Tuesday, December 3, 2013
We booked this trip to Los Angeles because Clay found these
direct American Airlines' RDU-LAX round trip flights for $250 pp. and he had to do it. Plus it was
near my birthday and as many times as we’ve been to LA neither of us had been
to Disneyland. So, here we are.
The flight left RDU almost on time at 5:20pm. We left home
early to take the bus to the airport again. Clay got his first free ride with
his new transit photo ID. The bus was really full! The airport was really busy.
When I checked us in online and printed our boarding passes Clay got a TSA
pre-check and I did not. There was a huge lineup at security and Clay waited a
long time after he walked right through without having to remove layers or
shoes or open any bags. We had checked our rolling bags after a long line up
there too, which was a good thing because our flight was completely full and
they were offering to check rolling bags for free at the gate because they knew
they wouldn’t have enough room on board. The plane was configured 3x3 and we
were in the window and middle seats and a young woman was on our aisle seat. It
was a six hour flight with only 2 beverage services. AA does not even serve
pretzels or peanuts anymore. We had bought food in the airport to have for
dinner after eating snacks in the airport. Clay had a sandwich and I had
cheese, Ritz and grapes. The flight was a little rougher than we’ve had lately.
They showed the movie Austenland, which thrilled me and we both plugged in
headsets we had brought along and watched it before trying to sleep. It wasn’t
completely miserable, but the happiest part was not having to change planes!
There was a long delay in getting the luggage unloaded as well. When we finally
got our bags we quickly and easily got a Thrifty shuttle and went to pick up
our rental car. That didn’t go too smoothly either, though they weren’t busy.
We finally ended up in a bigger car than we reserved because they just didn’t
have what we had reserved and this was after the guy tried to sell us an upgrade
and we declined and he told us he’d put us in a compact. There was only one compact in the lot, a red Fiat 500. We loaded it since it was where we were directed to go in the lot and it was the only car in that section. The Fiat 500 doesn't even have space for 2 carryon bags behind the back seats! It was really cold and windy out and we were anxious to get underway, but there were no keys in the car. Clay went inside a 2nd time to ask what car to take and was told to take a silver Nissan Versa right outside the door because the keys were lost to the Fiat. We unloaded and moved. We finally had ignition and were on our way in very light traffic. We had about a 20-30 minute drive to Anaheim and the Desert Palms Hotel and Suites.
We are in room 307 on the 3rd floor. It is fine. It is a large room with 2 queen size beds. It has a desk and 3 chairs, a TV, a fridge and microwave and a coffee maker, a small closet and a small bathroom. The bathroom has one sink and a shower over a small tub. It is all adequate and for $150 per night prepaid, it includes parking, a hot breakfast and Internet. We are here through Saturday morning. We got to bed around 11 to 12 pm which was early morning for us.
We are in room 307 on the 3rd floor. It is fine. It is a large room with 2 queen size beds. It has a desk and 3 chairs, a TV, a fridge and microwave and a coffee maker, a small closet and a small bathroom. The bathroom has one sink and a shower over a small tub. It is all adequate and for $150 per night prepaid, it includes parking, a hot breakfast and Internet. We are here through Saturday morning. We got to bed around 11 to 12 pm which was early morning for us.
