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

[Andona]

Hey I'm at DL around this time too. I'm there from 12-17 Oct. Are either of you going to the TOT party?

No, DS is nearly 13 and not interested in dressing up at all and not remotely interested in meeting the characters. We enjoy some of the rides in California Adventure but not enough of them to justify the extra cost of the TOT tickets. When he was younger he'd have loved to dress up and we'd definitely have done it.

I tossed the idea around for awhile before deciding to give it a miss - we'll see lots of Halloween decorations etc in DL so that will be enough for us. I am looking forward to seeing the DL Halloween effort - we were in WDW last year and enjoyed all the orange and pumpkins etc

Andona

 

[Andona]

Just thought I'd post a little warning for those of you that will have domestic flights in the USA.

We have 4 domestic flights while we are there, all were booked within the last 2 months. I just logged into the United and Delta sites to double check seating etc and discovered that 3 of our 4 flights had been changed.

The times had only changed by five minutes or do, but two of them now have totally new flight numbers! I was glad I checked and updated my itinerary as I could just imagine us being very perplexed at the airports trying to find our old flight numbers on the departures board!

We haven't received any emails for either airline about the changes - I guess we might eventually receive something from them - but I'll be checking them again just before we leave.

Andona

 

[aussiegirls]

I just did the kids ESTA thingys. It is so funny because I was sooooooo nervous doing them, like for some reason they were going to find some reason that they were not going to let us in the country even thought they are just kids. I haven't done mine yet (still waiting on passport renewal) but I will sometime this week and am likely to be nervous again even though there is nothing to be nervous about I am just imagining the thought of after all the planning and excitement I am going to make some sort of mistake or something that will stuff it all up

Anyways getting all that ESTA stuff done is exciting though because it means just one step closer. I think it might even be the very last thing I need to do

xxx

 

[StephAus]

Just popping in to say hi! Have been reading this thread for a couple of weeks now I think, it's so long! But anyway, my sister (21) and I (23) are 'doing' the US thing in Jan next year. We are only going to have 2 days at Disneyland, I wanted 3 at the minimum, but sis thinks we will be bored of it at the end of 2, me thinks not!

I really can't wait, but still have 142 days left, but hey, whose counting?!?! I am doing everything I can to make the most of our 2 days at Disneyland, being an obsessive compulsive planner helps!

Anyway, hi!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Just thought I'd post a little warning for those of you that will have domestic flights in the USA.

We have 4 domestic flights while we are there, all were booked within the last 2 months. I just logged into the United and Delta sites to double check seating etc and discovered that 3 of our 4 flights had been changed.

The times had only changed by five minutes or do, but two of them now have totally new flight numbers! I was glad I checked and updated my itinerary as I could just imagine us being very perplexed at the airports trying to find our old flight numbers on the departures board!

We haven't received any emails for either airline about the changes - I guess we might eventually receive something from them - but I'll be checking them again just before we leave.

Andona

Andona, your story is making me kinda glad I ended up booking my flights through a travel agent. The price was better than I had managed to find myself, due to all of the internal flights we are doing, we are doing 5 flights within the US. Anyway, she has emailed me twice already with slight time changes and says she will continue to email me right up to each flight if there are any changes which after reading your story, is a relief.

Thank goodness you checked.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Just popping in to say hi! Have been reading this thread for a couple of weeks now I think, it's so long! But anyway, my sister (21) and I (23) are 'doing' the US thing in Jan next year. We are only going to have 2 days at Disneyland, I wanted 3 at the minimum, but sis thinks we will be bored of it at the end of 2, me thinks not!

I really can't wait, but still have 142 days left, but hey, whose counting?!?! I am doing everything I can to make the most of our 2 days at Disneyland, being an obsessive compulsive planner helps!

Anyway, hi!

Welcome Steph. I'm sure all of your prior planning will help make the most of your 2 days at DL.

 

[mareeld86]

Ok so I asked before but it must have gotten missed where do I get an entertainment card??

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Ok so I asked before but it must have gotten missed where do I get an entertainment card??

I have no idea what you mean by an Entertainment card. Is it an American thing?

 

[aussiegirls]

maree, Entertainment books/cards are sold primarily as a fundraising thing. So you can possibly find one at a local school or club of some sort. If all else fails I think that the entertainment card has an aussie website where you can buy it.

xxx

 

[Andona]

Ok so I asked before but it must have gotten missed where do I get an entertainment card??

I believe it's the card that you get when you purchase "The Entertainment Book"
http://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/. We've had one a few times as a lot of schools etc sell them for fund raising. The card gives you discounts at lots of restaurants as also vouchers for discounts at all sorts of shops etc. There's a US version too.http://www.entertainment.com/discount/home.shtml

I'm sure I read on the boards somewhere that places like HoJo's will honour the Australian Entertainment card but you'd want to check that with the individual hotel etc.

Andona

 

[becpee]

Ok so I asked before but it must have gotten missed where do I get an entertainment card??

I bought one off Ebay.com
Just waiting for it to come in the mail

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Okay everyone, let's play a little game.

How many days are you going for, and how many suitcases are you taking?

I'll start:-

We are going for 21 days and taking 4 suitcases.

One large, 2 medium and 1 small. We are also taking 2 cabin bags and the kids have a backpack each.


I definitely don't feel this is enough but I am extremely concerned about it all fitting into the boots of the town cars we have organised everywhere.

DL is at the end of our trip so I am quite expecting to have to buy one of those duffel bags with wheels or similar to bring everything home. I did consider posting some stuff back but I think a few of you mentioned it was quite expensive.

So everyone, how many bags are you taking?

 

[darren123]

Just popping in to say hi! Have been reading this thread for a couple of weeks now I think, it's so long! But anyway, my sister (21) and I (23) are 'doing' the US thing in Jan next year. We are only going to have 2 days at Disneyland, I wanted 3 at the minimum, but sis thinks we will be bored of it at the end of 2, me thinks not!

I really can't wait, but still have 142 days left, but hey, whose counting?!?! I am doing everything I can to make the most of our 2 days at Disneyland, being an obsessive compulsive planner helps!

Anyway, hi!

Hi StephAus welcome to the board 2 days in Disneyland no way we do a min of 6 days and that is still not enough

 

[melbarkwith]

Okay everyone, let's play a little game.

How many days are you going for, and how many suitcases are you taking?

I'll start:-

We are going for 21 days and taking 4 suitcases.

One large, 2 medium and 1 small. We are also taking 2 cabin bags and the kids have a backpack each.

We are going for 10 days, and taking 3 suitcases. The plan is for at least 1 1/2 of those to be empty on the way over. I will be doing some serious clothes shopping for the kids (and us too).

We will also have 2 cabin bags, and the kids will have a backpack each too. In addition to that we will have a stroller (got to get used to saying that instead of pusher ) for DD3.

I'll also be packing my good old Country Road duffle bag in case we run out of space in suitcases. It folds really flat so it won't be a big deal if it's not used. We have already trialled getting the cases into the car, it's one thing that I was quite concerned about (last time mum came with us, and we took 2 cars!).

 

[Czardas]

Ours is easy 13 days - 2 Adults, 1 suitcase each, 1 onboard bag, 2 small backpacks & 1 laptop.
Hubby is trying to get me down to one suitcase between the two of us and we are flying first class, so luggage isn't a problem - he is a mere male that just doesn't understand why I wont do it and cull my clothing. At least sitting on a beach for a week in Mexico, wont amount to too many clothing items.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

We are going for 10 days, and taking 3 suitcases. The plan is for at least 1 1/2 of those to be empty on the way over. I will be doing some serious clothes shopping for the kids (and us too).

We will also have 2 cabin bags, and the kids will have a backpack each too. In addition to that we will have a stroller (got to get used to saying that instead of pusher ) for DD3.

I'll also be packing my good old Country Road duffle bag in case we run out of space in suitcases. It folds really flat so it won't be a big deal if it's not used. We have already trialled getting the cases into the car, it's one thing that I was quite concerned about (last time mum came with us, and we took 2 cars!).

Mel I swear we were separated at birth . I am going to make my husband do exactly that this weekend with our cases in the boot of the car. I am totally stressing, hehe.

Czardas, OMGoodness, if I was travelling first class, no children, I would still need quite alot of suitcases. I am a hopeless packer, I need to have everything with me, hehe.

 

[melbarkwith]

LOL! My hubby still has nightmares about our last trip (we may have used the 2 bags each allowance ), so he was more than happy to make sure that a grand total of 3 cases would fit in the boot well in advance!

 

[gogo65]

With the amount of luggage we will have, we decided we would fly from anaheim to vegas because all our luggage wouldn't fit in a large SUV, skis boots, snowboard, 4 large suitcases, plus a large soft bag for our parkas etc
Oh and 4 carry on bags.
All our flights bar 1 we can have 2 bags each, so from Fiji home we will take our ski boots etc in our carry on, to lighten the load in the excess luggage.
DH doesn't understand why we can't share 1 suitcase and the kids (16,14) can't share another. Excuse me DH, it is called 5 weeks holiday and a little shopping maybe

 

[becpee]

2 Adults and 1 child, we are taking a suitcase per adult and DS will be putting his clothing into mine (I don't have any clothes ).
We will probably have a carryon between DH and I and one for DS, so our luggage allowance will be fine.
I am planning on serious shopping but my DH knows this

 

[darren123]

If any of you are going to Mexico or Olvera Street get youself a Made in Mexico Blanket they cost about $20 US. They really keep you warm we brought one on our last trip and this winter on the very cold nights we have ours on the doona no need for the electric blanket need to buy another one next trip. Olvera Street and Farmers Market are very worthwhile to goto while in LA just a thought