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

[queenie82]

I don't think the problem is so much as to WHETHER they accept it. It is whether they accept it and process it at the discount rate over the phone.
If you are booking it in person they will...but I have heard some say that if they wanted to book the tour with the AAA discount they needed to do it through the AAA (sort of like buying discounted Sea World tickets from the NRMA is done at the NRMA)

When you book a tour at WDW you need to pay then and if you cancel they refund you if it is before a certain time. But we have never done a DL one so I'm not sure of the procedure.....

Anyway. It sounds like a load of fun and I can't wait!

 

[becpee]

4 Weeks today until we leave, and it seems we still have a few things that we need to do, but we will get there.

The most important thing we need to do is change our entry applications as our flight changed.

I can't wait, hope my DS loves it and isn't too much of a pain on the flight

 

[Flea]

I can't wait, hope my DS loves it and isn't too much of a pain on the flight

I'm worried about the flight and how my girls will handle it. They do fine domestically in NZ but this is 12+hours on a plane...I've booked flights close to bedtime so hopefully they will sleep but I don't think that will happen.....any tips from some seasoned travellers?? Our girls are almost 3 and almost 5.

I've made them up some activity packs with crayons, books, stickers, pipecleaners, papers etc. And I see they are playing Snow White and the 7 dwarfs movie on the flight which I know they will love.


I spent the afternoon tiedyeing our tops for the halloween party and I've almost finished the girls skirts for their Pirate Princess costume. 2 weeks to go so hopefully I'll finish them all in time

 

[melbarkwith]

I'm worried about the flight and how my girls will handle it. They do fine domestically in NZ but this is 12+hours on a plane...I've booked flights close to bedtime so hopefully they will sleep but I don't think that will happen.....any tips from some seasoned travellers?? Our girls are almost 3 and almost 5.

Last time we went, our girls were 5, 4 and 11 months old. Our middle dd is quite a handful at the best of times, so we were really worried about the flight.

We left Auckland at around 7.30pm, which was great. We told the girls for weeks before we went that we would get on the plane, they would have dinner, could watch a movie and then it was sleep time. The older 2 were fantastic - they did exactly as planned on the flight over (note: NOT on the flight home... ) Our youngest was too big for the bassinet (every time she rolled over she hit the sides of it, or the cover that had to be on it), so she slept on my lap. The flight home was awful with 3 over tired kids, including one who wanted to go to the loo every.five.minutes. However, a screaming 4 year old is an excellent way to get through customs quickly I don't think the guy even looked at what I'd declared, just told us to go home

The flight over truly wasn't as bad as I had imagined. I hope that is the case this time too - I'm worried about how our 3YO will behave. Hopefully she is so tired that she will just sleep.

 

[Flea]

Last time we went, our girls were 5, 4 and 11 months old. Our middle dd is quite a handful at the best of times, so we were really worried about the flight.

We left Auckland at around 7.30pm, which was great. We told the girls for weeks before we went that we would get on the plane, they would have dinner, could watch a movie and then it was sleep time. The older 2 were fantastic - they did exactly as planned on the flight over (note: NOT on the flight home... ) Our youngest was too big for the bassinet (every time she rolled over she hit the sides of it, or the cover that had to be on it), so she slept on my lap. The flight home was awful with 3 over tired kids, including one who wanted to go to the loo every.five.minutes. However, a screaming 4 year old is an excellent way to get through customs quickly I don't think the guy even looked at what I'd declared, just told us to go home

The flight over truly wasn't as bad as I had imagined. I hope that is the case this time too - I'm worried about how our 3YO will behave. Hopefully she is so tired that she will just sleep.

That is the flight we are taking (coming back our flight doesn't leave till 9.30pm so that one will be interesting). We've told them the same thing (except we will probably grab mcdonalds before we go through just in case because my redheaded monster is really fussy). I'm packing their pj's and will get them changed into them once we are through all the customs stuff but before we get on the plane.

 

[aussiegirls]

Well we have 11 sleeps to go here and today we have 1 sick kid

I suppose it is better that she gets over whatever it is now than have it when we go but it still kinda sucks

xxx

 

[Flea]

Well we have 11 sleeps to go here and today we have 1 sick kid

I suppose it is better that she gets over whatever it is now than have it when we go but it still kinda sucks

xxx

Oh no hopefully she gets over it quickly.

Both my girls were sick last week so I'm hoping they got it out of their systems before we leave... 14 sleeps here for us

 

[queenie82]

I know noone has mentioned the issue of ear popping but mentioning kids on the plane it is something I remembered. I had a major issue with my ears especially during and after landing until I was in my 20s. Take off not so bad. I remember one time spending nearly a day in LA with a blocked aching ringing ear.

What we found some years ago though is Ear planes
http://www.travelgear.com.au/p/11201/Ear+Planes+in-flight+ear+protection

They really do help and if that is an issue for your kids is might be worth considering. They aren't cheap but they did help me.

Anyway I hope all the planning is going ok and that your sick kids get better soon : It is better to be sick now rather than over there.
I just saw some beautiful shots of the halloween decorations in DL I wish I could go at Halloween as well as Christmas.....sigh...one day.

 

[melbarkwith]

Better to be sick now than in 10 days time. Hope she is feeling better soon.

I'm taking some lollies for the kids to suck on/chew for landing and take off. If I remember correctly, Air New Zealand actually handed out lollies to everyone before landing.

 

[Flea]

I'm bringing the girls sippy cups with straws for them to suck through...they won't let me put things in their ears. I did look at the earplanes though. I might get some for me.

 

[rossip]

Hi everyone

I'm writing this with a sad heart !

We have just spent the past 12 days in Disneyland and it was absolutley wonderful .

We are currently in hawaii for a few days having a bit of a relax before heading home .

I will post a full TR later but just some snippets.

QANTAS were fantastic absolutly awesome

We stayed at Ramada maingate which was excellent - for some reason it doesnt get much comment on these and othe rboard but I can and will thoroughly recommend it .

Disneyland itself - WOW !

The halloween decs are all up.

We saw fantasmic 3 times - twice with front row uninterupted seats , the first time we were very lucky we werewalking around obviously looking lost and a local guy and his wife said he had soem spare room , right on the rail on waters edge dead centre !!!!

Next time we got there at 9.00 with the intention of watching the 10.30 and as soon as the 9.00 show finished we moved in quickly - this is not a bad way of getting good seats BTW.

Fireworks watched them every night , wait for in front of the castle is about an hour and a half but well worth it , the Halloween theme is brilliant and the Americans go wild !!!

Crowds first week very light - last week getting quite busy , 60 minute wait for Space MTn , Indy , Toy Story etc, the weekend on 25/9 was ridiculous , thnakfully we only went in at night , but I have never seen so many people , actually it was quite scary with the sheer volume of people walking around .
For some reason not all Fast passes were operating not sure why.

DCA is looking good , the construction work does not effect anything at all .

Universal and sea world were wonderful , we also went to Legoland but that is only really good for say under 12's , we still ahd a good day there though .

Food , we loved Rainforest , the Jazz Kitchen , Bubba gumps and surprisingly IHOP ( kids eat free is the current promotion there) , We were disapointed with Cheescake Factory

We also went to Goofys Kitchen Character breakfast - a great time was had by all and the food was wonderful , we went to a 9.00 sitting and did not eat for the rest of the day !!! The character interactoion was really good too , pluto , goofy of course , jasmine , chip and dale , snow white , big bear and a couple more I cant remember right now - but easily recommended !
A lot more I could write and I will post a full report later .

We also took a day trip to Palm Springs and road the aerial tramway - WOW - very scary but the views - WOW !! ansd on the way back stopped at the outlets stores in Desert Hills / Cabazon - need I say anymore than $5.00 genuine Quiksilver and Billabong T Shirts etc !!!!! Cheap Levis 501s $29.00 - we filled the boot up thats for sure and we needed to buy another case to come home

To those shortly embarking have a load of fun - you will !!!

 

[Flea]

It sounds like you had a wonderful time Rossip

I just unwrapped my tiedyeing from yesterday for our costumes. I love the results I got so hopefully the other people in our party are happy too I guess it's only for 1 night so it doesn't matter if they don't.

 

[Jade+3]

Rossip, your trip sounds wonderful. Enjoy your time in Hawaii. We are going to do a day trip to Palm Springs too. I hope the tramway is not too scary for the kids.

 

[queenie82]

Sounds like you have had a wonderful time Rossip!!!
Indeed enjoy Hawaii. Disney's pull is only a bit stronger than the Hawaii pull at the moment.
Don't know which island you are on but I'd love to hear your report on it : Mahalo

 

[welley]

"We also took a day trip to Palm Springs and road the aerial tramway - WOW - very scary but the views - WOW !! ansd on the way back stopped at the outlets stores in Desert Hills / Cabazon - need I say anymore than $5.00 genuine Quiksilver and Billabong T Shirts etc !!!!! Cheap Levis 501s $29.00 - we filled the boot up thats for sure and we needed to buy another case to come home" - quote from Rossip


Did something wrong with the quote.


I was hoping to hear if someone had been to the Desert Hills mall. DH and I are going there to have a HUGE shop. And now that we know it is good and cheap, think we might need extra cases...

 

[keptwoman]

Hey guys We got back yesterday from our trip. I'm not going to do a big report so this is it:

United SUCKED!!! A catalogue of disasters too long to mention, but for the worst: The seats were tiny and the leg room non existent. I ordered Gluten free meals and they had a catch-all allergy meal which was everything free (salt, fat, dairy, gluten and TASTE) they actually served me APPLE SAUCE as a side. For the final breakfast I got, my 6yo's kids meal was bigger, they just made no effort at all. I've been eating special meals on planes for years and theirs were the worst by a long stretch, the normal food looked OK though. The cabin crew and other stafff were at best disinterested and at worst just plain rude. We flew them for 7 flights, so I think we got a pretty good sampling. I will say that I agree with whoever it was that said that Economy Plus is much better, the leg room was great, we were on PS planes from LAX to NY and back with all Economy+ seating so we got to try it, but it's not a justifyable cost for 5 people trans-pacific, for 2 people I'd do it! DH and I were in complete agreement after 24 hours of hellish United yesterday, NEVER AGAIN!!

NY was wonderful, road trip fabulous. Hardly did any shopping as we just had no time. Nascar was a great slice of American life and we saw U2 at the Patriots Stadium in MA which was a lovely treat! I loved the "tailgating" picnics that people do before events, it's a great tradition. The friends we stayed with did a really amazing fireworks display for us, took us apple picking and let C carve a pumpkin, we had the best time! The lakehouse we stayed at was absolutely and utterly gorgeous, complete highlight and I'm so sad we only booked 3 nights. Niagara Falls on the Canada side is a dump behind the shiny hotels, but the town of Niagara on the Lake, 15 km away was really lovely, totally should have stayed there! The falls themselves though were breathtaking.

We used Whole Foods supermarkets a lot and they are gourmet and allergy heaven!!! Loved them and miss them already.

Disneyland:
We used the Magic Morning plan from here. I was FIRST at the gates for countdown and first on Peter Pan, 2nd on Dumbo and walked on to every ride we did. Brilliant plan!!
We used the FP tips from Hydro guy and they enabled us to ride the big rides many times without waiting in lines. I had a vague order plan for each day, and we followed that. We did all the biggies the first day. We had done most everything by the end of the 2nd day, everything by the end of the 3rd day and the 4th and 5th we cruised and did the things we enjoyed and wanted to do again. We rode our favourites lots and lots of times. I'm happy with the balance we struck of an order to ride things in without being anal retentive, it left lots of room for additions and alterations. The longest line we stood in was 25 mins for Toy Story Mania and only because we had been there first thing and the ride was closed!!! I can not for the life of me work out why all those people were standing in line on all the rides as we walked on by them. The parks were not busy for the first 4 days though, even Indy was only a 15 min wait. On the last day with Gay Days the ride times went up substantially.

The halloween stuff was great! I loved the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Not so keen on the Space overlay, I like the original version better but it was still a great ride.

We went to the ToT party, I thought it was great but I have to say that at the end of the 4th day the kids were just too tired to really enjoy it, even after an afternoon off at the hotel relaxing. They refused to dance and so we just wandered, did a couple of rides and collected treats. There were lots of characters around to meet and have photos with and we did a few of them. The parade was fun, but again the kids were too tired to enjoy it and Miss M fell asleep on the ground!! I think if we did it again we'd aim for it at the beginning of the stay.

Food: we were on a budget so didn't eat at any restaurant but Rainforest Cafe, didn't book and couldnt hack a 45 min wait after a long day from NY (was C's birthday) so we sat outside on the patio which was actually very cool and very Indy for our Indy fan. They asked us to change seats right after we sat down and gave us a free desert for it, so that was good. The food was OK, but my eating is always coloured by the fact that I'm gluten free and that seriously limits my options anywhere I go, eating out can be a bit of a disappointing experience. I had the salmon though and it was very nice.
We ate at many of the counter service places and the food was good, if repetitive. They were excellent at subbing food that I could eat, I actually got a GF burger bun at Taste Pilots Grill which was a very special treat (you are easily pleased after not being able to eat anything but chicken and salad for half your holiday) I was very, very impressed with the way they catered for allergies and would happily recommend it to others for that reason.

I bought a pin trading starter set and had a lot of fun trading with the CMs. I did get stuck with a fake, which a CM traded with me and I'm a bit disappointed about but I'll live. My pin set is the best souvenir and I'm just working out how to display it.

We stayed at HoJos and they were GREAT!!! The rooms were huge, there were two queens and a rollaway in our room and still heaps of space left. The beds super dooper comfy, and the Keurig coffee machines were wonderful. The staff were friendly and helpful. The kids loved the pool area, and there were plenty of loungers for the parents. The walk was not long at all and the price is right. I thought it was absolutely wonderful and I'm so glad we picked it, I'd totally recommend it to others.

So that's my report, we've had the most wonderful time. I wasn't missing home, but it's nice to be here.

 

[queenie82]

Sorry you had a terrible time with United.
I had a guy get a kosher meal once and he was very pleased. And I have found their regular food some of the best I have found on a plane. We once got a special Thanksgiving meal because that is when we were flying : As well as a Christmas one.
I guess Gluten free they don't do well.

My biggest problem with Qantas is you are stuck with AA which I can I call terrible at best. From the checkin counter to the flight staff. Staff were rude and incompetent...so even if Qantas is ok...it is destroyed by AA.

We have been flying United since 1990 and never been disappointed.

And thinking about it I think this one this I have been most impressed with is the quality of the pilots...and ultimately this is what matters.
I don't know if I have said this before but we once had to reroute because of a medical emergency on board and the pilot negotiated with the military to fly through a no fly zone, and got us to vegas instead of back tracking. His course meant he had to miss the runway and turn around and the smoothness of this amazing banking turn (and the resulting view of the strip) got us down quickly and safely. Going through turbulence they also seem to do a better job.


Thank you for the rest of the report. Planing pays off eh!!

Bummer about the fake. We got a fake trading with a CM in paris but when we went to the pin board the guy saw it instantly and snapped it gave us a replacement.

 

[aussiegirls]

Hey Keptwoman, welcome back. Your trip report was great. Glad to hear you had such a great time, bummer about the flights though.

Just wanted to add thanks so much for the travel journal. I fiddled with it a little to make it appropriate for my DD and she absolutely loves it. Can't wait to get over there and make use of it

xxx

 

[keptwoman]

I'm glad the journal looks useful for you
We had really good success with it. It was just the right amount for DD each day, we also glued in pictures and ticket stubs etc that we picked up along the way.

Have fun with it!

 

[Saskiwi]

We did three nights in PAlm Springs after DL in APril and found Cabazon outlet mall was cheap but not AMAZINGLY so... (of course the NZ$ was worth 50c US then - ouch!) It is huge, so if you have kids with you you'll need to come up with a strategy for keeping them entertained while you wander and shop - there's not much for kids to do there.

We found the Converse shop was good deal for sneakers but in most stores we had to head straight to the sale rack to find any real deals.

Palm Springs and the general area is great if you want to experience a bit of desert after all the DL madness ( Though I guess desert isn't such a novelty for Aussies as it is for us Kiwis!) - Joshua Tree Natnl Park is very cool and we enjoyed seeing all the great old 50s houses built in Palm Springs heyday - and don't forget to visit the Wheel Inn diner when you are in Cabazon - it's underneath the giant dinosaurs - you can't miss it!
It's a great kitschy diner and starred in PeeWee Herman's movie if you remember that from the 80s!