza... Blaze pizza! Yasssss!

We really liked the atmosphere in Citywalk and could imagine spending a whole evening there if we had more time and were't so tired from travelling!

Before getting pizza we needed to visit Voodoo donuts which would serve as our breakfast for the next couple of days and dessert tonight! Any excuse!





The theming in Voodoo was awesome.



We decided on the choose your own dozen box. It was pretty darn expensive but it was a bit of fun so we made our careful selections and paid the $37 plus tax



Carrying our big pink box around we headed for Blaze.

Ooh Abercrombie, we will be back for you!



We had originally planned to eat in the restaurant but the thought of chilling on our bed with Blaze and Champers was too big a draw and we ordered 3 pizzas:

I had a create your own with: Italian sausage, peppers, onion and mushrooms

Andy had the meat eater with onions and green peppers

The girls had double pepperoni! .

Proudly walking back with our boxes of junk food we walked through the lobby of the hotel, one of the concierge shouted over "Pizza and donuts? I wanna party with you guys! What room?"





Ooh Sephora!



Look at our pretty hotel



Blaze was so incredibly good! We also cracked open the Champagne we had bought in duty free which coincidentally had been chilling on ice since we went to Citywalk



We had to keep our first night tradition!







We all enjoyed our pizzas so much but everyone was too tired and full for donuts so left them until the morning!

The girls barely managed to get their PJs on and teeth brushed before they crashed for the night.

The view outside at night was beautiful, I could stare there for hours!





We managed to charge everything and get our stuff out for the morning before hitting the hay.
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Old 13 Oct 18, 10:12 AM  
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Great start to the holiday, looking forward to reading the rest, loved your Disneyworld reports last time x
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Old 13 Oct 18, 10:28 AM  
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Hi,

Love reading these trip reports and look like you had a great start. Look forward to reading the rest.

For me, one of the worst bits is picking up the car as it's the one bit you have little control over.

We're doing similar very soon... into LAX and staying at Hilton Universal with Universal view room. Can't wait!

We've also booked a Tahoe (hopefully!) and I was worried about it getting into the car park under the Hilton. We've stayed before (but had a Mustang so no height worries) and remember the car park being quite low. Was the Tahoe a tight squeeze height wise?

See my previous thread .. https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1063745

I was going to do valet parking and let them worry about it but if the Tahoe fits, I'll be self parking!

My daughter will be very excited when I tell her there is a Sephora at City Walk!

Sean

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Old 13 Oct 18, 11:00 AM  
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Wow! You guys are hardcore! An 11 hr flight, Griffith observatory and city walk! Amazing!
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Old 13 Oct 18, 01:01 PM  
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Lovely start to the holiday. Perfect dinner! Glad you got the car you wanted- good on Andy for getting it changed😊
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Old 13 Oct 18, 01:31 PM  
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Great start, looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip
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Old 13 Oct 18, 08:04 PM  
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Brilliant start, love seeing the photos of LA. Who knew traffic pics could be so cool?!

Pizza and champers sounds like the perfect first night meal. Looking forward to seeing what you get up to tomorrow xx
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Old 13 Oct 18, 08:06 PM  
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I can’t believe you managed all that after your flight! Amazing! As travel days go, that was a good one!
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