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Old 30 Dec 21, 01:14 PM  
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Claudette
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Claudette & Nev Go West! - January 2022 - COMPLETE

And not just west, but very west - to the far coast of USA we shall go.

Yes I finally think we are close enough to say that the trip will go ahead and so close enough for a pre trip report. Earlier this week we dared to buy our insurance, book the pre flight covid tests and purchase coming home tests to take with us. So I guess we are going.

Travelling as usual is myself and husband “Nev” an alias in honour of a certain Harry Potter character. We have been to LA a couple of times before, the first time was on our west coast honeymoon. But we have not been to Disneyland or Universal Hollywood before, both of which we will visit on this trip as well as places such as Beverly Hills and Santa Monica beach.

The trip will start with two nights at airport hotels, the Heathrow Sofitel this end and LAX Homewood Suites on the other side. We land at 6:30pm and are hoping to do a Global Entry on arrival interview so airport accommodation suits us best. We will then move to the Hilton Universal City from where we will do much of our LA exploration as well as visit Universal Hollywood of course. Then we transfer to Anaheim for a few nights at Disney Grand Californian and a few more at JW Marriott.

This dining report will focus upon the main interest points of dibbers, so our experiences at airports, inflight and on-site / offsite dining during the Universal and Disney parts of our stay. We have the following in our sights:

Universal area

We don’t usually book anything for Universal Orlando so will be assuming the same here. I cannot find the Three Broomsticks on a map but I have seen it mentioned, so I hope it exists.

Vivo Italian Kitchen
Bubba Gump (Santa Monica)
Antojito’s
Minion Cafe
Blaze Pizza
Pink’s Hotdogs
Three Broomsticks

Disney area

These are all booked with the exception of Oga’s Cantina because the bookings I had were cancelled.

Carthay Circle (Lounge)
Storyteller Cafe - Mickey’s breakfast
Napa Rose
Goofy’s Kitchen
Cafe Orleans
Plaza Inn
Lamplight Lounge
Oga’s Cantina

Other

We don’t usually visit the US chains in Orlando as we don’t drive so tend to eat on-site. However in LA they will be walkable from our hotels.

Denny’s
IHOP
Cheesecake Factory
Californian Pizza Kitchen

One week today and we will be getting ready to head to Heathrow to take our covid tests. Fingers crossed…


Post trip edit
===============================

We didn't make it to all of the planned places mentioned above, particularly the Universal ones which were not always open and because we were jetlagged for that part of the trip! I have enabled links to go directly to the review for those that we did visit and below are links to other places we went to. Looks like more unplanned than planned.

Kanishka Kitchen T5
Concord Room T5
Inflight (outbound)
Hilton Universal City Cafe Sierra
208 Rodeo
Panda Express
Margaritaville
Voodoo Donuts
Hard Rock Cafe
Blue Bayou
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Room
Ralph Brennan Jazz Kitchen
Ronto Roasters
Grand Californian room service
Naples Ristorante e Bar
LA lounge and inflight (return)

Edited at 10:43 AM.
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Old 30 Dec 21, 01:19 PM  
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Dr.JumbaJookiba
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Looking forward to this, I have fond memories of Bubba Gump's at the end of Santa Monica Pier and Napa Rose. Have a great trip!
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Old 30 Dec 21, 01:23 PM  
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Scotsmomma2
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Sounds great,hope you're posting lots of pics.
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Old 30 Dec 21, 10:57 PM  
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KarenG
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I’m glad you’ve decided to go Claudette

Love Napa Rose, but my personal (and much cheaper!) favourite at DL is Ralph Brennan’s, if you have a chance to eat there. Ask for a balcony table if you do
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Old 31 Dec 21, 12:52 AM  
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Loobylou_82
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Will be following along. Not been to California so hoping to pick some tips up and nice food places to eat. Hope to get there 2023.
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Old 31 Dec 21, 11:23 AM  
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gjdjud
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Looking forward this albeit enviously. I had booked a week in august in Anaheim but switched it just to Florida as I was concerned about the stricter Covid measures in LA with our kids. Really looking forward to seeing your reviews of the Disney places
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Old 31 Dec 21, 04:44 PM  
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ClaireNJ
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Can’t wait to see pics
Have an AMAZING time 😊
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Old 31 Dec 21, 06:16 PM  
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looking forward to this, good luck with the dreaded tests
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Old 31 Dec 21, 06:45 PM  
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sully301
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Looking forward to reading this as we're going west in 2023. Do you mind me asking how you are transferring to Universal/Disney
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Old 1 Jan 22, 08:58 AM  
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Claudette
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Originally Posted by Dr.JumbaJookiba View Post
Looking forward to this, I have fond memories of Bubba Gump's at the end of Santa Monica Pier and Napa Rose. Have a great trip!
Thank you, I spotted that Bubba Gump on a map too and made a mental note. Napa Rose bookings seemed to get snapped up so I was glad to get that one whilst we are staying at the hotel, I do love going upstairs to bed after dinner.

Originally Posted by Scotsmomma2 View Post
Sounds great,hope you're posting lots of pics.
Definitely. My phone seems to hold mainly food photographs.


Originally Posted by KarenG View Post
I’m glad you’ve decided to go Claudette

Love Napa Rose, but my personal (and much cheaper!) favourite at DL is Ralph Brennan’s, if you have a chance to eat there. Ask for a balcony table if you do
I had wondered about that one too as it seemed to have decent availability and ranks very well on Tripadvisor. I have a couple of evenings when the timing is not quite what I would like so if I am swapping things around I might well add this one in.

Originally Posted by Loobylou_82 View Post
Will be following along. Not been to California so hoping to pick some tips up and nice food places to eat. Hope to get there 2023.
Thank you, hope I can oblige.
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