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

[aussiemickeys]

Wow AussieDaisy you guys are hard core fans! I would NEVER have the nerve to wear those outfits, but I must say they are awesome & I am sitting here grinning away. Good on you girls!

Does anyone want to also include the dates they will be at either Disneyland or WDW? Who knows - some might want to meet up for a dole whip or a churro or just to say G'day (although I don't think I have ever actually said that word in real life). Anyway, we will be at Disneyland November 15th, 16th & part of the 17th. Of course we have our whole time planned out already!

Cracked up about the shopping comments. We make a trip to Target on Harbour Boulevard EVERY trip (& yes of course we are planning to squeeze it in again this year). We stock up on cheap (depending on the Aussie dollar of course) DVD's, CD's, unusual junk food, Beauty products & of all things greeting cards & gift bags!

Last November we finally went to the 24 hour Walmart that is about a 10 minute drive away. It is massive & I am so glad I had my camera with me because I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a vending machine thingy with FISH in it! Also at that time of year they had all the christmas stuff out in all the shops which we just drooled over.

One other thing I have just thought of. In past years we were always allowed to bring 2 x 32kgs PER PERSON back from the US. I have noticed qantas have now changed this to 2 x 23kgs (to match up with the 50 pound limits in the states). Still a fantastic amount compared to what other places allow you to bring back, but I want my missing 18 kilos of allowance back! By the way that is in ecomomy, you still get the original amounts if you are in business class (Not us - but a person can dream). Now please don't take these figures as gospel, check out whatever airline you are travelling with & make sure you know what's what before you get caught with excess. Everone that we know that goes to the US, we always make sure to tell them this, because a lot of people don't give it a thought & don't realise you are allowed extra than normal. Hope this has helped someone on this thread also.

 

[Flea]

We're getting so excited....still got 7ish months to go though but I'm thinking of making us some Disney themed tshirts (with the iron on transfers) for our trip in the mean time for a little disney fix. I have a Disney craft room called 'The Mickey Room' it's all disney themed and I enjoy going in there in my spare time, listening to my disney podcasts and doing my disney craft ready for the trip (only Disney freaks would understand this) I will have to take some pics of my Disney room to show you all soon. I also deal with my disney addiction by wearing Mickey crocs at work (I'm a theatre nurse), my twin and I do a regular saturday paediatric list at work and on that day there are only 2 of us in recovery so we dis board all day in between patients . Would love to hear how everyone else gets their disney fix before their trips.....come on fess up

I'm so jealous of your disney themed craft room - how cool is that? I'm a sewer too and plan to make some fun stuff for my girls to wear. I have a large stash of disney fabric thanks to the ladies on the Disboutique thread

Okay, here are some pics of my various Disney bits and pieces around the house along with some trip photos of me and my twin in Disney

OMG I'm in love - I'm almost inspired to make me outfits to wear to Disneyland. Thank you for sharing those pics. Do you have a blog or a trip report?? Would love to read all about your trips. It's nice "meeting" other sewers.


For those that have been to disneyland before what is your food budget?? Do you eat in the park or do you eat some meals in your rooms etc. I find this is the one thing I struggle with planning as I have no idea.

Are the meals REALLY huge - ie could you happily share them with another person and be satisfied?

What are you favourite american treats?

 

[platypus67]

ColB you should be fine with 4 hours. We booked our flights in Sept from LAX to Toronto ad have just under three hours to make the connection. I think the minimum connection time is 2 hours.

 

[platypus67]

The luggage allowance has changed with Qantas anyway. Not sure about the other carriers as we always fly Qantas to clock up those frequent Flyer points. It is now 50lbs or approx 22kg. The US carriers will enforce this to the ounce, charging extra if you go over. I do believe the carry on allowance has gone up slightly, but not real sure on this. Sounds funny, but I always carry a fish scale with me to weigh my luggage. We always manage to be spot on with the weights. Mind you it sometimes takes us a day to pack to go home. Another thing to consider is some (possibly all) the US carriers now charge for all luggage. We always fly AA (those frequent flyer points again) In October It was USD 15.00 per bag per person up to your limit of two pieces. If you do go over the allowed weight there is an additional charge I think the first charge increment was 50lbs to 51lbs, or something like that. If you are connecting from an international flight you are usually ok, and won't be charged per piece, ( they can and will charge for over weight however) If you have a stop over they may charge you. I will miss my 70lb allowance, but my husband won't next time he travels with us.

 

[platypus67]

Ok it is 8:40 am here on the Gold Coast. It is 6:40 pm Saturday in Toronto therefore it should be 3:40 pm in LA. I think that makes it 17 hours behind AEST.

 

[gogo65]

Ok everyone, so I had nothing better to do this morning.
I have read through the thread and tried to get as much info as possible.
If the information is incorrect or if you would prefer not to have your name in the list please let me know.

We should be able to update this as we go,
I will also look at adding useful links to help with the planning etc.

What does everyone think??
PS I hope I haven't forgotten anyone

Aussie trip planners 2009


May

BecBennett -
Renderman7-

June

July

August

September

Marvel -19-27/9 – Hojo’s
Czardas
Butterflykisses- 21-28/9 - Hojo
rossip

October

Platypus67 -14-18/10 -Hojo
Ihaveamickeymousekid – 18-26/10 - Carousal Inn
Flea 18/10-1/11 Hojo’s

November

Aussiemickeys 15-17/11
Aussiedaisy & youngaussienurse - 17-24/11 - Hojo

December

ColB
Gogo65 25-30/12 - Carousal Inn


Aussie trip planners 2009 WDW

Sharkmeister
Dollarmite
ColB 8/12



Aussie trip planners 2010

KylieH Oct 2010
Becpee Oct 2010
Mareeld86

 

[rossip]

Hi all , yep another Aussie family on their way acrosss in September - we're staying at the Ramada because we couldnt get all our dates at HoJo's , we were a bit disapointed at first but the reviews on Trip advisor are sounding pretty good

2 kids 9 & 11 who are really excited as are mum and dad - 12 nights in Anaheim then 7 nights in Honolulu on the way home

Looking at getting the 14day pass
Doing Universal 1 day
Knotts one day
Sea World another - though we have decided to miss the lunch with Shamu as it seems a bit exxy .
Also looking at doing the shopping mall / outlets another day too !
But most of the time in DL

Love this thread !!

As for Insurance we're using NRMA seemed pretty good .

 

[becpee]

It's good to see i'm not the only one that loves the American junk food and shopping!
It's such a novelty although I hate how most of their chocolate bars seem to have nuts in them LOL
Our trip seems so far away but we want to be able to splurge as much as we want and not have to worry about money hence the long wait.
I want to shop till I drop (I might be doing that on my own, my DH hates shopping).
As well as Disney we are thinking San Diego, San Fran, Vegas and we're trying to decide Mexico or Hawaii as a relaxing part of the trip.
We are trying to decide Hojo's or one of the Disney hotels, is there anybody who has stayed at both? Also the Disney hotels do seem exxy BUT it is one of those things that we would most likely only do once in our life.

 

[marvel]

This thread is become better and better. Thanks for the timeline gog65, its great to see when everyone is going. Would be happy to have a churro or even a beer within anyone there in Sept. I actually have some lime green mickeys that the others talk about on the this site and will put them on our bags so people will know we are on DIS and can say hello.

Aussiedaisy - love the photos, you guys are hard core, love the kitchen gear, we have napkin rings and picture frames from all our trips, but your stuff is great.

becpee - welcome this DIS and our Aussie thread. The chocolate in the US isn't as good as Cadbury but their ice cream is mad We have stayed at Grand Californian and it was great, the the price difference between on and offsite is just to great, and you don't get many advantages than you do in WDW.

ColB - we stayed at WL last May and it was great. Kids loved the pool, access to WDW via both the buses and boat was easy, rooms were also good, cannot really say anything bad about it.

Rossip - welcome and when in Sept are you going?

The baggage allowance still rocks though, it is two checked in bags each so whether it is 32 or 23, still alot of stuff, and we usually go to the max. We bought a baggage weighing thing from strandbags and it is a lifesaver, no stress at worrying about whether you are over, especially if you are taking domestic flights in the US where the limits are different for different carriers. Friends of ours taking a domestic flight got hit with charges transferring from their international flight in LA and flying to NY.

I personally dislike Qantas, worked at the airport for many years and service wise they ranked at the bottom, although the new 380 might be different. Although I wouldn't knock back a free flight.

 

[~ButterflyKisses~]

gogo65, great idea for the list! Can you change my dates though. We'll now be staying from 21st-28th September. I spoke to Jennifer from Hojo and managed to secure a king room for those dates.

So excited now!!

 

[gogo65]

to the Dis rossip and ColB

 

[aussiedaisy]

Wow AussieDaisy you guys are hard core fans! I would NEVER have the nerve to wear those outfits, but I must say they are awesome & I am sitting here grinning away. Good on you girls!

Yep we are pretty hard core Disney fans but these outfits were for the halloween partys we went to (we did two parties), I don't think I'd wear them for a normal day out in the parks...would be a bit embarrassing\

Love your idea about meeting up if people are travelling at the same time, what a great idea!

 

[aussiedaisy]

It's good to see i'm not the only one that loves the American junk food and shopping!
It's such a novelty although I hate how most of their chocolate bars seem to have nuts in them LOL
Our trip seems so far away but we want to be able to splurge as much as we want and not have to worry about money hence the long wait.
I want to shop till I drop (I might be doing that on my own, my DH hates shopping).
As well as Disney we are thinking San Diego, San Fran, Vegas and we're trying to decide Mexico or Hawaii as a relaxing part of the trip.
We are trying to decide Hojo's or one of the Disney hotels, is there anybody who has stayed at both? Also the Disney hotels do seem exxy BUT it is one of those things that we would most likely only do once in our life.

Hi Becpee!! We have stayed at both the Hojo and Disneyland Hotel. To be honest, whilst it was something we wanted to do and it was nice, I really think the Disney hotels are way overpriced. I mean it's not like in WDW where you pretty much have to stay onsite. The distance between both the DL hotel and Hojo to the parks aren't that different. I found the Hojo to be really clean and nice when we stayed there and while it is nice to stay onsite, the savings are HUGE if you stay off site. We really wanted to stay at the Grand Californian this trip but it would cost us almost $5000 AUD compared to $800 AUD which I'm not sure yet if we can justify. Would love to hear other peoples opinions on this as we haven't yet made up our minds whether to cancel our Hojo reservation and book the GC if we get a good tax back....

 

[aussiedaisy]

I'm so jealous of your disney themed craft room - how cool is that? I'm a sewer too and plan to make some fun stuff for my girls to wear. I have a large stash of disney fabric thanks to the ladies on the Disboutique thread



OMG I'm in love - I'm almost inspired to make me outfits to wear to Disneyland. Thank you for sharing those pics. Do you have a blog or a trip report?? Would love to read all about your trips. It's nice "meeting" other sewers.


For those that have been to disneyland before what is your food budget?? Do you eat in the park or do you eat some meals in your rooms etc. I find this is the one thing I struggle with planning as I have no idea.

Are the meals REALLY huge - ie could you happily share them with another person and be satisfied?

What are you favourite american treats?

Hey there Flea, I did do a trip report of our 2007 trip to WDW http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1628479
As for food budgets...I find that REALLY hard to judge also. We tend not to eat that much, usually breakfast, snack and dinner. Last year we ate all meals in the park. What I usually do is go through the menus on All Ears website and try and work out the kinds of things we might eat to give us a rough idea of what we might spend. I think we budgeted around $50 per person per day but I'm pretty sure we didn't spend that much every day (we didn't do any sit down restaraunts though). The meals are really big, we went to a counter service place not sure of the name right now but it was in Disneyland park where they do pizza slices, burgers, pastas etc. We each had a chicken fusillini pasta and they LOADED it onto these HUGE plates, it was massive and if you're not a big eater you could share a lot of the meals I think.

Good luck with your sewing, would love to see some of your creations!!

 

[aussiedaisy]

Hi GoGo thanks for starting the list, great idea!! Can you add mine and youngaussienurses dates as November 17th to November 24th. Thanks heaps

 

[youngaussienurse]

Hi all Aussie Disney planners, I am the twin of Aussiedaisy Everyones' plans look great! I am really excited to be trying the new V Australia airline in premium economy class I am glad that they have a free bar, as I really don't like flying at all! But I put up with it to go and see Mickey!
Last trip I was very brave (I don't like fast rides) and did big thunder mountain (3 times!) and tower of terror. Aussiedaisy did not accompany me as she finds even Dumbo a bit scary I am trying to convince her on this trip to try big thunder (I actually LOVED it), she did goofys barnstormer though, so she was very brave
My aim this trip is to finally get up the courage to go on space mountain....I figure that if I could do tower of terror.....I can do any fast ride (I didn't know if I was going to vomit or wet myself on that one!!) I am also trying to convince her to go on star tours (which I went on and found VERY tame...almost boring)!.
I am also looking forward to trying some yummy foods in the parks such as the corn dogs! What is everyone else looking forward to doing and eating most?

 

[ColB]

Your sister sounds like my wife, she would feel dizzy on 'It's a small world'

I get the weird stares when a thirty something year old male is sitting by himself on most rides as my whole family watches on.....

 

[~ButterflyKisses~]

We're flying premium economy on Qantas also

I'm looking forward to a bit more room on the plane. Has anyone flown premium economy before? I'm soooooo not looking forward to the long flight. We've got 25 hours of travelling

What do you guys do on the plane besides sleep? I can tell I'm going to get bored very quickly!

 

[gogo65]

We are flying PE as well, on V australia.
A little surprise Christmas present for my kids. SSHHH don't tell.

 

[ColB]

We're right down the back of the plane on V.

If anyone is interested, these are the seat specs on the plane

Premium Economy Class: 38.0" and 19.5"
Economy Class: 32.0" and 18.8'

Qantas is:

Premium Economy Class: 38.0" and 19.5"
Economy Class: 31.0" and 17.5"


On V Australia, the seat is less than an inch wider in premium and 6 inches more legroom. If you are short that won't really mean much, but to some, like me, it means a lot.

The entertainment system on V is far better than QANTAS so it should help entertain my son somewhat for 15 hours (then 5 hours to Orlando...argghhh).

I was lucky enough to go first class to London last year, so I think I will be ready to die in economy.

Go to seatguru.com to give you an idea of where and where not to sit.