Chilly's Golden Triangle Roadtrip (with not a lot of road) Pre Trip Report - The DIS Discussion Forums

Chilly · 01-11-2011, 09:10 AM

WHEN AND WHERE

California, Disneyland & Vegas 26th March to 9th April

CAST

ME - LOVES Disney, planning, shopping and cocktails
DH - LOVES me

Special Guest Star - Dizzy Bear

BACKGROUND

DH and I went to California and Vegas back in 2005 the year before we went to WDW together for the first time. We spent 6 nights in LA/Disneyland, 3 nights in Vegas, and 5 nights in San Francisco. The plan had been to drive between them all but we found it would actually be cheaper and quicker to fly between them plus at that time DH was under 25 and had never driven abroad before. We had a great holiday and said we would def go back again but that next time we would make it a roadtrip.

Fastforward to last year when our friends announced they would be getting married in Las Vegas on Tuesday 29th March and the date for our return was decided. If we had been going back just the 2 of us I think we'd have given Vegas a miss 2nd time around but I am looking forward to going with a bunch of our friends. We decided the best thing would be to fly to Vegas on the Saturday before the wedding and to spend 4 nights there, leaving the day after the wedding. I think most of the wedding guests our on the same Virgin flight as us including our friends although not the bride and groom who fly in the day before.

One of the places we had wanted to visit last time was Yosemite National Park but we couldn't fit it in so we decided to head there from Vegas spending a night on the road and then 2 nights in the park. We would then head to San Fran for 3 nights, and then drive down the coast road (something we really wanted to do), spending one night on route, ending in Disneyland (gotta get my fix) for 3 nights before flying home from LAX, making it a 2 week trip. We had wanted to make it longer fitting in San Diego and Lake Powell but given the money situation decided we couldn't.

As we had a WDW holiday before this holiday we didn't do much planning or booking of hotels until I suddenly realised this holiday wasn't that far off. I went to book the Yosemite hotel to find it was fully booked, eek. So we talked it over and decided we should skip Yosemite, it isn't really the best time to go and the trip consisted of tons of driving for DH and this would cut quite a lot of that out and not make everything else so rushed. We would just have to go back again to do that and make that the focus. We now had 3 extra nights to play with so decided to add one to San Fran, one to the coast road and one to Disneyland. We also decided it made more sense to fly from Vegas to San Fran as it was cheaper and quicker.

This meant our Road Trip only now consisted of 3 days on the road - whoops!

More details coming soon...

disney_princess_85 · 01-11-2011, 09:39 AM

Sounds great Claire. Looking forward to more!

Claire L · 01-11-2011, 05:50 PM

Even though you won't be on the road much, you will be on some of the most dramatic parts

You must do 17 Mile Drive near Carmel

Claire

BethEJo · 01-11-2011, 07:00 PM

Awesome sauce!!

Can't wait to hear more about this

strawberry blonde · 01-12-2011, 04:21 AM

Sounds like a great trip. Bet you can't wait

Chilly · 01-12-2011, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Claire L

Even though you won't be on the road much, you will be on some of the most dramatic parts

You must do 17 Mile Drive near Carmel

Claire

I've been to 17 Mile but will def do it again, if I could live anywhere in the world it would be there.

Chilly · 01-12-2011, 08:32 AM

I've taken the Friday before we fly off work but because of DH's work situation we don't know yet what time we can leave but we'll be getting the train to Gatwick and staying the night at the Hilton which I booked when it was on offer, its our Christmas present to each other. Our friends our coming from Essex but I think they'll just arrive on Saturday morning.

We are on the 11:20am Virgin flight to Las Vegas landing at 3:05pm. As there was 7 of us I thought it would be fun and cost effective to get a limo from the airport to our hotel but the others didn't seem keen.

Our home for the next 4 nights is the Planet Hollywood Hotel which is opposite the Bellagio where the wedding is. I was tempted to book a Fountain View room as I love them but decided we'd hardly be in the room so its not worth it.

I picked this hotel mainly because of its location but I also got a deal on the price and was excited to see it has an EoS in the hotel.

So far we don't really have any plans, the first night we will probably just have a quiet one. On the 2nd night we'll all be going out on the town. Night 3 we plan to see Cirque du Soliel at the Bellagio, need to sort tickets for this. Then night 4 is the wedding. So far we have no plans in the day. We've already been to the Grand Canyon so won't be doing that. I hope to just use this time to relax.

The day after the wedding we are catching a Southwestern flight at 1:05pm to San Francisco. So far we have no hotel booked and i'm researching that at the moment. After our 4 nights in SF we'll hire a car to drive down the coast, we are going to treat ourselves to a convertible.

We'll stop for 2 nights on route, again these aren't booked yet and i'm looking at options at the moment. Then we'll arrive in Disneyland for 4 nights where we'll probably stay at the HOJO.

I've not booked this yet but I have gotten an Entertainment Card off eBay so I can get a discount, I don't want to book this until we confirm the other parts of our trip. I wanted to stay at the GC but I couldn't justify spending that much at the moment even if we'd rented DVC points. We then fly home from LAX at 8:55pm on the Saturday, landing on the Sunday at 3:35pm at Heathrow where we'll catch the coach home.

Latte Lover · 01-12-2011, 10:22 AM

It sounds fabulous Claire. We are thinking of doing something similar next year if finances allow. Tony desperately want to see Las Vegas and I want to see LA and San Francisco.

mandymouse · 01-12-2011, 10:37 AM

Your roadtrip sounds amazing Claire. I can't wait to hear about your adventures and see some pics, have a fab time

Chilly · 01-14-2011, 04:36 PM

Just realised Fantasmic is not scheduled while we are in Disneyland

Chilly · 01-14-2011, 05:02 PM

I've been researching the holiday each day in my lunch break and have pretty much decided on the Hotel Carlton for our stay in San Francisco. Its near Union Square, gets good reviews and is currently on sale.

No plans as yet to what we'll do while we are there. Last time we did all the major tourist things so any suggestions welcome.

Chilly · 01-14-2011, 05:08 PM

I must be crazy but i've decided to give up a day at Disney to spend an extra night on the coast road. So for our first night we'll stay in Monterey, our second night will be in Cambria, and our third night will be in Santa Barbara. I've had lots of hotel suggestions for down the coast but if anyone has anymore let me have them.

Lots of plans for this part of the trip, Cannery Row, 17 Mile Drive, Carmel, Big Sur, Bixby Bridge, Hearst Castle, Mcway Falls, to name some, if anyone knows any other good places let me know.

The HOJO has just realsed some more discounted dates, one of which falls when we are there so I'll probably book that at the weekend.

meryll83 · 01-14-2011, 05:23 PM

Just found time to properly catch up - we're planning on staying at the Planet Hollywood in Vegas too in 2012 - I've got the Fountain View on the budget spreadsheet at the moment!
Not made decisions on any other hotels yet though.

I'd be interested to hear who you book all your different elements through, flights, hotels etc. If we stay on target with our savings it'll be June before we can book flights anyway, and we're already getting distracted by discussing Christmas in New York and if there's any decent offers for WDW Free Dining - we need to stay focused!!

Looking forward to hearing more!

irongirlof12 · 01-15-2011, 04:36 AM

your plans sound great, looking forward to reading all about it

Chilly · 01-15-2011, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meryll83

Just found time to properly catch up - we're planning on staying at the Planet Hollywood in Vegas too in 2012 - I've got the Fountain View on the budget spreadsheet at the moment!
Not made decisions on any other hotels yet though.

I'd be interested to hear who you book all your different elements through, flights, hotels etc. If we stay on target with our savings it'll be June before we can book flights anyway, and we're already getting distracted by discussing Christmas in New York and if there's any decent offers for WDW Free Dining - we need to stay focused!!

Looking forward to hearing more!

Well staying focused i've not had to worry about as i'm going for a wedding.

I booked PH direct with them when they had an offer on via FB.

Flights direct with Virgin. BA were more expensive.

Hotel Carlton is through Expedia.

HOJO is direct with them so I can use my entertainment card to get a discount.

Coast hotels - i'll let you know.

01-11-2011, 09:10 AM	#1
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Essex, England Posts: 12,626	Chilly's Golden Triangle Roadtrip (with not a lot of road) Pre Trip Report *WHEN AND WHERE* California, Disneyland & Vegas 26th March to 9th April *CAST* ME - LOVES Disney, planning, shopping and cocktails DH - LOVES me Special Guest Star - Dizzy Bear *BACKGROUND* DH and I went to California and Vegas back in 2005 the year before we went to WDW together for the first time. We spent 6 nights in LA/Disneyland, 3 nights in Vegas, and 5 nights in San Francisco. The plan had been to drive between them all but we found it would actually be cheaper and quicker to fly between them plus at that time DH was under 25 and had never driven abroad before. We had a great holiday and said we would def go back again but that next time we would make it a roadtrip. Fastforward to last year when our friends announced they would be getting married in Las Vegas on Tuesday 29th March and the date for our return was decided. If we had been going back just the 2 of us I think we'd have given Vegas a miss 2nd time around but I am looking forward to going with a bunch of our friends. We decided the best thing would be to fly to Vegas on the Saturday before the wedding and to spend 4 nights there, leaving the day after the wedding. I think most of the wedding guests our on the same Virgin flight as us including our friends although not the bride and groom who fly in the day before. One of the places we had wanted to visit last time was Yosemite National Park but we couldn't fit it in so we decided to head there from Vegas spending a night on the road and then 2 nights in the park. We would then head to San Fran for 3 nights, and then drive down the coast road (something we really wanted to do), spending one night on route, ending in Disneyland (gotta get my fix) for 3 nights before flying home from LAX, making it a 2 week trip. We had wanted to make it longer fitting in San Diego and Lake Powell but given the money situation decided we couldn't. As we had a WDW holiday before this holiday we didn't do much planning or booking of hotels until I suddenly realised this holiday wasn't that far off. I went to book the Yosemite hotel to find it was fully booked, eek. So we talked it over and decided we should skip Yosemite, it isn't really the best time to go and the trip consisted of tons of driving for DH and this would cut quite a lot of that out and not make everything else so rushed. We would just have to go back again to do that and make that the focus. We now had 3 extra nights to play with so decided to add one to San Fran, one to the coast road and one to Disneyland. We also decided it made more sense to fly from Vegas to San Fran as it was cheaper and quicker. This meant our Road Trip only now consisted of 3 days on the road - whoops! More details coming soon... __________________ Claire 2012 May Alternative West Coast & DCL Alaska 2011 Mar/Apr Disneyland via a road trip 2010 Sept/Oct WDW POFQ 2009 Dec/2010 Jan DFTW WDW GF, Poly & AKL + DCL Wonder 2008 Jul Engaged DLRP Santa Fe 2007 Sept WDW Pop 2006 Sept WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite Last edited by Chilly; 04-26-2011 at 12:54 AM.

01-11-2011, 09:39 AM	#2
disney_princess_85 Liked the sky effect If we feel like having pop tarts for breakfast we can Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 5,696	Sounds great Claire. Looking forward to more! __________________ January 2002- Disneyland Paris, Sequoia Lodge, October 2007- Disneyland Paris, Newport Bay Club, May 2008- Walt Disney World, Pop Century/Universal Studios, Royal Pacific Resort, January 2009- Disneyland Paris, Holiday Inn, March 2009- Disneyland Paris, Sequoia Lodge, May 2009- Disneyland Paris, Magic Circus, September 2009- Walt Disney World, Coronado Springs/Universal Studios, Hard Rock Hotel Club Level, November 2009- Disneyland Paris, Hotel Cheyenne, February 2010- Disneyland Paris, Magic Circus, May 2010- Disneyland Paris, Magic Circus, August-September 2010- Walt Disney World, Saratoga Springs/Universal Studios, Royal Pacific Resort Club Level, October 2010- Disneyland Paris, Magic Circus, December 2010-January 2011- Disneyland Paris, Magic Circus, September 2011- Walt Disney World, POFQ/Disney Dream/Walt Disney World, Saratoga Springs, October 2012- Walt Disney World, Pop Century/Disney Dream/Walt Disney World, Wilderness Lodge, February 2013- Disneyland Paris, Hotel Cheyenne Lauren

01-11-2011, 05:50 PM	#3
Claire L Enjoys a good broadway show Likes a nice cold glass of White Zinfandel Has been known to have a blonde moment now and then Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Too far from the Magic in Eastbourne, England Posts: 10,768	Even though you won't be on the road much, you will be on some of the most dramatic parts You must do 17 Mile Drive near Carmel Claire __________________ x Claire x Aug 90 to Mar 98 - 6 visits to US and 20 states visited, inc 2 trips to WDW and 2 trips to DL Jun 01 - WDW Grosvenor DTD 2wks + TIG St Pete Beach 1wk Jun 02 - WDW WL 2wks Feb 03 - NY 4nts Jun 03 - West Coast 3wks SF to LA & DL for 3 days Oct 04 - WDW AKL 10nts + RPR 2nts Jun 05 - WDW YC 10nts + HRH 4nts + TIG St Pete Beach 1wk! Jun 06 - SF to LV inc Lake Tahoe, Yosemite + the Grand Canyon 3wks Dec 06 - NYE at WDW POFQ 11nts inc RPR 1nt Oct 07 - WDW SSR 2wks inc 1nt at PBH May 08 - WDW AKV 15nts inc PBH 1nt + VB 4nts Feb 09 - WDW SSR 1wk + BWI 1wk Jun 09 - Washington DC for 1wk Dec 09 - New York for 6nts Oct 10 - Miami 3nts & WDW AKV 13nts Jun 11 - LA to Seattle for 3wks inc 3 days at DLC Oct 12 - WDW AKV KV 2wks

01-11-2011, 07:00 PM	#4
BethEJo I left the house at 5.45am - that's unheard of for a student WDW CM 19/06/11 - 02/09/11 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Cardiff, UNITED KINGDOM Posts: 2,003	Awesome sauce!! Can't wait to hear more about this __________________ *Beth x* Friends Reunited TRIP REPORT - 4th MAY ADDED Clickety-click!! The pre-summerofalifetime report is HERE! - Updated 10/06/11: Single Digit Dancing!!Disney ICP blog: http://beth-john.blogspot.com/ (I have a lot of catching up to do...)

01-12-2011, 08:32 AM	#7
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Essex, England Posts: 12,626	The Plan So Far I've taken the Friday before we fly off work but because of DH's work situation we don't know yet what time we can leave but we'll be getting the train to Gatwick and staying the night at the Hilton which I booked when it was on offer, its our Christmas present to each other. Our friends our coming from Essex but I think they'll just arrive on Saturday morning. We are on the 11:20am Virgin flight to Las Vegas landing at 3:05pm. As there was 7 of us I thought it would be fun and cost effective to get a limo from the airport to our hotel but the others didn't seem keen. Our home for the next 4 nights is the Planet Hollywood Hotel which is opposite the Bellagio where the wedding is. I was tempted to book a Fountain View room as I love them but decided we'd hardly be in the room so its not worth it. I picked this hotel mainly because of its location but I also got a deal on the price and was excited to see it has an EoS in the hotel. So far we don't really have any plans, the first night we will probably just have a quiet one. On the 2nd night we'll all be going out on the town. Night 3 we plan to see Cirque du Soliel at the Bellagio, need to sort tickets for this. Then night 4 is the wedding. So far we have no plans in the day. We've already been to the Grand Canyon so won't be doing that. I hope to just use this time to relax. The day after the wedding we are catching a Southwestern flight at 1:05pm to San Francisco. So far we have no hotel booked and i'm researching that at the moment. After our 4 nights in SF we'll hire a car to drive down the coast, we are going to treat ourselves to a convertible. We'll stop for 2 nights on route, again these aren't booked yet and i'm looking at options at the moment. Then we'll arrive in Disneyland for 4 nights where we'll probably stay at the HOJO. I've not booked this yet but I have gotten an Entertainment Card off eBay so I can get a discount, I don't want to book this until we confirm the other parts of our trip. I wanted to stay at the GC but I couldn't justify spending that much at the moment even if we'd rented DVC points. We then fly home from LAX at 8:55pm on the Saturday, landing on the Sunday at 3:35pm at Heathrow where we'll catch the coach home. __________________ Claire 2012 May Alternative West Coast & DCL Alaska 2011 Mar/Apr Disneyland via a road trip 2010 Sept/Oct WDW POFQ 2009 Dec/2010 Jan DFTW WDW GF, Poly & AKL + DCL Wonder 2008 Jul Engaged DLRP Santa Fe 2007 Sept WDW Pop 2006 Sept WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite

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01-12-2011, 04:21 AM	#5
strawberry blonde DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bournemouth, UK Posts: 926	Sounds like a great trip. Bet you can't wait

01-12-2011, 10:22 AM	#8
Latte Lover in charge of the credit cards and plotting quickest routes to the shopping malls Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Hampshire, England Posts: 1,324	It sounds fabulous Claire. We are thinking of doing something similar next year if finances allow. Tony desperately want to see Las Vegas and I want to see LA and San Francisco. __________________ Theresa 1975 Royal Plaza 1997 Master's Inn Kissimee 1999 Clarion Universal 2001 Howard Johnson Maingate East 2003 Econolodge 2005 Howard Johnson Maingate West 2006 Our Timeshare at Sheraton Vistana Resort 2007 Club Sevilla 2008 Sheraton Vistana(May), Terrace Ridge (Aug)Nov 2009 Barefoot'n' in the keys, Kissimmee2010 Cumbrian LakesOct 2011 Sheraton & Disney MagicNov 2012 Florida Keys, The Sheraton, and OKW

01-12-2011, 10:37 AM	#9
mandymouse If It's Not A Bahama Mama Then I'm Not Interested Can I put my Christmas Tree up yet ? Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Nuneaton U.K. Posts: 71,940	Your roadtrip sounds amazing Claire. I can't wait to hear about your adventures and see some pics, have a fab time __________________ Mandy xx

01-14-2011, 04:36 PM	#10
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Essex, England Posts: 12,626	Fantasmic Just realised Fantasmic is not scheduled while we are in Disneyland __________________ Claire 2012 May Alternative West Coast & DCL Alaska 2011 Mar/Apr Disneyland via a road trip 2010 Sept/Oct WDW POFQ 2009 Dec/2010 Jan DFTW WDW GF, Poly & AKL + DCL Wonder 2008 Jul Engaged DLRP Santa Fe 2007 Sept WDW Pop 2006 Sept WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite

01-14-2011, 05:02 PM	#11
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Essex, England Posts: 12,626	San Francisco I've been researching the holiday each day in my lunch break and have pretty much decided on the Hotel Carlton for our stay in San Francisco. Its near Union Square, gets good reviews and is currently on sale. No plans as yet to what we'll do while we are there. Last time we did all the major tourist things so any suggestions welcome. __________________ Claire 2012 May Alternative West Coast & DCL Alaska 2011 Mar/Apr Disneyland via a road trip 2010 Sept/Oct WDW POFQ 2009 Dec/2010 Jan DFTW WDW GF, Poly & AKL + DCL Wonder 2008 Jul Engaged DLRP Santa Fe 2007 Sept WDW Pop 2006 Sept WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite

01-14-2011, 05:08 PM	#12
Chilly I was having a bit of a blonde moment D'oh! Married my prince at WDW Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Essex, England Posts: 12,626	Coast Road/Disneyland I must be crazy but i've decided to give up a day at Disney to spend an extra night on the coast road. So for our first night we'll stay in Monterey, our second night will be in Cambria, and our third night will be in Santa Barbara. I've had lots of hotel suggestions for down the coast but if anyone has anymore let me have them. Lots of plans for this part of the trip, Cannery Row, 17 Mile Drive, Carmel, Big Sur, Bixby Bridge, Hearst Castle, Mcway Falls, to name some, if anyone knows any other good places let me know. The HOJO has just realsed some more discounted dates, one of which falls when we are there so I'll probably book that at the weekend. __________________ Claire 2012 May Alternative West Coast & DCL Alaska 2011 Mar/Apr Disneyland via a road trip 2010 Sept/Oct WDW POFQ 2009 Dec/2010 Jan DFTW WDW GF, Poly & AKL + DCL Wonder 2008 Jul Engaged DLRP Santa Fe 2007 Sept WDW Pop 2006 Sept WDW Offsite 2005 May Disneyland Offsite

01-14-2011, 05:23 PM	#13
meryll83 All it takes is faith and trust... Proud Strawberry Blonde Official DISbride! Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: North Yorkshire, UK Posts: 2,991	Just found time to properly catch up - we're planning on staying at the Planet Hollywood in Vegas too in 2012 - I've got the Fountain View on the budget spreadsheet at the moment! Not made decisions on any other hotels yet though. I'd be interested to hear who you book all your different elements through, flights, hotels etc. If we stay on target with our savings it'll be June before we can book flights anyway, and we're already getting distracted by discussing Christmas in New York and if there's any decent offers for WDW Free Dining - we need to stay focused!! Looking forward to hearing more! __________________ ♥ The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return ♥ °o° Por Favor Mantenganse Alejado De Las Puertas! °o° WDW 91, 93, 03 off-site, 05 ASMo (32,000 WWTBAM) , 07 Pop & BWV (Free Dining & Engaged at Cinderella's Castle!), 09 Wedding Planning Journal and Trip Report Pop, BWV, Poly & Wonder, 10 Pop, 12 Aulani Day Visit, 13 HRH, YC (Free Dining) & Dream DLP 05 Cheyenne, 13 Newport Bay

01-15-2011, 04:36 AM	#14
irongirlof12 Am I the only one who loves Quorn Sausages? I would love to be at Ghiradelli's ice cream parlour with a massive choc sundae Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK. Posts: 5,499	your plans sound great, looking forward to reading all about it __________________ Andrea xxx 1994:Grosvenor 1996:POFQ 2002: Comfort Inn LBV 2007: CSR 2009:OKW 2011:POFQ&Dream HNY DLP 2012

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