A Trip full of Wonder and Magic and Wonderfulness! Sep '11 PTR!

[QuirkyButterfly]

DBF has said yes to September next year

More details to follow, first I have to convince him of how much time to spend there... and go on DCL at the end

The Players:

Myself and DBF, We are a couple in their 20's who live and work in Sydney Australia. We have been dating for 5 years now and for that whole time I have dreamed of going to Disney. I have been to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris in 97 but I was young and don't remember every detail anymore. I remember the special moments and that was enough to make me a Disney girl for life. DBF has never been to Disney or even left Australia so this is going to be a great time for him. He is not as crazy for Disney as me, but liked the movies growing up, I think that 5 years of me talking about this holiday has made him excited.

Can't wait to post more as I know more of the details. So excited to start planning

Hope you all join us in our magical journey.

For those of you joining who don't want the conversation in between I present...

Quick Links:

Part 1: Introductions
Part 2: Basic Itinerary
Part 3: Good News Sneak Peak
Part 4: Disney Is Booked
Part 5: A Nice Surprise In The Mail
Part 6: A Disney Movie Review
Part 7: Car Accidents Really Cut Into Planning Time
Part 8: More Fun Things In The Mail
Part 9: A Very Nice Gift From An Unexpected Source
Part 10: Booking Universal and Discovery Cove.
Part 11: Park Hopping - Help Needed!
Part 12: Where has the time gone? .
Part 13: The PLAN!
Part 14: ADR's!!
Part 15: Mary Poppins!
Part 16: Gatorland and Indy Racing.
Part 17: We are going to America

 

[ZFamily5]

Sounds like you have a fun trip in the making! Can't wait for more details!

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Wow, what a busy Christmas! I meant to update before now but there was no time in the silly season. I hope that everyones Christmas was good.

I thought that I would post some pictures of what me and the DBF look like.

Thats me!! Alice or Quirky what ever strikes your fancy.

Thats the DBF, Otherwise know as Adam (I did ask him if he wanted me to use a different name on here, I suggested Goofy or Donald but he wanted "Secret Agent Adam" no way am I going to write out all that each time.

And this is us together. Cute couple huh

So now you know what we look like, burn the image into your brain... because come next September I hope to bump into fellow disers in the parks

Something else exciting to share:

I know it's not very clear but you get the idea.

I was so excited that Disney had sent me something. The DVD itself was so corny but it did make me super excited

More on our plans later.

By the way, I have uploaded all of these photos using photobucket is this the best image hosting option? Or is there something better out there? I am looking for free options, have to save all of my $$$ for Disney now.

Everytime we go to spend some money on something we don't need I have started saying "We are making mickey cry" hopefully this guilt trips us into saving.

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Sorry about the image sizes, having trouble trying to resize them

Edit: Found out how to resize them. Took me a while but I got there.

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Sounds like you have a fun trip in the making! Can't wait for more details!

Thanks for reading I hope to have more details up soon.

If there is anyone else out there lurking please don't be shy, I would love to hear from you. The more the merrier

I don't bite... Promise!

 

[shushh]

Wow! What a special trip it will be for the both of you! Waiting to hear more.

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Wow! What a special trip it will be for the both of you! Waiting to hear more.

Thanks for posting. When I get home tonight I plan to add more. Keep posted!

 

[ZFamily5]

You got another reader besides me! You guys are such a cute couple! Can't wait for more details! Please update soon!

 

[franandaj]

You guys are a very cute couple! Looking forward to your plans evolving!

 

[amely]

Hello!

We are visting in September, 2011...arriving on the 16th, departing on the
24th! Very excited..just got back from WDW on November 12th.

Looking forward to reading along.

Amanda

 

[PrincessInOz]

Subbing in (about time)...

You make a cute couple. I use photobucket. Others like Flikr or SnapFish.

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

You got another reader besides me! You guys are such a cute couple! Can't wait for more details! Please update soon!

Yay more readers, It's nice knowing that you are not yelling into the void Updates coming real soon. Thanks.

You guys are a very cute couple! Looking forward to your plans evolving!

Thanks for joining in, I will have an update soon.

Hello!

We are visting in September, 2011...arriving on the 16th, departing on the
24th! Very excited..just got back from WDW on November 12th.

Looking forward to reading along.

Amanda

We are going to have a few crossover days then we are planing on leaving on the 19th. How was your trip in November? Do you have a TR I would love to read along. Thanks for popping by.

Subbing in (about time)...

You make a cute couple. I use photobucket. Others like Flikr or SnapFish.

Thanks for subbing in. I think I am getting the hang of photobucket, I had a bit of trouble at the start with image sizes, but watched a video tutorial and now I have it down (I think ) We will see how I go.

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

I think we have all of our dates figured out! My boss has given me the ok for the time off.

Because we are from a country on the other side of the world (Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi) and it takes so long to travel to America we are planning to spend between 3 and 4 weeks there. The time difference depends on if I can get Adam to agree on going to New York. I had wanted to go on a cruise but he shot down that idea, he says he doesn't want to be stuck on a cruise full of kids. I think we would be fine but I don't think I will be able to change his mind. New York might be doable though, I just need to figure out exactly how much money we need to save for the trip and then work out if there is anything left over.

At the moment this is the plan:

August Monday 29th Depart Sydney, and because of the time difference we will arrive in LA the same day.

Tuesday 30th Tour LA.

Wesnesday 31st Tour LA, Fly to San Francisco.

September Thursday 1st Tour San Francisco.

Friday 2nd Tour San Francisco.

Saturday 3rd Depart San Francisco/ Arrive in Orlando

Sunday 4th Universal Studios

Monday 5th Islands of Adventure (Can't wait for Harry Potter)

Tuesday 6th Sea World

Wednesday 7th Discovery Cove

Thursday 8th Gatorland in the morning (adam has a thing about large reptiles) and then arrive at Disney .

Friday 9th to Sunday 18th At Disney on a 10 day ticket, Park hopper, Water parks and more and Dining plan.

Monday 19th Depart Orlando for LA with connecting flight to Sydney.

Tuesday 20th In flight

Wednesday 21st Because of the time difference we will not arrive back in Sydney until today.

If we go to New York it will be slotted in between San Francisco and Orlando. Or if I have already purchased tickets after we decide to go at the end. I think it would be fun to go, and it's a shame to go all of that way and not see some more of America.

We still need to figure out which resort to stay at, with budget restrictions it will probably be at one of the value resorts, even though my dream was to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Not sure which parks to go to on what days, I think it will depend on when extra magic hours are so I might need to work that out closer to the day.

There are a lot of restaurants that I want to go to and at the moment it is not so much finding which ones to go to, but finding which ones to eliminate.

One thing that I want to do is get Adam a session at the Richard Petty driving experience, I know that he will love it. Any other ideas for things to so on property for those days when we are not in the parks?? Help would be appreciated.

I would also love suggestions where to stay for the 5 nights in Orlando before we go to Disney, Somewhere close to Universal and inexpensive would be great.

More updates soon.

Thanks to those following along.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Your plans sound great; although it looks like you're not planning on hitting DisneyLand whilst in LA. Is there anything particular you wanted to see in LA? If not, it might be worth considering just flying straight into San Francisco and doing that city in depth.

If you had the time and could convince DBF, an alternative to going to NYC could be spending some time in Napa Valley and going to Yosemite National park. Both are accessible from San Francisco.

I hit Harry Potter/IoA whilst staying at WDW. If you want to stay near the Universal area, have you looked into staying on-site at a Universal hotel? Sometimes they offer specials, same as Disney. The on-site perks may make it worthwhile.

If you keep an eye out on the specials at WDW, maybe you'd be able to stay at your dream resort; or try one of the Moderates...particularly if free dining is still offered.

I've had two lots of 10 day visits to WDW. Both times, I've spent all days at the parks; despite planning not to. If you're staying on-site, it makes it easy to hit the park in the morning and come back to the resort to chill out in the hot afternoons. And then head back to the park in the evening.

Richard Petty sounds like a lot of fun and there is also the water parks, miniGolf, Golf, DTD and the BoardWalk. Don't forget shopping!

Have fun planning!

 

[PrincessInOz]

QB - Did you see the room only discounts posted? It's 30% saving off a mod or AKL during your September travel dates.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/discounts-resorts.htm#save40

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

Your plans sound great; although it looks like you're not planning on hitting DisneyLand whilst in LA. Is there anything particular you wanted to see in LA? If not, it might be worth considering just flying straight into San Francisco and doing that city in depth.

If you had the time and could convince DBF, an alternative to going to NYC could be spending some time in Napa Valley and going to Yosemite National park. Both are accessible from San Francisco.

I hit Harry Potter/IoA whilst staying at WDW. If you want to stay near the Universal area, have you looked into staying on-site at a Universal hotel? Sometimes they offer specials, same as Disney. The on-site perks may make it worthwhile.

If you keep an eye out on the specials at WDW, maybe you'd be able to stay at your dream resort; or try one of the Moderates...particularly if free dining is still offered.

I've had two lots of 10 day visits to WDW. Both times, I've spent all days at the parks; despite planning not to. If you're staying on-site, it makes it easy to hit the park in the morning and come back to the resort to chill out in the hot afternoons. And then head back to the park in the evening.

Richard Petty sounds like a lot of fun and there is also the water parks, miniGolf, Golf, DTD and the BoardWalk. Don't forget shopping!

Have fun planning!

I would love love LOVE to go to DL while in LA but Adam doesn't quite agree don't know why. In LA we want to see Manns Chinese Theatre, maybe do a star tour see the Hollywood sign. I don't know how much time you need in LA to do sightseeing if you are not going to any parks. I have been to Yosemite when I was young and loved it, maybe that might be a good idea to go to. I wouldn't mind staying at a universal resort, I am only worried about the price. When you did you 10 day lots at the park, did you manage to see everything you wanted to? I was planning on spending a few rest days checking out the other resorts, going to the water parks and DTD.

QB - Did you see the room only discounts posted? It's 30% saving off a mod or AKL during your September travel dates.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/discounts-resorts.htm#save40

Hey thanks for finding this for me, this could help out a lot in getting to the resort I want, even if we split the time between Value and Delux to spread the cost around. Do you know if it works with Magic your way packages or is it room only?

 

[PrincessInOz]

I've done two lots of 10 day stays. I generally have a plan for things that I want to see and do; but when I get there, I stay as flexible as I can because sometimes unexpected bonus things happen. I pretty much get to do everything on my list...but then my family and I travel hard and my DS is a great commando. With just the two of you, you should be able to cover a lot of territory; if you plan which rides at which parks and work out fast passes.

Discount works on room only, not the packages. I split my stay in May between a Mod and Deluxe. My PTR and TR from the May trip does cover most of my thoughts and rants during that time (links are in the siggie below. I also have some photos of WWoHP and IoA in my October TR, if you wanna check it out... ).
If you are using an American TA to book your vacay, they will organise the room only discount and then add on the MYW tix and dining package. I split 5/5 between the two resorts. The only bummer is that in order to get the dining package with both bookings, you will need to buy two lots of MYW tix; which then becomes quite uneconomical. I ran the "Disney Fuzzy Maths (DFM)" for all options with my TA and we worked out that we were better off linking the 10 day park hopper tix on the first booking and purchasing the 5 night dining plan (I chose QS) for that part of the stay. When we changed resorts, we kept our original KTTW from the first resort as our park tix were on those cards and then bought food OOP.
If I had known that I was going to be back at WDW in October, I would have purchase an Annual Pass...but then crystal ball gazing and I have never seen eye to eye.

 

[franandaj]

I think it's funny that you talk about wanting to see America and your plans besides WDW are LA, SF, and NYC. I was going to suggest that instead of flying from LA to SF to drive up Highway 101. We just made that drive last week and I had forgotten how beautiful the country side of California is. There are some stunning views of the ocean near Carpenteria and some of the hills/mountains are incredible. However, I read on Princess's report that you don't want to drive in America.

You'll have a heck of a time getting around LA without a car, but I guess people do it somehow. It will be pretty hot when you're here. I don't know how hot it is in Sydney, but usually LA is very hot in August. Whether two days is enough time is hard to say.

Getting around without a car will take a lot of time, our public transport is spotty, so make sure your hotel is near a Metro stop. You can get to Hollywood Blvd and the Chinese Theater via Metro. There are all kinds of things to do in LA, even people who live in the area haven't done them all. Personally I wouldn't reccomend a trip to stars homes because pretty much all you're doing is looking at people's gates. One tour that sounds interesting is a tour of where famous people died, you ride in a hearse and you get to see more places that are not private and gated off.

There's the Getty Museum, the Santa Monica Pier, the Queen Mary, the Grove/Farmer's Market, Hollywood Walk of Fame and none of those are anywhere near each other! I don't think there are any tours of the Hollywood sign, you can see it from almost anywhere in Hollywood, but the land around it is restricted.

I would reccomend staying onsite at Universal Orlando, but it may be more than you want to spend. They do give you FOTL (front of the line) privleges for staying onsite, you show your room key and you don't have to wait.

As far as Disney, I have never stayed at a value resort, however, I can understand the need to. As a DVC member I won't have to do it, but I can't imagine staying at anything below a moderate. We spend a bit of time in the room because of my partner's disabilities. If you just use the room as a place to sleep than it might be OK, but we spend a good amount of time in the room/resort so it needs to be comfortable and well appointed.

The Animal Kingdom lodge is an awesome place to stay, I love having the animals outside the balcony. Split stays are my favorite because you get two different perspectives on WDW. If you do a value and deluxe, be sure you stay at the value first so you are thrilled with the upgrade for your second part of the stay.

 

[QuirkyButterfly]

PrincessInOz which American TA did you use? I was thinking of going with Dreams Unlimited. I think I will need the help working out ADR's, don't fancy making them on my own. Is it ok to get them to try out different quote combinations for me, I have so many different scenarios in my head, or is it considered rude to use up their time like that. Don't want a TA that is grumpy with me.

I think it's funny that you talk about wanting to see America and your plans besides WDW are LA, SF, and NYC. I was going to suggest that instead of flying from LA to SF to drive up Highway 101. We just made that drive last week and I had forgotten how beautiful the country side of California is. There are some stunning views of the ocean near Carpenteria and some of the hills/mountains are incredible. However, I read on Princess's report that you don't want to drive in America.

You'll have a heck of a time getting around LA without a car, but I guess people do it somehow. It will be pretty hot when you're here. I don't know how hot it is in Sydney, but usually LA is very hot in August. Whether two days is enough time is hard to say.

Getting around without a car will take a lot of time, our public transport is spotty, so make sure your hotel is near a Metro stop. You can get to Hollywood Blvd and the Chinese Theater via Metro. There are all kinds of things to do in LA, even people who live in the area haven't done them all. Personally I wouldn't reccomend a trip to stars homes because pretty much all you're doing is looking at people's gates. One tour that sounds interesting is a tour of where famous people died, you ride in a hearse and you get to see more places that are not private and gated off.

There's the Getty Museum, the Santa Monica Pier, the Queen Mary, the Grove/Farmer's Market, Hollywood Walk of Fame and none of those are anywhere near each other! I don't think there are any tours of the Hollywood sign, you can see it from almost anywhere in Hollywood, but the land around it is restricted.

I would reccomend staying onsite at Universal Orlando, but it may be more than you want to spend. They do give you FOTL (front of the line) privleges for staying onsite, you show your room key and you don't have to wait.

As far as Disney, I have never stayed at a value resort, however, I can understand the need to. As a DVC member I won't have to do it, but I can't imagine staying at anything below a moderate. We spend a bit of time in the room because of my partner's disabilities. If you just use the room as a place to sleep than it might be OK, but we spend a good amount of time in the room/resort so it needs to be comfortable and well appointed.

The Animal Kingdom lodge is an awesome place to stay, I love having the animals outside the balcony. Split stays are my favorite because you get two different perspectives on WDW. If you do a value and deluxe, be sure you stay at the value first so you are thrilled with the upgrade for your second part of the stay.

That was pretty ignorant of me to assume that seeing more of America, meant spending a few days in major cities. I know I get frustrated when people think that Australia is just Sydney, The Barrier Reef and Uluru. I would love to spend a month in America driving across country and seeing the sights. Maybe that might be our next holiday, of course I would actually need to *drive*, big point that .

Thanks for the info on the sights in LA, I am obviously going to have to look a little closer at what is possible for us.

I read somewhere that if I plan on staying at Universal for 4 nights or so, it is cheaper to buy an annual pass, because the room discounts you get means it pay for itself. Do you know if this is true? that might be my way of staying there without breaking the bank. Front of line privileges would be great, for some of the rides though I can use single rider line (Adam isn't so fond of thrill rides, I can't get enough of them).

If I do split stay I will make sure that AKL is last so I have something to look forward to.

Thanks for all of the info, everyone is being so kind and helpful

 

[franandaj]

That was pretty ignorant of me to assume that seeing more of America, meant spending a few days in major cities. I know I get frustrated when people think that Australia is just Sydney, The Barrier Reef and Uluru. I would love to spend a month in America driving across country and seeing the sights. Maybe that might be our next holiday, of course I would actually need to *drive*, big point that .

Thanks for the info on the sights in LA, I am obviously going to have to look a little closer at what is possible for us.

I read somewhere that if I plan on staying at Universal for 4 nights or so, it is cheaper to buy an annual pass, because the room discounts you get means it pay for itself. Do you know if this is true? that might be my way of staying there without breaking the bank. Front of line privileges would be great, for some of the rides though I can use single rider line (Adam isn't so fond of thrill rides, I can't get enough of them).

If I do split stay I will make sure that AKL is last so I have something to look forward to.

Thanks for all of the info, everyone is being so kind and helpful

Obviously one can't tour America even in 3-4 weeks! I've hardly been to most of America and I live here! The only thing I would suggest is doing some research and perhaps driving some. It's not that bad and there are some really beautiful sights just in California. The cities are fun, but very limited, there are so many natural wonders. Obviously you're not going to drive to Utah or Arizona to see the wonderful caverns, or to the Rockies for the Sierra Nevada, but the CA Coast is quite easy and accessible. Besides once you are on the highway, you don't have to worry about being on the wrong side of the road, most of the highways have easy access. You could stop to see a Mission, a winery, Solvang, there are so many neat things off the 101.

I just booked my room for Universal tonight and the rate was $249 per night. I think that's more than you want to stay and that was at the cheapest Universal resort. I don't stay there because it is the cheapest, well maybe, but even so I'd still stay here because I like the restaurant choices! But in addition to being real close, we get FOTL privledges and that is important because we plan on only one day for WWoHP, so we'll brave the time change and get up at 4AM our time to go in early and check out the attraction. Then we'll go back to the resort and relax before eating at Emerils. I love his restaurant, we ate there last time and it was soooooo good! Then we'll head to Disney the next morning.