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Old 1 Oct 16, 11:15 AM  
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Disney Wishing
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Adventures In Public Transport - Day 22 - Storytellers Breakfast, Homeward Bound & Final thoughts

We all woke up in a quiet mood as today was our last day. We all got showered and started packing up the last of our things. This is the job that I usually hate but it wasn't too bad and everything was in by 9.30am. We had invested in some packing cubes before the trip which really made a difference.

DS was looking so sad I quickly though of a plan to cheer him up. I checked the app and there we reservations available for all three character breakfasts. We had dollars left over so whilst DS has in the bathroom I consulted with DH as to what he thought and he agreed it was a good idea so we told DS and gave him a choice of which one we when too. He chose Storytellers as it had some different characters so we dropped off our bags for storage and walked on over.

I didn't actually make a reservation on the app as I was sure how quickly it would drop through into the restaurants system so we just walked up. This was fine and we were seated within 5 minutes. The food here was really good; similar selection to Surfs up but a bit more grown up in presentation. Character Interaction was also excellent. We saw Chip, Dale, Kenai & Pluto. Each came around a few times and they also did some different birthday and celebration songs where they got everyone to join in. We spent just over an hour in here and it cheered us all up. DS also gave us a massive hug each for taking him.

From here we took some time having a look around the Grand California Hotel and then had a final wander around DTD. A couple of final purchased were made before we headed back to the DLH. We were catching the 3pm Disneyland Express so we had a little time to wait still so we hung out in the lobby area where more disney characters were out and about. DS said hello to a few of them before heading off to the cartoon area to watch while we waited. DH & I went to grab the cases and came back to see Dale sat watching TV with DS. It was so cute.

Just before three we headed out to catch the bus. We had checked with guest services the day before about booking tickets but they said we could just buy them on board. Sure enough when the bus arrive there was an attended that came around with the card machine and collected payment. They didn't charge for DS so the journey was $60 in total.

The journey to the airport took just under an hour and we didn't hit any traffic. The driver had taken note of who was travel with which airline when we boarded so it was all very organise. We were the second dropped off at the airport. Check in was all very straight forward and again security was not too busy so we had plenty of time to grab a bite to eat and charge our phones up a bit at the charging stations they had everywhere.

The flight took off on time. I was impressed that not only did Aer Lingus gave out eye masks and ear plugs headphones etc but also little blow up neck pillows. We got a lovely view of Santa Monica Pier and then turned down over Newport Beach and finally over Disneyland (now thats just rubbing it in).

The flight was uneventful, watched a film, got some sleep etc. We landed on time and had chosen a stopover again as on the outbound and then our flight back to Birmingham with Ryanair was the following afternoon. All straight forward. Journeys home are depressing so i’ll keep it short!

So there was the end of our most amazing holiday. We have been lucky to go to on some great holidays over the years but this has to be up there on top. All the planning and research had paid off. All our hotels were perfect, we had loved every destination and still now can’t pick a favourite. There were times when we had had seriously doubts about doing this without a car but it had been all been fine. It may not be most peoples choice but it was perfect for us and I think this would be my tip for planning - Know your own interests and what you enjoy to do. There’s so much wonderful advice out there but one persons favourite thing to do will be someone else worst thing to do. For us we love nature, history & Disney. We love seeing new things but also like a bit of time to relax and enjoy the pool so this trip suited just that.

Thanks for letting me relive the memories and share our trip. I did say it was going to be a mini trip report at the start but it ended up a long one! So now i’m off to plan next years trip. I’d love to do this trip all over again but I don't think the budget will stretch to that so we are planning to go back to Disneyland but also visit San Diego. We’ll definitely be using Amtrak again for this. We had originally planned to take a trip into LA itself on this trip but by the time we got to Anaheim we had already decided to come back next year so a couple of nights up LA way for Santa Monica Pier & Universal will probably be on the cards too
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Old 1 Oct 16, 11:38 AM  
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anji
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Thank you for doing such a brilliant trippie. I've loved reading every one and it's brought back some great memories.

Love the TV watching photo - sums it all up really!
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Old 1 Oct 16, 09:46 PM  
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janewah
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A great trippie, really enjoyed reading it. Very impressed by how well you all managed without a car too. Xx
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Old 1 Oct 16, 10:56 PM  
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nanasamboy
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Thanks for sharing, I've really enjoyed your Disneyland posts We are doing Storyteller's on our last morning too. I hope I get to sit and watch cartoons with Dale!

Sam x
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Old 2 Oct 16, 10:48 PM  
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Thank you for taking the time to do a trip report, I've really enjoy reading them, and it's given me little tips ready for our big california road trip next easter.
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Old 4 Oct 16, 11:11 AM  
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Cutiepie
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Thanks for sharing your trip with us, I have really enjoyed reading it...California is on the list to visit in the next couple of years... Budget permitting
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Old 8 Oct 16, 09:29 PM  
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TracyW
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Great trippie, thanks for taking the time to share!
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Old 10 Oct 16, 08:31 PM  
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Thank you for sharing, I can't imagine being without a car but you've shown it can be done, and successfully too! Pussycat
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Old 5 Nov 16, 09:24 PM  
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pandanne
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Just sat and read you whole trip report, which was fantastic. I didn't think it would be possible to do what you planned without a car - but wow, how wrong was I.

Thank you for sharing.
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Old 30 Dec 16, 01:44 AM  
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Animagus
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This was such a wonderful trip report to read so thank you for taking the time to do it.
We've not had our 2017 holiday yet but dh and I have hatched a plan to do a West Coast trip for our 50th birthdays in 2020. DD will be a teen by then too so we think she'll enjoy it just as much as we will.
I've written down so many ideas and tips from your trippie. It all sounded wonderful. No wonder you are visiting again. Thanks for sharing
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