Last fulll day at Universal
We got up early as usual and head to the boat for the trip to the park.
Its funny the little things at US remind you this is not disney. Just the attitude of the skippers on the boats is different. Not any really wrong but their demeanour isn;t the same friendliness of the Disney skippers and the same with the stff.
Anyway we got to IoA and hit Harry one last time and then the shops.
We went on all the kids favourite rides one last time and then headed over to US to do some of the rides there. We had burgers for lunch which were quite good in fact.
We had an early day and went back to the pool to relax. The kids had a great time on the slide. I even tried the slide a few times but its not really built for my size and kept hitting the bottom of the pool when I got ot the bottom.
Anyway back to the room for a shower and dressed for dinner.
We decided to head back to Bice for dinner.
The girls in the piazza on our way to dinner.
Outside Bice waiting to be seated
Anyway we had another great meal. We have been lucky not to have any really bad meals. Most have been great.
We had an early night and woke the next day to pack.
We managed to cram it all in and where ready for our pickup at 11am by our limo.
We checked out and went to the entrance but no car. We waited and waited. 20 minutes after its due time I rang the service and they had the wrong time in their system. I checked my email confirmation and I definitely gave them the right time. After about 10 minutes he said he had a car on the way.
20 Minutes later I rang to see where it was and I was told it was almost here. 10 minutes later it arrived.
After the drama my next concern was getting to the airport and checked in in time.
We got there and lined up. The person in front was checking in and was argusing over excess luggage. I then looked at our bags and I knew we were way over. She had a $200 bill and was just over.
Anyway I was more concered on getting on the flight.
Our turn and we slowly got the bags checked. I asked if she could get us checked in on the qantas flight as well. She tried but said we were blocked for some reason. Then asked if we were getting and upgrade. I told her i had applied.
That must be it, she replied. In that case I don't have to charge you for excess baggage.
We made the flight with plenty of tiem to spare.
We started to board and the flight attendants made an announcement the plane was fully booked, so every one was limited to one carry on bag.
Some people tried to get 3 or 4 bags on but were made to check them at the gate.
Anyway one women did get on with a mountain of bags. All the over head bins were full so she tried stuffing it under her seat and the those of the passengers next to her. There was almost a riot when she did that. Any wya some how she managed to get it under her seat and the one in front. Not sure where she put her legs.
Flight was not bad. We hired a dvd player for the girls to share. The guy next to me went to the toilets at least 6 times during the flight.
Finally we got to LAX and we walked around to Tom Bradley airport.
We checked in at Qantas and indeed had been upgrade to Prem Economy. I was looking forward to it as last time I flew prem economy the seats were exeactly like business class with the beds.
We headed up stairs to the bar and grill to have dinner and take up some time.
The meal was so so and we then went through security. We were searched and bags checked and then decided to head for the Qantas Club. Unfortunately I went up the wrong elevator and was totally confused when the lounge was shut. So we headed for the gate to wait 5 hours.
As we walked we passed another elevator. That's the one. We found the club and headed in.
We found some good seats, the lounge was alomst empty.
We all had showers and changed before resuming our wait.
The lounge was really packed by the end. Some people sampling the free alcohol a little too much and iot got very rowdy towards the end so we decided to take a walk.
We boarded the plane and I was disappointed the seats were more like the conomy ones. Goods news we had a bulkhead so had plenty of room.
Not sure what the delay was but we barded on time but were an hour late taking off. By this time whole family was asleep and slept though the take off.
Taxing to the run way took about 20+ minutes and takeoff was strange. For the first half it was totally clear half way dow it was so foggy we couldn't see anything.
The flight was pretty smooth the odd bump or two. We made up the lost time and got through customs pretty fast. Took ages to get our bags which seems the norm for Melbourne airport. (It has to be the worst airport in the world for time taken to unload bags)
Anyway we got through quarantine after our bags were xrayed and home. All up from landing to home was 2 hours.
Another disney holiday was at an end.