2 Aussies escaping Summer... December 2011

[jessiegirl84]

Hello,

I am only new on here, and have been reading alot of trip reports so I thought I would start my own.

My partner and I are heading to USA from Australia from December 8 to January 8 2012. We will be in Orlando from 11-17 December and spending quite a few days at WDW.

So to start, my name is Jess and my partner is Dave.
I tried to put some pics in, but they won't upload - will try again soon sorry

Our plan so far is:

11 December - arrive from LA around 4pm. Head down to DTD for a bit of a shop and dinner.
12 December - Full day at Magic Kindgom, we have ADR at Crystal Palace for Breakfast!
13 December - Day trip to Kennedy Space Centre
14 December - Morning at Animal Kingdom, afternoon at Magic Kingdom - we have tickets for Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party.
15 December - Day at Universal Studios and Island of Adventure
16 December - Morning at DHS and afternoon at Magic Kingdom as we have ADR at Cinderella's Table
17 December - Day at Epcot - depart late afternoon to Miami.

I can list the rest of our trip if you guys want to see it.
We visited the USA last year and we had something planned for everyday so we are use to a very full on action packed travel plan, I have no doubt this time it will be the same! We will get a few days to relax, but it was important that we got to experience everything in Orlando, who knows when we might be back, how I wish we lived in the USA.

Thanks for reading if you got this far
Jess

 

[jessiegirl84]

Ok lets try this...
This is Dave - Photo from last year after riding Splash Mountain at Disneyland ---

and this is me - outside the castle

 

[mareeld86]

Just popped in to say HI

 

[jessiegirl84]

Thanks for stopping by Mareeld86

I might give you an update on the rest of our holiday to the USA.

8th December - Fly from Brisbane to LA
then spend 3 nights there in LA.
11th December - Fly to Orlando
then spend 6 nights
17th December - make our way to Miami (has anyone got an suggestions re: flying vs driving vs bus?
spending 3 nights here
20th December - flying to Boston
for 3 nights
23rd December - fly into NYC
we are spending both Christmas and New Years Eve here
1st January - we fly to Los Vegas
for 4 night
5th January - we fly into LA and then onto Brisbane, and arrive on home on the 7th.

Its all coming around very quickly, almost less than 100 days to go!
How I wish I lived in the USA I think i would probably live near Orlando so I could visit Disney more frequently, its so hard being in another country so far away!

Thanks for reading!
Jess

 

[Anne_Aus]

The trip sounds like it will be fantastic. I hope you do a trip report when you get back, I love reading trip reports, especially fellow Aussies

 

[jessiegirl84]

With under 3 months to go, I am getting very excited! I can't believe we will be back in the world so very soon.

I'm a bit worried about what clothing to pack and take to our days at Disney.

I have read quite a bit where one day it could be perfect weather but others and at night time can get quite cool. Especially as we are from Australia, Brisbane even our winters are quite mild I am not sure what to expect.

I'm thinking layering and taking jumpers with us in a backpack for incase it gets cold.

I'm also thinking about making a few more ADR's. Currently we only have 2, one at Crystal Palace on our first morning there, and then dinner at Cinderellas Castle.

What are some of your favourite restaurants to eat at?

As we are staying outside the world, at the Holiday Inn, which is a 5minute walk to DTD, I am really concerned about how we are going to get to the parks, as I believe there is no buses that leave DTD for the parks? I'm sure jumping between parks during the day will be ok though. The hotel says there is a regular shuttles but I just hope they are early enough to get there for rope drop so we can maximise our day. I actually looked the other day to see if we could cancel our reservation and stay on property but unfortunately our hotel rate is non-refundable so I was a bit upset about that

Thanks for reading x

 

[jessiegirl84]

The trip sounds like it will be fantastic. I hope you do a trip report when you get back, I love reading trip reports, especially fellow Aussies

Thanks Anne. I think I will definitely do a report when I return, as I love reading reports so much, getting so many great ideas! Thanks for reading mine

 

[PrincessInOz]

Ooooh! What have we here?


Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Oi! Oi! Oi!

 

[gallmcduck]

Hi, wow what an amazing trip, loving your plans for the whole of your trip all the non Disney places are places we would love to go. Are you staying in dtd hotel plaza boulevard? We stayed at the Hilton dtd last year and the location was excellant. Our fav restaurants that we have ate at; CRT for breakfast, Cali grill, le cellier, crystal palace, cafe may. Really want to go to; boma, Ohana, jikos, yachtsman steak house

 

[jessiegirl84]

Hello I am back sorry it's been awhile and this will only be a quick update but we have decided to change our accommodation at WDW we have now booked in at Pop Century Resort with free quick dining for 6 nights iam so excited!! I think that just looking at Pop it's out of this world and absolutely like nothing in Australia!!
I will definitely be checking out some other resorts for our next trip which I sure will be planned when we get back!

Can't believe it'd only 7 weeks until we leave.

I'll try and update more soon

Thankyou for reading

 

[PrincessInOz]

Jessie - congratulations on booking on site. I've stayed both offsite and on and there are definitely pros and cons for both options. But with free dining thrown in, staying on site is definitely the way to go.


I've also driven from Miami up to Orlando twice. Depending on how much time you have and whether you're prepared to have less time in Miami, there are some nice spots along the freeway to stop at.


There is quite a bit to see in Miami. Its a great place for shopping and also lots of night life. It just depends on whether you prefer cities or the outdoors.
I like the Everglades and going to the Florida Keys.

Have you considered flying to Key West and driving up to Miami? You could stop by the Everglades on the way up and check out some of the wildlife.

 

[jessiegirl84]

PrincessinOz - I wish we were able to change our flights and fly into Key West then drive up to Miami what a shame.
We are just flying into Miami so I expect we will just be doing some relaxation on beach, hopefully the weather will be nice, maybe some people watching and shopping. Maybe going to the everglades as well.

Our plans for Disney have changed slightly, as I mentioned before we have moved from the Holiday Inn at DTD to Pop Century Hotel with free dinning which I am so very excited about.
We really do have an action packed 7 days in Orlando and I would love some feedback for our plan for the days.

Day 1 - Arrive at 4.20PM. Check into hotel and then head to Downtown Disney for dinner and a spot of shopping.

Day 2 - Get up early as we have ADR's at Crystal Palace at 8.20am. I think this means what we will miss rope drope which is disappointing but if I have been reading right, we will get to take some pics of the park pretty empty? Then we are spending most of the day at Magic Kindgom. In the afternoon, we will head over to Disney Hollywood Studios and watch the 6.30 show of Fantasmic and then wander through the Osbourne Family Lights before heading back to Pop.

Day 3 - We have organised a day trip out to the Kennedy Space Centre, which bf is really looking forward, he is a bit of a space/science nerd .

Day 4 - We will head to Animal Kindgom as they have early, Extra Magic hours and spend most of the day there and in the afternoon we will head back to Magic Kindgom as we have tickets to Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party.

Day 5 - We are heading to Universal Studios & Island of Adventure, I do want to get there nice and early to get in Harry Potter World first to get that done with. We are going to try and make it back for Wishes at Magic Kindgom at 8pm but wont be too concerned if we dont.

Day 6 - We are heading to Disneys Hollywood Studios, we have lunch reservations at 50's Prime Time, I think it looks like a lot of fun! Then we scoot back to Magic Kindgom for dinner at Cinderellas Table, and we say our goodbyes to Magic Kindgom. Possibly head over to EPCOT to see the Reflections fireworks show, as there is Extra Magic Hours tonight as well.

Day 7 - We then have the whole day to explore EPCOT. We dont have any reservations, so I'll have to look into that. Our flight leaves at 625PM so we will probably leave about 3pm and head back to the hotel and get the bus to the Airport.

It really is an action packed 7 days, but I am so looking forward to it! No wonder so many people like to spend alot of time here, there is so much to see and I really would have been so clueless if I hadn't have found these boards, they have been a fountain of information.

I will definitely come back with a trip report. I may even include some pics from the rest of our trip. I only have 26 working days until we leave, its getting so close, I cant concentrate at work !

Jess

 

[OziJo]

Followed your link from my PTR.

Your trip sounds wonderful. Just you and your BF. Takes me back. DH and I traveled twice to Europe before kids the second time home via LA and Disney. While I love traveling with the kids I'm also looking forward to the time it's just DH and me again. So enjoy this time together.

Your Disney park plans sound great. You really have thought out the best way to fill your time. The rest of your trip sounds amazing as well. Christmas and New Year in NYC My DD1 would be so jealous her BFF is in NY at a Theater School and she would have loved for us to add NY to our trip. So would I but we couldn't work it.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hey Jessie. Your plans look great! There's lots to see and do in Miami. And if you decide to head towards the Everglades, consider doing an airboat ride near there. You can also head towards Key Largo; which is at the top end of the Keys, if you want a brief taste of what the Keys are like.

If you're interested, I have some pictures of Miami and the Everglades in my May 2010 TR. The link should be in the signature below.

Looks like your time in Orlando is going to be jammed packed. You should definitely get pictures of MK without too many people in it with your early morning ADR. Maybe you can fit in rope drop next time.

 

[jessiegirl84]

Hey Jessie. Your plans look great! There's lots to see and do in Miami. And if you decide to head towards the Everglades, consider doing an airboat ride near there. You can also head towards Key Largo; which is at the top end of the Keys, if you want a brief taste of what the Keys are like.

If you're interested, I have some pictures of Miami and the Everglades in my May 2010 TR. The link should be in the signature below.

Looks like your time in Orlando is going to be jammed packed. You should definitely get pictures of MK without too many people in it with your early morning ADR. Maybe you can fit in rope drop next time.

Thankyou for your comments. I am half way through your may trip report and loving it. I think we will definitely look into doing an Everglades tour your pics are great.
Also I was very happy to read that the pandora charms are much cheaper in the USA as I've just bought a braclet black leather with gold clasp and they are so expensive here!
I'll be back to talk some more after I have finished reading

 

[Toy Story]

Your plans sound great. Make sure you have time for Earl of Sandwich to use a counter service meal.
We really liked the breakfast at 1900PF, we had a later time so it was more like a brunch.

 

[jessiegirl84]

Ok so we are back and have been back for a few months now... and I do apologise for not updating this before we left I hope to be back soon to start my trip report.

We had the most amazing trip. It was capped off by Dave popping the question at Magic Kingdom at the Mickey's Verry Merry Christmas Party it the happiest moment of the trip.

here is a quick pic to tie you over until I'm back

 

[PrincessInOz]

Congratulations!!! Glad to see you back on-line.

 

[jessiegirl84]

Ok, so i've decided to close the PTR and I have just started a trip report if you would like to follow please do.

2 Aussies Escape the Heat... The Most Magical Trip Ever!