HELP! Im gonna need a lot of it. An Aussies family's first trip to WDW

[shushh]

Mum from Oz, I'm slowly working my way catching up with everyone's PTR or TR! How's the rest of the planning going?

I'm very envious that you get to go on the DREAM. I saw some photos from a fellow DISboarder and it really looks awesome!

 

[Mum from oz]

Jumping in!! I just found your PTR and wanted to join. We are going on our first WDW trip in May too! I can't believe we are under the 4 month mark now. When my oldest was 5 we took her to Disneyland and Legoland. Legoland was pretty cool. You son would especially like it. It is a little bit of a drive from LA but not too bad. We also did dinner at Medieval times dinner show. The kids might get a kick out of that.

Terri

Thanks for dropping by Terri! Not long to go now!

Mum from Oz, I'm slowly working my way catching up with everyone's PTR or TR! How's the rest of the planning going?

I'm very envious that you get to go on the DREAM. I saw some photos from a fellow DISboarder and it really looks awesome!

Hey Shushh, I'm still reading your TR and loving it! I am finally getting around to updating my much neglected PTR!

 

[Mum from oz]

We're getting soooo close now. only 50 days to go!

Anyhow I have done more planning and our trip seems to be coming together nicely.

So our plans now are:

1st May - Depart Sydney @ 10:45am Have found an airport shuttle, just need to book about two weeks prior.

1st May - (Groundhog day!) Arrive in LA @ 7:20am Call shuttle to take us to accommodation for night. Holiday Inn Express. Check bags in and call a cab to take us to Westfields Culver City which is only 5.5 miles away. We need to buy car seats, I am just going to buy some as opposed to hiring as we are hiring a car in Orlando and LA over long periods and @ $10 a day per seat x 2, even when it is capped @ $70 it will be cheaper to buy and take with us. We will browse the shops for a bit, have some lunch and head back to the HI to check in around 2:00pm. The idea is to sleep for a few hours, but to set our alarms for about 6:00pm. Get up and go for dinner, then "home" baths/showers and bed for the night!

2nd May - Take shuttle to the airport then fly to MCO @ 10:30am. Arrive MCO @ 6:13pm. Collect Rental car and drive to our Townhouse @ Windsor Hills. Drop off our bags and check the place out then pop out to Publix to pick up some supplies. Grab something for dinner then head to our "home" for the next 16 nights.

3rd May - 18th May
WDW, US/IOA, Seaworld, Kennedy SC - I will detail more in next post.

18th May - Staying @ the Country Inn & Suites Port Canaveral. We have booked two rooms and are utilising their cruise and park special. We will leave the car there and they will shuttle us to the Port and bring us back at the end. The rate includes breakfast.

19th May - 22nd May
Disney Dream for 3 nights Bahamas cruise.

22nd May - Disembark and collect our car from the Country Inn. Drive back to Orlando and stay for one night. I am thinking about stating at "The Pointe Orlando Resort" in a two bedroom suite for around $200. Beats getting two rooms. Also as we have to disembark quite early and we don't have to fly out until 7:03pm the following night, so I decided it would be better staying somewhere with things to do close by as opposed to the Hyatt at the airport. Mum ans Steve want to do the Titanic experience and this is right nearby. Plus we will have the car until we leave so we are free to go anywhere really.
23rd May - Fly out of MCO @ 7:03pm. Pick up our rental car and drive down to Anaheim.

24th May - 30th May TO be detailed below

30th May - Fly Home

 

[Mum from oz]

This is my rough guide for Orlando. Obviously the ADR's will most probably be set in stone.

Tue 3rd - Downtown Disney
Wed 4th - Magic Kingdom 9:00am - 10:00pm
ADR: CRT @ 8:10am
Thu 5th - Epcot 9:00am - 9:00pm
ADR: Les Chefs De France @ 1:30pm
Fri 6th - DHS 9:00am - 9:00pm
Sat 7th - Shop/Swim/Relax an easy day spent however we feel when we wake up
Sun 8th - Animal Kingdom 9:00am - 6:00pm
ADR: Tusker House @ 8:25am
Mon 9th - Seaworld
Tue 10th - US/IOA
Wed 11th - US/IOA
Thu 12th - Shop/Swim/Relax an easy day spent however we feel when we wake up
Fri 13th - Magic Kingdom 9:00am - 9:00pm /DTD
BBB @ 8:50am and Pirates League @ 11:00am ADR: T-Rex @ 4:00pm
Sat 14th - Animal Kingdom 9:00am - 6:00pm
ADR: Ohanas @ 7:05pm
Sun 15th - DHS 9:00am - 9:00pm
ADR: Hollywood & Vine @ 12:40pm
Mon 16th - Epcot 9:00am - 9:00pm
Tue 17th - Magic Kingdom 9:00am - 9:00pm
ADR: Crystal Palace @ 8:25am
Wed 18th - Kennedy Space Centre

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great plans! I'm sure you're going to have so much fun and NOT want to come home at all.

BTW - Great move to buy car seats. Check out Babies R Us (Which is the babies off-shoot of Toys R Us). They also do car seats and boosters. We bought a booster for my then 5yo DS and brought it home with us. It was great in the boot for bringing other kids home during the early kinder/prep years.

 

[Mum from oz]

Thanks PIO! I'll see where the closest BRU is to our hotel. I gotta pop over to catch up on your TR.

I still have no real concrete plans for LA yet. Let me know what you think of my rough plan. Also what are your recommendations for great shopping in LA? We have a car so no problems there.

23rd - Get to townhouse pretty late. Straight to bed.
24th - Drive up to Hollywood and sightsee. Rodeo Drive, Graumans Theatre, Walk of Fame, a spot of shopping.
25th - Disneyland
26th - Shopping
27th - Some sort of coastal activity....Santa Monica Pier or Long Beach/Aquarium/Queen Mary... Up for discussion!
28th - Disneyland / WOC??
29th - Shopping
30th - Disneyland/Fly home. Our flight isn't until 10:20pm so the plan is to take the kids (and myself) for one last hit of Disney and to exhaust ourselves. Leave around 3 or 4pm and drive up to LAX, stopping for dinner on the way.

 

[Mum from oz]

Well our Cruise Fish Extenders list is finalised. I have done up the spreadsheet and just have to email it to everyone. Now all I have to do is go and buy for everyone. I have 24 adults and 11 Children to buy for. What do you think I should get? I was thinking Aussie themed stuff. Aussie chocolates or lollies? Plus pens or magnets etc. And Disney tattoos for the kids.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Are you talking outlet shopping or shopping shopping?

There are a couple of malls near DLR...the closest being Main Place Mall. The other two that are HUGE are South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa) and Fashion Island (Newport Beach).

If you're talking outlet shopping and don't mind the drive, then there is the uber big Ontario Mills. Alternatively, I like going to Carlsbad, near where Legoland is. It is smaller but because it is a bit more out of the way, it is a much nicer shopping experience.

Some of the other Aussies like the Citadel, but I've somehow never made it there.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks PIO! I'll see where the closest BRU is to our hotel. I gotta pop over to catch up on your TR.

I still have no real concrete plans for LA yet. Let me know what you think of my rough plan. Also what are your recommendations for great shopping in LA? We have a car so no problems there.

23rd - Get to townhouse pretty late. Straight to bed.
24th - Drive up to Hollywood and sightsee. Rodeo Drive, Graumans Theatre, Walk of Fame, a spot of shopping.
25th - Disneyland
26th - Shopping
27th - Some sort of coastal activity....Santa Monica Pier or Long Beach/Aquarium/Queen Mary... Up for discussion!
28th - Disneyland / WOC??
29th - Shopping
30th - Disneyland/Fly home. Our flight isn't until 10:20pm so the plan is to take the kids (and myself) for one last hit of Disney and to exhaust ourselves. Leave around 3 or 4pm and drive up to LAX, stopping for dinner on the way.

You are talking about 30th of May, being a Monday, right? Peak hour....bummer.

Not sure if you've planned your route from Anaheim to LAX. But if you head down the 91 to the 110 to the 105, this is better than taking the 5 or the 405. I've always eaten at DTD (or more specifically the Cheesecake Factory) and then driven to LAX.

 

[Mum from oz]

again Princess. You're a wealth of knowledge!! And pretty much the only one reading my musings. I am slooooowly catching up on your TR. Just finished reading about SF Chinatown.

So how long do you think it will take in peak hour?? What time should we leave Disney and what time should we leave from dinner if we have it in the Anaheim area?

As for shopping, what can I say......... I'm a brand wh**e, not a fussy one, but I like brand name stuff. While I'm confessing.... I'm a sucker for tourist traps, not really the beaten path sorta girl IYKWIM!

A girlfriend who lived in the states for a few years said TJMaxx is great for labelled clearance stuff, she's sent me a lot of stuff she scored from there over the years. Also i do wanna check out some outlets and just visit a typical shopping centre. Did I mention I like to shop!! When we sent to Hawaii we got stuck wandering around the grocery store for 2 hours cause I wanted to look at everything!

Also do you have any beach recommendations? Huntington? Laguna? Long Beach? I'm going to milk you for all the info you got!

 

[PrincessInOz]

You'll get the tourist perspective from me...you might want a local perspective. So, you're shopping in LA, right? Let me see if I can convince a friend of mine to stop by and give you her perspective on local shopping. She stays in the Long Beach area.

TJMaxx is great as is Kohl's as is Walmart as is Target. With TJMaxx and shops of this ilk, you'll need time to sift through things. And it is pretty hit and miss. For that reason, I prefer Kohl's, Walmart and Target. If you get to any of those shops (and in particular Kohl's) on the right time, their mark-downs can be pretty great.

I haven't really stopped at Laguna Beach. Huntington Beach is nice. There isn't really a beach to speak of at Long Beach; but check out Seal Beach. I really loved the strip shopping there....not big but a nice quiet stroll....my friend recommended that we go eat at Walt's Wharf at Seal Beach and it was great. My May 10 TR has food porn from Walt's Wharf. We also headed down to the beach and it was lovely there.
The thing about spending some time around Long Beach area is that there is the Canals of Naples; and there is a gondola company that runs gondola rides around the canals. Sadly, we missed out on the gondola ride...bad winds...but we did take a walk around the canals. It was very quiet and I felt like a local out on an evening walk.

If this is your first time, then there is always the touristy spot of Venice Beach and the Venice Canals. I think it's about a 20 or 30 minutes walk from Venice beach to Santa Monica.

How long will it take to drive from Anaheim to LAX? At the weekend, it should only take about 35 minutes on the route I suggested.
The last time I drove at a weekday was a Friday night and our flight out was 11'ish. I think we ate at 4.30 and left Anaheim before 5.30. We got to the car dropoff shortly after 7; and the airport between 7.30 - 8 pm. If there is a car crash, then everything goes out the window.