So Shuttergirl suggested I do a trip report of my upcoming trip.
A little background maybe??
After a hiatus from disboards for a while, (building a house)I have decided to come back to help plan a trip to WDW in 2014. I was in WDW in April 2012 for my DD who competed at the world cheerleading championships, it was a very unusual trip in that it was all arranged as a package by the International cheer federation, so I didn't have any control over hotels, etc
While I was glad to be back in WDW after a magical trip in 2008, it wasn't the same without the endless hours of planning that went into the first trip. She has again qualified to compete but they wont be competing till the 2014 world championships, so I have decided this time I want a bit more say in the planning and think I will visit WDW by myself while she is training for 10 days somewhere in Florida, hence my return to the wonderful disboards.
To help pass time, DH and I have planned a trip to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, leaving the kids at home (DS 19 and DD 17) with some supervision from the grandparents.
So it is all planned and ready to go, just need the days to hurry on up and roll over.
So the plan is:
March 1st.
Fly to LA with Virgin Aust (premium economy, gotta love FF points)
Arrive in the morning of March 1st with just one night at the Renaissance Hotel LAX, plan to drop our bags at the hotel in the morning and head down to Santa Monica for the day for a walk, shopping and some lunch.
March 2nd
Morning flight to Cancun, arrive early evening. Transfer to a little hotel in downtown Cancun
March 3rd
Start a 21 day Tucan tour, which incorporates the beaches of Belize, the Mayan sites of Chichén Itzá, Palenque and Tikal and lots of amazing scenery in Guatemala
The itinerary from the tour.
Day 1 to 1 Arrive Cancún
Day 2 to 5 Mérida - Palenque
Day 6 to 13 San Cristóbal - Panajachel - Antigua
Day 14 to 15 Rio Dulce - Flores
Day 16 to 19 San Ignacio - Caye Caulker
Day 20 to 21 Playa del Carmen - Cancún
Day 22 to 22 Depart Cancún
So that is the base itinerary we are doing.
These tours are unusual as they are small group tours of max 12, and instead of being on coaches etc, you travel on local transport, mini buses, trains, taxis, boats and even the famous chicken buses. So looking forward to that.
Sun 24th-Wed 27th
Following the end of the tour we stay in an amazing all inclusive five star resort called excellence playa mujeres, where we have booked into a roof top pool terrace, so we have our own private pool on the roof terrace of our room.
I am so looking forward to this 3 night of luxury after trooping around on the tour with my backpack, we actually arrive on our 23rd wedding anniversary, so something to celebrate.
The most amazing thing is three nights here cost as much as the three week tour for one us!
Wed 27th
Fly back into LA via Mexico City, arrive at night and head to the Hilton Universal City.
Thursday 28th
Spend the day at Universal Studios LA, which I have never been to. I have been to Universal Orlando both in 2008 and 2012 and DH and I both loved it, I understand LA is very different to Orlando, so will be interesting to compare the two.
DH refused to let me go to Disneyland for the day, I know I know how can I still be happily married after 23 years if he doesn't let me go to Disney, :scared1 but I have been fortunate enough to have been to DLx1, WDWx2 and DLPx1 in the last 5 years, so I backed down
Fly home with V Australia in business class at 9.30pm (Loving my frequent flyer points even more)
Sat April 1st, arrive home with one day to spare before the Easter bunny arrives. Seriously my kids still want to do the Easter egg hunt in the morning, (they will be 18 and 20 by them)
So that is our plan, with 7 weeks to go, really looking forward to it, we were fortunate enough to go to Africa in 2011 and do a similar trip to the central America one, so I know what to expect. Like buy a backpack instead of dragging brand new suitcases around cobbled streets, dirt roads etc. My suitcase sadly didn't hold up on that trip, lucky they were covered by warranty, mind you the suitcase guy laughed when he saw the state my bag was in.
So backpacks bought (with the wheelie option), new hedgren crossover bag bought after losing my last one in a house move. I can't live without my crossover small travel bags, best thing I bought when I went to WDW in 2008, big enough for camera, wallet, sunscreen etc but still small enough to wear on rides. DH gets to lug a day pack around with my drink, umbrella, extra clothing etc&.hey isn't that what DH's are for!
Thanks for reading and I look forward to catching up with everything Disney over the next few months
A little background maybe??
After a hiatus from disboards for a while, (building a house)I have decided to come back to help plan a trip to WDW in 2014. I was in WDW in April 2012 for my DD who competed at the world cheerleading championships, it was a very unusual trip in that it was all arranged as a package by the International cheer federation, so I didn't have any control over hotels, etc
While I was glad to be back in WDW after a magical trip in 2008, it wasn't the same without the endless hours of planning that went into the first trip. She has again qualified to compete but they wont be competing till the 2014 world championships, so I have decided this time I want a bit more say in the planning and think I will visit WDW by myself while she is training for 10 days somewhere in Florida, hence my return to the wonderful disboards.To help pass time, DH and I have planned a trip to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, leaving the kids at home (DS 19 and DD 17) with some supervision from the grandparents.
So it is all planned and ready to go, just need the days to hurry on up and roll over.
So the plan is:
March 1st.
Fly to LA with Virgin Aust (premium economy, gotta love FF points)
Arrive in the morning of March 1st with just one night at the Renaissance Hotel LAX, plan to drop our bags at the hotel in the morning and head down to Santa Monica for the day for a walk, shopping and some lunch.
March 2nd
Morning flight to Cancun, arrive early evening. Transfer to a little hotel in downtown Cancun
March 3rd
Start a 21 day Tucan tour, which incorporates the beaches of Belize, the Mayan sites of Chichén Itzá, Palenque and Tikal and lots of amazing scenery in Guatemala
The itinerary from the tour.
Day 1 to 1 Arrive Cancún
Day 2 to 5 Mérida - Palenque
Day 6 to 13 San Cristóbal - Panajachel - Antigua
Day 14 to 15 Rio Dulce - Flores
Day 16 to 19 San Ignacio - Caye Caulker
Day 20 to 21 Playa del Carmen - Cancún
Day 22 to 22 Depart Cancún
So that is the base itinerary we are doing.
These tours are unusual as they are small group tours of max 12, and instead of being on coaches etc, you travel on local transport, mini buses, trains, taxis, boats and even the famous chicken buses. So looking forward to that.
Sun 24th-Wed 27th
Following the end of the tour we stay in an amazing all inclusive five star resort called excellence playa mujeres, where we have booked into a roof top pool terrace, so we have our own private pool on the roof terrace of our room.
I am so looking forward to this 3 night of luxury after trooping around on the tour with my backpack, we actually arrive on our 23rd wedding anniversary, so something to celebrate.
The most amazing thing is three nights here cost as much as the three week tour for one us!
Wed 27th
Fly back into LA via Mexico City, arrive at night and head to the Hilton Universal City.
Thursday 28th
Spend the day at Universal Studios LA, which I have never been to. I have been to Universal Orlando both in 2008 and 2012 and DH and I both loved it, I understand LA is very different to Orlando, so will be interesting to compare the two.
DH refused to let me go to Disneyland for the day, I know I know how can I still be happily married after 23 years if he doesn't let me go to Disney, :scared1 but I have been fortunate enough to have been to DLx1, WDWx2 and DLPx1 in the last 5 years, so I backed down
Fly home with V Australia in business class at 9.30pm (Loving my frequent flyer points even more)
Sat April 1st, arrive home with one day to spare before the Easter bunny arrives. Seriously my kids still want to do the Easter egg hunt in the morning, (they will be 18 and 20 by them)
So that is our plan, with 7 weeks to go, really looking forward to it, we were fortunate enough to go to Africa in 2011 and do a similar trip to the central America one, so I know what to expect. Like buy a backpack instead of dragging brand new suitcases around cobbled streets, dirt roads etc. My suitcase sadly didn't hold up on that trip, lucky they were covered by warranty, mind you the suitcase guy laughed when he saw the state my bag was in.
So backpacks bought (with the wheelie option), new hedgren crossover bag bought after losing my last one in a house move. I can't live without my crossover small travel bags, best thing I bought when I went to WDW in 2008, big enough for camera, wallet, sunscreen etc but still small enough to wear on rides. DH gets to lug a day pack around with my drink, umbrella, extra clothing etc&.hey isn't that what DH's are for!
Thanks for reading and I look forward to catching up with everything Disney over the next few months
so looking forward to seeing it, from everything I have read it is a fantastic part of the world
