How do I love thee....let me count the days!! It's done.......

[kaoden39]

Not getting the car you reserved is uncalled for -- I undrstand someone might have kept longer or that moving cars around there was a mistake but Budget should have made sure you were ok with the changes. I totally agree some car seats are easier on the back then others. You should have been able to pick a car that was on the lot -- not have them do the picking. A luxe car may have even gotten better MPG then the SUV. I have a GF that owns a Santa Fe-- she says it is not that great on MPG but she lives high in the hills so snow is always an issue in winter and the SUV is a must.

You do need to let Corp. know what happened and that you had reservations for a long time. I wonder if calling night before would have given them a heads up that you really wanted the car you rented.

I forgot you have to travel across to hit I-5. I live maybe 1 mile from an on ramp to I-5 -- forgot at tiems how lucky I am.

I love the TR start. Looking forward to pictures and events.

Patty

Patty, I don't see a need for a Santa Fe for just highway travel. I think that it is just a gas hog.

We won't rent from them again.

Oh his poor back. Hugs to him.


There's a whole thread on the transportation forum right now about what if they don't have the car they've reserved, and it seems to be quite common. I think that they normally expect a renter will be happier with a bigger car, but obviously you guys are proof that it's not always that way!

That's a LOT of fillups, yikes.

Oh I didn't know that. Next time I will look there. We will be renting a minivan next trip and I know exactly how much gas it will use.

He thankfully sees his Chiropractor on Monday.

I can't wait to hear about it!!

I will add more tomorrow. I need to finish loading my pictures to photobucket.

 

[mvf-m11c]

It's nice to hear that you got back safely. I will be looking forward to your trip report.

 

[Markie Mouse]

Nice pics so far. I'm very curious to hear what car you thought you were getting, because when I hear Hyundai Sante Fe I don't think gas hog(20city/28Hgwy), but I drive a Nissan Altima that gets 22 city/32 Hgwy so I guess its all perspective. I do feel his pain as I fractured my spine playing football in HS and now have back pains, back spasms, and back muscle cramps for life and the 6 hr drive from AZ to CA is killer. Not to mention my wife does not drive. Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[IndayMichelle]

 

[kaoden39]

It's nice to hear that you got back safely. I will be looking forward to your trip report.

Thank you Bret!!

Nice pics so far. I'm very curious to hear what car you thought you were getting, because when I hear Hyundai Sante Fe I don't think gas hog(20city/28Hgwy), but I drive a Nissan Altima that gets 22 city/32 Hgwy so I guess its all perspective. I do feel his pain as I fractured my spine playing football in HS and now have back pains, back spasms, and back muscle cramps for life and the 6 hr drive from AZ to CA is killer. Not to mention my wife does not drive. Looking forward to hearing more!

We were supposed to get a Dodge Avenger. And it would have gotten better mileage because my minivan gets better mileage. We had to fill up three times on the trip, with my minivan we normally fill up twice. Same size tank. I was sorely disappointed. He fell out of a helicopter in the Army so that is why he has such a bad back. Normally I would drive but I couldn't drive the Santa Fe because I am Pooh sized and it just wasn't comfortable at all. The steering wheel didn't even adjust.

I am planning to get going on the trip report again later. Have faith.

 

[kaoden39]

When last we left our brave travelers were wondering how long before the skies would fall.

Not long!

But it was off and on. I also feel totally safe with WBG driving.

"The hills are alive....."

Well you get the basic idea.....rain, rain, and breaks.....on and on. It got dark so you are saved from more pictures on the way. We finally arrived in Anaheim, around 8ish. The rain was gone and the stars were out. Spectacular!!


Now we stayed at the Ayres Hotel, right across from the Honda Center with the Anaheim Ducks play hockey. Now I know exactly where to stay if the Sharks are in Anaheim and I want to see the game.

I know that there are a lot of people that don't like to stay away from the walking distance hotels but after our stay here I will not stay anywhere else. I loved it. Not only was it beautiful but the staff is top notch. We were very impressed!!

This was our very comfortable bed. WBG is usually up several times a night. The most he got up during the night was twice on the second night. That says a lot.

This is the couch and coffee table.

The desk.

The wet bar and the entry way.

Table and chairs.

TV and dresser.

Desk.

Window.

The walls were both paint and wallpaper that appears to be material and is textured as such. Very old world, European look to the hotel and the rooms.


For those that like the creature comforts the wetbar has a microwave and little refrigerator. I never actually got complete photos of the bathroom but it has a FULL SIZE tub. WBG who is tall was able to really soak in the tub. What a treat!

The lobby downstairs which I will show some sloppy photos of later was very warm and welcome. They have a fireplace with a fire going. A couple of couches and easy chairs making it welcome and inviting to the guests. As does the beer, wine, sodas, and juice they offer as an evening event Monday through Thursday. It also had chips, salsa and guacamole too. It was a nice treat on the day we got rained out.

I leave you here because it was bedtime. We were really tired after our long drive.

 

[kaoden39]

Valentines Day dawned bright and early. I was up and ready to go to breakfast but WBG was busy soaking in the tub. I was on the computer rather ticked at him because I wanted to upgrade the one day park hoppers we had with three day park hoppers. He finally came out and we were off to have breakfast downstairs before catching the ART(Anaheim Resort Transit or some such). Now ART arrived at quarter after the hour and we were the second stop. The first was Amtrak and we only saw someone from there once. We did see people going to Amtrak more than once though.

Breakfast. They have someone there that was cooking pancakes for the guests that wanted them too. I even saw him make a Mickey Mouse one for someone. They have various fresh fruits, various breads and bagels you can toast, butter, cream cheese, coffee, juice, milk, cereal and so on. The potatoes varied from day to day. Not a bad breakfast at all.

My artsy picture from the trip. The A for the Ayres Hotel. I took this while waiting for ART.

I was anxious to get to the parks and WBG took my photo. Now mind you if you have ever read any of my past trip reports I normally carefully avoid the camera. Not this trip. Laurie, this is for you.

And we're finally in the parks!! We thought this a really cool banner. Notice the steam coming out of the trains smoke stack!!

Because it was Valentines Day I was on the lookout for Valentines sights. This was one of the few I saw. I heart shaped flower garden.

I was on the lookout for lanyards to hold our three day park hoppers. And I saw this display. It really caught my eye. I love love Duffy and Goofy making these little guys pretty darn adorable to me.

Our first stop was actually to get the bride and groom ears. After all we were celebrating 20 years of wedded bliss!!

I am leaving you here I have errands. More later!!

 

[Happy 2 B Me]

Reading that your hotel was the second stop for ART, first being amtrack, I would certainly have no issues staying at the Ayers. There have been so many times ART is to full so people walk or wait for next bus making the trip to or from the park twice as long.

Your room looked very comfy. I like how they had the darker wood furnishings.

The breakfast looked and sounded like more then enough to sustain my family. My husband loves hearing the work "free" with any meal. .

You look so "Disney Happy" waitng for the bus to DL. It does not get any better does it?

Great idea to get mouse ears to celebrate your trip. I have not see the groom ears like those, must have missed them before. I hope you wore those every day. Why does it take me forever to pick out my ears when going to DL. Good thing we are born with our hearing ears or I would still be trying to figure out what real ears I wanted.

Will be following along for other TR posts.

Faithful follower Patty

 

[bumbershoot]

Yay for more report!


You are really selling the Ayres to me. Is there just the one in Anaheim? I remember driving by one while out and about, and it seemed so far from the parks! Is it not as far as it seems, or does the shuttle make it not seem very far? Because it *looks* great. And so do those eggs and potatoes.....

 

[DizNee Luver]

YIPPEE!!!!!! Pics with Michele.......IN THEM!!!!

Nice looking motel!! So did ART work out for you guys? Was it overly crowded....ever?? We had such a rotten experience with them when we stayed at the Motel 6, I've purposely paid more for our rooms....just to be close to the parks.

LVE the ears!!!!! I looked at those for our 25th back in 09, but Mike didn't seem interested...... Glad you got WBG to go along with them & wear them!!!

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Great updates Michele! The hotel room looks so nice and the breakfast looked yummy!

I love that train banner with the steam coming out. True Disney details!

The ears are so cute! Dillon and I plan to get some on our WDW trip.

 

[kaoden39]

Reading that your hotel was the second stop for ART, first being amtrack, I would certainly have no issues staying at the Ayers. There have been so many times ART is to full so people walk or wait for next bus making the trip to or from the park twice as long.

Your room looked very comfy. I like how they had the darker wood furnishings.

The breakfast looked and sounded like more then enough to sustain my family. My husband loves hearing the work "free" with any meal. .

You look so "Disney Happy" waitng for the bus to DL. It does not get any better does it?

Great idea to get mouse ears to celebrate your trip. I have not see the groom ears like those, must have missed them before. I hope you wore those every day. Why does it take me forever to pick out my ears when going to DL. Good thing we are born with our hearing ears or I would still be trying to figure out what real ears I wanted.

Will be following along for other TR posts.

Faithful follower Patty

Patty, I was in that I'm going to Disneyland zone for sure!!

Yay for more report!


You are really selling the Ayres to me. Is there just the one in Anaheim? I remember driving by one while out and about, and it seemed so far from the parks! Is it not as far as it seems, or does the shuttle make it not seem very far? Because it *looks* great. And so do those eggs and potatoes.....

Molly, it is only about 10 minutes out from Disneyland. There is another Ayres in Orange on Chapman that is also about 10 minutes out. It was great stay and I recommend it highly.

YIPPEE!!!!!! Pics with Michele.......IN THEM!!!!

Nice looking motel!! So did ART work out for you guys? Was it overly crowded....ever?? We had such a rotten experience with them when we stayed at the Motel 6, I've purposely paid more for our rooms....just to be close to the parks.

LVE the ears!!!!! I looked at those for our 25th back in 09, but Mike didn't seem interested...... Glad you got WBG to go along with them & wear them!!!

I love the ART this trip Laurie. In the past we have used ART and we didn't like it. But this trip we had no problem getting excellent seats. Even on Wednesday when everyone was pouring out of the park in the rain.

I got a new pair of ears each day. So there will be more for sure.

Great updates Michele! The hotel room looks so nice and the breakfast looked yummy!

I love that train banner with the steam coming out. True Disney details!

The ears are so cute! Dillon and I plan to get some on our WDW trip.

Andrea, WBG was totally taken with that banner and we were thrilled that you actually could see the steam in that photo.

Oh I can hardly wait to see you and Dillon in your ears!!

 

[Trentmom]

YAY!!

The room looks great. I like the classic/antique looking feel of the room

Cool picture of the train

Sounsd like they treat their guests great there

Cute Ears

 

[kaoden39]

YAY!!

The room looks great. I like the classic/antique looking feel of the room

Cool picture of the train

Sounsd like they treat their guests great there

Cute Ears

We were extremely pleased with how well we were treated. And 10 minutes out isn't bad.

 

[kaoden39]

One thing I love about Disney is the fact that they are always looking ahead. Like towards St Patrick's Day on Valentines day.

I only really checked a few of the windows. Which was really odd for me. This one captured my imagination completely.

More after this set of errands.

 

[IndayMichelle]

The last set of pictures reminded me of Mary Poppins. Cute!

I can't wait to see all of the ears. I feel like I'm window shopping through you.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The room at Ayres looks exactly the same when I stayed their a few years ago. I didn't stay in a one bedroom like you did. I would definitely stay at Ayres a lot if the ART bus doesn't take that long to get from the DLR to the hotel. I remember one time that it almost took 30 minutes at the hotel for the bus to arrive. Very nice pictures of the room.

Nice picture of the Trains of Disney sign at the Disney Gallery store. Did you ever get the chance to go inside the Gallery during your trip?

Great update on your first day in Anaheim.

 

[DisneyStitch626]

I love the unique window display. They think of such neat things

I actually have the fuzzy Mickey in the second last photo. My brother picked him up for me when we went on my birthday trip last october. He's now in Seth's room, haha. So cute.

 

[kaoden39]

The last set of pictures reminded me of Mary Poppins. Cute!

I can't wait to see all of the ears. I feel like I'm window shopping through you.

It did have a Mary Poppins feel didn't it? It reminded me of a nursery for sure.

The room at Ayres looks exactly the same when I stayed their a few years ago. I didn't stay in a one bedroom like you did. I would definitely stay at Ayres a lot if the ART bus doesn't take that long to get from the DLR to the hotel. I remember one time that it almost took 30 minutes at the hotel for the bus to arrive. Very nice pictures of the room.

Nice picture of the Trains of Disney sign at the Disney Gallery store. Did you ever get the chance to go inside the Gallery during your trip?

Great update on your first day in Anaheim.

Thanks Bret. It was incredibly quick for us each time. So convenient for us, much better than parking.

I love the unique window display. They think of such neat things

I actually have the fuzzy Mickey in the second last photo. My brother picked him up for me when we went on my birthday trip last october. He's now in Seth's room, haha. So cute.

I love the Mickey and Minnie. They just are so cute.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Love the window displays......old timey feel!!! Were those on Main Street?? (I'm assuming they were). Love the fuzzy looking Mickey & Minnie....might need to pick up a pair of those!!! I'll also be on the lookout for special toys for Michayla when she's in the hospital...those might be nice for her!!!