Aulani Waves and Disneyland Days: An Ohana Adventure - Days 18/19 Paging Mr Morrow… Mr Tom Morrow

[bambikate]

Introduction and Index

Days 18/19 - Paging Mr Morrow… Mr Tom Morrow!
Check out of Disneyland hotel, pack, girls swim in pool, bump into Paging Mr. Morrow, Downtown Disney, Earl of Sandwich, Uber to LAX, Santa Monica Brew Works Margs and snacks and fly home, land in the UK, drive home and unpack.

We had a lie in until about 9am and Andy popped down to the little coffee shop at the hotel to get us some breakfast - bagels, pastries etc and coffee.







We had these in our room and then Andy and I packed whilst the girls went down to the pool for a final swim.

We checked out at 12pm and left our bags with Bell Services.

As we walked through the lobby, I saw You-tuber Paging Mr Morrow (Nate) he was wandering around the lobby and I really wanted to say hi but I was a bit hesitant.

I went up to the girls and said “I think that’s Paging Mr Morrow over there that we watch on Youtube, shall we go and say ‘Hi’ and ask for a selfie?" The girls said yes and then we went over and spoke to him - he was so nice and was more than happy to have a quick picture.

We had some time to spare as our flight home wasn’t until 5:15pm.

We had a browse around Downtown Disney and did a bit of last minute shopping then went to Earl of Sandwich to get Andy,Izzy and I a sandwich and Immy did want a hot dog from one of the stalls but they were sold out so she got some quesadillas from Taqueria.

We took our lunch back to our Hotel and sat on one of the little table and chair areas in the shade - it was so relaxing here - a great way to chill out and a nice place to eat.



Andy and I shared half each of the “1762 THE ORIGINAL” (Roasted beef, cheddar & horseradish sauce) and the Cuban sandwich (Tender carnitas, ham, Swiss, pickles & Cuban mustard sauce) and Izzy had the Italian (Salami, capicola, ham, pepperoni, mozzarella, Roma tomato, Italian seasoning & Italian dressing) I got mine with potato chips, Andy got his with tots and both girls had a cookie.









Wallpaper in the ladies restrooms!



Loved this wall of celebrities who visited Disney



We booked an Uber XL to collect us at about 2:30pm and we got to the airport at about 3:15pm. It cost $75.56 plus tip.



We did the bag drop and then went through security - they were pretty scary here and got everyone to line up in rows of 3 (with whoever they told you to line up with including randoms) and then they would ask you to walk slowly from one point to another, whilst a sniffer dog was set loose to sniff the 3 people then got called back.

Once you got to the end you could go to the bag scanners as normal. This in itself would have been fine it was the shouting that made everyone on edge:
“Do not look at the dog!”
“Do not slow down!”
“Do not walk too fast!”
“Don’t walk so far apart!”
“Don’t walk too close together!”
It sounded like hardly anyone was getting it right.

I got called forward with two other ladies and we managed to get to the end without being shouted at, I walked slowly towards the bag check, waiting for Andy and the girls, who walked together and also managed to do it without getting shouted at (yay!).

Once we cleared the security area, we were in the terminal by about 4pm and we had a browse around the shops there.




We weren’t properly hungry yet but we did fancy a little pre flight drink and something to snack on whilst we waited, so we went into Santa Monica Brew Works which was literally next to our gate and got a big portion of fries to share and then Andy and I got a Margarita each and the girls got a diet coke each. We loved here and it was one of the best Margaritas we’d had all holiday.









Not too long later, we started boarding and we got settled for our flight home!

Shortly after take off, we had a G&T and a G&L and some of these Smokehouse Nibbles, which we all really liked and what looks like (but can’t confirm as I’m working off no notes!) a chicken pie and a caramel brownie for dinner.











The pilot pointed out when we were flying over the Las Vegas strip - can you see the sphere?





Andy and I never sleep well on flights anyway so think it was as good as it could be and the girls said they slept OK but planned on napping in the car anyway.

We were given an egg breakfast sandwich, coffee, orange juice, a Greek yogurt and a granola bar just before landing; we landed at Heathrow just before midday.





We cleared border control, collected our bags and called the number to collect the car. We went to the car park, collected our car and we were able to head off on our journey home.

We got home and forced ourselves to unpack and start the laundry (which was painful!) whilst the girls showered and got their stuff ready for school the next day.

We had a home made lasagne and garlic bread my mum had made for us and she had also picked up some essentials for us so we had stuff to last us a couple of days without having to do a food shop too.

And here is our haul!







Thank you so much for reading - it took a long time to type it all up but now I’ve done it, I’m glad I have

Like last time, I thought it might be helpful to end this with highs and lows (lows then highs so it ends on a high!)

Lows

• Only a minor point as it could have been much worse but the van which didn’t have its load secured properly and a loose screwdriver made a hole in our car’s bodywork (at least it didn’t burst a tire or crack our windscreen).
• As with last year, the prices! There’s no getting around the holiday itself and the spending whilst we were there was soooo expensive.
• Hawaiian Airlines - The cancelled flight on the last day of our Hawaiian part of the holiday - it really put a dampener on our last day and was so stressful and then the customer service afterwards (and now when I’m still trying to sort it out) has been absolutely awful - really disappointed.
• Disneyland Hotel - probably my fault but I don’t remember being told about the improvement works and if I was, I didn’t realise the Monorail slide would be closed - had been looking forward to that.
• The ‘Executive Floor” at the Hilton Universal. The hotel itself was great - we would stay there again. It was specifically the Executive Floor with its supposed ‘perks’ that didn’t include any breakfast for the kids, attempted upselling for an extortionate price and rancid pastries
• Bad service at Lamplight Lounge - such as shame as the food, drinks and ambience were all excellent but the server was inattentive and couldn’t wait to get rid of us, giving us our bill when we were still eating and only part way into our second drink when we actually wanted to get dessert. To be fair, the manager was very apologetic and did give us vouchers to compensate.
• And finally, tipping for literally no reason at all. Don't get me wrong, we are more than happy to tip normally when there has been someone actually serving you but it’s actually getting to the point now where it’s getting a bit ridiculous. Two specific occasions that stand out where me using a self service machine in Boudin Bakery to buy my food it asked me if I would like to add a tip…. For what?! The other time was when I went to a convenience store at the airport, I walked to the fridge, picked up a bottle of water, handed it to the cashier (who by the way didn’t say a word to me) and he turned the screen round for me to add a tip. Is that a joke? It’s getting out of control!

Highs

• Absolutely everything on our one day Pacific Coast road trip, the weather, the views, the convertible, the hotel, In-N-Out Burger, Nepenthe, Big Sur River Inn, Park Lusseau Pastries, Pfeiffer Beach - I can’t narrow it down it was all perfect and a memory that will last forever!
• Rebooking car hire - booked both car hires several months ahead with a fully refundable rate, cancelled and rebooked a few times and ended up getting for a fraction of the original cost - would definitely recommend doing this.
• Hawaii - everything about it (as well as the specific things below) We all agreed we HAVE to go back one day - what an incredible place.
• Aulani - everything about it but particularly, the views from our room, the beach and lazy river.
• ‘AMA ‘AMA / Date night - Delicious food, great drinks, great service stunning (unbeatable) sunset views and just the whole concept of having a date night on holiday whilst the girls also had the best time and didn’t want us to come back yet
• Honolulu Kitchen - We loved our experience here with Unko Steve and the Manapua were all so delicious. 10/10
• Monkeypod Kitchen - particularly the Mai Tais - would definitely recommend going here if you visit Aulani.
• The photographers on the beach who captured the most beautiful photos we can now have forever.
• Mina’s Fish House - we only had drinks here but they were excellent and the service and atmosphere was incredible.
• United Airlines - came to the rescue and a very comfortable and clean flight with a free leg room upgrade.
• Bowsers challenge - such an innovative and fun ride - really glad we were able to experience it.
• Waterworld - we were so surprised how good this show was we watched it twice
• Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar - the best time on both nights, gorgeous appetisers, strong drinks and new mugs!
• World of Color - what a show! Just stunning - so happy we finally got to see it.
• ALL the Disneyland snacks I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to just one but a few stand out ones: Jack Jack cookies, Monte Cristos and fries, Pork wonton nachos, Cozy Cone, Lamplight Lounge and the cheese garlic pretzel roll from Edelweiss Snacks.
• Haunted Mansion holiday - never seen it before and so glad we were able to experience it this time - it’s so fun.
• Matterhorn Bobsleds - one of the best rides of the holiday - so much fun we rode it multiple times.
• Meeting Paging Mr Morrow on our last day - we love watching his vlogs and he was so sweet!

Thank you for reading

[fudgie]

What a great trip report. Thanks for writing it, I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Giselle]

Wow, what a holiday. I’ve loved reading your report and seeing the photos. Thanks for sharing.

[slow.jo]

Kate, I've just binged the whole thing! Thanks for a brilliant report as always. What a fantastic holiday. Hawaii is definitely on my bucket list, and you've made me miss Disneyland so much! Hope you're all well 🥰
Jo x

[Cutiepie]

Wow, what an amazing holiday.I have really enjoyed reading your report (I always do) thank you for sharing and taking the time to do it.

Where are you off to this year?

[jengibbo]

Thanks for writing this report up. I have really enjoyed reading it.

[prettymiarose]

What an amazing holiday! Love reading your reports so thank you for taking the time to write them

[Fanofdisney]

Really enjoyed reading this, especially Disneyland as we are going just for 2 days in September. This helps with my planning!

[Pep]

Wow what a great trippie I felt I was over there with you at times. Its something that we would love to do and we got a lot of tips from you so thanks.
Nice for you all to meet Nate he does come across as a nice guy on his vlogs.
Just one thing you missed off the highs ,your mum doing you a homemade lasagne for you all when you got back,what a star 🌟

[Briar Rose]

Another fab trip report! What an amazing holiday!x