QF WP’s do Disneyland (LA), Seattle and beyond

[Denali]

Sorry to interrupt QF WP, but as we know @rainbowgirl is contemplating a trip to the US, I thought I should point out that in most cases of shuttle bus drivers, waiters, bag carriers etc, a tip is generally expected. Sometimes its actively solicited (a bus announcement ... 'tips welcomed, folks'), other times its added to your restaurant bill (note: tip only for the food & bev supplied, not on the tax !), or you get a 'choice' when using your credit card on the machine. Often its passive though and a minefield for Aussies (traditional non tippers) especially. Rainbowgirl, take and keep a supply of US$1 bills handy for tips. if you do go to the US, ask more about tipping in your thread.

I think at Disney though they don't tip on the shuttles?

Sorry again QF WP, looking forward to Seattle

For our LAX>Hilton shuttle, gave the guy $5 but for the return, my husband injured his wrist and hand and was no help with the bags and the driver went beyond and was really nice about us needed the extra help so gave the guy $20 as our last tipping hooray for the trip. He thought I made a mistake, told him no mistake.

 

[rainbowgirl]

Sorry to interrupt QF WP, but as we know @rainbowgirl is contemplating a trip to the US, I thought I should point out that in most cases of shuttle bus drivers, waiters, bag carriers etc, a tip is generally expected. Sometimes its actively solicited (a bus announcement ... 'tips welcomed, folks'), other times its added to your restaurant bill (note: tip only for the food & bev supplied, not on the tax !), or you get a 'choice' when using your credit card on the machine. Often its passive though and a minefield for Aussies (traditional non tippers) especially. Rainbowgirl, take and keep a supply of US$1 bills handy for tips. if you do go to the US, ask more about tipping in your thread.

I think at Disney though they don't tip on the shuttles?

Sorry again QF WP, looking forward to Seattle

Thanks @RooFlyer and @QF WP

I thought it was a standard public transport bus. I didn't realise it was a shuttle bus and it included the luggage service. I can understand now why there was a tip involved and I think I would have recognised it as a tip situation if I had been there. I will add it to the list of things to tip when we get there next year. The original trip was supposed to involve this weekend. My nephew's wedding is tomorrow.

 

[QF WP]

Whoops it’s been a month since I last posted. Better get back to it

 

[Pushka]

Whoops it’s been a month since I last posted. Better get back to it

Its so hard keeping up TRs once you are back to the routine. Moment has passed and all that.

 

[kermatu]

Whoops it’s been a month since I last posted. Better get back to it

Got tired waiting for your TR to reach Seattle -- so I took a very quick trip there myself! Sadly didn't have time to get to the Museum of Flight this time, but hope you did.

 

[Denali]

Seattle, the town of a dozen types of crab and Im pretty sure my husband tried every single one of them. Even eggs benedict with alaskan crab.

 

[QF WP]

Nothing quite like getting on board a flight, is there. Unfortunately I’m not a Delta elite, so seats were more towards the middle, but that really doesn’t faze my kids who were more interested in the IFE. For me, there’s something in a photo of a wing



So a good afternoon it was, to sit down in a comfortable seat versus in the floor of the Terminal.



Okay, bring a tall lad, I’ll always be challenged with knee space so there was just enough for me and my iPad



Also, my first flight on an A 319 so I had to get this photo for posterity and knowledge



One of the benefits of being the frequent flyer in the family is making sure that the seating is done differently for each flight. As you can see, my kids are already in their zones and my wife is happy - looks like being a good day

 

[QF WP]

Well this was a surprising type of barrier between First and Comfort/Economy so I had to grab a photo. That would probably stop the toilet queue jumpers on QF and VA.



So here we go, LAX to SEA. I’ve always loved the West Coast given I have relatives all over and we were traveling up to SEA to see some of them. My wife and I had visited SEA only once before (for a night) and usually I had used SeaTac to fly through to Canada or Spokane (GEG) as that’s where my closest cousins live. I’m excited to get to SEA and experience it with my kids as well - hurry up already pilots...



Well not unexpectedly on a US carrier, Delta’s snack was just that....but we’d already eaten so it didn’t matter.



See it wasn’t long before we were more than half way there and I had been actually putting together the TR on my iPhone Notes

 

[QF WP]

Always nice to have a landing after a take-off and even better to be somewhere one wants to go. It’s been 11 years since I flew through here - this time I’m staying and I have children in tow

I llove these signs as one comes into the Terminal and head downstairs:



If nothing else, the electronic signboard are clear where to collect our bags:



and believe it or not, our bags were some of the first few out courtesy of these tags:



From here we needed to find the Hilton SeaTac, which by all reports was across the road from the Terminals. Well let’s start at this sign and work our way from here



Walking through the car park we trusted our instincts and the signs until we were relieved to see this vista from the Light Rail station

 

[QF WP]

So we were glad that we had chosen to stay here rather than having to schlepp our bags onto the Light Rail and into Seattle CBD and hav a further walk. This property also met our “must haves” - a pool and easy access to transport for our day trips into Seattle. In addition it was about $200USD per night cheaper than the CBD properties. Even taking into account the cost of travel ($20 day for return light rail fares for the entire family) and a 45 minute journey, it definitely met our needs nicely.


So we went into Reception and I handled the check-in whilst my wife and kids explored the restaurant, gift shop and foyer (of course the kids gravitated to the computers).

After getting our pre-selected room (double double) we sat down and unpacked whilst checking out the room



and getting a cuppa going - we deserved it (thanks darling).



Whilst we hadn’t scored an upgrade and it wasn’t a very big room, it had a nice vista out the window to the central garden area



Even the bad news didn’t faze us as we wouldn’t be in the room during the day

 

[rainbowgirl]

How did you find all settling to sleep in the one room? Does this mean everyone has to have the same bed time?

 

[QF WP]

The kids go to bed first but as we were on holidays, their bedtime was much later than their 7:30 to 8pm when at home (Sunday to Thursday). The fact that it was light until 9:30pm or later also made it hard for them to settle down. But after a couple of late nights in LA, they realized that in order to take advantage of long days at Disneyland, they needed to go to bed by 9pm.

We turn all the lights out and generally head to have showers and they’re asleep by the time we head back into the bedroom. My kids have both slept through a fire alarm at home, so they sleep well

 

[rainbowgirl]

The kids go to bed first but as we were on holidays, their bedtime was much later than their 7:30 to 8pm when at home (Sunday to Thursday). The fact that it was light until 9:30pm or later also made it hard for them to settle down. But after a couple of late nights in LA, they realized that in order to take advantage of long days at Disneyland, they needed to go to bed by 9pm.

We turn all the lights out and generally head to have showers and they’re asleep by the time we head back into the bedroom. My kids have both slept through a fire alarm at home, so they sleep well

That's great that they are good sleepers. My two girls have great trouble settling down and staying asleep. With a bit of luck I'll have another local trip report up soon which includes one night of all of us sharing one hotel room. Things didn't go well with the sleeping arrangements.

 

[QF WP]

So it was time to do some exploring around the Hilton for somewhere to eat. A Google search found a close by restaurant and it had reasonably good reviews:



so as a treat, thought we all go out for dinner (photo taken upon leaving):



The menu:



Kids menu - plenty of good options:

 

[QF WP]

Well we weren’t disappointed - all the meals were reasonable sizes (rather than the oversized meals one sees at other restaurants, particularly fast food) and were very tasty. What was interesting is that the restaurant is open 24 hours, so it is full of businesspeople at the bar, having meals and drinks. My guess is quite likely they were either recent arrivals at SeaTac staying the night or were transiting through SEA to a port beyond layer tonight:

 

[rainbowgirl]

Is that last photo bacon and poached eggs with pizza. That's an interesting combination and I'd probably eat it.

How close together are Seattle and Vancouver?

 

[kermatu]

Is that last photo bacon and poached eggs with pizza. That's an interesting combination and I'd probably eat it.

How close together are Seattle and Vancouver?

About a 4 hour train journey.

 

[Major]

We have driven from Vancouver to the Boeing factory at Everett, been on a tour, stopped for lunch and returned to Vancouver all in a comfortable day.

 

[QF WP]

Is that last photo bacon and poached eggs with pizza. That's an interesting combination and I'd probably eat it.

Yes, yes and no - it’s a hash brown (USA style)

How close together are Seattle and Vancouver?

Just on 2 hours to the border (you’ll see it later), so @kermatu and @Major were spot on

 

[rainbowgirl]

Yes, yes and no - it’s a hash brown (USA style)


Just on 2 hours to the border (you’ll see it later), so @kermatu and @Major were spot on

Thanks for the feedback. Hash browns in the US sound interesting. I might still eat it. I love bacon.