Trip Report A naive Aussie's PTR

[PrincessInOz]

Hope you get the openings soon so you can book. Nothing settles the mind more than having things locked in.

 

[zanzibar138]

Finally... some trip related news!

I've just booked in our accommodation for Innsbruck, at the Basic Hotel

Also, I have a birthday coming up, and people have been buying me travel related items DH got me a good coat which will do me for nicer occasions like going out for dinner, and also some thermal leggings.

Yesterday MIL and SIL took me outlet shopping and I ended up with this 3 in 1 parka for half price (well, mine is blue on the outside, but it's a similar design).

There's an insulated layer on the inside, and a raincoat layer on the outside, and they zip together so you can wear the both together or separately. Pretty clever I thought!

Apparently one of my aunts has just transferred some money to my account, so I plan to buy a couple more thermal items with that.

Mum and Dad got me some running stuff, which is related to the next trip I'm planning!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Looks great!


Glad to see that you've gotten Innsbruck accommodation sorted out too.

 

[zanzibar138]

Lock it in Eddie! (For those unfamiliar with this expression, it refers to the Aussie version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire).

I have done my second booking - Monopol Lucerne. Unfortunately the prices have all gone up since I did my initial research, but luckily Mum is happy to cover slightly more than 2/3 of the cost for her and Dad as we were all very happy with these hotels when we picked them out and she doesn't want to get 'cheap' ones.

Also had an interesting discovery yesterday. Thought I'd have to call HK to make my booking for that part of the trip, but I found a Magic Access Pass members site where you can make bookings using your discount Also found that the hotel (assuming no massive price rises between now and when the rates for the new year are released) is going to be a bit cheaper than I was expecting! Gotta love when that happens!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lock it in Eddie! (For those unfamiliar with this expression, it refers to the Aussie version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire).

I have done my second booking - Monopol Lucerne. Unfortunately the prices have all gone up since I did my initial research, but luckily Mum is happy to cover slightly more than 2/3 of the cost for her and Dad as we were all very happy with these hotels when we picked them out and she doesn't want to get 'cheap' ones.

Also had an interesting discovery yesterday. Thought I'd have to call HK to make my booking for that part of the trip, but I found a Magic Access Pass members site where you can make bookings using your discount Also found that the hotel (assuming no massive price rises between now and when the rates for the new year are released) is going to be a bit cheaper than I was expecting! Gotta love when that happens!

Sounds like things are coming together for you.

 

[zanzibar138]

We've now got all our Europe accommodation booked except for Disney We ended up changing hotels for Paris because we were getting lousy customer service from Novotel. Now we're staying at Terminus Lyon, which has better reviews on TripAdvisor anyway

Just gotta hang out for the rates to be released for Hotel L'Elysee and the Hollywood Hotel at HK Disneyland now! And of course for the APs to come back to CE.

 

[Alysa]

I spent my honeymoon in Paris and the French countryside and loved every moment. We never made it to DLP though so looking forward to reading about your trip. While you are in Paris you'll feel like a Parisienne at that time of year with no lineups and there is great shopping, wonderful food and some of the most amazing museums in the world for days when the weather is bad. Even the gardens will still be pretty. Enjoy!

 

[zanzibar138]

Thanks for the advice Alysa, and welcome aboard!

 

[zanzibar138]

Exciting news! Hotel L'Elysee is booked

After months of checking Expedia every few days to see if it's available yet, I finally found it today, and it was on special

Ironically, the Disney accommodation has turned out to be by far the cheapest of the whole trip

 

[PrincessInOz]

Congrats....and what a bonus regarding the Expedia special.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Are you holding out on the AP's from CEM for a reason as you've got the offer still on until tomorrow 12.00 (midnight) French time on Fantasy AP's - 119€ + 50 cts to print off the etickets

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2987829


You also have the AP's back from the 1st of October at Promoparcs - you can order now and they will send them out after the 1st - you've got a joining fee and postage of course like from CEM

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2994579

Tbh if you don't have children under 7 when you've added on the joining fee and the postage the difference is that much from buying them on the gate

 

[zanzibar138]

Oh I didn't see that! I don't really mind where we get the tickets from, CE was just the only place I'd heard of that sold them cheaper.

Thanks so much for pointing out those links! Unfortunately though the flash sale ones won't work for us if you need to exchange them by the end of November

Will definitely look at the ones from Promoparcs though - we'll be able to exchange them before 1st March

I'd prefer to get the tickets before we go, and just have to exchange for the proper passes when we get there.

 

[zanzibar138]

So I've just signed up for a PromoParcs account! I can't deny it's slightly discomforting buying something in another language (although I did have google translate to help me), but I think I did it right. I got an email confirmation of my 'order' and payment, so fingers crossed!

Apparently I will get another email in a couple of hours when my account is ready to use, so I'll probably sign in again tomorrow to buy the actual tickets. How exciting! Then I'll be an annual passholder for TWO Disney parks

 

[Carrie_Cat]

So I've just signed up for a PromoParcs account! I can't deny it's slightly discomforting buying something in another language (although I did have google translate to help me), but I think I did it right. I got an email confirmation of my 'order' and payment, so fingers crossed!

Apparently I will get another email in a couple of hours when my account is ready to use, so I'll probably sign in again tomorrow to buy the actual tickets. How exciting! Then I'll be an annual passholder for TWO Disney parks

If you need any help with translating just pm me if you don't want it out on the public forum

 

[PrincessInOz]

How exciting! A double AP holder.....and neither one to a US park.

 

[zanzibar138]

If you need any help with translating just pm me if you don't want it out on the public forum

Thanks very much Carrie I appreciate the offer and will definitely take you up on it if I get stuck

How exciting! A double AP holder.....and neither one to a US park.

Yeah pretty excited about the double AP! I hadn't really thought about the fact that they're both for non US parks - I'll be a well-travelled Disney fanatic

 

[zanzibar138]

Ok now I'm annoyed Looks like the adult Fantasy APs are no longer available at PromoParcs. I guess I should have double-checked before I joined, but I thought since they weren't even available until 1st October there wouldn't be a problem. And the link still worked as well, it just came up with an invalid message when I tried to purchase them.

I think I'm just not meant to have these tickets

Carrie, do you think PromoParcs will have them again? Since I've paid the joining fee now, I would prefer to still get the tickets through them eventually.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's really annoying. Sorry that the 'system' worked out that way.

 

[zanzibar138]

So it's been a while since I've updated this thread. Basically since I was last here my work situation changed and we've had some unexpected expenses, and we haven't really had the money to do any more bookings/purchases for the trip. So here's a recap of what I've got locked in so far:

Done - Booked and Paid For
Flights (Qantas)
Passport - existing one has plenty of time left before expiry and I know where it is lol!
Accommodation Paris (Terminus Lyon)
Accommodation Innsbruck (Basic Hotel)
Accommodation Lucerne (Hotel Monopol)
Accommodation Montreux (Best Western)
Accommodation Disneyland (Hotel L'Elysee)

Still Need to Book
Accommodation HK - hasn't been available for booking yet, but it looks like I'll be going for a park view room at the Hollywood Hotel
Train tickets - have been waiting for the 90 day window for them to become available
Disneyland tickets - no excuses lol!
Mum's special surprise
Pre-purchased tickets for Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame - still need to investigate this more
Fat Tire Versailles tour if we decide to do it

I have also been looking a bit more into Paris and what we might do on our non-Disney days. There are lots of interesting looking things to do and see, but my absolute must-do items are the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral. I'll also be booking a surprise for Mum as a birthday present, but I don't want to go too much into that in case she decides to read this PTR We all like the sound of the Fat Tire tour to Versailles, and are wondering if we can fit this in.

We won't have a whole lot of time in Paris, only one full day really. We're not counting on really 'doing' anything when we first arrive in Paris as we will no doubt be absolutely wrecked after our long flights and will probably just keep fairly close to the hotel. The next day we'll be leaving early on the train for Innsbruck.

After our quick tour of Austria and Switzerland, we'll plan to arrive back in Paris before lunch so we'll have the whole afternoon available to us. We'll have an hour before sunset for Mum's special experience, and will definitely be able to fit in the Eiffel Tower as well, and we might even try to fit in a short river cruise. We may not have enough time to Notre Dame that day. The next day will be our only chance to do the bike tour to Versailles if we decide we want to go ahead with it, so it may be that whole day taken up. The next morning we are due to transfer out to Val d'Europe, and have our first Disneyland day. But if we haven't had a chance to see Notre Dame by then, we'll be able to do that first thing in the morning before we go. Since we'll have 5 days at Disneyland, I don't mind if we're not there first thing on Day 1

 

[zanzibar138]

Updated list...

Done - Booked and Paid For
Flights (Qantas)
Passport - existing one has plenty of time left before expiry and I know where it is lol!
Accommodation Paris (Terminus Lyon)
Accommodation Innsbruck (Basic Hotel)
Accommodation Lucerne (Hotel Monopol)
Accommodation Montreux (Best Western)
Accommodation Disneyland (Hotel L'Elysee)
Train tickets (most of them)
Mum's special surprise


Still Need to Book
Accommodation HK - will have to call, online booking not working
Train tickets for Zurich to Lucerne - not available yet
Disneyland tickets - Promoparcs won't send to my address
Pre-purchased tickets for Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame - still need to investigate this more
Fat Tire Versailles tour if we decide to do it

Yes, that's right, I booked our train tickets I know it's a little over (under ) the 90 day mark now, but I didn't think it would be a big problem seeming to be a quiet time of year. WRONG! By the time I looked at the train timetables on Saturday, most of the cheap fares had gone and only the flexi fares were left I looked at getting a Eurail pass, but it wasn't going to let me make reservations on any of the trains we needed, so I figured that wouldn't be much good!

So anyway, I did up a spreadsheet with the dates, times, connections, and fares for 1st and 2nd class and sent it to my parents. And by the time we all confirmed which fares we wanted, some of them had gone up again Lesson learned - next time I will set a reminder for myself right at 90 days.

So after the massive purchase of the train tickets (which ended up to be quite expensive as my parents were keen on going 1st class), I decided I may as well spend some more money and get our APs. WRONG! Tried to purchase them on Promoparcs and apparently they now won't send to my address (after being able to a couple of months ago). Hopefully someone will be able to help me out with some suggestions there - I put a thread on the main Paris forum.

Then I thought maybe I would try my HK accommodation. WRONG! Apparently even though there is an AP website now where you can book accommodation online with the AP rate, it doesn't work for me for some reason. You can't tell me there are no rooms available at either hotel from now until March lol! So looks like I will have to call them to book after all.

Finally, I had some luck when I thought I may as well go ahead and book Mum's surprise... although having said that, I'm not quite there yet, they still need to send a confirmation email. But I got a surprise when I was booking it (through Viator) and got asked if I was a frequent flyer member. Qantas and Virgin weren't there of course, so I decided to sign up for the American Airlines program - hey if there's points going, may as well sign up and get them Not sure how many points I'll get, will be a surprise in a couple of weeks time.