Aussie Disneyland Planners come on in and lets plan together :)

[jacs1234]

I hope you all have safe, happy and sleepy flights tomorrow. I'm sending lots of sleep vibes to your kiddos. I hope you get to sit back and enjoy a couple of movies.

Don't forget, Think happy thoughts while flying

Thank you all for the quick reply. I requested the DVD from the .au site.

We got ours without a problem. Maybe your request got lost somewhere. I hope you get it soon.

 

[soak01]

Well 45 days and counting. We are so envious of all of you heading off now and can't wait.

Just after some advice regarding tours of LA and Hollywood from Anaheim. Can anyone suggest a good company to use.

 

[melbarkwith]

Well 45 days and counting. We are so envious of all of you heading off now and can't wait.

Just after some advice regarding tours of LA and Hollywood from Anaheim. Can anyone suggest a good company to use.

We have used Grayline Anaheim and I have no complaints about them. If you book directly through their website www.graylineanaheim.com it's cheaper than going through either the main Grayline site, or from an agent here.

The time will fly for you, I'm sure. It's gone by so quickly for us - just 10 days to go and I'm not even close to being ready

 

[LesleyP]

Soak01: Another tour company is viator.com. I'm not sure if they pick up from Anaheim though. I booked their Dearly Departed tour of LA, which looks like it will be fun but probably not one that you could take the kiddies on.

I booked with supershuttle from LAX to the hotel I'm staying at in Santa Monica last night and it included an 18% gratuity in the payment. Does anyone know if that means I dont have to tip the driver?

 

[rossip]

.

Just after some advice regarding tours of LA and Hollywood from Anaheim. Can anyone suggest a good company to use.

We ended up hiring a car for a few days and did the Hollywood LA tour ourselves - saved an awful lot of money and meant we could do what we want when we wanted , driving was easy ( we did have a GPS too) but apart from a small traffic jam for about 10 mins on the I5 no dramas at all . Parking in Hollywood was too easy - there is a big lot cnr Hollywood and Vine , I think it was $2.00 for 4 hours from memory and that was plenty of time . From Hollywood we toured the homes and Beverley Hills Rodeo Drive , Sunset Blvd and a bit of downtown area etc , admittedly we didnt get the audio tour you get on a bus but we saved over $150.00 so with a guide map it was simple and effective

But we have used Grayline and they're good also
you could try the Anaheim visitors centre .

http://www.anaheimvisitorcenter.net/store/commerce.cgi?product=tours

 

[keptwoman]

Queenie and anyone else who trades pins; I want to buy some for the kids for Christmas and I'm also after a 50th anniversary one for me. How to I make sure that pins I buy from ebay are legit? And are there other places I should be looking to buy new and 2nd hand pins? (other than Disney store online obviously)

 

[darren123]

Well 45 days and counting. We are so envious of all of you heading off now and can't wait.

Just after some advice regarding tours of LA and Hollywood from Anaheim. Can anyone suggest a good company to use.

On our first trip we did the tour booked through the travel agent and we will not do them again as we were rushed eg we spent half an hour at the farmer market and the same at Olvera street an hour at the Hollywood walk of fame etc when we drove through the streets to see the Actors houses etc it was look left there such and such house and if you blinked you missed it so disappointed. So on our last trip I researched the places on the internet and loaded the addresses into the GPS and away we went in a hire car there was so much we missed eg we spent 3 hours at the farmers market 2 hour in Olvera street and it took us all day to have a good look around at we wanted to see and so much cheaper really do your research on what you want to see, get a GPS ( I have a tomtom and purchased the west coast maps for it ), hire a car,pack a lunch or eat out and enjoy your day of an adventure around LA the memories will last a lifetime.

Another eg for you we wanted to go to Magic Mountain tickets from the travel agent $100+ tickets online from the Six Flag site US$29 plus US$15 parking, hire car per day was US$40 a day total for two USD$113 or AUD$124 at the time for exchange rate compared to AUD$200+ from the travel agent

 

[DizOz]

Hi - have not read this whole thread, but was wondering if anyone from Australia ever received the DVD from Disney - or their emails - or have ever received a code?

I requested a DVD in May, and never received one, have also requested newsletters but have never received those either.

I have order the DVD twice from Disney and have receievd it both times. Back in early 2008 and again 2 weeks ago. Only problem is the DVD is so old it refers to attractions coming on line in 2007. It is nothing more than a long advert and supplies very little useful information from a planning point of view.

I got more useful information from shows on the travel channel on foxtel. Last christmas they had about 6 shows back to back which I taped.

 

[queenie82]

We ended up hiring a car for a few days and did the Hollywood LA tour ourselves - saved an awful lot of money and meant we could do what we want when we wanted , driving was easy ( we did have a GPS too) but apart from a small traffic jam for about 10 mins on the I5 no dramas at all . Parking in Hollywood was too easy - there is a big lot cnr Hollywood and Vine , I think it was $2.00 for 4 hours from memory and that was plenty of time . From Hollywood we toured the homes and Beverley Hills Rodeo Drive , Sunset Blvd and a bit of downtown area etc , admittedly we didnt get the audio tour you get on a bus but we saved over $150.00 so with a guide map it was simple and effective

But we have used Grayline and they're good also
you could try the Anaheim visitors centre .

http://www.anaheimvisitorcenter.net/store/commerce.cgi?product=tours

On our first trip we did the tour booked through the travel agent and we will not do them again as we were rushed eg we spent half an hour at the farmer market and the same at Olvera street an hour at the Hollywood walk of fame etc when we drove through the streets to see the Actors houses etc it was look left there such and such house and if you blinked you missed it so disappointed. So on our last trip I researched the places on the internet and loaded the addresses into the GPS and away we went in a hire car there was so much we missed eg we spent 3 hours at the farmers market 2 hour in Olvera street and it took us all day to have a good look around at we wanted to see and so much cheaper really do your research on what you want to see, get a GPS ( I have a tomtom and purchased the west coast maps for it ), hire a car,pack a lunch or eat out and enjoy your day of an adventure around LA the memories will last a lifetime.

Another eg for you we wanted to go to Magic Mountain tickets from the travel agent $100+ tickets online from the Six Flag site US$29 plus US$15 parking, hire car per day was US$40 a day total for two USD$113 or AUD$124 at the time for exchange rate compared to AUD$200+ from the travel agent

Totally agree...drive yourself. Get to do what YOU want to do.
The freeways are fun but quite manageable.
GET A GOOD MAP (we got a really good paper one).
We're not a gps people...but if you are then it is a good idea I guess.
We drove in one night from Anaheim to the Walt Disney Concert Hall to go to a concert and it was fine.

Queenie and anyone else who trades pins; I want to buy some for the kids for Christmas and I'm also after a 50th anniversary one for me. How to I make sure that pins I buy from ebay are legit? And are there other places I should be looking to buy new and 2nd hand pins? (other than Disney store online obviously)

Like anything on ebay the reputation of the seller.
Also compare pictures on the seller's listing and the pinpics site.

I bought a bunch of pins from "thewill" on ebay. Very happy with the purchase.
I think I got some from someone else but I will have to check my records.

 

[Flea]

OMG we go sunday

I've just packed our bags - we have a few bits in the wash so they will go in tomorrow.

I can't believe that it's almost here. I've become a list maniac so hopefully I don't forget anything.

Our camera's and phones are on charge so they will be good to go

 

[Ihaveamickeymousekid]

Flea - We leave Sunday too!! Its getting so close and exciting i cannot wait

I think i am all packed, will go through it all again tomorrow night and charge the dvd player and camera batteries but then we are all good to go.

I absolutley cannot believe that the time has finally come

 

[melbarkwith]

How exciting! Have lots of fun.

 

[dave73]

Well 45 days and counting. We are so envious of all of you heading off now and can't wait.

Just after some advice regarding tours of LA and Hollywood from Anaheim. Can anyone suggest a good company to use.

If you have never been tours can be good to get an idea of the layout and what's good and what's not, depending on your interests.

The best advice we got was regarding Star Homes tours. Alot of big stars have hedges around the property for privacy so you don't see the actual home and the ones you do see are mainly past stars. Also alot of stars move house alot so it's easy to lose track of who's where, and a guide may tell you that someone lives there but in reality you are relying on their honesty as there is no way of verifying who is actually living there. The star maps can tend to be dated. It may interest some people to look at the nice homes but is something to think about. You can end up paying to see alot of big hedges.

The Anaheim Visitor Centre has a shuttle round trip to Hollywood, picks up at 11am from Anaheim and picks up from Hollywood for return to Anaheim at 7pm. Allowing a full day to do what you want. You can get a hop on/hop off bus for $30 that takes you all around LA, Beverley Hills, Santa Monica etc. It's a good way to get in there and do it at your own leisure rather cheaply if that's your thing.

A few years back there was 3 of us and for $100 each plus tip we had a private driver all day, did what we wanted and waited as long as we needed. Not cheap but will guarantee quality time is spent at places you want to see.
it's another option.

Tours do a very short stay at Hollywood Blvd, I think to ensure it doesn't get backed up with tours and people, so you usually get 20 to 30min tops. Ok for some but can make it a little hectic and usually most other attractions like Beverley Hills are drive by's which can disappoint some people.

Grayline and Starline tours seem to be the most common and popular.

Research the web and work out what thing are important for you to see and look at your options.

If it's your first time tours can be an easy and fun way to do it without the hassle and is the way I did it initially, it helped me understand the layout of LA and how spread out it is which helped me plan for future trips.

Look at the Anaheim Visitor Centre Website, I think it's open 24/7 and is 5 mins from Harbour Blvd, if your staying anywhere there. You can book online for tours or in person. I never knew it was there before and have been a good resource for tours.

 

[keptwoman]

Great advice Dave Interesting about the stars hedges, quite funny really. It's not something I'm even remotely interested in so I've never looked in to it, but it certainly makes sense.

We went to Hollywood this time, by car from DL it's pretty much freeway all the way, so it's very easy. We didn't do much there, we parked for an hour and wandered the Walk of Fame and had a look at the handprints. To be honest I was deeply underwhelmed by the whole thing, but it was my 10yos birthday and his request and he really did love it. Then we drove just around the corner to where we could get a good view of the Hollywood sign.

Last time we stayed in Santa Monica for a couple of nights, then rented a car and drove to Disney via Venice Beach, which was well worth the visit.

LAs freeway system is really good, and we find it an easy place to drive around and find our way.

 

[becpee]

A little over two weeks to go here, and very excited!
I feel like we really need this to get away from here with a crazy extended family making our lives a misery right now.
I am about to get my suitcase out and start throwing things in it
Gosh, so excited!!

We'll be hiring a car for two weeks and driving to San Diego, Vegas and back to Aneheim.

I can't wait to drive around, we love the freedom of being able to do things when we want to and not be running to a timetable as such.

 

[Ihaveamickeymousekid]

I cannot believe it is my turn to say

I am going to Disneyland tomorrow!!

We are all packed and ready to go and in 24hrs we will be on the plane..just.

Its just too exciting!

 

[melbarkwith]

I cannot believe it is my turn to say

I am going to Disneyland tomorrow!!

We are all packed and ready to go and in 24hrs we will be on the plane..just.

Its just too exciting!

Wooohooo. Have a wonderful time!

We're down to single digits here - 9 days to go

 

[Flea]

I cannot believe it is my turn to say

I am going to Disneyland tomorrow!!

We are all packed and ready to go and in 24hrs we will be on the plane..just.

Its just too exciting!

You might not see this but where are you staying?? We will be at hojos.

I've packed and repacked and will probably do another repack again in the morning haha. I ended up using some ziplock bags to organise the kids clothes and the difference in space was amazing so I grabbed another packet and sorted ours out too. We now have all our clothes for a family of 4 in 1 suitcase and still under the weight allowance. So we have 2 nearly empty bags and can buy a new luggage set over there. I've put our toiletries and the bladder for our camelbak etc in the spare bags.

The only thing we aren't sure about is the strollers. We will just place them in a rubbish sack and use packing tape to secure them. We don't need them at the airport as we have trunki's for the kids.

 

[Ihaveamickeymousekid]

Mel - Seems that you are all organised too. We are staying at Carousel Inn and Suites.
We have one bag for our daughter and hubby and i are sharing a bag. So we can have 6 and have 2 at the moment. We definatley plan on buying bags over there. Plus we have 2 carry on bags and can have 3 so there is plenty of room i guess. Who are you flying with?

My daughters bag is pretty full, but shes 2.5 so i need to overpack for nappy leaks, vomits (hopefully none), food spills etc, she may go through a few outfits a day. Whereas hubby and i are packing extremely light so our bag is half empty.

I plan on buying up big so i need all the room i can get.

Have a great trip too

 

[melbarkwith]

Mel - Seems that you are all organised too. We are staying at Carousel Inn and Suites.
We have one bag for our daughter and hubby and i are sharing a bag. So we can have 6 and have 2 at the moment. We definatley plan on buying bags over there. Plus we have 2 carry on bags and can have 3 so there is plenty of room i guess. Who are you flying with?

My daughters bag is pretty full, but shes 2.5 so i need to overpack for nappy leaks, vomits (hopefully none), food spills etc, she may go through a few outfits a day. Whereas hubby and i are packing extremely light so our bag is half empty.

I plan on buying up big so i need all the room i can get.

Have a great trip too

Organised? Not at all. I'm piling things up in a corner of our room if that counts. I'm waiting until Monday when the kids are at school to start really packing.

Our 3YO will also have a pretty full backpack. I'll be packing pull-ups for the plane since it's an evening flight, changes of clothes etc. And probably I'll 'accidentally' forget to change her out of pull-ups until we are at our room. I think it will make life a little easier...

We could have 10 suitcases, but DH would have a cow and there's just not room for that many in the car. Mum has offered to meet us at the airport if we end up with too many suitcases for the car

My 8YO DD and I have just been browsing the Old Navy website in preparation for our shopping expedition! She is after shoes, shoes and more shoes. The plan at this stage is to take 3 cases plus a duffle bag. I'm hoping that I can pack nearly everything in one suitcase.

We're flying with V Australia, what about you? I'm dreading going through customs in Sydney - Border Security is giving me nightmares (please don't let us get stuck behind one of the loonies they show on tv!)