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

[queenie82]

Hello,

My family consists of myself 33, my DH 34 and our two children DD 2 and DS 6 mos. We are planning a trip to Disneyworld in December of 2010. I have spent the last few days trying to get through all the posts and have finally made it . I hope all of you who are already on your way and those about to go have a wonderful trip.

I grew up in the states (Portland, Oregon) but married an Aussie and have lived here for almost 7 years. Growing up I have been to Disneyland about 9 times and Disneyworld 3 times. I can not wait to share my passion with my kids.

A question for all of you, what do you do about car rental insurance. Do most of you get the LDW coverage and then top that up with your travel insurance?? It is soooo ridiculously expensive and what really gets me is that my american parents can just utilize their car insurance policies and waive the rental insurance.

I am really excited to find all you on here who also love Disney.

Hi there!
I only recently discovered this thread. I mainly hang out on the WDW boards because that is where we spend most of our time now and it needs a TONNE more planning than Disneyland what with ADRs and EMH plus we are changing resort 4 times

I'm impressed you read all the thread!! wow...I just haven't had a chance yet.

As for Car Rental. I don't normally doing the booking (although it seems I was voted to be the driver this time) but I have seen some of the paperwork and what we usually do is book online and look at the rates and add on all the insurances there (including LDW) so we get all of them without them being SOLD to you at the counter.
As I say I haven't been through the website myself but I'm told you save quite a bit of money with special rates if you keep checking there and you can get the insurances included in the rate you book so you know how much you are paying and are covered.

We also do go through all PDS of the comprehensive travel insurances and ensure it will have enough cover as well. Covermore is who we have been with for 2 trips now and they seem to be good. Car insurance wasn't the main detail we looked at but it all seemed comprehensive. (Medical was our main focus)

Anyway...in short we do get all the insurances. It isn't nearly as bad as renting in Europe (now THAT was a rip off) so we would rather be covered than not....and with special rates we have found we have saved enough to cover the insurance anyway.

So I bet Ballarat is a bit different to Portland??
But I must say I really liked Creswick (near Ballarat)

 

[becpee]

A question for all of you, what do you do about car rental insurance. Do most of you get the LDW coverage and then top that up with your travel insurance?? It is soooo ridiculously expensive and what really gets me is that my american parents can just utilize their car insurance policies and waive the rental insurance.

Welcome Willow

We will be renting a car and have found the insurance to be crazy, but, have found a site that is not quite so bad http://www.carrentals.com/ it adds all the expenses on at the start so you know what you're up for (in a sense).

 

[marvel]

hey everyone, here we are in Auckland waiting for our flight to the USA. had a good flight, AirNz have been good to us in all our flights. I actually like airline good.

just a note, make sure you guys all have the copies of your confirmations for the ESTA USA visa thing. At check in they firstly said, did you fill out the website form, because it says you didn't So once I pulled out the copies after two visits to the supervisor it was ok, but the missus was a bit worried.

We still have few hours to kill here, so thought would drop in and say hi. Now I remember why we love holidays so much. Feels good. Catch you all soon.

 

[aussiegirls]

Well marvel it didn't take you long to get back online Thanks for the heads up about ESTA. I didn't even print my confirmations, I just wrote down the confirmation number. Will probably print it now that you have mentioned that.

I got my maps today from butterfly kisses (thanks soooooo much ) and I am getting more and more excited. It is so much fun to just sit and look at the maps and imagine

36 days to go

xxx

 

[Kiwianna]

we are in Auckland and the planes are taking off in our direction tonight,
wind down the window and give me a wave as you go past!

 

[gogo65]

hey everyone, here we are in Auckland waiting for our flight to the USA. had a good flight, AirNz have been good to us in all our flights. I actually like airline good.

just a note, make sure you guys all have the copies of your confirmations for the ESTA USA visa thing. At check in they firstly said, did you fill out the website form, because it says you didn't So once I pulled out the copies after two visits to the supervisor it was ok, but the missus was a bit worried.

We still have few hours to kill here, so thought would drop in and say hi. Now I remember why we love holidays so much. Feels good. Catch you all soon.

Have a magical time Marvel

 

[keptwoman]

Gaaaaaah!!! I didn't print them out OR note the numbers. It said it wouldn't be needed. Oh man.

 

[rossip]

Gaaaaaah!!! I didn't print them out OR note the numbers. It said it wouldn't be needed. Oh man.

You'll be fine !!

Marvel & Miki have a great time !!

Willow welcome !

 

[Willow25]

Anyway...in short we do get all the insurances. It isn't nearly as bad as renting in Europe (now THAT was a rip off) so we would rather be covered than not....and with special rates we have found we have saved enough to cover the insurance anyway.

So I bet Ballarat is a bit different to Portland??
But I must say I really liked Creswick (near Ballarat)

Queenie82 thanks for the info we will just have to search for the best rate. Yes WDW planning is very time intensive but I love it. When are you headed over to WDW and where are you staying??

Ballarat is very different to Portland but after seven years I am pretty used to it.

Welcome Willow

We will be renting a car and have found the insurance to be crazy, but, have found a site that is not quite so bad http://www.carrentals.com/ it adds all the expenses on at the start so you know what you're up for (in a sense).
Today 03:12 AM

Thanks Becpee, that website is great. Some of the agency seem to be a bit mysterious about their insurance pricing.

Willow welcome !

Thanks for the welcome rossip.

 

[keptwoman]

I'm using National Rental Car and insurance is included in their prices. Their prices are also substantially cheaper if you are an Australian resident so it's important to tick that.

OK licence question: I cant remember if we got an international one last time or not. Are we OK to just drive on our Aussie licences?

 

[Jade+3]

National car rental have recently changed their rates so it is no longer includes all insurances for us Aussies. I think it quoted around $12 extra a day for insurance. When I checked Alamo, they still included insurance but the rates were more expensive.

We don't need an international license, but we take one. Here in Qld, if we renew our licenses online, we get a sticker that we put on the back of our licenses. It looks a little dodgy. I got picked up on it last time when I was using it for ID with my credit card. DH needs an international drivers license for work, so we take it just to be safe.

 

[queenie82]

Queenie82 thanks for the info we will just have to search for the best rate. Yes WDW planning is very time intensive but I love it. When are you headed over to WDW and where are you staying??

We are spending 2 weeks at WDW in December. We are new DVCers so are trying out a few resorts. A week at AKV Jambo, few days BLT, few days BWV, 1 night BCV because of SAB Oh and a cruise tossed into the mix as well. Then we are doing DL on the way back.
Indeed crazy planning but I too love it in a weird way....sort of....

With the car...we have never needed an International Drivers licence going on 4 driving trips in various states. We got one because you are supposed to need it for Italy last year but never needed it there either.

 

[keptwoman]

National car rental have recently changed their rates so it is no longer includes all insurances for us Aussies. I think it quoted around $12 extra a day for insurance. When I checked Alamo, they still included insurance but the rates were more expensive.

Wow that makes a huge difference. I just costed out our 14 day car hire again and it's gone up USD200! So glad we have a confirmation with all the rates on it.

 

[aussiegirls]

Jade I just realised how long you have on your ticker. What date are you leaving and where are you staying (if you don't mind me asking). I think there will be a few of us from the aussie board there at the same time.

 

[Jade+3]

Jade I just realised how long you have on your ticker. What date are you leaving and where are you staying (if you don't mind me asking). I think there will be a few of us from the aussie board there at the same time.

I think my ticker may be out by a day. We leave on 16th October. We have 2 weeks in Orlando, then a 4 night Disney Cruise, then back to LA on 5th November, for 10 days at HoJo's.

 

[Jade+3]

Wow that makes a huge difference. I just costed out our 14 day car hire again and it's gone up USD200! So glad we have a confirmation with all the rates on it.

Yes, I am so glad I booked when I did too. I went to add a GPS to our reservation, and it repriced the rental at the new rates. We going to buy a GPS as it is much cheaper than renting one.

Are you leaving today??

 

[aussiegirls]

Hey Jade we are leaving on the same day - how exciting We are starting off at the Hojo though.

Not too long now

xxx

 

[keptwoman]

Yes, I am so glad I booked when I did too. I went to add a GPS to our reservation, and it repriced the rental at the new rates. We going to buy a GPS as it is much cheaper than renting one.

Are you leaving today??

No, tomorrow morning
I'm so not organised!

 

[Jade+3]

Yep, 5 weeks today!! We watched the Disney planning DVD again last night. The kids are just so excited.

 

[Andona]

I think my ticker may be out by a day.

My ticker is out by a day too - I forgot to take the date line into account when I set it up. I think I might go back and recreate it, it will make the trip seem a day closer

Andona