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

[melbarkwith]

I also can't decide on Anaheim accomodation, Hojo's or the Marriot?

We looked at the Marriott (I'm assuming Fairfield?), and they had some awesome deals. But with 2 adults and 3 kids, it would be too squashed for 9 nights, so we went with Hojos. If you go to the Marriott website and look for deals in the Anaheim area, there are some great ones which include pizza, movies, popcorn, some kind of celebration bucket etc. Make sure you go through all of the pages (last time I looked, there were about 19 pages!)

Mel

 

[aussiegirls]

Oops, yes I was aware it was $1 = 80cUS and not the other way around, all the excitement is making me confused

I am

I am thinking that I might be even more excited than the kids, and that's saying something

xxx

 

[becpee]

I am

I am thinking that I might be even more excited than the kids, and that's saying something

xxx

Isn't that why we talk the kids into loving Disneyland before they've even been

 

[kylieh]

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.

They wouldn't let me sign one of DH's - only him. So we stuck with one card (I had a regular card or two as well ) Not that we were separate too much. But after we got home I was like d'uh. If you load the card with more than roughly $1100 the 2nd time, you would be better getting a second card as the fee is/was $11 per card with an unlimited load for the first time. The second time was 1%? So it would of been cheaper to get two cards, or even more, at least in our case.

 

[keptwoman]

I'm just pondering cash and travelcards. I think I'd choose to take whichever one gives the best exchange rate. I mean they do no fees for first deposit, but how do their actual exchange rates compare?

 

[aussiegirls]

I think the Comm bank travelcard gives a slightly better exchange rate than the ANZ one but it has a few extra fees that ANZ doesn't. The one in particular that turns me off is that it charges a monthly fee for each month that the card isn't used. So if you buy it in advance then each month that it is sitting there not doing anything they will charge you a fee.

 

[becpee]

They wouldn't let me sign one of DH's - only him. So we stuck with one card (I had a regular card or two as well ) Not that we were separate too much. But after we got home I was like d'uh. If you load the card with more than roughly $1100 the 2nd time, you would be better getting a second card as the fee is/was $11 per card with an unlimited load for the first time. The second time was 1%? So it would of been cheaper to get two cards, or even more, at least in our case.

Good thinking, something I didn't even thing about.

 

[melbarkwith]

This morning I got an exchange rate of 0.7952 on travellers cheques and currency, no other fees/commission.
I'm happy - our accommodation is around $180AU less than I'd budgeted!

 

[becpee]

We looked at the Marriott (I'm assuming Fairfield?), and they had some awesome deals. But with 2 adults and 3 kids, it would be too squashed for 9 nights, so we went with Hojos. If you go to the Marriott website and look for deals in the Anaheim area, there are some great ones which include pizza, movies, popcorn, some kind of celebration bucket etc. Make sure you go through all of the pages (last time I looked, there were about 19 pages!)

Mel

Yeah, the Fairfield, I have been scoping out alot of accom websites to see what deals I can get, and am yet to book ANYTHING, I suppose we still have a few months, and if the rate gets better it'll be better for booking anything anyway.

Roll on November, this count down is going to kill me

 

[becpee]

This morning I got an exchange rate of 0.7952 on travellers cheques and currency, no other fees/commission.
I'm happy - our accommodation is around $180AU less than I'd budgeted!

Who did you get that with? Thats good with no other fees

 

[marvel]

I checked today and the rate for the travelcard on anz was .795 and they then charge 1% when you put the money on the card. If you want cash, westpac do it online like someone mentioned yesterday and their rate was virtually the same with no commission at all, you can do it all online and pick it up at any westpac. I think i will order more cash that way and order unusual amounts like $99 to make sure i get smaller denominations which you can also ask for.

It is weird, but I find that I get greedy. When it's at 80c i think, if I wait I might get 83 or 84 or even better. But then forget that last week it dropped 4c in two days and would have got 75c, so when we are actually using our credit card the rate might be at any of these levels. So I am starting to convince myself that 80c is a blessing, if it happens to go up I will use my wizard credit card which does not charge any conversion fees at all, if not use the ANZ travel card. If i end up with money left over on the anz card that means.....................spending money for another trip.

Hey, the 14day tickets on expedia are now $990 for us, 3 adult prices and 1 childs price, that's nearly $100 cheaper than a week or so ago. now, when to buy???

 

[aussiegirls]

marvel, for what it's worth I reckon buy now. The exchange rate is good and there is also some rumours that Disney may increase ticket prices on August 1.

I am buying my tickets tomorrow. I took the quote from expedia into my local travel agent and they are beating it by a few dollars. It's only a few bucks but better in my pocket than someone elses I say

 

[rossip]

I am buying my tickets tomorrow. I took the quote from expedia into my local travel agent and they are beating it by a few dollars. It's only a few bucks but better in my pocket than someone elses I say

Wow I didnt even think of that Was it a big travel chain can I ask or just the local TA ?

Every dollar saved counts

 

[aussiegirls]

I took mine into Flight Centre because they guarantee to beat written quotes but if you don't have a FC near you I would think that most travel agents would do the same thing

I figure that even if its only an extra $5 or $10 I would rather have it for my spending money

 

[marvel]

Any of you been or are going to Knotts Berry Farm? My wife saw it mentioned in a guide book and asked me about it. I have never thought twice about going there.

 

[rossip]

Marvel we have always had Knotts in our plans , mainly for the roller coasters, our girls like a good roller coaster

But just lately as we are trying to fit everything in , Knotts may be the thing that gives away .

Apparently however you can get some pretty good deals on shopper dockets and the like for Knotts over there so we may still try and do an afternoon or evening there

 

[rossip]

I took mine into Flight Centre because they guarantee to beat written quotes but if you don't have a FC near you I would think that most travel agents would do the same thing

I figure that even if its only an extra $5 or $10 I would rather have it for my spending money

Thank you for this - Yes we have a FC in the local shopping centre

It's not only the dollars its a bit of piece of mind for us because I really dont know that much about Expedia

Thanks

 

[arje]

On our last trip, we didn't do Knott's, mainly because we'd done it twice before and could easily miss it.

There are some good coasters there which are worth trying but for a serious coaster day, you can't go past Magic Mountain. Knott's has some good historical aspects, and for the little kids is a fantastic park, as there is quite a lot that caters for the littlies - and littles I class as under 10 or so.

It's definitely worth a look and a day there if you've never been before, for sure. It's not far from Anaheim and if you go in Summer, there is a water park there as well across the way. Knott's is good value as well.

 

[melbarkwith]

Who did you get that with? Thats good with no other fees

I got that by ordering currency online from Westpac.
Hope it helps you out.

 

[melbarkwith]

Any of you been or are going to Knotts Berry Farm? My wife saw it mentioned in a guide book and asked me about it. I have never thought twice about going there.

We are going to Knotts, and have been several times before. Our main reason for going this time is that DD8 is tall enough for a lot of the rides there, and is a huge daredevil. DH now has someone to ride the Accelerator with

I am actually not fussed if we don't go there, but since we are I'll be getting the chicken dinner - yummo!

What we have done each time is to go to Knotts first (before Disneyland). IMO nothing compares to Disneyland, and it would be disappointing to go to Knott's after seeing the 'perfect' park at DL.