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

[kylieh]

Have you tried toddler formula? Last time we went DS was 20 months. I got him used to drinking the formula as I was unsure of the milk situation. I brought water once we had got through security, plus they gave me some more water on the plane.

Powdered milk as well may work. Do you add any flavours to the Bottle? You probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference. We went through the same thing with our DD at the same age a few trips ago. On the way there we used powdered (and she was having choccy flavouring, he he he,) and somehow we used the trip as a change of routine and somehow didn't have to have any bottles on the way home or thereafter.

 

[Ihaveamickeymousekid]

Thanks girls. I might just have to try getting her used to a toddler forumla or powdered milk like you said.

Thanks again

 

[keptwoman]

The problem with domestic flights in the US is the lack of any food options even to purchase. We had one flight and they only had peanuts, peanut butter biscuity things and that was it, you couldn't actually purchase anything, they just did not have it on board!

This is what I'm most worried about. We have 3 hours now between the flight from Australia and the internal one. I'm hoping we can get to a mall and buy food because I am celiac and DD is dairy free so finding food might not be easy.

 

[Czardas]

Does anyone else have problems with American currency? I have difficulty telling the difference from one note to the other, due to all the notes being the same boring colour and size.
I love Aussie currency and come home really appreciating it. Greenback, they can keep it.
It took me one week before I even worked out the coins, am I just slow. Nickles and dimes what are they???
I also struggle with tips. Just pay them the right wage to start with for goodness sakes!
The problem was I kept forgetting and felt horrible. I didn't even remember to tip the housekeeping
For those that have travelled before, how good were you with tipping. Did you find it hard to part with the hard earned dollars???

Also it drove me nuts that the tax isn't included in prices until after you get to the register. How many times I had the right cash out and then had the tax added on and had to rumage through my purse to find more. It really drove me nuts. What's the point of not including the tax in the first place?

 

[Hibino]

Does anyone else have problems with American currency? I have difficulty telling the difference from one note to the other, due to all the notes being the same boring colour and size.
I love Aussie currency and come home really appreciating it. Greenback, they can keep it.
It took me one week before I even worked out the coins, am I just slow. Nickles and dimes what are they???
I also struggle with tips. Just pay them the right wage to start with for goodness sakes!
The problem was I kept forgetting and felt horrible. I didn't even remember to tip the housekeeping
For those that have travelled before, how good were you with tipping. Did you find it hard to part with the hard earned dollars???

Also it drove me nuts that the tax isn't included in prices until after you get to the register. How many times I had the right cash out and then had the tax added on and had to rumage through my purse to find more. It really drove me nuts. What's the point of not including the tax in the first place?

Haha yeah we had the exact same problem. Same size/colour notes. They all felt dirty and gross. Only came across $20 notes nothing higher. We didn't use the coins at all. I paid for EVERYTHING with notes so we've got a huge bag of coins now haha. Well, we used quarters for a lot of things. And crushed a lot of pennies.

We didn't tip at a lot of restaurants. Many tourists feel "pressured" to tip. Tipping IS optional.

The whole tax thing is crazy too. Just add it on.

 

[marvel]

I really don't have an issue with the currency or tipping. I actually don't like our plastic money, the creases really annoy me. I like the fact that I can carry a money clip in the US.

As for tipping, I accept it as part of US culture, and I find that the service we get in the US far and away better than what I have experienced in Australia. Particularly in restaurants, there is no comparison, they are so family friendly and service orientated I am happy to tip most of the time. I just factor that into the cost of a holiday.

Even in the stores where you don't tip, the service is great. they are very friendly which is more than I can say in most stores here. I think that is partly due to tipping for service.

 

[Czardas]

As for tipping, I accept it as part of US culture, and I find that the service we get in the US far and away better than what I have experienced in Australia. Particularly in restaurants, there is no comparison, they are so family friendly and service orientated I am happy to tip most of the time. I just factor that into the cost of a holiday.

Even in the stores where you don't tip, the service is great. they are very friendly which is more than I can say in most stores here. I think that is partly due to tipping for service.

I totally agree, each table water basically treats the table as their own business and can bend over backwards to make sure that you will be looked after and earn a descent tip.
Although I will have a slight whinge and say that I found they try to turn the tables around very quickly so they can move on to the next customer. So I always had the feeling that I was being rushed and couldn't enjoy the meal and take my time. This feeling wasn't just at Disneyland.

With tipping it isn't the restaurants that I have a problem with, it's remembering people like bus drivers, housekeeping etc.

 

[kylieh]

I totally agree, each table water basically treats the table as their own business and can bend over backwards to make sure that you will be looked after and earn a descent tip.
Although I will have a slight whinge and say that I found they try to turn the tables around very quickly so they can move on to the next customer. So I always had the feeling that I was being rushed and couldn't enjoy the meal and take my time. This feeling wasn't just at Disneyland.

With tipping it isn't the restaurants that I have a problem with, it's remembering people like bus drivers, housekeeping etc.

In many restuarants the wait staff, I believe, need to bid on jobs. IE, how little they won't work for. The tips then are part of their business. We found that almost anyone that does anything for you, ie waiter/ress, bellman, taxi drivers, and everyone else under the sun has a claim to your money

When we took money with us we didn't get larger than a $20, lots of $10s, $5s, and $1s.

I think one way I coped with the tipping situation is that I reviewed my next day's budget the night before. I then had a mental note of what I needed to budget. I also included it in my food, travel and other relevant budget areas. EG Coach captains for your day tours are $5 per person per trip. I then knew I was going to pay it out before I went.

With tipping housekeeping, I used a paperclip before we left Australia with $5 for each day, then each morning before we left I put one out with a thank you from the hotel's notepad. We had a lot of rubbish on our final day in the hotel (removing product packing that we didn't want to bring home.) We had a large plastic cup we had kept from fairy floss in Las Vegas holding our change that I could never work out quick enough, maybe $10 or so, so I left that for housekeeping as well.



PS - DD6 is commentating on my response and watching me type. She has requested I used this smilie -

 

[soak01]

What a great thread and lots of info for us Aussies. We are heading off to DL on 30 November for 6 nights staying at the Doubletree Guest Suites before spending a white xmas in Canada with family.

Can someone help with suggestions for transfers from LAX to Anaheim. We will be flying Cathay Pacific from Adelaide, so don't arrive into LAX until 8.15pm. We had originally thought of using the DL Express bus service, but after such a long flight and given that the bus only runs hourly at night, we are now considering a private car / limo transfer.

However, a number of the limo company reviews seem quite mixed so not quite sure what to do.

Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. There will be three of us (2 Adults and 1 Child).

 

[Judy from Boise]

Does anyone else have problems with American currency? I have difficulty telling the difference from one note to the other, due to all the notes being the same boring colour and size.
I love Aussie currency and come home really appreciating it. Greenback, they can keep it.
It took me one week before I even worked out the coins, am I just slow. Nickles and dimes what are they???
I also struggle with tips. Just pay them the right wage to start with for goodness sakes!
The problem was I kept forgetting and felt horrible. I didn't even remember to tip the housekeeping
For those that have travelled before, how good were you with tipping. Did you find it hard to part with the hard earned dollars???

Also it drove me nuts that the tax isn't included in prices until after you get to the register. How many times I had the right cash out and then had the tax added on and had to rumage through my purse to find more. It really drove me nuts. What's the point of not including the tax in the first place?

I do think that tipping is deep within our culture because it is based on our values.....which simplified is "no one owes you anything except opportunity, and the harder you work, the more you will get in life." Tipping puts the consumer in control of deciding how good their experience has been. I tip well (20% of a restaurant bill) for great service, and don't tip at all (hotel doormen who I don't let touch my bags) when it is irrelevant.

 

[kel77]

American currency is going to be a little difficult - I will just have to keep an eye on what I am doing. Our money is much easier to decipher I'm sure i'll get used to it but I have heard a couple of horror stories (My aunty gave over a $100 instead of a $10 to a cabbie). I'm sure I won't be carrying around $100's though

My Mum lives in the USA and has told me about the wage situation over there. My Brother is working as a waiter and is only on some $4 something an hour. I can see why they need tips. I have been reading up on what is the "norm" so hopefully it goes smoothly

We picked our tickets up on Thursday afternoon so now we are pretty much set Just the packing and a few presents to buy and we are ready to take off

 

[platypus67]

soak01 transfers from LAX are pretty easy to find. We generally take Supershuttle and have never had a bad experience with them. Last trip I used Red Van (or something like that) and they were good as well. You don't have to pre-book as there is always something arriving. Everything is well signed so it is no problem to find ground transportation when you get outside. For me the first shuttle there is the one I take.

 

[rossip]

HI all , its getting closer , 12 weeks today !!!

My question today is ...

We want to do a day trip to both Universal and also Sea World - is it cheaper to book over here or wait till you get there ? Anyone have any experience or tips re this ?

Thanks!!

 

[kylieh]

HI all , its getting closer , 12 weeks today !!!

My question today is ...

We want to do a day trip to both Universal and also Sea World - is it cheaper to book over here or wait till you get there ? Anyone have any experience or tips re this ?

Thanks!!

We booked our daytrips through Viator. Using www.viator.com then requesting to display the currency in AU$. The exchange rate they used was brilliant and worked out cheaper then booking in US$ and then converting on the Amex.

I would get costs here, but then book with in the US if your comfortable with that. For example, check the Qantas or Expedia sites for daytours and see what they charge, then check what the US sites are charging. If better value book with the US site.

After getting vouchers you then ring through to the tour company and book in for which ever day you wish to go. Better to do it in advance so you know you are booked for a certain day.

All tour companies you use almost all then endup using Greyline tours.

 

[aussiegirls]

With regards to transfers we have already booked our 3 transfers but I have decided not to use shuttles but a limo instead (not the stretch limo kind, just a normal town car that they call a limo ).

I have booked it for our 3 transfers : from LAX to Anaheim, then Anaheim to Hollywood then Hollywood back to LAX. The 3 trips are costing me together about US$200 odd. It is a bit more expensive than shuttles but I reasoned that I would rather spend a bit more on the transfers and have our own car take us straight to our hotel after a 15 hr flight (and stop off at the shops if I need to) than to jump on a bus with others and wait until it got to our stop. As I understand it LAX to Anaheim is not a short trip in itself so I think having to stop and drop everyone else off before we get off would drive me around the twist.

xxx

 

[gogo65]

With regards to transfers we have already booked our 3 transfers but I have decided not to use shuttles but a limo instead (not the stretch limo kind, just a normal town car that they call a limo ).

I have booked it for our 3 transfers : from LAX to Anaheim, then Anaheim to Hollywood then Hollywood back to LAX. The 3 trips are costing me together about US$200 odd. It is a bit more expensive than shuttles but I reasoned that I would rather spend a bit more on the transfers and have our own car take us straight to our hotel after a 15 hr flight (and stop off at the shops if I need to) than to jump on a bus with others and wait until it got to our stop. As I understand it LAX to Anaheim is not a short trip in itself so I think having to stop and drop everyone else off before we get off would drive me around the twist.

xxx

Aussie girl what Limo company are you using??

 

[Czardas]

As I understand it LAX to Anaheim is not a short trip in itself so I think having to stop and drop everyone else off before we get off would drive me around the twist.

I am the first person to avoid bus/group tours but I couldn't justify the cost of private car transfer LAX to Anaheim for the two of us, so I decided to use the Disneyland Express. Coming from the flight from Melbourne and arriving at about 8am (from memory) there was only 1 or 2 other people on the bus. So it felt like a private transfer. (we only waited 15 minutes for the bus)

It took us first to the Disney hotels, where someone jumped onboard and got us to pay, then within 5 minutes we were underway and dropped off on Harbour Blvd 1 or 2 hotels away from where we were staying.

I consider myself a travel snob and wont hesitate to do this transfer again, it was cheap in comparision and hassle free. The distance was the same whether we took a private car or bus. You don't need to book before hand and if you go online you can print a discount voucher with a $2 discount per person.

Our return journey was just as easy and not crowded at all. I just can't justify the private car $$$ compared to the Disneyland Expresss.

 

[aussiegirls]

gogo the company we are using is called B&W Limos. They come recommended and are super nice.

czardas it sounds like you got really lucky with your shuttles. If I could be guaranteed a trip like yours I would book.

xxx

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

gogo the company we are using is called B&W Limos. They come recommended and are super nice.

czardas it sounds like you got really lucky with your shuttles. If I could be guaranteed a trip like yours I would book.

xxx

Thanks for sharing this info. I am wanting to book something similar for LAX to downtown LA and back. If you say they come highly recommended that's good enough for me, shall check them out.

 

[marvel]

Hi everyone.

Judy - I actually like the theory that you can get somewhere by working harder. I talked to a few waiters in Savannah and they were really happy actually being waiters and said they made out very well by being good at what they do. And they were very good. It's a bit like bad karma for me. I actually would feel really bad if I had a great meal or service and then stiffed them on the tip.

I need to work out how to get from Lax to LA itself when we get there. With two kids its a problem as often the shuttles charge almost the same for kids so makes a private car worth the while.