PTR - it just keeps changing, World trip ending with Disney

[TulipsNZ]

So if I get this right a PTR is a pre Trip Report - plan? To get feedback? Support ideas? If yes I can go and add mine I just want to know I'm doing it right as I'm a newbie.

I'm a travel newbie as well, I'm so so excited about this trip.
We have been invited to a wedding in Canada and it seemed the perfect excuse to fit in a Disney trip as it's on my bucket list. Things just grew from there and our quick trip to Canada has become a whirlwind world trip.
We have five boys but for this trip we are leaving the youngest three at home. Hardest decision ever but they would not cope well with all the travel, they are 1 year old twins and a 2 year old. We are taking our two oldest boys aged 6 & 8. We leave New Zealand on the night of the 12 th Sept and are going via Hong Kong, I find this quite exciting as it means in our trip we circumnavigate the globe. We arrive in London on the 13 and stay until the 19th, we have basically put ourselves in the hands of our family there so have planned very little. I will update this as I find out more.
We leave London on the 19th and fly via Toronto to Edmonton. My Husband is Best man at the wedding but luckily our kids are invited so it's going to be much more relaxing than when we thought we had to find a babysitter. I'm hoping to do very little one the morning of the wedding as we will have been very busy and we leave the morning after to head straight to LA pick up our car and head to LEGOLAND. This part of the trip is so exciting for the boys. We are staying in the hotel there as this is their ultimate, they are Lego fanatics. I let them pick the room and we are staying in an adventure room. We will do the resort the next day and stay the following night. We are doing San Diego zoo the next day so I had planned on moving to San Diego itself but the idea of moving again and then again was sounding very tiring.
The boys are so excited about all the different bears at the zoo, especialy the pandas.
We will drive back that night to Anaheim and are staying at hojo's. That will be our last accommodation of the trip. We have 4 day park hoppers and are planning to go to the MHP on the 26th. We fly out the evening of the 28th. We are hoping to go to Irvings pumpkin patch on the morning of the 26th and have a slower more relaxed day before the party in the evening.
We want to do a character breakfast or meal, still not sure of which one. I think we will also book the fantastic dessert package as I have Fibromyalgia and with all this walking the idea of standing for hours does not appeal.
Hints and tips on ideas to make our trip amazing gladly received. It's a once in a lifetime trip for us as I don't see us doing it again with 5 boys in tow.

 

[Travel Mum]

Yes TulipsNZ, a PTR is a Pre-Trip Report as opposed to a TR which equals Trip Report. In a PTR, you share your plans with us along the way as your trip approaches

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Correct

Some of us like doing one as it's a nice way of keeping all our plans and some of our questions together in one place.

As long as you are keeping within DIS guidelines, there is no such thing as right or wrong. No one will judge you if your PTR, or lack thereof, looks completely different to everyone else's.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Joining the queue.

 

[Tashinwdw]

YAY another one, it is so exciting to see so many of us planning our holidays, it helps me keep excited and also gives me lots of new places to add to my 'to go list' As soon as I tick one thing off, another 20 are added

 

[TulipsNZ]

Started in the OP

 

[losfp]

Wow!! That's a lot of flying! I hope you've left enough time in there for yourselves and the kids to get a bit of downtime and get over the jetlag/time differences etc

If I was doing it, I might consider swapping around the order of your CA adventures.. Driving straight down to San Diego and spending two nights there so you get one full day at SD Zoo. Then the next day you can do Legoland on the way to Anaheim (which is what we did on our trip). I only suggest this because we felt that SD Zoo was a full day thing and Legoland was more of a 3/4 day thing. YMMV

Good luck!

 

[TulipsNZ]

How far is it from LEGOLAND to San Diego zoo? We were hoping to get to LEGOLAND and do a little on the Sunday afternoon as our package includes two days at the park but we only plan on doing one full day.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Carlsbad to San Diego is about 30 miles. It will take a minimum of half hour to get from Legoland to SD Zoo; or longer - depending on the traffic on the 5.

SD Zoo is about the best zoo in the world. If you like seeing animals, it really is an all day proposition. It has a gondola chair ride and there are buses that will drive you round the zoo. I think the buses even offer a hop off/hop on service. I'm not sure if you have to pay extra for the bus service these days or if it is still included in the park admission ticket.
You may also want to allocate additional time to go see some of Balboa park. The buildings in Balboa are stunning. They house various museums and I've been to about 6 or 7 of them. All the ones that I've been to hold decent displays.

 

[losfp]

Yes, from memory it took about 30-40 min between our hotel in San Diego and Legoland, and about that same amount from Legoland to Hojo in Anaheim (but I think that leg had quite abit of traffic so it might have taken a bit longer....

 

[PrincessInOz]

Legoland to Anaheim takes about an hour to an hour and the half. There is a lot of traffic past Camp Pendleton to around the Oceanside/78 exit now.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Firstly I need to take my hat off to you for being a mum to 5 kids under 8 years old. I don't know how you do it.

Secondly, your plans look great. They are busy, but what a special experience.

Did you buy round the world tickets? If so, who are you flying with and did you get a good deal? I've always wanted to do a round the world flight like this, but struggled to find affordable deals.

 

[TulipsNZ]

Firstly I need to take my hat off to you for being a mum to 5 kids under 8 years old. I don't know how you do it.

Secondly, your plans look great. They are busy, but what a special experience.

Did you buy round the world tickets? If so, who are you flying with and did you get a good deal? I've always wanted to do a round the world flight like this, but struggled to find affordable deals.

Ticketing was hard so I gave up doing it on my own and got travelmum on this thread to book it for me! She is a travel, agent, travel, nut and expert on Disney so it made sense

 

[Travel Mum]

Ticketing was hard so I gave up doing it on my own and got travelmum on this thread to book it for me! She is a travel, agent, travel, nut and expert on Disney so it made sense

Oh gee thanks so much for saying that TulipsNZ

 

[Franrose]

Hiya Tulips!

 

[zanzibar138]

Nice to see a PTR from you It's a great way to get some feedback/advice on your trip, and to keep your information together. I also find it's a great way of sharing your excitement about your trip when everyone else has had enough of hearing about it

Your trip sounds busy, but super exciting!

Are you stopping off in Hong Kong at all, or just going straight through? HKDL is definitely worth visiting if you're in the area

 

[PrincessInOz]

Ticketing was hard so I gave up doing it on my own and got travelmum on this thread to book it for me! She is a travel, agent, travel, nut and expert on Disney so it made sense

Oh gee thanks so much for saying that TulipsNZ

I note the very specific use of a "comma".


So glad to see the lurve of a "nut".

Are we talking pecan, macadamia or is it mixed nuts?

 

[TulipsNZ]

I note the very specific use of a "comma".


So glad to see the lurve of a "nut".

Are we talking pecan, macadamia or is it mixed nuts?

This is why I want my laptop back, I am terrible at typing on my ph. Sorry travelmum I know you aren't nuts

 

[Travel Mum]

This is why I want my laptop back, I am terrible at typing on my ph. Sorry travelmum I know you aren't nuts

Absolutely no worries because I am the first to admit that I am a Travel Nut!! Travel has always been my number one personal passion and addiction plus it's always been my work so I'm deeply immersed in it

 

[PrincessInOz]

This is why I want my laptop back, I am terrible at typing on my ph. Sorry travelmum I know you aren't nuts

Don't mind me. I was in a naughty frame of mind last night.

Hope I didn't offend.