TR Oct/Nov 2012- Cowboys, casinos and pixie dust OH MY!

[Melbourne5]

Phew! I guess I'll just compare exchange rates the day I do it & go from there

I checked the calendar today & we just need to plan when to do WOC considering Sam 2 & 3 only have three day passes & one of those is our last day when we leave around 5. Everyone says WOC is a must see so I think two of us will have to go over to DCA on our DL day to grab fast passes for that night because the other night is earmarked to see fantasmic & the fireworks. Finger crossed that works out

Minnie Sue, you & your daughter will beat us to DLR so your closer to setting foot in there even though our flight is closer lol we might be seeing Nightmare before Christmas at El Captain on its last day, just waiting to check what the next movie will be & we'll pick from them. The girls just nod and ask how much it's going to cost rather then arguing have you seem the new Nightmare merchandise on the Disney store?

There is an alternate to fast pass' ing WOC and that's too purchase a picnic dinner or dine at a couple of DCA restaraunts and they give you allocated tickets/ fast passes. It costs as you have to eat but avoid rushing to get FP's.

 

[Mum from oz]

Bit of an update.

Went and bought my luggage last Sunday after watching Finding Nemo 3D (which was spectacular to watch!) and suitcases A and C were no longer on sale so that crossed off options 1 and 2. I also found another set with four spinner wheels but I was concerned about the wheels getting damaged because they are not build in like a two wheel suitcase

So in the end went with suitcases B and D from my original list for $148, little more then I priced in store in early September but that was at DFO compared to a normal Strandbags at the Plaza so meh lol I also got a new handbag because my straps are starting to tear & its not zippered so for piece of mind I went and got a new one with a zip for the trip, love a new bag every now & then

My passport is showing as 100% completed on the website so now its just waiting for it to show up, the date showing on the website is today so fingers are crossed

My big concern at the moment is which travel money card to organise. I was planning to go with CBA because I remember them being Visa but now they are Mastercard...the only Visa version I can find is ANZ and the only different between them is the reload fee 1% with CBA and 1.1% with ANZ but I don't intend to reload so its not a big deal.

I'm just worried if I go with CBA that I'll get caught out somewhere in the US that doesn't have Mastercard HELP!!!

29 sleeps

You mention the Plaza, do you mean as in Penrith? Just curious if you are a westie too.

I'm glad to see you got suitcases even if they were a little more than you planned for. I had no trouble with the ANZ travel card the two years I got one. Worked everywhere we went.

 

[frangipanisam]

You mention the Plaza, do you mean as in Penrith? Just curious if you are a westie too.

I'm glad to see you got suitcases even if they were a little more than you planned for. I had no trouble with the ANZ travel card the two years I got one. Worked everywhere we went.

Why yes I am a Westie I knew that battymum was out this way too, didn't know anyone else was

I'll be organising the ANZ visa for my own piece of mind

Now very exciting stuff this morning. I picked up my passport and my photo didn't look as bad as I thought it would I love the design compared to my child one from the early 2000's, very pretty

I have also organised my ESTA visa, registered on smart traveller and bought two more TSA approved locks off eBay love crossing things off my to do list!

Melbourne5 we have considered the WOC picnic but haven't decided which way to go. Has anyone done one before and what were the meals like?

 

[zanzibar138]

Yay for having all your travel documents

It's funny all this talk about travel cards and such - DH and I just use our normal bank/credit cards wherever we go! We looked around at travel cards and found that we really wouldn't be saving any money. It's good if you're concerned about your own cards getting lost/stolen overseas though.

Unfortunately I can't help you with the WOC picnics, but I just wanted to urge you to make sure you see it! It's pretty spectacular and well worth the effort Although I may be biased as that's when DH proposed to me We did the WOC meal at Ariel's, which was nice, but rushed. Personally I would go for a package option, especially if you've only got one night to see it. It just makes the day so much more relaxed not having to rush there first thing (we actually had a non-Disney day that day and just went in for dinner), and it mean that if you're delayed for some reason and don't make it to the fastpasses early, you're still guaranteed a decent view.

 

[Melbourne5]

Why yes I am a Westie I knew that battymum was out this way too, didn't know anyone else was

I'll be organising the ANZ visa for my own piece of mind

Now very exciting stuff this morning. I picked up my passport and my photo didn't look as bad as I thought it would I love the design compared to my child one from the early 2000's, very pretty

I have also organised my ESTA visa, registered on smart traveller and bought two more TSA approved locks off eBay love crossing things off my to do list!

Melbourne5 we have considered the WOC picnic but haven't decided which way to go. Has anyone done one before and what were the meals like?

We were due to go to carthay theatre restaraunt but plans changed and we did different days. We arrived about 12 noon , went to fast pass section near grizzly river rapids and got FPs for the 830pm show now worries. This would be very dependent on crowd levels though. We were there 2 weeks after it opened in 2010 and couldn't get a fp for the first 3 days!

 

[Mum from oz]

Why yes I am a Westie I knew that battymum was out this way too, didn't know anyone else was

I'll be organising the ANZ visa for my own piece of mind

Now very exciting stuff this morning. I picked up my passport and my photo didn't look as bad as I thought it would I love the design compared to my child one from the early 2000's, very pretty

I have also organised my ESTA visa, registered on smart traveller and bought two more TSA approved locks off eBay love crossing things off my to do list!

Melbourne5 we have considered the WOC picnic but haven't decided which way to go. Has anyone done one before and what were the meals like?

I'm over near Rooty Hill. I have had the picnic option for WOC. There are details in my 2011 TR. Theres a link in my sig, I can't get it cause I'm posting off my phone right now.

 

[frangipanisam]

Well there you go, I'm over near St Clair

Just read both of your TR's and found australiankaren's blog aswell because she had commented on one of your posts. So that was a good morning at work, reading all about Disney and looking at all of the photos

I'll bring up the WOC picnic option again with the other girls for the night that Sam #2 & #3 need to see it and we could have it as our dinner once we've found a spot plus being four of us, I'll bags the free bag then Bec & I will try to see it as many times as we can with our 14 day passes

Question time

PP+ has been shipped so should have it shortly, just wanting to confirm that we can get normal photopass photos taken (using the free cards) after the 14 day period expires for rides & meals on the PP+? Only need one more day because our Halloween party is the night before we start using our 14 day vacation passes.

Can you take normal snacks on the plane and take it through customs at LAX? Someone who flew recently has confused me, telling me yes you can take food on the plane but only if you have purchased it after going through security in the airport

With the liquids/gels ect restrictions can you take creams (ie. moisturizer and hand) on board if they are under 100ml and fit in the 20cm X 20cm clear, resealable bag? The brochure on this site is confusing me slightly http://travelsecure.infrastructure.gov.au/international/lags/index.aspx

Also when organizing transfer pick up times after a flight, how long after the flight do you organize it? I feel that our TA has not given us much time to get off the plane, collect luggage and deal with any dramas or delays that arise. Twenty minutes after the scheduled landing time feels a tad rushed to me


26 sleeps till we fly out and 13 sleeps till graduation

 

[alicia1506]

Well there you go, I'm over near St Clair

Just read both of your TR's and found australiankaren's blog aswell because she had commented on one of your posts. So that was a good morning at work, reading all about Disney and looking at all of the photos

I'll bring up the WOC picnic option again with the other girls for the night that Sam #2 & #3 need to see it and we could have it as our dinner once we've found a spot plus being four of us, I'll bags the free bag then Bec & I will try to see it as many times as we can with our 14 day passes

Question time

PP+ has been shipped so should have it shortly, just wanting to confirm that we can get normal photopass photos taken (using the free cards) after the 14 day period expires for rides & meals on the PP+? Only need one more day because our Halloween party is the night before we start using our 14 day vacation passes.

Can you take normal snacks on the plane and take it through customs at LAX? Someone who flew recently has confused me, telling me yes you can take food on the plane but only if you have purchased it after going through security in the airport

With the liquids/gels ect restrictions can you take creams (ie. moisturizer and hand) on board if they are under 100ml and fit in the 20cm X 20cm clear, resealable bag? The brochure on this site is confusing me slightly http://travelsecure.infrastructure.gov.au/international/lags/index.aspx

Also when organizing transfer pick up times after a flight, how long after the flight do you organize it? I feel that our TA has not given us much time to get off the plane, collect luggage and deal with any dramas or delays that arise. Twenty minutes after the scheduled landing time feels a tad rushed to me


26 sleeps till we fly out and 13 sleeps till graduation

yes you can get normal photopass pictures included on your photopass cd, as long as they were taken within the same 30 day window. so, if your photopass + package is good for 14 days, and you get regular photopass photos taken on day 15, when adding pics to your account & onto the CD, you can add the pics taken on day 15.

my understanding of the food thing is that bringing into the airport with you:
- prepackaged food (ie jellybeans, muesli bars etc) is ok
- fresh food (ie cut up carrot/celery, no hamburgers etc) is not ok
after you have gone through customs/security etc:
- anything you buy in the terminal can be taken on board the plane
- any uneaten fresh food that you bought in the terminal has to be consumed by the time you get to your destination, or thrown away
- any uneaten prepackaged food that is unopened has to be declared

re the 100ml 3-1-1 thing: any liquid or semi liquid like moisturiser etc must be in 100ml or less bottles/jars etc and must be in a clear bag for screening. i didn't feel like taking a chance, and so just kept mine in my checked luggage. if you don't 100% need it for the flight, i say either put it in your checked luggage to be safe, or if you want to take it onboard, put enough in a smaller container so that it fits in your 3-1-1 clear bag.

this also means you can't take water bottles/juice boxes/cup of coffee etc through security. we forgot we had a 1/2 full bottle of water in our carry on from the shuttle ride to the airport and got a stern talking to and had to go through security 2 times because of it

a 20 min window to get off a flight, collect your luggage and make it to your shuttle seems pretty tight... i would recommend contacting them and asking them their policy on delays or whether they would recommend rescheduling your shuttle time. with the disneyland resort express, they run on a timetable, so we waited for them. when we used mears shuttles in orlando which we had prebooked, there was no scheduled time for pick up, we just rocked up to their shuttle desk, and they put us on the next one... are all of your shuttles pre-arranged pick ups, or are the shuttles flexible about times?

hope some of this is helpful

 

[zanzibar138]

Can't help on the photopass I'm afraid. We just got the regular ones, but it was great - such a good idea and we got some gorgeous photos of the two of us together, it was like having an engagement shoot

With the liquids/gels/creams on the plane, you can definitely take your hand cream/moisturiser/make up remover etc as long as it's under 100ml in your clear bag. You can buy specially sized ones, or you can just get the bottles separately and fill them up with stuff you've got at home (just maybe label them so you know which is which!)

We used Super Shuttle and were so glad that we hadn't bothered to book anything. It was so easy when we got there we just exited in our own time and made our way to the Super Shuttle stand. There's a guy there who will communicate with the drivers to let them know how many people were there and where we wanted to go, and in no time there was a shuttle there for Anaheim and we were on our way! We did it in San Francisco too and it was great in both cities.

 

[frangipanisam]

Thanks for the help Alicia and Zanzibar

I just wanted to make sure I fully understood how PP worked so I didn't get to our last day and end up heartbroken

I think I'll need my moisturiser because my skin is oily so need to use it after using cleansing wipes on the flight and its only 75ml so it should be right, might double check with TA. I'm using my small tub for a night mosituriser, its tough to be a chick when traveling

Good re: food! That's what I thought but my friend confused me, I can eat my shapes & pringles yay

Spoke to TA re: transfers. Apparently because they have our flight number they will wait if there are delays I will still check out their policy re: delays, ect just to be sure. Plus he said all transfers that are not airport pick ups we'll need to confirm 24 hours before and get an exact pick up time from the company. Still waiting on the last few documents, his version of our final itinerary and updated transfers. TA said within 48 hours he will email them...too bad he said that re: the name stuff up on original documents on the 7th of September and we're still waiting

Recent fliers on VA, what do you get upon boarding? I know you get a bottle of water but anything else?

List is slowly getting shorter, 24 sleeps

 

[WAMUMOF4]

The photopass+ is different to the normal photopass you only have 14 days to use it they actually stamp out the last date you can use it on, they told us if we used other photopass cards to have them uploaded daily onto the pp+ they told us it would only accept the cards within that 14 days you still have 30 days to claim it though. For us it meant that even though our 2 trips were within 30 days 2 photpasses actually 3 if you include WDW


WOC picnic we got them in 2010 and we liked them this year we made a dining reservation and ended up cancelling it because we got fastpasses the day before instead we got our fastpasses at 4pm for the second show so unless you really want the meal i wouldnt bother i would just go get the fastpasses when you can.

 

[alicia1506]

on vaust international, you get offered a bottle of water & your choice of drink (alcohol or non alcohol, your pick). alcohol they have usually a white wine, a red wine, the usual spirits (bourbon, rum, vodka, gin etc) and for non alcoholic they have soft drink (7up, coke, diet coke, fanta etc), juice (tomato, orange or apple) or milk.

about an hour after you have reached cruising altitude they will serve the meal (either lunch or dinner depending on your flight time). about 6 hours into the flight they serve light refreshment (premade sandwiches & wraps, usually ham & salad, tuna & salad, egg & lettuce, turkey salad etc) and throughout the flight you can either request more drinks (alcohol or non) and extra bottles of water. they also have a self serve galley where you can get more bottles of water, snacks (lays chips and pretzels and small bags of assorted/mixed lollies) etc.

they do this in economy (which is where we definitely sat) and in PE there is a better selection of snacks/wines etc and in first..well, i've heard it's pretty swank with a bar and wine & cheese tastings and so on and so forth.

VA is awesome with their food/drink/snack service, but a note on the alcohol. while they are very, very free and easy with the booze, they do make a note of those that are consuming more freely than others, and they may limit consumption to 1 drink per hour if they feel that you are getting a little too wasted. this is from first hand experience when the gent directly in front of me asked for a bourbon a few too many times, and they had to gently warn him that after a certain amount of consumption they had to limit him to 1 alcoholic drink per hour.

about 2 hours before you land, you will be served breakfast, again with the drink and food service.

oh, and you can get hot drinks (tea, coffee only, no cocoa or hot chocolate). they do have green tea and regular black tea in economy but no other variations (ie earl grey, english breakfast etc)

hope this helps

 

[frangipanisam]

Thanks WAMUMOF4, thats what I wanted to make sure I was clear about. Now to decide to include the Halloween party in the PP+ or our last day in it...

Thanks Alicia. Wow! Nice little novel there and very helpful I meant more so on the seat ie. blanket, headphone ect but always handy to know about how the meals and drinks run

I have booked our character dining now, Ariel's Grotto for all of us and Surfs up with Mickey for Bec and I The CM asked if we were celebrating so I told her it was a graduation trip so who knows what might happen there!

So today is Saturday. I went into the TA on Monday. He promised we would have the last of our documents sent out in 48 hours with phone call confirmation...still nothing I tell you what its really starting to peeve me off and I know the other two Sam's have been furious with him for the past month as it is

I've started to make up little pressie packs for the girls for the plane as a bit of fun. So far I've bought travel size magna doodles, Disney colouring in books and pencil tins of 24 pencils with a sharpener in the lid. I fully expect them to laugh at me because my mum already has and that was when she only thought I'd bought it for myself

We're down to the teens!!! 19 sleeps

 

[battymum]

Sam, that sounds so cute.!

You girls are going to have so much fun!!!!!

 

[alicia1506]

Thanks WAMUMOF4, thats what I wanted to make sure I was clear about. Now to decide to include the Halloween party in the PP+ or our last day in it...

Thanks Alicia. Wow! Nice little novel there and very helpful I meant more so on the seat ie. blanket, headphone ect but always handy to know about how the meals and drinks run

I have booked our character dining now, Ariel's Grotto for all of us and Surfs up with Mickey for Bec and I The CM asked if we were celebrating so I told her it was a graduation trip so who knows what might happen there!

So today is Saturday. I went into the TA on Monday. He promised we would have the last of our documents sent out in 48 hours with phone call confirmation...still nothing I tell you what its really starting to peeve me off and I know the other two Sam's have been furious with him for the past month as it is

I've started to make up little pressie packs for the girls for the plane as a bit of fun. So far I've bought travel size magna doodles, Disney colouring in books and pencil tins of 24 pencils with a sharpener in the lid. I fully expect them to laugh at me because my mum already has and that was when she only thought I'd bought it for myself

We're down to the teens!!! 19 sleeps

oops. sorry. misunderstanding there.

in terms of what you get, it's pillow, blanket, headphones, eyemask and those little squishy foam thingos that you put in your ears to help block out noise.. plus bottle of water i can't remember if there are socks

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Oh my word, you must be jumpimg out of your skin in anticipation right now!!! I think sometimes that the closer it gets, the slower the time seems to go. It feels like it has taken us forever to get to the "teens", but we will be on 19 sleeps tomorrow!

I am so glad you decided to do the bags for your friends. They will really get a warm and fuzzy feeling that you are such a thoughtful friend and that you want to make that extra special effort to have the best trip ever. As you know, I am all for that!!!

I had a thought last week about having our room decorated for Halloween. So, I have contacted a florist in the area and I am going to have a big lot of Halloween themed balloons delivered while we are at the park. They will be all over the ceiling by the time we come back to get dressed for the Halloween party!!! It wasn't expensive at all and is something I know my DD will adore!!!

Hope you ended up getting everything sorted with the travel agent!

Packed your suitcase yet???!!!

 

[frangipanisam]

Thanks Alicia, that helps & means I don't have to pack a blanket

Minnie Sue I'm trying to find something else that is small and inexpensive to throw in their bags and some Disney themed chocolate lol like those Princess kinder surprises type eggs you could get awhile ago. Anyone have any ideas?

Your DD will love that Minnie Sue! It lovely that you have Disney as a common bond, my cousins wife is the closest I have to a like-minded Disney nut (other then the Dis of course!). Have not packed yet, the wait is killing me!!! I've been collecting all the small things together and popping them into the spare room but I'm trying to hold out to pack the Sunday before we leave all the tags are off & locks are reset


The TA. Well there's a story! Things are still not sorted He originally told us 48 hours on the 17th of August, then again sometime in early September, them again mid September and then again on the 24th of September...still don't have it all Sam #2 went into the Penrith office (where he was based but now he is at Blacktown) to discuss NYC with another TA, which turned into an hour and a half discussion of our whole situation & not having our documents. She is a god send! She printed off EVERYTHING she could find in our file (which apparently is a mess to understand) for Sam #2, had a conversation with our TA on the phone when she couldn't find something, that involved a heated discussion and her defending us then hanging up on him

Long story short, he has apparently NOT BOOKED OUR HOLLYWOOD HOTEL YET we paid in full in early May lovely TA Christina informed Sam #2 to lodge a complaint when we get back (already had planned to lol) and that she would fill in the Penrith manager of the situation. This was all on Thursday and we haven't heard from or received anything from original TA we fly out in less then two weeks and he still can't pull his finger out.


Back to the positives, we're now doing El Capitan Theatre to see Wreck-It Ralph, so glad I convinced them booking that today along with our Go LA passes. Grand Canyon is the biggest thing to pick and book asap, fingers crossed by tomorrow

Only 12 sleeps to go the list is getting smaller! Just caught sight of my ticker and it makes me soooo excited

 

[alicia1506]

Wow sam it sounds like your ta is a real jerk!! I can understand why you got a ta in the first place as i imagine you have a lot of reservations and bookings to make but it seems his conduct is beyond unprofessional personally i would lodge a complaint with the manager before you go.. I would hate for you to get there and have to be reliant on this guy coming through for you when he has demonstrated his total lack in the past i hope it gets sorted soon and you can go on your trip with total peace of mind.

The gift bags you are doing up sound adorable are you putting them in disney gift bags/boxes etc? I did that for my family when we went

 

[Minnie Sue Oz]

I agree with Alicia, lodge the complaint before you go. Imagine if something went wrong and he was your contct back here................not a good scenario!

I have done our whole holiday myself except for the flights and I am now very confident that I will never use a TA again for a thing! Then if anything goes wrong, I will kick my own butt

Soooooooo excited to hear we will be at the same Halloween party! Lets hope we at least bump into each other so we can say hi and I can take some pics of you all together as a group too if you like! You won't have to stand in a line to get me to take it either I will however be most happy to sign an autograph LOL

As DD will not be reading this post, I can tell you some of the things I have in her bag....................a Thumper face washer, a Minnie & Mickey compact mirror, Minnie & Mickey coloured markers, a Cars drawing tablet, Tinkerbell pens, Alice in Wonderland writing set, Marie playing cards, little packets of Stitch tissues, a Chip & Dale stationery set, a tube of glowsticks,a magnetic Noughts & Crosses game, a learn to draw Lion King book and a Minnie Mouse cosmetic purse that has an American one hundred bill inside! I tried to get all of her favourite characters and did end up with a few!!!
She is quite artistic and loves to draw ( thats why there is a Cars drawing book included!!! ) so I know she will just love the Lion King book! I am sure we will have some wonderful drawings by the time we get to USA!!! I really am blessed that DD loves Disney as much as me! She is a 15 year old who has a part time job and a boyfriend and is very grown up for her years, but she still has time for me and my Disney obsession and always takes the time to appreciate the little things too!!!

Some of the things I have bought on eBay, others I just picked up from the dollar type stores! If you haven't got tissues in the girls bags yet, they are available at the Reject Shop! Cheap and light too!!! You can also buy Disney chocolate bars from Target !If you need pics of anything, just let me know!!



Yay too for getting to go the El Captain for Wreck It Ralph! They are actually introducing the characters to Disneyland too fro meet and greets so I think they are expecting big things!!!!

Must be off now to place a bid on the Mansion!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Beee]

wow sam, you are so close now - so exciting! I love that you have put together a little pack of things for your friends on the flight. I might have to steal a few of your ideas and yours minnie sue for my DD. She is at that awkward "I am too cool for kid stuff" age so she probably won't outwardly appreciate it but secretly I think she'll love it.
I'm with the others, I'd complain about your TA now not when you get back. Really you want to have the company on side now so that you can have another point of contact rather than the useless TA if anything by chance goes wrong (fingers crossed it will all go perfectly though!) I was a bit nervous to book our first big overseas trip by myself but after reading your experience I am so glad I did, I am too much of a control freak to rely on a TA