Hollywood and Disneyland in 2008

[konslerg]

DH and I have signed up for the Sept. 16-21 (adults only) adventure. I'd love to hear from anyone who has already done this trip or is planning on doing it. It will be our first AbD.

Gloria in Miami

 

[inkkognito]

We're doing it on April 8 (first offering). Can't wait!!

 

[ImprovGal]

Hi Gloria!
I booked the December 9 one -- I'll finally get to see the Haunted Mansion NBC and the Small World Holiday versions.

 

[LocustPoint]

I'm going on the trip before Improvgirl, 12/2. Celebrating my birthday, holidays in Disneyland it doesn't get any better than that.

 

[MJGirl]

Hi all ... My daughter and I are booked on the August 12 tour. The last day at Disneyland will be her 18th birthday. What a great way to celebrate. I'm thinking of going down on the Saturday before and spending a day at Universal, maybe tour the Warner Brother Studios, spend a day shopping and try to get tickets to a show. I'm thinking Dr. Phil, but I'm not sure if they film that early in August, plus they have an 18+ age limit.

 

[konslerg]

Hi Gloria!
I booked the December 9 one -- I'll finally get to see the Haunted Mansion NBC and the Small World Holiday versions.

Now I didn't even think about that, Amy! Oh well, the Sept. dates work best for us anyway. My husband has a client who has a home and vineyard in Napa. September is harvest time and he's invited us to stay with him for a few days pre or post Disney trip to see the harvest. So, I think we'll stay with our Sept. dates.

 

[BriarRosie]

I'm tagging along on the Dec 9th one with Amy.

The holiday overlays were a selling point for me, and this is also my first ABD!

 

[inkkognito]

We're going to try to do Universal on the last day before flying home. Our flight is at 10 p.m. so it will be an overnighter back to Orlando...I will be a real grouch that next morning! Universal has a VIP tour or a front of the line pass that you can buy, so it sounds like it can easily be done in one day if you do that.

I noticed that Turtle Talk With Crush is one of the attractions in the ABD. I am soooo hoping we get to see that behind the scenes! It is one of my favorite attractions at Epcot, and I always admire how good "Crush" is.

 

[MJGirl]

Just tried to book 3 nights pre-stay at the Renaissance and they stated they could only book 2 nights. I asked to book the 2 nights, and they then stated that they were no longer able to book pre-stays. She did say that there was still availability for my tour though. I'm guessing that the pre-stay nights are extremely limited or it is too early to book them. I might try later.

 

[konslerg]

I think DH and I are going to make a short trip to Napa after the ABD. DH has a client who owns a home and vineyard in Napa and he has invited us to come stay a few days, do a few winery tours and watch some of the harvesting of his grapes. That sounds very interesting, so I think we'll probably plan it into our trip.

 

[MJGirl]

For those of you wanting to plan pre-stays at the Renaissance, here is some info I gathered. ABD will only book up to 2 night's prestay and the charge is $249 a room. I tried for my tour, but was only able to get 1 night. I called the hotel my self and got a rate of $265 for the first night (Sunday) using my AAA discount, and a rate of $299 for the second night. These prices were the same as I found online. Since I booked the hotel myself, ABD will not pick me up at the airport. The hotel told me that it will cost about $50 for a cab from LAX to the Hotel or $15 per person for the Super Shuttle to the Hotel. As there is just two of us, I'm going with the Super Shuttle! Oh yeah and as I'm going on another cruise after the Adventure, I asked if they could drive me to the cruise ship instead of the Airport and was told no. I will have to arrange my own transportation to the Magic! Hope this is useful info to anyone else out there

 

[inkkognito]

Woo hoo! Got our initial packet, and I just sent our confirmation back to ABD today. Hubby and I were drooling over the book they sent and hoping that we will be able to do one of the European adventures in 2009. Ireland...Italy...England...France...how the heck will we chose?! Thankfully we can rule out Spain since we were there this year.

 

[nunzia]

We just booked for the January 09 trip. Sounds very exciting and can't wait to hear reports!

 

[carebear95]

Universal has a VIP tour or a front of the line pass that you can buy, so it sounds like it can easily be done in one day if you do that.

I have done the VIP tour at Universal and it is great! It was worth every penny to not have to wait in lines, and to see the behind the scenes. I highly recommend it.

 

[saturday97]

This trip sounds awesome and the behind the scenes tour seem to really make it a unique trip.

I noticed there was something in the description about VIP fast passes for D-land-- is this like a "platinum" fast pass with special privileges, or what?? Because that would really be worth it!!

 

[inkkognito]

I don't know how it works, but I am hoping it's like the ones DVC gives out sometimes for people who take their tour. You pop it in and out pops a FP for the current time.

 

[saturday97]

Really?? DVC gives those out?? Man, am I missing out!

WOW, that would be fantastic! I will have to give this trip some more consideration!! Typically I do D-land on my own, but between this pass and the Jim Henson studio, this sounds like something I can't pass up!

 

[bradk]

whee

i'm on the 4/8 one myself. that's the first one to be offered (it's new for 2008) so nobody's done it before.

i asked ABD about the FASTPASS. she acknowledged there was a special FP, but said she didn't know the details as the tour is just too new. my immediate thought was the Enhanced FP that AAA used to give, where you can a set of FPs for every attraction without having to wait for a return window (it still makes you wait, but you aren't restricted to going from one to another). didn't know about the DVC one, but i do recall during the 50th anniversary, that they gave press special FPs that just let them get unlimited FPs for whenever.

even so, with everything else going on, that's icing on the cake as far as i'm concerned.

i'm also extending my vacation. i was last at disneyland in may 2006 but only stuck to anaheim. i was all over socal in early 2005. i'm going to revisit universal and do the VIP tour (i did it in 2005 and i see it's been revamped and is even better now - it truly was worth every penny) and hopefully getting to Sony's tour and WB's as well as a couple of other area attractions before it starts. i'm also extending a day after for more disneyland (they give you a 3 day ticket but the guide will extend it to 4 for $20).

i'm taking care of all those pre- and post- arrangements myself though. i would never stay at either hotel on my own - way too expensive.

 

[inkkognito]

Maybe we'll see you at Universal too! We're being really, really crazy and doing the VIP tour on the last day, then driving to the airport for a red eye back to FL and off to work that morning...ugh!

As you said, the VIP Fastpasses will just be the icing on the cake. The whole tour looks fabulous! It's not even 2008 yet and I am already so excited.

 

[bradk]

i'm actually doing the universal tour on the sunday before the tour.

my plan is this:
- fly into burbank on sat april 5
- staying at the super 8 on n western (which is where i stayed the last time i was in la, decent place, excellent location - i stick to mass transit, it's like 1 block from the red line)
- i want to do the kodak theatre tour and visit the hollywood museum - these are things i'm planning to do on sat
- sunday, universal
- monday, warner brothers
- tuesday, sony before going to the hotel for abd and whatever (ABD told me to be at the hotel by 3)
- ...
- sunday, another day at disneyland (staying at park place inn across from the gates)
- monday, leaving from long beach

i try to keep LA stuff separate from Anaheim. the commute is like 90 minutes on a good day.

so feel free to ask me about the universal tour during the trip as i mentioned, i took it in 2005. i read a recent report about the experience and several things have changed (they've also changed the tram video since then and added the fast and furious sequence).

i can't even believe all the stuff this tour has going on. i'm probably most excited about disney studios and especially jim henson studios. i was reading someone else's post and she was talking about walt's apartment and i'm like where did you see that? sure enough, i had to do a text search in the itinerary to find it. i totally missed it after pouring over this thing time and time again.

now i'm just trying to factor in add-ons. i'm thinking about adding the walk in walt's footsteps tour at disneyland. just not sure which day i can fit it in (worst case, i can do it sunday). also noticed jimmy kimmel tapes at the el capitan which is pretty much next door to the hotel. you can get tickets through 1iota.com. ABD told me that you do get tickets as part of the ABD (if he's taping that night), but something to keep in mind for the other days.