We took off from San Francisco heading for Los Angeles.............

Arriving at LA airport we caught a shuttle bus to Disney Land and the Disney Land Hotel where we were to spend the last week of our holiday. We had splashed out and booked a two bedroomed suite which also qualified us for concierge service. As we arrived early the suite was not ready and so we retired to the concierge lounge on the top floor of the main tower.

This was our third visit to Disney Land. The first time, the view from the lounge was over the main carpark with Disney Land itself to the left, the second time the same car park was a building site and this time the change was stunning. In the intervening years a Downtown Disney area had been created directly in front of the Disney Land Hotel and leading away in the distance to the main entrance to the theme park. Just to the right hand side a magnificent new hotel
the Grand Californian had been built and to the far right a new theme park California Adventure had been opened.

When the suite was ready and we transfered across, we were not happy with the layout of the rooms given the makeup of our party. It was not what we'd expected from the information given when we booked. I called the concierge and within minutes somebody came to view the problem and on the spot offered us an extra room connected to the suite for no extra cost so we ended up with a three bedroomed suite. Excellent customer service.

I'm not the worlds biggest Disney fan and I did not really relish a week there. I would have thought from previous experience that 2 days would be plenty. Thats not to say I dislike it, but having seen it I would sooner go somewhere new. However, we go to Disney for part of the holiday most years because my wife and kids (and their grandparents) love it. So as a bit of a Disney sceptic, I have to admit that what they've done to improve the resort is stunning and it
does give the resort much more to recommend it.

We had spent the time in the parks, round the pool at our hotel and wandering the shops and restaurants of Downtown Disney and the week passed surprisingly quickly. Each evening was started by complementary wine and nibbles in the concierge lounge - set each evening going with a warm alcoholic glow !

Before you knew it, it was all over and time to go home. Looking back 3 weeks and 2 days passed in an instant. It was an excellent holiday overall and its been a pleasure re-living it by rambling on here.