Our 20,000KM disney journey...mother/daughter trip for Halloween!!!

[Disneydreamsdancer]

Hi everyone! KIA ORA!
So i'm still pretty new here but thought i'd share my PTR with you. This is the first ever TR or PTR for that matter i've ever done! So let's start with a little introduction.

My name is keelie i'm 25 and i'm an elementary school teacher aide from london, living in NZ. I live with my boyfriend and am training to be an elementary school teacher. I also teach dance & cheerleading which I love!

I'll be joined on this trip by my mom, who also loves Disney but isn't quite so fanatical as me! This is the first family and all girls holiday we have taken since I went to university 7 years ago so we've worked very hard to make this happen and spend some quality mother, daughter time, disney style!

These are our plans so far:
We will be flying from Auckland to LAX (11 hour flight!!) in January 2011 (dates not certain yet) probably the 2nd and 3rd weeks as that is our school summer holidays and my 26th birthday which I would LOVE to spend at the parks.
We will be first flying straight up to San Francisco and spending approximately 4 days in the city, then flying back to LA and spending another 4 days there seeing the sights, we will then go down to Anaheim and spend 5/6 days at the Disneyland resort.

We have yet to book flight/hotels so havn't finalized everything as when we're coming so far the price for the flights alone varies between $2500 and $3500 NZD so we have been spending a lot of time hunting down quotes, we're hoping to have everything booked in the next 2 months!


I am already so excited! This will only be my 3rd trip to Disneyland CA as I grew up going to Disneyland Paris so am still getting used to the park and everything we still have yet to see! I will make sure I plan this trip as much as possible to get the most of of our time as it's so far for us to come, visits are unfortunately rare!
I hope you'll join me on the EPIC 20,000KM round trip from the land of the long white cloud to the place where dreams are made

 

[reyasmommy]

Great picture of you and your Mom! I look forward to reading more.

 

[Disneydreamsdancer]

Just an update, we've had a change of plans. Due to work commitments we are now looking at taking our break in October of this year!!
Dispite being more 'on' season in the US we chose October as it is school holidays here in NZ so I don't have to take holiday leave and the rugby world cup is also in town so flights out of NZ are over $800 cheaper than our original plans for January 2012! Only problem is we now have a MUCH shorter time to plan our trip and much to sort out!

We are now aiming to fly from Auckland to LAX on sunday October 9th, arriving in LA on the same day due to the time difference, we then will spend that week till the saturday at Disneyland. We have previously stayed at the Anaheim Hilton and the Marriott Anaheim but are this time looking at the Carousel Inn & suites. I havn't re-searched much about it, so am putting out a plea to disboard members to help me with some info if you can will it compare reasonably to the marriott and hilton for cleanlyness and general amenities? We are happpy with a nice clean good value hotel/motel and want to be close to Disney but unfortunately just cannot afford to stay onsite with the flights are other expenses.

We are then looking to fly from orange county up to San Francisco, we got a quote of $178 USD return, can anyone tell me if this is a good price or not? I still have trouble converting between US and NZ $ to work out the price of everything!

Afer the weekend in San Francisco we wil be returning to orange county for maybe some more time at Disney or check out some of the other parks, I'm quite keen on Sea World, not sure how it compares to the one in Australia but I would like to make the trip if it isnt too far?

I feel a little shocked about how much I need to find out in quite a short amount of time so please if anyone can help with advice I would appreciate it so much!

Only 4 months to go!!

 

[taaren]

J
We are now aiming to fly from Auckland to LAX on sunday October 9th, arriving in LA on the same day due to the time difference, we then will spend that week till the saturday at Disneyland. We have previously stayed at the Anaheim Hilton and the Marriott Anaheim but are this time looking at the Carousel Inn & suites. I havn't re-searched much about it, so am putting out a plea to disboard members to help me with some info if you can will it compare reasonably to the marriott and hilton for cleanlyness and general amenities? We are happpy with a nice clean good value hotel/motel and want to be close to Disney but unfortunately just cannot afford to stay onsite with the flights are other expenses.

We are then looking to fly from orange county up to San Francisco, we got a quote of $178 USD return, can anyone tell me if this is a good price or not? I still have trouble converting between US and NZ $ to work out the price of everything!

Afer the weekend in San Francisco we wil be returning to orange county for maybe some more time at Disney or check out some of the other parks, I'm quite keen on Sea World, not sure how it compares to the one in Australia but I would like to make the trip if it isnt too far?

I feel a little shocked about how much I need to find out in quite a short amount of time so please if anyone can help with advice I would appreciate it so much!

Only 4 months to go!!

Hiya! You're going to love October at Disneyland; its one of our favorite times to go. Its less crowded than summer and the weather is perfect. Airfare from Orange County to the SF Bay Area is generally around $89 each way (Southwest Airlines), so round trip $178 isn't bad. It might be cheaper if you went to a larger airport like LAX but that means more hassle and farther drive from the Land; I prefer going out of SNA if its a $20 difference or less. (Sometimes Southwest has fares of $59 per person each direction from LAX-Oakland which is just across the bridge from SF).
Sea World is about an hour's drive south of Disneyland in northern San Diego, there are tour companies that will drive you there and back and sell you a ticket as a package deal. We used to live in the Bay Area east of SF so that's a well-traveled corridor for us both by air and car.
You're arriving the same day we'll be flying out of San Diego to Maui at the end of our trip so we'll pass you in the air!

 

[kindakrazy2]

Great photo of you and your mom!

Enjoy your planning. Sorry I can't help you on any of the details but I'm along for the ride with your report!

 

[Disneydreamsdancer]

Great photo of you and your mom!

Enjoy your planning. Sorry I can't help you on any of the details but I'm along for the ride with your report!

Thank you and welcome!!

Ok so here's our currently run-down:
Sunday Oct 9th - fly auckland to LAX
spend afternoon in parks, nothing highly planned or quick moving as our flight is 19 hours and 25mins! Early night, maybe some downtown disney shopping
Monday 10th - Friday 14th - Disneyland! Spending the tues night at mickeys halloween party
saturday 15th - day trip to san diego and sea world
sunday 16th - tuesday 18th - fly from OC to san francisco, tours and stuff there
tuesday 18th - friday 21st - Greater los angeles, hollywood sights etc
friday 21st - fly LAX to auckland
sunday 23rd arrive back in auckland and back to work on monday!

Hopefully getting some more booking done tomorrow, cant decide whether its worth the price difference between a 6 day hopper and an annual passport to get the discounts? Also may for go the san diego day for another day at disney or an extra day somewhere else! So much to plan!