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| Grand Californian's Gingerbread House |
- Slept in a little - good night sleep - We must have all been tired because no one got up early or quickly. We got up and packed all of our stuff. We had a lot to pack, but we got it all done. We had to be creative in a couple cases.
- Packed and walked to downtown Disney / La Brea bakery and world of Disney - After we got packed, we walked to Downtown Disney for breakfast and shopping. We ate at La Brea Bakery. It was really good. Then we went to the World of Disney for some last minute shopping. We went to a couple other shops and then it was time to go.
- Alamo debacle; Used Uber - We walked the long way around the block to Alamo on the south side of property. I had made a reservation months ago so I walked up to pick up our SUV. I went to open the door and it was locked. I checked the hours on the door and they were normal hours so I didn't understand why the door was locked. I found the employee door was open so I peeked my head in. I got the attention of the lady behind the desk and told I had a reservation and needed to pickup our car. She said they didn't have any cars and had just rented the last car. I asked what I was supposed to do since I had a reservation. She said the reservation would be canceled and we would not be charged. I said that doesn't help me get to the airport. She said she was sorry. I asked if there was anything else they could do and she said no. That was it. There was no help whatsoever. She was trying to close the doors as fast as possible to get out of there. I could not believe it. I was SO PISSED!!. I kept it together because I didn't want to set a bad example in front of the kids, but I wanted to scream and cus. It was the worst customer service experience I've had in a very long time. We have used Alamo for almost all of our trips, but I'm not sure I'll use them again. We had to figure out another option so we looked for Ubers and were able to find one. We walked back to the hotel and met the Uber car there. This was an experience too. We didn't have a car seat for Grady, so we put him on Ellie's booster and Ellie rode without one. Not the best option, but it was fine. The van we were in felt like it was gonna fall apart and the windows were open all the way. Not my favorite ride, but we made it.
- Long Beach Airport so weird - The Long Beach airport was only about 20+ minutes away so we didn't have to go too far thankfully. We got there and it looked like a bunch of office buildings and then all of sudden we were there. It felt like an old style private airport. We walked in and it felt like an old bus terminal. We checked in and dropped our bags off then went to security. To get to security, you walk outside and then back in. This building was more modern, but still strange. After security, we went back outside, but only kind of. It felt like a modern, contemporary, California park or backyard that could have been a club at night. Then we went inside to what looked like a typical airport terminal, but it was at ground level. We walked on the tarmac to the ramp and then walked up on the plane. This was the strangest airport experience I've ever had. It went fine and we got through security and on the plane, but it was very strange.
- Good flight - We had a pretty good flight. The kids were occupied most of the flight.
- Ate at Moe’s in Dallas - We changed planes in Dallas. It was late so most places were closing in the airport. We found a Moe's Mexican restaurant. It was actually very yummy and the lady making our food was very friendly and personable. This came in handy because Ellie wanted another taco and since we were friendly with her, she stayed open to make Ellie more food. It was very nice of her to do.
- Chiefs - Raiders interaction - We were waiting to board at the gate and almost everyone flying to Kansas City was wearing Chiefs apparel. As people showed up to the gate, several Raiders fans showed up and got the Chiefs fans riled up. It was all friendly, but kind of funny. No one got upset and it was friendly sportsman chatter.
- Grady - if we crash into water, we get water chutes- he said while reading the safety packet - We boarded the plane and Grady decided to read the safety packet on the plane. He was telling us what to do if anything happened. It was really kind of funny because the 3 year old figured out what it meant and what to do. We made it home without a problem with one more new experience. We got our luggage and we were worried the kids would fall asleep in the car without being ready for bed. Thankfully most of the people had left because the kids started changing clothes in the middle of the baggage claim area. It was pretty ridiculous. It worked because they did fall asleep on the way home and we just took them to bed. Silly kids.
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| Letters to Santa and Breakfast |
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| Fun at the Grand Californian |
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| Long Beach Airport |
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| Flight to Dallas |
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| Flight to KCI and home sweet home |
- Christmas - This was our 2nd trip to Disneyland at Christmas time. We have found that we love the decorations and the atmosphere during Christmas. The music, the decorations and even the overlays are wonderful additions to both parks and the entire resort. My wife and kids think Small World Holiday is worth the trip and I would go just for Haunted Mansion Holiday. The treats were great as well. A nice mixture of gingerbread and peppermint versions of our favorite treats and snacks.
- Grady Ups and Downs - Overall, the kids were great and we had a great trip. Grady was 3.5 years old at the time of our trip and had some toddler moments. These were expected, but we had trouble feeding him at the right time several days. We also didn't know what to expect for attractions with him. We found that he didn't handle the big ones as well as Ellie did at his age or as well as we expected. This made our park touring plans a little less flexible.
- Genie+ - On past trips, we loved using MaxPass. It was a great system to use FastPass and maximize our park time. Disney announced a new system called Genie+ before we left. The system started while we were there. Disney does not have a good track record for rolling out new technology and this was no different. We didn't get to use it the first day because it was down. We did get to use it our last park day and it worked very similar to MaxPass. The interface is not great and it was a little clunky. We were able to use it and get on rides as we wanted. It also included PhotoPass which was a great perk. Overall the system worked for our needs, but it could use some improvements.
- Crowds - We had hoped crowds would be lower and reports from weeks prior to our trip were low. Overall crowds were not terrible. They were a little higher than expected, but we managed them pretty well. We were able to do almost everything we wanted. As usual, Friday got busy, but the other days were ok and lines were not super long. We waited in two lines for an hour, but the other lines were no longer than 30 minutes.
- Alamo Rent A Car - This was our biggest headache of the trip. As well as it went to get my phone back, it went just as bad to get a car to take to the airport. We have had some service issues during the pandemic, but nothing like this. Not only did they not have any cars, they did not help us in any way and they were closing the location. I couldn't believe it. Seems from a customer service perspective, they should have stayed open to help customers, even though didn't have cars. They could have directed people to other locations or contacted other locations to find out if they could get a car. Nope, nothing like that. I was so mad. It was not worth making a scene because they were not going to help. I also wanted to set an example for the kids and throwing a fit was not the appropriate thing to do. We found another way to the airport and it worked out. When we got home, I made sure we were not charged then I contacted Alamo. They were very apologetic and gave me a free day for a future reservation. It wasn't much but I wanted them to know how terrible the service was.
- Avengers Campus - This was the biggest surprise of the trip. I am a HUGE Marvel fan and had some expectations, but tempered them because it is only the first phase of the land. It was unexpectedly awesome. The Spider-Man area and ride were great. Pym's Test Kitchen was one of our favorite restaurants (we ate there twice) and the HQ was hub for fun. There were always different characters passing through or on missions. And we had one of our most memorable Disney moments when Grady got to meet and walk with Captain America. It was amazing. Grady loved all of it. I thought it was great. Ellie surprisingly enjoyed it. The biggest surprise of all was how much Lisa liked it. She LOVED this land and wanted to go there ever chance we had.
- Food and Snacks better than WDW and Veggie was no problem - Food was great this trip. When we were in Florida we were very disappointed by the quality/selection of meals and the treats were average at best. This trip was great. We had great food everywhere and the treats and sweets were back to the level we expected. We also started eating more of a plant-based or vegetarian diet and this was no problem. We ate GREAT vegetarian and plant-based food. Lisa and I didn't miss any of the food with meat because the food we at was SO good. We also had no problem ordering because there were so many places with plant-based options.
- Great Trip - Overall, this was a great trip. Yes, we had a few headaches, but all trips do. The kids had a great time and were well behaved. We loved the hotel, the parks were great and the kids were at great ages to be able to ride more of the rides and experience most of the parks and resort. Ellie has really taken to shopping (our favorite pastime) and Grady wanted to try everything (even though he didn't like most of the bigger rides). The kids did great with food and meals (no cold food when we sit down to eat), even having a great meal at Carthay Circle. Our favoite part (and Lisa just agreed) was Avenger's Campus. It really stepped up DCA to make it more competetive with Disneyland. So much fun. I'm sure we'll do it again.
- After I got home, I thought quite a bit about how this trip compared to our last trip to WDW. When we got home from WDW, all I wanted to do was go to Disneyland. When we got home from this trip to Dsneyland, I felt happy and satisfied. That pretty much tells the story.
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