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

[melbarkwith]

As for travelling in Sept, we are leaving Sept10 one week into the finals, so we will have to watch the CATS win the Grand Final somewhere in Anaheim. Hope the doggies get there as well.

Don't worry yourself about that, the Swans are going to win the grand final

Mel

 

[keptwoman]

Hmmm, I kind of understand now. Although I wouldn't have a clue as to how to look this up on the airline websites. Would just be ever so grateful if you wouldn't mind having a look for me. Starting city is boring old Canberra

Sure, I'll see what I can find for you. I have guests arriving any minute, but I'll take a look for you later this afternoon.

 

[marvel]

Hey, I grew up in Geelong myself !!

I will be happy if the swans just beat Collingwood.

 

[lovintheland]

Hi, just wanted to say I have a Entertainment Card which a lovely lady from Tripadivisor kindly sent to me from the US, which I believe is current until November if anybody would like it. We had already booked HoJo's for about $160 a night and then when I got the entertainment card I emailed HoJo's back and said I wanted the entertainment card rate and they worked it out as $79 per night for the premium disney view room. BTW if you are only after the standard room you will get it for $59 per night.

Just PM me and I can send to you. Happy to return the favour and help someone else out.

 

[melbarkwith]

I will be happy if the swans just beat Collingwood.

Me too! DH and DD6 are mad Collingwood supporters

 

[gogo65]

Hi, just wanted to say I have a Entertainment Card which a lovely lady from Tripadivisor kindly sent to me from the US, which I believe is current until November if anybody would like it. We had already booked HoJo's for about $160 a night and then when I got the entertainment card I emailed HoJo's back and said I wanted the entertainment card rate and they worked it out as $79 per night for the premium disney view room. BTW if you are only after the standard room you will get it for $59 per night.

Just PM me and I can send to you. Happy to return the favour and help someone else out.

I do remember reading on the Hojo board that they will take any entertainment card including the Australian ones, so if you have an aussie one you will be able to get the discounted rate.

 

[Jade+3]

Yep, Hojo take the Australian Entertainment Card. We used it last trip, and will be using it again in November.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Ummmmm, so it seems we are definitely going to the US..............

because last night we bought.................

tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey on 8th October



So we have no flights and no accom but we have Springsteen tickets so all is right with the world (or so my husband says)

We sat down last night over far too many champagnes and discussed what we really wanted to see, went over the DL park hours, discussed crowd levels for the Gay Days weekend and the following weekend which is Columbus Day weekend and apparently really busy there too. I really didn't want to go to DL at the end of our trip but DH felt it would be the most brilliant way to round the whole thing off, and the parks hours are longer at the end and using last years schedule as a guide, it looks like they add some Monday's and Thursdays into the fireworks schedule so this is what we have finally decided for an intinerary:-

Monday 28 Sept - Arrive LA, stay 3 nights

Thursday 1st Oct - fly to San Fran, stay 3 nights

Sunday 4th Oct - fly to Vegas, stay for 3 nights

Wednesday 7th Oct - fly to New York, 5 nights, Springsteen on Thursday 8th

Monday 12th October - fly to LA, arrive DL, because most of this day will be taken up with flying (I think NY is around 6 hours) and then getting from the airport to DL, I told DH I wanted to add an extra night to the DL leg of the trip as I wanted 5 full days at the park, however it looks like most of the flights out of LA to Oz leave at 11.30pm ish so I think we might just buy an additional day on our hopper and have DLH mind our bags while we enjoy the park until the arvo, then head to the airport (what do you think?)

Fly home Saturday 17th, land in Australia Monday 19th

Okay how does all of that sound? I know it appears like alot of jumping around and may cost more (hopefully not crazy amounts more).

I would love your thoughts

 

[kylieh]

tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey on 8th October

Oooh, sounds so good. Congrats on going. I am so so so jealous. I like your itinerary - I it myself for next year's trip.

 

[maryr1oz]

I think your plan sounds great!

Do you think you would feel comfortable driving in the US? As it would probably take as much time as airport shuttles/check in/flight time between LA, Vegas and San Francisco. The traffic in LA is bad, but the drives between all these cities are really fun in themselves as the scenery is so much different to here in Oz.

Also, the flight from NYC to LA is about 6 hours, but you win with the time difference and gain 3? hours i think.

You could also combine your LA and Anaheim time together - Anaheim has cheaper hotels and will feel safer for the family. You can do some great day tours around Hollywood and the LA city area from Anaheim and there is lot's of choice. LA city is not all that interesting for 3 days and Hollywood is fun but the kids might be a little freaked by the interesting people and the 'dirty feel' if you headed too far away from the tourist hot spots. I know i was as a 20 year old female travelling there on my own the first time!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I think your plan sounds great!

Do you think you would feel comfortable driving in the US? As it would probably take as much time as airport shuttles/check in/flight time between LA, Vegas and San Francisco. The traffic in LA is bad, but the drives between all these cities are really fun in themselves as the scenery is so much different to here in Oz.

Also, the flight from NYC to LA is about 6 hours, but you win with the time difference and gain 3? hours i think.

You could also combine your LA and Anaheim time together - Anaheim has cheaper hotels and will feel safer for the family. You can do some great day tours around Hollywood and the LA city area from Anaheim and there is lot's of choice. LA city is not all that interesting for 3 days and Hollywood is fun but the kids might be a little freaked by the interesting people and the 'dirty feel' if you headed too far away from the tourist hot spots. I know i was as a 20 year old female travelling there on my own the first time!

Mary, we had tossed around the idea of doing some driving but we feel that it would make us very nervous so for this first trip we have decided to fly, but I totally agree, driving does give you more sightseeing so hopefully we can try it on another trip.

We've split the LA/Anaheim parts of the trip because we thought the end of our trip dates were better for DL hours and fireworks etc. It definitely would've been better to do them together.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Okay so I have a couple more questions that some of you previous travellers might be able to help with:-

Should we stay in the heart of LA for the 3 nights, agent has given a good price for the Wilshire Grand Los Angeles, or should we stay at Santa Monica and travel into LA each day?

In San Fran, should we stay in the city, have been suggested somewhere around Union Square? or would it be nicer to stay at Fisherman's Wharf?

I really would love your opinions on these two things as I am torn, I see pros and cons with both but since I actually have never been I would prefer to hear from people who have.

Thanks everyone.

 

[aussietravellers]

So we have no flights and no accom but we have Springsteen tickets so all is right with the world (or so my husband says)

Classic!

 

[maryr1oz]

Gotcha with the dates Also with the driving, we didn't do it until our second trip and even then it was very nerve wracking sometimes :

Santa Monica is a really nice area, and has a good night life whereas downtown LA gets kinda seedy after all the office workers have gone home for the night.

We are booked in to stay in the Fisherman's Wharf area of San Fran this trip as i have always been so envious of not staying there in the past. There are heaps of restaurants and shops there - in the summer it has a very good feel. Union Sq is nice too, the cable car goes through and it's close to Chinatown and the Business area. Both areas are good for different things!

 

[aussiegirls]

Ms Shuttergirl, I researched endlessley for our stay in LA. The Wiltshire Grand was a decent price, but if I remember correctly, after reading zillions of reviews (was a bit anal about reading reviews actually) I think it might be in a bit of a scary area.

Seeing as you will be with your DH it might not bother you. I think that it is not easy to find a good hotel at a decent price that is not in a seedy area because apparently there are many, many seedy areas.

Personally I wanted to be somewhere that I could go outside at night and not be accosted by strange sorts (or murderers ) So maybe just check out the area the hotels are in as well as the actual hotel themselves. Just my 2c worth!!!

BTW your holiday sounds so exciting, I am excited for you (and me!!!!!)

xxxx

 

[marvel]

Ok here's my 2c worth. With SF we stayed at the fishermans wharf area and prefer that to the city area. It was nice down there, can go to Alcatraz, eat chowder, check out the pier and then catch the trolley to the city very easily. If you can, do the trolley during the day and the night it's lots of fun and very different.

We are staying in LA ourselves and I have been researching like mad with hotels in LA. I think we decided not to get a car in LA due to the high parking costs, so will be staying in the Hollywood area. Renaissance has great reviews but was too dear for us $340AUD without the parking and they could not confirm 2 double beds, so looks like we are going for Holiday Inn Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's in the top 10 on tripadvisor and you can catch the rail to Universal as well as Buses if you need to and can walk to the walk of fame. If you are looking to do Hollywood and Universal during your LA stay rather than Anaheim stay, it makes sense to stay in the Hollywood area rather than Santa Monica as its a longer trip with public transport.

If possible, I would look at doing San Fran, then going to NY and finishing off with Vegas then LA and Anaheim together, if you want to change hotels when in LA between Anaheim and LA itself, it will be easier too. But alot will depend on flight connections etc. Personally I would drive from Vegas to LA, 3-4hrs really easy drive, but of course that depends if you definetly don't want to drive at all.

 

[Jade+3]

Another vote for Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco.

Have you considered flying into San Francisco instead of LA, then you could combine Anaheim and LA at the end.

 

[Sharkmeister]

Ms Shuttergirl, Don't have any thoughts to your accomodation (it's been a few years since we've done LA and even longer since SF) but I thought I'd let you know our starting city is Canberra too.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Ok here's my 2c worth. With SF we stayed at the fishermans wharf area and prefer that to the city area. It was nice down there, can go to Alcatraz, eat chowder, check out the pier and then catch the trolley to the city very easily. If you can, do the trolley during the day and the night it's lots of fun and very different.

We are staying in LA ourselves and I have been researching like mad with hotels in LA. I think we decided not to get a car in LA due to the high parking costs, so will be staying in the Hollywood area. Renaissance has great reviews but was too dear for us $340AUD without the parking and they could not confirm 2 double beds, so looks like we are going for Holiday Inn Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's in the top 10 on tripadvisor and you can catch the rail to Universal as well as Buses if you need to and can walk to the walk of fame. If you are looking to do Hollywood and Universal during your LA stay rather than Anaheim stay, it makes sense to stay in the Hollywood area rather than Santa Monica as its a longer trip with public transport.

If possible, I would look at doing San Fran, then going to NY and finishing off with Vegas then LA and Anaheim together, if you want to change hotels when in LA between Anaheim and LA itself, it will be easier too. But alot will depend on flight connections etc. Personally I would drive from Vegas to LA, 3-4hrs really easy drive, but of course that depends if you definetly don't want to drive at all.

Marvel that Holiday Inn looks good. It worries me that it is only 2 1/2 stars though. It's so hard to decide on these things isn't it

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Ms Shuttergirl, Don't have any thoughts to your accomodation (it's been a few years since we've done LA and even longer since SF) but I thought I'd let you know our starting city is Canberra too.

Well it's good to meet another Canberran, although I'm really a Victorian but after 10 years I guess I can say I'm Canberran, hehe