We are back!

So we are back from our 2012 Disneyland and Fiji holiday and I am very happy to have slept in my own bed last night.

We have had an amazing trip - lots of adventures, great days of fun and even some scary moments.

Our trip started with a very civilised flight down to Sydney - we were travelling a rather circuitous route as we had paid for the entire trip using 'frequent flyer points' - so to get to Los Angeles we flew from Brisbane to Sydney; Sydney to Honolulu and then Honolulu to LAX.

With Ivan's membership we had lunch in the First class Qantas club and relaxed before our connection to Hawai. 

The Qantas plane however to Honolulu was horrible - it was older than Noah's Ark and was actually dirty, the toilets smelt even as we boarded and the seats were dirty and worn.  The plane wasn't full, but we couldn't sit together. Matt and Elizabeth had seats together and Ivan, Sarah and I had three seats. The leg room was so squashed and I must admit that it was one of the worst flights I have been on. Not a good start to the holiday.

We arrived however, safely in Honolulu and disembarked with no major issues - we were directed to the American Airlines terminal only to discover that it was empty - no one arrives until 2 hours before the flight and we were there 4 hours before it.  No facilities, no food, or drink available - so a hard stone bench and a wait - still we were in the fresh air and managed to get some water from a vending machine.  By this stage Sarah was feeling very upset and wanted to go back home.

Waiting in Hawaii

 The American Airlines staff were wonderful - they arranged for better seats (than those given to us by Qantas) and the airplane was clean and comfortable - what a relief.  Elizabeth who had been suffering with a cold prior to departure was not at all well by now, so it was a long flight.

We arrived in LAX and our bags were off really early, our shuttle arrived within 10 mins and we were off to Disneyland - normally an hour journey which we achieved in 40 mins (little traffic).  We arrived at the hotel and were all settled in our rooms by 11pm - It was just beautiful - 2 connecting rooms - 2 Queen beds. 

A good night's sleep helped and the following day we hit Downtown Disney - after having woken only at 1pm - the body clocks were completely out of sync.

 We spent the rest of the day shopping, exploring the hotel and had lunch at our favourite restaurant - Mimi's Cafe. The food was great.

So Day One was a complete day of relaxation - we were too tired to have a full day in the park and wanted to enjoy it when we did. 

Next installment to follow.