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

[QF WP]

Would it be rude to say I'm in seat 30B with shadows in 30A and C for this journey?

Just kidding. I'm in the cargo hold stowing away again.

It's clear from the photos already how prominent and important your family is to the holiday. Have a really fabulous trip.

Yes, I’m glad you’re kidding particularly when I read your pre-allocated seat

Yes, family is everything. Lucky to have them. We may fight at times, particularly with some jet lag and wanting to do different attractions.

 

[Pushka]

Was originally but lives on GC now

Yep.

 

[drron]

Have a great trip QFWP.The kids will really love you for this.

 

[QF WP]

Arrival happens seamlessly. Of course I was watching the airplane data as we come in - imagining the ATC calls with the pilots and watching us slowly sink to lower levels. I know, what a geek. Touch down was smooth and taxiing past all the construction before the pilots find our gate. Then the long wait whilst Business and Premium Economy offload themselves. Ask Tim, the FA for our aisle whether he has a 3 day turnaround - indeed, he seemed a little surprised that I would know this. If only you knew Tim ...

We headed for the C&I and took the obligatory escalator shot as we enter the realm of Donald Trump - I’m surprised we didn’t see a big portrait



My last recollection of entry into the USA was long lines, but not today. At the bottom of the escalators are large signs showing the distinct lines - ESTA, American & Canadian citizens and the rest. Was very impressed with the electronic era instead of the paper I94 and snapped this even though it said no photos. A brilliant concept to all be able to enter a family group together and the thermal piece of paper with a digital dot image of your passport photo was hilarious to my kids



After a 20-30 minute wait we made it to the front and called through to the officer who scanned our passport page, asked some general questions (where are you going in the USA?) and took another photo of us individually with his little camera, stamped our passports and we were through. Down the escalators to the luggage belts and this is well signed.



No trouble finding our carousel and our bags were already rotating - even though they are all black, spotting them was easy as my wife had tied on blue ribbons

 

[QF WP]

Now to find our transfer. During my research I had looked at all kinds of transfers - Uber, taxi, coaches and mini- buses. Whilst any of these would have been perfectly suitable to me and my wife, I needed to consider what my children would like - after all, the first week was all about them. So I found something that suited them and still met our needs - Disneyland Resort Express. Whilst it had specific stops (one - the Marriott was only 300m away from our hotel), it did state that we could ask the driver if they are able to accommodate our hotel.







So, time to find it at LAX. Wasn’t expecting it to be quite so easy, as soon as we came out into the Terminal and looked out the door, there was the sign

 

[cove]

We were impressed with how much work has been done beautifying Anaheim in recent years. Great improvements have occurred.
That is a nice transport choice for your children.

 

[craven morehead]

Late on board .... have fun!

 

[QF WP]

Wow, that was easy - from the inside of the exit door this stood out like the proverbial. Only had to cross one set on lanes to get there and even remembered to turn the correct way - could just see myself splattered on the front of a Dodge truck.



Once I got across, I remembered to turn around and get a snap of TBIT:



Expected to see our bus name in the middle set of names, the sign writing guys must have forgotten:



Thankfully on the side of the roof it showed so I was feeling a bit more confident:



So, from getting off the plane (arrived at 7:25am but disembarked at 7:50pm), we were on the sidewalk at 8:30am - 20 mins before the bus was due to start driving around to pick us up (8:50am). Was really happy with the timing, as I had booked us on the 9:50am service given the unknown factor of not arriving at LAX for 12 years and how long it was going to take us to clear C&I.

After checking out the drivers and some of the very different vehicles, here it came - the kids were excited. The driver came off and waited for him to board the other pax at our stop (2 other groups), so asked the question about our hotel - he knew it and was happy to drop us as it put him on the correct side of the road for his last drop off.



By the time we got on, it was IIRC 3am BNE time and our children were both finally flagging - they hadn’t slept much on the flight but they both dropped off. In fact, by the time we hit our hotel, my son was so deeply asleep I had to carry him out and into the hotel. Much mirth ensued both as we got off the bus and went inside - I think many people could relate to our situation.

 

[QF WP]

Accom: Hyatt Place Anaheim Convention Centre
Stay: 7 nights
Booked: King + bunk beds
Received: Same

This was probably another of my mistakes during the holiday booking process - I used the Flight Centre TA at the Travel Show to book our accom. We looked back at this decision being one of not forward planning enough, at 5 months out and being at the Travel Show, we should have just got some quotes and checked against what I could have got from Hilton (with my Diamond status) but my wife was getting worried that we wouldn’t find anything close by to Disneyland at a reasonable price.

Driving up Sth Harbor Drive, from the bus we could see a nearby Hilton as well as two other Hilton chain properties including one across the road (Staybridge Suites). All of them would have given us some status benefits, free breakfasts and possible an Executive Lounge at the main Hilton. But we will never know now and just have to take what we got.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s no flea ridden poor service property but it’s one of a couple of things we would do differently a second time around.



The frontage is surprisingly sparse on signage - very nondescript and it could be the entrance to anything.



Not a hugely exciting vista from our room on the 4th floor (car park of the next door hotel), but again my kids weren’t really caring by this stage either.



By this time (11am LA time), it was nearing 4am BNE time and as none of us had much sleep on the plane, we made the decision to grab 3 hours so that we would make it through the day - this was one of our better moves of the trip. It certainly didn’t take the kids long to pass out and we weren’t far behind them.

 

[I love to travel]

This is lovely to read. Enjoy the precious time with the family.

 

[carls888]

Following along, we love DL, what a great TR.

 

[Kangarucci]

Hi QF WP. If you are unaware, opposite your hotel there is a Disneyland carpark that has a free shuttle service, (for parking customers), that you can catch to the park. We used it without any problems on our previous stay at Hyatt Place and Homewood Suites by Hilton. Just walk in and catch the shuttle. They run very frequently and usually there isn't any wait. It is direct and takes you to outside the security point. Return is from the drop off point there as well. It is called the Toy Story shuttle. Saves using the ART bus or the hike to Disneyland.

 

[QF WP]

Hi QF WP. If you are unaware, opposite your hotel there is a Disneyland carpark that has a free shuttle service, (for parking customers), that you can catch to the park. We used it without any problems on our previous stay at Hyatt Place and Homewood Suites by Hilton. Just walk in and catch the shuttle. They run very frequently and usually there isn't any wait. It is direct and takes you to outside the security point. Return is from the drop off point there as well. It is called the Toy Story shuttle. Saves using the ART bus or the hike to Disneyland.

Indeed that was one of the draw cards for this property - that and being close to a Subway, pharmacies (two further down the block) and Denny’s in the other direction. Toystory Woody. At the end of the day, carrying an 8 year old who’s a dead weight the least distance possible is a must!

We have a teacher at our kids school who’s a Disneyholic and comes at least once a year - she gave us a bible on what to do that I will share as well. More on that later. About to start into the Disneyland experience as I have taken photographs of all the rides and we’ve rated them as well (kids and adult ratings). But first, Day 3 of our 4 day pass awaits.

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

I can tell this is going to be a fun TR - BP scanned!

 

[Katie]

Driving up Sth Harbor Drive, from the bus we could see a nearby Hilton as well as two other Hilton chain properties including one across the road (Staybridge Suites). All of them would have given us some status benefits, free breakfasts and possible an Executive Lounge at the main Hilton. But we will never know now and just have to take what we got.

<snip>

By this time (11am LA time), it was nearing 4am BNE time and as none of us had much sleep on the plane, we made the decision to grab 3 hours so that we would make it through the day - this was one of our better moves of the trip. It certainly didn’t take the kids long to pass out and we weren’t far behind them.

Don't worry, QFWP, the Anaheim Hilton does not have an Exec lounge AFAICR. I stayed there as Diamond I think - in lieu of breakfast and exec lounge access, I got vouchers to use at either the main breakfast restaurant or the hotel Starbucks. The queue at the hotel Starbucks is easily 30+ mins most mornings (Mr Katie is a Starbucks fan, and we both prefer any kind of espresso over filter coffee to get a day at Disney going). The Hilton and the Marriott across the way are both huge convention hotels - both for the convention centre next door, and with the other conference facilities.

Good plan on the snooze - sets you up for a good evening visit to the big mouse.

 

[serfty]

The Hyatt Place's are similar to Hampton Inns and include complimentary breakfast.

 

[QF WP]

Our kids loved the room, particularly the bunk beds. My son wanted the top bunk bed (as a postscript he hasn’t slept in it any night yet - he got in of in the first night and didn’t like sleeping up high so the sofa bed has become his night time sleeping place).



Main room king bed





Longe suite that turns into my sons bed





So these were obviously taken as soon as we got in the room, because the room certainly wasn’t that clean after we woke up and ruminated over what to do next.

It was too late to hit Disneyland (it would be closer to 4 before we hit the front gate and we wanted full days), so we headed down to tour the local area and found the local pharmacies, pizza place, five and dime as well as Subway (a family favourite). I also took the kids for a swim in the Hyatt pool which helped us get some much needed exercise. With sunset only st 8:15pm and having had a sleep, it wasn’t until 11pm that we actually turned off the lights on the longest day known to the Wilsons.

 

[QF WP]

We had a small hiccup in the first day - we were expecting a package to have been delivered to the hotel - some friends we know well had helped us organise our SIM card.

Strangely when we arrived and checked, there was nothing found. We checked again after we went out and still nothing. Whilst a little disconcerting we weren’t worried yet.

The next day brought clearer minds and more of a need to ensure we had our new SIM so we could operate normally. After giving details of the sender and our names, seems that there was a package but my surname wasn’t correct. Seems that after sending a message through to our friends with a copy of the UPS Priority Mail Express envelope, one of them had typed in by mistake the surname of a US Senator - whoops, a senior moment.

Well we had a good laugh but then were able to set up our ability to communicate with the outside world.

The plan we are on:



Well, now it’s time to head to bed (it’s just after midnight here) as our last day of Disneyland is today and it’s MaxiPass day.

 

[Straubs]

Great TR! We still have young kids, so any pending TR of mine will also be in economy ... I bet you are having a ball at Disneyland!

 

[QF WP]

Disneyland : preamble

We are fortunate to have a teacher at our children’s school who is a Disney regular and gave us a bible to follow. Happy to share.

Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Pier is now open. I’ll also rate all the rides (both from our kids perspective and us adults) and give some tips.