Day 4: Ohhh, Ahhh, Shiny! About This Page:

[Diz]

Our flight from Philadelphia went off without a hitch. We were able to get coffee (very important!) and the boys some breakfast while we waited for our flight. DS#2 and I lucked out because the third person scheduled for our side of the aisle never showed up. We had extra room on a plane that was 98% full. DH and DS#1 were jealous! It was such a beautiful flight – the Rocky Mountains! It was funny because the pilot not only pointed them out, he flew around in circles showing us them for about 10 minutes! He was so much fun! And he flew around and around the Grand Canyon. For awhile, I thought we were on a tour plane! We left Philly at 8:00 am and arrived in LAX about 10:30. It was a smooth – but long flight. It was the longest we have ever taken.

DD’s flight from Orlando was scheduled to arrive about 9:30. She was flying Delta, we had US Air. I wasn’t sure how we’d get together. But I have one smart DD. Her flight was early – landed about 9 so she had a lot of time on her hands. She picked up her luggage and then took a bus from Delta over to US Air (apparently not an easy feat!) When we arrived in baggage, she was there. First words out of her mouth: I thought it was hot in CA! She had a coat on, but was freezing! This is going to be a reoccurring sight all week!

We had decided to rent a mini-van so off we went to find a Hertz bus. Thanks to mousesavers.com, I had seen that the enrollment fee for the Emerald Club was waived so I had signed up. We arrived at Hertz, found our mini-van in the Emerald lane – showed my driver’s license and credit card…and we were off! Fast, easy – except lugging 10 pieces of luggage out of the airport-onto the bus-out of the bus-into the van. But there were five of us – and we don’t pack light!

We grabbed some local maps while at Hertz, but I had also printed out directions on line before leaving home. They were easy to follow and before we knew it, we were on I-5 heading towards the Happiest Celebration on Earth!

In planning our trip, I was told over and over again how congested it was around DL, the hotels, the restaurants, etc. I even downloaded and printed the map to show my Dfamily so no one would be surprised. Well, let me tell you – it’s nothing like we expected! We must have come off the highway onto a strange entrance because all we saw were some hotels – but mostly apartment buildings and then we were at the entrance to the Grand Californian Hotel. After being told Welcome Home, we decided to use valet so the bags were unloaded and stored – the van safe and sound and we entered the GCH lobby. Very . It has the vastness of the Wilderness Lodge, but it is not a rustic wood – but a more artistic, smooth-lined…drop dead gorgeous wood. If you expect the WL view, you’ll be disappointed – but if you enter not expecting anything – you’ll just stand there in awe! I fell in !

And then the best part of the week was about to happen – the first of many encounters with – now hold your hats! You’ll be surprised! Friendly cast members! Having 2 cast members in my Dfamily, I can say – WDW has their share of friendly cms, but DL has an entire community of them! We were so impressed with check-in (DD was in disbelief)! The lobby has cms doing everything – always cleaning – one who just walks around the lobby saying hello to people, offering insights and advice – and then of course the usual guest services – concierge staff and dvc salesman. But not one of them had a frown; not one of them was rude! It was heaven!

We checked in and were given our room keys (not chargeable – but that’s to change within the next year the cm said). The 3 adults were given a separate paper for charging privileges. (We ended up using it only a few times - it wasn't as convienent as a charging room key. We decided to buy the DL gift cards and used them instead. They were quick and easy well except the first time. Let me stop, I'm getting ahead of myself!) We were given fast passes to Aladdin, Grizzly Run and Soarin’. But our room wasn’t ready. So we decided to have some lunch and figure out what we would do for the afternoon.

Up next: Now how far is it to DD so we can grab a bite to eat?