Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
Corinna! I hope you are currently having fun with your own California vacation!:Welcome: Great to see you over here!
Hope you will enjoy the trip report!
Trip Report California Dazzling: A Roadtrip Vacation Spectacular - Last Update and Final Thoughts 11/8
- Thread starter Flossbolna
- Start date
Corinna! I hope you are currently having fun with your own California vacation!:Welcome: Great to see you over here!
Hope you will enjoy the trip report!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
I hope the trip report will bring up many happy memories for you then! We did not get close to Hemet though.
Thanks for cluing me in! Here as well.
Great to have you here! It is great to see people coming along from my previous trip reports!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
Finally here. I agree with Marv- you are looking great and I guess I will imagine Michael as the last time I met him...
Love the intro and while we are heading to San Diego and Palm Springs this fall I am looking forward to seeing and reading all about your trip.
And thank you very much for the compliment! And you are definitely one of the few privileged DISers who don't have to imagine someone when I talk about Michael. Corinna and Alison have that privilege as well! 
Looking forward to read along with your latest trip report
I hope you will enjoy the trip report! Great to see you here! You finally made it!! I guess I need to be thankful that your DH had such an early flight today, so you had morning computer time. 
And now, since you are here, we can finally start with the story! And while I am sure that it would be fascinating to hear what my apartment did while I was away (hosting my sister and her husband), I am sure everyone, me included, would prefer it far more if you would use your creative energy to write about a cruise to Norway that happened a long time ago....
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
The Long Way to a Grand Vacation!
August 6, 2015 - Travel Day, Manhattan Beach, Villas at the Grand Californian Hotel
This summer has been crazy in Germany. We had one heat wave after another. In a country that does not have air conditioning. Because most summers there is no need for it. But this year we had stretches of days in the 90s and nights in the 70s. Just before I was going to leave another heat wave started and I was so much looking forward to escape the heat by traveling to Southern California!
Strangely, our summer in SoFla was quite bearable with June actually being very dry and sunny. Indeed, only around mid-July did get into the typical misery we are used to.
Flying across the Atlantic is always tedious as the flights are long and personal space is limited. Flying to the West Coast is even worse as the flights are even longer. When shopping for my flight I was rather shocked by how expensive flights in the summer are and I was already thinking about cancelling the whole idea of summer in California. But by then Michael was already so sold on escaping Florida that I think I would have caused a nervous breakdown if I had pursued that thought.
Nah, I just would have gone without ya!
I ended up booking with Lufthansa as this let’s me depart from Nuremberg (the only other options with flights from Nuremberg would have been Air France and KLM) and the Nuremberg airport is quite lovely as it is small and only 20 minutes by underground train from my home. I thought about getting a flight that goes from Europe to the East Coast of the USA and then another leg onto LA. But if I was flying from Nuremberg this would make it a flight with three legs and therefore add a lot of travel time. I rather have one really long flight and have it done with.
The advantage of Lufthansa was also that they were offering flights from Munich as well as from Frankfurt and from Munich they were flying Airbus A 340-600 planes. I have been on those before and loved them as they have a 2-4-2 configuration, meaning that if you have a window seat, there is only one person sitting next to you on the aisle seat, there is no middle seat.
I actually love Lufthansa and have generally had excellent experiences with them. They don't usually rank that high on frequent flyer surveys and the like because I am sure they pale in comparison to Emirates and Singapore and All Nippon and Cathay Pacific. But when you put them up against any American carrier, well, they give you the type of service that every airline should provide.
So, finally the big day was there! The evening before I was able to finish packing in a timely manner (not without some last minute panic about the bag being too heavy and thus removal of a few things – which I never missed once during the vacation) and even finish my previous trip report!
My flight departed in Nuremberg at 9:45am, arriving in Munich at 10:25 am. Real flight time is really only about 25 minutes. Quite crazy that they offer flights even, but since Munich is the second Lufthansa hub, they offer those flights to get people onto connecting flights.
No different than flying from FLL to MCO. It used to be 22 minutes from wheels up to wheels down. Last year when I flew it, it was a bit longer but more due to weather/traffic.
In Munich I had about one and a half hour to get to my new gate. I love the Munich airport. The layout of the Lufthansa terminal is perfect for connecting flights! In Europe you go through passport control before leaving the country and when I got there, there was quite a line. But then I noticed that they also had some “self-service” counters. These were kind of “tunnels”. You scanned your passport at the entrance and then doors opened into a small chamber. There you had to stand and they took a picture of you. The the machine verified who you were and once that was done, the second set of doors opened to let you exit. Somehow the machine took ages to verify that I was me, I think it was confused that I was wearing glasses while the picture in my passport does not have glasses. But then everything was fine and I was released. All in all I might have waited maybe a full minute or two. But others were through much quicker!
Once inside the international terminal I decided to get a coffee while I was waiting. I remembered a place where I had a coffee before our flight to Florida in 2007 or 2008 and it was so lovely. This time the coffee was not as pretty in 2005:
M might have. We did not. Seeing as I didn't know she even existed in 2007-08.
(Yes, the we I am talking about is me and the friend I travel to WDW with in 2007 and 2008)
This is the old picture:
But it was nice to sit and enjoy some good coffee while reading my book on my kindle!
Finally it was time to board the flight – it always takes so long to fill up these big planes! I settled in and was pleasantly surprised to see that the plane seemed to have gotten a recent refurbishment! The seats looked very new and we had an upgraded entertainment system. In the past the screens were not really good and tiny, this time the screen was comparable in size and quality to my iPad. That made viewing much more pleasant, even if I mainly viewed the flight map as the film selection was really not that exciting.
Once everyone was on the plane and all the luggage was loaded (there was a little bit of a hold up as they had found some luggage that was supposed to go with us after they had already finished loading… I guess some people were lucky that they did not arrive in Los Angeles without their bags!), we got underway for our 12 hour flight!
Shortly after we started the captain came on and announced that if we looked out to the left side window, we would be able to see the city of Nuremberg. Yes, there it was – the city and the airport where I had started earlier that day!
After seeing my hometown I also ended up seeing the hometown of my brother in law in Northern Germany as we were flying on a more Northern than Western flight path all the way up to Greenland before turning down South again.
We were served lunch with a choice of beef or pasta. I went for the pasta:
Lunch was good, as usual with Lufthansa. They pride themselves that they serve tasty food in the air, they even have a special “ flight simulator” where food and drinks are tested before they are approved, where they simulate the air pressure and humidity of an airplane cabin.
At some point I noticed that we were above Greenland and that you actually see the glaciers beneath us.
We made our way over Canada and then onto the US flying over a lot of empty land. At some point you could see Las Vegas, but I did not get as good a picture this time as I did last time…
We also got a second meal, this time without choice. Everyone got pasta:
When we were approaching LAX, I could see on the flight map that Anaheim was to our right and tried to figure out if I could see Disneyland. I think I could, the Cadillac Range of Cars Land is quite well visible!
And then finally we were on Californian ground!!
Eureka!!!
Yes, being able to leave the airplane after 12 hours does feel similar to finding gold, I am sure!
I had read horror stories about the long, long lines at immigration at LAX. So, I was a bit nervous and tried to speed walk to the immigration hall from our gate. Once I got there it was full with people and all kind of lines. There were plenty of people directing people and they kept saying that if you had been to the US recently and were traveling with ESTA (that is an electronic form that you need to fill out before you travel to the US if you are from one of the countries that are not required to get a visum), you should use the electronic passport control. So, after my Munich experience, I decided I would give that a try. I had to wait maybe 30 seconds for a machine to open up and then started working. Here, there was not the same tunnel system they had in Munich, it was more like electronic check-in kiosks at the airport. You scanned your passport, then it took a picture of you (I took off my glasses for that this time!) and asked you for a finger print. On my last entries into the US, they always required all my ten fingers, this time they just wanted the fingers from the left hand (no thumb). Once you were done at the kiosk, you got a print out and with that you moved on to another line. Here it got confusing, there were people coming from another line from somewhere else, too and a custom person was sorting us. Some people who came from the machines were sent into another very long line, but I was sent to a line which only had a few people in front of me. There we had to actually talk to an immigration officer. But you mainly just showed them the print out, he compared it with the passport and asked why I was traveling to the US and then I could go. All in all, the whole process took less than 10 minutes!!
Greatest country on Earth. GREATEST!
So, of course I got to luggage claim before there were any suitcases out! I even had time to go and use the restroom to clean up a bit, so that I felt more presentable.
Somehow it took ages for the luggage to arrive and once I had it, there was a really long line for customs! This was finally the long line I had been afraid of. Not an hour like what I had in Miami once, but I think it was well over 15 minutes.
Once I was through customs I was very relieved – now I was going to see Michael who was waiting for me outside the secure area and my travel day would be over!
Just a brief interlude, but I arrived in LA a few days prior hoping to meet some people I have had business with and just reconnecting and not wanting to take time out of M and my long and exciting vacation plans. I flew on SWA, which I had never flown for a cross country flight before because their prices are usually much higher than the so-called legacy carriers. I arrived in the middle of one of numerous 'heat waves' that hit California when we were there. The warmest temp I believe we had was 108 on more than a few occasions. Nothing exciting to add here beyond the fact I had found out recently from a friend, who works for Disney in Burbank, that an Italian chain restaurant that used to be very big in SoFla in the mid-90s and pretty much totally gone by 2000 had exactly one location left operating. It's called Eastside Mario's and the rights to develop more locations depend on keeping one open. That one is in Lakewood (So. LA County) in a former Marie Callender's, which owns the rights to them now. I went for dinner on my first night. Maybe it was nostalgia, but I thought it was wonderful and put me back into the 90s. ... And since I need a Disney note here, I spent about 90 minutes at Downtown Disney one night as well. It was hot and crowded.
BUT! As soon as I got out of the secure area, I was hit with a sea of people! The arrival hall is about one floor up from the customs area and there is a very long slightly angled walkway that takes you up one floor. One side is a real wall, the other side people in the arrival hall can look down to you. There were rows and rows of people watching the people come up that walkway! And then at the end, you had to fight your way through the crowds standing there!
I got a shock, how would I find Michael in this crowd?? I decided the best would be to position myself somewhere away from the chaos and try to contact him via modern technology. Luckily, I already had my phone switched on and first tried to connect to the wifi at the airport to send an email, but was not sure if it worked, so finally was able to send off a text with my location. Unfortunately I did not yet have the SIM Card that I asked Michael to pick up for me, so this was an expensive text at about 1 $.
But it worked, and only a few minutes later I finally saw Michael again!!!
Parking was a nightmare and I was worried that M had already come out of the secure area when I arrived. I love all the work being done to turn LAX into a 21st century gateway to America instead of a 20th century gateway to the third world. But it is a mess right now.
Up Next: Trying to Defeat Jet Lag
August 6, 2015 - Travel Day, Manhattan Beach, Villas at the Grand Californian Hotel
This summer has been crazy in Germany. We had one heat wave after another. In a country that does not have air conditioning. Because most summers there is no need for it. But this year we had stretches of days in the 90s and nights in the 70s. Just before I was going to leave another heat wave started and I was so much looking forward to escape the heat by traveling to Southern California!
Strangely, our summer in SoFla was quite bearable with June actually being very dry and sunny. Indeed, only around mid-July did get into the typical misery we are used to.
Flying across the Atlantic is always tedious as the flights are long and personal space is limited. Flying to the West Coast is even worse as the flights are even longer. When shopping for my flight I was rather shocked by how expensive flights in the summer are and I was already thinking about cancelling the whole idea of summer in California. But by then Michael was already so sold on escaping Florida that I think I would have caused a nervous breakdown if I had pursued that thought.
Nah, I just would have gone without ya!
I ended up booking with Lufthansa as this let’s me depart from Nuremberg (the only other options with flights from Nuremberg would have been Air France and KLM) and the Nuremberg airport is quite lovely as it is small and only 20 minutes by underground train from my home. I thought about getting a flight that goes from Europe to the East Coast of the USA and then another leg onto LA. But if I was flying from Nuremberg this would make it a flight with three legs and therefore add a lot of travel time. I rather have one really long flight and have it done with.
The advantage of Lufthansa was also that they were offering flights from Munich as well as from Frankfurt and from Munich they were flying Airbus A 340-600 planes. I have been on those before and loved them as they have a 2-4-2 configuration, meaning that if you have a window seat, there is only one person sitting next to you on the aisle seat, there is no middle seat.
I actually love Lufthansa and have generally had excellent experiences with them. They don't usually rank that high on frequent flyer surveys and the like because I am sure they pale in comparison to Emirates and Singapore and All Nippon and Cathay Pacific. But when you put them up against any American carrier, well, they give you the type of service that every airline should provide.
So, finally the big day was there! The evening before I was able to finish packing in a timely manner (not without some last minute panic about the bag being too heavy and thus removal of a few things – which I never missed once during the vacation) and even finish my previous trip report!
My flight departed in Nuremberg at 9:45am, arriving in Munich at 10:25 am. Real flight time is really only about 25 minutes. Quite crazy that they offer flights even, but since Munich is the second Lufthansa hub, they offer those flights to get people onto connecting flights.
No different than flying from FLL to MCO. It used to be 22 minutes from wheels up to wheels down. Last year when I flew it, it was a bit longer but more due to weather/traffic.
In Munich I had about one and a half hour to get to my new gate. I love the Munich airport. The layout of the Lufthansa terminal is perfect for connecting flights! In Europe you go through passport control before leaving the country and when I got there, there was quite a line. But then I noticed that they also had some “self-service” counters. These were kind of “tunnels”. You scanned your passport at the entrance and then doors opened into a small chamber. There you had to stand and they took a picture of you. The the machine verified who you were and once that was done, the second set of doors opened to let you exit. Somehow the machine took ages to verify that I was me, I think it was confused that I was wearing glasses while the picture in my passport does not have glasses. But then everything was fine and I was released. All in all I might have waited maybe a full minute or two. But others were through much quicker!
Once inside the international terminal I decided to get a coffee while I was waiting. I remembered a place where I had a coffee before our flight to Florida in 2007 or 2008 and it was so lovely. This time the coffee was not as pretty in 2005:
M might have. We did not. Seeing as I didn't know she even existed in 2007-08.
(Yes, the we I am talking about is me and the friend I travel to WDW with in 2007 and 2008)
This is the old picture:
But it was nice to sit and enjoy some good coffee while reading my book on my kindle!
Finally it was time to board the flight – it always takes so long to fill up these big planes! I settled in and was pleasantly surprised to see that the plane seemed to have gotten a recent refurbishment! The seats looked very new and we had an upgraded entertainment system. In the past the screens were not really good and tiny, this time the screen was comparable in size and quality to my iPad. That made viewing much more pleasant, even if I mainly viewed the flight map as the film selection was really not that exciting.
Once everyone was on the plane and all the luggage was loaded (there was a little bit of a hold up as they had found some luggage that was supposed to go with us after they had already finished loading… I guess some people were lucky that they did not arrive in Los Angeles without their bags!), we got underway for our 12 hour flight!
Shortly after we started the captain came on and announced that if we looked out to the left side window, we would be able to see the city of Nuremberg. Yes, there it was – the city and the airport where I had started earlier that day!
After seeing my hometown I also ended up seeing the hometown of my brother in law in Northern Germany as we were flying on a more Northern than Western flight path all the way up to Greenland before turning down South again.
We were served lunch with a choice of beef or pasta. I went for the pasta:
Lunch was good, as usual with Lufthansa. They pride themselves that they serve tasty food in the air, they even have a special “ flight simulator” where food and drinks are tested before they are approved, where they simulate the air pressure and humidity of an airplane cabin.
At some point I noticed that we were above Greenland and that you actually see the glaciers beneath us.
We made our way over Canada and then onto the US flying over a lot of empty land. At some point you could see Las Vegas, but I did not get as good a picture this time as I did last time…
We also got a second meal, this time without choice. Everyone got pasta:
When we were approaching LAX, I could see on the flight map that Anaheim was to our right and tried to figure out if I could see Disneyland. I think I could, the Cadillac Range of Cars Land is quite well visible!
And then finally we were on Californian ground!!
Eureka!!!
Yes, being able to leave the airplane after 12 hours does feel similar to finding gold, I am sure!
I had read horror stories about the long, long lines at immigration at LAX. So, I was a bit nervous and tried to speed walk to the immigration hall from our gate. Once I got there it was full with people and all kind of lines. There were plenty of people directing people and they kept saying that if you had been to the US recently and were traveling with ESTA (that is an electronic form that you need to fill out before you travel to the US if you are from one of the countries that are not required to get a visum), you should use the electronic passport control. So, after my Munich experience, I decided I would give that a try. I had to wait maybe 30 seconds for a machine to open up and then started working. Here, there was not the same tunnel system they had in Munich, it was more like electronic check-in kiosks at the airport. You scanned your passport, then it took a picture of you (I took off my glasses for that this time!) and asked you for a finger print. On my last entries into the US, they always required all my ten fingers, this time they just wanted the fingers from the left hand (no thumb). Once you were done at the kiosk, you got a print out and with that you moved on to another line. Here it got confusing, there were people coming from another line from somewhere else, too and a custom person was sorting us. Some people who came from the machines were sent into another very long line, but I was sent to a line which only had a few people in front of me. There we had to actually talk to an immigration officer. But you mainly just showed them the print out, he compared it with the passport and asked why I was traveling to the US and then I could go. All in all, the whole process took less than 10 minutes!!
Greatest country on Earth. GREATEST!
So, of course I got to luggage claim before there were any suitcases out! I even had time to go and use the restroom to clean up a bit, so that I felt more presentable.
Somehow it took ages for the luggage to arrive and once I had it, there was a really long line for customs! This was finally the long line I had been afraid of. Not an hour like what I had in Miami once, but I think it was well over 15 minutes.
Once I was through customs I was very relieved – now I was going to see Michael who was waiting for me outside the secure area and my travel day would be over!
Just a brief interlude, but I arrived in LA a few days prior hoping to meet some people I have had business with and just reconnecting and not wanting to take time out of M and my long and exciting vacation plans. I flew on SWA, which I had never flown for a cross country flight before because their prices are usually much higher than the so-called legacy carriers. I arrived in the middle of one of numerous 'heat waves' that hit California when we were there. The warmest temp I believe we had was 108 on more than a few occasions. Nothing exciting to add here beyond the fact I had found out recently from a friend, who works for Disney in Burbank, that an Italian chain restaurant that used to be very big in SoFla in the mid-90s and pretty much totally gone by 2000 had exactly one location left operating. It's called Eastside Mario's and the rights to develop more locations depend on keeping one open. That one is in Lakewood (So. LA County) in a former Marie Callender's, which owns the rights to them now. I went for dinner on my first night. Maybe it was nostalgia, but I thought it was wonderful and put me back into the 90s. ... And since I need a Disney note here, I spent about 90 minutes at Downtown Disney one night as well. It was hot and crowded.
BUT! As soon as I got out of the secure area, I was hit with a sea of people! The arrival hall is about one floor up from the customs area and there is a very long slightly angled walkway that takes you up one floor. One side is a real wall, the other side people in the arrival hall can look down to you. There were rows and rows of people watching the people come up that walkway! And then at the end, you had to fight your way through the crowds standing there!
I got a shock, how would I find Michael in this crowd?? I decided the best would be to position myself somewhere away from the chaos and try to contact him via modern technology. Luckily, I already had my phone switched on and first tried to connect to the wifi at the airport to send an email, but was not sure if it worked, so finally was able to send off a text with my location. Unfortunately I did not yet have the SIM Card that I asked Michael to pick up for me, so this was an expensive text at about 1 $.
But it worked, and only a few minutes later I finally saw Michael again!!!
Parking was a nightmare and I was worried that M had already come out of the secure area when I arrived. I love all the work being done to turn LAX into a 21st century gateway to America instead of a 20th century gateway to the third world. But it is a mess right now.
Up Next: Trying to Defeat Jet Lag
franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
- Messages
- 37,770
I can only imagine! I've only been on a few longer flights and they were all many many years ago.
I know exactly where that is. On Candlewood north of the Lakewood Mall! I didn't realize that was the last one still open.
Yay for being reunited!
nodnol
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2009
- Messages
- 562
How cool is that?! Did you recognize it from above or saw it on the map ;-)
This sounds like a much more pleasant travel experience than last time you flew to the US! I was worried about you all the time, especially as you obviously didn't want spend any more money on expensive text messages to Europe that you had safely landed and were feeling all right...
AussieMumma
Has the travel bug
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2011
- Messages
- 348
We are always so relieved to get off the plane after our almost 14 hour flight from Australia, but then you hit those immigration and customs lines and sort of wish you were back sitting on the plane! Well maybe just us with the four over tired grumpy children (parents) 
dizneeat
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2006
- Messages
- 20,847
Yeah, you made it to LA!
Thanks for updating us on the passport control in Munich - guess the same will be in place for Frankfurt! We only have an hour and 45 minutes to get from arrival to departure gate next spring, so this might be very helpful.
We have used the immigration kiosks a few times at MCO and they seem to work nicely, unfortunately you have to get in line until they divide.
Glad you found Michael in the sea of people at LAX!
Can't wait for more.
Thanks for updating us on the passport control in Munich - guess the same will be in place for Frankfurt! We only have an hour and 45 minutes to get from arrival to departure gate next spring, so this might be very helpful.
We have used the immigration kiosks a few times at MCO and they seem to work nicely, unfortunately you have to get in line until they divide.
Glad you found Michael in the sea of people at LAX!
Can't wait for more.
PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
- Messages
- 108,017
Yay for making it to C-a-l-i-f-o-n-i-a!
A direct flight from Melbourne to LA is about 14 hours. I totally sympathise about the long flight from Germany there!
A direct flight from Melbourne to LA is about 14 hours. I totally sympathise about the long flight from Germany there!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
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- 14,119
I read a whole book from start to finish during the flight, so I was very well entertained! And that is one of the best tips I have for getting through it: try to have enough entertainment with you, don't rely on the plane entertaining you. I also slept for an hour or so...
That is funny that you know this place!! Michael was so happy to eat there!
It is a great feeling!! And luckily it looks like I will see him again sooner this time than that last stretch of time...
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
Well, to be precise, I saw that we flew directly over the next big city of his home "village" - on the map. No clue what it looks like from above!
You certainly were not worried by the time I landed in California, you were surely were asleep. It was well after midnight! But I might have put off writing to you until I had wifi for an email. And by then, I was so tired that I forgot...
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
We are always so relieved to get off the plane after our almost 14 hour flight from Australia, but then you hit those immigration and customs lines and sort of wish you were back sitting on the plane! Well maybe just us with the four over tired grumpy children (parents)
I don't want to imagine a 14 hour flight... But I think flying from Europe to Australia is even worse, at least the stories I hear from friends who have been to Australia make it always sound like such an ordeal to get there. I guess the ideal solution would be a round the world trip and do short hops with breaks in between. But who has that kind of money??
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
Yeah, you made it to LA!
Thanks for updating us on the passport control in Munich - guess the same will be in place for Frankfurt! We only have an hour and 45 minutes to get from arrival to departure gate next spring, so this might be very helpful.
We have used the immigration kiosks a few times at MCO and they seem to work nicely, unfortunately you have to get in line until they divide.
Glad you found Michael in the sea of people at LAX!
Can't wait for more.
I never had trouble with connecting in Frankfurt, even with a short connection time. They once tried to sell me a flight with only 50 minutes and that I thought was taken too much of a risk! Of course if you have three people like me ahead of you, the normal queue might still be quicker....
By the way, the Federal Police has a nice website promoting the whole thing: http://www.easypass.de/EasyPass/EN/What_is_EasyPASS/home_node.html
There they also say that glasses with thicker frames (like mine) can cause problems... So, my thought that it was my glasses causing problems was correct.
The two times I went through Miami, they did not have the electronic kiosks available for non-US people. Which I always found a bit strange as the US-citizens lines usually are so much shorter anyway.
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
Seems like we are nearly equally far away from California! Of course, you also need to fly across the equator!
Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 14,119
Trying to Defeat Jet Lag
Ok, I think you have suffered long enough with so few pictures. I promise that from now on things are going to improve!
After Michael and his brother had met me at the airport, we did not drive to Anaheim just yet. They picked me up at about 4pm, so the start of the rush hour. We had no intention of spending a long time sitting in traffic. So, instead we drove to Manhattan Beach, which is not far from the airport. If you have read my trip report from last year’s Panama Canal cruise, this place might sound familiar to you. We tried to get there on the scenic route and drove along the coast for a bit – to admire a huge sewage plant and an oil refinery. Not sure why they put those things in the prime real estate area…
It's California is the only answer I have to that.
We then parked at Manhattan Beach, walked out to the pier and to the beach, where Michael and I had to put our feet into the water. It was surprisingly pleasant, I would say comparable to the Baltic Coast of Germany. But it definitely is not a tropical beach!!
Once we had managed to get rid of the sand on our feet – the public beach feet cleaning water taps were closed off thanks to the drought – it was time for dinner at the Kettle. We had a wonderful meal there last time and I was very much looking forward to returning there. I had a BLT with Avocado and Michael had a veggie sandwich called the 1129. It had avocado, tomato, Swiss cheese, spinach, onion and sprouts. Michael also had a broccoli soup with it. Michael’s brother had a Chinese Chicken Salad and got a muffin with it, just like I did last time. Somehow the waitress managed to spill a little bit of water on it when she was refilling our glasses and therefore brought out a fresh one. Which was very nice, especially since Michael’s brother had already shared some of his muffin with us. In the end he got a whole muffin to take with him!
Kettle is a Manhattan Beach institution and has been for many decades. It is like a local upscale diner but with far better food than the typical diner. When I lived out there it was one of my regular haunts. ... I had picked up some Del Taco early in the afternoon, but for some reason got filled quickly. So, no regular dessert and half the sandwich came back and was an 11 p.m. snack. Also, that extra muffin was taken back by us and we polished it off that night too!
After a delicious meal we decided that it would make sense to go to the Manhattan Beach Target to stock up on stuff for our villa. We had planned to go to Target that day or the next day anyway and it made sense to get it done now and be on the safe side with the traffic.
M in Target is sorta like me in Rewe or any German store.
We picked up drinks, fruit, cereal for me and milk as well as some tea for me. Unfortunately I never really got to drink some of the tea while on vacation. I tried once at Disneyland, but the water that I heated in the coffee maker tasted so much of chlorine that the tea was undrinkable. But I brought the tea home with me and am enjoying it currently!
And then we finally drove to Anaheim without any traffic! Michael had already checked us in that morning and had a phone number to call for our room number. I did that from the car and it was horribly complicated that I had to verify who I am by giving them my DVC membership number and I think also my home address and phone number. But they gave me the room number and I was happy that my only request of “not first floor” was granted.
I had checked in about 1:45 and hoped beyond hope that our villa would be ready. Naturally, it wasn't. As a matter of fact, I was told that it wouldn't likely be ready until ''4 or 5 ish''. If you throw everyone out at 11 a.m., please explain why it takes so long to prepare the rooms. (I agree and this is one of my gripes about DVC really. I don't understand why they cannot even honor the 4pm check-in time that is the official one, it is already one hour later than the usual hotel standard of 3pm.) I sat in the lobby and was working on some emails and was about to check out the gift shop when I checked Lufthansa's webpage and saw that M's flight was due to land in about 42 minutes. So ... sorta rushed to get up to LAX. Traffic wasn't bad at all. Parking, as I said, was another story.
Arriving at the Grand Californian we decided to have a bell man take care of my luggage. Michael’s luggage was already in storage with bell services and then they could bring it all up together.
It really was quite a lot of stuff between the two of us:
I want to point out that my stuff were the light grey bag (my carry on) and the grey hard shell suitcase… And I am the girl!!
I went on to document our villa:
View back towards the entrance door:
bathroom:
We got some really nice cosmetic products this time. Besides the usual stuff we also got a solar relief gel and a foot rub. Both were very nice!
Vanity area:
Room:
(yes, that’s Michael hiding there!)
And this is a picture of the view at night:
We had a view of the pool. I was happy with that. I think the pool is really pretty and I was happy to look out onto it. The backside of the theme park is not really that appealing to me… I think if you want a really great theme park view, the views from the Paradise Pier hotel are far superior.
At some point Michael’s brother headed back to his own hotel, he would be back the next day for more touring with us.
Once we had put our stuff into the room, we quickly got changed and headed down to the pool for a late night swim! We stayed there until the pool closed at 10pm. Back up in the room, I decided that I wanted to be fully unpacked before I went to bed and that took me quite some time. Then I also decided that I wanted to get my phone set up with the new SIM and got started on that. Once I had the SIM unpacked I starred at it and got a very nasty shock!! I have an iPhone that requires a nano SIM. The package that Michael got me was a “dual SIM” – which meant a normal and a micro SIM!! Somehow in all of my research I kind of had overseen that. The problem was that the provider (a company called H2O) was offering the same package on their website with a “triple” SIM in it. But I had not been able to order it from them with a credit card that was not from the US. I then found that Target was selling the package as well and I had sent Michael to pick one up for me. But there it was the stupid dual SIM. Somehow I had overlooked that!! So, I had spent 30$ on a SIM I could not use AND that I had already activated at home in preparation for the trip!! Well, there was nothing I could do that day and I finally went to bed at 11pm – which was 8am the next day German time. Jet lag did not get a chance with me that day!!
Up Next: When the Swallows Come Back
Ok, I think you have suffered long enough with so few pictures. I promise that from now on things are going to improve!
After Michael and his brother had met me at the airport, we did not drive to Anaheim just yet. They picked me up at about 4pm, so the start of the rush hour. We had no intention of spending a long time sitting in traffic. So, instead we drove to Manhattan Beach, which is not far from the airport. If you have read my trip report from last year’s Panama Canal cruise, this place might sound familiar to you. We tried to get there on the scenic route and drove along the coast for a bit – to admire a huge sewage plant and an oil refinery. Not sure why they put those things in the prime real estate area…
It's California is the only answer I have to that.
We then parked at Manhattan Beach, walked out to the pier and to the beach, where Michael and I had to put our feet into the water. It was surprisingly pleasant, I would say comparable to the Baltic Coast of Germany. But it definitely is not a tropical beach!!
Once we had managed to get rid of the sand on our feet – the public beach feet cleaning water taps were closed off thanks to the drought – it was time for dinner at the Kettle. We had a wonderful meal there last time and I was very much looking forward to returning there. I had a BLT with Avocado and Michael had a veggie sandwich called the 1129. It had avocado, tomato, Swiss cheese, spinach, onion and sprouts. Michael also had a broccoli soup with it. Michael’s brother had a Chinese Chicken Salad and got a muffin with it, just like I did last time. Somehow the waitress managed to spill a little bit of water on it when she was refilling our glasses and therefore brought out a fresh one. Which was very nice, especially since Michael’s brother had already shared some of his muffin with us. In the end he got a whole muffin to take with him!
Kettle is a Manhattan Beach institution and has been for many decades. It is like a local upscale diner but with far better food than the typical diner. When I lived out there it was one of my regular haunts. ... I had picked up some Del Taco early in the afternoon, but for some reason got filled quickly. So, no regular dessert and half the sandwich came back and was an 11 p.m. snack. Also, that extra muffin was taken back by us and we polished it off that night too!
After a delicious meal we decided that it would make sense to go to the Manhattan Beach Target to stock up on stuff for our villa. We had planned to go to Target that day or the next day anyway and it made sense to get it done now and be on the safe side with the traffic.
M in Target is sorta like me in Rewe or any German store.
We picked up drinks, fruit, cereal for me and milk as well as some tea for me. Unfortunately I never really got to drink some of the tea while on vacation. I tried once at Disneyland, but the water that I heated in the coffee maker tasted so much of chlorine that the tea was undrinkable. But I brought the tea home with me and am enjoying it currently!
And then we finally drove to Anaheim without any traffic! Michael had already checked us in that morning and had a phone number to call for our room number. I did that from the car and it was horribly complicated that I had to verify who I am by giving them my DVC membership number and I think also my home address and phone number. But they gave me the room number and I was happy that my only request of “not first floor” was granted.
I had checked in about 1:45 and hoped beyond hope that our villa would be ready. Naturally, it wasn't. As a matter of fact, I was told that it wouldn't likely be ready until ''4 or 5 ish''. If you throw everyone out at 11 a.m., please explain why it takes so long to prepare the rooms. (I agree and this is one of my gripes about DVC really. I don't understand why they cannot even honor the 4pm check-in time that is the official one, it is already one hour later than the usual hotel standard of 3pm.) I sat in the lobby and was working on some emails and was about to check out the gift shop when I checked Lufthansa's webpage and saw that M's flight was due to land in about 42 minutes. So ... sorta rushed to get up to LAX. Traffic wasn't bad at all. Parking, as I said, was another story.
Arriving at the Grand Californian we decided to have a bell man take care of my luggage. Michael’s luggage was already in storage with bell services and then they could bring it all up together.
It really was quite a lot of stuff between the two of us:
I want to point out that my stuff were the light grey bag (my carry on) and the grey hard shell suitcase… And I am the girl!!
I went on to document our villa:
View back towards the entrance door:
bathroom:
We got some really nice cosmetic products this time. Besides the usual stuff we also got a solar relief gel and a foot rub. Both were very nice!
Vanity area:
Room:
(yes, that’s Michael hiding there!)
And this is a picture of the view at night:
We had a view of the pool. I was happy with that. I think the pool is really pretty and I was happy to look out onto it. The backside of the theme park is not really that appealing to me… I think if you want a really great theme park view, the views from the Paradise Pier hotel are far superior.
At some point Michael’s brother headed back to his own hotel, he would be back the next day for more touring with us.
Once we had put our stuff into the room, we quickly got changed and headed down to the pool for a late night swim! We stayed there until the pool closed at 10pm. Back up in the room, I decided that I wanted to be fully unpacked before I went to bed and that took me quite some time. Then I also decided that I wanted to get my phone set up with the new SIM and got started on that. Once I had the SIM unpacked I starred at it and got a very nasty shock!! I have an iPhone that requires a nano SIM. The package that Michael got me was a “dual SIM” – which meant a normal and a micro SIM!! Somehow in all of my research I kind of had overseen that. The problem was that the provider (a company called H2O) was offering the same package on their website with a “triple” SIM in it. But I had not been able to order it from them with a credit card that was not from the US. I then found that Target was selling the package as well and I had sent Michael to pick one up for me. But there it was the stupid dual SIM. Somehow I had overlooked that!! So, I had spent 30$ on a SIM I could not use AND that I had already activated at home in preparation for the trip!! Well, there was nothing I could do that day and I finally went to bed at 11pm – which was 8am the next day German time. Jet lag did not get a chance with me that day!!
Up Next: When the Swallows Come Back
Last edited:
dizneeat
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2006
- Messages
- 20,847
And another great update!
Awesome that you got to stick your toes in the Pacific right at the start of your vacation. We have yet to go to Huntington Beach, but we loved Santa Monica beach. I remember that very fondly.
So you are a Target shopper - hm, guess we will have to pay a visit in March, we have yet to make it to one.
Thanks for the pics of your GC studio. I am still torn between using my DVC or paying OOP for the Disneyland Hotel. Now you peaked my interest in the Paradise Pier as well. Thank you very much.
What a shame about the SIM card. But I guess it is a mistake easily made.
Awesome that you got to stick your toes in the Pacific right at the start of your vacation. We have yet to go to Huntington Beach, but we loved Santa Monica beach. I remember that very fondly.
So you are a Target shopper - hm, guess we will have to pay a visit in March, we have yet to make it to one.
Thanks for the pics of your GC studio. I am still torn between using my DVC or paying OOP for the Disneyland Hotel. Now you peaked my interest in the Paradise Pier as well. Thank you very much.
What a shame about the SIM card. But I guess it is a mistake easily made.
lovealldisney
Lover of all things Disney!
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,469
I'm here Magdalene! A bit late to the party, just got back from our awesome Disney trip ourselves. Great start and can't wait to read all about your new adventures.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
- Messages
- 31,283
I hear you on the transatlantic flight. I flew KLM from Amsterdam this time round and that was pretty good. I was impressed with the automated passport control. That is a great idea to head for the beach first to beat the traffic. The Grand Californian seems to be the worst of all the DVC properties for rooms not being ready.
Corinna
Corinna
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