Sept. 23, 2012 Pacific Coast - Wonder Cruise

[BlondeJungleBookFan]

GROM MOM:
Thank you!

Our AAA offers 10.00 off a single day ticket.
The Sea World web site is also offering 10.00 off.
I just bought the one from the Sea World web site.

I'm thinking doing a cab. Someone told me to expect about 20.00 each way. The convience of going and leaving when I feel like it will be best for me.

Sea World ticket 63.00 plus 20.00(ish) over and back
(40.00 total) is cheaper than the Excursion at 129.00
It also allows me flexibility.

If anyone has anymore input on the cab situation for this....please chime in

 

[AussieMumma]

Marian, Our shuttle company gave us a number to call once we are off the ship and ready to go, "drivers on standby ready to go" was the email message we got. I guess that's handy, that way we'll only have to wait 10-15 mins and he'll know exactly where we are etc.

 

[fshagan]

Okay we need to order shuttles. To arrive at port we'll be coming from the end of Magic Way outside of Disneyland. What time do I book a shuttle for? I don't know LA traffic at all and I guess Sunday morning will be different.

I would guess that on a Sunday morning, driving from Magic Way to the port would be about 35 minutes ... it's only about 30 miles or so.

BUT, the shuttle companies will know; just give them a time you want to be at the port and they will tell you when you need to be ready!

 

[erbie]

I would guess that on a Sunday morning, driving from Magic Way to the port would be about 35 minutes ... it's only about 30 miles or so.

BUT, the shuttle companies will know; just give them a time you want to be at the port and they will tell you when you need to be ready!

I think that sounds about right. And on Sunday morning the following week, heading back to LAX should be about 20 mins.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Thanks everyone. I've sent out a couple of emails for quotes based on everyone's ideas. I guess with traffic you never know what's going to happen, even heading away from Disneyland on a Sunday morning!

Once the shuttles ordered I guess we have everything booked and sorted. I think that's right, I'll have to have a wander thru the planning file. I'm trying to mentally walk through the whole holiday in my head from the moment I get up on the 8th until we get home.

I guess we'll be the ones with the kids towing all their favourite 'softies' in their Trunkis. I said to the boys 'one softie and that way you can buy another at Disneyland'. Somehow Alex thinks that means three red Angry Birds as they all look the same.

My quiet corner of NZ has been invaded by dirt bikers at the moment. The Council, Transit Authority et al are all refusing to take responsiblity for getting rid of them. They are getting access to the T.A. land via the Council land and the Council needs to do something. Honestly the buzzing noise all day is terrible but the real tragedy is that they are carving up the Coastal Walkway that runs the length of NZ (for pushbikes and walkers only). The kids and dog were frightened this afternoon when we took the dog for a walk. You would think doing this behind the homes of three senior police officers and the local JP who signs off all the police warrants wouldn't be wise... I've decided they must have no brains. Sorry I'm ranting but I'm over it, as a home owner I want quiet enjoyment of my land.

 

[GromMom]

GROM MOM:
Thank you!

Our AAA offers 10.00 off a single day ticket.
The Sea World web site is also offering 10.00 off.
I just bought the one from the Sea World web site.

I'm thinking doing a cab. Someone told me to expect about 20.00 each way. The convience of going and leaving when I feel like it will be best for me.

Sea World ticket 63.00 plus 20.00(ish) over and back
(40.00 total) is cheaper than the Excursion at 129.00
It also allows me flexibility.

If anyone has anymore input on the cab situation for this....please chime in

Great, also of more than 1 are going, i imagine the cab/buy your own ticket will be even cheaper than the estimate you gave. next time i'm at sea world i will look and see if there is a queue of cabs waiting, I'm not sure about that, but I'll let you know if there are any

 

[GromMom]

I guess we'll be the ones with the kids towing all their favourite 'softies' in their Trunkis. I said to the boys 'one softie and that way you can buy another at Disneyland'. Somehow Alex thinks that means three red Angry Birds as they all look the same.

:

Marian,
When I was a little kid and my sister can vouch for this, I was so attached to my teddy bear that I hit the lady from customs (or whoever searches your bags when you fly international) when she took my bear to be inspected. That being said I am not looking forward to the days of travelling "heavy" as I love to travel light...however I can understand why kids need their softies

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Marian,
When I was a little kid and my sister can vouch for this, I was so attached to my teddy bear that I hit the lady from customs (or whoever searches your bags when you fly international) when she took my bear to be inspected. That being said I am not looking forward to the days of travelling "heavy" as I love to travel light...however I can understand why kids need their softies

Hmm - when we meet I'll tell you about Alex's bear and how it went missing one day and that entailed a three country drama over six months with mutliple parties involved (thanks English Grandma for shopping a limited edition Bloomingdales bear). The things you do for kids. Although I was just as bad I guess, when travelling at 18 months with my parents my Mum packed all my softies in the cargo luggage and I had nothing on the plane. Aparently I kicked up such a stink my Dad had to buy the only softie in the airport to get me onboard the plane back to NZ.

Yep days of light travel are over for you right about now. How small babies can take so much stuff with them is beyond me. We had it double too. Travelling any distance becomes a military operation, which is why cruising is probably your easiest option (get to port, unpack once and the scenery changes every day).

 

[GromMom]

Hmm - when we meet I'll tell you about Alex's bear and how it went missing one day and that entailed a three country drama over six months with mutliple parties involved (thanks English Grandma for shopping a limited edition Bloomingdales bear). The things you do for kids. Although I was just as bad I guess, when travelling at 18 months with my parents my Mum packed all my softies in the cargo luggage and I had nothing on the plane. Aparently I kicked up such a stink my Dad had to buy the only softie in the airport to get me onboard the plane back to NZ.

Yep days of light travel are over for you right about now. How small babies can take so much stuff with them is beyond me. We had it double too. Travelling any distance becomes a military operation, which is why cruising is probably your easiest option (get to port, unpack once and the scenery changes every day).

Great point, I am so looking forward to the cruise

As for limited edition, I can only imagine...I remember when I first got my dog I babied her, I bought 5 of the same "favorite toy" b/c I thought she'd ruin it and want another copy...well 8 years later she still has that same original dog toy and has given some of the other new ones away as gifts to her doggie friends b/c I realized that a dog does not need multiple copies of a toy...a child maybe, but a dog, no

 

[glindamood]

Good morning! Quiet day here, sunny and headed to the mid-80's. Perfection in my opinion, aboslute perfection. I can open the house in the evenings as it gets back in the 70's by early evening and leave it open all night. Sad to say, that is going away and we are headed up another ten degrees for the weekend.

Marian - so sorry about the dirt bikes and you are so right - the noise is obnoxious and can get tedious when it drones on and on.

The only planning I have left is to get from the airport to Grand Californian. We may have a friend picking us up to hang out for the day or maybe I will just do Super Shuttle. I don't need to do that just quite yet so will wait and see if the offer is repeated. Well, I also need to figure out exactly what we are doing in San Diego - the trolley on our own or the wine tour. I would most certainly see more of the city on the trolley so maybe that should be my answer.

Take care all and have a good day/night.

 

[glindamood]

I was looking to see if I qualified for any AAA discounts anywhere while we are cruising around California and I did find a discount for Super Shuttle - $2.00 off.

If I discover anything else, I will share - didn't see the WD Museum which is what I went looking for.

 

[jetskigrl]

Marian,
When I was a little kid and my sister can vouch for this, I was so attached to my teddy bear that I hit the lady from customs (or whoever searches your bags when you fly international) when she took my bear to be inspected. That being said I am not looking forward to the days of travelling "heavy" as I love to travel light...however I can understand why kids need their softies

LOL - too cute When DD was little, her first softie (lol - love that term) was a twiddle bug from Sesame Street. I was so scared that she would lose it that I went on a search ot find another one. I had no idea how hard it would be to find that exact one. That was when I was introduced to ebay (and the rest is history, LOL).
Unfortunately, her twiddle bug obsession didn't last long and she took a liking to a stuffed cow that my Mom brought her from Texas. She named it....Texas Cow It got completely worn out but I never could find a replacement for it. We ended up dressing it in clothing to protect it (and stopped allowing her to take it out of the house). That cow is still in a cabinet in our front room.

DS's favorite is a Duffy from Disneyland. So luckily that one is easy to replace. The one he has now is very worn out but he is old enough to know that a replacement wouldn't be the same so he is sticking with worn out Duffy

Yep days of light travel are over for you right about now. How small babies can take so much stuff with them is beyond me. We had it double too. Travelling any distance becomes a military operation, which is why cruising is probably your easiest option (get to port, unpack once and the scenery changes every day).

We never did a lot of traveling when the kids were younger (couldn't afford it mostly, LOL), but I do recall a few trips to see family that were difficult because of all the baby/toddler stuff. Luckily my kids are big enough to carry their own stuff now, LOL.

Good morning! Quiet day here, sunny and headed to the mid-80's. Perfection in my opinion, aboslute perfection. I can open the house in the evenings as it gets back in the 70's by early evening and leave it open all night. Sad to say, that is going away and we are headed up another ten degrees for the weekend.

Marian - so sorry about the dirt bikes and you are so right - the noise is obnoxious and can get tedious when it drones on and on.

The only planning I have left is to get from the airport to Grand Californian. We may have a friend picking us up to hang out for the day or maybe I will just do Super Shuttle. I don't need to do that just quite yet so will wait and see if the offer is repeated. Well, I also need to figure out exactly what we are doing in San Diego - the trolley on our own or the wine tour. I would most certainly see more of the city on the trolley so maybe that should be my answer.

Take care all and have a good day/night.

I agree...those dirt bikes would drive me crazy. We have a small park across the street from us that people seem to think is the perfect place to go 4-wheeling. They seem to have no problem tearing up the grass. I guess because they don't live across the street from it, they just dont care

Your day sounds perfect!! We are just getting the heat here (although along the coast where we live, it is still nice).

I'm still not sure what we are doing in San Diego. I would like to spend some time on the trolley, just checking things out. Since we have such a long day there, I think we will have plenty of time to do the Maritime museum, walk down to Seaport Village and still ride the trolleys a bit

I was looking to see if I qualified for any AAA discounts anywhere while we are cruising around California and I did find a discount for Super Shuttle - $2.00 off.

If I discover anything else, I will share - didn't see the WD Museum which is what I went looking for.

I couldn't find it on our AAA site either, but when I called the WD Museum directly, they did confirm that they have a AAA discount. I think it is $5. But you have to buy tickets at the door (which they also confirmed would be no problem) to get the discount.

 

[dennisbryce]

I wanted to stop in and say hi to everyone
I see that some of you are arranging to meet on the ship with the kiddos and I know my daughter would love that. She is 3 almost 4 and has no clue that we are going and I know would love to make new friends
We have finally booked our hotel stay at the Sheraton and are still undecided on using disney transfers are finding something else. For those that may be familiar with the area, is there somewhere good to eat within walking distance by the Sheraton? Is there anything close that we may want to see?

 

[GromMom]

LOL - too cute When DD was little, her first softie (lol - love that term) was a twiddle bug from Sesame Street. I was so scared that she would lose it that I went on a search ot find another one. I had no idea how hard it would be to find that exact one. That was when I was introduced to ebay (and the rest is history, LOL).
Unfortunately, her twiddle bug obsession didn't last long and she took a liking to a stuffed cow that my Mom brought her from Texas. She named it....Texas Cow It got completely worn out but I never could find a replacement for it. We ended up dressing it in clothing to protect it (and stopped allowing her to take it out of the house). That cow is still in a cabinet in our front room.

DS's favorite is a Duffy from Disneyland. So luckily that one is easy to replace. The one he has now is very worn out but he is old enough to know that a replacement wouldn't be the same so he is sticking with worn out Duffy



We never did a lot of traveling when the kids were younger (couldn't afford it mostly, LOL), but I do recall a few trips to see family that were difficult because of all the baby/toddler stuff. Luckily my kids are big enough to carry their own stuff now, LOL.

Ha ha, I also hd a well loved snoopy in a tennis outfit that was added later after i wore all the stuffing out of the arms and legs. If i recall correctly it was my sister's but i inherited it bc I threw up on it


I still have him and the teddy bear! both very worn and loved


Also BlondeJungleBookFan re Sea World I asked dh and he said he saw a queue of 4 or 5 cabs at sea world when we left the other day.

 

[peja]

I wanted to stop in and say hi to everyone
I see that some of you are arranging to meet on the ship with the kiddos and I know my daughter would love that. She is 3 almost 4 and has no clue that we are going and I know would love to make new friends
We have finally booked our hotel stay at the Sheraton and are still undecided on using disney transfers are finding something else. For those that may be familiar with the area, is there somewhere good to eat within walking distance by the Sheraton? Is there anything close that we may want to see?

We are staying at the Four Points by Sheraton International Airport the night before the cruise? Is this where you are staying??? Maybe we can meet there that night with the kids for a swim or something?? And maybe we can share a port transfer??? I think I will use the Sav on Shuttle???

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Coupons for Africa (well California)

At the bottom of the page is Walt Disney Museum. Also plenty for San Diego. Been awake most of the night, will come back when I'm more human...

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/Fun-Spots/

 

[dennisbryce]

We are staying at the Four Points by Sheraton International Airport the night before the cruise? Is this where you are staying??? Maybe we can meet there that night with the kids for a swim or something?? And maybe we can share a port transfer??? I think I will use the Sav on Shuttle???

We are staying at the Sheraton Gateway 6101 West Century Blvd
It sounds like a different hotel
We could still meet up on the ship

 

[jetskigrl]

I wanted to stop in and say hi to everyone
I see that some of you are arranging to meet on the ship with the kiddos and I know my daughter would love that. She is 3 almost 4 and has no clue that we are going and I know would love to make new friends
We have finally booked our hotel stay at the Sheraton and are still undecided on using disney transfers are finding something else. For those that may be familiar with the area, is there somewhere good to eat within walking distance by the Sheraton? Is there anything close that we may want to see?

If you are staying on Century, by LAX, there are plenty of hotels, etc but it isn't the nicest of areas. You will be fine within the hotel but you probably wouldn't want to be walking around much in the area, especially at night. Century is a very busy street at all hours of the day because of the airport and the neighborhood around there is poor.

I don't recall if anyone has booked it but a lot of people recommend the Crown Plaza at the port area. It offers a free shuttle to the terminal and is really close to the waterfront area which has restaurants, a cool water fountain show, the Red Car Trolleys and as of last month the USS Iowa (if anyone is interested in touring the battleship).

We go down to that area a lot and even though it isn't the best of areas at night (daytime is absolutely no problem), I would still pick it over LAX.
Just something to consider.

 

[BigDisneyOE]

Suggest we meet up at the Cruise Meet Gail has suggested with all the kids, that way we can work out when the Kids Club has an Open Session for the next day if we have a Navigator handy at that time or organise a pool meet if no Navigator.

JSG - our first night is in El Segundo (sp) as the Hyatt Home was the only place we could get a two bed apartment like place. I hope it's okay and safe, the reviews read okay.

 

[BlondeJungleBookFan]

Also BlondeJungleBookFan re Sea World I asked dh and he said he saw a queue of 4 or 5 cabs at sea world when we left the other day.

GREAT!!
Thanks so much
and thanks to GromDad