Guess what? [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-22-2010, 06:14 AM

After much alcohol hahaha and many promises we all know I probably won't keep, DH has given me the go ahead to start tentatively planning a Dec 2011 trip.

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO:banana::banana::banana:: rotfl::rotfl:

Like I wasn't already doing that anyway, hahaha.

Anyway, I'm very very excited. All I need to do to convince him is that I can easily come up with the money which is no probs. Now I need your help:-

It's time to start planning the nitty grittys I would say. I'm not going this December but am hoping to go next December so to keep myself "interested" I am going to pretend like I am going this year and start looking into park hours, EMH, MVMCP, what park to do what day, ADR's etc.

So for all you lucky ducks going this year:-

1. What dates are you going?

2. What parks do you plan on visiting on what days?

3. Why did you choose that park for that day?

4. How many days at each park?

5. Are you going to take advantage of EMH am & pm?

6. Do you have to decide what park you will visit each day before making ADR's to minimise travel times between parks?

7. Are you going to plan a Water park day or is it just going to be too cold to go?

8. Are the show times for parades and shows out early enough so you can plan your ADR's 180 days out without there being a clash that makes you miss something?

9. Is anyone staying at WL? How are the buses

10. What are your thoughts on the Wishes Dessert Party?

11. What about MVMCP? Is it worth the money? I kind of felt the Halloween party at DL was fun but a little expensive, am wondering if this would be similar?

12. Am I being annoying asking all of these questions ?

This is such exciting news for me and I am so proud of my husband for agreeing to go back. And when I started talking days, he was more than happy with 11 in WDW and when I said 5 in NY he said, he could spend double that time and for me to just decide. :cool1::cool1: I am very excited. It may seem a long time away but for me "the obsessive planner" it is just enough time to learn enough about WDW to be comfortable that I won't miss a thing LOL.

I look forward to your input.

Kalice

05-22-2010, 07:22 AM

Hi,
I'm not sure if you've been to NY before? We had our first visit this year, eight nights total in NY and two in DC. I felt that that we barely scratched the surface and could easily spend a month (or even year) there. There was soo much too see. We had eight nights in WDW and that was perfect.

queenie82

05-22-2010, 07:23 AM

I'm not going this December :sad1: but I have been to WDW 3 Decembers over the past 7 years including last December.
So thought I would comment on a few questions if that's ok and might help..... :)

You are very wise starting to plan now because there are a LOT of nitty grittys that you should be aware of.

It's time to start planning the nitty grittys I would say. I'm not going this December but am hoping to go next December so to keep myself "interested" I am going to pretend like I am going this year and start looking into park hours, EMH, MVMCP, what park to do what day, ADR's etc.

So for all you lucky ducks going this year:-

1. What dates are you going?
We have always gone from just after thanksgiving until the 22nd dec at the latest. It gets CRAZY busy as you get closer

2. What parks do you plan on visiting on what days?
Look at the touring plans guide

3. Why did you choose that park for that day?
crowd levels and emh determine when we do what

4. How many days at each park?
We get the 10 day ticket and will park hop many of those days. The least days go to AK - typically 2 am emh days where we typically finish before the end of the day. [I love it but this is just the reality of this park as nothing much has changed over the years really. ON a first visit though you would probably use 2 full days]

5. Are you going to take advantage of EMH am & pm?
This past december was the first time onsite...so the first time we had access to emh. We thought we would use both but seriously I was pooped by 9pm that I couldn't really use the Epcot pm emh.:upsidedow
The KEY!!! is the AM emh. They are crucial. You must drag yourself out of bed to use them. Especially for Toy Story Mania at DHS. Of course by 2011 it won't be so new. But the same number of people will be coming :lmao:

6. Do you have to decide what park you will visit each day before making ADR's to minimise travel times between parks?Sort of...well...yes really.
It can take nearly an hour to get from one park to another. ESPECIALLY if you depend on Disney transport :rolleyes:
You don't want to waste time travelling JUST to go to an ADR. If you are planning to hop that day then make the lunch reservation at the first park, then shift after that.

7. Are you going to plan a Water park day or is it just going to be too cold to go?
ALL the water is heated so yes...we go. Blizzard beach is the park that has been open the past few Decembers. This is my favourite which is lucky :cool1:
The first week of dec 09 was GLORIOUS warm weather and BB was pretty busy. Sunscreen was crucial. It was TOO hot for my liking actually :confused:
Now I will say that in the 2nd week BB was closed for 2 days in a row last trip because it was too cold in the early hours of the morning. The resort pool slides would also be closed until about 11am-12pm when the water warmed up.
The issue is the SLIDES...not the pools.

8. Are the show times for parades and shows out early enough so you can plan your ADR's 180 days out without there being a clash that makes you miss something?
They are both released at the 180 day mark. This is why the whole 90 day debacle happened. People whinging because they are incapable of planning ahead.
This does make it a bit tricky. Parade times CAN change but year to year indicative times are pretty accurate. Typically a change ADDS a time not changes or removes.

9. Is anyone staying at WL? How are the buses
Nope...don't do Disney buses :rolleyes1

10. What are your thoughts on the Wishes Dessert Party?
Waste of money. Saw the spot it takes place as we went to get a spot ourselves and I don't get it.:confused3

11. What about MVMCP? Is it worth the money? I kind of felt the Halloween party at DL was fun but a little expensive, am wondering if this would be similar?
Again I don't get it. Each year it gets MORE and MORE expensive. I truly don't understand. It is a LOT of money for a parade and fireworks...oh...and a hot chocolate.:rolleyes:
Now the Christmas parade (which the 'public' get to see once the parties are over) are far superior to a standard parade. But I can't justify the cost. The fireworks themselves are no better. The soundtrack is a bit nicer though.

12. Am I being annoying asking all of these questions ?
NO!!!
You are Normal!!!
You are a Disney nut!!!
:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

This is such exciting news for me and I am so proud of my husband for agreeing to go back. Just keep him sloshed :wizard:

And when I started talking days, he was more than happy with 11 in WDW WELL DONE!!! (so long as that is ALL WDW time...not incl Universal) and when I said 5 in NY he said, he could spend double that time and for me to just decide. :cool1::cool1: I am very excited. It may seem a long time away but for me "the obsessive planner" it is just enough time to learn enough about WDW to be comfortable that I won't miss a thing LOL.

I look forward to your input.

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-22-2010, 08:02 AM

Yes Kalice, we went to NY for 5 days Oct last year but we all feel it was no where near enough. When I suggested Washington/Canada/Hawaii for after NY my hubby said, well couldn't we just stay longer in NY :lmao:. I kind of agree, there is so much more to see, we'd like to get out to other areas of NY more this time, but I would love to see Washington and or Canada and Hawaii for a few days on the way back would be heaven.

Queenie - thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it. We are totally early risers so the am EMH's would work best for us. DH and the kids go to bed early so pm EMH's will probably not be an option.

Blizzard Beach definitely looks like the pick of the 2 water parks so we would definitely love to visit if weather permitted.

Will have a play around with dates/show and parade times/ADRs this year as a prelude to next year.

I am inclined to agree about the Christmas party. I felt the same way about MNSSHP.

The 11 days would include 1 day at Kennedy Space Centre and one day at WWHP (can't wait to see that). I guess we could add more if need be but I feel like that isn't a bad start.

PrincessInOz

05-22-2010, 04:38 PM

Shuttergirl - I'm so happy for you.

WRT EMH - Remember you get 1 hour extra in the morning and 3 hours extra in the evening. We are early risers; but because I was sick, we didn't make a single am EMH much less rope drop! Also, because we were out and about and doing lots of exercise/walking, DS slept in most of the time and it was hard to get him out of bed.

We didn't plan on taking advantage of the pm EMH - our plan was for am EMH as well - but found that pm EMH worked well for us and found this particularly useful for AK. Remember that AK closes at 5 pm; so the pm EMH makes perfect sense here. We were walking on to rides that normally had over 55 minutes standby e.g., Kali and Everest. In the afternoon, Kali and Everest wait times were over 90 minutes. Fast passes were usually all gone by 1 pm. With the pm EMH, we did Everest 3 times in a row and Kali twice - all walk on with no wait time.

We also took advantage of the pm EMH at MK. Again, it was the same scenario where we had walk-on compared to 40 minute stand-by (with the exception of some of the Fantasyland rides).

We made it to the parks at about 9.30 am and the wait times for all the rides were about 10 minutes. We would get as many fast passes as possible, do as many of the big rides using stand-by and save the fast passes for later; when the wait times were out to over 40 mins. For MK where we knew we were going to take advantage of pm EMH, we picked up fast passes for some of the rides as well. I'm particularly talking about the Peter Pan ride here - even at pm EMH, wait times were over 40 minutes.

On average, we were waiting about 10 - 20 minutes for the Disney bus to take us to the right park. At POR, there were heaps of buses but they always seem to go to the other parks rather than the one we wanted to go to. At BCV, we could control our time better as we could walk, boat or monorail to 3 of the 4 parks. We ended up extending our car hire for the entire time that we were on-site and I'm pretty thankful that we did have the car as an option to the buses.

Definitely get the park hopper ticket - you will park hop and I think there was even one day where we visited all 4 parks in the same day. And keep things really flexible so that you have the freedom to come and go as you please. Using the Disney buses, hopping from one park to the other took an average of about 45 minutes.

I enjoyed the Dessert Party. Remember it is about the Dessert first and foremost. The spot to view Wishes isn't as good as being outside because it doesn't have the quintessential front-on view of the castle, but it isn't bad. If you are going to eat lots of Dessert and don't want to guard a prime spot for an hour or two beforehand, then I would consider doing the Dessert Party. MK was BUSY when we were there - touringguide Mike was wrong - and there were heaps of people everywhere. With kids and elderly parents, it was kinda nice to walk into the Terrace at 8 pm, enjoy dessert (some were good, others not so good) a hot drink and then find ourselves with a bit of space to see the fireworks at 9 pm. Just remember - you need to eat a lot of dessert for this to work out from the $ perspective.

Enjoy your planning!

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-22-2010, 04:53 PM

Thanks Princess in Oz. I know it's ages away but that suits me just fine. I almost like the planning as much as the trip :lmao:

I was considering the Dessert Party because my husband would not be keen to sit waiting for it for up to 2 hours, just wouldn't happen. DH and the kids love love love desserts so I have no doubt they'll eat their fair share and I thought it would be something a bit different. My son is also a little wary of the loud noise of fireworks. I think being in this environment would really help him feel safer.

We can totally play the am versus pm EMH by ear when we are there. We really are crazy early risers so mostly I would say AM would work but I'm happy to try both.

We won't be hiring a car while at WDW, however I am happy to use taxis if need be to make it to ADR's on time. Otherwise we plan on using the buses and or boat from WL.

My DH's father is very ill so things are a little up in the air for next December as to when we could go. If his father is still with us (fingers crossed he is) we wouldn't go to the US until just after Christmas. Maybe 28th Dec or something. Whilst I know that week at WDW is the worst crowd wise, I'd be willing to put up with a few crowded days at the start so that we can be with FIL for Christmas.

If he was to no longer be with us, we would go around 9 December.

Either option would be fine, I will just feel blessed to be going.

lovintheland

05-22-2010, 05:46 PM

aussiegirls

05-22-2010, 06:51 PM

Didn't take you long to get that ticker up Shuttergirl :lmao::lmao:

Congrats :cheer2:

xxx

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-22-2010, 06:53 PM

hahahaha Aussiegirls, well I figure he can't change his mind in the light of morning if the Disboards ticker is up. It's locked in :rotfl2:.

Gosh I love love planning:rotfl:

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-22-2010, 06:55 PM

Ms Shuttergirl Iam so excited for you! I remember last time when you got the go ahead from hubby :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

Have fun planning now that you can seriously plan. We are buying our tickets this week for September WOOHOO:banana::banana::banana:

And if you remember, there was alcohol and promises involved in that "go ahead" also, hahaha. Oh and a Bruce Springsteen concert. He is keen for me to find another concert for this trip :rotfl: and I'm like, no problems babe, anything to get you back to the US.

aussietravellers

05-22-2010, 07:47 PM

How Exciting Ms.Shuttergirl :cool1:

I agree, the planning is almost as fun as the holiday :lmao:

That is such a cute ticker. I must have another look at the Disboards tickers, I didn't have much of a look because I already had both for NY and WDW already.

lovintheland

05-22-2010, 08:13 PM

Whatever favours it takes Ms Shuttergirl I say :love:

queenie82

05-22-2010, 08:40 PM

I was considering the Dessert Party because my husband would not be keen to sit waiting for it for up to 2 hours, just wouldn't happen. DH and the kids love love love desserts so I have no doubt they'll eat their fair share and I thought it would be something a bit different. My son is also a little wary of the loud noise of fireworks. I think being in this environment would really help him feel safer.

We can totally play the am versus pm EMH by ear when we are there. We really are crazy early risers so mostly I would say AM would work but I'm happy to try both.We never ever waited 2 hours for Wishes. :confused3
We waited maybe 30-45mins? and had great spots.

I would never wait that long for any Disney fireworks. The less you wait the better it is....

We strolled up to a spot for Illuminations about 20mins before and really enjoyed it. Previous times we did wait longer and it was so much hassle which made it less enjoyable.

As for evening EMH at Animal Kingdom...that doesn't make sense to me. :confused:
Sure Everest is fun as is Kali but the prospect of doing Kali river rapids after the sun has gone down :confused3 You get SOAKED on that ride. And if it was a cool night (as it most likely would be) I wouldn't advise it.
And you can't do the Safari after sunset so you really are only left with Everest. And when we took advantage of morning EMH we did 2 safaris and 2 Everests really quickly.
Like with going to TSM at DHS you grab a fastpass for the safari and then get on.
Everest we never waited more than 20mins.

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-22-2010, 09:51 PM

We never ever waited 2 hours for Wishes. :confused3
We waited maybe 30-45mins? and had great spots.

I would never wait that long for any Disney fireworks. The less you wait the better it is....

We strolled up to a spot for Illuminations about 20mins before and really enjoyed it. Previous times we did wait longer and it was so much hassle which made it less enjoyable.

As for evening EMH at Animal Kingdom...that doesn't make sense to me. :confused:
Sure Everest is fun as is Kali but the prospect of doing Kali river rapids after the sun has gone down :confused3 You get SOAKED on that ride. And if it was a cool night (as it most likely would be) I wouldn't advise it.
And you can't do the Safari after sunset so you really are only left with Everest. And when we took advantage of morning EMH we did 2 safaris and 2 Everests really quickly.
Like with going to TSM at DHS you grab a fastpass for the safari and then get on.
Everest we never waited more than 20mins.

I'll keep this in mind Queenie. I haven't even looked at the cost of the Dessert Party as yet so will wait and see.

I agree that for us PM EMH at Animal Kingdom wouldn't probably appeal. We won't ride Everest, we are a kind of "fraidy" family :rotfl2:, although maybe. I'm going to try and push myself out of my comfort zone this time LOL. And getting wet after the sun goes down doesn't appeal but who knows, I guess it is an option should we wish to use it.

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-22-2010, 09:52 PM

Whatever favours it takes Ms Shuttergirl I say :love:

hahahahahahaha

PrincessInOz

05-22-2010, 09:59 PM

We never ever waited 2 hours for Wishes. :confused3
We waited maybe 30-45mins? and had great spots.

I would never wait that long for any Disney fireworks. The less you wait the better it is....

We strolled up to a spot for Illuminations about 20mins before and really enjoyed it. Previous times we did wait longer and it was so much hassle which made it less enjoyable.

As for evening EMH at Animal Kingdom...that doesn't make sense to me. :confused:
Sure Everest is fun as is Kali but the prospect of doing Kali river rapids after the sun has gone down :confused3 You get SOAKED on that ride. And if it was a cool night (as it most likely would be) I wouldn't advise it.
And you can't do the Safari after sunset so you really are only left with Everest. And when we took advantage of morning EMH we did 2 safaris and 2 Everests really quickly.
Like with going to TSM at DHS you grab a fastpass for the safari and then get on.
Everest we never waited more than 20mins.

You're right! I wouldn't want to get wet after dark either and was only providing a perspective from a May/June visit date. We hit Kali at about 5.30 pm on a day that was still 93 F and we came prepared. We had spare clothes for EVERYTHING in the car and brought them down with us. We did get changed into the clothes but it took us about 10 minutes to dry off anyway.

And queueing for 20 minutes in December is a lot different to queueing for 20 minutes in May/June when it is sunny, hot and humid.

queenie82

05-22-2010, 10:15 PM

You're right! I wouldn't want to get wet after dark either and was only providing a perspective from a May/June visit date. We hit Kali at about 5.30 pm on a day that was still 93 F and we came prepared. We had spare clothes for EVERYTHING in the car and brought them down with us. We did get changed into the clothes but it took us about 10 minutes to dry off anyway.

And queueing for 20 minutes in December is a lot different to queueing for 20 minutes in May/June when it is sunny, hot and humid.

An here in lies why we don't go in summer :lmao::lmao::lmao:
I'd almost jump into the river with those temps...:rotfl:

It is why it makes such a difference the time of year. :thumbsup2

shushh

05-22-2010, 11:11 PM

Ms Shuttergirl that is great news!! I'm very excited for you! I've put my answers in a different colour, hope they'll help!

After much alcohol hahaha and many promises we all know I probably won't keep, DH has given me the go ahead to start tentatively planning a Dec 2011 trip.

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO:banana::banana::banana:: rotfl::rotfl:

Like I wasn't already doing that anyway, hahaha.

Anyway, I'm very very excited. All I need to do to convince him is that I can easily come up with the money which is no probs. Now I need your help:-

It's time to start planning the nitty grittys I would say. I'm not going this December but am hoping to go next December so to keep myself "interested" I am going to pretend like I am going this year and start looking into park hours, EMH, MVMCP, what park to do what day, ADR's etc.

So for all you lucky ducks going this year:-

1. What dates are you going? Dec 9-21

2. What parks do you plan on visiting on what days? We have a dedicated "theme-park strategist" and "dining colonel". Between them they've drawn up a table of when we're going and where we're going, including dining and rest afternoons/days. There are 7 adults and 7 children going. They based their plan on the unofficial guide as well as information from a statistician, taking into consideration travel times, crowd levels, likely EMH etc. For once, I will just follow....Can forward you the table when they finalise it!

3. Why did you choose that park for that day? As above

4. How many days at each park? From memory 1 at AK, 2 at Epcot, 2 DHS and 3 MK.

5. Are you going to take advantage of EMH am & pm? Yes, apparently, the parks which have am EMH get really crowded quickly, so the trick is to move on to another park by about 11am.

6. Do you have to decide what park you will visit each day before making ADR's to minimise travel times between parks? Yes, if relying on Disney transport (like us), travel from resort to resort or park to park takes a long time. Resort to park/park to resort is ok. I've got a table of average travel times from various places by car and by Disney transport.

7. Are you going to plan a Water park day or is it just going to be too cold to go? We are planning to play it by ear because of the age of the children. We worked out that it was cheaper to buy the tickets for the water park just for one day rather than adding the "water park" package to the base tickets.

8. Are the show times for parades and shows out early enough so you can plan your ADR's 180 days out without there being a clash that makes you miss something?

9. Is anyone staying at WL? How are the buses Staying at POR

10. What are your thoughts on the Wishes Dessert Party? Don't know much about it to be honest.

11. What about MVMCP? Is it worth the money? I kind of felt the Halloween party at DL was fun but a little expensive, am wondering if this would be similar? We've decided to go. For us, it's a rare chance to experience something special as a group. As to whether or it'll be worth the money, time will tell I suppose!

12. Am I being annoying asking all of these questions ? No, not at all!!!! Its by people like you asking questions and others answering them that I've learnt so much!

This is such exciting news for me and I am so proud of my husband for agreeing to go back. And when I started talking days, he was more than happy with 11 in WDW and when I said 5 in NY he said, he could spend double that time and for me to just decide. :cool1::cool1: I am very excited. It may seem a long time away but for me "the obsessive planner" it is just enough time to learn enough about WDW to be comfortable that I won't miss a thing LOL.

I look forward to your input. We're heading to NYC for 1 week after WDW so will hopefully pick your brain!

queenie82

05-23-2010, 02:50 AM

We won't ride Everest, we are a kind of "fraidy" family :rotfl2:, although maybe. I'm going to try and push myself out of my comfort zone this time LOL.I would truely highly recommend Expedition Everest. It is such a fun coaster. It doesn't go upside down and moves so smoothly it really is fun.
Even my mum has been on it!

Have you been on Space Mountain at Disneyland? I would equate the fun factor as being the same. Sure it is a thrill ride but it is one of 3 coasters I truly love and enjoy for the fun factor.
It has the smoothness of Space with the 'wildness' of thunder

I wanna be at Disney on a Disney coaster :sad:

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-23-2010, 03:49 AM

PrincessInOz

05-23-2010, 04:07 AM

I wanna be at Disney on a Disney coaster :sad:

Me too... :sad:

shushh

05-24-2010, 12:12 AM

Hiya Shushh,

Your dates for WDW are pretty much the same as what we would be considering for next year.

What love to see that crazy detailed table once it's done :lmao:

Thanks for the heads up re the water park ticket pricing. We certainly wouldn't be going more than one day and so will just decide once there.

I look forward to hearing your feedback on MVMCP.

I would love to see the travel times table if you are happy to share.

I'm happy to tell you more about our previous 5 days in NYC. It was amazing and we saw lots of the "main tourist things" but we are now keen to do some other stuff.

Thanks for all of the answers.

I'd be more than happy to share the info! Just PM me your email address.

Would actually love to hear more about your dining experiences in NYC. We're keen to do the "main tourtist things" as well as it will the first time there for most of us. I remember that you took a bus tour? Do you remember how big/small the group was?

ehsmum

05-24-2010, 06:19 AM

How exciting Ms.Shuttergirl!! :yay:

Enjoy the planning! ;)

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-24-2010, 07:41 AM

I'd be more than happy to share the info! Just PM me your email address.

Would actually love to hear more about your dining experiences in NYC. We're keen to do the "main tourtist things" as well as it will the first time there for most of us. I remember that you took a bus tour? Do you remember how big/small the group was?

I'm would love to share more about our 5 days in New York. The tour we did was INCREDIBLE!!!!! I spent months researching which tour company to go with read hundreds of reviews :lmao:. I'm obsessive sometimes. We wanted a tour that would allow us to hit the "highlights" so that we could determine what things we might like to go back and spend longer at. We ended up going with www.allnewyorktours.com and chose this company for 3 reasons:-

1. It covered everything we wanted to see in 5 1/2 hours and the price was very competitive.

2. The tour had a smaller number of people than the larger companies. I can't remember exactly but it was a small bus with maybe approx. 25-30 people.

3. This is the main reason, every review I read talked about the amazing tour guides. People raved and raved and raved about the quality of local knowledge and useless facts combined with great sights.

I can honestly say this was one of the highlights of our whole holiday. We had travelled most of the day before (Vegas-LA-New York) and we were exhausted. My husband was NOT happy about having to get up early and be on a bus by 9am and for 5 hours none the less :lmao:. He grumbled while we were waiting for the tour to begin and I was nervous how we were going to get through it, hahaha. Within a half hour DH turned to me and said how AMAZING the tour was and how much he was enjoying it. WHEW!!!!!!

We didn't not feel the need to go back to see any of the things on the tour, we definitely felt they gave good coverage. The only thing that we did go back to was Central Park but frankly you could spend days there and still not see all of that so that didn't surprise me. We were the only people with children on the tour and I thought the guide was extra attentive to them. IN fact because the tour numbers were so small everyone ended up being quite friendly by the end, it was a really great experience.

The highlight was the tour guides personal stories when we were at Ground Zero, very moving.

As for places we ate, we kept things fairly simple while there. We mainly stuck with Times Square. We ate at Bubba Gumps, hmmm yum, Planet Hollywood several times mainly because we had lunch there one day and they gave us a voucher for 20% off breakfast for the next day so we couldn't resist. The memorabilia was interesting and the food was good. ESPN Zone was lots of fun, esp because there was lots of exciting games on. Best place though was Ellen's Stardust Diner which a friend of ours had recommended. This is a not to be missed experience. Get there very early of you will be lining out the door. It is kind of like going to Arnold's from Happy Days and all of the wait staff get up and sing. Food could've been better but my advice is stick with burgers, they seemed to be the best. When we go back I may even have to eat here twice, it is beyond fun. We had breakky at the Majestic Cafe a couple of times, the food was hot, reasonably priced and tons of variety.

You MUST do a carriage ride around Central Park, it is not to be missed. Choose a nice carriage with a driver who is dressed for the part. Some of the drivers are just in normal clothes but we went with a guy in a fancy hat and coat because we figured he'd be more of a showman and we weren't disappointed. It actually wouldn't be a bad way to start off your visit to NYC, they are full of info and at $36 for around 15-20 minutes I thought it was good value.

Empire State Building is expensive and to be honest not worth the money. I read many reviews that say the Top of the Rock is better so maybe try that instead.

We went to FAO Schwartz and Toys R US and I have to say that FAO was a total highlight. Watching the kids dance on the huge piano from the movie Big brought a tear to my eye for some reason and my kids still talk about it.

We saw Mary Poppins on Broadway and it was awesome, worth every cent.

One arvo DH and DS were tired and grumpy so DD and I ditched them and hung out at Madame Tussauds which was so much fun. We laughed our heads off and got tons of silly photos.

That's all I can think of for now, hope that helps.

shushh

05-24-2010, 05:03 PM

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-24-2010, 05:59 PM

Thank you for all the details!!! It is very helpful. We are staying at the NOvotel Times Square. We are quite keen on the bus tour as well with very similar reasons to you. Do you think it would be doable with 6 children ( aged 2,3,5,5,8,8)? There are 14 of us in total so hopefully we won't bother too many other people...

To be honest, I'm not sure how the 4 little ones would go. Our son was 7 and he did really well, and was quite interested but we sure had the Nintendo DS and Ipod at the ready just in case. There is alot of listening and trying to follow what the tour guide says. With such a large group, I think you would be better to organise a private tour with a company that offers that. You would probably all fit into a mini bus and then you could cater the tour specifically to your needs, although whether you would get a tour guide with as much knowledge would be debatable. I just think it would be less stressful for the little ones (and parents) :lmao:. I've got a feeling that most tours had a minimum age on them, possibly 6??? I could be wrong but I think I remember reading that somewhere.

queenie82

05-24-2010, 06:29 PM

Empire State Building is expensive and to be honest not worth the money. I read many reviews that say the Top of the Rock is better so maybe try that instead.
I completely disagree with this!!!
It is true that top of the rock is better (because you can see the Empire State Building from there :thumbsup2)
But if you get the VERY good value Citi Pass it is included and so not at all expensive. http://www.citypass.com/new-york
To me the highlights of NYC are all included in the Citi Pass.
You get the MET (unmissable) and the actually very good Natural History Museum. [And if you have any fans of the Night at the Museum movie!!!]
The Top of the Rock is ALSO now included (which it wasn't when we went.)

The Circleline cruise is fantastic. :worship:
We always do the Upgrade to the 3-Hour Full Island Cruise which is a full circumnavigation Manhattan Island for an additional $4.
We have done all these attractions on both recent trips to NY and never get bored of them. The cruise is the best perspective you will get of NY. And rather than GOING to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty and spending hours queuing you cruise close to them so you can get GREAT photos of them.

We didn't do any tours. NYC is about the easiest city to get around yourself and we would just hop in a taxi to get from one end of the city to another. We were either a group of 3 or 4 and a trip from one end to the other would be $8-10. We would go to the relevant avenue cross street and then go say 34th to 80th.

It has become clear to me that Shuttergirl and I have completely different priorities (If anything is a waste of time and money it is the carriage ride)
So make what you will of my opinions in comparison.
[I completely respect your opinions Shuttergirl! It just facinates me how we are polar opposites when it comes to American Cities :rotfl2::rotfl2: ]

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-24-2010, 06:55 PM

I completely disagree with this!!!
It is true that top of the rock is better (because you can see the Empire State Building from there :thumbsup2)
But if you get the VERY good value Citi Pass it is included and so not at all expensive. http://www.citypass.com/new-york
To me the highlights of NYC are all included in the Citi Pass.
You get the MET (unmissable) and the actually very good Natural History Museum. [And if you have any fans of the Night at the Museum movie!!!]
The Top of the Rock is ALSO now included (which it wasn't when we went.)

The Circleline cruise is fantastic. :worship:
We always do the Upgrade to the 3-Hour Full Island Cruise which is a full circumnavigation Manhattan Island for an additional $4.
We have done all these attractions on both recent trips to NY and never get bored of them. The cruise is the best perspective you will get of NY. And rather than GOING to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty and spending hours queuing you cruise close to them so you can get GREAT photos of them.

We didn't do any tours. NYC is about the easiest city to get around yourself and we would just hop in a taxi to get from one end of the city to another. We were either a group of 3 or 4 and a trip from one end to the other would be $8-10. We would go to the relevant avenue cross street and then go say 34th to 80th.

It has become clear to me that Shuttergirl and I have completely different priorities (If anything is a waste of time and money it is the carriage ride)
So make what you will of my opinions in comparison.
[I completely respect your opinions Shuttergirl! It just facinates me how we are polar opposites when it comes to American Cities :rotfl2::rotfl2: ]

Hmmm, how to respond to such an interesting post from you Queenie. Let me see...

I didn't do the Top of the Rock because my husband insisted on doing the Empire State Building, a kind of "when in Rome" thing for him. Whilst for the first minute or so it was great to have a look over Manhattan (I got some great pictures) I felt that it wasn't worth the expense, but I didn't get the Citi Pass which I agree does look like good value.

With our tour we also did the cruise past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I agree that I think it is a waste of time lining up to go into the Statue of Liberty when the best views of her are from the water. We took the ferry over to Statten Island and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The taxis were definitely a quick way to get around, however my DH felt the taxi drivers were insane and he fear for our children's lives every time we hopped in one :lmao:. Taxis also might not be an option for Shushh since they have little ones who will need child restraints.

It looks to me Queenie like we do agree on much of the above.

One other thing we agree on is that yes "we totally have different priorities" mainly because I am travelling with children and you are not. Of course you would approach any trip differently than I would. It is a completely different experience to travel with children and my focus would be on a million different things to what your focus would be.

The carriage ride for children is so much fun, it is something they don't get to do very often and I am positive other parents would agree with me. For just adults maybe it does lack a little something, I can't be sure.

I'm not wishing to get into a war with you on the subject here Queenie because I was just trying to give Shushh "my" opinion which she asked me for. But with that said, while you say you respect my opinions I have found that your comments can be quite rude and aggessive at times when people try to express an opinion different to your own. I think your knowledge of the US and esp Disney related stuff is incredible and I always value your information, however I think sometimes it is delivered with an acid tongue and as with email and texting, tone is often hard to convey in writing. I am sure this is not your intention though. I know you are just trying to give your input very generously.

So Shushh, make of all of this information what you will :lmao:, with a crowd of 14 I am certain your priorities will differ vastly from Queenie's and my own. You are one brave woman to travel with such a tribe and I can't wait to hear how it all works out on your return. And I am desperate to hear about your Washington experiences so any info you can share about that would be wonderful.

queenie82

05-24-2010, 06:59 PM

Hmmm, how to respond to such an interesting post from you Queenie. Let me see...

I didn't do the Top of the Rock because my husband insisted on doing the Empire State Building, a kind of "when in Rome" thing for him. Whilst for the first minute or so it was great to have a look over Manhattan (I got some great pictures) I felt that it wasn't worth the expense, but I didn't get the Citi Pass which I agree does look like good value.

With our tour we also did the cruise past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I agree that I think it is a waste of time lining up to go into the Statue of Liberty when the best views of her are from the water. We took the ferry over to Statten Island and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The taxis were definitely a quick way to get around, however my DH felt the taxi drivers were insane and he fear for our children's lives every time we hopped in one :lmao:. Taxis also might not be an option for Shushh since they have little ones who will need child restraints.

It looks to me Queenie like we do agree on much of the above.

One other thing we agree on is that yes "we totally have different priorities" mainly because I am travelling with children and you are not. Of course you would approach any trip differently than I would. It is a completely different experience to travel with children and my focus would be on a million different things to what your focus would be.

The carriage ride for children is so much fun, it is something they don't get to do very often and I am positive other parents would agree with me. For just adults maybe it does lack a little something, I can't be sure.

I'm not wishing to get into a war with you on the subject here Queenie because I was just trying to give Shushh "my" opinion which she asked me for. But with that said, while you say you respect my opinions I have found that your comments can be quite rude and aggessive at times when people try to express an opinion different to your own. I think your knowledge of the US and esp Disney related stuff is incredible and I always value your information, however I think sometimes it is delivered with an acid tongue and as with email and texting, tone is often hard to convey in writing. I am sure this is not your intention though. I know you are just trying to give your input very generously.

So Shushh, make of all of this information what you will :lmao:, with a crowd of 14 I am certain your priorities will differ vastly from Queenie's and my own. You are one brave woman to travel with such a tribe and I can't wait to hear how it all works out on your return. And I am desperate to hear about your Washington experiences so any info you can share about that would be wonderful.My first trip to the US was as a 9 year old.
We did ALL these attractions (with exception to top of the rock which wasn't open and the cruise) when I was 9 and adored them
So please don't be condescending about what children might and might not like.
I am actually giving a child's AND adult's experience.
I went to museums and galleries in Paris, London, Amsterdam etc as a 9 year old.
I ADORED them all.

I find it curious that you choose to criticise my 'manner' in a very condescending and arrogant manner

PrincessInOz

05-24-2010, 07:10 PM

Hey Shushh! Congratulations and commiserations on travelling with a tribe of 14!

My son has made 2 trips to NY. Once when he was 5 and the other when he was 7. Our activities on both trips were completely different.

At 5, we spent more time in Toys R Us, FAO Schwartz, M&M Shop and in Central Park. We took him on the Staten Island ferry (which I think is still a quarter) and had a great time looking at Ellis Island and Liberty from a distance.
At 7, we managed to get to one museum and he was more interested to spend time at Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and shopping down Fifth Avenue. We also managed to see a lot more of Central Park this trip as he was starting to show interest in music and was keen to go see the Lennon memorial and Strawberry Fields.

With the range of children ages that you have with you, only you and the other adults will know what activities will be best for them and how long they can stay out for without getting tired. Every child will be different to their tastes and preferences.

We ate a lot around 9th Avenue/46th Street and into the Hell's Kitchen area. There are a number of good average restaurants/bars there and some of them catered for kids or modified their menus to suit our son. We also ate at breakfast cafe's/deli's off Time Square. We found that when we wandered off the main tourist drag, food in New York was incredibly cheaper. Most mornings we could get pancakes and juice for about $3.50; eggs and bacon and coffee for about $6. If your tastes run into bagels or oatmeal/porridge, we were getting bagel, cream cheese and coffee for $1.50 and oatmeal with fresh fruit for $2.

Have fun!

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-24-2010, 07:13 PM

My first trip to the US was as a 9 year old.
We did ALL these attractions (with exception to top of the rock which wasn't open and the cruise) when I was 9 and adored them
So please don't be condescending about what children might and might not like.
I am actually giving a child's AND adult's experience.
I went to museums and galleries in Paris, London, Amsterdam etc as a 9 year old.
I ADORED them all.

I find it curious that you choose to criticise my 'manner' in a very condescending and arrogant manner

You certainly are a well travelled individual, I am definitely not calling that into question. As I mentioned, I value your input immensely as I am so new to this travel thing and you have clearly seen and done many things.

I apologise if my tone came across that way:), see what I mean about tone being hard to convey in writing.

Now can we get back to talking about me and my exciting and happy news about my upcoming trip :rotfl2:

PrincessInOz

05-24-2010, 07:28 PM

I'm still feeling under the weather so apologies as I cannot remember whether there is one or not. We should probably start a New York thread....everyone can put down what they have done in NY so that we all have an information pool to draw from and work out what is most appropriate for our individual tastes.

Shuttergirl - I was at the post office yesterday...

And for anyone interested and also in the vein of "all about Me", I have started my TR (see my signature) and am trying to keep it at the top of the TR (yes, "I wanna be Popular" on the TR site so I would appreciate if you could post a response - good, bad, indifferent). I know Shuttergirl and aussietravellers have already made a visit....:rolleyes1

Thanks!

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-24-2010, 07:43 PM

Ahhhh, a voice of reason. Sounds like a great idea PrincessinOz. Someone else can start it, I've started enough threads lately :rotfl2:.

Yay for the post office visit. I can't wait. Thanks so much.

Yes I have visited your trip report lots, and will keep enjoying the read. You are already very popular in my eyes lovely. Hope you feel better soon.

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-24-2010, 07:50 PM

PrincessInOz

05-24-2010, 09:40 PM

So I'm feeling really pleased with the New York to Washington leg of our trip. The Amtrak train looks like a great option. At $147 each way total for our family of 4, I think under $300 is a good price to get us all down there and to see some scenery on the way. Plus the kids have never been on a long train ride so they will probably enjoy it. I've read somewhere I think that the food isn't that great so much remember to pack snacks for the kids.

It's the getting from NY to Canada part that I am struggling with. Flying is expensive after Christmas, I did some quick research and it was looking like being something like $1500-$1800 return. Ouch. Amtrak is an option at I think around $350 return all up which is great, however it's about 9 hours of travel each way so I'm concerned about losing so much time. The other option is to hire a car and drive which would still take ages but we could enjoy the scenery and spend some time in Boston and anywhere else that took our fancy. Problem with this option is neither of us are keen to drive in the US (I can hear you groaning Queenie :lmao:). And in fact I doubt whether hubby would do it, but he said he would be happy for me to. That would be right :rotfl:. To be honest, I'd be the calmer one of the two so I would be the best option. Just not sure if I want the pressure but maybe we would find it more rewarding. Don't know. I'm starting to feel that at this time of year the Canada thing is going to be too hard and maybe we should skip it.

What's Hawaii like in January :rotfl2::rotfl2:)

Hawaii is nice in January.

I did the train ride from Montreal to New York and it ends up being 11 hours. Part of the track is one way and the Amtrak sits at the junction and waits for the freight train coming down in the opposite direction. If the freight train is late, they sit there and wait.

Driving in the US is not as scary as it seems. You will end up with an automatic car and will just have to remember to drive on the right side of the road. After a while, it becomes second nature.

An alternative to consider is to take the Amtrak to Boston. The trip is about 3 - 4 hours and quite reasonably priced. Then you could drive out of Boston into New England (cold time of year) and head into Canada. Depends on how much time you have and how big the snow drifts could be....

Or wait to see what deals the airlines comes up with closer to the time.

aussietravellers

05-24-2010, 10:12 PM

What's Hawaii like in January :rotfl2::rotfl2:)

Hawaii is lovely in January. Not that I have been in January in a long time, I think maybe 30 years :lmao: I have been many many times to Hawaii and I absolutely LOVE it there, but in recent years it's been Sept/Oct , June/July, and May times. But from what I remember (and I do remember well) from January, we were there from just before Christmas and the weather was beautiful. We were by the pool and beach every day, I remember the Hot Dogs that we would eat by the pool and the earthquake that woke us in the middle of the night. But weather wise it is nice.

queenie82

05-24-2010, 10:46 PM

What's Hawaii like in January :rotfl2::rotfl2:)FANTASTIC!
I love Hawaii :goodvibes
Spent a week in Maui in January and had a BLAST :thumbsup2
Weather was perfect and there is so much to do.
Didn't like Waikiki area at all. Very much like tacky gold coast cavill mall. There are designer shops but it is all so bleh...
Can't WAIT for the new DVC to go in though! :woohoo: It is in a beautiful part of Oahu.
I really want to visit Kauai too....that is where Stitch lives when he isn't on the mainland :wizard:

aussietravellers

05-24-2010, 11:03 PM

FANTASTIC!
Didn't like Waikiki area at all. Very much like tacky gold coast cavill mall. There are designer shops but it is all so bleh...
Can't WAIT for the new DVC to go in though! :woohoo: It is in a beautiful part of Oahu.
I really want to visit Kauai too....that is where Stitch lives when he isn't on the mainland :wizard:

See we LOVE Waikiki! I have been going there since I was about 5 and gosh it has changed over the years but I still love it. The shopping at Ala Moana is fantastic. Yes there is some tackiness to it :rotfl:, but that's Waikiki, the ABC stores every 5 metres :lmao: (thats can exaggeration), but still love walking at night for a gelati in Lewers street and seeing the street performers. The International Market Place is still exactly the same as it was when I was 5. I still remember going there and getting a snowcone with all of the different colours!

Anyway we don't find it anything like Surfers Paradise aside from the fact that they are both on the beach with highrises. The atmosphere is completely different, the smell is different, the people are different, the shopping is different. Even the beaches are different, you don't see people floating out in the water in Surfers in plastic donuts or on lilos and the wavers are much larger in Surfers.

shushh

05-25-2010, 05:37 AM

PrincessInOz, queenie82 and PrincessInOz, thanks for the extra info re NY. Details are always handy. Travelling with 7 children...brave? stupid? time will tell!

Our 3 children are relatively well trained at "travel". We try to prime the older 2 so the places we visit have more meaning but kids are kids. Concentration spans only last so long! We're realistic enough to know what is reasonably doable so knowing more details about what we're planning to do certainly makes a difference. I'm truly grateful for the open sharing of info on the boards.

Ms. Shuttergirl will definitely share info re Washington DC. We're also catching the train from NYC to DC. Glad of the 25% deal they're having at the moment. Total for family of 5 is only $147. Bargain I say.

PrincessInOz, I really enjoyed reading your TR so far! I'm going back now to read your PTR!

As for Hawaii, it is on our very long "to-go" list...

Travel Mum

05-26-2010, 05:44 AM

Hi everyone,

I'm so thrilled to find this post because I'm in the beginning stages of planning our holiday to WDW next October 2011. It seems so long away and so it's so great to see someone else is planning a trip far in advance too!

We are a family of five with 3 daughters aged 12, 9 and 5. We took our girls to Disneyland/DCA for their first time 3 years ago but, since I've been to Disneyland heaps of times before, I want us to try WDW next Disney trip.

I'm a Disney addict and agree planning is at least half the fun! I'm a Kiwi but, since there is no area for New Zealanders, do you mind if I join you Aussies?

How exciting!!!!

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-26-2010, 06:26 AM

Welcome Travelmum. There are plenty of Kiwis here already.

Good to hear you are making plans to visit WDW, I'll look forward to us planning along together.

1rocky

05-26-2010, 04:10 PM

Welcome Travel Mum.
Thanks for the info on hawaii aussietravellers and PrincessInOz. I have a stopover in Hawaii in Jan with an island cruise. Ms Shuttergirl there is always a cruise:yay: Your trip sounds great. What a great adventure for the kids.
When I started planning. I started just with six nights Hawaii then the cruise. came back off holidays. then thought why not Disneyland. Saw this wonderful site so much info. and now nearly the whole month of Jan away.:banana:

Travel Mum

05-26-2010, 10:27 PM

Gosh, I'm going to so enjoy reading all these posts and going back through all the old ones! It's such a pleasure knowing I'm not the only one who gets as much fun and pleasure out of a Disney trip as my children do! My first trip to Disneyland was when I was 8 and then because I lived in L.A. from ages 8-10, 12-16 and then again after uni, I was lucky to go to Disneyland lots of times. Back living in N.Z. for good, I went back to Disneyland twice with my hubby pre-kids but the visits have slowed down a lot since then. However, I do believe absense makes the heart grow fonder and that's what's made me an addict in all things Disney!

PrincessInOz

05-26-2010, 11:03 PM

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-29-2010, 07:03 PM

aussietravellers

05-29-2010, 10:43 PM

DH and I had a bit more discussion about the US trip last night. He is really keen to spend as much time in NY as poss, he confessed to loving it so much more when we were there last year than he ever could've imagined. He said he will gladly go back there anytime so long as we can afford it so I may be able to swing a few more trips :rotfl2:.

So am thinking something like this for December 2011:-

11 days staying at WDW - one of these days to Kennedy Space Centre and one to Wiz World of Harry Potter which leaves 9 park days, if the weather permits we would like to have one morning at Blizzard Beach.

7 days in NY

3 days Washington

That's a total of 21 days not including travel days.

We would like to do the Canada thing as well but I feel like maybe we'll consider skipping it this time. I definitely want to go in December for this trip, I want to see the decorations because I am a crazy Christmas nut. So now that DH has said he would willing return to the US, I think we could take advantage another time of Sept/Oct dates, milder weather and we could take advantage of one of the wonderful bus tours that run from NY up to Canada and back. We may even be able to take advantage of free dining if we went at the time of year. The saving there could be the thing that makes a 3rd trip a possibility LOL.

We did discuss hiring a car last night but I am still a little nervous about driving in such cold unpredictable weather in December from NY to Canada.

Will think about that part more.

That sounds like such a great trip!

We loved Kennedy Space Center, when you look at going, check their website and their calendar to see if there is a rocket or shuttle launch when you are there.

I am kicking myself that i didn't check this before we planned our trip and organised our final dates! I only remembered when the trip was booked and we still had 8 months to go, but flights were booked, accommodation was booked and just too hard to change everything around as there is a shuttle launch 4 days before we go to WDW!

Last time we went to KSC, we went on a day they had a rocket launch. It was absolutely amazing to be there when that was happening, the atmosphere and being so close and they were broadcasting the live countdown over the speakers and then to watch it launch. Wow! It was great too because our son was taken out of school for most of the trip and they were studying space at the time, so it was a cool thing for him to go back to school and show his video that he took whilst watching it take off.

So make sure you check their schedule to see if there is a launch planned around when you go so that you can go on that day if it fits in with your time in Orlando as it really adds to the KSC experience.

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-30-2010, 02:20 AM

Great idea. I absolutely will try to check that. My kids would be blown away. What a thing to be able to come back and share with classmates. I pretty once in a lifetime experience.

queenie82

05-30-2010, 07:02 AM

aussietravellers

05-30-2010, 07:22 AM

Given the Shuttle program has ended...I don't think you will see that,
But they still need to launch satellites and they are planning to go to the mars so keep an eye on what they are up to

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052600917.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Queenie the rocket launches have not ended!

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/delta_50.html Article from 5 days ago! There are several rocket launches planned for 2011!

Also there are two more shuttle launches scheduled for this year. That article says Atlantis returned home from its 32nd and final voyage Wednesday, the first of three shuttles that are closing out their flying careers and eventually heading to museums. So the other two shuttles are yet to make their final voyages (still doesn't help those going next year), but all launches have not ended. I am hoping that the Space Shuttle Discovery, which is due to launch on the 16th Sept will be delayed and we may get to see it.

queenie82

05-30-2010, 07:37 AM

Queenie the rocket launches have not ended!

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/delta_50.html Article from 5 days ago! There are several rocket launches planned for 2011!

Also there are two more shuttle launches scheduled for this year. That article says So the other two shuttles are yet to make their final voyages (still doesn't help those going next year), but all launches have not ended. I am hoping that the Space Shuttle Discovery, which is due to launch on the 16th Sept will be delayed and we may get to see it.

Nothing in my post was INCORRECT!!

My point was that the shuttles have ended.
They have...
There are 2 lauches left...but that is it...and the program HAS ENDED.

My point was to emphasise it won't be a shuttle.
In my experience people say rocket assuming a shuttle these days.
So I wanted people to be aware there are no longer going to be any shuttle launches.

Please READ my post.
There was NO INCORRECT INFORMATION

aussietravellers

05-30-2010, 07:46 AM

Nothing in my post was INCORRECT!!

My point was that the shuttles have ended.
They have...
There are 2 lauches left...but that is it...and the program HAS ENDED.

My point was to emphasise it won't be a shuttle.
In my experience people say rocket assuming a shuttle these days.
So I wanted people to be aware there are no longer going to be any shuttle launches.

Please READ my post.
There was NO INCORRECT INFORMATION

Calm down Queenie! :goodvibes, you really can be very abrupt in your postings sometimes! Which really is not necessary, we are all just here giving sharing with others and posting with yelling bold capitals is just not necessary!

I did not say you were incorrect. You said the shuttles have ended. They have not ended.... yet! Atlantis has ended yes, but there are two remaining shuttles.

Also we were not just talking about shuttles, we were talking about shuttles and rockets!

I did not in anyway say you were wrong, I simply supplied information to let people know that they could still see launches next year! You did not point this out in your post and I thought those thinking of going may find that information useful.

queenie82

05-30-2010, 07:51 AM

Calm down Queenie! :goodvibes, you really can be very abrupt in your postings sometimes! Which really is not necessary, we are all just here giving sharing with others and posting with yelling bold capitals is just not necessary!

I did not say you were incorrect. You said the shuttles have ended. They have not ended.... yet! Atlantis has ended yes, but there are two remaining shuttles.

Also we were not just talking about shuttles, we were talking about shuttles and rockets!

I did not in anyway say you were wrong, I simply supplied information to let people know that they could still see launches next year! You did not point this out in your post and I thought those thinking of going may find that information useful.
I did not say there weren't any launches
So there was no NEED for you to say they could still see launches
THE PROGRAM HAS STILL ENDED. Just because there are still 2 launches...the program has still come to an end.

Hence
You were condescending in your post indicating I was incorrect...I was not...

simple as that
This is emphasised by your use of bold text..
I won't be abrupt if you aren't condescending

aussietravellers

05-30-2010, 08:02 AM

I did not say there weren't any launches
So there was no NEED for you to say they could still see launches
THE PROGRAM HAS STILL ENDED. Just because there are still 2 launches...the program has still come to an end.

Hence
You were condescending in your post indicating I was incorrect...I was not...

simple as that
This is emphasised by your use of bold text..
I won't be abrupt if you aren't condescending

I apologise if I you took my response as condescending, but again your agressive responses are not necessary. I was actually only giving information to those who may be interested in viewing launches of any description and as you didn't mention rockets, which we were also talking about, I thought you may not be aware that they were continuing. I thought you may have missed a rocket launch in the future if you thought that launches had ended.

Again, you need to calm down and not take posts personally. It is not necessary when everybody is having a friendly discussion then to get all angry. Let's just stop all play nice as I don't wish to be involved in any sort of fighting posts.

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-30-2010, 08:16 AM

Can we get back to talking about me girls :rotfl2:.

You know I don't like it when my limelight gets stolen so hush :lmao:.

Okay so does anyone have any recommendations for accom in Washington? Is there a particular area to try and stick to for accom? I really know nothing about Washington at all.

aussietravellers

05-30-2010, 08:23 AM

Can we get back to talking about me girls :rotfl2:.

You know I don't like it when my limelight gets stolen so hush :lmao:.

:lmao: :rotfl2:

I can not help with Washington though sorry, but I liked your post :goodvibes

shushh

05-30-2010, 05:35 PM

Not a recommendation but...

Ms Shuttergirl, we booked our Washington Accomodation yesterday! We were able to get our family of 5 into 1 room at the Holiday Inn - Capitol for $109 per night. It's near the National Mall and right next to a Metro. Also close to Union Station which will be handy as we're taking the train from NYC to DC. WIll report back with details when we return...which is not for a while though!

Can we get back to talking about me girls :rotfl2:.

You know I don't like it when my limelight gets stolen so hush :lmao:.

Okay so does anyone have any recommendations for accom in Washington? Is there a particular area to try and stick to for accom? I really know nothing about Washington at all.

Ms. Shuttergirl

05-30-2010, 05:54 PM

Not a recommendation but...

Ms Shuttergirl, we booked our Washington Accomodation yesterday! We were able to get our family of 5 into 1 room at the Holiday Inn - Capitol for $109 per night. It's near the National Mall and right next to a Metro. Also close to Union Station which will be handy as we're taking the train from NYC to DC. WIll report back with details when we return...which is not for a while though!

Ooooh that sounds interesting Shushh. DH and I decided on the weekend that if the worst should happen and his father pass away before our trip, we will most likely invite his mother to join us on this holiday which will take our little group to 5. I'm nervous about the logistics but know we can make it happen. So a room for 5 is very interesting to me.

Was it you who mentioned a website months and months ago that specialised in listing accom for larger groups? I know someone did but I don't remember who or what website.

Kangarucci

05-30-2010, 07:52 PM

ehsmum

05-31-2010, 03:41 AM

Not a recommendation but...

Ms Shuttergirl, we booked our Washington Accomodation yesterday! We were able to get our family of 5 into 1 room at the Holiday Inn - Capitol for $109 per night. It's near the National Mall and right next to a Metro. Also close to Union Station which will be handy as we're taking the train from NYC to DC. WIll report back with details when we return...which is not for a while though!

Wow that's a great deal! We've booked the Doubletree Guest Suites as that was the only one I could find that would take 5 in a room. It's actually the most expensive accommodation that we have on our whole trip! It was more per night then our NYC accommodation :confused:

As for Kennedy Space Centre, we're planning to go there on July 11 which is our last day in Orlando. I haven't checked to see if there are any launches of any kind that day, but I don't really have any wiggle room with our itinerary to go another time anyway.

shushh

06-01-2010, 06:11 AM

Wow that's a great deal! We've booked the Doubletree Guest Suites as that was the only one I could find that would take 5 in a room. It's actually the most expensive accommodation that we have on our whole trip! It was more per night then our NYC accommodation :confused:

As for Kennedy Space Centre, we're planning to go there on July 11 which is our last day in Orlando. I haven't checked to see if there are any launches of any kind that day, but I don't really have any wiggle room with our itinerary to go another time anyway.

Wow, I can't believe that anything can be more expensive than New York! The Holiday Inn isn't anything fancy, only 3 stars but seemed decent. And the price was too good so we booked it on the spot. Our stay in New York the previous week will be $350 per night...and that's also 3 stars. Keen to hear about your experience at the radio city apartments. I keep wavering between that and the novotel where we're currently booked.

shushh

06-01-2010, 06:46 AM

Was it you who mentioned a website months and months ago that specialised in listing accom for larger groups? I know someone did but I don't remember who or what website.

It was me...

http://www.sleeps5.com/
http://www.roomfor5.co.uk/

ehsmum

06-01-2010, 07:05 AM

Wow, I can't believe that anything can be more expensive than New York! The Holiday Inn isn't anything fancy, only 3 stars but seemed decent. And the price was too good so we booked it on the spot. Our stay in New York the previous week will be $350 per night...and that's also 3 stars. Keen to hear about your experience at the radio city apartments. I keep wavering between that and the novotel where we're currently booked.

I just looked it up and we paid AUD$244 per night in Washington DC and US$224 + tax per night in NYC so around the same. I'll certainly let you know how we go with Radio City Apartments in a few weeks time :).

PrincessInOz

06-01-2010, 07:07 AM

Ms. Shuttergirl

06-01-2010, 07:22 AM

I just looked it up and we paid AUD$244 per night in Washington DC and US$224 + tax per night in NYC so around the same. I'll certainly let you know how we go with Radio City Apartments in a few weeks time :).

I'm keen to hear more about Radio City Apartments too. I think the location is great and the rooms look fine. Not quite the Crowne Plaza we stayed at last time but for just over $200 a night, I can come at that.

Kangarucci

06-01-2010, 07:52 AM

We stayed at Radio City Apartments in 2007, 2 adults and 2 children in a 1 bedroom apt. Two double beds and a sofa bed in the lounge. Clean with cooking facilities. Laundry down in the dungeon and internet access in the lobby. Only problem was that the heater couldn't be adjusted and I had to leave the window open a tad at night.

Reception were not overly friendly but pleasant. They booked a towncar for us to La Guardia. Small supermarket about a 5-10 min walk.
Location is fantastic for being in Times Square with the subway just outside. Very close to Rockefeller Centre.

Maybe there are less expensive hotels around but for the position, laundry, position, kitchen, position and more space, we have booked again for Aug-Sep.

Ciao

aussiemickeys

06-01-2010, 08:04 AM

We stayed at the Radio City Apatments (in a one bedroom suite) in November last year. I have done a bit of a review about it one of my other posts. In that, I was adament that due to a problem with the water pressure, I would never stay there again. Well having had the time to think about it some more - I have changed my mind. Would definately give it another go. It simply has too much going for it. Price, space & the phenominal location. If I had a problem with the water pressure next time, I would be more assertive in getting it looked at & if it could not be fixed, then being shifted to a different room. By the way this was the second time we had stayed there & the first time we didn't have an issue with the water.

In Washington DC we stayed at the State Plaza Hotel, which had some really affordable options for larger groups. It was also about an (tops) 8 minute walk to the White House & a 15 minute walk to the Lincoln Memorial. Just be aware though, that this hotel has two big buildings & the one further away from the reception area seems to get bad reviews, while the closer one gets good reviews. We stayed in the closer one (actually the suite right above the reception area) & although it was an older type accomadation, the space was massive. Also as a general rule, hotels in DC are a lot dearer during the week, than on the weekends. (Opposite rule in Las Vegas).

Hope this helps. Oh & my number one helper for choosing hotels is the reviews & photos on tripadvisor.com!

Kalice

06-01-2010, 08:40 AM

We stayed at the Omni Sherbourne, as we had already booked with them for San Diego, we were emailed a great offer. It was $99 including breakfast for two people. We just paid for the kids (I think it was around $6). If you register for the Select Guest program, you get free internet and two free drinks per person. You select delivery time and they are either left at your door or in your room. The one at San Diego had starbucks hot chocolate, yummm. Anyhoo, the hotel in DC was nice and close to the Metro too and we ate at a few restaurants in the area and they were great. If you hop on the metro and go two stops away from the city there are loads of great shops. I did this one arvo when hubby and kids were having time out. We used it to get to Union station too, only one train change. We actually left a few suitcases in NY, so it was really easy. The breakfast was great too. The hotel itself is beautiful, there is some info in the lobby about visits from beatles and bill clinton, etc. We actually have a free night at an Omni as a result of our stays with them, but may not be able to use it within the two year expiry!