West Coast Craziness

[seobaina]

Hi all

Ok, welcome to my pre-trippie trip report. I've just booked my flights today so I'm VERY excited...let the planning begin :D

Ok, so where should I start? I guess I should intro the cast.

Firstly there is me:



I'm Helen, I'm 37, single, have two spoilt cats and I work part-time in the UK for the mouse himself as a Disney Ambassador. I guess this gives me a different perspective on all things Disney related because I am both very critical and a HUGE fan of how they represent the magic that Uncle Walt began. I've worked for Mickey on and off for nearly twenty years and I've had some amazing times and met some amazing people. I am a very proud cast member. Having said that I do need to point out that the comments, adventures, opinions etc posted here are all mine and do not reflect those of the Walt Disney Company. I'm posting as me, the traveller, not as an ambassador. Ok, with that bit out the way let me continue.

Besides working for the mouse I also have a small filming company recording anything from weddings to documentaries. I'd like to do this more but in the current climate it's a bit hit-and-miss hence the two jobs. I used to teach audio post-production at Salford Uni but quit that about two years ago.

My partner in crime for this adventure is my birthday twin, Andy:



Andy and I met best part of a decade ago when he transferred to my store...yep, he used to work for the mouse too We bonded instantly over the fact we share a birthday (although he's younger at 34) and our mutual love of the best princess ever, Pocahontas :grin:
Andy now works for Starbucks and although he is all loved up, his partner has kindly agreed to let him come and run around the west coast of the USA with me :d:

We've travelled together twice before; in 2010 we took a trip to WDW with another cast member and this January we travelled with two other cast members to DLRP for a couple of days.



As you can tell we are very sensible when we are together *ahem*

[seobaina]

Ok, so next I guess I should explain the plan....and yes, this is why it's craziness

We are travelling between 15th September and 1st October. Our original plan was to fly into Seattle and drive down the coast to Anaheim. That was ruled out because car hire companies in the USA double the costs when you want to drop off at a different location in a different state. As we...well I...am on a very tight budget, it just because a balance of 'going and adapting' or 'possibly not going at all'...so we adapted :D

So this is the new insane plan

• Sunday 15th - Flight to San Francisco and stay in the San Francisco
• Monday 16th - Drive to Medford via the Avenue of the Giants (6ish hours drive) and stay in the Medford area
• Tuesday 17th - Drive to Portland via Crater Lake (6ish hours drive) and stay in the Portland area
• Wednesday 18th - Drive to Seattle. Spend the afternoon Seattle or see something on the route there...not decided yet. Stay in Seattle.
• Thursday 19th - City Tour of Seattle hopefully going up the space needle, visiting the troll in freemont and, of course, going to visit Pike's Place so we can see the first Starbucks. Then it's an evening drive south to Eugene (4ish hrs) and staying in Eugene/Springfield area.
• Friday 20th - Drive south to San Francisco. 8hrs straight drive so LOOONG but we'll stop places on route as we need too or want too. Staying in the San Francisco area
• Saturday 21st - Visit the Walt Disney Family Museum, then it's an evening drive to the Seaside/Monterey area (1.5-2hrs drive) where we'll stay.
• Sunday 22nd - Drive down Pacific Coast Highway. It's a good 6-7hrs straight drive but we're gonna stop off on route at various points, starting with the 17-mile drive, etc. Staying in the Northern Los Angeles area.
• Monday 23rd - Los Angeles. We want to go to Glendale Mall, to see the first Disney Store, to Mann's Chinese Theatre and up to the Griffith Observatory to get a view of the Hollywood sign. We'll then spend a couple of hours at the original Disney Studios in Burbank where we'll hopefully pop into the Disney Archives. As a cast member I can get in to the studio lot, which is such a good experience. Then it'll be an evening drive down to Anaheim (2ish hours).
• Tuesday 24th - DISNEYLAND
• Wednesday 25th - DISNEYLAND
• Thursday 26th - DISNEYLAND
• Friday 27th - DISNEYLAND
• Saturday 28th - Drive down to Coronado, spend the day there and then drive back to Anaheim in the evening (2ish hrs each way). Staying in Anaheim
• Sunday 29th - long straight drive to San Francisco, stopping as and when we wish. We're not doing the coast route this time. Staying in the San Francisco area.
• Monday 30th - San Francisco City Tour and Alcatraz. Stay in San Francisco
• Tuesday 1st - Flight home, arriving Wednesday morning

I know that's a lot of driving and not a lot of time in Seattle, LA or San Fran but....we had to compromise to get everything we wanted to do in. I've been to California several times so I really wanted to do some different things (ie Oregon and Seattle) and Andy wanted to go to Seattle and Disneyland...that's all he really wanted lol. He did also say that he wanted to see Alcatraz, which I wanted to go back too anyway and in LA he only listed the three things above as the things he wanted to do. He mostly wanted to go to the Disney Studios. So, this was the only way we cold get in everything we both wanted. Yes we would have liked to spend longer in these places but we've prioritised and are excited.

As for the crazy driving I know, I'm insane. But I am used to doing loooooonnnnggg USA roadtrips as the only driver In 2009 another friend and I drove 3600 miles around California in ten days, and it was fine. Last September the same friend and I did a mad trip in twelve days where we drove from Orlando to New Orleans, to Baton Rouge, then Jackson, Montgomery, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Cherokee, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah, St Augustine and back to Orlando. We had a great time and the driving was fine, the only thing I noted was that instead of California, where we'd driven, stopped, driven, stopped, etc, on the 2012 trip we tended to see something THEN drive, which meant a lot of time without breaks. I prefer the breaks so ironically in the above plan the bit I'm least looking forward to is the drive from Seattle to Eugene lol.

So, that's the plan....now to book everything :D

[seobaina]

So ok, I guess the next topic is the flights and car hire/rental.

I've been watching these for a few weeks and actually wasn't supposed to book yet :erm: I was supposed to wait until I was sure I had the money for this trip but I kinda panicked EEEK

I should probably start by pointing out that the original plan was to fly into Seattle, spend a couple of days there then drive steadily down to Anaheim via San Fran and LA. I love California but as I have been there a few times, I wanted to visit a new state too (I'm on a mission to visit all the States eventually). Andy wanted to visit Seattle so that worked. We wanted to end up in Disneyland so that every time we left somewhere we liked we could go 'but we still have Disney' So I spent some time working out driving distances, etc and planned the route. Than I started looking for flights.

When I looked at this trip last year the flights to LA were £520ish and US Airways flying into Seattle and out of LA were only £560ish. In the end last year we went to Orlando/New Orleans etc but I stupidly figured it'd be similar this year I was a little surprised therefore to find that to fly into Seattle and out of LA was £650+ EEEK

So the 'alternative' option search began. When flights in and out of LA or San Fran were coming up at £550 and Seattle at £590 I figured we might be best to just suck up the extra cost and stick to our original plan. So I thought (luckily before booking flights) that I'd just get a quote or two for car hire/rental. That was the next shock!! ARGH

Last year for two weeks the car cost around £250-£280 so I was hoping for something similar. I happily popped in our dates and literally did a double-take when I saw a price of £450 mg: I actually put the dates in 3 times to make sure I hadn't made a mistake.

After getting over the shock I was actually smart enough (rare for me :D) to check prices for picking up and dropping off in LA. And they went down to £260. At which point I finally twigged.

I did some more research and eventually found a car hire with our original criteria for £257. Very happy I started going through the booking process...not to actually book because we didn't have flights...but to make sure there wasn't a hidden cost. And that's where I saw it...the 'there may be additional charges for one-way travel'. So, I email the company with the quote reference to check. And sure enough, they come back to me saying that the quote would now be £307. So, not too bad...but then lower down in the email it said "the increase in price is because we have swapped you to the company that give the lowest one-way charge. Their charge is an additional $250 payable at collection". So OUCH back to being over £400.

I know in the grand scheme of things that's not that much but to me right now that was a LOT. Out of my regular work pay I'm lucky if I have £100 left per month after basic bills and, although I'd scrimped and saved to get £850 in my holiday account, I don't have any spending money for the trip yet so the extra £100+ of car hire PLUS the extra £100+ for flight made it currently out of budget Andy very reassuringly & kindly said that rather than not go he would lend me the £200 but I didn't want to go there unless desperate...so I went back to the drawing board.

I actually spent an entire day working out the different flight/car rental options possible flying into Seattle or LA, with internal flights, train, etc. I typed them all up in a big table with total costs, pros, cons, day-by-day plan etc....yes I'm a nerd....and emailed it to Andy. Then, I bashed myself on the head for being blonde and looked up flights in and out of San Francisco. This immediately seemed to be the best option but it did mean a lot more driving.

We could pick up the car in San Fran and drop it off in LA without one-way costs but then we either paid more for the flight or flew internally back to San Fran, which was about £45. Yep, not lots but we'd still spend a day travelling so why bother. So, with Andy in agreement, the decision made to go for the plan above. We now just had to hope we could get good flights.

[seobaina]

I should probably say that this decision was only made on Friday...

So yesterday, Saturday comes and I'm at home checking flights randomly. I know normally the better flights come up midweek but I figured I'd check anyway. And what pops up on skyscanner but a flight with US Airways via Philadelphia for £520. There's only one flight option and on the way out it does have a 4hr layover in Philly but that doesn't bother me because I like Philly airport and we have to go through immigration, etc anyway so that will take some time. On the way home it only had an hour and a half so that was fine.

Curious I go and search on US Airways own site, Netflights, etc and the cheapest I'm seeing anywhere else is £610 :erm: I go back to skyscanner and the flight is still there but the next cheapest option is £580. I start to panic...I'm not good at waiting when I set my mind to something and I really wanted a holiday :D £530 gave me a chance to come in on budget or close...anything over took me further from what I had.

So I text Andy to tell him...it's about 2:15 now and Andy doesn't finish work til 3. He does the whole 'what do you think, should we book' and I go 'errr, dunno, I'll research'...and pop immediately onto the boards to ask :D After a couple of 'yeses' I sit in the front room trying to distract myself with tv until Andy calls at 3pm. At which point he goes 'well?' and I go 'I don't think we'll get better but I could be wrong but...' and he says 'so book!' And that's why we booked yesterday rather than being 'sensible' and waiting

And yep, I'm now very excited but also a little 'argh' about finding the money. Still, I'm going to Disneyland .

[PrincessInOz]

Subbing in. Your trip sounds great!