Disneyland at Halloween with Friends - October 2024: Day 1

Friday - 

• Better night sleep; easier getting ready later than 4:00am; forgot a couple things; Grady attitude; made it to the airport; met a very nice guy on bus who is a UMKC recruiter; got to see airport open and in daylight, love the airport; got on plane and saw Michael Lorenzen (Royals pitcher) on plane; good flight, kids did great
• Our flight was at noon, which meant we had time in the morning to finish packing and get ready to go.  I think I am going to look for later flights in the future because I was actually able to sleep soundly and not worry as much about the next day.  We were able to get most of our stuff packed the night before and finish packing in the morning.  I did end up forgetting a couple things, but nothing major.  
• Grady has a little attitude if he doesn’t eat, and this was no exception.  We tried to wait to eat at the airport and that was an issue.  We parked at the Parking Spot with no issues and talked to a very nice college sports recruiter on the bus.  He was a UMKC recruiter, but used to be a recruiter for Texas Tech.  He said he knew Patrick Mahomes from his time at Tech and that they are very nice people.  
• We got to the airport and through security without issues.  We walked toward the gate and stopped to get breakfast food.  We got a couple of coffees and breakfast burritos.  This helped Grady tremendously.  Our group was all there, except Paula, Alli’s mom.  She got to the gate just in time to get on the plane.  Phew!
• When we were waiting to get on the plane, there was a guy and his family who boarded with us in the family boarding.  They sat in front of us.  He looked familiar, but not super familiar.  Lisa asked me if he was a baseball player.  I told her he kind of looked like Michael Lorenzen, who was a pitcher for the Royals.  The Royals had made it to the playoffs and the elimination game was the previous night.  Lisa did some social media digging and found that it was Michael Lorenzen.  We didn’t talk to him, but he was sure in a hurry to get out of KC.
• Flight was great, no issues.  It is so much more enjoyable to travel with older kids who can entertain themselves during the flight.

• Weird Long Beach airport; met the shuttle and had the same driver as last time
• We landed in Long Beach and got to exit the plane from either the front or the back.  Since this airport exits on to ladders and down to the tarmac rather than a stationary walkway.  It was a gorgeous day in sunny California.
• We got through the airport and found the luggage pickup, which is also partially outside.  After we got our bags, we looked for the van to pick us up.  We used Anaheim Town Car service again.  I called for an update and they said the driver would call me.  Almost immediately, I got a call from the driver, who happened to be the same guys from our last trip, Raj.  He was a very nice guy and it looked like we had the same vehicle.  In the Halloween spirit, he had Nightmare Before Christmas playing when we got on.  What a great service!

• Got checked in at hotel. Room is nice but small with no storage
• No issues at check in other than we had to check in a second time later in the trip because we booked part of the stay on points.  No big deal.
• The elevator was kind of a pain, it was slow and small.  Later we found another set of elevators closer to our room, which worked much better.
• The room was nice, but quite small.  I was expecting the rooms to be bigger since it is an older hotel.  It served it’s purpose.

• Paula got a scooter
• Alli’s mom, Paula, has issues walking long distances so we had discussed getting her a scooter for the trip.  Thankfully, they reserved one which was delivered to the hotel.  She picked it up and was able to use it the entire time we were at the hotel.  Worked great both from mobility and logistics.

• Walked through downtown Disney - ate at Jazz Kitchen; delicious, good shrimp and grits, Grady starving and ate steak and shrimp: bananas foster beignets were delicious 
• We walked around the big block to Downtown Disney.  We walked through and found some new additions.  Din Tai Fung was the first new addition we saw (coming from the Disneyland Hotel side).  We tried to eat there, but it was a very long wait.  The Lego store was closed for refurb.  There was a park area open with a bandstand that was nice.  We ended up eating at the new Jazz Kitchen.  It was delicious.  The shrimp and grits were yummy.  Grady got steak, which he ate all of and then ate some of my shrimp.  The portions were huge.  We also got beignets.  One flavor was bananas foster.  They were filled with bananas foster.  So good!

• Shopped at World of Disney and then went back to bed
• After dinner we walked through World of Disney and did some shopping.  Ellie did most of her shopping the first day.  She had the money, found what she wanted and was ready to go.
• It was a good, less stressful travel day.  I think we will do this more often rather than trying to do too much the first day.

Long Beach Airport, Anaheim Town Car Service and flight

Sheraton Park Hotel