A naive Aussie's PTR

[PrincessInOz]

A few recent circumstances have made me decide to make a couple of small changes to my itinerary...

First, at the time when I booked this trip, I had just accepted a new job, and was aiming to keep my time off work to 2 weeks. Now I have a much more flexible job so I feel less restricted time wise.

Secondly, since Grizzly Gulch has opened, I have been feeling more and more disappointed that I won't actually get to go there despite flying through HK and still having my annual pass from our honeymoon.

Thirdly, Qantas have a sale on that finishes tomorrow!


So, I called my friendly (or maybe not so friendly...) Qantas representative this afternoon and got a quote for adding a stopover in HK on the way back! It was very reasonable so I went ahead, and now I'm very excited to be able to check out Grizzly Gulch in the near-ish future!


My itinerary is now:

Fly to Perth with Qantas Thursday 14th Feb (evening), and spend the night with my parents.

My parents and I will all leave Perth Friday morning on a Qantas flight to Paris via HK, arriving in Paris at 5:35am Saturday. We'll spend that first night in Paris, hopefully getting early check in somewhere.

Sunday we'll take the train to Innsbruck, Austria and stay there for 2 nights. Haven't decided on accommodation yet - I'm not sure which is the best area.

Tuesday (19th) we'll take the train to Lucerne, Switzerland (via Zurich), and spend 2 nights there. No accommodation for here yet either.

Thursday (21st) we'll take the Golden Pass Rail to Montreux and spend the night there.

Friday we plan to spend a bit of time in Montreux and then take the train to Geneva in the afternoon, where we'll spend the night.

Saturday we'll head back to Paris, hoping to get there by lunch time. Then we'll spend the rest of the weekend there.

Monday (25th) it's Disney time! We're hoping to stay at Hotel L'Elysse so we'll take the train out to Val d'Europe and check in, then head to Disneyland. I've put aside this whole week (til Friday) for Disneyland, but my parents may get sick of it and head back to Paris during the day.

Saturday I'll check out of Hotel L'Elysse and say goodbye to Paris (my parents are staying in France for another 2 weeks lucky things!). My flight for London (I couldn't do a stopover in HK going straight from Paris) leaves late afternoon.

I'll arrive in HK Sunday afternoon (3rd March - our 1st wedding anniversary which I will miss, but DH told me he's ok with it). Not sure whether I can justify staying at the Disneyland Hotel all on my own. I might stay in Tung Chung. Monday I'll be at Disneyland for rope drop and head straight to Grizzly Gulch! I don't leave HK until Tuesday evening, so I may even have time to go on the cable car in Tung Chung and go to the top of Victoria Peak.

I'll arrive back in Melbourne on Wednesday morning.

Congrats on adding HK to the trip. If I were you, I'd stay around Central/Hong Kong station rather than Tung Chung. At least you'll be closer to the city and have a few more options for things to do.

 

[ehsmum]

Oh yeah, I was so caught up in the Europe bit that I forgot to comment on HK. I agree, I don't think there would be any point in staying in Tung Chung. You might as well stay on HK Island or Kowloon as it's so easy to get to DL on the train.

 

[zanzibar138]

Congrats on adding HK to the trip. If I were you, I'd stay around Central/Hong Kong station rather than Tung Chung. At least you'll be closer to the city and have a few more options for things to do.

Oh yeah, I was so caught up in the Europe bit that I forgot to comment on HK. I agree, I don't think there would be any point in staying in Tung Chung. You might as well stay on HK Island or Kowloon as it's so easy to get to DL on the train.

Thanks for the tips, but I'm really only planning on doing Disneyland and maybe the cable car. I don't think I'd be comfortable enough to venture into the city on my own. I think I'm going to go for the Hollywood Hotel. I get 15% discount on accommodation with my AP which should bring it down to a similar cost to the one in Tung Chung.

Thanks for the link for that hotel in Lucerne too ehsmum. It looks beautiful! Not sure about the price though, and is it hard to get into the city from there? We'd want to do some sight-seeing in the city and will probably want to be able to choose a restaurant rather than being stuck having to eat at the hotel all the time.

 

[ehsmum]

We stayed at the Hollywood Hotel and enjoyed it .

It's been a long time since I've been to Lucerne (1996!) so I would have to do some research before giving you advice . No matter where you stay you should at least take a trip up to Mount Pilatus though.

 

[zanzibar138]

With *only* 6 1/2 months to go, I thought it was about time I seriously started looking at accommodation and entertainment at our various European destinations. Seriously though, I have heard that it's a busy time for ski holidays, but it seems that most of our destinations are still in low season while we're there.

I've put Mum in charge of Paris since they've been before and I was a bit overwhelmed with all the options there. I don't think she can complain too much since I'm only making her research 3 nights out of about 20 lol!

Our first non-Paris destination is Innsbruck, Austria. Now, I have always wanted to go to Austria (since I was a little girl and first saw The Sound of Music), so it was important to me that we cross the Swiss border and spend a couple of days there. Innsbruck looks like a gorgeous little town and is great value compared to Switzerland (which is a bit ).

Being a party of 3 who ideally would like to stick together, does somewhat limit our options. But using my trusty friends TripAdvisor and Expedia, I still managed to find some decent options.

The Basic Hotel is rated # 3 on TripAdvisor. From the outside it looks pretty... well... basic lol! But it seems to be in a great location, and has some positive reviews about the size of the rooms, which seem to have been recently refurbished.

We'll be in Innsbruck for 2 nights, probably arriving quite late the first day, and leaving before lunch time on the 3rd day. So we'll really only have 1 full day for exploring.

We'll probably start with a wander around the Old Town.

We might see the Golden Roof.

And maybe the Triumphant Arch.

It looks like there's a good amount of lovely old buildings and churches to look at.

Then we might visit the Bergisel Ski Jump.

I've never seen a ski jump before and this one looks pretty spectacular! If we're there in time for morning tea we can enjoy the view from the restaurant.

If we have time I'd also love to go up on the Nordkette Funicular, and down by cable car. Apparently it only takes 20 minutes from the city centre to the top of the funicular.

We'll no doubt be spending plenty of time going up and down mountains in the rest of our itinerary though, so my priority in Innsbruck is the old town and ski jump.

You can buy an 'Innsbruck Card' (there is a 24 hour one) which includes admission to various museums and attractions, plus a ride on the funicular. So we'll have to investigate whether it will be good value for us.

 

[zanzibar138]

Our next destination is Lucerne, Switzerland.

My parents actually visited Lucerne on their trip to Europe last year as part of a tour, and are excited about going back. When they went it was summer, so they're looking forward to experiencing it in winter too.

The Hotel Monopol is rated # 11 on TripAdvisor. It seems to be in a pretty good location, just across the road from the train station. There are some good reviews about the location and size of the rooms. The main issue in recent reviews seems to be a lack of air-conditioning (and associated street noise with open windows), but I don't think that will be a problem for us

We definitely want to take a trip to the top of Mt Pilatus, and it looks like it will be via cable car at that time of year.

Back in town, I'd like to see the Chapel Bridge.

And the Dying Lion Monument - I'm expecting this one to be quite emotional.

Mum wanted to take a boat trip on the lake, but I don't think you can do it at that time of year. She'll just have to go back again lol!

 

[PrincessInOz]

You're bringing back great memories for me of Lucerne and Switzerland. I can't wait to see your pictures.

 

[zanzibar138]

After two nights in Lucerne, we'll be taking the Golden Pass Line to Montreux.

The Golden Pass Line goes in 3 sections. First is Lucerne to Interlaken, then Interlaken to Zweisimmen, then Zweisimmen to Montreux.

I believe at this stage you have to change trains at least once on the journey, but we might take the opportunity to have a wander around another part of Switzerland.

We were planning to only spend one night in Montreux, then move along to Geneva and spend another night there. However, a couple of things have convinced us to spend 2 nights in Montreux instead. First being the absolutely ridiculous cost of accommodation in Geneva... for the three of us to get anything decent we were looking at least $600 - for one night! Secondly, the more I researched things to do and see, the more I found there wasn't really much of interest to me in Geneva. So 2 nights in Montreux it is!

The Best Western Eurotel Riviera Montreux is rated # 4 on TripAdvisor. The reviews are positive about the views and room sizes, and it seems to be located fairly close to the train station and the lake.

While in Montreux I would love to take the funicular up Rochers-de-Naye. Montreux having a milder climate than the other places on our itinerary, I'm hoping that the funicular will be operating while we're there.

I'd also like to check out Chateau de Chillon (or Chillon Castle). Sadly, this is the only castle on our itinerary (apart from Sleeping Beauty Castle of course! ).

Also, I've heard that they do year-round boat trips on the lake. If that's the case, I might organise one for Mum to make up for not being able to do one in Lucerne

 

[heart4dis]

It will be cold, but I've been in Paris in February and it wasn't awful. The gardens won't be in bloom. That means if you go to Versailles, you can focus on the palace.

 

[zanzibar138]

It will be cold, but I've been in Paris in February and it wasn't awful. The gardens won't be in bloom. That means if you go to Versailles, you can focus on the palace.

Thanks for that info. I don't think I'll have time to go to Versailles, but you never know, I might get sick of Disneyland My parents, on the other hand, may want to go... not sure if they went there on their tour last year... so I'll pass that info along to them

 

[zanzibar138]

Next stop, back to Paris!

We'll aim to arrive back in Paris by lunch time on Saturday, and will leave the city for Disneyland on Monday morning. I'm well aware that it's not much time, but Disneyland is so close, we can always come back if we've missed something we're desperate to see!

Mum has picked out Novotel Paris Gare de Lyon, mainly due to its proximity to the train station. We figure being close to a train station it will be easy to get around even if we're not in the immediate vicinity of the main sight-seeing areas. The hotel is only rated # 373 on TripAdvisor, but that's out of more than 1800, so it's really not that bad!

I figure we will do the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Mum has also put me in charge of researching dinner cruises on the Seine. Not sure if they even do them at that time of year, but I'm sure we'll find something nice to do. I'm not really interested in anything specific, but will just be happy to wander and take in the general sights of the city.

 

[zanzibar138]

Yay! It's time for Disneyland Paris! We'll be here for 5 nights - arriving on the Monday, and checking out on Saturday. We'll only be in the parks on the weekdays.

We've pretty much decided on Hotel l'Elysee. I would love to stay onsite, but I think it would be too much Disney for Dad. Hotel l'Elysee looks like it's in a great position nice and close to the train station, and I've heard great things about it. We can grab some brekky at Val d'Europe most days to save some money, and Mum and I will probably check out the shops there too.

I'm thinking I'll probably get APs for all of us from CE. I don't think there will be any blackout dates for any level AP while we're there (although with school holidays in some regions of France it may be different). At this stage I'm tossing up between the Fantasy and Francilien. Trying to decide if the early morning entry is worth an extra 60 euros...

Haven't decided much for dining yet. I'd like to do at least one character meal, but I'm not sure whether Mum would enjoy it, and I know Dad wouldn't! And I'm not going to go on my own! I would like to take them to the high tea at the Disneyland Hotel if I can, and maybe Walt's or Blue Lagoon. Mum would enjoy the novelty of BL.

As for attractions, I've got a bit of a list going for each parent and stuff I might have to do on my own. Mum is NOT a thrill ride person - she hates rollercoasters and anything that spins, whizzes around corners, or drops. Dad is a pretty good sport and will give most things a go, but I don't think he's into spinning things and seems to be losing a bit of nerve as he gets older. I also don't think he'd enjoy many of the dark rides that don't 'do anything'. Of course, it will all be dependent on what's open as well. Crossing my fingers and toes that BTM, POTC and Phantom Manor are all open!

I pretty much want to do everything lol! We can count Mum out of any of the 'thrill rides'.

I think Dad will really enjoy Big Thunder Mountain and Star Tours (Star Wars fan). He'll probably be fine on Indiana Jones, but Space Mountain might be too much for him (especially if it's a bit rough). In the Studios, I think I'll be doing most of the thrill rides on my own, but he might do RRC and TOT. I may have to take some motion sickness pills myself before I do Crush

We'll probably find it difficult to convince Mum to go on the dark rides with her not being able to see what happens. I'm sure she'd be fine on Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan's Flight, Phantom Manor, and POTC. I think Dad would also enjoy these ones. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing the teacups on my own! She'll also be fine with the shows, so we'll all do Cinemagique, Animagique, Armageddon and the Tram Tour.

Dad will NOT go anywhere IASW. But Mum will definitely do it with me She'll also do Autopia, Snow White, Pinocchio, and the Story Book Boats. Dad will probably only do Autopia out of those ones, and I'll probably be on my own for Dumbo. I'm not interested in Slinky Dog.

Of course all the 'exploration' and 'transportation' we'll all be fine with. I'm looking forward to taking the train, seeing the castle and dragon, and exploring Alice's Curious Labyrinth, Adventure Isle, and the Nautilus!

I think Mum will really enjoy the parades, shows, shopping, and the general Disney atmosphere. Dad may not 'get it' as much, and he'd probably get bored just wandering around. I'm expecting him to ditch us and go into Paris a few times

 

[zanzibar138]

From Paris, I'll be heading to Hong Kong Disneyland for 2 nights. My parents will be staying in France for another 2 weeks and are hoping to check out some more regional areas.

In order to do a stopover in HK, I had to fly through London. My flight leaves Paris at about 4pm on the Saturday. I'll finally arrive in HK at about 3pm on the Sunday. Both flights are Qantas codeshare, with Air France and British Airways. I'll just get the train from the airport to Disneyland as I know how it works now and will be pretty confident with it.

I already have an AP for HK Disneyland from our trip there earlier this year - it will still be valid which is awesome Weekends are blockout days, so I've worked it out so I'll be checking in on a Sunday, and will be able to go to the park on the Monday and most of Tuesday too if I feel like it. I'm so excited about being able to use it again!

Although I would dearly love to stay at the HK Disneyland Hotel again, I just can't justify the expense for a solo stopover. So I'll be looking at the Hollywood Hotel instead. I'll get a 15% discount with the AP which will bring the price down to a rate more comparable to other high class hotels in the area.

When I do get to the park of course I will be heading straight for Grizzly Gulch! Can't wait to ride that mine train it looks like great fun, and something a bit different too! I will also want to ride this at night to make sure I experience it fully! The other thing that will be quite high on my list is Festival of the Lion King, as this was down for maintenance when we were there last.

Other high priorities will be Mickey's Philharmagic, The Golden Mickeys, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, and Winnie the Pooh. If it's convenient I will check out Stitch Live as I didn't do that last time. And I want to get more character photos, definitely with Mulan! The other attractions are more or less the same as their counterparts in different parks, so I won't be fussed if I miss them.

I will definitely be trying to see the parade and the fireworks though, as I really enjoyed them last time! And stocking up on the cool tins of biscuits they sell there. And replacing the high res photos that I lost from our last trip when my laptop was stolen

If the cable car in Tung Chung is open I would like to do that, as it was also closed for maintenance last time. It's not far from Disneyland and I will probably look at doing this first thing on Tuesday morning. I'll go for one of the crystal cabins that have a glass floor as well! I won't go into HK city on my own as I would just be way too far out of my comfort zone and wouldn't be able to enjoy anything.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like a great plan for both Paris and HK. I can't wait for your TR.

 

[zanzibar138]

I'm taking a leaf out of PIO's book here and doing a mini TR on my Mum and Granny's trip to Melbourne.

They arrived Thursday. I met them and we all stayed in the city that night at Punthill Apartments Flinders Lane. Which reminds me, I'll have to do my TripAdvisor review on that one, which will be titled 'Fawlty Towers' lol! We went out to dinner at Federation Square.

Friday morning we met an aunty for coffee at the Queen Victoria Markets. Granny was desperate to buy a coat, so after we'd left my aunty we wandered around the clothing section for a while, but found nothing suitable and left empty handed.

After the markets we hopped on a train out to Ringwood in the eastern suburbs, where Mum and Granny would be spending the weekend at Ringwood Royale apartments (always very nice). We visited the Cadbury staff shop in Ringwood (I work there) and stocked up on some chocolate and biscuits! Then we had some afternoon tea at Eastlands shopping centre, and DH joined us for dinner at the apartment.

There is no public transport where I live, so Saturday morning Mum and Granny caught the train to the nearest station, Belgrave, and I picked them up. Granny wanted to visit Jenny's Shoppe in Monbulk, which is a relatively well-known formal wear (as in mother of the bride type outfits) shop. She finally bought herself a coat there. Then we made our way to Kuranga Native Nursery in Mt Evelyn to meet the in-laws for morning tea.

After morning tea, we made our way to Warburton at the far end of the Yarra Valley. This is where I remembered I had my camera! Warburton is a little town with the river running behind the main street. After parking the car, we went for a short stroll down main street, then along the river, and back to the car along main street.

Sunday we all went on the Puffing Billy steam train luncheon special. Puffing Billy is a historic steam train that runs from Belgrave to Gembrook via Emerald, through the temperate rainforest of the Dandenong Ranges. Mostly it is old-style open carriages, but the luncheon is served in first class fully enclosed carriages where there are tables for 2 or 4.

The luncheon train only goes as far as Emerald Lake (aka Lakeside). This trip takes about an hour and entree and mains were served on the way. You have to choose your meals from a limited menu when you book. In our party we had 2 x turkish bread with dips and 2 x vegetable soup. All four of us had the stuffed chicken for mains.

Along the way we travelled over the historic trestle bridge in Selby, then checked out the beautiful rainforest and rural views.

We had about an hour to get off the train and wander around when we got to Lakeside.

On the way back to Belgrave we were served dessert with tea and coffee. The dessert looked so appetising we all forgot to take photos! There were 2 x chocolate delights and 2 x lemon puddings, which were all delicious! I would definitely recommend the luncheon special for a treat.

After a whirlwind trip, Mum and Granny left on Monday to head back to Perth.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's a fantastic little staycation! Glad that you found time to spend with your mum and Granny. The pictures from Warburton and Puffing Billy are great. Thanks for sharing.

So. Punthill Apartments didn't quite work out? I always wondered about the chain.

 

[zanzibar138]

The Punthill Apartments were ok. The guy on the front desk on the Friday was absolutely frantic - really reminded me of Basil! And it was just us there so not sure why. He was friendly enough, just lost a bit of professionalism... All we wanted was for him to call us a taxi - would have been easier for us to just do it ourselves in the end!

The building and rooms have had recent makeovers, but it doesn't hide the fact that they're old and tired. The second bedroom only had a 3/4 height wall, which meant that when Granny got up at 5:30am, turned on the lights, made a cuppa and turned on the tv, that was when I was going to wake up too

There were a couple of other things that we never thought to ask about, not being used to travelling with 'special needs'. There were a few steps up to the front of the hotel, and no ramp. Granny was able to manage them, but the handrail was very unsteady. And the other thing was a shower over bath, which Granny managed as well.

On the plus side, the location was great, not even a 5 minute walk to Flinders St Station and Fed Square.

 

[zanzibar138]

DH and I needed a short getaway to tide us over until the next big one, so we took the furbabies and headed north for the weekend.

We headed up on Friday morning with the car packed to the brim, dogs squeezed in between, and bikes on the back. Our destination was out Echuca way - which is a historic town on the Murray River, near the border of Victoria and New South Wales. The drive would take us 3-4 hours.

We stopped at a town called Nagambie which was about half way. It's famous for its big lake.

We met SIL, her BF and their dog up there, and shared a cabin for 2 nights. SIL had arranged massages for us girls on the Friday afternoon, so we took off for that before we had a good chance to look around the cabin or the grounds. When we got back we all went for a short bike ride around the grounds, and stayed up playing ridiculous board games from DH's youth!

On Saturday we explored a bit more on the bikes. The campground was on the bank of a creek. None of the dogs really swim, but Riley loves to splash and try to catch all the droplets of water - he was having a great time!

We rode up to where the creek had spilled over the road, blocking the direct route to Echuca and meaning that whenever we went into town we had to take a half an hour detour!

Next we rode up to where there was a little country church. SIL's dog was getting too tired to keep up by that stage, so they went back to the cottage and drove to meet us with a picnic lunch.

When we got back we had a quiet rest of the afternoon and played a couple more board games.

Sunday was the day we left the cabin, and SIL was heading home. Before we left I took a walk around the grounds and took a few photos. They also had facilities to bring horses, and there were a few hanging around.

We all set off to have an early lunch in Echuca before heading our separate ways. We found a nice spot to sit next to the river, and were able to see a few paddle boats go by. The river here had broken its banks too.

Our next destination was Rutherglen, which is a very small town just a bit south of the border, about 2.5 hours east of Echuca. We took a small detour so we could cross the border into New South Wales - I've never driven across a state border before so it was a bit of a novelty!

Our next accommodation was a dog friendly B&B. Upon arrival we were greeted with freshly baked cupcakes (for both people and dogs!) and a variety of dog treats. After settling in we decided to see if we could find the rail trail for a bike ride.

We had a lovely dinner in town at a place recommended by one of our hosts.

Monday morning we packed up our things and left Rutherglen, after a delicious brekky of course! We took the scenic route home, through Mansfield which is kind of at the base of Mt Buller (one of our ski resorts). Along the way we found this awesome lookout!

And another couple of hours after that, we were wearily pulling into the driveway, looking forward to all the unpacking and washing It was a lovely weekend though and I do feel a bit refreshed

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a great getaway! That lookout looks fantastic.

 

[zanzibar138]

I was a bit excited thinking I would finally have a trip related update - I was going to buy our APs today!

I was all set to get them through CE, but when I went to the site to buy them today, there was nothing. A quick check of the boards and it is confirmed that CE are no longer offering discounted APs

Apparently they are likely to come back, but that will be once Disney have announced the price increases possibly in November. So I'll hold out for the discounted CE ones until Christmas and if they're not available by then I'll research my other options.

Unfortunately there are still no rates available for Hotel L'Elysee either, so I can't book anything Disney related yet! Patience is a virture...