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

[princessmiki]

11 sleeps to go!!!! did some packing yesterday, the puppy got in the suitcase the kids added more things in, as i was taking more stuff out! lots of fun for all.
we are thinking of going to the grand canyon while we in vegas, any suggestions on tours? anyone done the skywalk?

and we are going to the trick or treat party, do we need separate entrance tickets for dca aswell? anyone know?

 

[melbarkwith]

11 sleeps to go!!!! did some packing yesterday, the puppy got in the suitcase the kids added more things in, as i was taking more stuff out! lots of fun for all.
we are thinking of going to the grand canyon while we in vegas, any suggestions on tours? anyone done the skywalk?

and we are going to the trick or treat party, do we need separate entrance tickets for dca aswell? anyone know?

The tickets for the Trick or Treat party are completely separate to regular park entrance tickets. The TOT tickets get you entry to DCA only during the party time.

And your packing adventures sound like heaps of fun Good luck with the rest of it.

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Another question everyone

What do you all take in your carry on bag?

And if you have kids, do you take snacks? If so, what snacks?

Any fun things you do to keep the kids entertained?

Do you change into trackies for the trip, something comfy?

 

[keptwoman]

The tickets for the Trick or Treat party are completely separate to regular park entrance tickets. The TOT tickets get you entry to DCA only during the party time.

But you still need a park hopper for that day too.

Another question everyone

What do you all take in your carry on bag?

And if you have kids, do you take snacks? If so, what snacks?

Any fun things you do to keep the kids entertained?

Do you change into trackies for the trip, something comfy?

Carry Ons
Everyone:
Journal, pencil case
Electronic gadgets (DS, iPhone, iPods)
Eye mask and snuggly socks (because we are travelling United who suck)
Small travel pillow

Kids:
Actitivy books
M: barbies or littlest pet shop or something like that and cuddly toy and her blanket

Me:
Herb tea (hate normal tea and too many coffees not sensible)
tissues, vicks sniffy inhaler thing for take offs and landing, gum ditto, lip balm
water colour paints, glue stick
Gluten free food.

In spare clothes bag:
Spare shirts and underwear (kids spill stuff!! hell I spill stuff) spare trousers for 6yo
toothbrush and paste, moisturiser, deoderant, face cloth, wet wipes.

 

[keptwoman]

OH and a bit exciting: we are going to a Nascar race!!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

But you still need a park hopper for that day too.


Carry Ons
Everyone:
Journal, pencil case
Electronic gadgets (DS, iPhone, iPods)
Eye mask and snuggly socks (because we are travelling United who suck)
Small travel pillow

Kids:
Actitivy books
M: barbies or littlest pet shop or something like that and cuddly toy and her blanket

Me:
Herb tea (hate normal tea and too many coffees not sensible)
tissues, vicks sniffy inhaler thing for take offs and landing, gum ditto, lip balm
water colour paints, glue stick
Gluten free food.

In spare clothes bag:
Spare shirts and underwear (kids spill stuff!! hell I spill stuff) spare trousers for 6yo
toothbrush and paste, moisturiser, deoderant, face cloth, wet wipes.

That all sounds good, a few ideas in there for me. What is the Vicks thing for?

Exciting about the Nascar thing. If you are into racing I imagine it's a huge highlight.

 

[keptwoman]

That all sounds good, a few ideas in there for me. What is the Vicks thing for?

Exciting about the Nascar thing. If you are into racing I imagine it's a huge highlight.

I find sometimes on descending I can get a bit sore in the sinuses, the Vicks thing releives it really well, better than anything else I have tried. It's one of those bullet shaped things you stick by your nose and sniff, most elegant

Actually I'm not much into racing, but I figure it's a slice of American life and it will be fun to people watch. The males of the family will love it. The friends we are staying with have managed to get fabulous seats apparantly so yay! And the girls can always leave the menfolk to it after an hour or two and go shopping, because New Hampshire has no sales tax, so it's the primo spot for shopping!

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I find sometimes on descending I can get a bit sore in the sinuses, the Vicks thing releives it really well, better than anything else I have tried. It's one of those bullet shaped things you stick by your nose and sniff, most elegant

Actually I'm not much into racing, but I figure it's a slice of American life and it will be fun to people watch. The males of the family will love it. The friends we are staying with have managed to get fabulous seats apparantly so yay! And the girls can always leave the menfolk to it after an hour or two and go shopping, because New Hampshire has no sales tax, so it's the primo spot for shopping!

Ahhh sounds good then, shopping and cars, everyone will be happy.

I finally managed to find one major sporting event that is on when we are in the US, that coincided with us being in the city at the same time as the game. It was tough but I finally got tickets for DH and DS to go to a baseball game. They are seeing the San Francisco Giants play in San Fran at what can only be described as the most amazing stadium I have seen. I will try to include a pic.

Nope, I can't work out how to include a pic. Sorry

 

[arje]

OH and a bit exciting: we are going to a Nascar race!!

That will be awesome!! I'd love to see a NASCAR race. Make sure you buy some No.47 Merchandise and scream loud for Marcos Ambrose. He's Australian and he's doing us all proud!

 

[Andona]

How many packing cubes do you use? I have been looking at these as I use the large ziplock bags. These are ok for the kids clothes but not for mine or DH.

I Use an 18" packing folder for DH's shirts and pants and two 15" packing folders for mine and DS ( who's 12) . I really like the folders as they come with a board to fold the shirts around etc and you can neatly pack everything and squash them down to take up minimal space in the suitcase. It's really easy to just pull out one days shirt and jeans or shorts without messing up the other items in the folder.
Here's a link to an 18" one
http://theluggageprofessionals.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=85&products_id=557

I use a packing cube to keep all our undies in and another one for miscellaneous items like swimming costumes, hats scarves etc.
http://theluggageprofessionals.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=85&products_id=553

I have no affiliation with Eagle creek - I've just found the packing folders and cubes to be a very organised way to pack.

Hope that helps

Andona

 

[Andona]

New Hampshire has no sales tax, so it's the primo spot for shopping!

Absolutely!

We stayed at North Conway NH last year in the White Mountains. That place had so many Outlet Malls!

However, I must say the Fall foliage was even more exciting than the shopping ( and I just LOVE to shop). Will you have a chance to do some leaf peeping while you are there? The White Mountains in October were sooo beautiful - I was so happy to be there.

Andona

 

[Jade+3]

Thanks Andona. Those links are very helpful. I have been looking at all the different sizes, and getting myself confused. They do seem like a nice organised way to pack.

 

[keptwoman]

Andona, leaf peeping is definitely on the agenda. I just hope we are not there slightly too early.

The other thing that I'm looking forward to because it's a bit different is that we have rented a house by a lake with it's own dock, kayak, fire pit and screen house. We have 3 nights there so a day or so to relax which will be lovely.

Oh and our friends have arranged for DD to go to school with their DD for the day, so that will be fun too.

The packing cubes are very appealing, but the cost, ouch! I just can't justify it when I've travelled for years without them. I know they would make life easier but....

 

[Czardas]

hey princessmiki, we are staying at the palazzo. when will you be in vegas?

We stayed at the Palazzo last year and the rooms were huge and beautifully decorated. The bed was like a marshmallow. When I got home I went and bought one just like it.

Well I am down to single digits now - 9 days to go

 

[marvel]

I am really looking forward to hearing about everyones trips when you get back.
Collectively we are doing so many and varied things its amazing.

Where is the lake you are staying at keptwoman? We stayed in a cabin in Tennessee last year it was amazing. Scary as there weren't many people about but it was really great. Our next trip we will include more of the nature aspect, I like Andona's national park ideas.

Have any of you been watching Stephen Fry's USA trip show on ABC? Very different travel show but good none the less. He is going through every state in the US. Love to do that.

Are any of you doing anything interesting in LA? We are doing Santa Monica, the tar pits, Pinks Hot Dogs, Walk of Fame, Griffith Observatory and of course Universal. Just wondering if there is anything else we might be missing.

 

[keptwoman]

It's Deep Creek Lake in Maryland, we are there for a wedding. We are staying away from the main township. There are some amazing places around where you can rent a house or cabin. I found this fabulous place in the Adirondacks but in the end it just wouldn't fit with our itinerary.

I missed Steven Fry last night, but thoroughly enjoyed it last week. I've also just finished Bill Brysons USA books, I really enjoy his writing because he is full of quirky facts.

We aren't doing anything in LA this time except a cruise down Hollywood Boulevard to see Harrison Fords star for our big Indy fan.
Are you going to Venice Beach, that's worth a visit, we loved our 1/2 day there. Whatever you do don't waste your money on the Queen Mary!!

My kids are super excited because we just got our Disney Fairy card, from a Diser. They wanted to know how Mickey Mouse knew their names, I said I'd bought tickets so he must have got them from that
I'm going to start a thread soon to pay it forward, but if any of you Aussies want cards (we'll be there 28 Sep-3 Oct) let me know.

 

[Czardas]

Are any of you doing anything interesting in LA? We are doing Santa Monica, the tar pits, Pinks Hot Dogs, Walk of Fame, Griffith Observatory and of course Universal. Just wondering if there is anything else we might be missing.

We only have 2 days back in LA so I have booked the cadillac convertible tour - which goes for 4 hours anywhere we want.
Also have booked Segway tour up to the Hollywood sign. As we are staying at Hollywood Renaisance Hotel, we will pop accross the road to Gruemans Chinese theatre, Kodak theatre and do the Hollywood walk of fame.
I would love to see the La Bria Tar pits, so might get our cadiallac tour guy to take us to that, along with Venice beach.

 

[Andona]

As we are staying at Hollywood Renaisance Hotel, we will pop accross the road to Gruemans Chinese theatre, Kodak theatre and do the Hollywood walk of fame.

We stayed at the Hollywood Renaissance on our first trip, it certainly was a great central location for Hollywood touring. We loved it

I don't know if you've been to Graumans theatre before but the place swarms with guys dressed in movie outfits ( Star Wars, Zorro etc) One of the Zorro guys came up to my son and gave him a toy sword and started fencing with him, great fun but then , of course, the hand comes out for a tip.
We didn't really mind but it would have been nice to have had the opportunity to say yes or no before he started the performance - they're a bit pushy.

Andona

 

[AlyssaCameronsDad]

we are thinking of going to the grand canyon while we in vegas, any suggestions on tours? anyone done the skywalk?
:

PrincessMiki -

From memory it's about 4 hours drive from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. You'll pass by the Hoover Dam on the way through which is interesting.

Here is a review of the skywalk. Doesn't sound like the best value.
http://consumerist.com/5346428/dont-bother-visiting-the-grand-canyon-skywalk

 

[~ButterflyKisses~]

we are thinking of going to the grand canyon while we in vegas, any suggestions on tours? anyone done the skywalk?

We're doing the Grand Canyon Deluxe with helicopter tour with Papillon. We fly to the south rim by airplane, then take a helicopter ride over the grand canyon, then a bus tour through the grand canyon national park. This was the best tour we found for a day trip out to the south rim with a helicopter ride included. We only have time to do one day and didn't want to stay overnight. I've heard the south rim is 100 times better than the west rim. Lots of reviews have said the skywalk isn't all that great either and not worth the cost you have to pay to get on.

A quick question for all of you. We are flying Qantas to the US and then all our American flights will be with American airlines. What's the maximum amount of carry on luggage we can have?

We plan on taking one cabin bag, plus a laptop backpack and a camera backpack between 2 adults. Can we do this? On both airline websites it says a maximum of one carry on bag each but then it mentions we can also take the following personal items e.g. a purse, briefcase, laptop, small book-bag style backpack. Just want to double check that this will be ok. I don't want to get to check in with 3 bags and have them tell us we can only have 2!