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

[Czardas]

Oh yeah, good to the see the dollar back up over 80c! Was getting a bit worried when it dropped under 77c!!

ssshhh Marvel, I figure when I paid attention to it, it nose dived and when I ignored it up it went.............

 

[keptwoman]

LOL I've stopped watching the exchange rates. Not good for my blood pressure! Although if the Dis tickets are going up soon maybe I'd better get off my butt and book them.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Come on Aussies, we must have more stuff to talk about.

I got my ANZ travel card yesterday which was great because the dollar was backup to .81c. It's been hovering at .79 for a while so I was straight in there yesterday to get it done. I need to throw alot more money on there yet, but just wanted to get it organised. I was blown away by how quickly the teller arranged it all, very impressive. I was out the door in under 10 minutes.

On another note, it seems my local branch only keeps $100 notes in US dollars which is bizarre to me. I don't want big notes, I want a mixture of smaller notes as well. I was thinking about taking $500US in cash with me. Any ideas of what a good mixture of notes would be???

 

[marvel]

From what I can tell it is linking really strongly to the stock market, so if that keeps going up we might get to over 85c. But anything over 80 is great.

I took $200 in singles last time, and put them separately in bags and then $500, a mix of 50s 20s and 10s.

I might take more cash this time, i don't see it as risky, I always put our passports and money in the room safe and only carry a few hundred at any time in a money clip. thats why i actually like the US money, folds nicely into a money clip and the ones from the banks here are always fresh and crisp.

It is hard to get smaller denominations here, the post office wont let you choose at all. I used to work at the airport and always ask for as many 1s and small notes whenever possible.

 

[melbarkwith]

On another note, it seems my local branch only keeps $100 notes in US dollars which is bizarre to me. I don't want big notes, I want a mixture of smaller notes as well. I was thinking about taking $500US in cash with me. Any ideas of what a good mixture of notes would be???

You can order foreign currency online through Westpac with 0% commission. From memory, you select what sort of mixture of notes you'd like small/large/mixed, BPAY for the currency and then go and collect it at your closest branch.

I think last time we went I ordered $100 of small notes just to get us going.

Melissa

(we're down to 97 days to go!!)

 

[marvel]

I will have to check it out, good tip.

hey, anyone having hire car issues. I booked mine with national, price was ok, but adding the BPS is going to be an extra $170US, $69 per week !!

I am thinking of just buying one from here. Last time it cost me $50US for all 3 weeks of car hire, from NY.

 

[keptwoman]

Do you mean adding the GPS?
I looked at the GPS cost and decided we will survive with maps. I'm going to plug our whole route into Google Maps before we go and print out the directions. We've always coped before, so I guess we will manage.
I did see a GPS for sale in QLD with US maps that someone had bought for their US trip. It went for more than I was prepared to pay so I'd say you'll get a good portion of your money back.

The other thing is that if you have your own in-car GPS you may be able to buy US maps for it, my relatives did that with their Navman in Europe.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

You can order foreign currency online through Westpac with 0% commission. From memory, you select what sort of mixture of notes you'd like small/large/mixed, BPAY for the currency and then go and collect it at your closest branch.

I think last time we went I ordered $100 of small notes just to get us going.

Melissa

(we're down to 97 days to go!!)

97 days, congrats Melissa.

Yeah I spoke with ANZ yesterday and they said the same, just fill out a form and in 2-4 days they will have what I want at the branch.

I took $200 in singles last time, and put them separately in bags and then $500, a mix of 50s 20s and 10s.

So Marvel, what do you need so many "singles" for? Are singles $1?

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Hey Melissa, how do we buy the tickets to Mickeys TOT, do we have to ring up?

 

[melbarkwith]

Hey Melissa, how do we buy the tickets to Mickeys TOT, do we have to ring up?

Don't know. I assume they'll be available online (I think I read that somewhere...)

 

[aussiegirls]

TOT tickets are available online at Disney on the 1st of August. I am so on there as soon as I can.

I am almost ready to pounce on the Travel Card. I think that banks are a total rip off though. As it is they sell to you about 3c less than the current acutal rate, and on top of that charge you a % of what you put on the card. Having said that I am still going to get one as there is not a great deal of alternative I think I am waiting till the $$$ gets to 83c because then I can at least get 80c = USD$1. I think I will try and get it all on in one go too. The first deposit is "free" and I would rather not pay any additional fees if I don't have to.

Just a quick question. If I go into the bank and buy some dollars straight out so I can have a bit of cash, what do they charge for that?

87 days to go

xxx

 

[rossip]

Hey Melissa, how do we buy the tickets to Mickeys TOT, do we have to ring up?

Pardon my ignorance but what is Mickey's TOT ? Is it a must do and why are there seperate tickets for it ?

Also on the Travellex card we decided the fees are too high so we're going old school with Travellers chq's and cash .

 

[melbarkwith]

TOT tickets are available online at Disney on the 1st of August. I am so on there as soon as I can.

Just a quick question. If I go into the bank and buy some dollars straight out so I can have a bit of cash, what do they charge for that?

87 days to go

xxx

Thanks so much for letting us know that the tickets are available online. I'll be on the website too!

If you preorder the currency from the bank, there should be no fees. Not sure though if you just walk in and ask.

Mel

 

[melbarkwith]

Pardon my ignorance but what is Mickey's TOT ? Is it a must do and why are there seperate tickets for it ?

Mickey's Halloween party at California Adventure. We have decided that it is a must do - the kids will probably never see Halloween 'American style' again. The candy looks pretty good too

Mel

 

[kylieh]

So Marvel, what do you need so many "singles" for? Are singles $1?

Singles are $1 - need them for tipping everyone, or so it seems. I found it easier to purchase things like drinks, and smaller items using cash rather than CC for such a small amount.

We took around $500 cash with us. I lasted through Las Vegas only! Drinks, tips for the baggage people, house keepers, drivers, cabs, so many cab drivers don't take credit cards, or at least we found, paying for ART, and the list goes on. Only get $1/5/10/20 demoninations, $50 maybe, and $100s are a pain as they need to check for fakes and a lot of places won't take them.

An idea if you're going to Las Vegas is to get some Traveller's Cheques - American Express with post office pick up was really good. With enough notice we were able to get them commission free and on a really good exchange rate before we left Australia, purchased in USD, then cashed then in Las Vegas in a Casino Cage commission free as well. Easier to carry than cash as it didn't take up as much room in our purse/wallet, safe, and we could then get a bit more cash into the holiday without using an ATM and paying more fees for that.

We also used them like cash in DL and they gave us change as cash, commission free.

Mickey's Halloween party at California Adventure. We have decided that it is a must do - the kids will probably never see Halloween 'American style' again. The candy looks pretty good too

We didn't do it last year - we were there around Halloween, and I wish we did. We're planning for the same time next year so we will do it then. Miss 6 has decided to "go to America so she can have Halloween as a ghost" so I think we shall do it next year.

 

[mareeld86]

I think you might have it mixed up $1 australian = 80 Cents USD not the other way around you can get a travelers cash card from Commonwealth bank which is $15 up front fee but you can use it to puchase stuff at disneyland walmart etc.

they also sell cash which has a fee of $8 or min 1% but you can order what you want online and its a bit cheaper.

the rate today was .8144 and at the bank it was .7997 which is only 1.5c cheaper.

 

[platypus67]

With regard to $1 notes, I usually take around $10 to $20 with me. This looks after the initial tipping when we arrive. If I take anymore than this I end up with a huge stack of $1 in a very short time. There are no $2 notes anymore so if you purchase something for say $1.50 and hand over a $10 note you wll get three back in the change.

 

[rossip]

Mickey's Halloween party at California Adventure. We have decided that it is a must do - the kids will probably never see Halloween 'American style' again. The candy looks pretty good too

Mel

Thanks Mel , as a complete Newbie to this whole Disney thing where do I find out more about this ? Where there late Sept when is this on ?

Edit : Nevermind I found the info and it starts the day we leave - so we just miss it

Thanks anyway

 

[melbarkwith]

Edit : Nevermind I found the info and it starts the day we leave - so we just miss it

Thanks anyway

What a bummer. I'll take plenty of pics to share!

I just ordered currency and travellers cheques! We decided to buy the cheques to cover our accommodation rather than using a credit card and being subject to currency variations over the next 96 days! Wooohooo! I think this is the highest exchange rate I've ever managed to get over several visits to DL.

Mel.

 

[becpee]

Hi everybody, just thought i'd duck my head in, I too am contemplating getting my travelcard but I would spew if the rate got better (even by a few cents LOL) i'm becoming a bit of a scrooge with money (until I hit Disney i'm sure).
With the ANZ card, I know you get two cards, so do they allow you to use it as a joint account or do they make you sign both cards? The reason being my DH and I won't be spending every waking moment together, i'm sure there will be times that I will be shopping alone so we'll both need the card but I don't want to pay for two accounts.
I can't believe how fast this trip is approaching and my DS totally gets that we're going to Disneyland, my DH keeps making video's of DS saying "Ner ner ner ner ner, we're going to Disneyland" and he sends it to people we know
I also can't decide on Anaheim accomodation, Hojo's or the Marriot?