PTR/TR - An Aussie tribe’s American Adventure Dec 9 2010 – Jan 23 2011

[shushh]

Looks like we'll be having dinner at Teppan Edo at 3:50pm...Hmmm

Next...100 Days To Go...

 

[Jade+3]

Looks like we'll be having dinner at Teppan Edo at 3:50pm...Hmmm

Interesting dining time, but definitely worth it to get a seat. We saw the candlelight processional at DL back in 07. I was too stingy to pay for the preferred dining, so we had to join the crowd, and it was a huge crowd at that!

 

[Travel Mum]

Dec 10: Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom) @ 8:15am
Dec 12: Akershus Princess Storybook Breakfast (Epcot *Norway) @ 8:05am
Dec 14: Donald’s Safari Breakfast (Animal Kingdom *Tusker House) @ 8:05am !

I see that you are going to be doing breakfasts in the parks before they open which is exactly what I hope to do when we are there. Did you find that the park hours were released before the dining reservations opened up? I don't want to book a pre-park breakfast only to find out afterwards that an EMH morning will be operating!


Gosh, I'm so going to look forward to reading your trip report!

 

[Mum from oz]

Well done on all those ADRs! As we are staying offsite I will be doing only a few and mostly character meals. I'm also pretty jealous of your Chrissy in NY! Must do that on our next trip BTW I just noticed you're on EB too. I'm ~mony over there, I saw you in the USA 2011 thread.

Cant wait to hear more trip planning

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hey Shushh....great ADRs. But a Teppen Edo DINNER at 3.50 pm?? Mmmmm. Sounds more like a late lunch to me, which means a supper/snack stop later .

 

[shushh]

I see that you are going to be doing breakfasts in the parks before they open which is exactly what I hope to do when we are there. Did you find that the park hours were released before the dining reservations opened up? I don't want to book a pre-park breakfast only to find out afterwards that an EMH morning will be operating!

Gosh, I'm so going to look forward to reading your trip report!

Travel mum, I didn't make the plans so I'm not sure! I have a feeling that the Fred Hazelton site gave us rough ideas of what the EMH park will be for the day and I think it was posted around the same time as reservation for dining. I will find out for you!

Well done on all those ADRs! As we are staying offsite I will be doing only a few and mostly character meals. I'm also pretty jealous of your Chrissy in NY! Must do that on our next trip BTW I just noticed you're on EB too. I'm ~mony over there, I saw you in the USA 2011 thread.

Cant wait to hear more trip planning

I just read your post on EB. BTW I ran past the idea of the vow renewal by DH...he hasn't said no yet!

 

[shushh]

Hey Shushh....great ADRs. But a Teppen Edo DINNER at 3.50 pm?? Mmmmm. Sounds more like a late lunch to me, which means a supper/snack stop later .

Interesting dining time, but definitely worth it to get a seat.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I found out what time we got...Our TA emailed us our confirmation at 727am her time when reservations opened so its not as if she didn't try early enough!

 

[shushh]

I was going to write a nice long update seeing as we fly out in exactly 100 days but I am so tired after a long day at work, cooking, feeding the kids, putting them to bed and going to my photography class.

So just a quick update, courtesy of free calls to the US by google, I have changed our dining package for the candlelight processional to 5:05pm. It'll be at Coral Reef and we'll be watching the 815pm show but we won't be eating dinner at 3:50pm!!!!

Next...Panama Canal and Beyond on the Wonder

 

[kiwigirl]

Hi I'm really enjoying your PTR - your kids are about the same age as min (7 & 4) so looking forward to hearing about your experiences flying with them too because I was wondering if we were being too ambitious flying so far but hey its disney magic so it must be worth it huh! I would love to start planning a trip for Nov 2011.

 

[aussiegirls]

Hey shushh

I am not sure why I have only just discovered your PTR, but I have just read the entire thing in about 5 minutes

It all sounds so exciting and now you are down to a double digit countdown

I am loving reading it.

xxx

 

[shushh]

Hi I'm really enjoying your PTR - your kids are about the same age as min (7 & 4) so looking forward to hearing about your experiences flying with them too because I was wondering if we were being too ambitious flying so far but hey its disney magic so it must be worth it huh! I would love to start planning a trip for Nov 2011.

We have been lucky in that we're blessed with 2 children who travel well, especially my 5 year old. My youngest though is a whole different story...

We took the plunge flying to Europe and we survived! And it was worth every moment! So do plan your trip Nov 2011, like you say, its Disney so it'll definitely be worth it!!!!

Hey shushh

I am not sure why I have only just discovered your PTR, but I have just read the entire thing in about 5 minutes

It all sounds so exciting and now you are down to a double digit countdown

I am loving reading it.

xxx

Better late than over! (Just kidding!) Thanks for reading. We leave in 73 days! Yippee!!! Not long to go until your trip as well.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice to see you back on the boards!

 

[shushh]

With only 100 days to our cruise, it is only apt that I celebrate by bypassing our New York and Washington DC segments to update this much neglected PTR with details of a much anticipated cruise bound for Los Angeles.

The whole tribe will be congregating at Port Canaveral on January 4. A pre-cruise bonding session to remind ourselves of why we really want to be around each other for 15 days on end has been arranged for the 5th. We are heading for the Kennedy Space Centre for the day. The bus has been booked and discount coupons acquired. We are devising a strategy for boarding the Disney Wonder on Jan 6. The same bus company from the previous day's excursion has been re-deployed for morning transfer duties. We have a target time to be at the port. We have decided to maximise the power of numbers after embarkation. We shall divide and conquer. One has been allocated the duty of acquiring PALO reservations, another has been set the task of registering the children for kids club. The rest will have to battle with the feeding the children. A rendezvous point has been set by the pool. The research to finetune our approach continues.

Shore excursions have taken up a big portion of our meeting schedule. The ports of call include Castaway Cay, Aruba, Puntarenas, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. We seem to be bucking the general trend by choosing to do excursions either ourselves or with our own private guide. That is, we are only doing 2 excursions with DCL. Many other cruisers who are not doing DCL run excursions appear to not be doing excursions at all and staying on the ship.

Our first stop will be at Disney's private island hideaway, Castaway Cay. I can't wait! I have heard so much it and it has all been good. Next up is Aruba in the West Indies. We have arranged our own MarioKarting adventure for the boys and the girls will be touring the island in our air-conditioned private van with our friendly private guide, Sunny. The plan is to meet up for lunch and then explore the town before heading back onto the ship.

We will then travel through the historic Panama Canal emerging at the Pacific Ocean. DH and I watched a documentary about the building of the Panama Canal and have been fascinated ever since. We jumped at the chance to sail through it. I am in the process of acquiring a book about the Panama Canal. I have been told to try to be less obsessive...

Puntarenas in Costa Rica is one of the ports where we have elected to do a shore excursions with Disney, one of the reasons being is that it is one of the few ports which:
1) offer excursions suitable for all ages
2) offer excursions suitable for all ages of interest
We will be heading into the rainforest for a ride on an aerial tram.

Our first port in sunny Mexico will be Manzanillo where we have lined up another private tour, this time with Paco. For a bargain price of US$300 total, he will drive us around and be our private guide, as well as providing cold water and refreshments.

Puerto Vallarta is slated for our other Disney run excursion. We are embarking on a Tequila making journey! Still not quite sure why I am doing this as I don't drink alcohol...

Last but not least, we have Cabo San Lucas. Our plan is to DIY. We will bargain for our own boats to the famous rock formation at Land's End and then explore the town at leisure.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to and end. That, for us, will happen at Los Angeles, where 14 of us have to figure out how to spend the day and transport ourselves around before boarding a 14 hour flight at 1045pm, with 6 children and our luggage in tow. Plans at the end of the cruise still undetermined! Wish us luck.

Next...New York, New York

 

[shushh]

Nice to see you back on the boards!

Thank you! I've missed being on the boards and it took me AGES to catch up on everything.

 

[shushh]

Today, we finally decided on which Broadway show to watch. The winner is …Wicked! And we’ve also decided to buy our tickets now to avoid disappointment. So the deed is done! On Tuesday, December 22, DH and I are booked in for a date at 8pm at the Gershwin theatre, which is conveniently only half a block away from our hotel. Sweet! It wasn’t an easy decision. It was tough making the call to not to take the children to a Broadway show. Fortunately, we have Family M to help in the babysitting department. To make it up to the children, we are all going to the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular! Woohoo!

It is somewhat of a relief to have made small decisions here and there. It has been so overwhelming trying to decide what to see, where to go and what to do in New York. We have been blessed to have been given helpful and useful advice by friendly fellow DISboarders. However, the choice is endless and the time short. Reading so many fabulous Australian trip reports have also made it worse…the number of to-dos has increased! Ok so here are the definites…

We will arrive in the morning Dec 21. We have a private van booked for pick up from LGA to take the 11 of us to the Novotel Times Square where we will meet up the rest of Family M. Nothing has been planned for the day so far. I was thinking that perhaps some shopping may be in order.

We’ve purchased our Statue of Liberty Crown tickets for Dec 22. I have been madly taking the stairs at work to prepare myself for the 354 steps needed to reach the top. Again, other than Wicked, nothing has been planned after our Ellis and Liberty Island expedition.

On Dec 23, we are going on a 6 hour guided “Royal of New York” in our own minibus of 14. Hopefully, this “highlights” tour will stop me from obsessing about what I don’t get to see. Hmmm… unlikely! Unfortunately, my planning for New York will have to stop temporarily. Tomorrow, we’re heading off to Berry over the long weekend for our board gaming convention. I have skills that I need to brush up on in order to bring home the most coveted meeple cushion that is our champion’s trophy (You’ll have to google meeple – its too hard to explain). I have yet to pack. Yikes! I then have to finalize the details for our trip away the following weekend, this time with the in-laws. It appears that I have a lot to do! Better go get some sleep…

Next...An Aside...Gaming

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm loving your plans! Can I come along???

I've always wanted to see the Panama Canal and the cruise sounds fantastic! And what a wonderful show you've picked to go see on Broadway. I am so envious. NYC will be fabulous with Wicked and staying in Times Square.

Waiting for the next post to see if you've come back with the meeple.

 

[shushh]

I'm at Berry, a beautiful Australian country town, having a lovely time with family and friends playing boardgames!

If you are interested in reading about it. Visit my blog

A picture of the meeple cushion is on the blog...

Next...50 days to go...

 

[shushh]

I'm loving your plans! Can I come along???

I've always wanted to see the Panama Canal and the cruise sounds fantastic! And what a wonderful show you've picked to go see on Broadway. I am so envious. NYC will be fabulous with Wicked and staying in Times Square.

Waiting for the next post to see if you've come back with the meeple.

Princess, you know you can come with us anytime. I will be glad of a personal entertainer! In seriousness, you should try a cruise. I know you get seasick but the ships are big and has fancy stabilizers.

I am both highly excited and stressed by New York. I know I won't get to see everything and I don't know what to leave out.

Got to run. Have some serious gaming to do!

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's a serious blog! And a fortune in games.

I think you all live in the wrong state....you need to move a little further south!

 

[shushh]

That's a serious blog! And a fortune in games.

I think you all live in the wrong state....you need to move a little further south!

Ah Princess, I think you'll love these games. I would love to live closer to that fabulous game shop just across the road from the hotel where we stayed at Melbourne! Many of the games can be played online with other players called BSW (short for boardgame world in german). We used to have it on our computer but had to take it off because we spent too much time on it!