DISNEY DAY ONE (Arrival Day) - Sorry No Pictures

Well I made it here! YAY! We had a slight delay leaving from Columbus, not due to weather (at least in Columbus), but due to waiting on a crew from a different plane that hadn't arrived yet.

Once in the air and through Phoenix, I made it to Los Angeles around 4:20 (about 25 minutes later than scheduled). No biggie. I made it here, right? The plane ride wasn't too bad - and I did manage to only use the bathroom when the plane had stopped in Phoenix (I hate getting up from my seat on the plane since I'm in the window seat). When I arrived at the airport it was pretty easy to find the shuttle for the car rental, so I hopped that and headed to get my car. Again, pretty simple picking up the car. They even let you choose which one you'd want at Alamo (within your specified car type). I had chosen compact, so I picked a Kia Spectra (the other choices were a Corolla, a PT Cruiser and some kind of Chevy). Out I went on my way to venture through Los Angeles traffic. :)

I had planned to go to Walgreens to pick up a few other essentials that I couldn't pack in 1 quart liquids bag (because I did manage to squeeze everything into my carry-on and small bag (personal item). I also went to Lululemon and Pinkberry. Pinkberry - ick. I can see it being good tasting for those that enjoy yogurts like Skyr (which I did not), but it was awfully tart. I guess I imagined to be more like the soft-serve yogurt at UDF...hmm. My expectations were wrong. No matter - I only had a few bites and now can say I tried it. I do love Lulu (of course). There's one in Beverly Hills that I'll probably stop by when I'm there. I picked up a shirt in a color I did not own yet, and a couple pair of tubular socks in pretty designs. The little mall area where all of the stores were at was really nice. It was an all outdoor version of Easton (I guess most malls here are). They had this huge sitting area with a fountain. I didn't have my camera out, so I didn't take any pictures.

Then, I headed out from there about 6:45 - I think. I made it to Disneyland around 7:25. I went a different way (the one that Tom-Tom pointed out, and not googlemaps). This shaved a good 40 minutes off of my "calculated time." Not too bad considering the traffic. I don't think I experienced the brunt of it, but it was a lot of stop and go. I don't think I made it up to the max speed limit of 65 except for one little stretch.

I checked into the hotel and then went to self-park and find my room. I'm on the 8th floor in a corner room - it has a standard view of the parking lot (which is what I paid for). Though across the street there are pretty lights and if I look to my right I can see parts of the theme parks.

I didn't unpack because I was so hungry. I hadn't eaten anything all day except parts of 2 muffins from starbucks. So, I went to Downtown Disney - which is about a 2 minute walk once I exit the hotel. I looked around and finally decided to go to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. They had a long wait, but bar seats were open, first-come, first-serve. I chose a small table and ate dinner. I actually had a mango daquiri first, and I don't know if that filled me up or something, but I was only able to eat about a fourth of my burger and two of the coconut shrimp that came with my meal. I'm not sure if not eating made my stomach just say, "fine you aren't going t be hungry anymore." Something like that. The pinkberry had really left a taste in my mouth that even after my burger, was still there. Boo. I boxed up the rest of my food and brought it back to the room (I have a refrigerator). The room is nice. A little small, but that's fine for me. I'm wondering if I got kind of the shaft - because online it says rooms are either two queens or one king, and I got one queen. It's just little old me, so I don't need two beds. And I don't really need the king. I just thought, if I paid for it like everyone else shouldn't I get one of those options. Who knows. I'm in Disney though, so that's all that matters.

By the time I made it back to the room it was about 9:30 and I was pretty tired (that's 12:30 Columbus time and I had been up since around 6). I didn't really sleep at all on the plane, either. I was able to rest. The sun was actually beaming so hard against my window that I started feeling like I was getting a sunburn on the top of my head when laying against it. I closed the shutter on it, but it still was hot. So that made it difficult to sleep. So, instead of unpacking, I actually went to sleep right then.

Right now it's about 5:30 and I woke up about a half hour ago. I'm going to unpack and get ready because I have a breakfast (yummy Goofy's Kitchen buffet) reservation at 7:00 and I need to get ready for the day because I'll be exploring Downtown Disney and heading into the parks when they open at 9. I'll be doing an all Disney day today, so plenty of pictures will accompany tomorrow's post. :)

That's all for today. See you real soon! :)