2020: Time to see the West Coast (but still find time to go to Orlando too)! complete 10/22

[lvcourtneyy]

Courtney you will love it smaller Park but so much too see and do in LA non Disney.
I am a fanatic budget planner and have for you a true budgeters story.
About five years ago was planning strip to Disneyland in LA and was looking for flights on a website that searches multiple sites.as it progressed at 98% up popped this flight for $13 .I could not believe what I was seeing and jumped on it straight away and paid $39 for three flights from Dublin to La return with my credit card.
Knowing the implications of internet law I immediately rang the travel agent. I asked the call handler to make the supervisor aware that they are selling fares for $13 and asked the agent to have the supervisor call me back.
Half a hour later the supervisor rand back and said there had been an error on the site.
The supervisor said they would refund the money back onto my card .The supervisor advised me the new price would be $3000.
I replied clearly you know know internet law,that once I paid for the fares by pressing the button it was now a legally binding contract.The supervisor said the money was going to be refunded to my card anyway.
I replied don’t so that as I would not be returning it.
I thought the story was so funny I rang the local TV station who agreed and aired it on the 6.00pm news.
It was picked up by a local radio station who arranged a four way call a few days later. I told the story,head of consumer affairs N.Ireland agreed it was the law and the Manging director of the travel company said the company would honour the contact .Three weeks the supervisor rang and asked to put the $39 on my card .I refused as I had already paid for the flights I did not ask for to be returned .
WHAT A RESULT $3000 OF FLIGHTS FOR FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading! I'm so excited to finally see LA and Disneyland.

Wow! That's amazing to get those flights for free! It's not your fault they messed up!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

So funny how that happens sometimes! But i think you are going to love Cali!

I think so too! I'm afraid that once we get there, I'm gonna wanna keep going back there too lol.

Good one girl!

It was seriously the perfect trip lol but I was like well a month long vacation doesn't really seem realistic lmao

This sounds perfect! I am jealous of the national parks, haven't done them and its totally something i would love to do! ! But i do love San Diego!!

Ever since we went to the Smokey mountains last summer, I've fallen in love with national parks. It's gonna take some extra driving to see them but I don't care! I'll take any and all suggestions for things to do in San Diego please!

I will say that's the one thing i don't love about Disneyland, the night time shows aren't every night. I get it, but as a visitor and not a local it can be a bit annoying!

That's the part that's giving me the most anxiety lol. Plus the fact that the schedules aren't out yet is driving my planner brain nuts lol.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

What an epic California Adventure (no pun intended ) you are going to have!

A lot of the hotels on that strip across from DL are walking distance. The Best Western Plus was one I considered for my trip and seems to get great reviews! I ended up going with the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites which I loved- but that was like 5 years ago!

There's so many I feel like it's so hard to choose. I looked at the Anaheim Desert Inn and suites! It looks nice but it looked far away to me. Was it close to walk?

 

[lvcourtneyy]

That's Josh's contribution too

I just looked, and since we had AP's last the price has gone up by $400 (It's only been like a year since ours expired...)

Yeah it's really crazy how much they raised the price! I've decided not to renew for now and then just get a new AP in May if we end up going.

Ooo if you go the first week of HHN we'll be there!

Ooo that would be awesome!!

I also tried to plan a trip with everywhere in California and near it we wanted to do, and then I realized it would be weeks long too

I literally was like oo wow this is the perfect trip and then realized how long it would take afterwards.

t's Ernie! (His name just came to me when I saw the gif )

Yess! I loved Hey Arnold!!

Ooo here's something I have experience in. (I mean we've only stayed at one, but I have read reviews for all of Anaheim). We stayed at the Ayres Orange which is about 4 miles away. It has a shuttle, but we found it easier to just Lyft there and back. It's clean, the rooms are suites, and the reviews are the best of any I'd seen. We also picked it because the price was better than the other hotels and I couldn't justify paying triple to be walking distance. Other closer hotels with good reviews I've heard/read: Courtyard Marriott Maingate (I think this is the closest one), Springhill Suites (The Dis did a good review on this one), and the Howard Johnson. Some of these I would've stayed at but the prices for our time of year weren't great or there was no availability.

Oo thank you for this! There's so many hotels around DL that it's overwhelming me. Someone on the DL suggested the Ayres Orange to me too. It really does look nice and it is cheaper than the other options I've priced out but not by a lot. I've convinced myself we need to be able to walk to DL from our hotel but we very rarely take midday breaks anyway so I'm not sure why. I'm definitely overthinking this!

 

[missangelalexis]

There's so many I feel like it's so hard to choose. I looked at the Anaheim Desert Inn and suites! It looks nice but it looked far away to me. Was it close to walk?

There really are so many that you can't go wrong! It was SO close, literally right across the street from the entrance!

 

[Raeven]

Yess! I loved Hey Arnold!!

Me too!

Oo thank you for this! There's so many hotels around DL that it's overwhelming me. Someone on the DL suggested the Ayres Orange to me too. It really does look nice and it is cheaper than the other options I've priced out but not by a lot. I've convinced myself we need to be able to walk to DL from our hotel but we very rarely take midday breaks anyway so I'm not sure why. I'm definitely overthinking this!

There are I honestly think I've read reviews for them all because I'm really picky. (If reviews mention bedbugs I'm out, and realistically I know that's every hotel, but it makes me feel so much better when there's 0 bug reviews). We liked it, but I think the price varies. For the time we went it was much cheaper than everything else. I wanted to be able to walk too! But we still did midday breaks we just Lyfted there and back. (At the time I had a Lyft coupon so I saved on most the rides).

 

[pkondz]

Subbing in.

I don't normally comment much on PTRs, as I prefer to read about a trip... not about a trip-to-be.
But this is where you'll post the link to the inevitable TR, so here I am.

Love this photo of you!

currently in denial about turning 30 in a little over a week.

Well, shoot. I missed it.
Happy belated!

So, you're 29 again, huh?

When we first decided we were going to California this year, I planned a crazy complicated trip that had us flying to Arizona, driving to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Francisco and all through California to end in Disneyland.

Um... How much time off do you have???

Ah... I see you addressed that, later.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

There really are so many that you can't go wrong! It was SO close, literally right across the street from the entrance!

Awesome thank you! It prices out a little cheaper than the Candy Cane Inn so we're looking into it now!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

There are I honestly think I've read reviews for them all because I'm really picky. (If reviews mention bedbugs I'm out, and realistically I know that's every hotel, but it makes me feel so much better when there's 0 bug reviews). We liked it, but I think the price varies. For the time we went it was much cheaper than everything else. I wanted to be able to walk too! But we still did midday breaks we just Lyfted there and back. (At the time I had a Lyft coupon so I saved on most the rides).

That's how I feel now lol. I'm 100% with you on the bedbugs situation- if I even think about them I start to itch so definitely a deal breaker to me. I feel like i'm gonna have to just put the top contenders on a wheel and spin it at this point to pick lol.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Subbing in.

Yayy

I don't normally comment much on PTRs, as I prefer to read about a trip... not about a trip-to-be.
But this is where you'll post the link to the inevitable TR, so here I am.

I totally get that! Reading about the trip itself is definitely better but the planner in me likes to read about how others plan lol.

Love this photo of you!

Thank you!

Well, shoot. I missed it.
Happy belated!

So, you're 29 again, huh?

Thank you!!

Yes I've decided I'm going backwards now so next year I'll be 28 again.

Um... How much time off do you have???

Ah... I see you addressed that, later.

Yeah I really failed to consider how long of a trip it would require at first

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Walt Disney World and Universal May 2020

A few weeks ago, when we sat down to plan out our vacation plans for the year, I knew it would be nearly impossible to wait until October to go back to WDW so I knew I wanted to try to get a trip in during the first half of the year.

I wanted to try to visit for the Festival of the Arts but with our Rocky Mountain/Mount Rushmore trip in March, it didn't fit.

Then I remembered that I was really sad seeing pictures of Flower and Garden last year because we didn't get to go. I was looking at the first week of May but then Mike's sister-in-law reminded us that's when the Summit cheerleading competition would be so I made the executive decision to move our dates back a week to May 14-20!

We're still waiting on final approval from Mike's boss but it's about 95% sure we're going!

We've roughly laid out our plans which include spending the 14th and 15th at Universal and then the 15-20 at WDW.

I booked Pop Century for us for now (always subject to change) and we spent a ridiculous number of hours calculating the cost of the TS restaurants we want to eat at vs the cost of the dining plan and actually realized the dining plan will work out in our favor this trip.

I'm excited because in addition to going back to Universal and WDW, there's going to be a surprising number of new things for us to experience!

1. Rise of the Resistance! The ride had just opened before my sister and I went in December but with a shorter trip, we skipped DHS so this will be brand new to both of us!

2. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. It will be open just about 2 months by the time our trip comes and I hope it lives up to the hype.

3. Cirque Du Soleil! I love Cirque shows and try to see all the ones that travel through NYC. I also loved La Nouba (the former Cirque show in Disney) and saw it 3-4 times so I was bummed when they announced it was closing. Mike never got to see La Nouba and we've been anxiously waiting for the new show to open so I'm planning for the tickets to be part of his birthday gift.

4. City Works in Disney Springs. I'm a big fan of getting drinks and appetizers and this looks like a great place for that.

5. Space 220 (hopefully)! With the original announcement that it would open before the end of 2019, my sister and I had hoped to try it in December but obviously that didn't happen. The unofficial rumor changed from March 30 to April 6 now ? So I'm hoping that we'll be safe for it to be open in May but who really knows?

6. HarmonioUS?? This is the biggest if! It says Spring 2020 so I'm really really hoping that means it'll be running in May. I loved Illuminations and didn't like Epcot Forever at all so I would love to get to see this!

Our FP+ booking window opens March 16 so the next month or so will be spent plotting our days out to prepare for that and I'll come back and share them!​

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay I'm glad you'll get to go in May! And so many new things you'll get to experience!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Yay I'm glad you'll get to go in May! And so many new things you'll get to experience!!

Me too! More Disney is always good lol. I can't believe how many new things there are!

 

[pkondz]

Reading about the trip itself is definitely better but the planner in me likes to read about how others plan lol.

And I get this.

Yes I've decided I'm going backwards now so next year I'll be 28 again.

Stop around 7. That's a good age to be. Pretty much zero responsibilities.

We're still waiting on final approval from Mike's boss but it's about 95% sure we're going!

Woot!

I booked Pop Century for us for now (always subject to change)

Nice.
Sky Liner.

1. Rise of the Resistance! The ride had just opened before my sister and I went in December but with a shorter trip, we skipped DHS so this will be brand new to both of us!

Been hearing good things!

2. Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway. It will be open just about 2 months by the time our trip comes and I hope it lives up to the hype.

Me too. Still a bit miffed that they took a movie centric ride out of a movie centric theme park.

3. Cirque Du Soleil!

This is coming back???

4. City Works in Disney Springs. I'm a big fan of getting drinks and appetizers and this looks like a great place for that.

Never heard of it?

5. Space 220

What the heck is that???

 

[amazingact21]

Hooray for a May trip! Personally, May is one of my favorite times of year to visit WDW. It's hard to pass up a chance to see Flower and Garden. And I really hope Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is awesome. I've been looking forward to it for a long time!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Stop around 7. That's a good age to be. Pretty much zero responsibilities.

Sounds perfect to me!

Nice.
Sky Liner.

Yes! Now that I've accepted that I can ride the skyliner and not die lol

Me too. Still a bit miffed that they took a movie centric ride out of a movie centric theme park.

Ugh me too! This new ride has big shoes to fill!

This is coming back???

Yes! A brand new show is opening in March.

Never heard of it?

I hadn't either until I saw people posting on social media that it was open. Apparently it's a chain thats known for having a lot of different beer choices and especially local ones. I think it'll be fun to go after the show for a drink and some appetizers!

What the heck is that???

The Space themed restaurant opening in Epcot! The opening was first announced for the end of 2019 then pushed back. The rumor was March 30 and now it's the beginning of April so who knows when it'll really open!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Hooray for a May trip! Personally, May is one of my favorite times of year to visit WDW. It's hard to pass up a chance to see Flower and Garden. And I really hope Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway is awesome. I've been looking forward to it for a long time!

Flower and Garden is my favorite Epcot festival and I was so sad last year when we didn't make a trip during it.

I hope it's awesome too! I think it has big shoes to fill taking the Great Movie Ride's location,

 

[lvcourtneyy]

May trip updates

So somehow, despite the fact that I love Cirque shows, I didn't realize Mike has never seen one! So I decided to splurge on front row seats for the show as his Valentine's Day gift.

Our tickets are for May 15, the 8:30 pm show. That will be our check-in day at Disney and our second day in the Universal parks which both close at 6 pm.

September trip updates

I'm sure everyone saw the news that February brought Disney ticket price increases. There's a third party company that came highly recommended that has Disneyland tickets at a discount that had 5 day park hoppers with Maxpass for $440. The day the increase was announced, they still had the tickets at the old price so we decided to buy them. The same tickets now through Disney are $1,030 so I'm happy we went ahead with the purchase when we did.

Also, when we were out to dinner last night for Valentine's Day, we were reminscing over how we spent previous Valentine's Days and started talking about Beetle House. It's a restaurant here in NYC that celebrates Halloween and Tim Burton and we went there one year. Well, it dawned on me that their second location is in LA! The LA location is apparently much bigger and has a lot of entertainment. Reservations are only open through May on their website now but this is on our must-do list!​

 

[pkondz]

Yes! Now that I've accepted that I can ride the skyliner and not die lol

Even when it broke down in the early days, no one died.
Pretty sure you'll mostly be fine.

Ugh me too! This new ride has big shoes to fill!

Yep.

I hadn't either until I saw people posting on social media that it was open. Apparently it's a chain thats known for having a lot of different beer choices and especially local ones. I think it'll be fun to go after the show for a drink and some appetizers!

Ah. Not being a beer drinker, I'll pass on this one.

The Space themed restaurant opening in Epcot! The opening was first announced for the end of 2019 then pushed back. The rumor was March 30 and now it's the beginning of April so who knows when it'll really open!

I figured it out after I posted that. I hope it's good, it sure sounds good.

So I decided to splurge on front row seats for the show as his Valentine's Day gift.

Nice!

I'm sure everyone saw the news that February brought Disney ticket price increases.

Yeah... grumble, grumble...

There's a third party company that came highly recommended that has Disneyland tickets at a discount that had 5 day park hoppers with Maxpass for $440. The day the increase was announced, they still had the tickets at the old price so we decided to buy them. The same tickets now through Disney are $1,030 so I'm happy we went ahead with the purchase when we did.

Nice save!

we spent previous Valentine's Days and started talking about Beetle House. It's a restaurant here in NYC that celebrates Halloween and Tim Burton

That's cool!!!

 

[amazingact21]

Oh wow, that's a big price difference! Glad you were able to snag them (with Maxpass) at the lower rate.
That Tim Burton restaurant sounds awesome. I love Beetlejuice. Can't wait to hear all about the L.A. version. If it lives up to the hype, I'll have to add it my eventual CA trip itinerary.